The Innkeeper

Lex studied the scene before him, but no matter how he stared, he could see no underlying secret waiting for him to discover. There were no hidden laws that his eye detected and no boon that was awaiting his presence to descend.

He turned to look at Cassandra questioningly, but her projection had already disappeared. Without anyone to question, Lex could only shrug and begin his walk.

At first it took some effort because he was feeling incredibly stuffed. Although the food was delicious, and his body was sending him waves of pleasure and gratification and the nutrition he had sent its way, even his highly advanced digestion could not instantly absorb the food that he had eaten. If Lex had to guess, then everything he ate was probably very powerful and rare, probably meant for beings at a higher cultivation than him.

But as he strolled through the field of flowers, where most of the flowers seemed to be taller than him, he felt a little better. His body did not suddenly digest the food, but the pleasant smell carried by the gentle breeze caused him to relax, and allowed his mind to loosen.

Before he knew it, he spread his arms out to gently touch the flower stalks as he passed by. He fell into a relaxed, meditative state where he had no thoughts other than to simply enjoy his current state.

The path, although exceptionally long, did not provide him with any obstacles. Even its length which, at a glance, appeared abundant, seemed insufficient under Lex's pace. In a completely relaxed state, Lex walked at what was a leisurely pace for himself. But even with his short legs, the strength he contained in each stubby leg was overwhelming, causing to shoot from one hill to the next with each step.

He did not take note of how long he took to pass through the field, but the time felt just right. It was an enjoyable experience, but it did not bore him. He had also finished digesting all the food he had eaten, so he no longer felt uncomfortable and stuffed.

Without needing to be led, Lex walked back to his sleeping pod and entered on his own. He was on a mission to kill Ra's clone as soon as possible, but this was by far the best mission he had ever undertaken!

"Should get one of these pods for the Inn," Lex murmured right before falling asleep in the warm, caressing embrace of the very stated pod!

In his sleep, Lex became slightly tense as he felt the approach of some unusual dreams, but before their arrival something blocked them out, and Lex relaxed. The next day, he woke up feeling even stronger than yesterday! He did not think it was possible that some sleep and food could increase his strength, but that's exactly what was happening.

Outside the pod, like yesterday, a feast awaited him. This time, it was not made up entirely of various fruits, but was more mixed. There were many unfamiliar vegetables, and though Lex did not recognize what animals they came from, Lex noticed various barbeque items, roasts, steamed and pulled meat and more. But the one item on the feast that he did recognize was potato, in all its various forms! There was mashed potatoes, baked potato, french fries, curly fries, some kind of potato sauce, figurines carved out of cooked potatoes and more!

Lex gulped as he prepared himself for the battle in front of him. Although yesterday Cassandra had said she overestimated his capacity, today there seemed to be even more food!

Before Lex could unleash devastation on this particular battlefield, his resolution to embrace death before dishonor held strongly in his heart, his new favorite teacher appeared beside his pod.

"According to some scans that were monitoring you during your sleep, you encountered an unusual situation in your sleep. A deeper analysis of the situation revealed Sleep Induced Prophecy, a state many oracles accidentally achieve when they are extremely relaxed. The temple blocks out all kinds of divination, so the prophecy was automatically blocked. The reason I am informing you is because today I will add a small lesson to your exercise session. You need to learn to control this particular phenomenon, and prevent it from happening again.

"These prophecies will be a great drain on you, regardless of whatever cultivation level you reach. As you grow stronger, the prophecies will also strengthen, thereby creating a vicious loop where you will always be too weak to support the consumption of these visions.

"This is very important because certain entities can detect the laws associated with prophecies, and influence them to send you wrong information. The deity, as well as the curse trapped within the temple are both entities which can influence you through these channels."

"Not a problem, I am a quick learner," Lex assured her. Although his body was already urging him to attack the food, he had enough self restraint to control himself when it came to important matters.

Almost as if she was purposefully checking how he would react given the stimuli of the food, and the urgency of the information she brought, Cassandra picked up the clipboard and began taking notes.

"You can eat. I will see you after you are done."

She disappeared, leaving Lex to singlehanded face the perils of an all-you-can-eat buffet. He took in a deep breath before launching himself at the nearest dish. His body was screaming at him, as if he had been hungry for a hundred years and finally encountered some food.

He did not question it, but just ripped out a big chunk of meat from what looked like a drum stick that was larger than his face.

"Spicy!" he screamed internally, even as tears began to drip out of his eyes. But he did not stop, or even slow down for that matter. He loved spicy food. EVen if he didn't, he would make the sacrifice and eat it all. It was all for the mission!