Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 11 Promotion

Chen Xuan slowly opened his eyes when a ray of sunlight shone into the store through the window.

He yawned as he got up from the sofa and stretched.

Everything that happened last night is still vivid in my mind.

He was right there on the battlefield, witnessing a war fought entirely with cold weapons... but to call it entirely cold weapons wouldn't be accurate, at least not for Joan of Arc. She was enveloped in radiance, each sword strike capable of slicing dozens of meters away, decimating hordes of enemies like fresh snow. Despite outnumbering Joan of Arc's forces by more than tenfold, they were still routed by this relentless counter-charge.

Chen Xuan and this shop became Joan of Arc's temporary rear base.

Wounded people were being brought in continuously and received first aid at the shop entrance. The shop did indeed have hot water and strong liquor, and Chen Xuan even found a first aid kit full of gauze and tape in the cabinet.

He could have ignored these people.

The ability trade has been completed, and the lives and deaths of these people are none of his concern.

Everyone looked at him with reverence, and wherever he went, at least five cavalrymen followed closely behind, as if afraid he might encounter some danger. Judging from their expressions, if an enemy were to bypass the battle line and attack the shop, these guards would definitely use their bodies to block the swords aimed at him.

Chen Xuan couldn't remain indifferent, so he had no choice but to lend a hand.

The towels, bloodstains, and tattered armor scattered on the floor were proof that he had indeed participated in the war that changed the fate of the Holy Maiden.

Joan of Arc won without any doubt.

With a hundred men defeating a thousand, they won with vigor and efficiency.

She was not defeated and captured, and Compiègne will not be her end.

"Wait!" Chen Xuan suddenly slapped his forehead. Could history be about to be changed like this?!
What would France be like if Joan of Arc were still alive?

He quickly opened a webpage and searched for relevant information, only to find that this history seemed to have remained unchanged... Joan of Arc still died at the age of nineteen by burning at the stake, for the same reason as before.

"call……"

Thankfully, it seems I was overthinking it. This Joan of Arc probably came from another world, and what happened to her wouldn't affect the present world.

That makes sense. They can use flags to boost morale and fighting power over there, so it's only natural that there are differences between the two worlds.

Chen Xuan opened his inventory, and there were two new abilities inside.

The fact that you can get the gold rarity on your second transaction after opening a shop means you have a real talent for doing business.

It's a bit of a pity to lose the Spirit Sword Technique, but it's only an ordinary-level ability after all.

Moreover, it was the only thing that could turn Joan of Arc's situation around at the time.

However, he had no idea that using the Spirit Sword Technique on her was a completely different concept from using it on himself. Theoretically, they were the same ability... The difference between the two should not be so great.

Putting aside his doubts, Chen Xuan applied the two new abilities to himself and began to experience their effects firsthand.

After all, the descriptions on the trading software seem very unreliable.

"Hmm... this golden ability is a bit close to the law of causality. As long as your ideas align with the other party's, you can gain favor and support no matter what you do."

He silently pondered for a moment, then picked up his phone and found the numbers of his former colleagues from the big company.

"Hey? Brother Xuan, long time no see! What brings you to call me all of a sudden? Do you have a good job offer to recommend you for?"

"Nothing else, it's just that I'm a bit short on money lately, could you lend me some..."

"beep--"

Before he could finish speaking, the dial tone indicated that the call had been disconnected.

Chen Xuan shrugged. Sure enough, not all ideas are acceptable.

He wants to make money, and his colleague certainly wants to make money too. In this sense, their ideas should be aligned, but the new ability didn't come into play, indicating that it still has some limitations.

He closed his eyes, trying to find clues about its use in Joan of Arc's experience, but no inspiration came to him. He then realized that a trader's mastery of the ability could not surpass that of the original owner, because Joan of Arc had never been aware of this ability and relied purely on instinct to drive everything, so he could not gain any relevant experience from it.

This is different from herbalism and spirit swordsmanship... Liu Shuyue clearly knew about these two abilities and had put in a great deal of hard work to practice them.

However, this is not a major impact.

He can make bold assumptions.

Looking back on Joan of Arc's life, she fought for the liberation of her homeland, and the soldiers and generals who followed her shared the same belief. Lending money, however, is a zero-sum game. Everyone wants more money, but if one party borrows, the other party's money decreases. Therefore, even if the ideas are the same, it won't work.

Perhaps we need a concept that doesn't harm the common interests of both parties?
This undoubtedly narrows the scope of application for this ability. Chen Xuan thought for a moment but couldn't find a suitable use for it. Although "Freedom Leads the People" is a gold-level ability, it is probably not as suitable for personal use as many white-level abilities.

Next, he switched to "Voice of Trust," found his colleague's WeChat account, and made a WeChat call.

"Hello? The signal was bad just now..."

"Don't call me anymore. I just bought a house and I was thinking of asking you for a loan."

The call ended abruptly.

When Chen Xuan checked his phone again, he found that WeChat had prompted him to "add friends first".

Yes, during the second conversation, he could hear the other person's rejection even through the phone. If disdain and indifference can be considered a form of malice, then he felt it firsthand.

This ability... is simply the nemesis of telecom fraud.

"Ding dong."

An email icon suddenly popped up in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Chen Xuan clicked on it and found that his previous rating application had been approved, and he was now a level two store manager.

He'd forgotten about it if we didn't mention it.

Chen Xuan switched back to the ability page and found that the colorful legendary ability had indeed become LV2, with a "Change Details" option added below. Hovering the mouse over it revealed several lines of text.

"You're more like a store manager now, and the store looks much more professional."

"The housing department on the second floor is now open and can conduct follow-up visits to customers; the capacity limit has been raised to LV2."

"Not for sale, not for transfer. Store manager's current status: still active."

What do you mean... second floor?
He had already explored the entire store on the first day. There was only one shopping area and one staff restroom. Where did the two floors come from?

Chen Xuan walked out of the bar with some doubt, and was immediately shocked by the scene in front of him - a set of stairs had appeared on the left side of the bar, where there had been only a white wall before!
Now there really is a second floor.

When did this change happen? I didn't see it when I woke up earlier.

Did the stairs suddenly appear the moment he opened the email?

Filled with curiosity, Chen Xuan went up the stairs to the second floor... Just like the first floor, it was exquisitely decorated, with carpets underfoot and walls made of pieced wood. Combined with the spotlights hidden in the ceiling, the overall atmosphere was quite warm and inviting. The stairs led to a small rest area of ​​about three or four square meters, with passageways and doors on either side, each marked with a number such as 201 or 202.

This is basically the standard hotel setup.

Chen Xuan couldn't help but chuckle.

He wasn't laughing at anything else, but at the absurdity of the whole thing. All the residential buildings in the complex had the same design, with only the ground floor designated as shops, and the floors above the second floor being residential. In other words, no matter how well hidden the second floor was, it was impossible to simply squeeze such a large space into the space between the floors.

As the store manager level continues to rise, will they add more floors? They'll have to pay for all the utilities themselves.

Chen Xuan arrived at a door, wanting to see what kind of room was inside, but unexpectedly, he couldn't push the door open.

The door was locked.

The electronic lock screen above also displays a message: Please swipe your room card.

The supporting facilities are quite well done.

Back on the first floor, Chen Xuan fiddled with the management software for a while, only to find that there was no universal room key. He had to register guests as guests before he could get the corresponding room key, and the software didn't allow managers to set themselves as guests, so he had no way to open the door at all.

On the contrary, it belongs to Tiangang.

If only guests can open the door, how should the cleaning staff handle it? If the furnishings in the room are damaged or stolen by guests, how should they check?

Forget it... If you can't figure it out, just let it go for now, otherwise you're just making trouble for yourself.

Chen Xuan chose to reconcile with the problem.

The other change at LV2 is easier to understand. Although he no longer has the Spirit Sword Technique and cannot verify it immediately, he can still connect it to the reason why Jeanne's use of it is so different from his own. It is most likely due to this synchronization restriction. He was a level 1 shopkeeper before, so his Spirit Sword Technique was also restricted to LV1, while Jeanne's was a real LV5, which is why there was such a big difference in the feeling.

Therefore, improving the store manager's rating is particularly important.

Chen Xuan also glanced at the next level of rating, where the performance point requirement had been raised to 10... Clearly, this standard would only get higher and higher.

If the shop hasn't gone out of business by then.

(End of this chapter)