Chapter C465 Calm
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.
Chapter C466 Understanding His Powers
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 concept… 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? It… 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!
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 now… 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.
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter C467 Never Give Up!
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!
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter C468 Dread[Bonus ]
"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.
"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!
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter C469 Chopsticks
Lex spent the next 2 days getting used to the changes in his body. Getting used to his new strength was the easy part, as his brain did most of the work for him. To further refine his control, he used chopsticks to move rice from one bowl to another, one grain at a time. The chopsticks themselves were quite flimsy, and every time he accidentally broke them, he started from the beginning.
This method seemed pretty stupid when considering all the resources available to him, but sometimes it was just about putting in the work. He quickly gained precise control over his strength, not only in both his hands, but his feet as well - though he hadn't used chopsticks to train them.
His dual vision was difficult to get used to, to be honest. It might have been easier if both his eyes had obtained the upgrade, but since they hadn't, he had to keep track of both streams of data consciously. In all honesty, it was something he was completely capable of doing due to his recent improvements, but it was just tedious. It was like constantly being aware of your breathing. One could, of course, consciously take control and maintain the required rhythm, but it was so much easier when it was something being done on autopilot.
In the end, it was not something he overcame. Instead, while browsing all the techniques he got from the Infinity Emporium, Lex found a technique that trains the spirit, allowing him to multitask better. It was like splitting his mind into two, to perform two different tasks without bothering or being affected by the other.
This was something he could already do to some degree due to his new realm, but the difference between being able to do, and training to do it specifically, was huge. Moreover, the moment he started training in the technique, his intuition told him that the effects of this technique would compound. Since it was focused on training the spirit and not the brain, every time the spirit grew stronger, the effect would increase without him making any additional effort.
Currently he could completely focus on 3 different things without suffering any interferences in his concentration or having a drop in his performance.
One of those 3 things was constantly dedicated to his new eyesight, so now he could easily switch between focusing on one stream of information over the other, without really stopping his eyesight.
He had no progress so far as far as discovering what characteristics his affinity had, although he had determined that it wasn't corrosive or hazardous in any way.
What he had not been able to do, however, was train his spirit and soul sense properly. He had attained some initial progress, to the effect of being able to keep his senses from extending out of his body randomly, but not much else.
Unfortunately, the Regal Embrace did not provide him with some kind of training regimen to train those, so Lex had to rely on other resources.
Finally, after spending two days locked up in his room, he came out. But, this time he did not appear as the Innkeeper nor did he appear as Leo. This time, he came out as Lex.
One reason was that he needed to drop a few hints of his identity, though even that he would not do purposefully. He was going to browse the Henali portal for guides on learning how to train his spirit senses.
The portal had both free and paid services, and apparently some kind of hidden authority system, as Lex learned. After all, it was a network available to the entire realm, so how could there not be tiers?
Lex currently only had access to the common tier of the portal, with no idea of how to reach a higher authority. For now, though, it was completely irrelevant to him, since the kind of information he needed could be accessed publicly.
Besides that, there was one more thing he wanted to do that he could only do as Lex. The system wielder who had been following Suzuki, the man Larry had fought, was now spending a lot of time with Larry over the past few days. Lex wanted to make contact personally and learn a little more about him.
He could have spied on him using the system, but his way he wanted to test out if his eyesight could detect the system as well, and that was only something he could do in person.
Moreover, the new group of people Larry had been hanging out with were extremely suspicious. Lex wanted to get to know them better as well. After all, more than once, he had seen Anakin lead people into the Chamber of Secrets to conduct secret business meetings. Even he could not spy on them in there, for it was strictly forbidden by the system.
With his agenda set, Lex strolled through the Inn as he took in the festive mood. Even if nothing special was happening, everyone was just happy about their breakthroughs.
Lex wasn't able to help the smile that appeared on his face as he enjoyed the positive feedback the Inn kept getting.
Finally, things were going well for once without any problems randomly popping up.
He did not spend too long strolling around, for training still had priority. After registering himself on the portal, he quickly logged on and began searching for guides related to spirit sense and soul sense training.
For spirit sense, he immediately found many guides, both paid and unpaid. For soul sense, however, let alone guides, he couldn't even find a mention of it. He highly doubted that it was such a rare thing that it had never been encountered before. Most likely, this was one of the topics that was hidden behind the secret authorities or tiers mentioned earlier.
Overcoming his disappointment, Lex glanced through one of the free tutorials available. Initially, he found it very informative, but as he continued, a strange look appeared in his eyes. Why was this using chopsticks, too?The inception of this chapter's publication is linked to N0v3lb11n.
Chapter C470 Spiritual Treasure
While spirit sense was mostly illusory, it could also be used to interact with physical objects. It was not a replacement for physical strength, usually, but still the ability to pick up or somehow manipulate items far away was very useful.
The process of interacting with physical items was broken down into a few simple steps so that beginners could focus on each individual step while they learned. First was, naturally, wrapping the intended item with his spirit sense. Then Lex would channel some spirit energy into his spirit sense, giving it the strength to harden temporarily at certain points, allowing it to touch physical items. Then, based on his control of his spirit sense, he could use the hardened portion of his sense to grab onto and manipulate the item as needed.
There were countless techniques that allowed cultivators to use spirit sense to gain greater strength than their physical bodies, attack the mind, control weapons, and more. From the Golden core onwards, cultivation became infinitely more complicated because there was so much more that a cultivator could do.
But all of that began with training the spiritual sense itself. Much like hand eye coordination needed to be trained, and to some extent was being trained from birth, so too did the spiritual sense need to be trained.
The first step of training spiritual sense in many videos began the same way, which was to first get an easily available spiritual treasure which was specifically designed to aid in learning how to control spiritual sense. It was just that… the tutorial with the most views and the one that Lex was watching started with not one treasure but two. More specifically, it started with procuring a pair of chopsticks which were also spiritual treasures.
Varying from normal treasures, which to cultivators usually either meant natural resources which could aid in some facet of cultivation, or manmade items which could facilitate the use of spiritual energy, often even enhancing it, spiritual treasures were designed specifically to be used with spiritual sense.
Lex watched the entire tutorial and thoroughly understood the requirements of each step in the training before exiting the portal. One issue with using the Henali portal at the Inn, rather than on a planet that had been connected through the proper procedure, was the lack of a delivery service. No matter how affordable the treasure was, it could not be delivered to the Inn. One reason was that the delivery service probably wouldn't have golden keys to enter the Inn, but even in a situation where the Midnight Inn became so popular that everyone had golden keys, using the portal at the Inn disabled location and tracking. It was literally impossible to enter his location as the Midnight Inn while using the portal.
But all was not lost. One of the features of the ongoing festival were stalls that had been setup, allowing guests to sell items and trinkets from their locale. He would first check that market to see if a spiritual treasure matching his requirements was available. If it wasn't then he would place a request at the Guild room.
At the same time…
Lex pulled out his personal hologram which he, as a 'guest' would have had and said, "can you please forward a message from me to the guest Larry, he's an old friend of mine. Tell him I'll be at the local markets."
The hologram nodded and disappeared. The personal holograms could fulfill many of the guests' simple requests such as this, and weren't just limited to answering questions. It was not a commonly known feature, but with time it was slowly catching on.
More importantly, and more relevant than the additional features of the hologram, by inviting Larry to come to him instead of approaching him while he was at his new group, Lex would avoid any suspicion that he was approaching them for a hidden reason. Not that anyone would have any reason to suspect him to begin with, since there was nothing wrong with two friends meeting, Lex was becoming used to thinking about every situation in layers. By doing this, he eliminated even the possibility that someone would suspect him of his real agenda, which was to scope out the system wielder. After all, Lex only invited Larry. They would not have had any idea that he already knew that they would likely follow him.
Lex hailed a golf cart and made his way to the village where the local market had been set up and began to peruse. He could, of course, find out if what he wanted was available if he scanned the system, but he was also using this opportunity to study his eyesight and try to ascertain the limits of what it could show him.
A short while later, his hologram appeared once again, informing him that Larry was on his way to meet him. Lex smirked. Everything was going according to plan.
Well, at least it was, until Larry and his group closed in, and Lex's intuition immediately started acting, warning him that there was immense danger!The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to /n/o/vel/b/in.
Lex was genuinely alarmed, for he couldn't understand who or what could threaten him while he was at the Inn. But it was not a mortal danger that he faced. Lex was still not experienced enough with his intuition to understand what it was trying to tell him.
Unfortunately he was not able to identify the kind of danger, but he at least narrowed it down to who it was coming from. It was one unassuming member of Larry's group. Lex scanned him to discover his name was Noman Butt, but the system gave him no other important information.
His left eye, however, picked up on something. There were strange, invisible waves coming out of and entering his body, mixing in with the environment around him.
"Lex, you sly fellow, where do you disappear to?" Larry yelled loudly over the noise of the crowd as he closed in, his usual stupid smile painting his face. He was still as excitable and jolly as ever.
Lex was about to give a casual reply, stating that he wasn't busy with anything important, before passing a remark about Larry's own busy schedule. He was about to, but before the words left his mouth, his intuition acted up.
This time, he understood the feeling well. No matter what, he must not lie!
"I've been traveling a lot," Lex said with a smile as he greeted his old friend. Yet behind his bright smile and eager eyes, his mind was already compiling a list of everything he could and couldn't say, if he was unable to lie. After all, he was a man with many secrets.
Chapter C471 Talented Group
"What about you? Been busy lately? How many girlfriends have you run through by now?" Lex asked casually, trying to divert the topic of conversation from himself.
"I uhh… still have the same girlfriend. I'll introduce you to her," he said awkwardly. Lex could not help but notice how he loosened up his color as he said that, his eyes darting into the distance as his thoughts wandered. Oh? Was there some gossip here? Velma would surely be interested in this.
Silently, he betrayed his friend as he told Mary to inform Velma about this.
"We can talk more about that later," Larry quickly said the moment he snapped free from his thoughts. "Instead, I should ask, are you busy? I have a couple of things I want to talk to you about."
"Not that busy. I was looking for a spiritual treasure to train my spirit sense, but I haven't been able to find one so far."
"Ah yes, I remember going through that hassle. What you-" Larry suddenly paused, and then looked at Lex with a look of genuine shock. "Wait, you… you've reached the Golden core realm?"
Lex shrugged as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
"Yeah, I did. I don't know why you're surprised if you were able to reach it even quicker than I."
"I… no, but you…"
Larry shook his head and looked at Lex as if he was seeing the man for the first time. Although he always held Lex in high regard, for he knew he wasn't simple, this was taking things a bit beyond just that. He knew how valuable his own secret was to help him grow so quickly. The fact that Lex could keep up, even if he was a bit slower, meant that his secrets were also probably not too lacking when compared to his own.
Larry's wide grin promptly returned as he wrapped his arm around Lex's neck.
"This is a reason to celebrate," he said, "and celebrate we shall by finally getting you a girl!"
Lex elbowed the man and pushed him away. The man literally never thought about anything other than girls. Lex thought to tease him about it, since last he recalled he was actually not so skilled at flirting, but it seemed he had managed to maintain a relationship for a while. As a young bachelor, Lex really felt like elbowing him a little harder. His strange metallic body should be able to tolerate it, right?
"Haha alright, alright. Forget about the treasure, I'll get you a good one later. I have a guy who handles simple things like this. Instead, let me introduce you to some people. This is Rafael, Marlo's son."
Lex put on a surprised expression as he turned to look at the mature man. He was already in the Qi training realm once again, and making steady progress. As a man in his mid-30s, he looked the oldest of the bunch and definitely stood out, but at the rate his cultivation was going it wouldn't be long before he regained his youthful demeanor.
"It's a pleasure," said Lex as he shook the man's hand.
"Likewise," replied Rafael as he tried to recall if he'd heard of Lex from his memories of the future. After all, such a young Golden core cultivator, especially one from earth, was someone who should have had a lot of fame. But he was drawing a blank.
Little did he know, in the version of the future he knew, since Marlo never trained Lex, his experience at Vegus Minima had been so bad, Lex had decided to slow down the growth of the Inn to a dead stall. It took him many years to reach the Golden core in that timeline due to his caution and lack of opportunities.
"This spry young lad here is Anakin, and this is Noman," he said, continuing with the introductions. "And finally, this brooding fellow is Zouta. Or Souta. Or something like that. I've given up on trying to pronounce his name, I hope you have better luck."
Lex nodded at each of the three guys separately, paying special attention to each of them. Noman was the source of the danger he was detecting, and he could see something odd happening around him from his left eye, but see nothing else. With Anakin he couldn't see anything worthy of notice, but his soul sense brushed past him - mostly because he still couldn't control it - and that's when Lex noticed two souls within the man's body. That only left Souta, the system wielder. All of them, alongside Rafael, who had a mysterious treasure inside his heart, formed a strange group of people with unbelievable secrets.
Lex could not help but think that if this were a novel, each one of them would be worthy of being either an antagonist or protagonist in the series.
"Let's find somewhere more private to talk," said Larry.
Lex, who was keen on trying to understand what objective such a collection of talented young men could have, took the opportunity to test out the warning from his intuition about being truthful.
"I have a cabin on the Midnight train. We can talk there," he said, wearing an expression of showing off as he looked at Larry.
Before the other could respond, however, a whisper interrupted him, saying, "he's lying."
Although it was only a whisper, and they were on a crowded street, as cultivators so close to the source, they all heard him.
Lex wore an awkward expression as an unknown light flashed through his eyes.
"What I mean is, by the time we reach the station, I can arrange to get a cabin. Don't worry, it's just a minor cost to me and I've always wanted to try it, anyway."
Lex looked at Noman as he spoke, but the other did not show any concern, as if the explanation was not for him.
Lex, on the other hand, was thinking about the implications of what just happened. Fortunately, his intrigue did not need to be disguised. Once they reached the cabin, Lex could directly ask Larry.
Chapter C472 Spiel
Lex looked outside the cabin window as the train finally began to move from the station, admiring the beautiful view. The first of purple crystals was a particularly enchanting sight, and stood out for miles around.
"Hey I can't believe you pulled this off," said Larry, not bothering to hide his amazement in his voice. The fact that an entire carriage had to be rented at a time, which was extremely expensive, was not even the start of it. The train was extremely popular and there was always a line, ready to book any carriages the moment they got free. The fact that Lex had been able to book it without even being present spoke of his connections and reach.
"Your friend seemed to think I was lying," Lex said with a smirk, as if he had just proven the other wrong.
"Don't mind Noman. He wasn't targeting you, he just takes everything very literally. Speaking of the devil, come on, let's sit with the others. There are a few things we have to discuss and I think you'll find them interesting."
Lex nodded and followed Larry into another, particularly lavishly furnished cabin and took a seat. There was no table at which they could all sit, but due to the size of the cabin, even sitting in individual sofas, they were all near enough to hold a normal conversation.
"Gents, I'd like to introduce you to Lex Williams, a good friend of mine. He's a reliable fellow, and quite resourceful, as you've probably noticed. Lex, the reason we're all here, and the reason I've even called you here, is because of an issue that I've been facing."
The jolly look on Larry's face finally disappeared, and even his tone turned cold.
"I'm sure you remember that I'm being hunted down on earth. To be honest, a part of me just wanted to give up, and move permanently to the Inn. I had no hope of finding my family, I've just come to accept that they're probably dead. Not to mention, I've heard if I increase my Inn privilege level enough, I can teleport to another planet. I was thinking of getting out forever. But it seems that whoever is after me… is not content to leave things alone.
"They sent assassins after me… to the Inn as well! Thanks to Noman, I was able to identify the assassins and… take care of things. Well, I took care of one. Souta here used to work with the one I took care of."
Lex looked at the man with an eyebrow raised.
"What happened, you switched sides? And if you don't mind me asking, how did you identify the assassins?"
Lex asked Souta and Noman the questions directly. This was the freedom using his own identity allowed him that being the Innkeeper restricted him from. As an all knowing and wise Innkeeper, it was inappropriate to ask so many questions so easily.
"My previous master was a corrupt man. I was forced to listen to him for… certain reasons, but once he died, I was freed from my restraints."
Lex's left eye could not pick up any signs of a system on Souta at all, and though Lex tried to use his soul sense on him, it was difficult to control it for now.
"I didn't do much," Noman answered simply. "I was just passing by when they approached Larry for the first time and happened to notice they were lying to him. Still, I didn't do much. I might have pointed out their lie, I don't remember really."
"The issue is not with the assassins," Larry continued. "The issue is that we still don't know who is after me. Rafael even used his fathers contacts to see if it was someone from the Council of New Order. But we were not able to find anything. Even the councilmen who did act against me seemed to be doing it on someone else's behalf."
Something suddenly clicked in Lex's mind, and he summoned a file that Velma had once given him about the prisoners who were secretly controlling earth. He wasn't worried that anyone would wonder where he got the file from, for he had a bangle with a hidden space inside of it now. It could explain everything.
"I might have an idea of who might be behind it," Lex cut Larry off, as he handed him the file, and explained how every major conflict on earth, including the one orchestrated by the Council of New Order, was actually being masterminded by others.
While Lex was explaining, everyone kept looking at Noman from time to time, as if waiting for him to spot a lie, but it never came. Larry hid his emotions well, but the focus with which he was reading the file spoke much about his mental state.
Most curiously, Lex noticed, that Larry was the only one to have the expected reaction. Everyone else…
"Lex, Lex, Lex, I feel like I'm meeting a long lost brother," said Anakin as he eyed the man greedily. "Larry said you're resourceful but I didn't expect you to be on a level entirely of your own. Let me introduce myself properly a little, while Larry reads the file. The name is Anakin, as you already know. But what you don't know is that I'm a businessman. In fact, I'm not just a businessman, I'm a man with an extraordinary vision, and ideas that could make us wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. The only reason I haven't succeeded already is because I need someone resourceful, who can help me out a little. I have a few, minor, completely irrelevant inconveniences stopping me. But I have a feeling that with your help, my operation can really take off. What do you say? Are you interested in working with me? If you don't trust my word, you can ask Larry to vouch for me. I'm an honest man, just trying to make an honest living."
Before Anakin could continue his spiel, an earth-shattering clap of thunder roared across the Inn, and a flash of lightning struck!
Chapter C473 Tribulation
Everyone in the room was greatly startled by the noise, Lex included, let alone the red eyed Larry who had been reading the file Lex gave him. Abruptly everyone got up and ran to the window to see if they could identify what had caused the commotion. Even if they identified the sound as thunder, they couldn't be sure since too many unusual things happened at the Inn.
Lex was a step slower and allowed everyone to crowd the window in front of him, for in his mind he was already scanning the Inn and investigating the cause. Something genuinely strange was happening, as the weather at the Inn had escaped Lex's control for the first time.
A dark cloud had formed over a remote area of the Inn, and seemed to be going larger at a steady pace. Lex did not fail to notice that right underneath it was one of the more lavish abodes he had created.
Among the types of accommodation the Inn offered usually were the normal room, small house, large house, courtyard, and finally the small village. Although he imagined that anyone in retreat might want to do it alone, he did not leave the decision up to himself, and designed abodes to accommodate more people as well. The largest abodes he made were the size of a small village.
The abode that had been subjected to the lightning strike was one such abode, and it was occupied by a Devil who was currently breaking through from the Nascent realm. The Devil was not surprised by the lightning strike, and it had not prevented his breakthrough at all.
Lex did even get an opportunity to wonder why this was happening when the familiar sound of a system notification rang in his ears.
New Quest: A guest is undergoing a realm breakthrough and is experiencing his first tribulation. As a universal establishment, the Inn is a perfect location to undergo a tribulation for those searching for a safe environment. Add facilities to the Inn centered around undergoing tribulations.
i) Add a Lightning tempering room (New room unlocked)
ii) Add a Flame tempering room (New room unlocked)
iii) Create a Tribulation room (New feature unlocked)
Quest Reward: Subject to performance
Lex was reading the notification, but as a result of new multitasking ability, he could easily focus on multiple things at the same time. This meant he could continue to hold a conversation with a person, giving them full and sufficient attention, without being distracted from his other task.
Given that, he did not lose out on the opportunity to tease Anakin.
"Go ahead, tell me you're an honest man one more time, and let's see if lightning strikes again."
Lex's casual remark cut through the tension in the room, and while Anakin was left with his mouth hung open, unsure of how to reply, the others looked at him with interest. His cavalier attitude indicated he knew what was going on.
"I don't know if he's honest, but he never lies," said Noman as he returned to his seat. It was Lex's calm attitude that made something click in his mind, allowing him to realize what was happening. Truthfully speaking, with his background, it was embarrassing that he wasn't the first to realize what was happening.
"What was that?" asked Anakin, wanting to divert the topic of conversation from himself.
"It's a lightning tribulation," Noman answered casually. "It's rare to see one, actually. But I guess the aid to everyone cultivation brought by the star rank increase pushed whoever is going through it over the edge. Chances are, we'll see a lot more of them."
"What's a lightning tribulation?" Anakin asked, returning to his seat. There was another flash of light during this time, but no sound this time. That was because Lex had added a sound insulation feature to every single abode at the Inn. If more tribulations would come, the noise would make it impossible for anyone to go about peacefully.
"I don't know in too much detail, since it's not relevant to me yet. But basically, in all the realms after Nascent, trying to break through to a higher realm causes a tribulation. Lightning and fire tribulations are the ones I know about, but I know that they're supposed to be more on higher levels. What those are… I have no idea, though I heard a rumor that some extinct races have become a part of the tribulations. What that means… I have no idea."
"If it's nothing to be alarmed about, can we focus on this?" Larry said, holding out the file. He had recomposed himself by now, though anyone could tell he was holding himself back. Not waiting for anyone to ask, he briefly described everything he had read about how all wars and conflicts on Earth were games to a few people who were being held as prisoners on Earth.
Other than Noman, who had never been to Earth, everyone was extremely shocked by what they heard. Even the cool and composed Rafael was having drastic mood swings, though he managed to keep his cool. Anakin wasn't too aggrieved personally, but even he realized that this was not a small matter.
"How did you even find out all of this?" Rafael asked, looking at Lex.
Lex, though, was not pressured by the attention and only smirked. "I have reliable sources, though if you don't believe me, that's your right. Honestly, I wouldn't have shared this with you all to begin with if I didn't think this matter had something to do with whoever is hunting Larry. It has to be one of the 'prisoners', if not the same ones, causing all the problems. The question is, what can we do about this?"
Everyone turned to look at Noman, who only nodded and said nothing else. It seemed… Lex was telling the truth.
"There are a lot of things you may or may not know, so I'll speed you through it. Earth… and the rest of the solar system are considered property of some… people or organization. I'm not sure who. They've been using the fact that Earth lacks spiritual energy to use it as a prison. I tried to pass this information to them through the Council of New order, but it seems to me like they haven't done anything to address the situation. As much as I want to just go to Earth and kill the people responsible, I don't know if we'll be able to handle the repercussions if the people who 'own' Earth take offense. One possible solution I thought of was if we invited the Jotun Empire over to Earth. They seem to have an interest in expanding, and if they could do for Earth what they did for the Vegus planets, we'd be much better off."
"It's a good plan," said Rafael with a disappointed voice. "But it won't work. As for how I know… I have sources of my own as well."
Chapter C474 Room Design
"What do you mean?" Lex asked with a frown. He didn't want to take any drastic actions on Earth, nor did he want to be responsible for any of them doing anything drastic either. The reason he had shared this information was because he was sure he had a handle on things. Although killing a few prisoners on Earth was not hard, he did not want to find out how the organization that had been using Earth as a prison would react to such hostility.
After all, even if he could retreat to the Inn, not everyone could. An organization that had been capable of interstellar travel, and who had been using earth as a prison should not be weak at all. Let alone, he did not forget that even Bastet and Falak, two Demi-Daolords, were prisoners on Earth as well. Things being handled peacefully or through negotiations was the best idea.
"I mean… the Jotun Empire will not interfere with anything on Earth. As for how or why I know this, I can't say."
Memories from his past life flashed in his mind. Things had changed a lot when spiritual energy returned to Earth, and most of them were not in a good way.
Once again everyone looked at Noman, who only shrugged.
Lex took this opportunity to wear an irritated expression and ask, "why do you all keep looking at him?"
An awkward silence filled the room as everyone looked at Noman. Everyone here had shared secrets with one another, though Noman's was the only one everyone remembered. Still, that experience had built a bond of trust amongst them, and it did not feel right to just include Lex inside it without him sharing his secret as well.
"I did not expect this conversation to reach this point so quickly," said Anakin, who was once again wearing a sly smile. "The Inn has this little room called the Chamber of Secrets. Are you familiar with it, Lex?"
The question was a rhetorical one for he did not expect Lex to actually know, and was once again about to enter his usual persuasive speech when Lex nodded firmly.
"Oh, um, yes, perfect then, that saves me from having to explain it to you," he said, the disappointment in his voice evident. "Well, the point being, we all here have some… personal matters we'd like to keep personal. There are certain things we'd like to keep that way, but if we can come to an agreement, we won't mind continuing this conversation inside the chamber. That way, everyone's secrets stay safe and we can move the conversation forward."
Lex did not reply immediately, and continued to look at Anakin with a scrutinizing gaze. There was definitely more than met the eye about this group, and curiosity about their secrets had already occupied a corner of Lex's mind. This was also an excellent way to learn more about Souta, as well as Noman. The issue about Earth… well, if that was a matter that could be resolved as well then he had nothing to lose by joining them. Besides, he knew exactly what 'secret' to share.
"Alright," Lex said finally, and leaned back on his sofa. A silence filled the room as everyone waited. As it happened, one of the train stations happened to be near the point where the chamber of secrets was located, so all they had to do now was wait till then.
Lex, however, was more occupied than he seemed as he was focused on his latest quest.
Lightning tempering room
A room in which cultivators can temper their body, spirit or soul with varying levels of lightning!
Disclaimer: Even the lowest level of lightning is meant for Nascent level cultivators and can cause injuries or even death if not adequately prepared.
Disclaimer: Due to limited system functionality, any upgrade to the Lightning tempering room will require the Innkeeper to manually provide new types of lightning before upgrade becomes available.
Fire tempering room
A room in which cultivators can temper their body, spirit or soul with varying levels of fire.
Disclaimer: Even the lowest level fire is meant for Nascent level cultivators and can cause injuries or even death if not adequately prepared.
Disclaimer: Due to limited system functionality, any upgrade to the Fire tempering room will require the Innkeeper to manually provide new types of fire before upgrade becomes available.
Both the new tempering rooms were meant specifically for Nascent realm cultivators, and cost a hefty 15,000MP per hour to use. Lex decided to set the price at 20,000MP per hour to use them, and would require the guest to have a prestige level of at least 2.
The matter relating to upgrading them was something that would require his personal effort, but it was a matter for the future, since he would need to develop a deeper understanding of their limits before working on that.
Instead, the remainder of his focus was on the third room.
Tribulation room
A room guests can rent while undergoing tribulations.
That one simple sentence was the entire description for this room, mainly because there was a new feature he had unlocked as well which he was supposed to use on the Tribulation room.
Room design
Using the various existing abilities and features of the Inn, alongside available upgrades, the Innkeeper can design a new kind of room to fulfill certain requirements for guests that the Inn needs but is lacking. The newly designed room will become a part of the system and will operate based on the conditions set by the Innkeeper. The expense and functionality of the room will be determined based on the used features. All upgrades to designed rooms will require the Innkeeper to manually bring in required resources and outline additional features.
This… this was one of the most amazing features Lex had received so far. To an extent, he was already doing this with various rooms and buildings that he created then retrofitted with formations. But when compared to rooms provided directly by the system, they had always been lacking. Now though… he could really take things a step further.
Chapter C475 Watching Children Play
Although it did not seem like it, as Lex walked quietly with the group towards the Chamber of Secrets, he was actually doing multiple things at the same time. A part of him was paying attention to the ongoing lightning tribulation. The devil... to be entirely honest, he had started the tribulation with a convincing performance, but the longer it went on, the worse his condition became. Parts of his body were already charred and smoking, and he had given up his humanoid form to revert to his true devil form.
Lex expected that the form would be quite gruesome, but it was far from the truth. While the large body with wings and horns and red skin looked mighty intimidating, it also looked regal and authoritative - not at all the vile, disgusting appearance Lex had been expecting.
But whatever the case, if there was to be a fire tribulation following the lightning one, he did not know how the devil planned on surviving with its existing wounds.
Another part of him was entirely focused on the new room design feature. It was incredible and versatile, but also tricky. Lex tried to create a training room with the additional qualities of the simple recovery room, which sped up the body's natural healing. He was only experimenting and wanted to see how it would turn out. Moreover, it wasn't a bad idea in case someone was training a technique that would constantly push them to the limit.
Lex achieved what he wanted. But because he did not calibrate it properly, or take into consideration how the various features of the Inn had or lacked synergy with one another, the room he created cost an incredible 34,000 MP per hour!
At that point, the price of the room was far beyond the reach of the target audience, and it became impractical and pointless. But that was fine. After all, he was experimenting for the sake of learning how to use it, anyway. He would slowly work out how best to join the unique features of the Inn together.
The remainder of his focus had been on the simple task of devising a loophole to prevent the chamber of secrets from erasing his memory somehow. His leading strategy was to have Mary hear everything and inform him later on. Yet Mary herself did not think it would work.
"Like I told you, since the description of the chamber specifically said that not even the Innkeeper would be able to spy on the secrets stored in there, it won't be so simple to work around it. There's a very high chance the system will block off my connection to you the moment you enter."
"That's ridiculous. Why would the system block you out? It's never done that before."
"It's a matter of integrity. Since the system itself focused on maintaining secrecy, then keeping the secret is a part of the Inns prestige."
"Let's just see."
In the end, there was not much he could do if the system had accounted for loopholes. When the group arrived, they found the chamber deserted, as usual, and did not hesitate to enter.
While Lex did not feel much of a change, besides the point that his connection to Mary, and his connection to the system, were put under restrictions, the rest of the group trembled once they entered.
According to the agreement they had set, they would not recall any of the secrets they shared with one another, unless all relevant members were within the chamber at the same time.
Larry and Souta had not revealed their secrets completely, but they had shared enough to gain the attention of the group. Even then, how could they have compared with the likes of Noman and Rafael? Noman, whose ability knew no limitations, could prove to be extremely valuable. Trusting the words of others was one of the most difficult things to do, but what if they had a perpetual truth detector besides them? How would anyone trick them?
Then came Rafael. Although his experiences were limited to Earth, he had lived through the future and knew many of the incoming trials the planet would face.
Anakin was suddenly reminded of the most important reason he had been trying to make so much money lately. He wanted to earn enough to use the prestige ability to escape Earth! He had only a few years before the first disaster struck!
Lex noticed the odd behavior and hesitation the group showed and turned to look at them. Most of the group was looking at Rafael while the man in question was completely nonchalant and took a seat.
"Before we begin," Rafael said, looking at Lex. "We need to establish an agreement first. Everyone here has shared something valuable with the group. It was not out of charity and no one was coerced into it. Everyone had something to gain, and so we shared our secrets with one another for mutual benefit. At the same time, the moment we leave the chamber, it withdraws information about each other's secrets from our minds, protecting everyone."
He paused again as everyone sat. He could not say for others, but he at least had an agenda for cooperating with a group of such uniquely talented people. Too much had changed on Earth from his memories, but those changes were mostly a result of changes on the planet itself. The external threats it faced were still coming, and not only did he need to strengthen himself for that, he needed powerful allies. But being greedy for skilled people could also endanger the group that had already been composed. As such, it was his duty to ensure that the group was not needlessly endangered.
"You do not have to share your secrets if they are not related, but for us to trust you, you have to reveal relevant details, at least. Moreover, I'd like to know what exactly you want. Larry has spoken highly of you, and you have shown your worth, so if you're here to help out Larry, that's one thing. But if that's the case, the way I see it, you don't really need to know our secrets. Just the fact that Larry trusts us should be enough."
Countless thoughts ran through the group's mind as they heard Rafael's question. Everyone of them, except Noman, had plans of their own, so they didn't mind the fact that Rafael instinctively used them to build the group's authority. If Lex ended up joining them, it would start them out at an advantage.
Lex, however, felt like laughing. Instead of feeling interrogated, it felt like he was watching children playing a game. What did he want? Everything they could offer, of course! He resisted the urge to crack his knuckles and smile. It was time to learn all their secrets. He was a busy man - he had others to scheme against as well.
Outside the chamber, the devil that had been undergoing the tribulation died, unable to survive it. The ash his body turned into has not even fallen to the floor before another two tribulations began at the Inn. The constant flashing of lightning made the Inn seem like a disco.
Chapter C476 The Brains Of The Operation
"What do I want?" Lex asked in an amused tone. He had to be careful with his wording, for he couldn't say they had nothing he wanted, for that would be a lie! He thought that he could avoid it by asking them a question instead, for example, 'do you even have something I could want?'. Yet while technically it was a question, it insinuated that they had nothing he wanted. Since the meaning being communicated was false, Noman would be able to detect it, so Lex's intuition quickly shut him down.
This was not something he could get through with half truths and hidden meanings.
"I want many things, but will you give them to me just because I want them? My priority right now is to help Larry, but at the same time, resolve this issue with earth! Whoever has been using it as a prison couldn't care less about how the prisoners are literally using the people of the planet like characters in a video game. Originally, I was planning on getting the Empire to help deal with them in exchange for taking control of the planet, but according to you, that won't work.
"So, for now, what I want is to focus on is why the Empire is not a good solution for Earth. As for anything else I might want from you… well, why don't you tell me first what you can offer to begin with?"
He smiled and looked at Rafael as he waited for the man to contemplate what he said. He could tell that, despite the fact that he had spent most of his life in a coma, he was a lot more mature than the rest. Which meant that convincing him would be the most difficult part. Of course, that was only relatively speaking. To Lex, it was all too simple to throw him off his game.
He carefully observed Rafael, and just as he saw a change in the man's eyes, indicating that he was about to speak, Lex looked away and turned to Noman.
"Every time I say something, the group looks to you for confirmation. If I had to guess, you can tell whether a person is lying. Or at least something along those lines. Am I right?"
Before he had a chance to respond, Lex looked at Souta.
"You confuse me the most. You were previously working with the assassin who was targeting Larry, but now you're hanging out with Larry. I guess Noman already confirmed that you're not still after Larry, or that you never had any negative intentions towards him, so everyone is okay with you sticking around. But why do you want to stick around in the first place, anyway? Don't you have anything you would rather do? I recall you saying you were 'forced' to obey your master previously. Don't tell me you're doing something cliche like following Larry now because he defeated your master?"
Lex shook his head as if he said something completely impractical, but anything was possible when it came to systems.
He then turned to Anakin. "I don't even need to guess with you. You're a businessman, right? You're just in it to make money. I guess you find this group very profitable."
Lastly, he looked back at Rafael, and this time, he spoke slowly and carefully.
"To be honest, I already know a lot about you. You spent the last dozen or so years asleep, right? It's a miracle that you're alive, let alone kicking and cultivating. I'm really genuinely curious about your sources for the Empire. They must be very impressive."
Lex smiled as he waited for them to respond to his accusations. He had made sure to keep a friendly tone - he didn't want to sound too antagonizing so as to draw hostility. Yet at the same time, by having their capabilities belittled and being goaded by him, they would feel the urge to let him know he was wrong by showing off. He was counting on the pride and inexperience of youth to force them into action. After all, even though Rafael was in his late 30s, the amount of time he had been awake was around the same as the rest.
Yet while the rest immediately reacted to what he said, especially Anakin, Rafael stayed perfectly calm. In fact, the way he looked at Lex subtly changed, as if he was analyzing him.
"I'll have you know I'm the brains of this operation," Anakin declared with a snort. "If it weren't for me bringing everyone to the chamber, and persuading them, all of them would still be glaring at one another like teenagers in a feud. And if you really want to know what's so special about me, just sign the agreement and I'll tell you."
A screen suddenly appeared in front of Lex, asking him if he agreed to the terms of the agreement. Basically, all it said was that once he left the chamber, he would forget all sensitive information about the rest. In the future, even if he returned to the chamber, he would not be able to recall it unless the relevant person was in the chamber with him. This was the agreement everyone had signed.
Even with Noman, though they all remembered he could determine if a person was lying, they forgot the exact details of how it happened. Lex raised an eyebrow, and then accepted. This was going to happen, anyway. He also didn't doubt that the rest would share their secrets with him, eventually. The real reason he had goaded them… was to get the spotlight off of him! It seemed to have worked, though Rafael was still observing him oddly intently.
"Hah! I'll have you know, I have a grandpa who appears in my dreams and teaches me to wield the power of the dark side!" Anakin vanished from right in front of him. Lex was startled, because even the sight from his left eye did not reveal where he was!
*****
A golf cart, larger than normal ones, pulled up in front of the Midnight manor, and five men disembarked. They remained silent and quickly fell into formation, with one leading and four following closely behind.
Though they did not put their auras on display, whether it was humans, devils, beasts or other creatures, all could not help and turned to look at them. The man in the lead was too stunningly handsome, and the four behind him each moved with a charm solely of their own.
Together, they bore the makings of a hugely successful boy band.
Suddenly, one of the guests at the manor, a soldier from Ragnar's regiment, recognized the man in the lead and went completely pale and stiff. It was only complete instinct that made the soldier give his most rigid salute as he hoarsely yelled, "Emperor Jotun, your majesty!"