The Innkeeper

Lex did not turn to look at Cornelius, lest it become obvious that the two were conversing via spirit sense. Still, his curiosity piqued.

"What makes you think he is lying?" he asked.

"His entire personality has changed all of a sudden. That is the manager of Chaotic-Gold Ventura, so his identity is far from common. He sees everyone is beneath him, especially if their cultivation level is low. 

"The last time he was here, he was extremely overbearing. Moreover, he made it abundantly clear that he did not want anyone interfering with the Kraven. The Poliods, who were the ones being affected the most, were unsatisfied with such a demand, and so he destroyed their entire country in one blow. How else could the Kraven have taken over an entire country so quickly, but not be able to replicate the feat hundreds of years later with the rest?

"I cannot say what his true objective is, but I strongly believe that it has something to do with the treasures the Kraven are using, and maybe this upcoming exam that he mentioned."

"If his objective is to hold the exam he mentioned, do you think he will interfere in your efforts to stop the destabilization of the realm?"

"No, I don't think so, and I think that has something to do with your elder who came. He must have a special identity, or something we don't know about must have happened, or he would not be behaving so well. There's even a good chance some of us might have died today."

Lex reflected on all that had happened. Besides the conversation he had with Cornelius, there were a few more interesting things, for example the shadowy figure that appeared out of nowhere, but could ignore the Ventura branch manager, and seemed to be familiar with the two deities.

There was also the conversation they had, about how the Crystal deity betrayed them. Did that have something to do with the unusual behavior of the Crystal race? Not to mention, although the figure was clearly using divine power, he also strongly radiated the power of monsters. What was his relationship with the monsters?

Lex could just assume that he was the reason that the monsters existed in this realm, or were born from the darkness, but then that would make the figure much too powerful, even more than the other two deities. Something was definitely amiss.

Although Lex had gotten the answer to his question, which was what the anomaly was, it seemed the mysteries of the Crystal realm were far from over.

But that did not matter, right now at least. He had a wedding to finish, hopefully. After all, he was not aware of the damage the Kraven had caused besides attacking his tavern.

"What's the state of the town?" Lex asked out loud.

"Besides the few who were near the tavern, no one else was hurt. No one even knows about the Kraven attack, though they most definitely felt the aura. The isolation realm is perfect for such situations," explained Firin.

"In that case, I have a wedding to finish. Since you've all already arrived, stay till it's over," said Lex, though he could not make demands of them. He was not yet sure if their participation and the events that took place here would count as a part of the wedding yet.

Turning back to his tavern, which was in a poor condition, Lex immediately began working. He summoned workers from the Inn, much like he had summoned Ash, and got them working on cleaning up the place immediately. Moreover, he had them collect all those who were hurt or harmed and sent them to the Inn to be healed.

He looked at the formations he had available. Originally, for the tavern, Lex was using formations that were beyond his current authority level. Now, though, he could only stick to what he had. Still, he had grown a lot since he founded the tavern, and so even without the cheats he had decent protection available.

Although there were no spatial formations, setting up a protective formation that could block a few attacks from an immortal was still possible, albeit expensive.

In half an hour, the place looked brand new, with the only indicator that anything had happened at all was the strange lack of guests and the new workers as compared to the ones everyone was familiar with.

The leaders had, for one reason or another, decided to stay till the wedding ended. Although Lex did not join them, they seemed to be discussing alliances and what to do moving forward. Until they stopped the Kraven from actively destabilizing the realm, there could be no remedy, so no one bothered Lex for now. Only once they finished their own objective would they come back to Lex and seek his help.

It was at this time that the two processions finally arrived at the tavern. They had slowed down due to the attack, and had more or less come to a halt while their own immortals investigated the situation. The Kraven had cleverly laid down a few formations around town meant to slow down reinforcements, which the divine birds removed once the battle was over.

Seeing that there seemed to be no issue, the processions had continued, although now they were slightly more cautious.

Yet when they arrived at the tavern all their worries vanished, as Cornelius II, the King of the Hum nation was standing there, awaiting their arrival. The rest of the leaders… decided it would be best if they remained hidden from sight.

Lex watched from the sides, not able to enjoy the event nearly as much as everyone else for he had a lot riding on this. Even when the two processions, and Pvarti and Jasmine clasped hands to continue the remainder of their journey together, Lex felt naught but concern over the quest level. He was not, for even a moment, bitter about his status as a single man besides becoming a mighty cultivator and having such a successful business under his name.

On a completely unrelated note, he considered starting a dating service at the Inn.

The various ceremonies began. Members of the two families, and past admirers for both Jasmine and Pvarti blocked their way.

The two had to either fight, negotiate or maneuver past all obstacles without letting go of each other's hands, signifying that through all the difficulties and hurdles in life they will work together, whether the hurdles be from their past or future.

It took longer than anticipated, for Pvarti's sister had brought a large group of rather 'mature' women to act as Pvarti's past admirers and, to be honest, Jasmine was enjoying Pvarti's attempts to remain cool through the ordeal all too much. But even without that, Pvarti was quite a sociable person, so his list of admirers was actually much larger than Jasmine's, despite her status from such a noble family.

Once they finally entered the tavern, and took their seats at the place of honor, more ceremonies, this time of a solemn and serious nature took place. A majority of the guests remained outside, where music and dancing was used to entertain them. The free and perpetually flowing drinks from the tavern also served to keep the guests occupied.

After a few hours, Pvarti and Jasmine took their oaths of companionship, and each performed the matrimonial spiritual technique used by nobles in the Crystal realm.

The technique could only be used once, and would forever alter the signature of both their spiritual energies. Not only would both of them be stronger, taking on a small fraction of the other's affinities, but the effects their spiritual energy had on one another would change.

The specific effects depended mostly on the nature of each person's cultivation technique and affinities, but it was usually positive. In their case, Pvarti's spiritual energy would give Jasmine an energizing effect, boosting her energy and recovery rate, while Jasmine's would allow Pvarti to heal from injuries quicker. They cultivated while holding hands, the results of their cultivation would also be quicker.

The two were now bound, not only by the contract of marriage, but by the very energy through their very own cultivation!

Outside the tavern, fireworks went soaring through the sky, signifying that the union was complete!

Compared to a normal wedding among nobles, which would last anywhere between one to three months, this was a very quick wedding. But considering the ongoing war, this was already the height of extravagance they could afford.

Since the tavern was too small to accommodate all the guests, the couple moved to the roof and one by one the guests would fly over to hand their gifts. Gift giving was a very significant part of weddings among nobles, for often enough, if the children involved were not inheriting the family title, they would take on a supporting role in the family, or begin a family of their own. In either case, such gifts would help them go a long way.

Lex clenched his fists. The wedding was finally about to end, and he was about to give his gift soon. He wondered how everyone would react to it.