Branch Opening

After purchasing Wallace's Level One Access, he would be able to summon employees through the lottery pool.

By then, he would definitely have many employees. How could he keep them all in a single store?

He would certainly need to open several more branches.

Besides, he now possessed the power of a Titled Douluo. Establishing a faction of his own would not be out of the question.

And during the second Douluo era, there was Huo Gua—the man with the most outrageous cheats in the entire Douluo series.

A million-year first Soul Ring and the otherworldly soul Electrolux. Though he possessed the Hextech lottery system, one could never have too many cheats.

As long as it was a cheat, he had to fight for it.

Su Mu returned to Bei Bei's courtyard and looked at the empty grounds.

He sat cross-legged beneath the pavilion and began continuously absorbing the Soul Power drifting through the air.

But without the effects of the Text Decree, his current absorption speed left Su Mu somewhat dissatisfied.

He then summoned his Text Decree Martial Soul, once again granting himself positive buffs that increased cultivation speed and efficiency. His Soul Power also fell to 40%.

"Wait a minute?" Su Mu sensed the newly acquired Soul Skills within him that accelerated cultivation speed and efficiency.

These two Text Decrees could indirectly increase the amount of Soul Power he cultivated within the same period of time.

These two abilities could not stack identical effects, but what if he changed the wording—

What if he changed it to doubling the gains obtained from cultivation by a percentage?

One described the process and provided an ability, while the other directly affected the result.

The effects were different, so naturally, they could stack!

Su Mu immediately used the Text Decree. A line of words slowly appeared upon it:

"Cultivation effects for the next two hours will be doubled."

The moment that line was written, it vanished completely.

After Su Mu kept experimenting, the value finally settled at 0.2.

[After use, cultivation over the next hour will additionally yield 20% of the cultivation gains.]

As Su Mu activated it, three different cultivation buffs descended upon him.

Although the efficiency of Soul Power circulation and absorption was no different from the Text Decree's previous effects,

when it finally entered his body after a circulation cycle was complete, there was an additional trace of Soul Power.

This ability looked rather weak and unimpressive, but if accumulated over a long period, it could build up gradually and produce considerable results.

Imagine gaining ten levels of Soul Power in a year. An additional 20% would mean cultivating two more levels over that year.

It sounded pretty useless, but he had another Hextech!

Every breakthrough had a chance of triggering an additional breakthrough. Those two levels meant two extra chances to break through.

If both triggered additional breakthroughs, that would be four levels—half of what one would normally cultivate in a year.

Su Mu thought that, in his current state, he could make money and earn Hextech during the day.

Once the stores were running, he could let his employees work and earn Hextech while he used his free time to rapidly cultivate Soul Power.

Looking at it this way, he still had time to attend school.

Shrek Academy, Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, and Zheng Tian Academy of the Heaven Dou Empire were all good choices.

But if they were talking about where the most wealthy spenders gathered, the richest place was undoubtedly Sun Moon Imperial Academy.

After all, in the Sun Moon Empire, Soul Tools were treated like toys and pills like snacks.

As long as he added any kind of buff or effect to his burgers, people would fight to the death to buy them.

Now that Heaven Dou City had one of his branches, he could next consider opening stores in other cities.

As Su Mu thought, he continued cultivating his Soul Power without pause.

Meanwhile, Old James completed the shop renovations in just two days.

When Su Mu smelled the paint fumes inside the store, he left it unused for several more days before officially opening for business.

As ceremonial firecrackers exploded in Heaven Dou City's commercial center, Princess Vina unexpectedly came to find Su Mu again.

Looking at the decorated shop, she could not help giving him a thumbs-up. "Not bad. I never expected someone so young to know so many business partners."

"This shop must have taken a great deal of effort to open, right?"

Su Mu scratched his head. Ever since bringing Old James here, he had not managed the shop at all. He had not even settled the remaining payment yet.

He awkwardly scratched his head and said, "Well, if you hadn't mentioned it, I almost would've forgotten."

"They are indeed friends I met before, but they're from the Outer City."

"And their chief engineer—at least, I think that's what they call him—

they have a renovator who's a Soul Engineer, and he seems pretty impressive."

As Su Mu spoke, he looked at Remi and Elysia, who were busy inside the shop.

By now, Cyrene had likely been watched by quite a few hidden agents within Heaven Dou City.

After all, when she encountered that Titled Douluo last time, it had happened too suddenly for her to conceal her appearance in any way.

If she showed up now, it would practically confirm that she was a Titled Douluo.

Thus, only the two employees were cleaning tables, opening up stations, and preparing to begin business.

Princess Vina looked at the two busy women inside. She could clearly sense that Remi's Soul Power Level was roughly on par with her own.

But Elysia gave her some trouble, because at that moment, she could not sense even the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power from Elysia.

After reconsidering it, she felt that the person before her was no ordinary person, but a Soul Master who possessed Soul Power.

"Is this a newly recruited employee of yours?" Vina asked Elysia in confusion.

At the moment, both women wore the Wallace employee uniforms Su Mu had spent a fortune to buy.

They gave off an air of fresh and vibrant beauty.

They even wore little chef hats and white aprons trimmed with lace.

"I never expected this, little boss. Your methods and taste in hiring employees are quite unique."

Princess Vina looked at the two pink-haired girls inside the shop, slender yet exceptionally well-endowed, and could not help teasing him.

Yet even as customers began walking inside, Su Mu still did not enter.

After all, this was his first experiment. What would happen if he gave the Wallace Hextech abilities to the independent employees he owned in the store?

Would they, like him, be able to freely use Copper Soul Coins to purchase supplies and ingredients?

The result was exactly as he had imagined. The system's functions were incredibly comprehensive, almost no different from when he was present himself.

Moreover, since Elysia and Remy were Soul Masters—and exceptionally powerful attack-type Soul Masters at that—their stamina was practically not consumed by this sort of work.

As expected of employees recruited through Wallace Selected Hextech. They were even more tireless than workhorses. I wouldn't even be afraid of operating twenty-four hours a day.

Only after Su Mu sensed that the Gold Soul Coins earned independently by the game employees were also counted among his usable Gold Soul Coins did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

That was right. Since this was Wallace Selected Hextech, it could not possibly make him stay and guard one shop himself. Opening branches was necessary.

But before that, he should first head to the Old City and settle Old James's renovation fee.

Su Mu was about to say goodbye to Princess Vina and head there alone.

But Princess Vina had been intrigued by the Soul Engineer renovator Su Mu had mentioned, and she planned to go take a look with him.