The body tempering realm, for humans, was about tempering the body internally to make it capable of absorbing and storing spiritual energy. An increase in strength and stamina was only a side effect of such a process, and not the preliminary purpose. As a result of this, depending on how one cultivated, there were often mortal athletes who were stronger and more physically fit than Body tempering cultivators. This is why, on the first day Lex started his self-defense training, he felt like some of his peers lacked in the fitness department.
Lex, of course, was strengthened to the extreme due to the prowess of his cultivation technique.
It was important to note that this description was only fit for spiritual cultivation, as body cultivators obviously honed their bodies well. Furthermore, if one wanted to be a body cultivator, while the stages were the same, the effects were different. It was exactly for this reason why, if someone wanted to dual cultivate spirit and body, they had to start both together as the body would undergo various changes in each stage.
If, for example, someone reached the Golden Core in spiritual cultivation, then decided to start cultivating their body, not only would they be unable to do so, chances were high it would even negatively affect your spiritual cultivation.
There were, of course, exceptions to everything, and maybe there were ways in the universe that would allow a person to start body cultivating at a later stage. But, in general, that was the exception and not the rule. Encountering such a situation could only be based on luck.
Naturally, none of that mattered to someone like Lex who would, henceforth, cultivate his spirit, body and soul all at once.
The next stage of cultivation was called Qi training. It did not matter much, but Qi was just another name for spirit energy. To be more specific, a single strand of spiritual energy was called Qi. In the various worlds, spiritual energy took on various names, and thus the cultivation levels were often called differently as well. Fortunately for Lex, his universal translator would translate all the different terminology into the same few words.
The reason for the next stage being called Qi training was because, since the body had only just become capable of withstanding the presence of spiritual energy inside it, a cultivator would begin by only absorbing a single strand into their body at a time.
Even then, with having only absorbed a single strand, the cultivator had to be very careful. This was because the body maintained an internal pressure that prevented the spiritual energy flowing around it from entering inside. By absorbing a strand of spiritual energy, or Qi, the cultivator was actively pushing against this internal pressure. This was a delicate process, as cultivators would be required to constantly breakthrough the limits of their body by absorbing Qi, but at the same time if they were too rough, the increase in pressure could cause a meridian in the body to rupture, which would severely damage the body. In extreme cases, if too much Qi was absorbed, the body could even explode – the reason why Bluebird tested Lex's cultivation. Such a test did not eliminate the possibility of something like that happening, but at least a faulty cultivation technique would no longer be the cause for it.
Meridians were extremely important, as they were the vessels in the body that allowed Qi to flow through them, the way veins and arteries transported blood. Without meridians, or with damaged meridians, it was obvious that one would not be able to cultivate. In fact, the very reason Larry had been unable to cultivate was because he was born without meridians whatsoever – though people did not know that fact. They only knew he could not cultivate from birth.
What Lex needed to do to go from Body Tempering realm to the Qi training realm was simply to sense spiritual energy. That's right, he didn't even need to absorb it yet. As soon as he was able to sense the energy with his body, he would officially break through the realm and finally begin his cultivation journey.
The process for sensing spiritual energy was described clearly by Regal Embrace, and once he had calmed his mind and entered the most suitable state of mind, he began. Four minutes later, Lex, for the first time in his life, sensed spiritual energy and broke through to the Qi training realm.
Typically, while the realm had changed, something as simple as just sensing spiritual energy should not provide an increase in strength or capability. Yet that was not the case because what was happening was more than the body simply sensing spiritual energy.
A simplified explanation of it would be that the body was awakening. This was because, while during the body tempering spiritual energy was used to temper the body, the cultivator could not actually feel the spiritual energy, just the effects of it. So when a cultivator entered the Qi gathering realm, the action they performed was only sensing the energy for the first time, but the result was quite a bit more.
The cultivator usually senses the energy for the first time on his or her skin and that initiates an automatic process whereby the body starts absorbing spiritual energy. This spiritual energy does not count towards cultivation, and is instead absorbed by the body itself as it is elevated to a higher stage of existence. This elevation, in turn, would allow the cultivator to sense the Qi that entered their body henceforth, and even use the internal pressure of their body to manipulate the movement of the Qi within their body. The movement of Qi in certain ways was necessary to use spiritual techniques.
So, ultimately, that elevation to a higher stage of existence is what strengthened cultivators when they transitioned through realms. For Lex, the spiritual energy absorbed did a lot more. His soul, spirit, and body had been melded together under an external force, but the spiritual energy being absorbed now was finalizing the process. Once the process was complete, Lex would forever be different from all cultivators in the rest of the universe. This is when the true power of the cultivation technique with the strongest defense would start to show.
While the transition in the realm happened almost instantly, Lex remained seated for another hour before his ascendance was completed. When Lex opened his eyes and finally regained control of his body, he shuddered. The process of his soul, spirit and body melding was extremely painful, yet somehow it was the kind of pain one liked. The more he felt it, the more he enjoyed it. He shuddered because he had a flashback of Marlo calling him a masochist. But he wasn't! Honest!
Lex stood up, and all the bones in his body let out satisfying cracks as he moved. He stretched his limbs and tried to sense the difference. But, once his body had finished adjusting to the changes, he only felt normal. In fact, he felt like he had better and more precise control of his body than ever before! This was just one of the many side effects of his existence going from being into three different forms to joining into a single one..
He wished he could have had more time to experiment, but the last match was about to begin and Lex wanted to watch it in the coliseum with the crowds. He had to suppress his longing to experiment with spiritual techniques, test out his strength and even play online games with his newly developed reflexes. He would definitely do all those things once he had the time. For now, he only had one thing left that he had to do first.
He opened the event management panel and looked at the prize for games. Originally, he was going to go for the second cheapest option, since the cheapest already had such a positive reaction. But he also understood that to get, you also had to give. The better the reward he gave out this time, the more participation he could expect next time.
He looked at his total MP which, by now, had accumulated to 9,430,675. After a moment's consideration, he spent 1,430,675 MP on upgrading the final reward! A small bonus to anyone suffering from OCD was that he was left with an even 8,000,000 MP.
Once that was done, Lex donned his suit, looked at himself in the mirror, admiring his own dashing good looks, and was off. When he arrived at the coliseum, the match had already begun. By now Harriot, the zombie leader, like Pramod, and long since stopped participating in the matches. While that made the battle easier, considering the severe lack of forces from Earth, each of the battles was extremely tough.
Still, while Golden Core zombies were more formidable, it was a fact that zombies were inherently weaker than most beings at their level. With the Jotun forces' steady attacks and the Beast's savagery, they had won all the previous matches, and it seemed like the trend would continue.
While somewhat watching the match, Lex also paid attention to the various guests in the coliseum. It was mostly empty, as people watched from the comfort of their rooms or wherever they happened to be. But a few groups still watched in the coliseum.
He noticed that the two people who sat beside him on the first day, Remy, the guy who wanted to have meetings for a secret society, and Akihiko, the influential man from Japan who chose not to cultivate for some reason, were seated side by side, chatting.
There was a large group from Earth that consisted of a few core members, and the rest were merely their entourages. Surprisingly, there was one group that Lex summarized from snooping on their conversations, that consisted of Beasts from Earth, Vegus Minima and Nibiru. Lex recalled that Golden hair had once requested everyone that they summon beasts from their respective planets, and it had finally happened – though Lex did not understand his incentive for doing this.
The largest group consisted of a mix of people and beast alike who were discussing their bets. It seemed there were a few core favorites that most bet on who seemed to perform well consistently. Rorick was, of course, one of them, but his points were too low. He fought very slowly and casually, though he always won and avoided all injuries. He also never tried to attack the node, and so had no contributions to boost his points. The biggest bet regarding him wasn't if he would die, but rather how many zombies he would kill before the game ended.
Suddenly, while Lex was enjoying watching his guests mingle, he got a very loud and abrupt notification from the system:
Warning! Entity capable of detecting system's signature detected! Going into hibernation mode!
The very next moment, Lex realized that he had lost his connection to the system and all its features! It was fortunate that the Host Attire kept its functions, but Lex was scarcely able to do anything at the moment.
He noticed, then, with the power of the suit, that two men had exited their rooms in the coliseum and were approaching him.
Perhaps if this had been before his breakthrough, Lex would have panicked at the sudden turn of events, but right now he was in complete control of himself. He wouldn't even need the Host Attires' help to control his facial expressions. So, instantly, he decided to play it casually, as if he were in a good mood.
He turned to look at the two guests but did not recognize them, but gave them a warm smile anyway. If the system had not been suppressed, his scan would have shown him that one of the men was actually Loretta in disguise.
"I hope you've been enjoying yourselves," Lex said calmly, as he turned his attention back towards the screen.
"Yes, my small vacation has been very… informative. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Ballom, I'm Loretta's father."
"You may call me the Innkeeper," Lex replied as he turned to look, not at Ballom, but at the other man. Lex assumed this man was Loretta in disguise, since Ballom had brought her up, but did not say anything.
"Innkeeper, I was looking forward to your finale, but an urgent task has required my attention and so I must leave. It appears, some trouble has been brewing in the uncharted territories of space."
"I wish you well then, on your journey. If you ever need to rest while on your journey, please come again."
Balloon had been staring closely at the Innkeeper, trying to pry some information from his reactions, but got nothing. It was true that there was some trouble brewing for the devils, but what he wanted to see is if this trouble had something to do with the way the Innkeeper reacted that one time. It seemed that either it was unrelated, or the Innkeeper kept his matters close to his chest.
"Farewell then, I look forward to seeing you again. I hope that next time, I may invite you over to try our hospitality."
Lex merely smiled, but gave no response. A few moments later, both Loretta and the man disappeared.
A familiar ting went off in his head as the system gave him a notification:
System is back online.
Before Lex could ask any questions though, Mary appeared in front of him, filled with excitement!
"I can't believe how lucky you are!" She exclaimed. "Your reward for this quest will be huge!"
"I'm lucky? What do you mean? And what happened to the system?"
"Yes, you're extremely lucky! That man, don't think of his name or he might sense it, was an incredibly powerful cultivator! He was even stronger than Bastet, who, by the way, was the sole reason your quest was upgraded enough for you to receive the Regal Embrace! Now imagine what influence someone even stronger than Bastet would have on your quest reward for this quest! Even if he didn't do anything, just merely entering the Inn during the period of the event should be more than enough to upgrade your rewards. At the same time, however, his incredibly high cultivation level is also the reason why the system had to go into hibernation. The chances were very high that a cultivator of his level would be able to detect the system if he came close enough and the system were still active."
Mary's reply was more or less what Lex imagined it would be. It was disturbing to know that his system could be exposed just by being close to certain cultivators, but there really wasn't anything Lex could do about that at the moment, so he stopped worrying about it.
Ironically, his reaction was a lot more calm than his own bodyguard. The Celestial was practically sweating buckets worth, even when his system came back online. Unlike Lex, the Celestials' authority with his system was a lot higher, so he knew a lot more about it, and the risks involved in having the system be detected. At the same time, he was also stressed because this was the first time he had encountered a being on that level. Not that there weren't other Celestials who had reached that realm, there were, but Celestials were so rare that even he had not met another in his long life. His longevity also spoke about how rare it was to encounter a being at such a level.
Yet after the fear faded, the Celestial was filled with endless ambition! Reaching the same level as that being was his goal, and the system provided him with an opportunity to do that, which is exactly why he was so concerned about raising his system's level. One day, he too would reach that realm!.
Although Lex had relaxed, he was not happy about the fact that such a being had been in his Inn, and Lex had never even realized it. It wasn't Lex's fault really, considering that even though the Attire made him aware of everything that was happening at the Inn, unless he focused on it specifically, he would not be conscious of it. It was like how a person was always aware of the condition of their whole body, yet they probably wouldn't pay attention to something like the third toe on their left foot unless an itch or pain attracted their attention to it specifically.
So, while he was still free, he started scanning the Inn more thoroughly. Each sweep he performed slower than before, and paid attention to guests more to get an idea of who they were or what they were doing.
In true anticlimactic fashion, he discovered no other hiding experts, nor did he discover any secret meetings or impending conspiracies. The closest thing to a 'secret meeting' was the family heads from Earth, convening yet again to make plans – except Brandon, of course. Lex found it very curious to learn that Earth was secretly being controlled by some people out in the universe, that they were the ones responsible for keeping the peace that ensured cultivators did not kill mortals. At the same time, though, Lex had learnt so many secrets about the universe that he was not too surprised.
He didn't pay it much mind and stopped paying attention to them. He had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that other than their cultivation, these family heads really didn't have much going for them. They had easily been threatened into not returning to Earth by the council, and put their hopes in the fact that many years of service to Fernanda would ensure their return to power. Who could have guessed they would be discarded so easily? On the bright side, they had been informed that the threat of the nuclear bombs had been removed, and should they want to retake power, so long as they do not cause heavy casualties amongst the mortals, they would not be stopped. Unfortunately, there would be very targeted arrays and formations waiting for them the moment they returned to Earth. They were currently planning on how to overcome this obstacle.
But, considering they still did not even know about Marlo's increase in cultivation, Lex did not expect much from them. He turned his mind away from them and focused on the rest of his guests.
The Jotun presence was completely ready to evacuate once the games ended. In fact, many of the soldiers had already left. The beasts from Nibiru weren't particularly interested in the Inn anyway, and were only coming due to the pressure from Golden Hair, and could not wait to return.
For better or worse, it seemed like after a busy few weeks, the Inn would return to relative calm after the games. That would give him an opportunity to focus more on each guest specifically.
While planning things, he continued to watch the match as well. As expected, the beasts were in the lead. Lex paid special attention to the beasts so that he could learn as much about them as possible. At the same time, something he had only done today when his thoughts were flowing more smoothly was to connect his Fancy Monocle to a monitor that surveyed the entire Inn. This way, his Monocle's database would increase at an exponential level, and be more useful to him in his ventures to new planets.
Just like that, with Lex scanning his Inn and occasionally watching the match, with the guests mingling amongst themselves or going about their day, the final match came to a close. With 2,500 Jotun soldiers, 1,879 beasts and 144 Earthlings remaining at the end of the final match, the node was destroyed.
The participants were teleported back, some tired, some wounded, some dying, and some completely unharmed. While the participants were being taken care of, all the leaders turned their attention towards the Innkeeper, who had once again appeared center stage, with all the screens focused on him.
"What an immaculate performance by all our valiant participants. Such ferocity and camaraderie were truly a splendid sight to see, not in the least when it gave birth to yet another story of the righteous triumphing over evil. I could praise their efforts endlessly, yet, I think, they are more interested in their prize than mere words."
Lex's performance this time was coming off much more friendly this time, despite their vast gap in status to all his guests. This was mostly due to a shift in his own mindset, but also because now he was not so desperately hoping to fall into the state of 'flow' he sometimes encountered. Now, Lex did not need external aid as he himself was enough for this small task.
"Without any further adieu, I announce the winner of the Midnight Games, the beasts of Nibiru!"
As the Innkeepers' voice echoed, thousands of beasts broke into a cacophony of roars! They were looked down upon in the beginning for their ignorance, but ignorant as they may be, whether on their planet or over here, they reigned the strongest! For these individual beasts, the prize did not mean nearly as much as the validation of this mysterious being. Yet the sloth gazed upon Lex with expectant eyes.
"Though the winner has been announced, the award ceremony will be held in 6 hours. This is so that all those whose valiant efforts gave us this result may be able to recover, and receive the proper award with honor and dignity."
With that, the Innkeeper once again disappeared, much to the sloth's distress. But it recovered quickly, as a few hours changed nothing. It was also true that this would give the participants enough time to recover and be present at the ceremony in a much better condition.
Lex did it this way because, though they would get no individual awards, he wanted to give them some recognition. So, while it was not technically an award, he prepared something for the exceptional performers.
So, while during these final moments everyone got ready for the ceremony, back on Vegus Minima, Ragnar had struck with relentless fury! As soon as the final node was destroyed, the ships orbiting the planet detected the unique signature of the spawning portal. With the formation threatening to destroy the planet if a high leveled cultivator struck being disabled, finally unleashed his complete strength.
When Hells Butcher made his move, why would anyone else's support be necessary? The troops stood by as he eradicated the largest zombie hordes on the entire planet with nothing but a cleaver. Five hours later, while there were still some zombies left on the planet, they weren't nearly the threat they had been previously.
With plenty of time to spare, Ragnar took a nice, long shower, adorned his military uniform, and went to the Midnight Inn to watch the award ceremony. A couple of moments after he appeared, the ceremony finally began.
Authors Note: Read the Creator's thoughts below for some important information
In the haunted forest, as some of the kids from Earth had started calling it, Helen sat alone. Well, she wasn't alone if you counted the various peacocks, pigeons and squirrels that followed her. Though they did not need to rely on her to be fed, as they did in the early days of the Inn, they continued to follow her whenever they encountered her. They had formed a friendship that none of the new or recent guests at the Inn could form.
Helen did not mind, and in fact sort of preferred the company of these simple animals these days. She wanted to change something in her life, and until she figured out what exactly that was, she would spend her time like this. Sometimes, she imagined herself to be like those cartoon princesses that all the forest creatures loved and responded to. But she was no princess, nor did she want to be one.
She was sitting on a picnic blanket, and Velma had brought her a lovely basket full of sandwiches, pastries, some drinks, as well as some things she could feed the animals. Sometimes Velma would accompany her and ask her so many questions! In those days, Helen would share some stories of her childhood and schooldays with her. Though technically Velma was still in a school going age, she hadn't been back in a while. Velma especially loved gossip of any kind, and the more scandalous, the better. Yet, somehow, Helen felt like they had very different understandings of what constituted scandalous. The most outrageous scandal, according to Velma, that Helen had shared so far was once when their school organized a trip, but due to poor planning, left all the kids alone in a hotel unsupervised. The scandalous part, for Velma, was the abysmal service the hotel had provided to those annoying, bratty teenage kids. Today, though, Velma was too busy to join her, so Helen was back to her regular activities. Or so she had thought..
Normally, she would be playing with the animals and eating her snacks, but today her focus was on something else entirely. One of her little squirrel friends had brought her here and shown her something wonderful. It had had squirrel babies!
Unbeknownst to all, these were the first beings to be born in the Inn, and could be called true natives of this wondrous land. Helen only smiled and watched the new squirrel parents as they fussed over their babies and proudly showed them off to her. The sleeping babies were nestled in the mother's embrace, who seemed to be gloating at all the other squirrels watching. If she didn't know better, Helen could almost believe the other squirrels looked at her with envious looks. But she did know better, so why did she still think they were jealous?
This kind of behavior may seem unlike a normal squirrel, and though these squirrels had not yet cultivated, they were to some degree influenced by that once colossal change the Inn had undergone that had scared Bastet away. If one day they began to cultivate, they would be true prodigies. For now, they were simply proud parents that had a complex understanding of social relations between species, and knew how to make other jealous.
"You're not chipmunks," Helen said as she looked down on the babies fondly, "but I'll name you Alvin, you can be Theodore and you can be Simon. When you grow up, you can sing and put on a performance for me, and I will bring you delicious food from the Inn." Of course, no one other than her would know these names, but who cared? Helen had given names not only to these babies, but to many of the animals as well.
"Today is a day that calls for celebration. Let's have a feast!" she summoned her personal hologram and ordered a rather extravagant order of pet food, before holding her own feast for her furry friends. She made plates out of leaves and made all the animals sit around the picnic basket before beginning. They seemed to be unusually obedient, as well as intelligent! She did not need to repeat her orders even once!
In the distance, Little Blue watched all the fun as it hid between the trees. It was too shy to approach on its own, but enjoyed watching all the fun, nonetheless. It had often seen Helen in the forest, and though she seemed nice, it still had a phobia of most humans. Secretly, in its heart, the baby whale wished Helen would discover it, and force it to join in their activities. Yet it was too good at hiding, and Helen never expected anyone to be spying on her, so its secret fantasies were left unfulfilled.
All the hubbub of the 'tea party' eventually woke the baby squirrels, and Alvin looked at Helen with curious eyes. It's parents talked to it and its brothers, as if explaining that Helen was their godmother. Helen smiled at them, but did not try to touch or pick them up. As much as she trusted the animals, being protective of newborns was a very strong instinct ingrained in all living beings, and she did not want to agitate them. She just waved and took a bite from an eclair.
As unusual as it sounded, and as strange as it may seem to an outsider to view, Helen truly felt happy during these short moments. She forgot to worry about the future and forgot the troubles of her past. The expectations she had for herself slipped away, followed quickly by the weight of the expectations of others.
In a small corner of the vast universe, these simple beings enjoyed their simple happinesses. Their activities neither touched upon the destiny of worlds, nor influenced the grand scheme of things, yet in these simple moments of shared joy, they captured one of the most profound meanings of life, one that often escaped even the wisest of beings