The Innkeeper

The cracked planet slowly started to heal itself under the influence of various formations, but that did not mean all was well on the surface. Billions of creatures had already died due to the sudden cataclysm, while hundreds of millions more were affected by the drastic change in climate.

But fortunately, the formations that were healing the planet were treating the planet holistically, so the creatures that managed to survive the first few dangerous instants had a very large chance of surviving.

To Serene Williams and her husband, however, that did not matter at all. To begin with, this planet was a training ground for Lex's father. After all, since he restarted cultivation from the very beginning, he would have to have a host of proper enemies to face and arduous tasks to complete. Thus, this planet, which was originally in its early stage of developing life, had been artificially populated with the most dangerous predators in the universe.

In fact, there were even several beasts with impure Dragon bloodlines, and one very real dragon, all kept as prisoners on this planet as the man's grinding tools. Well, technically, the dragon was no longer a resident of the planet, for it had been killed long ago. After all, they could not afford to let it go free after imprisoning it for so long.

Individualistic though they may be, Dragons had immense pride, and if it ever got out that a dragon was kept as a prisoner for a human's training, let alone the Williams family, the entire human race may not be able to face the repercussions.

Again, none of that was a concern for both of Lex's parents at the moment. The news shared by Lex's father was the worst possible outcome. Neither of them considered the fact that anything dangerous could happen to Lex, for they had gotten a prophet to see into the future and predict the direction of Lex's life.

He predicted that so long as Lex stayed away from cultivation, and stayed away from the influence of the cultivation world at large, he would live a relatively safe life for 50 years.

Based on that information, they had made their own timeline to increase the pace of their cultivation, and accomplish a few things.

About a year ago, when they learned that Lex had begun cultivation, they feared the worst and increased the pace of things. When they began hearing news of the presence of the 'Midnight Inn' on Earth, they feared the day Lex might himself get involved in such matters. Now it seemed like that time had come.

"Get someone on Earth to locate Lex, if they can. But do it discreetly, my gut tells me he's gotten himself involved with something dangerous and I don't want to attract any attention."

"What about you?" Serene asked, her voice laced with concern. "You still haven't mastered Neelum's Slash."

The man, Lex's father, frowned for a moment, before it seemed like he made a hard decision. Standing there, the man's aura changed, and if Lex saw him now, after getting over the fact that the pot-bellied old man now had sick abs, he would recognize that he had entered the state of 'flow'. A second later, he transcended the 'flow' state and went into the 'overdrive' state Lex had recently unlocked. Then… he went beyond even that, and soon it seemed as if the world itself began to bend according to his will.

Ultimately, for the briefest of moments, he reached an even higher level that almost brought him to the threshold of causing a ripple in the fabric of the Origin realm, much in the way Lex just had. The moment did not last, however, because the very instant he achieved it, the man drew his practice sword and slashed forth.

Something seemed to click, and the single slash he had been trying to master for years became so simple it became more inherent to him than breathing. His form, his strength, his swing, his intention were all perfect.

There was no sound of the sword cutting through the air, because it was not thin air through which the sword swung, but the fabric of space itself. A straight, neat cut through space appeared before the couple, before some mysterious force seemed to stretch the cut open, revealing what looked like a ballroom.

A tall, rather handsome man stood in the hall, a glass of wine in his right hand and a book in his left. He looked up to see the couple and raised an eyebrow. This… he was not expecting.

"Father," said Lex's old man, as he stepped through the cut space, as if he was simply walking through the door. Serene followed closely behind him lest space began to heal itself, separating them.

"I was just thinking about you, my rebellious child," the handsome man said, his voice just slightly forbidding. "Would someone like to explain to me why I suddenly have a 23-year-old grandson suddenly appearing in the family tree?"

Instead of replying, Lex's father responded with another question, his voice reeking with the desire to murder.

"Would someone like to explain to me why my daughter is going off to war?"

The handsome man was startled by his son's tone until he noticed he had overlooked something incredibly obvious. His son, meaning Lex's father, had entered the family grounds holding a sword.

"Crap."

*****

Powell Grant was grinning so widely it almost hurt his cheeks. Almost. Not only had he verified the veracity of the card, the instant he entered the card in the businesses database, someone bought it with a price so amazing Powell was looking towards a bonus several times the size of what he got for the information regarding the Bangle of Narn.

"Mr. Lex… no I mean, Sir Lex, I think you will be greatly pleased with the price we're offering for your card. Of course, if you have anything you need, feel free to mention it, and I personally guarantee that as long as it exists on the market I will get it for you."

"Why don't you tell me what you're offering first," said Lex, feeling pretty good. One would think he would get sick of earning money after all the MP he had, but not really. It always felt amazing.

"Sir Lex, I would first like to tell you that your membership rank has been raised to level 9, the highest possible rank one can achieve without meeting the owner of the Emporium himself. What that means is that the list of items available to you none is even larger, though if you select a rank 9 item it will directly be traded for the card. If that is your wish, I can arrange it for you, but I had already created a carefully selected list of items I suspected you might like based on our previous experience together.

"First, as requested, I have created a list of spatial items that I can easily arrange for you within the next 10 hours, as well as their sizes. Next, the rarest and most sought after seeds in the galaxy, as well as the most optimal fertilizer for plants of various grades. After that, I recall you had a unique interest in preventing your identity from being exposed, so I managed to get my hands on a unique bangle that prevents long distance tracking via prophecy so long as the other person doesn't have some of your blood. Then I noticed that you were using a very old version of one of the Emporiums best seller items, the Fancy Monocle, so I procured the latest version for you: the AR contact lenses…"

The man continued elaborating on his list, but Lex was momentarily startled when he heard what he had said. The Fancy Monocle was actually a product of the Emporium? Lex always thought that it was something his own system had created.

If it wasn't, did that mean that all items he got from the system were actually… stolen goods from across the universe? Or was his earlier guess correct, and the Emporium was actually a part of another system, and that systems could somehow trade items internally or something?

Without any outward change, Lex focused on Powell and tried to use one of his new features that allowed him to scan people even outside the Inn.

Name: Powell Grant

Age: ???

Sex: ???

Cultivation Details: ???

Species: Unknown

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 0 (never been to the Inn)

Remarks: If you want to sell your soul, he can get you a good price.

Species unknown? Wasn't he human? Before Lex could continue to ponder such important questions, the shopkeeper showed him a list of items available to buy with his new and increased rank.

On the top of the list was an item that Lex could not believe he was seeing.

Emporium Treasure's list

No. 1: History wiper

In case of an untimely demise, this valuable treasure will be sure to erase any and all evidence of any actions you may want to keep hidden. A must have for adventurers, entrepreneurs, casanovas and those with questionable browsing history on the Henali portal.