The Innkeeper

Even as Lex fell through the levels, a frown didn't leave his face. Something extremely unusual was happening on this planet, and he was caught in the middle. To a certain degree he could understand things getting out of hand. After all,a dragon had mysteriously died here, so there was one mystery entity to account for.

Then there was the group of foreigners who, through some unidentified means, discovered the dragon was dead and even spread the news. As unlikely as this was, it still remained within the realm of possibilities.

The several groups that Lex fought while looting also made sense, since the news of a dead dragon would surely bring about an endless tide of looters, pirates and cultivators hoping to find a lucky encounter.

What did not make sense, however, was that whoever was up on those ships was shooting directly at the castle. Even if the looters got caught in an unwanted fight, they should have tried their best to prevent anyone from entering the castle lest their loot be stolen first. But whoever that was up there in the ship's up in the air, they did not care about the dragon's hoard at all.

Lex couldn't be sure if they were targeting the looters, the abominations or just everyone, but they were out for blood. More importantly, they were actually a threat to Lex because while he could face an individual head on, even he had to watch out for weapons for mass destruction - for now.

If he could help it, none of that would be his problem. But based on the sounds of the pursuing abominations, he would have to bear with it for a bit longer. Or not.

The moment he reached the end of the hole, he used Imperial Shield to put up barriers right above him, blocking the tunnel and preventing the abominations from reaching him. Their unusual ability to freeze spirit energy made them particularly potent against his shields, but if Lex put enough of them up he would be able to delay them till he returned.

With his plan decided, he did exactly that and began the process for his return. But just as he started, he sensed danger once again. The end of the hole did not connect to any of the floors of the dragon's hoard so Lex had nowhere to dodge to. He could only take the attack head on.

As fast as he could, he erected countless shields right before him and held out his hands to block the incoming attack, using Impervious Hands to actually protect himself for once.

He had been using the technique for its various other uses for so long that it seemed like he had forgotten its original use, which was to block overwhelming attacks. After all, when using Impervious Hands, his hands were literally ten times more durable than his own body!

Now taking into consideration how tough his body was to begin with, it made sense that he had barely been able to survive an immortals casual attack while using it.

He did not see the attack coming, for the only thing in his view in the tunnel was a mountain of icy abominations, pressed up against one another as they tried to break his shields. The next second, even with his keen senses, he barely saw a black figure tear through the abominations, rip through his shields like they were nothing and smash into the ground next to him!

He had managed to avoid a direct impact, but that did not mean he did not suffer. A shockwave of energy crashed into him nearly shattering his Impervious Hands, but somehow he held on by a hair's breadth. Yet even so Lex felt his hands aching and all the bones in his arms felt like they had been put on an anvil and hammered.

His chest felt tight and some of his muscles were sore, but remarkably he had managed to survive without any visible wounds. The shockwave had, however, thrown and embedded him into the wall, while the tunnel now reached deeper, but still did not connect to any other floor.

Lex groaned. Suffering artillery strikes was not nearly as fun as it sounded. Fortunately, all the abominations had been killed so there was nothing more to attract anyones attention within the tunnel. He finally had an opportunity to leave.

But what Lex did not realize was how advanced the tracking systems of the ships in the air were. Besides the simple visual and heat signatures, the ship could also track spiritual energy signatures. 

At that moment, one of the crew members of the ship that had previously shot near Lex twice was looking at a screen that was clearly outlining Lex's figure in the wall.

"That's two shots he's survived, Elquin," the man said to his colleague sitting beside him. "That means you owe me 200 spirit stones."

"Double or nothing I get him with the next one!" the colleague named Elquin said with gritted teeth. As was his habit, he spent all his money before going into battle in case he dies, so he did not have the 200 spirit stones to pay!

"Hell nah, you think I'm an idiot? I know what you're going to use next. I want my 200, I'll be waiting for you after the fight."

Elquin glared at Lex's figure on screen with pure hatred in his heart, as if Lex had been the one trying to kill him instead of the other way around.

"Let's see if you can survive this tough guy," he said and activated the ship's laser weapon. According to the spiritual energy readings he could tell the figure was in the Golden core realm, so he wasn't worried about accidentally antagonizing an immortal. As for a Nascent soul cultivator? Although they were strong, they still couldn't fight against a warship alone.

Lex, who had just begun the return process once more, suddenly felt danger one more time. Due to the angle, he was not clearly visible from the top of the tunnel, but he could see a thin, red laser pointing at the ground right in front of him.

The attack came too fast. Lex had only just perceived the danger and seen the laser, and not even had a moment to put up any shields or use any techniques, when his entire world became red.

He could not see the tunnel, he could not see the walls around him, or even his own body. All he could see was the color red, and over every inch of his body Lex felt a raging heat. It felt as if he had entered a seething inferno, melting his very being.

Pain could no longer describe the sudden feeling that enveloped him as he felt in an instant his entire body cooking. Time seemed to dilate, and though he knew not even a millionth of a second had passed, he felt like he had been tortured for an eternity.

Not even the Dragons Might had tortured him like this.

Then the world seemed to take on an entirely different shade of red. This time it was not because of the laser that was still cooking him, or the walls that were melting around him. No, this time Lex was seeing red because he was infuriated.

He roared, not from pain but from anger. Alongside his outburst, his aura burst out as well, and for the first time Lex employed Domination although he did not realize it. His wrath, his oppression, his might all twisted the world itself around him and the laser that was shooting straight seemed to bend away from him. Or maybe he was using his spatial affinity alongside Domination.

At that moment, Lex himself did not know what he was doing as his mind was completely occupied by the smoldering rage that seemed fit for a dragon almost. In his right eye the image of a broken sword was reflected, eerily similar to the sword he had broken inside the hoard earlier.

He looked up and immediately knew which ship was the one that had been targeting him.

"I was just trying to leave you fucker! But since you want to pick a fight, let's fight!" he roared. Surprisingly, despite the devastating attack he suffered, not only was he not hurt, his clothes and his equipment remained unharmed as well.

Lex leaped out of the tunnel which was literally melting all around him, and summoned one of the artillery shells he looted from the ships earlier. He had no idea how to actually use this thing, so he used it as a canvas for a self-exploding array and threw it at the ship with full force.

Since he had been jumping in the air when he threw it, he could not use all his might. Even so, there was a sonic boom as the shell flew out.

The ship seemed to have a barrier around it which blocked the initial crash. Then Lex's arrays blew up.

Next, Lex's anger was suddenly quenched and the image of the sword in his eye vanished as a new threat of death gripped his mind. After having suffered from the laser attack, his mind seemed to have already developed a mechanism to react to extreme threats in an instant.

Without even realizing what he was doing, Lex used the In-Law effect and teleported away. The next moment, the artillery shell which was special enough to be collected by a dragon that was at the very least a Heavenly Immortal, detonated.