The Innkeeper

Lex had heard the term 'Primordial' before. In fact, let alone a corpse, he had even met a living Primordial, technically. The Lotus on his back was actually called a World Seed Lotus, and its species was called the Primordial Origin Lotus series.

Lex did not know much about this species, but based on the name he could easily guess that the lotus on his back was just one of many Primordial Lotus'. Moreover, the lotus required extremely special spiritual energy called Primordial Spirit energy which would be present in the Inn unless he raised the star level of the Inn to 8!

That was the original reason why he had to carry the lotus on his back, as it could only absorb that energy from the universe at large outside the Inn. He did not know how abundant that energy was in the universe, but at least it surpassed what was present in the Inn.

He had also heard the term elsewhere as well. To be specific, the realm which one would ascend to after achieving Heavenly immortal from inside the Crystal realm was called the Primordial Garden. He did not know much about it except that the Crystal race maintained a presence there, but could not be considered as a dominant race there.

The most recent mention of the term 'primordial' was by the strange creature that could enter Lex's mind. Although its words were not too reliable, it had claimed that whatever had killed the dragon was a sleeping primordial being. The chances of a sleeping primordial being waking up so close to a primordial being's corpse were uncanny, so Lex scanned the jewel and corpse, but the system did not detect any living being inside which could be a guest. That relieved him.

All in all, it was not a term he had not come in contact with before. He was able to surmise that it represented something significantly powerful, as was evident from the level of the Primordial Garden as well as the Lotus on his back, but should not be so rare, right? If that was the case, he could not understand the level of excitement in Pel's voice, nor why such a thing would be deserving of a dragon's obsession.

Lex had conveniently forgotten that the Lotus came from a seed that could be considered rare not just in the Origin realm, but in the entire universe!

"What's so special about a primordial's corpse?" Lex asked. With Pel, even though he mostly maintained a state where it looked like he was testing Pel instead of asking him, he was not too worried about his act being detected. For one, Pel was too simple minded at the moment. Secondly, he did not meet Pel with the identity of the Innkeeper, so he did not have an overwhelming need to maintain any kind of reputation. After all, it was perfectly normal if Lex, as a Golden core cultivator, did not know all the secrets of the universe.

"My memories about primordials are blurry again, just as they were about matters of the Dao. But what I can recall is that Primordials were the first beings to be born in the universe. To be clear, I am not talking about Mythical beings, who are the first to be born in a newborn realm. I am directly referring to the first ever beings born in the entire universe!

"As for how many there are, how powerful they are, what is the relevance of finding such a corpse… I cannot recall. If I try to force it, I feel the pressure on my body increasing, as if it's about to break."

Pel sounded incredibly anxious, as if to prove to Lex that it was trying its best, but was limited by its breaking vessel.

It continued, "As for what the corpse can be used for, the list is endless. Let alone, the corpse, just the jewel it is trapped in is endlessly valuable. According to my memories, in my previous life I should have hypothesized that this jewel was actually extremely ancient amber that had been converted into this form due to its exposure to the primordial.

"This amber is endlessly valuable, as even a single grain of it can immensely help immortals solidify their tenets and help them study laws. It can also be used to create miraculous medicine, be used in forging weapons, be used to aid in spiritual and body cultivation, be used to cure poison, and many more uses. All in all, just the jewel itself is endlessly valuable. In my previous life, I attached a great deal of hope for a breakthrough to my next realm on this jewel, although I cannot remember how.

"As for the corpse, that is too terrifying a thing to easily deal with. Even in my previous life I did not dare easily conduct tests on it, and only studied it from afar. The corpse has essentially fossilized, so there is no hope to possess it. But I recall theorizing that the fossil is an incredibly potent source of chaos energy, so much so that even in my previous life I did not dare remove it from the jewel.

"However, I also suspected that the fossil can be used to further refine my own bloodline, and possibly elevate my bloodline purity to the level of a Mythical being. There were many other theories as well, but due to the associated danger, I never got around to testing them. The only thing I can confirm is that the corpse, or fossil, is extremely valuable, but to actually derive any value from it, one must first be sufficiently powerful. Otherwise, instead of being valuable, the body will be a great source of danger."

Considering that the dragon had died under the most unusual of circumstances, Lex did not take Pel's warning lightly. Despite having the Inn, and all the benefits the system afforded him, he decided to leave the corpse within the jewel for now.

"Say Pel, what was your cultivation level in your previous life?" Lex asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.

"I was in the Heavenly Immortal realm," Pel said simply, without any hint of pride or achievement.

"Oh," responded Lex, as if he had heard about something as common and mundane as the weather.

More and more, Lex was feeling incredibly lucky that he ended up getting Pel, as it might be his greatest gain yet. So far, he had been more or less stumbling his way through the cultivation world, trying to get answers where he could. Now he finally had someone he could ask questions to without fear of getting judged or any repercussions.

Lex decided to continue bringing his loot out and fill up his museum. The next thing was naturally the Peronian jade. The black jade tree looked both insidiously haunting and spectacularly beautiful at the same time.

Although this addition was destined to be short, he wanted to acknowledge it. Moreover, he was also curious about its purpose.

"What is this, Pel?"

"Peronian jade!" he replied fanatically. "In my previous life, this was my greatest treasure until I found the Primordial corpse. This kind of jade is filled with a very powerful destructive force. I can't remember what I used it for… but I vaguely recall it had something to do with cultivation. The destructive force inside this jade was unique, and cannot be replicated by any other being. It can have various uses."

The answer was simple, and not mired in secrecy and history as the corpse, but at the same time it could not be underestimated. Any item that could be used by a Heavenly immortal for cultivation, especially a dragon, was not ordinary at all. This was especially since Pel had even considered it his most valuable treasure at one point.

"Where can I find more of it? Do you have any ideas?"

"Peronian jade is very rare, and can only be found on planets that are at least 5 stars in rating. But not every 5 star planet will have some, and even if it is found, it is not easy to harvest. The jade in my old collection has already been wiped of all life, but any fresh jade you might find in the wild will most likely contain its own spirit. Fighting it off is a perilous task, even for dragons. In the entire Origin realm, there is not a single existing Peronian jade harvesting facility, as all known sources of the jade have already been exhausted. You either have to find new, undiscovered 5 star planets or loot someone's vault to get your hands on it."

Well, Lex had already done the latter, but he was not in any particular need of it any time soon so this matter could be put on hold.

The next thing he removed was the pool of blood he had collected, as well as the scale.

"What about these? What are they?" he asked, his voice imperceptibly more solemn than before.