Despite Lex's numerous concerns, the festival did not devolve into complete chaos with the inclusion of the various maniacal guests. Though Lex did quickly learn that cultivators capacity for partying was much longer and harder than ordinary folk - something he should have expected.
The fact that Lex now had a selection of various drinks due to the addition of the Midnight tavern did not do anything to calm the situation down either. Though Lex was raking in MP, so what was the harm?
Around the night of the second day, the Mystery trial finally finished updating. The process was marked by an unusual phenomenon of golden light shining down from the heavens, right onto the door. Although that was not something Lex had planned, everyone assumed that it was a part of the festival.
The Mystery trial could now accommodate more than one guest at a time, which greatly increased the number of people who could have access to it. Previously, only on average 10 to 11 people could use it during the day due to which, while it was almost always in use, its contribution to the MP income was minimal.
The only other change it underwent was an enhancement on its already existing ability to train peoples best skill. It was something Lex himself had never tried yet, and that made him wonder what his best skill was. He would think about trying it himself once the pressure from his impending breakthrough went down.
Besides the Mystery trial, another thing that attracted a lot of attention was the Guest Registry. Although Lex had claimed that he would ignore it till he felt better, he was taking everything much more seriously now. As such, while he did not create a separate area for it and left it at the Midnight manor, he spread information about it among his guests via the workers and holograms.
There was just one minor issue that he had not anticipated. Despite thousands of guests already signing it, his name was still on top. Lex had, of course, anticipated the exposure his name would get due to him already signing it, but it never occurred to him that his name might remain on top. After all, while he had quite a few accomplishments under his belt, he was merely 24 years old. With guests who lived well into the thousands of years, as well as cultivators from across the realms, he did not think his achievements would hold any measure.
Unfortunately, no matter who else signed, his name remained firmly on top. It had begun attracting attention, and over the next few days, the identity and achievements of this so-called 'Lex Williams' was called into question. Of course, no one dared to question the Inn. But amongst themselves, they wondered.
Even Marlo, who had signed it, and was currently in the top 10, wondered if this was the same Lex as the one he knew. It seemed unlikely. After all, despite his many other achievements, the only reason Marlo was in the top 10 was because of him achieving a status as a Prime. He had embarked on a new cultivation journey, different from one anyone else he knew had ever faced.
To give a better idea of how great an achievement this was, Brandon Morrison, Alexander's grandfather, and the person who brought the Morrison family to its current height, was not even in the top 10,000 signatories! He literally owned the planet of Mars, yet that achievement could not even get him close to the top.
Lex could not help but think that establishing the Midnight Inn was being counted as his achievement and keeping him on top. If that was the case, he could not see anyone replacing his name any time soon. This… could have some problems.
𝓵𝙞𝓫𝒓𝙚𝓪𝓭.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Besides that, on the 6th day, the battle between Larry and Suzuki finally ended. Larry's condition was… far from ideal. He was missing his left arm, though he still wasn't bleeding. He didn't even go to the Recovery pod, and instead began chomping down on a few metallic items.
This wasn't the first time Lex had seen this peculiarity, to be honest. The first time was when Lex left Larry a golden key, and only a short while later, he suffered from an assassination attempt. Back then, under the guidance of the system, Lex had fed Larry the metal casings of his bullet from the Heavy Harley, since that was the only precious metal he had at the time.
The scope of this ability really bewildered Lex. The craziest thing was that Lex could confirm that Larry was still a human despite his… oddities. He sincerely wondered if he could get the same ability. Not that Lex was weak by any measure, but healing was a persistent issue with him.
While for the moment he had the Lotus to help him in that regard, he did not want to rely on someone else forever.
But that would all come later. As the days passed, Lex's attention was increasingly on the 7th and most important day, at least for himself. He had even made regular appearances as Leo during this time to make sure people see him, but as the end of the first week approached, he stopped doing everything else and focused only on this.
He informed all the security to be extra cautious, and even summoned over 50,000 additional security personnel, only this time they were mortals. This was in case everyone else was forced into a state of breakthrough in their cultivation.The Griffin assured him that it would be fine, but Lex didn't want to take a chance.
After all, during the last week, the number of guests at the Inn had surpassed 20 million! That wasn't even the greatest issue. The most common guest at the Inn was no longer human. Instead, they were Devils. 13 million Devils were inhabiting the Inn at the moment, and it was extremely nerve wracking to know for over 1 million of them, Lex did not have the authority to see their cultivation!
"Everything is going to be just fine," Lex told himself on the dawn of the 7th day.
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Ragnar stood with his hands behind his back, looking out at the beautiful horizon. The Midnight Inn personified, to him, everything that the human race strived for, and everything he fought to deliver to his brothers and sisters in race. It was peaceful, safe, exciting and accessible.
It was a glimpse of heaven that everyone deserved to experience. But the universe… the universe was not a heavenly place. To be at the Inn right now, to experience this so-called raise in star level which would aid everyone in cultivation, Ragnar had made difficult decisions. The galactic battlefield with the Fuegan needed someone to oversee it always, and if he could not be there, someone else would have to take his place. But it was a price everyone was happy to pay, even the other generals. After all, Ragnar was the rising star of the empire.
It was difficult to accept such a favor, but for his duty, Ragnar took it. After all, a cultivation retreat for him would not be just a few days. Months was the absolute minimum time he would need.
He had planned on coming to the Inn and stabilizing his mood to ready himself for the impending cultivation retreat. Yet this beautiful piece of heaven did not provide him with the peace he was expecting. Instead, a field of enemies revealed itself.
Devils filled the grounds of the Inn as far as the eye could see, all of them taunting him by keeping their humanoid shape. Devils, for reasons he did not understand, had two forms. One was their original, true form. The other was remarkably close to humans, with only minor additions or changes here and there, in the form of wings, horns, tails etc.
Ragnar had dedicated his life to fighting demons, yet he never forgot that demons were only the Devil's slaves. His greatest wish upon seeing them was to unsheathe his weapon and lay waste to them, even outnumbered as he was. Yet he knew that this was not the place. It was not fear of failure that stayed his hand, but the knowledge that if he made an enemy of the Innkeeper, the human race would lose a valuable ally.
So, he stood silently on a hill, reigning in his volcanic rage, and watched silently as evil incarnate roamed the land freely. One by one, his soldiers also stood behind him, until an entire battalion appeared behind him. They said nothing. They did nothing. But just standing together was enough. It was a show of force. A show of pride.
The devils did not pay much attention to Ragnar, for the most part. They had been extremely well behaved at the Inn. In fact, many of them wished wholeheartedly to become even better friends with the Innkeeper. After all, the access the Inn would give them to the people of the entire universe was far beyond anything they could achieve on their own. And for them, that access meant profits!
There was one, however, who took great interest in teasing the general. Warheil grabbed a lawn chair and sat down directly beside the general, his thin black tail holding a glass of Pina colada so that he could sip it. He didn't even say anything. Just his presence was enough to irritate this fearless human, and he knew it. How funny would he be if this hero of the empire died during a tribulation because he was too irritated to focus?
Not that the empire was too important to the devils. They dealt with multiple realms, so how could a small empire only a few galaxies wide even be worthy of their interest? The empire was only qualified to fight the demons, not them. Even that was naught more than moderate amusement.
Finally, around noon, something changed. A projection of the Innkeeper appeared in front of everyone, alongside a holographic prompt.
It read: 'Would you like to enter a personal cultivation abode before the star rank is raised?'
Ragnar did not immediately respond, and instead turned to look at Warheil.
"After this is over, catch me outside, how about that?" he said, looking the devil straight in the eyes. He had no fear of their racial superiority. Humans may lack their advantages, and have a lower starting point. But there was a ceiling restricting how strong they could grow.
"Certainly," Warheil responded, but Ragnar had already disappeared by then. In the distance, amongst many other soldiers, Alexander watched the small exchange silently.
*****
Lex was not nervous, but the knowledge of how catastrophically bad this could go was at the forefront of his mind. It wasn't like he hadn't had a lot of guests before, but never had he entertained so many who were so powerful.
Moreover, since he couldn't gauge their strengths, he didn't know if they were weaker, equal to or stronger than the Griffin. Fortunately, once they started cultivating, they would not be able to cause any problems.
After mentally preparing himself, Lex sat down in his Meditation room and used the Remote prescience ability to send a projection of himself as the Innkeeper out to everyone. Originally he planned on giving a speech and using the token in public, but suppressing his cultivation was becoming much too difficult. Even the slightest distraction would cause him to lose control and break through, so he decided to do it remotely instead.
"Guests of the Midnight Inn, welcome," said his projection to all. All of the Inns activities and festivities had temporarily stopped, so everyone was looking just at him.
"I'm sure most of you have heard, but for those who haven't, allow me to briefly describe to you what is about to happen. From time to time, I like to raise the level of the Inn. This, in of itself is not a big deal, but many of my guests seem to enjoy the experience, and gain much from it. So, allow me to share this experience with you. And, if you enjoy it, remember to patronize the Inn more often in the future."
He did not elaborate too much, for he wanted to maintain the perception that this was no big deal to him. Yes, no big deal.
After one final scan of the Inn, Lex crushed his 0.5 star rank increase token.