Chapter 668 Destiny Rank
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Based on his previous experiences, Lex was prepared to face some kind of hurdle. But, unexpectedly, he faced no problems. He used the teleportation formation normally, like every other paying customer.
When he arrived at his destination, he traveled for a few more days on his ship before once again arriving in a neighboring territory where he could once again use a teleportation formation.
Such a trend continued for one more month. Not only did Lex not encounter any unusual problems, but he even came across a few people who were quite helpful. For example, he stumbled into a large caravan that was heading in the same direction as him. After paying a nominal sum, he accompanied them on their airship, which brought him to his destination a week ahead of schedule.
Another time, he reached a city to discover that the teleportation formation of that city had recently been upgraded, and could take him much farther than was in his original plan. Moreover, the owner of that city seemed to be married to one of Jasmine's siblings. As such, upon discovering Lex's token, not only did he expedite his journey, he took no money from him either.
Paying was not really a problem for Lex. As a result of his many trades at the Inn, he had accumulated well over a hundred million ordinary spirit stones. Paying a few thousand here or other made no difference to him.
During his long periods of traveling, he would send a clone to study various topics at the library so as to increase his knowledge. Since the Innkeeper was perceived as a powerful entity, Lex had to learn as much as possible about as many things as possible.
Fenrir could not do such a thing, but he was not bored either. Although Lex offered to leave him at the Inn, he wanted to travel as well. Even when he could do nothing else, he enjoyed looking out at the passing scenery.
During this period, Alexander once even asked Lex for help. Unfortunately, Lex could not afford any delays until he reached the Crystal realm, and so had to tell him he was currently unable to help.
He also got regular reports from Mary about the ongoing rumors at the Inn, as Velma still compiled the files she used to submit to the Innkeeper. The thing that interested him most was that apparently the war on earth had temporarily stopped, because apparently everyone was afraid that Marlo would destroy the planet.
There were no details to that rumor, yet somehow Lex did not doubt the authenticity of it.
At the same time, he discovered that Roland, the once newspaper boy back in the Crystal realm, had developed an extremely wide and vast information network that he used to supplement the Midnight Newsroom. Apparently, the entire realm was heading towards turmoil as no one was at peace.
Lex did not pay attention to such things, as he had other concerns. The several month long event that he had held was coming to a close, which meant that naturally he would lose all the security the event brought with it.
That naturally meant Lex needed to think of a new event. For now, he had the planning division propose some ideas, as he was too occupied to come up with and oversee a new event.
The good thing was that the Inns income had been quite steady, and during this period his savings had come to 350 billion MP once again. Basically, there was more than enough MP to continue doing events for a long time.
He also had to continue expanding the Inn, as more and more guests were starting to come. Lately, developing a large underwater city had been added to his agenda, as a lot of aquatic beasts were beginning to visit, and the small lakes and rivers he had across the Inn were beginning to get crowded.
But these were just on the agenda for now. He would deal with all this once he had enough time. At the current rate, it would only take him a couple more weeks at max to reach the Crystal nation, and then from there he imagined getting to Valesco should be easy. After all, he was expecting them to have a comprehensive transport system within their own territory.
The reputation of the strongest and most developed race of the realm required at least that much.
But it seemed that Lex's good luck eventually ran out. One day, while they were traversing a grassland in some unclaimed lands, during his last long distance journey for this trip, something happened.
The ship could not fly too high, and was traveling about 10 feet from the ground. Normally, that was enough to get them clear of any obstacles, but the grass in these grasslands was unusually high so Lex's visibility was null.
But such a mundane problem could not stop Lex as he just used his spirit sense to keep an eye on his surroundings, ensuring they were traveling in the correct direction.
But the distance his spirit sense could cover was ultimately limited, and he could not see too far away from himself. As such, he did not notice that he was heading directly towards a wall of rolling fog which seemed to be covering the grasslands. Perhaps, if his visibility was not blocked, he could have seen it coming. But even so, what could fog really even do? He could still navigate with his spirit sense, so it was unlikely he would have done anything.
But the odd thing was, even when he got close enough for his spirit sense to interact with the fog, he was not able to detect it. In fact, even his instincts failed to warn him that anything was approaching him, whether it be harm or not.
It was not until the ship flew into the fog that he actually noticed it. Immediately Lex became alert, though Fenrir looked at him with confusion. There seemed to be no threat, so why was Lex reacting like this?
The answer was simple. Although Lex was heavily dependent on his instincts, he was well aware that his instincts could not react to things related to systems, so he never dropped his guard. Naturally, if there was one thing that his instincts failed to interact with, there could be others.
Although the fog did not seem threatening at all, the fact that he was taken by surprise was a very alarming matter. In fact, even as he continued to travel through the fog, his spirit senses were unable to detect it.
"There's something wrong," Lex began to tell Fenrir, when he noticed something else, which was even more alarming!
The lenses could not detect the fog at all! In fact, even his right eye could not see the fog. Only and only his left eye, which had mutated, could see it.
Lex raised his alertness to the maximum level even as he turned the ship around to immediately head back. He was not concerned for his safety, as he could always retreat to the Inn. But if he retreated to the Inn, every time he would return to the Crystal realm, he would still be here. Ultimately, his quest to reach the Crystal race would suffer.
Yet despite his quick response, he was too late. The ship had been moving too fast, and even in the split second it took him to respond, it had already traveled through the fog, and come out the other side.
The sound of a massive crowd surrounded Lex, as a bright light blinded him for a moment. When he recovered, he discovered that they had entered a completely new area. An artificial 'sun' seemed to be shining a bright light, illuminating a vast, dry bowl shaped canyon filled with millions of beings.
In a single glance, Lex was able to spot humans, sentinels, poliods, trelops, the crystal race and even the Kraven among the crowd. There were a few fights going on, which was extremely natural when hated enemies were suddenly brought together.
The Kraven themselves had a warring nature, so every single Kraven was already fighting, and the extreme fighting prowess made it so they seemed to be winning. But even at a glance Lex knew that they would not survive long, for they were too outnumbered.
After all, among the millions here, there were so many races that Lex had never even heard of. The Kraven were just a few compared to all the beings here.
In the center of the canyon stood a massive tower built from white marble, and it was the only distinct feature here.
Lex had no idea where he was, or what was happening, but the first thing he did was to check his connection to the Inn. As expected, the connection was still there, for he heard the sound of a notification before he could even check.
New Notification: Host has entered a space sealed by a Destiny rank space lock. Teleportation facility unavailable.
Chapter 669 Study
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For once, Lex wasn't able to stop his expression from changing. Carefully, he read the notification once again.
New Notification: Host has entered a space sealed by a Destiny rank space lock. Teleportation facility unavailable.
"Mary, can you hear me?" he asked inside his mind.
"Of course. How can I help?"
Lex did not reply immediately, for he was currently analyzing his situation. He was connected to the Inn, still, but he was once again stuck in a situation where he could not teleport back. But unlike last time, where he was unable to teleport back because his system was too weak to carry out cross realm teleportation easily, this time it was because of something that locked space.
He analyzed his situation a bit further, not relying solely on his instincts for they had already proved that they were not reliable in his current situation. He had been teleported mysteriously to an unknown location, alongside millions of others.
Although he did not recognize many of the races, he had reason to believe that everyone of them had come from the Crystal realm. After all, while the Crystal realm boasted 7 major races that controlled the majority of the realm, it did not mean there were no minor races.
Subtle racial traits, as well as traces of different energy signatures led Lex to believe that everyone had been pulled to this mysterious place from across the entire Crystal realm instead of from just nearby where Lex was.
He also noticed that the majority of the crowd seemed to be gathered either near the tower in the middle, or the edges of the canyon. Moreover, they were 'near' these places only because there seemed to be some barrier keeping them at a distance. So that meant that they could neither leave the canyon, nor enter the tower.
Lex stopped his 'ship' from moving forward or he'd immediately reach the tower, which was not something he wanted. Getting off the ship, which was extremely prominent and eye-catching, and jumped to the ground. Until he had a better idea of the situation, he did not want to attract any attention.
He swept his spirit sense and observed some of the crowd near him. The crowd's cultivation level seemed to vary, and ranged from mortals, all the way to nascent realm cultivators. It was reassuring that there were no immortals, but they could also just be far away from him, or hiding. The fact that the crowd was so mixed meant that there really could be some immortals around.
He listened to the conversations happening nearby, and thanked the system for the universal translator for almost everyone was speaking in a different language entirely. It didn't take him long to gather that people had apparently been brought here only a few hours ago at most, yet no one knew anything.
"Mary, I seem to be trapped somewhere again," Lex told, feeling like he was living through a bad joke. Why was it that the first time he encountered an area able to completely block out all teleportation was when he was in a rush?
"That's strange," said Mary. "According to what I can tell, you should still be in the Crystal realm. There shouldn't be an issue teleporting out."
"I'm being blocked by a Destiny level space block. Have someone start looking up relevant information about that wherever they can. Moreover, I'm going to describe the area I'm in to you as well. Have Velma look into any information regarding it from the Crystal realm. Make sure to check old stories, myths and legends so that all possibilities are covered.
Lex described the area in great detail, though there really wasn't much to go on. He could only hope that he was caught in some usual and known phenomenon of the Crystal realm so that he could safely make his way out.
If there was no information about this place at all, there could only be two possibilities as far as Lex could tell. Either this was the first time such a thing was happening, or no one had ever made it out after entering this place.
Once he passed Mary the information, he let her be so that she could oversee the search while he himself began to study the area some more. His instincts were not picking up on any danger around him, but that could possibly be because they were being suppressed somehow.
He stayed away from all fights, and chose not to interact with anyone as he waited for a while. Fenrir too was looking around curiously, sniffing the air from time to time.
He waited for a few hours, but nothing seemed to be happening, except that more and more beings appeared in the canyon. Eventually he reached a conclusion that nothing significant would happen until either the canyon was completely filled, or that the canyon would continue to fill until something significant happened.
Tired of waiting, he decided to make his way to the edge of the canyon first, to investigate the barrier keeping them in. Moving should not have been much of an issue, for all the fights had ended by now, and the Kraven had been overwhelmed. Anyone else who was not smart enough to not antagonize millions of beings on their own also met a similar fate.
Unfortunately, Lex's bad luck seemed to continue as a new Kraven appeared in front of him just as he was making his way to the edge.
The familiar, poisonous stench of the black slime covering their body irritated Lex, so he did not hesitate to extinguish the Kraven by using Evisceration before it could even attack. The Kraven was only able to let out a single, painful squeal before it collapsed.
The surrounding crowd was shocked at what happened, then moved to keep a distance. Whether they wanted distance from the poisonous slime, or the intimidating Lex who killed a Kraven with one look, could not be accurately determined.
Chapter 670 Web
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Chapter 670 Web
While Lex's feat of killing with a single look was intimidating to most, it in no way made him out to be overwhelmingly powerful. For example, Trelops within their own territories, were vastly more powerful than their realm should allow. But the few Trelops here had been plucked from their territories and dropped in the middle of nowhere, putting them at a severe disadvantage.
Usually, even if a Trelop left their territory, they would at least be able to summon some support from their territories. Yet now that they were in this mysterious place, they were completely cut off, and were at their weakest.
But not everyone had such clear weaknesses, for example the few members of the Crystal race who were present. Similar to how the crowd gave Lex a wide berth, so too did they avoid those ridiculously overpowered beings. As a race with guaranteed immortality, they had countless geniuses who revolutionized cultivation, or really any field that they were interested in, and then continued to do so since they wouldn't really die.
Moreover, due to the biology of the Crystal race, they really never suffered from depression as a result of their long, never ending lives. Sure, they got bored from time to time, and they would treat that by sleeping for a few eons.
As such, the cultivation system of the Crystal race was extremely well developed and since they could transmit information extremely easily, each member understood how to cultivate perfectly. Basically, there was no such thing as a weak member of the Crystal race, only ridiculously strong freaks of nature, and geniuses among those who surpassed all common sense.
Then, there were always a few geniuses in every race, some of whom had made their presence known in the canyon. Suffice to say, Lex declared himself as a powerhouse with his single move, but he was not the only one. Not that Lex really even cared about any of that.
The barrier blocking the edges of the canyon was being heavily bombarded with countless attacks and weapons, so it was quite a lively scene - at least to Lex. Beasts and creatures of all kinds howled and screamed. Fangs and fists attacked the invisible blockade. Rocks, bullets and balls of energy were all hurled or launched at it, spreading chaos and carnage in the surroundings, but the barrier itself did not even ripple.
The calm and casual Lex seemed an anomaly amidst such madness, but he merely stood there calmly as he looked at the barrier right in front of him. None of his senses could detect the barrier, save his sense of touch when he pressed his arm against the barrier, and his left eye that saw a massive wall of flowing flog.
After probing the barrier with basic physical strength, then channeling his normal spirit energy into the wall, Lex decided to take things more seriously. He used Impervious Hands, and immediately felt the difference.
The fog, which previously acted as an impenetrable wall, immediately became soft. He could dig his fingers into it, and even pull some fog out, though as soon as he tried to do it, his instincts immediately screamed danger! Fortunately he stopped in time, and did not allow his impulsive thoughts to land him in trouble.
He tried to see if he could achieve something by digging his hand into the fog, but the same sense of danger crashed down on him as soon as he tried. Ultimately, Lex decided to let it be, and go investigate the tower. Hoping for a quick and easy way out was wishful thinking to begin with. If he wanted to exit, he would have to play by the rules of this place, though he did not understand them yet.
When he approached the tower, he discovered, through his left eye, that the barrier surrounding it was not made of fog. Instead it seemed like an intricate web which would react to each and every person or attack made contact with it.
He noticed that sometimes the complex web blocking everyone's path would sometimes thin in reaction to certain beings, but never enough to reveal a path. Instead, when it was attacked the web would thicken and multiply, increasing the complexity of the barrier.
It seemed that they were supposed to somehow figure out how to cross the barrier on their own. When Lex touched the web, it seemed to thin as well, yet not nearly enough to cross. So he tried Impervious Hands.
This time, he discovered that he could easily move the web with his hands as he wished, either creating an opening or making the barrier thicker and stronger. For a moment he considered whether to create a massive opening and let everyone enter, or just enter on his own.
He did not know what the tower held, so it was a risk. He could either be bringing reinforcements with himself if a terrible foe awaited them, or be bringing in competition if the tower led to some treasure.
It all came down to how much confidence he had in himself, and how much of a risk he was willing to take. He looked at Fenrir, as if asking the pup its opinion, and saw only excitement and eagerness.
"Well, I hope I don't regret this then," he murmured as he pushed aside the web just enough to create a small opening. Before anyone could notice, he grabbed Fenrir and jumped through the hole, passing through.
The moment his hands left the web, the hole disappeared and the web regained its normal appearance. Immediately, the millions of beings trapped in the canyon fixed their gaze on Lex, and countless beings jumped after him to try and follow him, but to no avail. A stampede occurred as everyone wanted to try for themselves.
Countless hateful and angry gazes fixed on Lex, as if he was stealing from their ancestors' graves. Yet none of that was of any concern to him, as he walked into the tower. A part of him was glad he had put on his new, defensive suit. Whatever was about to happen, at least he was glad he didn't have to worry about suddenly becoming naked again.
Chapter 671 Tower
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There was no opening on the tower that could serve as a door so Lex just approached its surface with the intention to see how Impervious Hands reacted to it, but the moment he touched the tower he disappeared.
The millions of beings watching were further aggravated as a feeling of falling behind filled them. Though most of them did not know what this place was or what approaching the tower entailed, it was clear that it was the only way to get out of here.
A few, however, clearly knew what this place was, or perhaps it only appeared that way since they maintained their calm even as the canyon was whipped up into a frenzy. It was a strange coincidence that all those who seemed to be 'in the know' were from the Crystal race, though not all members of the Crystal race seemed to be privy to this knowledge.
But despite the fact that Lex already disappeared, no other change seemed to occur in the canyon. More and more beings began to be dropped in, slowly filling up the entire canyon.
Lex, who had vast experience in teleportation, felt the familiar sensation of being moved through space, though this time was not instantaneous. A special kind of energy seemed to cover him, protecting him from the turbulence as this teleportation seemed to take a long time.
Unable to move, as his body was 'stuck' in the position in which he touched the tower, he decided to take this time to study the sensations he felt while being teleported. Since space was apparently one of his affinities now, he should learn how to make use of it.
If he only knew how much progress Z had made despite having a lesser affinity than himself, Lex might have blushed from shame. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they were as far from one another as they could get.
Using his spirit sense, soul sense and instincts, Lex continued to study space for what felt like hours before he finally appeared in what felt like an ancient yet grand courtroom. Lex immediately began to study the room, failing to notice that for the first time, his connection to his system was suppressed. If he tried to contact Mary, for the first time, he would be unable to do so.
Everything in the massive hall seemed to be carved out of stone, from the floor to the walls and pillars, to the endless intricate designs etched over every inch of the room. In front of Lex, in the far corner of the room, was a kind of throne, once again carved out of stone. On each side of the throne were smaller chairs, as if to accommodate aids or advisors for whoever sat in the middle.
Despite the primitive impression the room gave, it also projected feelings of grandeur and an ancient power. It was not easy to make Lex feel like he was being judged, since he was the one usually doing the judging, but standing in this place, he felt like a mere plebeian waiting for his sentence. The cold, hard stone of the room reminded him of the days where he was just a mortal, and his existence was fragile.
Lex narrowed his eyes as he began circulating his spirit energy, his determination fighting against the oppressive aura of this place. Regardless of the circumstances, he would not accept being belittled. Although he had started out only pretending to be someone powerful and significant to play the role of the Innkeeper, he had slowly come to accept that he was far from ordinary.
He did not know if it was a good thing or bad, but he had developed a bit of pride. Even knowing his cultivation level was much lower than that of many, and that his existence could be a matter of no more than a whim for such beings, he could not keep himself from developing such a mindset.
As if rewarding his reaction, the aura in the room disappeared, and the chair became inviting instead of intimidating. It was as if the room was made specifically for his coronation, and he was to be awarded great honors as soon as he took his rightful place on his throne.
Lex was not really swayed by the changing pressures of the room, but as nothing else seemed to be happening, he approached it.
Soft, distant whispers seemed to fill the room as Lex walked, initially incomprehensible. Yet the further he walked, the clearer the voices became, up until he reached the throne, and the hall was filled with voices of various political figures, discussing the future of some sacred civilization.
Lex looked around and saw nothing, even as he felt people were talking right next to where he stood. Unable to stop his curiosity, Lex sat down and saw as countless figures appeared in front of him, garbed in ancient cotton gowns in golden and silver colors. They wore basic, handmade jewelry, yet the impression they gave was of opulence and luxury.
Lex noticed almost immediately that their discussions never seemed to reach any conclusion, and they continued to debate quite audibly as if the their very purpose was to make Lex aware of the situation based on the content of their conversation.
Simultaneously, a stream of information entered Lex's mind. The white tower he was in was an artifact that had existed from time immemorial and had played a role in the development of the entire universe itself.
The origin of the tower was unknown, and the exact reason for its existence was also unknown. What mattered was that the function of the tower was known, and in fact was directly transmitted to Lex.
Any time a group, or an organization, or a company, or a country, civilization, or race accumulated enough merit, and reached a turning point in their history that would either lead them to the pinnacle of success, or to an unprecedented nadir, the tower would automatically activate.
There was no explanation for what this merit was or how it was accumulated. What was explained was that the towers purpose was to help the specific group as much as possible. Moreover, it would not randomly send people over. Each and every person who had been summoned to the canyon was specifically chosen by the tower, for they would have the exact specific skills or necessary expertise to help specific groups.
But just because someone had been chosen did not mean they would automatically be able to help. Entering the tower was the first hurdle. If someone wasn't able to enter, they would stay at the canyon till the specific group that needed their help would go through whatever situation they were stuck in.
The second hurdle was actually being able to help the situation once the tower brought them into the specific scenario. If they were not able to overcome the situation, they would never be able to return. The only way of returning was to help his assigned group successfully go through the turning point in their history, or survive the repercussions of failure.
Of course, he was not randomly hurled into an unknown situation. The tower arranged for an appropriate identity for Lex, so that he could seamlessly involve himself in the present circumstances.
Lastly, it wasn't as if there was no reward for the people the tower had summoned. If Lex was able to successfully navigate the situation and return, the tower would provide him with something he sorely needed.
There was too much about this situation and the tower that made no sense to Lex, but there was nothing he could do about it for now. Instead, he focused on his new identity.
As it turned out, the identity that Lex got from the tower… was the leader of a rising nation! Information about this nation, and the general information about the world was automatically provided to Lex. Moreover, information about the turning point was even specifically given to him.
This country, which was quite similar to ancient Eygpt, was facing an unprecedented danger that they were incapable of overcoming. The country had formed a unique form of governance where their leaders and leader candidates were orphans, trained from birth to rule justly and without bias. There was no concept of inheriting power, at least as far as the ruler was concerned.
Moreover, their strict moral and cultural values made it so the country had excellent security and living conditions. As a result of a government and ruler who genuinely wished to benefit the country instead of accumulating their own power, the country rose up quickly, and their quick rise was also what attracted trouble.
With insufficient military and wealth that did not match their global status, they had been targeted by their three neighboring countries. Their existing leader had been assassinated, as well as all the orphans who were being trained.
As per the scenario set by the tower, Lex took the identity of the lone survivor who qualified to take the rulers position. He had, just now, been coronated, and in a few hours representatives for all three neighboring countries would arrive to offer 'condolences' and 'aid' during this difficult time.
The impending negotiations would forever determine the fate of this fledgling country.
Lex smiled. Was this supposed to be a challenge?