Welcome to Ability Store

Chen Xuan was taken aback.

In the past, such replies would take several days or even a week or two. Why did they respond so actively this time?

Could it be that... witnessing ascension is really important?

He opened the email, only to find that it wasn’t a notification for promotion to LV7.

Inside, there was only a short sentence.

"We’ve finally awaited this moment, please come up to the fourth floor for a talk."

The fourth floor?

He thought for a moment, dragged the Mind Reading Technique out of his inventory, and placed it into his ability slot, replacing the Celestial Thunder Order. Then he walked to the elevator and pressed the up button. When the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside the cab and found that there was indeed an additional button on the control panel.

Who would be waiting for him there?

The one who adds to his salary and reviews his promotions?

In other words... the mastermind behind the Ability Store?

Chen Xuan took a deep breath and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

Ding. The elevator doors closed and it began to ascend.

The surroundings were silent, completely devoid of any sound. He never felt anything strange about it before, after all, with spatial movement, one can instantly travel to another world’s branch. But now, he felt the silence was particularly prolonged.

It seemed like several minutes had passed before the elevator indicator light lit up again.

The doors slid aside, revealing not a corridor but directly connecting to a room. The room was small, and one could take it all in at a glance. There was no one inside, just a swivel chair in the center.

Chen Xuan let out a breath. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved. Then again, if someone was living on top of the store all the time, watching the manager’s every move, it would indeed be quite terrifying.

Besides the chair, the room was empty, almost like a sealed chamber. Even the walls hadn’t been fully painted, leaving the coarse gray-white concrete exposed, which seemed rather flavorless compared to the vibrantly colorful guest rooms on the second floor and the luxuriously decorated restaurant on the third.

He walked to the chair and naturally sat down, "I’m here, where are you all?"

As soon as he said this, Chen Xuan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

He instinctively clutched his clothes.

But the pain came quickly and passed quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Puzzled, he released his grip. Just as he lifted his head, he saw the wall in front of him transform into a screen filled with snowy static.

He also heard the sizzling electromagnetic noise.

Chen Xuan wasn’t surprised by these changes.

Given the means of the Ability Store, what’s so strange about turning a wall into a screen? Since no one appeared in person, it was likely a video conference after all.

Sure enough, the screen soon showed a real image: an elderly gray-haired man sitting on a similar swivel chair, smiling at him. Behind the old man stood a group of men and women, all dressed in the same white lab coats. As Chen Xuan looked up, they all began to applaud. The area the other party was in looked like a spacious and bright laboratory. In the distance, there were quite a few electronic devices and robotic arms operating, their designs advanced, but their specific uses were unknown to Chen Xuan.

Seeing people was unsurprising, but the applause left Chen Xuan a bit confused.

What kind of trick is this?

Looking at the men and women clapping enthusiastically opposite him, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow... For a moment, he felt a strong discomfort.

"Congratulations. You are the first store manager to witness ascension and will undoubtedly be recorded in human history." The old man spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Who are you?" Chen Xuan asked, somewhat displeased. The other party was at least in his seventies, with deep wrinkles on his forehead and densely packed spots. The old man wore square-framed glasses and a white coat, with two pens in the front pocket and a badge on the right. Just from his appearance, he very much resembled a leader of a research institute.

Instinctively, Chen Xuan tried to use the Divine Eye Technique to see the name on the badge, but the ability didn’t activate.

He touched his pocket, finding that the scan gun was missing again—just like during the duel with the Star God.

"My name is Liang Mingzhe, an ability researcher," the old man replied, "I know you have many questions, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of time here, enough for us to find the answers."

We?

Chen Xuan noted his choice of words. Shouldn’t the other party be telling him all the answers?

"So you are the... owner of the Ability Store?" he hesitated, unsure how to describe it, "...chairman?"

Because from any angle, it didn’t seem like a mere ability, but more like a mysterious company.

"No, it doesn’t belong to me, nor to anyone," the old man shook his head, "It is the wealth of all mankind."

Chen Xuan fell silent.

He was unsure whether the other party was being coy or genuinely enlightening him.

"Never mind, I’ll introduce everything from the beginning again." The old man waved his hand, and the people behind him dispersed, leaving only a young woman with long hair remaining. "Since you’ve become a level 7 store manager, you should already know many secrets unknown to ordinary people. You should also recognize that we are not on the same world line."

He nodded slightly.

It wasn’t surprising that the Ability Store’s capabilities came from another world.

"Simply put, I come from the original world, and you belong to the evolutionary world."

This was a new term.

Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow, "The original world?"

"Yes... the world line where Earth first birthed humans, also the world line that never existed."

This statement was somewhat convoluted.

"What do you mean?" He scratched his head, "Has Earth birthed humans many times?"

"This lady is my assistant and the information manager of the research ship," the old man pointed to the woman, "Why don’t you introduce it to him?"

"Hello, Mr. Chen, my name is Zhao Qian," the woman nodded, raised her right hand, and gently swiped. A picture-in-picture appeared in the bottom right corner, seeming to depict ancient Earth, with herds of dinosaurs running across greenery. "The earliest life, anaerobic acetogenic bacteria, appeared on Earth 4 billion years ago, and then dinosaurs jumped to 250 million years, followed by humans, 350,000 years ago."

She paused briefly and gave Chen Xuan a meaningful look, "Have you ever learned this knowledge, Mr. Chen?"

"I watched Animal World as a kid,"

"This was the appearance of the original world... At that time, there was no Spiritual Qi, abilities, gods, or Demon Fiends. People researched the world straightforwardly, dividing matter into indivisible particles and attempting to unify the four fundamental forces—"

"Hold on," Chen Xuan interrupted in surprise, "Weren’t these fundamental forces already unified? I remember the textbooks saying that unified theory was broken through in the millennium."

"Of course, if you introduce Thought Power as a variable, these forces can easily unify into one system," Zhao Qian replied.

Thought Power?

"You mean... Spiritual Qi?"

"Precisely. The name isn’t important, the essence is... it’s an energy existing within the layers of multiverse. It can be guided, stored, and transferred by the thoughts of intelligent life, and it can achieve mass-energy conversion with extremely high efficiency. To human civilization, it’s a brand-new resource."

Chen Xuan’s heart trembled.

He suddenly realized what the other party was getting at.

"Thought Power... wasn’t there from the beginning?"

Zhao Qian shook her head, "Of course not, it is the reward of civilization’s progress and the curse of its continuity."