13 Summoning Portal
[Host can choose one reward]
[Guardian Beast Egg]
[God's Eye Mirror]
[Summoning Portal]
"Such generous rewards? Is today system's birthday?" Jun exclaimed in surprise.
Just from the names of these rewards, they could be considered top-notch. The first seemed to be a beast egg, and the second a mirror that could probably spy on others.
Among the three, the third one immediately caught Jun's attention. It was obviously something he could not let go of.
While he might have many opportunities to tame beasts or stumble upon a spying method, a summoning portal was a unique and intriguing option.
Without much thought, he chose the third reward – Summoning Portal.
[Congratulations, you have acquired 'Summoning Portal' ability]
[Summoning Portal: You can summon one intelligent life form every month. The summoned life form will be completely random. Probability of summoning a higher level life form increases by increasing the level of the shop.]
[Remaining Summons: 1]
[Note: Talents sold to these summoned life forms won't provide you with system tokens.]"
"I can only summon one person every month? Tsk, and here I thought the system was being generous," Jun retorted. His previous excitement faded after reading the description.
Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the second floor of the shop house. Jun immediately went to check its origin.
A blue-colored dimensional portal had appeared out of nowhere. "From the looks of it, it should be the Summoning Portal I just obtained."
The portal's borders were covered in a metallic material, and a system screen appeared in front of it.
[Do you wish to use the summoning portal?]
[Yes/No]
Without further ado, Jun chose to use this summoning portal with great anticipation.
Even if he could only summon one person today, it could be a cultivator in the Qi Condensation Realm or even higher, which would be a lot helpful for Jun.
The summoning portal flickered for a second. Afterwards, a beautiful woman in her late thirties walked out of it. She wore an ordinary dress, but her temperament was like that of a noble lady.
"Thank you for summoning me, master." She bowed politely to Jun.
"No need to thank me."
Curious about his new subordinate, Jun immediately opened her status panel.
[Name: Hua Zhenyi]
[Cultivation: 5th stage Qi Condensation Realm]
[Insight: Average]
[Constitution: Gold Physique]
[Technique: Eternal Youth Cultivation Technique (Mortal grade med-level), Five Direction Movement Technique (Mortal grade med-level)]
[Spiritual Root: Wind Elemental (Mortal grade high-level)]
[Talent: Charm (Inferior grade medium-level), Eloquence (Inferior grade high-level)]
[Loyalty: 65]
"Good lord! I got a 5th stage Qi Condensation cultivator in my first try," Jun exclaimed, not disappointed with Hua Zhenyi's cultivation level and physique.
However, he felt a bit let down when he looked at her techniques and talent.
"Do you have any memories of your past?" Jun asked with a curious gaze. This was his first time summoning someone, so he was excited to know how the summoning process worked.
"No, I do not remember my past. The first thing I saw when I woke up was only darkness, until my lord summoned me through this summoning portal," Hua Zhenyi said to Jun.
From the looks of it, she doesn't seem to be lying. Probably, she had already died and was summoned by me through this portal, Jun mused for a while and stopped thinking about it.
Whatever her past was, she is now a subordinate of Jun, and he wouldn't treat her badly.
"Hua Zhenyi, you will be my subordinate from this day on. I will not treat you badly and support you in your cultivation," Jun told her with a warm smile.
Hua Zhenyi heaved a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that her lord wasn't a pervert or some arrogant young man.
"I will remember your words and will serve till my last breath." Hua Zhenyi immediately knelt down before Jun and cupped her fists.
"There's no need to do that, just remember to do your work properly from now on," Jun said to her.
"Yes, master, what should I do from now on?" Hua Zhenyi asked politely.
"Clean the shop for now, and also arrange the grade one talismans properly on the shelves in order," Jun shamelessly instructed Hua Zhenyi, taking the opportunity to slack off.
Hua Zhenyi didn't delay any longer and went downstairs to complete her task while Jun also checked if there was any kind of change in his system.
A new [Building] option appeared in the system panel.
In this section, there were many kinds of building blueprints that could be used to build some buildings in an instant.
[Alchemy Hall: This building is used for alchemy practices. Increases chances of success in alchemy by 3%. (Mortal grade) (Price: 5 tokens)]
[Talisman Hall: This building is used for crafting talismans. Increases chances of success in talisman crafting by 3%. (Mortal grade) (Price: 5 tokens)]
[Beast Hall: This building is used for training and taming spirit beasts. Increases chances of taming spirit beasts by 3%. Increases training efficiency of tamed spirit beasts by 3%. (Mortal grade) (Price: 10 tokens)]
Only these three buildings were available. Additionally, there were also [Shop Status] and [Renovation] options.
[Shop Name: Golden Phoenix Pavilion]
[Shop Level: Mortal Grade]
[Shop Owner: Wu Jun]
[Shop Reputation: 0]
[Shop Branches: 0]
[Shop Protection Array: None]
[Upgrade Requirements: Three mortal grade buildings, 50 tokens, 10 grade one beast cores]
"Everything's good and all, but what does the reputation rating do? Does it have a special effect if I increase reputation?" Jun asked.
The next second, the system replied to Jun's question.
[Yes, it does have a special effect. More reputation rating can attract more suitable customers.]
"I see, it seems useful. I will focus on increasing the shop's reputation from now on then," Jun smiled, knowing that increasing reputation would give him a huge advantage.
Other than that, there was also a [Renovation] option now available to Jun.
Through this option, he could now renovate his shop however he wanted.
[First-time renovation is free of cost.]
Jun's eyes lit up after he saw the notification. Initially, he had thought that he would have to wait for a while before he could accumulate enough tokens to renovate the shop.
However, the system gave him a free try.
"Let's not waste this opportunity." With that, Jun started to renovate his shop, as a full blueprint of the shop appeared on the screen.
There were various furniture and decorations that could be added to the shop.
Firstly, Jun decided to increase the size of the shop by another 10 meters, which seemed to be the limit. Then, he separated the first floor into three sections.
In the first section, products of the shop would be displayed on shelves. This section would also be the main area to sell normal products in the future.
In the second section, low-level techniques would be sold. Even though not many shops sold these techniques nowadays due to various risks involved, it was a profitable business nonetheless.
As for the third section, it was the most secretive one. Only those customers who wanted to buy talents would be able to step inside.
After that, Jun also added some furniture and light decorations in the shop. With each placement, the shop started to take on a new and improved appearance.
Suddenly, a white light shined inside the room, and Jun was kicked out of the shop with Hua Zhenyi.
"Master, what kind of technique is this?" Hua Zhenyi's eyes were wide open as she looked at the strange phenomenon in front of her.
"This isn't some kind of technique but sorcery," Jun said to her in a playful manner.
Hua Zhenyi was confused by Jun's comment, but she decided not to pester him any longer.
Soon, the white light vanished, revealing the new appearance of the shop.
The exterior of the shop wasn't too extravagant. There was nothing but a signboard hanging at the entrance. Inside the shop, it was kept simple as well.
As soon as Jun walked inside, he was welcomed by a sweet fragrance that seemed to be coming from a flower.
Near the entrance was a counter where customers could inquire about the products of the shop.
In the first section of the shop, there were various talismans displayed on shelves, while some shelves were empty.
In the second section, all the shelves were empty without a single technique book or scroll.
The third section was completely empty except for two chairs and a single table.
