Confusion clouded Lex's mind as he repeatedly went over the information provided by his cultivation technique. The Regal affinity was supposed to make spirit energy extremely resilient, meaning its affinity would not be easily overridden and induced stability in whatever it affects. This was supposed to be the bedrock of Lex's breakthrough when he entered the Nascent realm.
This was due to the fact that, normally, when humans cultivate, Nascent is the realm in which their soul finally becomes strong enough and gains the ability to exist without the body. The realm was more complicated than just that, and included many things beyond the simple strengthening of the soul, but in context to Lex, it was a huge issue. After all, another ability of Nascent was to separate the soul from the body according to need, but Lex technically did not have an independent soul anymore.
Thus, since this was the cultivation path that Lex was following, adjustments needed to be made to assure that the breakthrough wouldn't try to separate Lex's soul forcefully, thereby destroying him, since his soul and body were the same now.
The stable nature of Regal affinity would have played a key role in stabilizing his body while the natural process of the breakthrough tried to do the exact opposite.
The very fact that Lex's affinity had changed, regardless of whatever effects his new affinity had, jeopardized his breakthrough, making it likely that he would fail and die. Moreover, this was not a one time issue that needed to be dealt with only once. Even if Lex found some external assistance in helping to stabilize his body during the breakthrough, the reliance on the nature of Regal affinity was repeated in many more aspects of the cultivation technique from thereon.
What that basically meant was that even if, using external factors, he did breakthrough without dying, meaning availing that 0.01% chance of survival, he would become crippled and unable to actually use his cultivation due to conflicts his affinity created.
Once the confusion elapsed, panic set in. How could this be? No this wasn't supposed to happen? What will he do now?
What-
Lex suddenly closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. While holding his breath in, Lex clenched his fists tightly and strained all the muscles in his body while standing still. For a few minutes, he stayed like that, before he slowly started letting the air escape his lungs.
One by one, he relaxed his muscles and once he was done, unclenched his fists.
When Lex reopened his eyes, there was no panic or confusion in them any longer. There was only calm.
It was not even confidence, for how could he be confident in tackling a matter that far surpassed his understanding. But he was definitely calm. He had traveled the universe, walked out of hordes of zombies, bathed in lava, killed countless strong enemies, hosted rulers of entire Empires and races at his Inn. He was Lex. It was not so easy to overwhelm him anymore.
Facing this great, seemingly impossible task, Lex set out to think of a solution. But before that, he had to adjust his state perfectly.
After a very, very long time, Lex put on the Bathroom set, which included the Bath robe, Bathroom slippers and the bathroom towel. Individually, all these had various effects, but when worn together, they had a set effect which basically cleansed him internally and externally of all hazardous factors and let him focus on the task at hand. The reason he put this on now was because internal factors also included things such as doubt, anxiety, inner demons, etc.
He could have no distractions during this time. He could not afford to make a mistake regarding such a sensitive issue.
He reviewed all the available information that he had from the very beginning. First, Regal Embrace was a unique cultivation technique, meaning that no one else in the universe had ever practiced it before, nor would they ever do so again. That was not a part of the cultivation techniques description, but a requirement of his reward back then.
He recalled that the Regal Embrace was a part of someone's collection. A certain 'being somewhere in the universe' had it. He had not thought about it again since then, but the insinuation of that information was great. If there was a cultivation technique that blatantly said it had the strongest defense in the entire universe, yet the owner only kept it as a part of his collection, then what did the owner cultivate?
In fact, now that he was recalling the matter, even Mo's blessing, which was described as having the strongest attack in the universe, was also a part of a 'beings' collection. There existed the possibility that these were two different beings, but Lex thought it was unlikely.
Regardless of whatever the being in question cultivated, the fact that it existed in his collection, and was not generated by the system gave Lex a lot of assurance.
That did not mean that he was aiming to search for that being. It just meant that someone somewhere had designed these two cultivation techniques. If there were beings capable of designing his cultivation technique, there were surely beings capable of altering it as well to help him. Moreover, with the Midnight Inn, he was uniquely equipped to search the entire universe for those skilled in created cultivation techniques.
Come to think of it, John himself created spiritual techniques based on his customers' requests. Lex wondered if his system was some kind of academic system, capable of designing techniques. It seemed he would have to put questioning John on his agenda.
Focusing back on the matter at hand, Lex identified a few key things he had to do now. First of all, while he could not break through the realm, he was free to grow within the Golden Core realm, so he would do that.
Next, Lex would begin doing research into cultivation techniques and how they were designed. Other than that, he would also have to begin doing research on people or entities skilled in creating or altering cultivation techniques. How he would ensure their trust once he found someone potentially skilled enough was also an issue he would have to look into.
These were the key things in regards to focusing on regaining his cultivation path. Other than these, Lex also had to spend some time familiarizing himself with his new abilities.
While Regal Embrace gave a brief description of what Soul sense did, Lex did not understand it completely. Intuition, on the other hand, had it in its very nature to allow Lex to understand completely what it did.
Yes, Soul and Spirit senses were extremely cool. In fact, technically speaking, all three abilities were probably different but equal in their potential. But damn was Intuition impressive. Lex already knew it would be his favorite.
It was a much more advanced version of the instincts he had already been using, except that he could freely direct it towards whatever he wanted. Moreover, it made him extremely sensitive to anything at all that had to do with him. If he was sitting in a room of a thousand people, and a single one of them thought of Lex's name, his Intuition would be able to detect it!
The range of his ability was limited, for now, but in all things related to Lex, his Intuition was going to play a huge role.
*****
Primary Realm, Gaia's graveyard
In the center of this zone, which was acknowledged as the largest death zone in the entire universe by some, was a cozy little wooden hut. Well, it was not wood but the flesh of Gaia, but as the originator of the Dao of Wood, it could be considered the same thing.
The hut itself did not seem very impressive and had only one bedroom, one library, one vault and one study. Inside the library sat a being whose name had not been uttered in the entire history of this fledgling universe.
On his small little sofa, made from the skin of the first ever 'dragon' - no, eh, on the sofa made from the comfiest leather, the being sat wrapped in a robe that had definitely not been made from the feathers of the Divine White Heron, drinking from a mug that had could most definitely not have been crafted in the flames of a realm that exploded.
Beside him sat his pet, a common Lynx and completely not the physical manifestation of a realm that had gained sentience.
Yes, all was normal in the library, until the being suddenly frowned in confusion.
"Someone surpassed the Regal heritage? In this universe? How is that even possible?"
The confusion in his eyes turned to intrigue as his eyes moved as if he was reading something written on air.
"Ho ho, this is actually interesting," the being said, sitting up. He put his book down and began reading with fervor, but his eyes were only looking at air.
As far as Lex's new abilities were concerned, so long as they were on the list of expected abilities gained in the process of cultivating Regal Embrace, the cultivation technique gave Lex information on them.
For Intuition, however, even if the cultivation technique failed to provide him with an explanation, he would have known. After all, it was in the nature of the technique itself to provide Lex with information about anything related to himself.
For example, currently his intuition was telling him that he should thoroughly master controlling his spirit and soul sense before exiting his room, at least in the guise of the Innkeeper. When Lex's thoughts went to why it was so important he should not appear as the Innkeeper before mastering those abilities, his intuition pointed towards the Host Attire.
While it was not spelling the answer out for him, the hints were big enough. From there Lex could summarize on his own that the Host Attire only granted him complete control of his facial expressions and his body, but that extreme control he had been relying on to maintain his facade would not extend to these two new senses.
Although both the soul and spirit sense were invisible and could not normally be detected, others with spirit and soul senses of their own would be able to detect his if the two touched. At the same time, while Lex was not sure about this, he could venture a guess and say the way emotions such as surprise, anger, happiness, etc. all show up on a person's face, they might show up in the behavior of his senses as well.
For example, if he was startled, his senses might tremble and extend out of his body if he didn't keep them sufficiently suppressed. He could guess this much because even the spirit energy within his body reacted in various ways to his emotions, though those reactions were extremely limited since they were contained within his body.
That was merely one of the simple effects of his intuition. It was simultaneously warning him of various potential avenues of danger, or rather trouble, he had been ignoring, or not giving enough attention to.
The biggest one at the moment was his double identity as Leo. The identity itself was not the problem, but the fact that he wanted to associate that identity with his real identity of Lex, should someone start investigating him. With his name now at the forefront of the Guest registry, he needed to strengthen the relation between Leo and Lex by dropping a few subtle hints.
Then came the issue of why his name was at the top of the list while so many people stronger than him weren't. That was even simpler to resolve. Lex had been using his own name in the Crystal realm and the Midnight tavern, though he had avoided using his last name. He just needed to build a connection between himself there and Leo as well. That way he did not even need to explain his achievement. It would be up to others to use their own imagination about why he appeared in a different realm, and what he did there.
It wasn't as if these were things he had ignored, but apparently he had just not done enough about them to cover his bases. His intuition would help him avoid simple mistakes like that. The best part was, even this was only a portion of what his intuition could achieve. The ability was truly versatile. So long as it related to his physical body in any way, his intuition would guide him.
Up next was his Soul sense. The basics of it were easy to understand. In the way that spirit energy could interact with the physical plane of existence, and send Lex feedback so that Lex could essentially 'see' everything his spirit sense touched, the soul sense could do the same, but for the soul plane.
A brief description of planes was provided so Lex could understand what they were. Basically all of reality, in every realm across the entire universe, consisted of numerous planes that all existed simultaneously and overlapped one another in the same space, and interacted with one another. Normally, living beings could not differentiate them and so perceived them as a whole. The physical plane was one in which matter existed. The soul plane was another plane in which only souls existed.
This conceptโฆ confused Lex, and not just a little. That was to say, for normal people, their body existed in one plane of existence while their soul existed in another plane of existence altogether? But if they were in different planes, why did the soul need the body's support to exist? Itโฆ for now he just accepted that because the planes could interact with one another, souls could suffer pressure from the physical plane, or maybe some other plane Lex didn't even know about. But this was still something he would look into further.
Getting back to his soul sense, if it could show Lex the soul plane, then what did it look like? Nothing. It was a void of darkness with himself in the center. This was because the soul sense would not detect anything other than souls, and so if Lex only relied on it for sight, in an area like his meditation room where he was the only living being, he would see nothing else.
Of course, as these things usually go, even soul sense was not so simple, and people could find ways to hide themselves from his senses, but for the most part, he would be able to sense any soul with his soul sense.
That was just the basic feature, and the part that Lex understood. The confusion actually arose when he learnt that he could use his soul sense to interact with souls directly, and not only that. When he practiced and got better, he would be able to influence the characteristics of souls to a limited degree - temporarily!
๐ญ๐๐ฃ๐โฏ๐ข๐น.๐คโด๐ฎ
According to the description, this would help him in fields such as alchemy, medicine, forging and many more.
It would take time and experimentation for him to understand what that really meant. For nowโฆ he closed his eyes and wrapped his own body in his soul sense, which admittedly took longer than Lex had hoped. Still, the result was satisfactory. He could see his own 'soul' and deep inside it, he could finally see the treasure within which the system was hidden.
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With his soul sense firmly wrapped around his own body, Lex could see his 'soul'. Only, it looked completely identical to his body. Did that mean his physical body existed on the soul plane? Wait, did that mean he could physically touch souls?
A few random thoughts flowed through Lex's brain, but he focused back on the matter at hand. Though his 'soul' looked identical to his body, the difference was he could see through it. But it was not blood or bones he saw, but a small ball of glowing golden light right in his chest.
He did not need to wonder what the glowing orb was, for he knew instinctively it was the treasure that contained his system. He did not try anything, for not only was he extremely dependent on the system, for now, he also had very poor control over his soul sense. He did, however, take his time to observe that small glowing ball.
Such a small thing had so drastically changed his life. It was hard to imagine.
While he was observing it, he also wondered if the reason he could see the system was because it was classified as a 'soul treasure' or if it had a soul of its own. It was not a simple thought, and whichever the answer was would have major insinuations. But, once again, he did not contact Mary to confirm with her. It was pointless.
For now, once he was finally done testing out his soul sense, he turned his attention to his other new abilities. These few would require him to figure out the details on his own, for their appearance was not a planned part of Regal Embrace.
His new affinity, whatever it was called, would undoubtedly be extremely significant for it had not replaced Regal affinity, but had fused with it to turn into something else. So, regardless of what effects it had, it would stay on the same scale as the Regal affinity, at the very least.
Lex could also make a few guesses about what the affinity should be. The Lotus had informed him of the changes it had made to his body and what the cause of the issue was. He did not know what 'laws' actually were, but whatever they were, it was obvious that they were far beyond his level. In essence, they were very powerful.
Since his affinity had changed due to the changes the Lotus had made to his body, he strongly suspected his new affinity would, at least in some regard, have something to do with laws. This was something he'd have to figure out, especially if he wanted to devise a new way to continue to cultivate.
As difficult as it would be, all hope was not lost. At least his intuition would be a great help in this regard.
But while he could at least speculate about his affinity, he was completely clueless about the changes that happened to his left eye. Even his intuition was silent on why his left eye had gained this new ability, though it hinted at the fact that the change had occurred, once again, due to the changes the Lotus had made to his body. So basically, this once again had something to do with laws. Most likely. Probably. Maybe.
After considering those two abilities and thinking of ways he would test them out in the future, he turned his attention to his body. Before his breakthrough, he had already had a massive increase in strength, which had only been compounded now. The good news was, even without him having to consciously practice, his brain was quickly adjusting to new strength. He would still have to fine tune his control, but the chances of him accidentally crushing someone's hand while shaking hands had dropped to an all-time low.
His thought process had sped up once again, and his capacity for multitasking had absolutely exploded. He could easily do multiple tasks at the same time without suffering any loss in his concentration.
He wondered if he had gained anything special as a result of sticking to the 'true path' as it was called in the Crystal realm, meaning cultivating spirit, soul and body at the same time. His intuition told him yes, though he could not figure out what specifically he had gained.
He tried using the techniques he had learned for the Foundation realm. The amount of strength they could display was inherently limited, meaning Lex would have to learn new techniques if he wanted to fully display the limits of his power. Still, they had become much more powerful than they were previously, and it was much easier to use them as is.
For example, the teleportation technique Lex never got an opportunity to use called the In-Law effect, which originally required him to stay stationary for 3 hours while he primed the technique, now barely took a minute for him to complete. Once he became used to his new realm, the time might even become shorter.
Evisceration, the soul attack that he barely ever used because of how difficult it was to master, seemed to be the only technique that did not suffer a limit on its strength. Not only was it able to display a much greater strength than before, unfortunately the difficulty in using it also increased.
The plus side was, since Lex had grown in his level, even if using the technique caused a backlash, he was more than strong enough to take it without suffering any real harm.
If there was one thing about his breakthrough that Lex didn't like, however, was that it more or less eliminated his hunger. He had more than enough energy in his body to keep himself running even if he didn't eat for weeks. Moreover, since his body had such high energy requirements, which were usually being met by the energy stored within his Golden core, if he wanted to be satiated, the food he would have to eat would have to be much more nutritious than before.
Lex tightened his fists and a firm look appeared in his eyes. He would never give up on eating delicious food. It seemed like it was time to hire an excellent chef. Better yet, it was time to find someone with a cooking system and hire them!
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"I was hired for a special case," said the morose man, the tip of his index finger tracing the rim of his glass. Surrounding him, the usually noisy bar was completely silent as the guests listened to his story with keen interest.
"The fact that I was hired spoke enough of the seriousness of the case to begin with. After all, the best of the best used to come to me to ask for internships. There was no detective better than me, because I was beyond what could be measured. With a 100% case resolution rate, my prices were sky high. The fact that they were willing to pay my dues spoke enough of their desperation."
The man, sporting a thin mustache above his lip, and wearing a brown-colored trench coat, looked down as he shook his head and sighed. His hat sat lonely atop the wooden bar, looking beaten and worn.
"How was I supposed to know that this case would be different?"
The man, who was completely human and in no way anything related to a crustacean, came from a planet called Terra, the geography and history of which were remarkably similar to Earth without any correlation at all. If one distinct difference had to be identified, it was that Terra suffered from a lot more paranormal activity than earth.
"The year was 1966, the place was Chicago, the time was the dead of night and the place was the victim's apartment building, up on the 4th floor of a government housing building. I was alone, for I couldn't have others with me while I investigated, slowing me down. The apartment was a mess. All the furniture was broken, everything was on the floor, the brand new television set was turned on, though one of its legs was broken so it was slumping low. The endless noise of static from the television filled the room, drowning out all other sound. I walked in the stillness of the room, unafraid of the dark, as I reviewed all the evidence.
"I had never seen anything like it. The murder weapon... the murder weapon could not be what the evidence suggested. It was impossible. Most others agreed that the victim had died from the fall, as the broken wall would suggest he had been flung from there while he was still alive. But no, I could tell he was dead long before his body hit the ground.
๐ก๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐๐ญ.๐๐ค๐ข
"Troubled, I continued my search. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, England, China, Japan, I traveled the world hunting down all the victims this serial killer had left behind. But the more I searched, the more troubled I became. It just did not make sense."
At this point the man sighed, and gulped down his drink. His eyes looked out into the distance, as if he could view the memory like a film on a television screen.
"Then one night I found myself in India. There were rumors of the death of a prince, and the signs left behind by the murderer were all too familiar. Well, he wasn't really a prince, but his family lived in a castle, so he may as well have been. My car had broken down, so I was forced to walk the road. I would have reached my destination by morning had I continued, but destiny had other plans.
"In the hot, humid night a strange buzzing sound reached me. I paid it no mind, there were enough flies around me to account for the buzzing. Only, the sound slowly started to grow louder. Still, I was lost in my own thoughts, unaware of the impending danger. It was only when I felt the vibrations in the road beneath my feet that I awoke from my thoughts, but by then, it was too late. I could hear the sounds of the revving engine behind me. The flashing headlights illuminated the road, but all I could see was my life flashing before my eyes. I knew what had happened. The serial killer had come after me. The dreaded mass murderer, known only by his alias, Truck-kun, had finally decided I was too close!
"I turned around to get a good look, but all I saw were two flashing yellow headlights. A truck horn straight from hell sounded out in the night right before Truck-kun smashed into me! But luck was in my corner that night. The horn startled me enough that I fell backwards, and coincidentally, fell through the golden doors of the Midnight Inn. I was saved a hair's breadth, and now I had seen the murderer with my own eyes. It would not escape me in the future. Or at least, that's what I thought."
Silence once again filled the room as everyone listened with bated breaths. This was the key part.
"It was only when I arrived at the Inn, and gained access to the heavenly Henali portal did I realize how wrong I was. Truck-kun was not a mass murderer choosing its victims across the globe. No, instead, the signs of its influence spanned the realm! Galaxies far and wide, planets remote and hidden, none of it mattered. When Truck-kun found a victim it wanted to claim, none could escape it. So far, I am the only one who has looked into the gleaming lights of death and survived. I-"
The man's speech was cut short by the sound of screaming. Someone was yelling something at the top of their lungs, and coming closer! The next moment, the doors burst open and yet another guest of the Inn bent over, panting as hard as possible.
"There's been another murder," he managed to say between long bated breaths. "This time... this time the victim was a Nascent cultivator."
The room full of teenagers and young adults, all fans of comics and novels with unlucky lives, all suddenly had goosebumps. They all fit the pattern for Truck-kuns victims perfectly. They had gathered at the Midnight Inn to discuss ways to elude this monster that exclusively hunted weebs, anime enthusiasts and fantasy fans. But it did not seem like there was a solution. The dreaded Truck-kun could not be stopped!
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