The Innkeeper

Around the time that Lex reopened the Inn to the universe, there was a small wooden pirate ship floating in the air. There was a fairy sleeping at the helm, it’s feet up on the steering wheel. On the deck there was a small owl, which would from time to time rotate its head around and glare at a tiny, crystal alligator sleeping on the deck.

The alligator had come out of the crystal egg Jack had rescued, and for the most part all it did was sleep. As if that was not enough, everything it touched began to turn to crystal. Jack actually had to spend several months strengthening the ship to resist the crystallization process. Sure that ultimately made the ship stronger, but Ollie still didn’t like it.

But even more than the alligator, it hated the first mate! It was a unicorn that had suffered from extreme dwarfism, making it only a few inches large. Yet even if it wanted to complain it could not. The unicorn was too strong, weaker only than the captain. Moreover, its magic was absolutely terrifying. But no matter what the case was, it had skipped the order of seniority by directly becoming the first mate.

Suddenly, Jack opened his eyes.

“Guys, it’s time. Tiny-Sparkles, open the sails. Everyone else, man your stations. We’re heading out!”

Tiny-Sparkles, the unicorn, responded in a deep, reverberating voice, “for the last time captain, we don’t need sails to travel through realms.”

But even as it complained, the unicorn did as it was told. Captain Jack cared a lot about looking cool, which would have made him a terrible captain if he wasn’t otherwise competent in every other way as well.

Jack did not respond. He was focused on the ancient, strange temple they were in. By all accounts, this thing should not have existed in the Midnight realm. But it did, and as far as Jack could tell after years of research, it was also connected to some unknown realm that the Inn had never touched upon before.

This was a perfect time to begin his own journey, untouched by the system and Lex. At the same time, he could feel the call to adventure in his blood. It was risky, sure, but by now Jack was completely used to his fairy powers. He was more than confident in surviving.

Energy filled the ancient pillars of the temple, activating a teleportation formation that seemed to have been formed naturally.

Then, one second later, they were gone. Moments later the temple began to crumble, but as it did, it revealed an engraving that had long been hidden, even from Jack’s inspection as well as Lex’s. It disappeared before anyone could see, though if Lex had seen it, he would have recognised it as the Tower of Providence.

It was the same tower that teleported him away back in the Crystal realm, and it was the tower which worked across the entire universe, combating the powers of chaos. It was also the same tower that gave Lex the Taro fertilizer, the very thing that allowed the Realm seed to mature so quickly.

Elsewhere, in the Origin realm, a meeting was being convened between various members of the Henali race. Each attending member was a Dao Lord.

“According to our agents, the Midnight inn has reopened,” the Henali convening the meeting said.

“Has it been confirmed that it has really opened in a brand new realm?”

“Yes, as far as we can tell, it is an entirely new realm. It hasn’t even finished using up its Cosmic Sea.”

“What is the Innkeeper thinking, opening up such a place to the universe?”

“The Innkeeper is too mysterious. No matter how I divine things related to him, I can learn nothing of him. Moreover, we strongly suspect that the Innkeeper came to the Origin realm because he found some mysterious treasure. It might be related to the birth of this new realm?”

“Do you think he’s discovered the truth?” one of the Henali said, a tinge of anger in his voice. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“No, I doubt it. As far as we can tell, he even initiated a fight with one of the local deities, so it is unlikely he knows of what the Origin realm is truly hiding. But it’s hard to say for certain. His motives are too… I don’t even have the right word for it. Why would he open up a new realm to the universe? I simply cannot understand it. If it were me, I would spend the next billion years refining the realm and consolidating my Dao if I encountered a new realm.”

“What if… what if he is close to the next realm?”

No one spoke after that. The realm after the Dao Lord realm. Even the Henali Dao Lords lacked the courage to think about that realm.

“Send a report back home, as well as a Golden key. Tell them we have decided to pursue friendly relations with the Midnight Inn. As for the seniors… well, if they decide to look into the Inn, they’ll surely find out if the Innkeeper is truly close to that realm.”

“Do you want to take a look at the new realm yourself? Since it’s an Inn, we can surely visit, right?”

“Send someone to investigate first. Ask for permission. The Innkeeper left the Origin realm because he was dissatisfied with us. It’s best not to provoke him further.”

“Send that human, he seems to be on good terms with him. Also, keep a few agents there just to watch and report, but don’t do anything else.”

“Good. We will decide on this matter after the tourney finishes.”

“Excellent.”

Across the Origin and Crystal realms, the return of the Midnight inn suddenly sparked a great interest. Besides the vested interests of countless powerful beings, just the fact that the two realms were embroiled in war made the Inn invaluable. It was the perfect retreat in a dire situation, not to mention a secure location for meetings.

Even though Lex intended for his return to be gradual, within the first few minutes there were already hundreds of thousands of guests coming to the Inn.

Lex himself, meanwhile, was kept abreast of all information by Mary. But he was not concerned. The Inn could handle such an influx.

Instead, he was more concerned about the strange environment on this planet. The more time he spent here, the more oddities he noticed.

Lex’s body had been improved to the utmost by two resins, to the extent that he had put various seals on his body restricting his power lest he burst into the immortal realm. Yet even so, Lex could detect that if he stayed in such an environment, over the course of many years, his soul would become stronger.

This was something that not even the Midnight realm could do. It could aid in improving cultivation, but improving the soul just through the environment alone was absurd. Even being in the literal soul plane could not do that.

Lex began to explore the planet, walking unseen among the residents. Most of them were not too strong to begin with. The majority of the people were in the Qi Training realm or Foundation realm, with a few Golden core cultivators seen here and there.

If he entered a large city he could even spot a Nascent soul cultivator, though he immediately noticed that all Nascent soul cultivators, each and every one of them, was a soldier or a guard.

Another peculiar thing he noticed was that this place really seemed to be a utopia. The leader of this planet, known only as Saintess Yildrim, had worked extensively to transform the planet over the last decade or so.

She had done extensive civil and humanitarian work, to the point where no person needed to ever work to live a comfortable life. All the basic needs were provided. But oddly enough, providing such a situation created an environment where many people actually wanted to work, and took up many odd jobs.

Farming was by far the most popular, followed by working with animals, then being a school teacher. These were the three most desirable jobs on the entire planet, as they provided the most fulfillment and satisfaction.

But at the same time, the laws were also incredibly strict. There was no room for things like abuse, theft and the likes. As Lex walked from town to town, from city to city, he saw a scene right out of a fairy tale. It was not that negative emotions did not exist on this planet anymore. But that everyone had been trained how to deal with and vent those emotions in a productive and healthy way. It almost seemed ridiculous.

Lex began to genuinely admire this saintess, and decided that maybe he should meet her. After all, he could not find any other reason why he needed to be on this planet, so he began to search for her.

That’s when, for the first time since coming here, Lex sensed a hint of maliciousness.

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