As for the Spirit Sword Technique...
Chen Xuan walked out of the store, picked up a fallen leaf on the ground, silently recited the incantation, and forcefully tossed it towards a nearby ginkgo tree.
With a swishing sound, the leaf pierced the trunk like a flying knife!
He walked over to take a closer look and found the leaf had completely penetrated the bark, deeply embedded inside, leaving only a two-finger-wide gap on the surface.
The effect is truly astounding...
Chen Xuan marveled inwardly, if this leaf hit a person, wouldn't it be life-threatening? Even if it missed vital points, it could instantly disable the target.
He knew that cultivators all had a few tricks up their sleeves, but to have such an effect from a Cultivation Technique rated as white-grade was quite terrifying.
Then Chen Xuan tried other uses, like attaching the Spirit Sword to his fingertip. It looked like a slightly elongated nail but could easily cut through chopsticks and leave marks on tiles.
Surely, it could also quietly slice through a person's throat.
Who would be suitable to sell this ability to?
"Looks like I'll have to be more cautious when choosing who to market this to next time," he muttered to himself. If the Spirit Sword Technique fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions, the consequences could be disastrous.
After checking his abilities, Chen Xuan remembered his performance points.
The Manager's Code clearly mentioned that this reward could be redeemed immediately.
He returned to the bar, took out a red notebook, and flipped to the corresponding page. Sure enough, it clearly stated that performance could be used to upgrade the manager's rating or be exchanged for other rewards. But no matter the choice, a report had to be submitted via email.
So can colored abilities' Level 1 be upgraded?
Chen Xuan immediately opened the store management section of the manager app and found the performance point rewards section based on the code's examples.
Scrolling down, he found most of it blank, with only the first item "Manager Rating" as accessible.
And upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 required only 4 performance points.
This system is like a career promotion... The higher the sales, the faster the position climbs, and the higher the salary. The problem is, employees' salaries are paid by the boss, so if he's just a branch manager, then the Ability Store must have an entity similar to a boss or board.
But that wasn't the case.
Because the manual even explained the rarity designation of abilities, it specifically stated that SSR-like Legendary Abilities are unique, with rarity as one-of-a-kind in the world.
In other words, the "???th Manager" is unique.
Other abilities, however, can exist in multiples.
White-grade was directly called a common ability in the manual, not even counted as an R.
No way everything on the red notebook is nonsense, right? After experiencing a transaction, Chen Xuan no longer dared to question the authenticity of those contents lightly.
Since it's useless to overthink, he might as well set this question aside, and first, level up the manager rank. Since it's a reward mechanism, climbing higher is definitely not a bad thing.
Clicking on the Manager Rating option, a mail template immediately appeared on the desktop. It had no recipient, and the applicant needed to fill in the reason for promotion.
"Such a hassle... Can't it be based directly on performance?" Chen Xuan scratched his head in exasperation and could only honestly fill out the email. For the application reason, of course, he implicitly praised himself, just like writing a real job application letter. He didn't choose to be perfunctory because he worried there might be a reason behind the app's complexity.
After finishing, he clicked send, and then there was no response.
Apparently, this isn't an instant feedback process.
Ding-dong-ding~~
The wind chimes suddenly rang.
"Hey, is the boss there?" someone shouted.
Already another customer?
Chen Xuan instantly switched to a welcoming smile and looked up at the person, "Welcome!"
The visitor was a middle-aged man, around forty, wearing a vest on top and shorts below, with glasses on his face. Chen Xuan quickly assessed in his mind, mm... strong and vigorous, sturdy limbs, though dressed simply, maybe this person enjoys being hidden in plain sight. After all, customers who walk into this store won't be ordinary people.
So... what kind of ability might he be longing for?
"A pack of White Sand and a bottle of Tsingtao."
"Uh? Oh..."
"Do you have spicy hot pot?"
"Uh... No."
"Then why do you have a spicy hot pot sign? Seriously."
"..."
After the uncle left, Chen Xuan finally caught his breath. He could say the process of checking out the uncle was even more unbelievable than entertaining Liu Shuyue!
-- Is this shop both an Ability Store and a general store serving the Celestial Ridge District?
The thought of both cultivators and retired women visiting the store gave him chills.
Wait...
Isn't this a disaster?
Chen Xuan suddenly realized that he wasn't just responsible for dealing with ability customers but also had to keep the store running like a mini-mart. The difficulty level just multiplied!
The Manager's Code phrases saying "all store operations expenses are borne by the manager" and "under no circumstances is the store allowed to close" had long laid the trap!
The next day, Chen Xuan did not go to work; he directly resigned.
The other side agreed readily, considering his initiative, saving this month's salary.
But now that he's the manager, wasting time for a month's salary is not an option; he needs to focus all his energy on the Ability Store.
After tracking expenses on a calculator all morning, he finally had an estimate of the store's running costs.
It mainly divided into two parts: one is the cost of restocking all the goods, such as cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, and snacks sold need replenishing; the other is rent, water, electricity, and natural gas, all fixed expenses.
That's right, this mystical shop centered on ability transactions still had to pay utility bills to the National Electric and Water Corporation. The rent had its own bank account deducted monthly.
After calculating, the running cost of the store was about 30,000-40,000 yuan per month.
Chen Xuan initially thought the sold items would automatically restock, but reality was quite different. After an entire night, the shelves didn't grow new cigarettes, and no new drinks appeared in the fridge. Not even the rag that wiped Liu Shuyue's blood became clean again.
Aside from the characteristic of ability transactions, it was no different from an ordinary neighborhood store, just with slightly more exquisite interior decor.
Currently, Chen Xuan had 50,000 yuan in savings.
This was his remaining savings after his entrepreneurial failure; it was enough for rent and meals under normal circumstances, but given the planned expenses, he could only hold out for a month and a half, after which the store would have to close due to unpaid bills.
The situation was quite dire!
Performance points were not the focus now; the focus was real money.
Realizing this, Chen Xuan immediately had an idea. With his current income level, it's no use working to maintain the store; the most viable way is through the abilities—monetizing them!
"Selling abilities directly..." Chen Xuan mused silently. After spending the night testing, he reached a conclusion not mentioned in the manual: losing abilities doesn't equate to a "memory wipe" nor affects normal life.
For example, losing the Extraordinary Sleeping Ability, he'd still sleep well at night. Losing the Encyclopedia of Ancient and Modern still didn't erase historical memories; the well-known dynasties and historical figures remained, just their detailed stories lost impression. He guessed these keywords transcend the historical realm, becoming part of self-cognition. Once opening a webpage to search those stories, he could remember them again.
This dispelled his last hesitation about trading abilities.
Although currently abilities can only be exchanged for abilities, no one prohibited him from charging an extra fee. Just like the Special Eating and Extraordinary Sleeping abilities, while seemingly least rare, to wealthy individuals suffering from appetite or sleep issues, they're invaluable and worth lots of money. Pair with a trivial ability as a bonus, and such a transaction seemed practical.
The issue was he didn't know such wealthy individuals, and with his connections, finding the right target quickly was challenging.
This idea was undoubtedly difficult to execute.
Naturally, Chen Xuan thought of a second method: using abilities to earn his first pot of gold himself.