Lex waited an entire day, but Fernanda did not return, so there was no opportunity for her to find the business card. Time was running short, and he had to test out its capabilities, but it seemed like he would have to do it himself.
He could, naturally, just find a random person on any planet and have them activate the card, but he had a better idea. Time was tight so he did not sit around and teleported out of the Inn, reappearing in a familiar environment. He looked around to ensure he was alone before he turned in a particular direction and used Home Sweet Home, blasting off in a straight line.
Home Sweet Home was a technique Lex used, which was ridiculously fast in a straight line, so much so that if an ordinary person were to use it they would need to wear glasses just to keep their eyes open against the wind pressure. But now that Lex's cultivation had reached the peak of the Foundation realm, his speed had reached a whole new realm.
In fact, Lex's speed at the moment had somewhat crossed the threshold of what normal Foundation realm experts could achieve. Of course, this was because of the unique nature of the technique as well. Otherwise, without the use of any techniques, the only aspect of his body that transcended his realm was his toughness.
In fact, from the moment Lex achieved his latest boost in cultivation, the way he perceived the world changed dramatically. The human body had an inherent gauge for danger, and certain things would naturally make you hesitate. For example, an ordinary person would not approach a high ledge with a cavalier attitude or would be very careful when touching a blade.
The care or hesitation hidden behind those actions was rooted in the body's perception of the possibility of harm and its instinct to avoid it. To a large extent, all such instincts had basically vanished from Lex's day-to-day life. The only danger he perceived, if at all, was from extremely strong individuals.
He felt nothing when he looked down from high places, most sharp edges felt as dull as a boulder. He was pretty sure that even the oh so intimidating guns from back on Earth would not scare him much. In fact, if he did not feel the need to perfect his Foundation through his actions, he would have broken through to the Golden core realm. At that point, his defense would have been even stronger.
A side effect of his increased defense was a sense of security that made him more comfortable taking risks, which is exactly what he was doing now.
He was currently in X-142, and he was returning to the Infinity Emporium. He ran until he reached a small town, where he used some of the massive supply of spirit stones he had in his home at the Inn to straight out buy a hover-car from someone.
It took him quite a few hours, even at the fastest speed, to reach the Emporium, but it was completely worth it. Even the last time he came here, Lex ended up buying quite a few valuable things. In fact, it was at this moment he recalled he had an amulet or something that hid identity from cameras or something like that. He had no idea where he put it to be honest, and had forgotten it even existed right up until this moment. It seemed even cultivation could not prevent you from losing your own things.
He stepped into the familiar building, once again amazed at the fact that dozens of people entered before him, yet once inside, he arrived completely alone. The only other person in the shop was the familiar Powell Grant, standing behind the counter with a familiar smile.
For a moment, Lex could not help but wonder if the Emporium was a part of a system or something. How else could so many people enter, yet detect no difference as they all get teleported to an individual room.
It certainly did tick the box for systems by manipulating space, but honestly that was not enough to confirm his suspicion. After all, just because it was impressive did not mean it could not be achieved through other means.
"Dear customer, it's good to see you again," said the shopkeeper with a smile. He seemed to recognize Lex as if it was yesterday, and rightly he should. Lex sold him some premium information, the likes of which were not easily encountered.
"It's good to be back," Lex said, as he glanced at the items on display.
"Just in case you returned I had our catalog updated," the shopkeeper said, bringing out a book from beneath the counter. "Last time we could not provide you with truly impressive items due to the kind of sales we have on this planet normally, but now I have arranged for a premium selection that can be made available in as little as a day upon order. After all, since your last transaction boosted you to a level 8 membership status, we have to make an effort to cater to your needs. I recall during your last purchase you were interested in items with spatial properties.All such items are level 7, and usually too valuable to keep on a planet with a level 4 rating like this, but I managed to stash one here in case you ever come back."
The shopkeeper was filled with pride as he elaborated on his preparations, though Lex doubted the man expected to encounter such an amazing deal yet again. Regardless of what he thought, Lex was about to clean out his so-called premium stock.
The talk about level also gave him similar vibes as to how his system worked, as it divided guests into Prestige levels instead of membership levels. But once again, this was too arbitrary a comparison to make a judgment… yet.
"I'm glad you've made preparations this time," said Lex, his smile very sly. "Because this time I'm in search of very particular items, and I already know how I intend to pay. The burden is on you now to perform."
The shopkeeper listened with excitement. It seemed like Lex was his lucky customer.
"I have a card here, a business card. It belongs to a… mysteriously strong person - suspected to be in the Daolord realm. If anyone channels their spirit energy into it, a temporary clone of that person will be summoned that one can interact with. The person in question is known to not be very hostile or aggressive so summoning the clone should not earn you any ire. But the drawback is… the card will only remain active for the next 24 hours."
The shopkeeper was momentarily startled. The time limit of the card greatly reduced the value of the card, yet the inherent value of such a card was monumental. When he recovered, a massive grin painted his face as he opened the latch on the counter and welcomed Lex to the back. The item had to go through appraisal before any further discussions.
*****
Lex had spent the last few months in the Crystal realm, and a lot had happened to him during that time. In fact, it was not just himself who underwent a massive change, but his system as well. But the level of his change, while massive compared to his starting line, was not enough to get him in touch with the higher levels of the universe - directly at least.
While he was in the Crystal realm, due to the natural boundary of the realms, his changes were detected by none, for there were none in that realm looking out for the kind of changes he underwent.
Once he left the Crystal realm, he went directly to the Midnight Inn, which had a Destiny level protective formation, preventing the influence of karma, destiny, scrying, prophecy and so on. Thus, once again, for better or for worse, his changes lay undetected.
The moment he landed on X-142, however, his aura resonated with the laws of the Origin realm, and like a ripple, the resonance carried out into the vast unknown.
Due to the ridiculously size of the Origin realm, one would expect that it would take a long time for the ripple to travel throughout the realm, yet this was a matter of laws. In a unit of time so infinitesimal Lex could not possibly perceive it, like a trumpet announcing the arrival of a lord, news of Lex's changes were declared in the very fabric of the realm.
What this meant… was too complicated to explain simply. The repercussions of this, however, while few, were significant.
On a planet far away, Serene Williams was sighing as she thought of her rebellious daughter. It would be so much easier if she rebelled by bringing home a boyfriend or something, but no, she had to go participate in an intergalactic war for honor and pride and a few other equally worthless things.
Before her thoughts could go deeper, though, a tremor ran through the entire planet, splintering it instantly and causing many continents to instantly collapse. In fact, had it not been for several formations that sprang to life immediately stabilizing the place, the splinter would have run directly through the planet, destroying its core and causing an explosion that would have changed this from a planet to a bunch of meteors.
"What happened?" she asked, instantly appearing beside her husband, her eyes extremely grave. Only he could have done this, but it didn't make sense. His training was going well, he should not have lost control of his strength like that.
"The mark I left on Lex's skull has vanished. He is either dead, or someone has removed the mark."
Horror filled her eyes as she visibly paled, but her husband spared no time to reassure her. Things had to be done quickly.
The cracked planet slowly started to heal itself under the influence of various formations, but that did not mean all was well on the surface. Billions of creatures had already died due to the sudden cataclysm, while hundreds of millions more were affected by the drastic change in climate.
But fortunately, the formations that were healing the planet were treating the planet holistically, so the creatures that managed to survive the first few dangerous instants had a very large chance of surviving.
To Serene Williams and her husband, however, that did not matter at all. To begin with, this planet was a training ground for Lex's father. After all, since he restarted cultivation from the very beginning, he would have to have a host of proper enemies to face and arduous tasks to complete. Thus, this planet, which was originally in its early stage of developing life, had been artificially populated with the most dangerous predators in the universe.
In fact, there were even several beasts with impure Dragon bloodlines, and one very real dragon, all kept as prisoners on this planet as the man's grinding tools. Well, technically, the dragon was no longer a resident of the planet, for it had been killed long ago. After all, they could not afford to let it go free after imprisoning it for so long.
Individualistic though they may be, Dragons had immense pride, and if it ever got out that a dragon was kept as a prisoner for a human's training, let alone the Williams family, the entire human race may not be able to face the repercussions.
Again, none of that was a concern for both of Lex's parents at the moment. The news shared by Lex's father was the worst possible outcome. Neither of them considered the fact that anything dangerous could happen to Lex, for they had gotten a prophet to see into the future and predict the direction of Lex's life.
He predicted that so long as Lex stayed away from cultivation, and stayed away from the influence of the cultivation world at large, he would live a relatively safe life for 50 years.
Based on that information, they had made their own timeline to increase the pace of their cultivation, and accomplish a few things.
About a year ago, when they learned that Lex had begun cultivation, they feared the worst and increased the pace of things. When they began hearing news of the presence of the 'Midnight Inn' on Earth, they feared the day Lex might himself get involved in such matters. Now it seemed like that time had come.
"Get someone on Earth to locate Lex, if they can. But do it discreetly, my gut tells me he's gotten himself involved with something dangerous and I don't want to attract any attention."
"What about you?" Serene asked, her voice laced with concern. "You still haven't mastered Neelum's Slash."
The man, Lex's father, frowned for a moment, before it seemed like he made a hard decision. Standing there, the man's aura changed, and if Lex saw him now, after getting over the fact that the pot-bellied old man now had sick abs, he would recognize that he had entered the state of 'flow'. A second later, he transcended the 'flow' state and went into the 'overdrive' state Lex had recently unlocked. Then… he went beyond even that, and soon it seemed as if the world itself began to bend according to his will.
Ultimately, for the briefest of moments, he reached an even higher level that almost brought him to the threshold of causing a ripple in the fabric of the Origin realm, much in the way Lex just had. The moment did not last, however, because the very instant he achieved it, the man drew his practice sword and slashed forth.
Something seemed to click, and the single slash he had been trying to master for years became so simple it became more inherent to him than breathing. His form, his strength, his swing, his intention were all perfect.
There was no sound of the sword cutting through the air, because it was not thin air through which the sword swung, but the fabric of space itself. A straight, neat cut through space appeared before the couple, before some mysterious force seemed to stretch the cut open, revealing what looked like a ballroom.
A tall, rather handsome man stood in the hall, a glass of wine in his right hand and a book in his left. He looked up to see the couple and raised an eyebrow. This… he was not expecting.
"Father," said Lex's old man, as he stepped through the cut space, as if he was simply walking through the door. Serene followed closely behind him lest space began to heal itself, separating them.
"I was just thinking about you, my rebellious child," the handsome man said, his voice just slightly forbidding. "Would someone like to explain to me why I suddenly have a 23-year-old grandson suddenly appearing in the family tree?"
Instead of replying, Lex's father responded with another question, his voice reeking with the desire to murder.
"Would someone like to explain to me why my daughter is going off to war?"
The handsome man was startled by his son's tone until he noticed he had overlooked something incredibly obvious. His son, meaning Lex's father, had entered the family grounds holding a sword.
"Crap."
*****
Powell Grant was grinning so widely it almost hurt his cheeks. Almost. Not only had he verified the veracity of the card, the instant he entered the card in the businesses database, someone bought it with a price so amazing Powell was looking towards a bonus several times the size of what he got for the information regarding the Bangle of Narn.
"Mr. Lex… no I mean, Sir Lex, I think you will be greatly pleased with the price we're offering for your card. Of course, if you have anything you need, feel free to mention it, and I personally guarantee that as long as it exists on the market I will get it for you."
"Why don't you tell me what you're offering first," said Lex, feeling pretty good. One would think he would get sick of earning money after all the MP he had, but not really. It always felt amazing.
"Sir Lex, I would first like to tell you that your membership rank has been raised to level 9, the highest possible rank one can achieve without meeting the owner of the Emporium himself. What that means is that the list of items available to you none is even larger, though if you select a rank 9 item it will directly be traded for the card. If that is your wish, I can arrange it for you, but I had already created a carefully selected list of items I suspected you might like based on our previous experience together.
"First, as requested, I have created a list of spatial items that I can easily arrange for you within the next 10 hours, as well as their sizes. Next, the rarest and most sought after seeds in the galaxy, as well as the most optimal fertilizer for plants of various grades. After that, I recall you had a unique interest in preventing your identity from being exposed, so I managed to get my hands on a unique bangle that prevents long distance tracking via prophecy so long as the other person doesn't have some of your blood. Then I noticed that you were using a very old version of one of the Emporiums best seller items, the Fancy Monocle, so I procured the latest version for you: the AR contact lenses…"
The man continued elaborating on his list, but Lex was momentarily startled when he heard what he had said. The Fancy Monocle was actually a product of the Emporium? Lex always thought that it was something his own system had created.
If it wasn't, did that mean that all items he got from the system were actually… stolen goods from across the universe? Or was his earlier guess correct, and the Emporium was actually a part of another system, and that systems could somehow trade items internally or something?
Without any outward change, Lex focused on Powell and tried to use one of his new features that allowed him to scan people even outside the Inn.
Name: Powell Grant
Age: ???
Sex: ???
Cultivation Details: ???
Species: Unknown
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 0 (never been to the Inn)
Remarks: If you want to sell your soul, he can get you a good price.
Species unknown? Wasn't he human? Before Lex could continue to ponder such important questions, the shopkeeper showed him a list of items available to buy with his new and increased rank.
On the top of the list was an item that Lex could not believe he was seeing.
Emporium Treasure's list
No. 1: History wiper
In case of an untimely demise, this valuable treasure will be sure to erase any and all evidence of any actions you may want to keep hidden. A must have for adventurers, entrepreneurs, casanovas and those with questionable browsing history on the Henali portal.