The Back Rooms

Lin Feng happily poured himself some tea. The Yang family had given him some white tea after he had let it slip that he liked it but hadn't had any for a while.

Yang Xinhe was proudly sitting on the bench next to Lin Feng and Mei. He really felt like his efforts were paying off lately. Keeping his ear to the ground and thinking quickly, he had been able to jump on chances to make Lin Feng happy before anyone else.

Yang Xinhe excitedly bit into his burrito. Lin Feng had given it to him for free, asking him what he wanted for lunch when he had gone to get food for him and Mei. All his hopes and dreams seemed to be coming true recently.

Just then, the entrance slid open to let in a tough-looking middle-aged man. He was tall and muscular, with a rough demeanor. As he wandered in, he looked quite confused. It was obvious that this was a new customer.

After Yang Xinhe noticed him, he looked around. No one else seemed to notice the man. Yang Xinhe smiled and laughed in his heart. Don't they know that every second is an opportunity to impress Lin Feng?

"Don't worry, Senior Lin. Little Yang will handle this for you."

Lin Feng absentmindedly nodded without looking up from brewing his tea as Yang XInhe hurried towards the entrance.

"Sir! Are you new?" Yang Xinhe called out as he got closer. The man looked at him guardedly.

"New? What is this place?"

Yang Xinhe smirked and spread his arms wide.

"You stand within…," he paused for dramatic effect, "the Immortal Shopping Mall!" The man was quite confused. "I am Yang Xinhe, what is your name?"

Lin Feng had given him the name Immortal Shopping Mall when pressed about a name just a little while ago. People were also beginning to call it Lin's Mall, but Yang Xinhe preferred the grander name that Lin Feng had given him.

Yang Xinhe felt quite secure in acting as pretentious as he wanted. Not only was he acting on behalf of Lin Feng, but he could tell that the man in front of him was only a Seventh Stage Qi Gathering Disciple. In the weeks since Yang Xinhe had come to the shopping mall, he had already broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, and not just the first stage.

"I am Zhou Yunfei. What is the Immortal Shopping Mall?"

Yang Xinhe chuckled.

"All in due time. First, do you have spirit crystals?"

"…No?"

"Ah, you'll be stuck in the back rooms then." Yang Xinhe clicked his tongue. "Well, I can at least give you a tour. Come with me."

With this, Yang Xinhe spun around and began to walk away from Zhou Yunfei, uncaring of his hesitancy.

"Now! Most importantly, do you see the man over there drinking tea and the fox lying in his lap?"

Zhou Yunfei nodded uneasily as he looked around. He couldn't see through the cultivation of anyone here.

"The man, Lin Feng, is the owner of this place, and the fox is Mei, his little sister. I must stress not to offend them. I have seen Senior Lin kill two Golden Core cultivators with a snap of his fingers."

Yang Xinhe had, in fact, not seen this, but he had heard about it from his father. So he felt fine bragging about it like he had been there.

"Over there, you will see the clothing store. Some people say that if you wear a full outfit from there, you will live forever."

The only one saying that the clothing would let you live forever was Yang Xinhe.

It was still a mystery what effect the clothing from the shopping mall had exactly. It was too expensive for most of the customers to afford it, and those that had bought the clothing hadn't figured it out yet. All people could tell was that it was extraordinarily durable. Pulling at it with the full strength of the Core Formation Realm couldn't even fray the fabric.

"Over here, are the vending machines. They are amazing spiritual artifacts that can create top-grade medicinal food from nothing. One meal can cleanse your spiritual root and strengthen your body to its maximum potential."

Yang Xinhe waved his half-eaten burrito in front of Zhou Yunfei's face.

"This burrito is food from the vending machine. I got it for free after pleasing Senior Lin." Yang Xinhe was very smug. "From this, one can see that it is always possible to earn opportunities within the Immortal Shopping Mall as long as one is willing to work hard."

At this point, Yang Xinhe's ostentatious tour had attracted the other customers' attention. Zhang Fei walked forward to save Zhou Yunfei from Yang Xinhe's ministrations.

"Greetings. I am Zhang Fei, a representative of the imperial court." Zhang Fei scowled as he saw Yang Xinhe looking over at him imperiously. Ever since he had given Mei a Rank-3 pill, Yang Xinhe had been strutting around like he owned the place.

The worst part was that no one could do anything about it. Yang Xinhe did, unfortunately, have a relatively good relationship with Mei and Lin Feng. He might have gotten it by acting in the most shameful way possible, but it had worked.

Zhang Fei felt especially aggrieved. Yang Xinhe knew that Lin Feng didn't have a good opinion of him and acted especially domineering around him.

Zhang Fei was a Soul Reformation Realm cultivator! Even if Yang Xinhe didn't know the exact extent of his cultivation base, he should at least be respectful! Alas, Zhang Fei could only swallow his anger.

"You can ignore what Junior Yang says for the most part. The most important thing to remember is to never offend Senior Lin. As a representative of the imperial court, Senior Lin's anger is a matter of public safety and national security. If you anger him, I will deal with you before Senior Lin has to."

"Hmm? Ignore what I say?" Yang Xinhe scoffed. "Don't let Old Zhang fool you. He does not speak for Senior Lin. Senior Lin doesn't even like him."

Zhang Fei grit his teeth in anger.

"Be that as it may, what I said still stands. Do not offend Senior Lin and everything else will be fine."

Zhang Fei huffed as he glared at Yang Xinhe. Yang Xinhe made a big show of taking a bite of his burrito without breaking eye contact.

"Has Junior Yang explained the back rooms to you yet?"

Zhou Yunfei looked nervously between the two seniors in front of him. He couldn't see through the cultivation of either of them and didn't want to get on either of their bad sides.

"He mentioned it in passing, Senior Zhang."

Zhang Fei nodded.

"Do you see the hallways branching off from this main room?" Zhang Fei gestured all around. "Those are all empty back rooms and hallways. If you're only here to cultivate, then you should try to spend most of your time back there."

Yang Xinhe quickly interjected.

"Senior Lin gets irritated when the main room gets too crowded. Just don't get lost!"

Zhang Fei scowled.

"As Junior Yang has said, Senior Lin gets irritated when the main room gets too crowded. There is much more space in the back rooms and there are many people there already. I've heard there's even some talk about some people setting up their own shops down there, shops that the average person can afford."

Yang Xinhe nodded.

"Yes, Senior Lin says he doesn't care. Apparently, it matches with Senior Lin's vision for the shopping mall. It's like a maze down there though, and no one knows how far it goes. If you ask around, I think someone was trying to put together a map."

Zhou Yunfei felt quite overwhelmed.

"Wait, I can just stay here and cultivate? Without paying or joining anything?"

"Indeed! This is a shopping mall! A place for shopping, social gatherings, and spending your time! Senior Lin is too great to care about some little bit of spiritual energy." Yang Xinhe did not forget to bootlick Lin Feng. "You are quite fortunate to get in so early. The people here today will be the movers and shakers of tomorrow!"

"Did you come here without knowing anything about Senior Lin's Mall beforehand?" Zhang Fei asked.

"I just followed the road that's being made."

"Ah! Very good. I think you might be the first person to do so, but I doubt you'll be the last." Zhang Fei nodded. "We will have to count on you to help us explain things to all of the newcomers. Offending Senior Lin must be avoided at all costs."