The Innkeeper

Lex was taken by surprise as he was honestly not expecting it. Mostly it was because the 'opportunity' he was presenting to Aegis was already actually taking advantage of him to do his own work.

Still, he could understand the gesture. After all, as a crown prince, he was surely taught etiquette and surely put a great deal of emphasis on reciprocation.

"You really did not need to," said Lex, "but since you have already gotten something, I will not refuse your good will."

"Great," Aegis said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "We need to go somewhere to get to it, so whenever you're ready we can head out."

Had it been before, Lex would have hesitated to leave the tavern. He had already exposed himself and if he left the boundary of the tavern he would have been defenceless. But, since he had the Butter knife token, Lex could barely convince himself to head out. After all, in matters such as this, he still trusted the system's integrity.

"We can head out now," said Lex casually, as if he had nothing to lose by leaving the tavern building.

He passed a few instructions to Roan in case they had guests while they were gone, and left the tavern with Aegis.

"Do you mind if I speed us there?" aske Aegis once they stepped out.

Since the tavern did not have the same protection as the Inn, Lex's foundation realm cultivation was evident for all to see. Some were convinced he was actually just hiding his own cultivation level and was secretly an expert. Aegis did not try to test him and directly proposed taking the both of them himself.

Once Lex agreed, he placed a hand on Lex's shoulder and rushed them to the other side of Babylon. It barely took a single second. Yet from the tavern building they had quickly arrived at one of the latest buildings that had been temporarily set up whilst reconstruction took place.

He led Lex in, where Joseph and Berterm were waiting for them.

"The formation is ready, I can take you in whenever," said Joseph, leaving his son behind to stand guard.

With a nod from Aegis, they prepared the formation and stepped on it. Like an elevator, the formation started to descend downwards - only it seemed to be taking them down directly through the ground.

Lex did not let his surprise show and only calmly observed as they descended for a good two minutes, before arriving in some kind of underground cave.

The cave was filled with a sharp, blue light that illuminated every nook and cranny, even causing Lex to squint. Yet the blue light was not a fashion choice, and was being exuded by a single, small crystal.

Lex did not need to be introduced to know that he had arrived in front of some kind of immense treasure, for the cave was so dense with spiritual energy that it started to condense right on Lex's skin. Had his meridians not been remolded out of metal, he would have suffered from spiritual energy poisoning just from standing there.

The two immortals that came along with Lex slightly nodded at the scene of him being unaffected by the spiritual energy, silently confirming that he was well above his apparent cultivation level.

Normally, Lex would have caught the action, but currently he was too distracted by a voice speaking directly in his mind.

"Mr. Innkeeper sir, I detect something amazing in front of you," said the juvenile voice of the Lotus in his mind. "Can I have it please Mr. Innkeeper sir? I'll pay you back, I promise!"

In his mind, Lex visualized a child tearing up as he heard the Lotus' pleading. He had no idea what the crystal was, but if even the Lotus wanted it, it had to be amazing.

"It's not much," said Aegis, "but please accept this token of gratitude from me."

Joseph was startled by what he heard, and suddenly started wondering what had happened between the two, but knew better than to ask.

"I've kept a small piece of the crystal as well to lure out Zagan when I need to, but the rest is all here."

The shining crystal was only as large as an adult human fingernail, but its small size did not deceive Lex at all. It must be filled with either immense power or energy.

'How can I give it to you?' Lex asked the Lotus.

"Just eat it, and I'll absorb it from within your body!" the lotus exclaimed with shrieking excitement. This was the first time in its short life it had ever wanted something, and the first time it was getting it. The experience was overwhelming, especially since the noble Innkeeper had to suffer a loss just so that it could have the crystal.

How was the Lotus to ever know that to Lex, the Lotus was already way more valuable than any crystal.

"Well don't mind if I help myself," said Lex out loud and walked up to the crystal.

Joseph was just about to explain to Lex the safety precautions required to handle the extremely radioactive crystal when his jaw dropped as he saw Lex pick the crystal from the cave wall and pop it in his mouth like a tic tac.

He did not even need to swallow it, as the moment the crystal touched his tongue it was absorbed into his body, filling him with overwhelming heat.

But, just as quickly as the heat arrived it disappeared, leaving only the sensation of warmth on his back where he had a Lotus tattoo.

Joseph and Aegis both had not recovered from the horror they had just witnessed when Lex released a comfortable groan.

A pool of spiritual energy had started flowing through his body, quickly elevating his cultivation level. In a matter of moments, it raised his cultivation level to the peak of the Foundation realm.

When his body could absorb no more, the energy instead started being absorbed by the system. The progress bar instant crossed 100%, and in fact had already reached 379%. But the energy in his body kept overflowing, and soon, his body started to release a blue glow!