The Innkeeper

Ever since he began cultivating, Lex had a complicated relationship with food. At first, he was extremely reluctant about the fact that slowly he would lose his sense of hunger as his body gained the ability to make do without it. His love for food caused him a great amount of pain when he thought about the fact that he might lose his taste for it.

Not that he would ever dislike food, but that heightened experience of having great food when he was really hungry would surely be something he lost.

But no matter how reluctant he was, it was a bitter reality. Over time, as he became busier, he had less and less time to eat. In fact, as of late, days would go by without him realizing he hadn't eaten since his body wouldn't really remind him, and he would be otherwise occupied.

The tragedy was somewhat further enhanced because the food requirements of his body also became more strenuous. So for him to actually make use of the food he ate, the ingredients needed to be of a higher quality. That meant other foods did not taste as good as they used to.

Sure, there was that period at the temple where he was getting good food, but that was ultimately limited. So, in a way, whether he wanted to or not, Lex had become distanced from the act of eating and truly enjoying food. It was one of the drawbacks of cultivation that no one ever talked about - probably out of bitterness.

So when he got the first taste of that burger, and for it to be so surprisingly and unexpectedly good blew Lex's mind away. He was completely unprepared for such a pleasant experience. He completely lost himself in that moment.

So when Plank slammed the door open, and woke Lex from his reverie, there was a moment he forgot that he was supposed to be joking around and became truly angry. It was not the aura of his projection, but Domination that radiated from his body as he locked eyes with Plank.

In that moment, let alone that delinquent, the whole city froze. But then, fortunately, Lex recalled what was happening and withdrew his aura. There was still the rest of the burger left to eat, not to mention that Spong-e would make more until Lex was satisfied, so there was no reason to be angry.

But that split second it took for him to calm down was already enough. Plank fell face forward onto the ground, frothing at the mouth in his unconscious state. Lex sighed, and then Blinked Plank, his wife, and all his goons back to the Torrin family mansion.

He couldn't be bothered to deal with them right now that he was finally enjoying himself. While no one saw Plank be teleported, many others saw members of the Torrin family vanish before their very eyes right after a frightening aura encompassed the city. Some people began to panic, while others began to wonder what was happening.

Rumors began to spread like wildfire, some mentioning ghosts while others mentioning a thin human who had come down from the heavens to judge evil.

But after a while, since nothing else happened, people began to calm down and the panic started to fade. That's when another kind of rumor began to spread.

Apparently, the Simple Life building was going around the city, offering valuable resources to orphans and the under privileged. Some people who were sick and had no money for treatment received a home visit from Simple Life staff who delivered medicine that would cure almost all illnesses in one go. Many who were stuck in bottlenecks got just the medicine they needed to break through, and others who were in dire need of just a little bit of money to overcome a difficult situation received gifts of gold.

But everyone who received something from them also got the message that what they had gotten was a gift from some unknown 'Mr. Lex'. Everyone began to wonder who this Mr. Lex was, when they found out that it was a mysterious figure who single handedly completed all the hunting commissions in a matter of hours!

Who was this man? What was his agenda? Why was he helping everyone? What was he after? These were the questions on everyone's minds, yet no one had a proper answer.

The day was extremely eventful, and the people of the city couldn't keep up with the information.

In a dark alley in the city, Hildi, who was standing over the bloody body of yet another assassin, was wondering how she could possibly escape her predicament when a staff member from Simple Life suddenly showed up. He ignored the body on the ground, and simply looked at Hildi.

"Miss Hildi, is that you? According to the instructions, this is where I would find you, so you must be her. Here, you go, this is a small present for you from Mr. Lex."

Hildi had her guard raised, but she was really too weak to resist an attack, therefore, all she could do was accept the gift. Surprisingly, no attack came and the man left.

Stunned, she opened up her gift and saw it contained healing medicine. Who was this Lex and how did he know she needed help?

The image of the man she helped bring to the city popped in her mind. But she dismissed it. How was that possible? There had to be some other explanation. Before considering it, however, she began to limp away. Staying here was not the best idea.

Meanwhile, Lex was finishing up yet another burger. It was splendid, and exactly what he needed to help him relax. He could not help but wonder if Spong-e might be a system user with a cooking system. How else could he cook so well?

But even if he was, Lex had no intention of prying. Instead, he was considering his grand finale in this small city. He was about ready to move on and begin searching for the resin, right after one more mysterious act.