Chapter C515 Something New
Lex exited the Mystery trial 8 hours later, finally having completed the trial. It was a genuinely interesting experience, and he learnt a lot. Moreover, he would call the 'reward' anything but small or insignificant. Although he had yet to try it out, he gained a 6th sense for detecting people's emotions in reaction to something he said.
Well, to be fair, the actual 6th sense was very vague and weak, but it was drastically amplified by Lex's intuition. But even without the gift, Lex had gained a whole new perspective about his ability to influence people with his words. In the end, he had completed the trial by convincing the Game Master that the only way to actually prove that he was motivated by purpose was to break his own rules and set them free.
He had tried a few other tactics which did not contribute towards the trial, but did provide him with unique experiences. After all, he would never harm an innocent person in real life.
Lex was wondering if he should go try out his ability or spend some more time enjoying himself when he, unexpectedly, heard a familiar sound.
New notification:
System upgrade complete! System status updated:
System: Midnight Inn
System Grade: Divine (broken ~ SSS - B+ )
System Owner: Lex Williams
System functionality: 14%
System self-repair time: 33,310 billion years
New Notification:
New features unlocked. New features include:
Desert Farm
Well of Invigoration
The system was back online! In a single day!
Lex was surprised, but after looking at his notification he realized that it was probably because the system he absorbed was too weak. His system functionality had only improved 2% and the self-repair time had also only gone down by 2 billion. The system grade hadn't even changed.
Shaking his head, Lex turned and looked at the two new features of the Inn.
Desert Farm
A farm where desert plants can be grown, in addition to any other plants. None desert plants undergo an unpredictable mutation to grow in this farm. All plants that grow in the desert farm have additional medicinal, nutritional or spiritual properties.
Well of Invigoration
A well with water that has special properties which speeds up plants growth without causing any adverse effects. It also has mild medicinal properties if drunk directly, and can heal hidden injuries within the body.
There were only two new features, but Lex liked them a lot more than the ones he got from the Murder System! Moreover this would be more beneficial to the day to day operations of the Inn. Lex was already dissatisfied with the kind of ingredients the Inn had, as they could not provide him any nutrition now that he was in the Golden Core realm. With this, he now had the opportunity to grow ingredients of a high enough level to satisfy himself now, and in the future as well.
Of course, it wasn't as if he wasn't planting crops that targeted Golden core cultivators even now. But the difference was, their maturity period was phenomenally long. Even with all the advantages the Inn provided, it would take well over a year for them to mature. Maybe now, with the water from the well, that period could be sped up.
Lex smiled and disappeared, teleporting to the turtle in his Host Attire. The turtle had buried itself in the ground, with only its head above the ground. Lex did not even try to question what bizarre thing the turtle was doing now, and instead got right to the point.
"I'm opening up a new farm, but it will be in a desert environment. It can cause mutations to normal plants, and provides a huge boost to plants that grow in a desert environment to begin with. I also have a new well that can boost the speed of plant growth. I thought it would interest you to know."
For a moment, the turtle did not react, but then it turned to look at Lex.
"Oh dear, oh dear. That sounds lovely, but I have run into a small little bit of a problem."
Even as the Innkeeper, Lex raised an eyebrow as he looked at the turtle in curiosity. The turtle had… run into a problem? This was a first.
"After all my time at the Inn, I have grown a lot. I am ready to grow to the next cultivation level. But my age is too young, my body has not grown enough yet. I will need to eat a few Shining Irisberry fruits to allow my body to grow. If I don't get them soon… I will fall asleep for a few hundred years until my body is ready to grow."
That was indeed a huge problem. He could not afford to allow the turtle to fall asleep, he was extremely dependent on it.
"I'll take care of it," said Lex, and teleported away. He immediately thought of the Infinity Emporium, as it was his best bet at getting it quickly. But he decided to check out the fruit on the Henali portal first to get an idea of how rare it was.
Yet when he teleported to the portal, he paused and turned his head in a certain direction. His intuition was acting up, telling him something major was about to happen! Unable to identify the cause, he scanned the Inn, and noticed something odd. Ragnar was standing alone in his abode, wearing nothing but a cotton tunic. This was the first time Lex saw the man without his armor, and discovered that the previously seemingly buff man had actually just been wearing very thick armor. In actuality, he had a very toned physique.
But the general changing out of his armor was not enough to alarm Lex's intuition. No, it was the dark cloud that was forming above his head that attracted Lex's attention. Unlike all the previous tribulations Lex had seen, this one was different. Black lightning streaked around the cloud, building up its strength.
Lex had no idea what kind of tribulation Ragnar was about to encounter, but it was definitely much more dangerous than the ones he had seen before. Yet the man was not using a tribulation room.
With nothing but his courage supporting him, the general looked up into the sky. There was no hesitation in his eyes.
Chapter C516 The Back That Will Never Bend
It was not just Lex whose attention was attracted towards the unusual tribulation cloud. Most of the demons who had already passed through their tribulation and survived looked over. Hundreds of beasts looked up in fear as their strong instincts were kicking up. Jotun, who was having an important meeting with his wife, was also alarmed, and quickly exited the manor and flew up into the air. The guard who had replaced the griffin looked there as well, though it did not display the same shock as the others.
Somewhere in the crowd of guests, Booty looked up into the sky. Every time he saw lightning, he felt nervous. The captain of the Iron heart pirates was about to enter the Immortal realm, but he had already seen too many fail in their tribulations. Every time he saw one more, he felt his heart tremble.
For a time, the entire Inn came to a standstill as they looked up at the ominous black lightning.
Lex, who was also watching the spectacle closely, however, did not just sit and watch. His intuition was warning him that whatever protection he had given the abode was not enough, and so silently, he began arranging more formations around Ragnar's abode.
The formations were not to protect Ragnar from the tribulations, since the man himself had opted not to enter the tribulation room. Instead, it was to contain the damage within the confines of the abode itself. But the thing was… he added one formation, then 10, then 50, but the warning from his intuition never ceased.
The level of formations available to Lex, even with the extra capabilities of the event panel, were not enough to contain the danger of this lightning.
As the sound of rolling thunder swept across the Inn, Lex suddenly began to panic. Without thinking too much, Lex directly spent 10 billion MP on smashing as many formations down as possible!
But he did not have time to evaluate if that was enough. The sound of the thunder changed, as if the heaven itself was releasing a growl aimed at Ragnar. Dozens of formations around the abode were thoroughly crushed just from the sound.
But the process was not slow as all this happened faster even than anyone, immortals and mortals alike, could understand. Then the lightning struck, a single black bolt aiming directly for Ragnar.
If he had wanted to defend, he should have done so already, for it was too late now even for him.
The black lightning bearing the wrath of heaven and hell bore down on the lone man. Existence itself seemed to fracture where the lightning passed, leaving behind a trail of miniscule cracks in space. At that moment, the air ceased to exist, and all light was destroyed. Despite the intense power and heat of the lightning, there were no flames in its aftermath, for the very existence of fire had been destroyed.
In that moment, despite the protection of the Inn, everyone, the emperor, devils and even Lex included, suffered from a hallucination. For a moment, they saw an impossible tide of darkness swallowing up the universe itself, filled with righteous fury. But in front of that darkness that swallowed everything, there was a single, miniscule speck that remained undeterred. It was not the flame of hope, nor the prayers of a trillion meditating monks, nor the blessing of some deity that remained unmoving in front of that invading abyss.
No, it was a man in a simple cotton tunic. Even as the world faded into nothingness, even as the emotions of everyone watching faded, even at the very end of things, his back did not bend.
The hallucination changed. They saw a young man standing side by side with a billion soldiers. They saw war. They saw death. They saw defeat. They saw a sea of endless demon corpses, and they saw a young recruit alive, crying because he was buried under the bodies of his comrades, who had given up everything to let him live.This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.
The scene changed. They saw retreating spaceships. They saw bleeding soldiers. They felt the endless silence of space, and in it, they saw demons in the form of space worms chasing after them. They saw an escape vessel heading towards the demons while the other ships escaped, and a skinny, injured soldier with nothing but a blaster and a broken sword.
They saw a fight that should have been suicide. Then they saw another. Then they saw a hundred more.
They saw a skinny, fragile back slowly gain muscle and grow stronger. They saw one impossible tide of death crash against a lone soldier again and again, only to be the one to retreat itself.
Then the hallucination, which had seemed millennia long but had not even been a fraction of a second, ended. Most did not see what happened next. Even Lex's mind was not fast enough to process what happened. But due to the feedback from the Inn, the image of what happened was imprinted in his mind!
Ragnar did not flinch, nor did he look away. The black lightning struck him in the face, resulting in an explosion that completely decimated the abode around him.
Though Lex had long stopped trying to depend on luck, somehow, his luck had held that day as all the formations he had put up had been destroyed, save the very last one.
The cloud above the abode dissipated, as if it had never been there, and the ominous pressure that Lex had been feeling disappeared.
In its wake, it had left behind a site of utter destruction. There was not even a cloud of smoke covering the area, for everything in that space had been utterly destroyed, from dust to the very air molecules.
Well, it had destroyed almost everything, for Ragnar still stood there, his posture completely unchanged. There was not a single rip on his tunic, and though his face was covered in blood, there wasn't even the slightest indication of pain on his face. His eyes were so calm that he may as well have taken a stroll in the park.
After a couple of seconds, he finally reacted by cracking his neck. Then he walked out of the confines of what had been the abode, silently admiring the fact that the scope of destruction had been strictly restricted to his abode. The Innkeeper was indeed impressive.
He summoned his personal hologram and said, "please deliver my message to the Innkeeper. There was a devil who was challenging me before my tribulation. I would like to challenge him in the Murder Grounds."
Chapter C517 Ambition
The festive mood at the Inn had come to a pause. There was no fear that filled the air, but everyone had to take some time to settle their emotions after what they had just experienced.
While everyone had experienced the same hallucination, and they could guess that it had been caused by the black lightning, they had no idea who that person they had hallucinated about was or if what they saw was even true. But regardless of those details, there was no one who could deny that the vision had their blood boiling.
Everyone was suddenly in the mood to train or fight intense battles and somehow vent their raging emotions. There were very few who actually knew that the person in the hallucinations was actually Ragnar, mostly because they recognized him from pictures of his youth.
Alexander was one of them, and while he displayed no outward emotion, inside he was filled with a burning passion. He did not want to just be strong, he wanted to be the strongest! Only by learning from such a man could he achieve that dream.
Marlo too felt his blood boiling, but he easily suppressed it. What was going through his head was completely unknown, even to his wife. All anyone could see him doing was sitting laxly on a sofa, twiddling his thumbs. But although he looked completely relaxed, the fire in his eyes spoke otherwise. There was a plan brewing in his mind.
"Who was that?" asked the empress as she flew to Jotun, her voice hiding bits of praise and admiration.
"Our future son-in-law," Jotun replied with a casual smile.
While everyone was experiencing different things, Lex's mind was like a tumultuous sea. First and foremost, he needed to learn about that tribulation! What the hell was that? If he had to spend 10 billion MP per strike of that black lightning, and a few more people underwent a similar tribulation, he would once again be completely broke!
His current wealth was at 70 billion MP. He had earned quite a bit during the festival, and lately he had especially been earning a lot from the 1% transaction fee in the Guild room. He thought it was swimming in cash, but it appeared far from the truth.
But Lex quickly calmed down. The advantage was still with him. If he wanted to boost his earnings…
With a wave of his hand, all the hidden entrances to the various Minor realms in the Inn became easier to find. He speculated it would take just a few more hours at most for people to find the first one. Moreover, the Grand Prix was coming soon. If past experiences had been anything to go by, Lex would be earning a lot soon enough.
It was then that Mary informed him about Ragnar's request for a challenge in the Murder Ground, and a capitalistic gleam flashed through Lex's eyes. He just spent 10 billion on the man. It should be okay if he earned a little something back, right?
*****
In the spaceship above the Inn, all the children were going absolutely wild! It was not fear that had gripped them, although for the younger ones that had initially been the case. But as they recovered from the hallucination and recalled where they were, something else happened. They began playing a game of war!
Since the children had formed various gangs and factions, and had marked certain playgrounds as their home bases within the ship, they were now fighting a relentless war with pool noodles as their weapons.
But not all kids were participating in the game. As it so happened, all the leaders of the various factions the kids had formed were sitting together in a conference room.
Some were sipping apple juice, and some were eating chocolate pudding, while others still were fiddling with fidget spinners. But while some of them had become victims to their short attention spans, most of them were paying close attention to the person sitting at the head of the conference table.
Like them, he was a kid, but his vision, his ambition, and most of all, his ingenious ideas had captivated them. He was not waiting for them to grow up before doing big things. No, he was building a network right now. The most expansive, secret and diverse information network in the Origin realm was beginning to take shape, and at its head sat Roland.
Previously, he had sold newspapers in the Crystal realm. At the Midnight Inn he had joined the Midnight newsroom. But after spending some time here, and upon noticing the vast resources available at the Inn, his hidden passion had been flamed awake.
Since he was in the news business, he should take advantage of the biggest and most unsuspecting resource available, children. Everyone openly revealed their secrets in front of kids, because who would ever expect them to interfere, or even remember? It was not even their own parents they could spy on, but everyone they came across.
"So, we are in agreement?" Roland asked, tapping his fingers on the table in an easy rhythm.
A series of ayes, yes' and yeahs filled the room as all the kids became super excited.
"In that case, I would like to announce officially the beginning of operation 'Secret Base' and operation 'Secret Agents'. Remember, don't tell your faction members everything. Get the information from them, and pass it along. They must think they're the only ones doing this, and that it's a secret. Or else they won't feel like spies."
"And you remember that you're not the only one who will have access to all the information," said Layla. Jimmy was standing dutifully behind her and giving a challenging look to Roland. Sure, Roland was much older than the two of them, but they led one of the strongest factions of children - the Peacock Warriors. They feared no one and nothing.
"Of course," replied Roland. "Prove yourselves, and I'll help you become secret members of the Newsroom. That way you'll all be able to access the information."
Chapter C518 Casual Conversation
Lex was momentarily driven by thoughts of raking in a ton of MP selling tickets to watch the fight between Ragnar and the devil. He could use the attention Ragnar had gained with the Inn-wide hallucination to attract attention, but it was not meant to be.
The devil, as he learned, was locked within his abode, cultivating, with no knowledge of what was happening outside. Many guests, Lex had noticed, despite being at high realms ended up simply cultivating after experiencing the star upgrade, such as the griffin, and did not encounter any tribulations. Maybe they were simply making progress without making any strides across any large thresholds. Regardless, Lex sent a response letting Ragnar know that at the moment the devil was unable to respond, but he would let him know of the answer.
With that small interlude passed, Lex turned his attention back to the portal to investigate the Shining Irisberry Fruit for the turtle.
*****
Ragnar was slightly disappointed when he heard the response, but it was probably for the best. Despite what it had seemed like, his emotions had gotten the best of him and that devil really had managed to rile him up. Although it seemed like he had only suffered a mild injury from that bolt of lightning, that was not really the case.
After stabilizing his increased cultivation, he would have to return to his Command carrier, for the Recovery pods would not be able to help him in his current condition. He would require some exceptionally rare and valuable medicine that had been stored back on his ship.
But his plan to return was suddenly stalled when he saw two humans descending towards him from the sky. As awkward as it might be, he recognized the lady first.
It was her majesty Elinor, the current empress of the Jotun empire! The reason Ragnar recognized her first was because the image of the emperor was not actually that widely spread. It was for that very reason that even the emperor had been surprised when he was recognized by a common soldier.
But the moment Ragnar recognized her, his eyes flashed to the man beside her and realization dawned on him. It wasn't as if he had never seen the emperor, but that the picture he had seen portrayed the man in full royal armor with a halo of incredible power around him. Right now, the emperor looked nothing like his picture and instead looked like a random youth.
Ragnar was not one to suffer from the common mistake of judging someone by their appearance, as in the cultivation world appearances were the most deceiving. Instead, he usually gauged people by the intensity of their spiritual aura. Yet the emperor had restrained his aura completely when he came to the Inn, so he could even be mistaken for a mortal if one didn't know better.
"Your highness!" Ragnar exclaimed as he gave a military salute, finally adding a single crease to his, as of yet, completely pristine tunic.
"At ease, general," Jotun said. "That was an impressive display. Tell me, how long have you been a Heaven Immortal?"
"A little under 100 years, majesty."
"Less than a 100 years and you've already passed through the first mark. Very impressive young man. I dare say there are few in the history of the entire empire who can compete with you."
"It is still below your achievements, majesty."
"Pft, don't compare yourself with me. That's unfair to your hard work. News of your achievements have made it to my ear, Ragnar. Considering I'm barely ever in the empire, that is already an impressive feat. But when the Innkeeper himself told me I should give you an audience, I was genuinely taken aback. I wonder what you have to share with me."
Surprise flashed through Ragnar's eyes, but he quickly calmed down. Although they did not meet often, it seemed like he really had developed a good relationship with the Innkeeper. After all, there was no need for him to mention Ragnar to the emperor. Even Ragnar himself had never spoken of such a request, so for the Innkeeper to do it on his own initiative was a show of good faith. Moreover, it was one that he sorely needed. Although he had set up a task at the Inn to find someone capable of following the Jorlam's trail, there was no guarantee that things would not go horribly wrong before that opportunity could even be availed. Moreover, there was the matter of the aura he collected from the devil Loretta.
"I have a room, majesty. Perhaps we should talk there."
"Lead the way."
Ragnar did not hesitate to lead the way, not to any of the rooms he had recently rented, but the one he rented so long ago, inside the Midnight manor.
The emperor and empress followed him without putting up any pretenses, but when they entered the room and saw a small cylinder sitting in the center, their attention was completely diverted to it.
"Your highness, this seal contains the traces of aura I collected from the devil known as Loretta. Although I suspect the aura has been altered heavily, it should still be useful."
"Why have you stored it here instead of submitting it to the empire?" asked the empress, though she made no attempts to inspect the seal.
Ragnar paused, as if he was ashamed to voice his words, which ultimately attracted the emperor's attention even more than the seal.
"Speak up, what is it?"
"Highness, I apologize if my words sound like blasphemy but… I suspect there are traitors in the empire. There are many things that have happened recently that do not make sense, and… I have suspicions that someone is sending me to my death."
The empress was alarmed by the sudden revelation, but Jotun did not seem too surprised.
"You do not need to worry about the veracity of your words. Even the Innkeeper has hinted at the fact that the long absence of my brothers and I from the empire has caused the relations between our families to sour."
"Jotun what… what are you saying?" Elinor asked, genuinely shocked by what she was hearing. Although it may seem as if he had said something casual, he had said in very simple words that a rebellion was brewing… likely spurred by their own descendants!
But Jotun did not answer. Instead, he looked directly at Ragnar and asked, "general, tell me honestly, where do your loyalties lie?"
Ragnar looked down at the ground in shame. Standing before him was the strongest human alive. A flick of his finger would be enough to decimate Ragnar, so it was all but impossible to lie to him. He had to be honest.
"Forgive me, majesty, but my loyalty lies not with the empire, but with the human race."
Silence fell in the room as Elinor and Ragnar both waited for Jotun to reply. For a general of the empire to speak such words…
"Tell me, Ragnar, are you married?" Jotun asked.
Chapter C519 Being Responsible
Ragnar was startled by the question, as that was not what he was expecting. "Your majesty… I… marriage, I…"n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l-B1n.
"Alright, alright, forget about it. Let's focus on other things. I admire your strength of character, child, but that's all you really have at the moment. Don't let your successful tribulation get to your head. You're too weak to be talking about the good or bad of the human race. These are things you're not yet qualified to even think about, so let's focus on something else. Tell me, why do you think you're being sent to your death?"
A hint of shame flashed through Ragnar's mind. It had been a very long time since he felt like a child being admonished by an adult, but before the emperor, that is what he truly was. Like the emperor said, there were too many things he was unqualified to know. But what he did know was that, despite the miniscule size of the empire compared to the origin realm, it was not just the humans of the empire who were being supported by the emperor.
Currently, the devils used the humans to farm their demons openly, but not many other races acted so blatantly despite feeling superior to humans. But this had not always been the case. As an immortal, Ragnar had access to a higher level authority on the Henali portal, and so he had read the history of the human race, as scarcely recorded as it was.
The human race was one of the most popular races to have as slaves realm-wide simply because they started out in the mortal realm, and unless they actively cultivated, they were unable to resist their superiors. As such, by restricting their ability to cultivate, most races took advantage of them. They had the intellect and mobility to be perfect slaves.
Back then, there were truly very few human forces worthy of note in the entire realm. Other than the Sephore family, there were only the Paladins, the Beast masters and the Merfolk. By the time the emperor rose to power, and single-handedly raised the prestige of the human race, the Merfolk had already been driven to the point of extinction due to the unique threat their bloodlines posed.
Although Ragnar was not exactly clear on what the emperor had done that changed so much, he knew that he himself was far from reaching such a level. He focused his thoughts and began listing everything that had raised his suspicions.
What greatly surprised him was that… even the emperor himself was shocked to learn of the Jorlam! It seemed the gap in communication in the empire was bigger than it had seemed. To some degree, it was expected. After all, the empire spanned galaxies. Not all places had access to the Henali portal equally. But something like this…
What Ragnar didn't know was that Jotun was genuinely much more alarmed that he let on. A growing Jorlam was not a rebellion against the empire, it was a rebellion against the Henali!
*****
After doing his research at the portal, Lex was relieved that the fruit he needed was not exceptionally rare. At least compared to the ore Lex needed to strengthen his own body, it was not a big deal.
Not wanting to waste any time, he teleported over to the Emporium and placed his order, while also collecting his latest batch of techniques for the library. They did not have the fruit in stock but they could get it soon enough, considering Lex's high customer level.
If Lex hadn't been suspicious that the Emporium was actually the result of a system, he would have directly given them a key and invited them to open a store at the Inn. It would be so convenient for the Inn.
When Lex returned to the Inn, he already had a list of tasks planned out for himself but two notifications made him pause. The first one was expected - someone had finally discovered the first Minor realm. Once the discovery had been made, the entrance to the Minor realm became a lot more evident and took the shape of a single wooden door. About a thousand guests had already entered the realm in the short few minutes Lex was gone to the emporium, and more were continuously entering. As for what was on the other end, there was no news yet.
The second news was unexpected. He had been sent a warning from Larry via the hologram. Apparently, there was someone identical to him at the Inn called William. The warning was not because they looked identical, or that William had expressed curiosity towards Lex once he found out about him. That was only a natural reaction someone would have once they learned someone looked similar or identical to them.
Instead, William and his brothers had displayed an interest in earth that unsettled Larry. Other than asking about Lex, they also asked a lot of questions about Marlo. They had explained the source of their curiosity was the fact that Marlo's name was high in the guest registry, and while that was a reasonable explanation for their curiosity, Larry felt extremely wary. He then also shared the news that Marlo was about to make a move against the prisoners on earth by himself and that Larry was intending on joining him. He invited Lex to join, if he was interested.
Lex sighed. The issue with William was a real headache, and in the back of his mind he had been considering returning to earth to confront his family. While he had been angry originally, he suppressed his anger and decided not to jump to conclusions until he heard their explanation. He also didn't want too much trouble caused on earth, as he still had lingering attachment to the planet he grew up on.
Yet there was also a part of him that wanted to forget all of that, and just stay at the Inn. It would be so easy to give up on those problems. But Lex had been trying to be more responsible lately, so he knew he couldn't just give up on it.
Lex sent him a letter telling Larry that he'd avoid William, and that he'd join him on earth. As for the repercussions… well, he couldn't control the whole universe. He would do what he could, but he held no expectations of becoming some random hero that protects the planet from every disaster.
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter C520 Retreat
Things at the Midnight Inn were going great. The festival was a great success and in the span of a few hours five different Minor realms had been discovered. Nearly a hundred thousand guests had already entered the realms, except for one which apparently had an age restriction. Only those below 20 years of age could enter that realm, for whatever reason.
While that dissuaded ordinary guests from trying to enter, as humans, beasts and other races alike were usually still very weak at that age, several sects were greatly interested.
The Evil Diplo sect were the first to gather at the portal and sent countless members of their sects, alongside their slaves below the age limit.
But while they were the first to act, they were not the only ones who had such an idea. Soon dozens of other sects who had unexpectedly arrived at the Inn during the festival also began sending their younger generation inside, including even the Paladins.
That one Minor realm became a confrontational ground for the various secs, especially since they were banned from fighting at the inn. It wasn't as if they hadn't tried, but the Inn was a lot stricter now with such a situation. The guards would immediately capture whoever started a confrontation and exile them from the Inn, irrespective of their excuse.
Being banned from the Inn was too major a loss for these sects who had just discovered this excellent holy land. But the Inn had given specific disclaimers that its protection did not extend to the Minor realms, so everyone should only proceed at their own discretion. While that represented danger, it also represented an opportunity to compete for unclaimed resources. The sects would never give up such an opportunity.
Lex sat in his office, monitoring the situation. The Minor realms had increased his MP earnings because many would come back in need of Recovery pods, or would put up the treasures they obtained for sale at the Guild room.
This was exactly the kind of progress he liked to see. He could tell that the Minor realms would bring in even more guests soon enough, and that even the village would become too crowded. He would need to build yet another settlement, so he once again began working with the planning division.
He had Main street, which had some of the Inn's unique attractions but also handled less of the crowds. The village was where most of the guests spent their time because that's where most of the attractions and entertainment were located. The third settlement would have to be focused around the Minor realms.
Watching the Inn grow was exciting, but he was in a rush because the Grand Prix would start the next day and he was participating in that. He wanted the new settlement to already be in place before that began, as the race would be the perfect opportunity to bring attention to it by having the track pass through it.
But while Lex was busy with expanding the Inn, there was something else going on that had escaped his attention. With the Host Attire and his office chair making him in sync with the Inn it wasn't as if he hadn't been exposed to it, but with the number of things going on at the Inn, this really was not worth giving any extra attention to.
While the numerous guests and even staff underwent a growth period due to the latest star rating increase, many of the normal animals at the Inn had only barely benefited from it. Such was the case with the many Magikarpet that Lex had brought to the Inn. Their vitality had increased and their colors grew more lustrous.
One of them, however, was experiencing something very unusual. It had fallen into a slumber, allowing its body to fall to the bottom of the lake where the fish lived. As if the unusually long slumber was not odd enough, in recent days its body had started to emit a soft glow.
A dim but clear light was emitted from between the Magikarpets scales, but as the days went by, the light began to get brighter and brighter. Eventually the light became so bright that it started to attract attention, not only of its fellow Magikarpet, but of the various guests who were swimming in the lake.
Thinking they had discovered another entrance to a Minor realm many swarmed towards the light but, before they could actually approach the Magikarpet, its shape began to change!
A storm of spirit energy appeared over the fish, similar to the one that had encompassed Lex during his breakthrough, and its body began growing rapidly. From just a few feet in size, it rapidly grew to a dozen feet, then to twenty before it began slowing down until it reached around twenty-five feet (7.6 meters) in length.
A heavy, intimidating aura enveloped its still shining body, resulting in all the guests retreating in alarm! The light continued to envelop the shape for a few more minutes as its body changed further, but when the light faded, it revealed a new monstrosity.
No longer did it have the soft and cute round eyes of the Magikarpet, and no longer did it have warm, red scales that made one want to cuddle with it.
No, Magikarpet had mutated into a ferocious creature with each and every fiber of its being radiating a savage aura. Its strength was not from a growth in spiritual cultivation, but rather its body packed strength that could shake the very seas.
The various Magikarpets in the lake slowly swam to the new being to observe it, and then began swimming around it as if carrying out some ritual.
But the creature was not paying attention to any of that. As a being that belonged to the Inn, the moment it grew and gained sentience, it automatically became an Inn employee. So its attention was completely diverted to a screen that had appeared in front of it, with words written on it that the beast could somehow read.
The screen read: 'For the first annual Inn employee retreat, please list down any dietary restrictions. Also, please confirm whether you would like dancing lessons before the retreat."
Chapter C521 Immortal Bastion
Creating a third settlement was an exciting task for Lex, but first he had to decide where to build it. The Midnight Manor was right in the center of the Inn, Main street was right below it to the south, and the village, where most of the entertainment was based, was to the west. To the north was the greenhouse, which was ever expanding, so Lex wanted to avoid building in that direction. That left only the east without anything major, so that is where he decided to build.The debut release occurred at N-ov3l=B(j)n.
The design of the third settlement was very different from anything Lex had built before, for he did not want to pack all the guests densely in a concentrated area. Instead, it would be a vast, sprawling development spread over a large area. Instead of tall buildings and structures, there would be a multitude of buildings one or two stories high dotting the entire region.
As was customary every time he added something prominent to the Inn, he expanded the size of the Inn. It was not too much, just about 20,000 acres of land added in the east for a total of two hundred million MP.
It was not an exaggeration to say 20,000 acres was not a lot of land. A single state in the US took up millions of acres of so the Inn which was still only in the hundreds of thousands was miniscule.
Adding a new location also meant making alterations to the various transport systems available at the Inn to include it. Train tracks were laid down, roads were cut through grass, the path of the lazy river was altered and Lex finally also added an airport.
As amazing as it would be to have helicopters fly guests around the Inn, they were much too noisy and inefficient. With Xeon as a member of the Inn now, Lex had him purchase a few hundred ships via the Guild room and optimize them for the Inn's use.
Massive jets capable of vertical takeoffs while staying completely silent filled the garages in the airports. Each jet was capable of carrying anywhere between 100 to 300 guests at a time, and could traverse the entire length of the Inn in merely a couple of minutes - only because they kept their acceleration within comfort levels even for mortals.
Naturally, a couple of other airports were also included at the other areas of the Inn.
With transportation taken care of, it was time to look at the layout of the new settlement. But first, Lex wanted to give it a name. Continuously calling it a settlement or development was tedious.
Lex's naming sense wasn't the best, but since he had decided to do things properly, he didn't let them make him do things half-heartedly. Each area of the Inn had been designed with a purpose in mind. Main street was where the guests who only wanted a quiet or peaceful vacation went, and the esthetic and feel of the area matched it. The village, instead, was a happening place with stadiums, parks, coliseums, concert halls and anything else that spoke of entertainment and thus was designed with that in mind.
This new area was supposed to be a gathering place for the more adventurous guests, with the intentions of visiting the Minor realms, or perhaps as a resting area before heading off to dangerous places outside of the Inn. Other than eventually gathering all the entrances to the Minor halls here, Lex wanted to fill this place with Training halls, the eventual armory he would open, pharmacies, equipment shops and anything else that would aid a guest about to venture off on a perilous journey. In the same breath, he had to remember that such guests were not usually fond of overly complicated or embellished names. Something simple and direct would suffice.
After crossing off dozens of ideas, and thoroughly going through dictionaries and thesauruses, Lex settled on the name Immortal Bastion. It would be a place where warriors could come for their final rest before war, a safe haven where they could prepare themselves in every sense before venturing into the unknown.
With the name decided, Lex got to work. Since this latest addition was planned to be over a large area rather than concentrated around one spot, there could be no 'city center' or main area where a few important services were centered. While this could obviously not be implemented for everything, most services had to be readily available throughout the development.
Lex began by setting down 100 'small villages' spread out over a large area, and around them began putting down small and large houses as well as courtyards. Training rooms, Meditation rooms and Guild room branches were added every mile. He also added a prominent chapel-like building repeatedly where he would eventually add entrances to the Minor realms.
If someone wanted to visit a specific Minor realm, they would have to go to a specific chapel, but if they wanted to enter one randomly, they only needed to go to the nearest one. Speaking of looking for specific Minor realms, Lex had assigned workers to compile all the data available for each Minor realm that his guests exited from. They would eventually be named and labeled, so that it was easier to identify them.
Lex began working on the minor details of the Bastion, adding various monuments, fountains, parks and such to bring life to the area. But even before he had finished, the Bastion began attracting attention.
Exploring the Inn had become like a game to many, especially after the latest Midnight letterhead told a story of a guest who discovered a hidden chest containing a ticket to a 1 month free stay at the Inn. During the hunt for Minor realms, many of the small, hidden rewards Lex had hid around the Inn had finally been discovered.
Just as Lex had expected, that had increased the guests interest in exploring the more remote areas of the Inn, slowly uncovering the various scenic spots hidden around.
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter C522 Grand Prix
Although at the moment the Immortal Bastion was nothing more than an empty shell, with time Lex would turn it into a huge gathering spot for all kinds of adventurers. Until then, it would have to stay just as a large gathering spot for various kinds of residencies.
After a couple of weeks, once more entrances to Minor realms were discovered, he would shift a few undiscovered ones and move them here.
But all of that was for later. The reason he was in a rush to complete the Bastion now was because the Grand Prix was about to begin. Last-minute changes to the course would have to be made to include the Bastion, and Lex kept himself separated from it so that he would not have any unfair advantages during the race. After all, he had thoroughly enjoyed the previous race and wanted to compete fairly. Moreover, the list of other racers was quite interesting as well.
Lex teleported to his room to take a short nap before the race began. He did not feel tired, mentally or physically, but he had been awake for multiple days in a row once again and although physically he did not need it, it was tough to break the psychological habit of needing to sleep.
Fortunately, although his breakthrough made it so that he did not need sleep, it did not interfere with his ability to fall asleep at all. When he woke up from his dreamless sleep, Lex felt a tinge of dissatisfaction. He did not feel refreshed at all, because he was not tired to begin with!
Never in his life did Lex think that he would complain of feeling too energetic and fresh, but it was taking away from one of his favorite activities!
Shaking his head, Lex put the matter behind him. He dressed up casually, put on his Clark Kent glasses and teleported to the Inn.
A massive crowd had gathered at the village for that was both the starting and ending line for the race. Stadiums were filled to the brim with families and cheering fans, all supporting their favorite racers.
Although Leo himself had only done a single race, mostly to get eligibility, most others had done quite a few races. Their intentions were to get used to the dynamics of the race and develop personal strategies, but they were in for a surprise.
The format for the final race had been changed! Instead of 3 laps of the track, there would only be one lap. The first to cross the finish line would be the winner. But, in exchange for this rule change, the rack had been made much larger. Not only did it go across every major attraction at the Inn, the traps and tricks were kicked up a notch.
Regardless of the changes, due to the fact that Leo had only participated in one race, his following was not as large as others, though his unique style of winning his only race had still won him some fans. Moreover, stories of how he defeated countless Nascent cultivators had also raised his popularity a bit. But it was only a bit.
Compared to others, such as Brandon Morrison, Alexander's grandfather, Pvarti, Greta Noel the famous strip poker player, the extremely handsome Gerard, the big brother of the Inn Z, and a few others, he was not that outstanding. Moreover, Lex was certain that the participants had been extremely limited because most of those whose cultivation level was very high were still cultivating. Despite that, there were well over 100 contestants in the Grand Prix.
But Lex didn't mind his lack of popularity - that wasn't why he had been participating in the first place. Wearing a carefree smile, Lex got into his highly modified golf cart and made himself comfortable.
Unlike the previous race, where he had been near the front, this time Lex was in the absolute last row of racers. It did not matter. The race was long enough to make up for any tiny disadvantage the starting position would give.
"Ladies and gents," a charismatic voice boomed over the crowds, "devils and dames, beasts and spirits, I'm your favorite commentator, Awry, here with you on the first ever Golf Cart Grand Prix!"
The crowd burst into an excited cheer jumping up and down at their seats. It wasn't just the stadium that had such a reaction. Due to the convenience provided by the Inn of being able to watch all events from personal screens anywhere inside the Inn, from the peak of the Midnight mountain to the floating rubber donuts in the lazy river, guests were watching the race.
Although most kids lacked the attention span for such a thing, some of the older ones inside the spaceship made themselves comfortable in their bean bags, ready with their chips and nuggets to snack as they watched.
"Alright contestants, get inside your vehicles as I walk you through the upcoming event. The screens that everyone other than the contestants could see started to show the track as the racers would experience them while the commentator continued to talk.
"Unlike previous races, this one will only have a single lap, so there's no time to familiarize yourself with the track, and you'll have to deal with the surprises as they come! The power ups are all the same that you've already experienced, but the obstacles you will face are all new!"
The crowds cheered once again while the racers psyched themselves up using their various ways. The betting, which had been open for quite a while now, was about to close. Lex himself did not bother to bet, for whether he won or lost, he would be the one making the payment. The rest of the racers, though, all bet on themselves as a show of confidence.
The favorite to win the race was Gerard and Lex couldn't blame anyone for thinking as such. He'd had the perfect record so far in any race he participated in, but that was only so far.
Lex tightened his grip on the steering wheel as the commentator finally finished explaining the race to everyone.
Finally, in front of all the racers, Little Blue appeared in the sky, surrounded by red water. A moment later the water turned yellow, alongside a loud siren, and a moment later, turned green.
The race had begun.
Chapter C523 Interesting
Unlike the previous race where Lex had a very aggressive start, he decided to drive a little more tamely this time. The primary reason for that was the fact that every other racer around him was driving like a maniac!
He had not progressed ten feet (3 meters) forward when the first cart crashed into him! Lex had immediately deployed defensive techniques to keep his cart safe, but the thing was so had everyone else! Like hooligans everyone drove left and right, pushing everyone beside them off the track or trying to damage their vehicle!
Since the only techniques one could use were defensive, the only way to attack other contestants was to use the power ups, or to crash the cart itself into them. When it came to the matter of a physical contest, everyone was fairly confident in their own defensive techniques, so if such rough driving continued, the first to be disqualified would be those whose techniques failed first.
Lex did not think for even a moment that someone could breach his defense using only golf carts, but at the same time he was not planning on relying on such mundane tactics for knockouts. The severe lack of speed and close distance between all the racers made it hard for Lex to avoid getting crashed into, so he didn't even try.
Instead, he entered into the state of 'flow' and honed onto what his intuition told him. Instead of trying to avoid crashes, Lex began to maneuver his cart so that instead of pushed aside, he would be pushed forward!
His perception of time seemed to slow down as Lex applied the limited knowledge he had gained of drifting to angle his cart just right beforehand so that when the inevitable crash came, he would move along his desired path.
Since the beginning of the race had been so chaotic and exciting, the crowds were going wild while Awry could only comment on some of the crowd favorites. Gerard was in the lead, his ingenious use of his bloodline allowing him to escape the chaos before anyone else. Even the nearest racer was far behind the racing savant, not to mention still embroiled in the mess.
But, suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Awry saw something very unusual. Between all the madness that seemed to be sucking everyone in, one cart seemed to be moving with the chaos, as if it were a ship sailing over stormy waters!
"Wait a minute folks, turn your attention to cart number 69!" Awry spoke with the excitement of a child.
The driver seems to be using the other carts to his advantage. The random madness, when seen from the perspective of the cart, seemed a carefully orchestrated plan designed to gain every possible inch over the competition!
"The other carts are not obstacles in its path but the wind beneath its proverbial wings! It's gliding through! He just passed number 50, oh no wait, yes, he gracefully took the attack from fan favorite Brandon and bounced off of the underdog, vice-captain Booty, and he managed to push himself out of the crowd!"
By the time it took the crown to find the cart the commentator was talking about, Lex had already pushed away from the remaining carts! But the race had only begun, and he was not the first to escape either.
He floored the accelerator as he spread his spirit sense up ahead to check the track for traps! The track started at the stadium but did not leave the village immediately. Instead, it seemed to be diverted towards the heart of the village, where the giant orb of water floated in the sky!
After a sharp turn through which Lex was able to drift beautifully, Lex finally saw the first contestant ahead of him. He did not recognize the man dressed in a giant black hood, but that didn't-
A section of the road underneath the racer in front of Lex sprung up from the ground, a massive spring connected underneath keeping the road bouncing up and down. The contestant had been launched vertically into the air, but his forward momentum kept him moving.
For a moment Lex thought he had fallen for a trap, but then Lex saw the racer land effortlessly in a different section of the track, bypassing the ordinary path completely!
"Cart number 13 takes the lead!" Awry suddenly roared as an image of him jumping up and down from excitement was shown in a corner of everyone's screens. "Gerard, in cart number 01 has fallen behind. What an ingenious move by the contestant called Xenmas, although it remains to be seen if it was skill or dumb luck!"
Lex himself was unsure of how the other had done so, but he did not try to emulate him. Even with his intuition, it was impossible to predict what kind of trap would be triggered, so every time he sensed danger, he made sure to avoid it! And there were many such instances!
Disguised almost perfectly, Lex actually ended up overlooking several traps with his spirit sense, and would have been a victim to them were it not for his intuition. But since his methods were working Lex would not waste time dwelling on it, for the first real challenge finally appeared.The inception of this chapter's publication is linked to n(o)vel(b)(i)(n).
In front of him, Lex saw a shining golden box in the middle of the road. That would be a power up, something he should have been excited for. But directly behind the power up… the road began inclining upwards. Slowly at first, but eventually the incline changed from being gentle to directly being vertical, aiming towards the floating orb of water in the sky!
This… this was not in any of the plans for the race Lex had seen! Although Lex had told Mary to overlook the design of the race, and that he would directly approve it through the system without looking at the plans… this was pushing it, no?
But before his brain could fry, he noticed other drivers going up the vertical road. It seemed their carts were not falling off, and had been kept attached to the road somehow.
"Interesting," he said, driving straight into the power up.
Chapter C524 Just Getting Started
The moment Lex drove through the power up, a button on his golf that was previously gray turned blue. Lex clicked his tongue in annoyance, but didn't focus on it for too long. He, like every other participant in the race, had memorized all the available power ups and how to identify them. There were three buttons on the golf cart, each of which would turn a certain color based on the power up he received.
Once he used up a power up, the button would once again turn gray, meaning he could hoard up to 3 power ups at a time at most. The blue power up wasn't actually bad, but it was designed for someone who was trailing in the race. It would give the racer a temporary speed boost, its speed and duration based on how far behind he was.
Although Lex could not tell for certain, since the entire track was not visible to him, he was fairly certain he was in the top 10, so the boost would be short and tame. But beggars couldn't be choosers.
Lex's cart started going up the incline, the acceleration clearly dropped as the engine used more power to keep it climbing. Lex felt nervous about the climb, but there was no other track for him to follow. The gradient of the climb kept increasing, and kept slowing Lex down, right up until it reached about 50 degrees.
Lex felt a subtle shift in the way the cart was moving, and guessed that a hidden formation had been activated because gravity no longer seemed to be pulling him down towards the ground, and instead the direction of gravity was the road itself!
As if that wasn't enough, the speed of his cart skyrocketed and within moments, he found himself driving vertically up and reaching the floating orb. The speed boost explained why everyone else was so far ahead of him that he could barely see anyone. The only reason Lex could even see Xenmas was because he had skipped the track for the orb entirely!
The track went through a small tunnel right in the orb, and Lex once again entered his state of flow! His accelerated speed greatly tested his reaction time, and the tunnel going through the water was swerving left and right, making it hard for Lex to anticipate the upcoming path!
But due to his ever-increasing experience with drifting, his intuition and his state of flow, Lex did not slow down at all as he navigated the water tunnel!
Due to the fact that Lex never slowed down, he quickly caught up to the driver right ahead of him, but he immediately noticed something off! Even if the driver had slowed down for the turns, as someone who had gone through the preliminary round, he shouldn't have needed to slow down this much to navigate the tunnel.
His intuition suddenly blared a warning for upcoming danger, and Lex did not hesitate to swerve his steering wheel as hard as he could, pull the handbrake and hit the power up button at the same time!
"DRIFT KING LEO IS AT IT AGAIN!" roared the commentator as his body trembled from the adrenaline rush.
The camera quickly cut to Lex, showing what happened in slow motion. One moment he was going straight, and the next moment he started moving diagonally, while actually increasing his speed somehow! The next moment, the screen showed Leo's cart dodging a spear that had been launched from the water right underneath the track!
The spear was hard to see due to it being underneath the track that was now made of water, and its timing had been perfect. Yet the smoothe evasive maneuver pulled off by Leo and his calm expression told that everything was within his control.
Countless guests were beginning to switch their loyalty towards Leo, clearly impressed by his skill, when he discovered a secret none of the drivers before him had considered! The shift in gravity had not resulted from the track, but from within the cart itself! Leo had drifted right to the top of the tunnel, passing the contestant ahead of him while driving literally right above him!
Leo ended the drift and continued to the race, his cart not slowing down for even a moment the entire time! With that single move, Leo had determined himself as one of the favorites for the race, but it was unknown if his stellar performance would continue. After all, the race had just begun, and many were already catching up behind him!
Lex himself was not nearly as calm as he appeared. He had just become too used to masking his emotions and keeping a calm demeanor. But internally, he was feeling exhilarated!
The fact that he had dodged that single spear seemed to have incensed the track, if that was possible, and countless other traps kept appearing in his way. But he kept avoiding them effortlessly, and he was having the time of his life doing it!
He recalled long ago, when he had wished for more excitement in his life. For a time after that, he regretted making such a wish, mostly because he was always being hunted by zombies or wolves or miscellaneous bad guys, but right now he was having the time of his life!
There was something about going fast, the wind in his hair, dodging all obstacles, continuing on his path unimpeded-
His inner monologue ended quite abruptly when his cart suddenly slipped! Right in front of him there was a cart pile-up and due to his increased speed and loss of control, there didn't seem to be a way to avoid crashing!
He immediately entered the 'overdrive' state and realized what had happened. On earth, thin, nearly invisible layers of ice that formed on roads were called black ice, mostly due to the color of the road beneath them. Regardless of what it was called, the point was that it was an imperceptible layer of ice that covered the track, or in this case, was what the track had turned into!
For the first time in the race, Lex hit the brakes without the intention of drifting! But he was not aiming to slow down, either. Suddenly hitting the brakes caused the cart to skid even more, turning sideways as it continued to hurl towards the pile up. But just as it approached, Lex shifted his left leg out the open side of the cart and stomped the track using his immense physical strength!
Unanimously, the crowd's jaws dropped as they saw Leo jump the cart sideways, using the very limited free space between the pileup and the tunnel roof - or base depending on how you looked at it - and pass through without touching a single other vehicle!
Once the cart landed on the other side, it did a single, 360 degree swerve while Lex regained control and just kept on driving.The inception of this chapter's publication is linked to n(o)vel(b)(i)(n).
He exited the overdrive state as soon as he crossed the hurdle, his heart beating like a drum during a rock concert! He had never been in any physical danger, but the thought of finally stumbling across an obstacle seemed more daunting than any real danger at that point.
Once across, though, he felt like laughing! He was Lex, the freaking Innkeeper- no, uh, he was Leo, the owner of Gamer's Den. Simple obstacles such as these couldn't phase him!
In the distance, Lex saw a bright light, indicating the end of the water tunnel, finally. He had already seen bits of the track that came next and knew that vines were going to be the next big obstacle, but he wasn't worried. With his intuition he was-
'FUDGE!" he roared in his mind the moment he exited the tunnel, because there was no track! He had been launched straight into the clouds with no track beneath him and no indication of where he was supposed to land!
He spread his spirit sense as far and wide as he could to search for where he was supposed to go next, but it was useless. Slowly and predictably, he reached the arch of his launch. For a single, uncertain moment, he hovered in the air, before he began plummeting through the sky!
Unsure of what to expect, since he was still within the clouds, his view completely blocked, Lex began using his defensive techniques to ensure the cart would survive the crash when, abruptly and unexpectedly, he sensed a track!
He slammed the accelerator even before he landed. His defensive technique had been employed just in time as his cart bounced on the ground once before firmly planting itself on the ground and continuing forward.
He burst through the clouds to realize where he was! He was in the floating city above the village, on a track that was completely separate from the one he had seen on the ground! How would this work?
He didn't have time to ponder as his intuition kicked in, warning of an attack coming from behind him. Lex recognized the sound of incoming artillery, and knew that someone behind him had used a power up targeting him!
Chapter C525 100,000 Bated Breaths!
Lex recognized the distinct sound of cloth flapping in the wind and knew exactly what power up was coming for him. It was troubling because this particular power up had a homing function, so it wasn't easy to avoid.
This was not a matter of defense, and he dared say that even if he used Talk to the Hand and put up a barrier, it would not be enough to escape from the effects of this particular power up. If he still had the speed boost power up, he could have used it at the right moment to escape, but since he did not he would have to get creative.
Without even needing to think about it, he entered the state of flow and drove his cart to the edge of the track. Relying on his keen intuition, his incredible sense of hearing and his spirit sense that he had surrounded his cart with, he waited for the power-up to come just close enough.
One second, two… Before the third second could arrive, Lex struck his hand out of the cart and grabbed onto a street light just off the track. Latching onto the cart as tightly as he could, he used his grip on the street light as a pivot and had the cart spin a full circle around the pole, abruptly moving out of its original trajectory.
Just as he was about to get back onto the track, he saw a massive white blanket throw itself where his cart should have been! This was a power-up called the Mummy wrap, and basically consisted of a white, indestructible blanket that would completely wrap itself around the moving golf carts, obstructing not only the view but also the spirit senses! It lasted an enormous 10 seconds, which was long enough for a speed cart to crash somewhere or go off course directly! More importantly, it provided the driver right behind to overtake the competition.
From the corner of his eye, Lex noticed a driver catching up to him. He immediately recognized the infamous Noel sister, Greta! Although she was too far for Lex to hear what she was screaming, his phenomenal eyesight allowed him to read her lips and pick up on some of the curse words she was using. It seemed she was upset over Lex dodging her power up.
The crowds watching, however, were all ecstatic and could not get enough of Leo's driving. To be honest, Leo was nowhere near the level of Gerard, who had yet to enter a single precarious situation at all. But it was the constant close calls that got the viewers adrenaline pumping, and his ever stoic expression that elevated his image.
But Lex could not be bothered by any of that now. An intersection in the track was coming up! On the left, Lex could clearly see a power-up floating within reach, but the right path was descending - a way back to the track below!
Lex had neither the time to debate his options nor the will to gamble. In such a moment, he relied completely on his intuition, and turned towards the left path. The button for the power-ups turned red, making Lex grin.
The Kamikaze bomber was perceived as one of the more useless power ups, considering it caused a powerful explosion right on the users cart. But for Lex and his incredible defense that was not a problem at all. Moreover, it provided him with an excellent way to remove competitors as long as he got close enough! It could also help him avoid certain other power ups targeting him as well. A very versatile tool.
But though he got the power up, he had to pay the corresponding price! The track led him right off the edge of the floating city, driving on a path made of clouds. But his intuition was blaring, letting him know that not all clouds were solid and he could easily plummet to the ground.
He was not afraid of falling from heights, but rather losing his position in the race. He could no longer tell what position he was at, but he was sure it was probably near the front.
With no safety guard rails to keep him on track, and his intuition only warning him where there was danger, Lex's driving seemed to become haphazard. Many viewers became confused for a moment, before their screens suddenly highlighted the actual track in green, and all the clouds that would allow Lex to fall as red.
Sucking in a quick, cold breath, they finally realized just how precarious Lex's situation was. To be fair, anyone with a keen observation would also be able to detect the correct path due to how the clouds behaved differently, where they were solid and where they weren't, but no one had the time for that!
A few, tense minutes later, Lex finally got off the clouds. But that did not mean his track had become any easier to navigate. He had gotten off at the tip of Midnight Mountain and now had to drive down a snowy track spiraling across the mountainside.
Just as he was trying to get an understanding of how the cart drove on a snowy track, a cart literally fell out of the sky in front of him! The cart, which was covered in a golden bubble, did not slow down even for a second and continued to hurtle directly down the Mountain side with no regard for the track!
"Brandon, you juvenile geezer!" roared someone from another cart, which also crashed down from the sky. But this one did not have the smooth landing of the previous one, and became completely buried in the heavy snow!
Lex didn't pay them much mind and continued to navigate the track, but more and more carts started falling from the sky! Instead of competitors, they became more like obstacles for Lex to avoid.
But other than falling from the heavens, the carts also had another thing in common: they were all cursing Brandon!
Lex didn't know if he should be curious as to what the old man had done, or impressed by the sheer damage he had caused. But Lex put him out of his thoughts real quick as his keen senses picked up another power-up hidden underneath a pile of snow. Taking a small risk of slowing down, Lex drove headfirst into the pile to gain his second stacked power-up.
The second button turned green. This made Lex grin. This power up had been suggested by one of his workers who had been watching popsicle the sailor man and his penchant for gaining great strength when eating spinach. This power-up would not really increase the speed of his cart, but if he rammed into anyone and hit the button, their cart would literally be thrown away as if hit by a powerful ram!
Of course, there were ways of negating this ability just like any other, but it was easier said than done.
Lex continued down the mountain, still managing to avoid all obstacles, but soon a general cacophony began to trail him as all the drivers who fell out of the sky reentered the race. That in itself wasn't an issue since Lex's driving, which allowed him to avoid slowing down at all, would continue to increase the distance between them. It was the threat of being targeted by power-ups that put pressure on Lex.
Not to mention, he really didn't like this pattern of people overtaking him by breaking through or going off course. Since going off the course, to a small degree, was technically allowed, many restrictions had been put in place to discourage anyone from attempting such things or make it hard for them to gain any leads using these methods. But two people had already managed to do it.
It seemed like they really had profited from going through multiple races. Lex had to admit that he had overestimated himself and underestimated others. But, if others could do it, so could he!
Lex entered his overdrive state and began analyzing the track ahead of him, or as much of it as he could see. He had already determined where the track would proceed once he exited the mountain, so…
A few, patient minutes went by as Lex searched for the perfect spot, but the moment he found it he did not hesitate. Without any forewarning whatsoever, Lex veered to the right and, driving over a tree that had been growing at an angle, Lex launched himself off the mountain.
As the sunlight shone down on the cart flying through the air like a pegasus, lighting up the faint, confident smile worn by Leo, a hush fell over a certain part of the stadium full of guests who had been watching him. A hundred thousand guests held their breath as they watched him fly.
In a particular corner, a devil wearing a brown trench coat pulled out a small booklet from his pocket, and with a tiny yellow pencil, wrote down 'Leo'. A few familiar names above him were Gerard, Marlo and Luthor. Z's name was also mentioned, but it had a question mark right in front of it.
Chapter C526 Gelid Anima
For a few brief seconds, Lex was flying through the sky. He was cutting through the track faster than he should have been allowed, and it was only now that he was breaking the rules that he was able to see that… dozens of racers had already surpassed him somehow.
But he wasn't stressed or alarmed at the thought of being overtaken. The race was too much fun, and encountering others who were able to surpass his expectations just lit his competitive spirit on fire.
At that moment, something unusual happened. Lex entered a state completely unlike any he had experienced. The first abnormal state he had ever encountered was the flow state. The reason he called it the flow state was because it allowed him to perform every single action with absolute perfection and efficiency, something that was impossible for him to do under normal circumstances.
Even with his increased brain power and control due to his raised cultivation, he could not match the precision the flow state afforded him. His actions seemed to flow from one to the next without a break or pause, or the need to think and analyze. It was like achieving the hypothetical peak performance he was capable of unleashing.
The first time he had used it was long before he had any combat skill or sense of his own, yet he was surrounded by a horde of zombies, impossible for him to overcome. But in that moment that should have led to his death, he did not freeze nor he did not cower. Instead overcame the limits of his own experiences and killed his way out.
The next unusual state he had encountered was the overdrive state. That, once again, had come to Lex when he was faced with death. Regardless of how incompetent he himself was, the host of the Murder system had been extremely dangerous. Although Lex was the ultimate victor, had his performance lacked even a bit, he would have been a victim to that man's immense luck.
The overdrive state allowed him to push his mind and body beyond its normal limits, achieving what he normally would not have at the expense of great exhaustion. In fact, Lex had long suspected that the toll of the overdrive state would have absolutely wrecked his body had he lacked the foundation of the Regal Embrace.
While both those states were incredibly useful, and Lex had used them often, a trait they both had in common was that they would completely subdue his emotions. While Lex did not become completely emotionless, he was largely ruled by logic and the urgency of the tasks on hand. The results had not been contrary to what Lex wanted, but it seemed more like achieving the result on autopilot than doing because it satisfied his emotions.
In practice, that made no real difference and Lex never really even considered it a drawback worth mentioning, considering both the states allowed him to go above and beyond what he normally could not. But this new state… it was the opposite.
Perhaps one of the reasons Lex never encountered it before was because he was unable to physically support it. His stamina started draining rapidly as he felt each and every muscle in his body tense up and relax, readily filling him with a strength that would have otherwise required immense concentration and focus. His already fast reaction speed was kicked up a notch. His already racing thoughts were boosted beyond anything he could achieve on his own, making him feel like the world was moving in slow motion.
Moreover, instead of his emotions being suppressed and his mind making the most efficient decisions, his emotions were excited beyond measure and he was left with the ultimate freedom to do as he desired.
While the previous two states were focused mostly on his mind and making his actions efficient, this one boosted his physical skills to the max and drove his emotions into a frenzy.
It was like he was given a toy and allowed to do whatever he wanted. With the only small difference being that his own body and immense strength were the toys, and what he wanted to do was win.
The moment his cart landed on the ground, and Lex became slightly accustomed to this new 'berserk' state, he came to a new understanding of what was happening. He had assumed that because the race was organized by the system and the event panel, no one would be able to cheat. But he completely forgot that he himself was always looking for loopholes in everything related to the system. As such, it only made sense that such was also possible during the race.
With a mad grin that had an eerie resemblance to Marlo's signature look, Lex floored the accelerator. Suddenly, not only did he want to win the race, he wanted to do it while causing more chaos than even Brandon.
*****
William was sitting in his room, looking over a document. Damian had sent it to the Inn, and insisted that he take a look over it. While William originally had all his attention focused on Lex, after reading this document, he was greatly interested in his sisters as well. But, most importantly, as a leader of the human race, he was most interested in their mother, Serene Williams.
"How did you do it?" he murmured as he read the document again and again. His eyes kept switching to a few key points, trying to wrap his head around it.
The most important points were:
Belle Williams - born with the heart of a Valkyrie.
Liz Williams - born with mythical 100% compatibility to Beast Master path.
Moon Williams - born with mutated soul sense that allows her to aid immortals during the mind tribulation.
Any 3 of these abilities were… were actually genuinely unheard of in the human race, yet all three had occurred in siblings. What was driving him crazy was that if the parents had not chosen to hide these astounding abilities, what was it about Lex that caused them to hide him?
But, regardless of whatever ability Lex had, he was more interested in Serene, who had somehow achieved this. Not that he was looking down on Leon, Lex's father, but his entire life was documented so there was no reason to believe he had the ability to do anything so remarkable. In fact, before meeting Serene, even Leon's skills were somewhat mediocre, at least as far as the entire Jotun empire was concerned.
After meeting her, however, his prowess with the sword seemed to have increased.
Unfortunately, he would not get the answer to his question any time soon since Leon and Serene had disappeared without a trace.
But Williams' reverie suddenly broke when he felt a chance from within his own body. The so-called bloodline of the Williams family was actually just a watered-down version of skills he had developed on his own. The bloodline was something his descendants could unlock, though he himself lacked any such bloodline. Yet at that moment, which was coincidentally the same moment Lex entered his Berserk state, William Sephore, founder of the William family and creator of the Gelid Anima bloodline, felt himself gaining a bloodline.