Heaven-Defying Cola, 1000% Safe!

Silence.

Hua Feixue winced. "Oof… that looked painful."

"Almost." Yue Xueyan commented.

Lin Yijun groaned and sat up, rubbing his jaw.

Xiao Lianfeng stood there, panting slightly.

His expression was complicated.

Xiao Lianfeng stared at Lin Yijun.

"…How did you do that?"

Xiao Lianfeng was strong. That was undeniable. With his recent breakthrough into the Saint Realm, his body had been refined to a whole new level.

Even without using qi, he was confident that his physical abilities alone were leagues ahead of Lin Yijun's.

This spar should have been completely one-sided.

Yet Lin Yijun had kept up. No, more than that - he had dodged and countered his attacks. For a moment, Xiao Lianfeng had felt the pressure of a real fight.

It didn't make sense.

Lin Yijun didn't respond immediately. Instead, he looked down at his hand, flexing his fingers.

That was the fastest he had ever been in his life. The most fluid. The most… natural.

He reacted with more precision than he thought possible. His attacks had flowed effortlessly, as if his body had been forged for battle.

He had fought against a Saint Realm cultivator. And for a moment, he kept up!

If anyone else had told Lin Yijun this, he would have laughed in their face. But he had just experienced it himself. No one would believe it unless they saw it with their own eyes.

Lin Yijun snapped back to reality as Xiao Lianfeng stepped forward, extending a hand toward him.

"You okay, Brother Yijun?"

Lin Yijun let out a breath before smiling. "Yeah."

He grasped Xiao Lianfeng's hand, allowing him to pull him back to his feet.

Dusting himself off, he glanced toward the store. "Let's go back inside first."

Inside the store, the group gathered once more. Hua Feixue looked at Lin Yijun, eyes shining with curiosity. Lin Yijun ignored her.

Lin Yijun exhaled and finally spoke. "It was the Cola."

Xiao Lianfeng raised a brow. "The drink?"

Lin Yijun nodded. "It boosted my reaction time. Maybe nearly twice or exactly twice."

He clenched his fists. "My body moved before I even finished thinking. I've never felt anything like it."

The others were stunned.

"A temporary boost?" Yue Xueyan muttered.

Lin Yijun crossed his arms. "It has to be. There's no way an effect this strong would be permanent. Even the best saint-grade pills can't do something like this. No, this might even be on par with heavenly-grade ones."

Hua Feixue gawked. "Wait, what?! That little can of black liquid?"

Lin Yijun turned to the counter. "Boss, how long does the effect last?"

'Oh? So that's the effect of the cola, huh?'

Hao had drunk one himself earlier, but it hadn't done anything to him. But then again, after what happened with the Beef-Flavored Instant Noodles, he wasn't surprised anymore.

'System. How long does the effect of cola last?'

[The effect lasts for ten minutes, Host.]

Hao relayed the information. "Ten minutes."

The store fell silent.

"…Ten minutes?" Hua Feixue repeated blankly.

Even five minutes would have been absurd, but ten?

A single breath could decide a battle between cultivators. A moment of hesitation could determine life or death.

If someone's reaction speed doubled for even a minute, they could completely overwhelm an opponent. Ten minutes was enough to turn the tide of a fight, no matter how dire the situation.

"This thing is absurd…" Xiao Lianfeng muttered, staring at the empty can of cola.

"What about side effects of the cola, Boss?" Lin Yijun asked.

Lin Yijun's mind was already running through possibilities.

An effect this powerful shouldn't come without a cost. For example… will his body weaken afterward? Will his reaction time drop below normal once the boost fades? Or maybe -

He thought of a few more guesses, all reasonable from a cultivator's perspective. Any pill that could provide such an extreme boost always carried some kind of price. Even legendary heavenly-grade pills required careful use, or they could cause permanent damage to one's foundation.

Still, no matter the drawback, as long as it didn't harm his cultivation, Lin Yijun knew he would still take the cola without hesitation.

In the state he had undergone, his combat ability had spiked to a completely different level.

A cultivator's realm wasn't everything in battle. Skill, experience, and technique mattered. But when raw speed and reaction time were increased to this degree…

Against a stronger opponent, the cola could turn the impossible into possible.

If an enemy underestimated him because of his cultivation realm, they would suffer for it.

'Nice question.' Yue Xueyan gave Lin Yijun a thumbs-up in her mind.

'Side effects… System, are there any?'

Hao asked anyway, despite already having a feeling there wouldn't be.

[Indeed, Host. You are correct. There are no side effects from consuming the cola.]

[Why would there be? The products sold in the Dimensional Convenience Store always stands above all others, unrivaled across countless worlds. Inferior items may come with drawbacks, but our store's goods? They are perfection itself.]

Hao couldn't help but chuckle. There it is. The system's usual over-the-top confidence.

'Yeah, that's more like it, System.'

'If only I could actually enjoy the effects of our products myself, that would be perfect.'

The system stayed silent.

Hao shook his head. Truly unfair.

Did the store owner just… laugh?

Before they could dwell on it further, Hao spoke.

"There's no such thing as side effects in the cola."

"It's not some low-quality product with drawbacks. Only those come with a price. Well, it does only last for 10 minutes, though."

"…"

The four were stunned.

No side effects?

Only for 10 minutes. Only?

Lin Yijun was the first to react. He scratched his head, looking skeptical. "Boss, I don't mean to doubt you, but… that doesn't make sense. I mean, something this powerful should have a drawback, right?"

"At the very least, shouldn't there be a small one? Like a tiny, tiny price to pay?"

Hua Feixue waved her hands dramatically.

"Right?! Even the best heavenly-grade pills have side effects if taken too often. That's why no one dares to abuse them. And this is even stronger than that? Senior Hao, there's just no way."

Every medicinal pill followed the principle of balance. Power always came with a cost. Even legendary elixirs couldn't escape this rule. At least, that's what the books said, from what Yue Xueyan could recall.

Was the Senior truly saying the cola defies that logic?