The Innkeeper

Another couple of days passed by while Lex made preparations. He tried to find out what would happen to the countless Minor realms attached to the Inn when the Inn became a realm of its own, but there was no one to ask. Mary didn't have the answer either.

He had to individually set up certain protective formations around many of the guests who were still experiencing a breakthrough, or in deep cultivation. It cost him a lot of MP, but there was nothing that could be done. A drastic change in the environment might cause their cultivation to destabilize, which was something he wanted to avoid.

He was also curious about whether or not the Henali portal would continue to work once they moved to a new realm. He'd have to wait to find out.

Besides that, he had to make sure he was ready for his breakthrough to the Nascent realm as well. This would be a very important breakthrough for him, especially since it would bring about changes in his relationship with the system.

He had already made plans for how he would deal with that, though he did not mention it to anyone yet, Mary included.

As a result, he spent more time cultivating. The pain in his meridians was reducing and he was getting closer and closer to the breakthrough. It was perfect.

A few more days went by, and just five days before the change, the Inn took on an ominous silence. There was a subtle, suppressive aura that permeated the grounds. The guests and the workers both noticed it.

The change caused some guests to feel uncomfortable, and they began considering leaving the Inn. But besides assuring them that there was nothing amiss, and that the Inn was on the verge of major renovations, the guests were provided no extra information. Ultimately none of them left, but they were incredibly unsure of the future.

Lex felt the heaviness too, and was filled with both anticipation and some concern. It was at this point that he decided to go visit Cassandra. He still did not know how she felt about the Inn.

A scan revealed that she was sitting on the peak of the Midnight mountain, amidst the clouds. Lex teleported over, in his baby form, to the very melodramatic setting. He was observing her closely using his system so he was able to detect the mildest change in her body when he teleported over, and could not help but smirk.

He was too used to being the one teleporting to and away from people, so at the temple when Cassandra did it to him all the time he felt somewhat odd. Now, finally, the tables were turned.

"How are you finding the Inn?" he asked as he walked over. As much as he hoped to see her gush about how incredible the Inn was, he could not deny that it had not yet reached the level of the temple. There was no use in being needlessly arrogant about it.

"It's quite impressive," she said, without reserve. "The air quality is phenomenal, and the most incredible thing about it is how it is naturally maintained through the flora and fauna. Then again, I expect nothing less than perfect from a place that has… a Galactic Sovereign as a gardener."

She could not help but turn her head down as she looked through the clouds towards the turtle. That was the most surprising thing she had seen at the Inn, but not the only she was taken aback by.

The thing that genuinely excited her was the presence of a human on the cultivation path of Primes! That was so incredibly rare that it could not be understated! She wanted to do nothing more than immediately approach him and begin his training. But that was not her objective here, nor was she at the temple. It would be best to restrain herself.

She also used this time to get an understanding of some current events. It seemed humans had really fallen drastically from their glory days, to be even reduced to the devils farming tools. But that only boosted her motivation to gain as much as possible from this trip.

She also wanted to go to the Crystal realm and meet with the King the Innkeeper told her about, but since the Inn was currently sealed it was not an option. She did, however, make it a priority. Even if experiencing the birth of a new realm allowed her to become a Dao Lord herself, she would still do that.

"The Wishing Well is also interesting. The concept is extremely complex, but it's ingeniously done. I never thought someone would use such difficult laws to create a novelty item."

"Well, this is an Inn. We have to give our guests something to entertain themselves with."

"It is quite an interesting Inn. Very different from any I've visited before."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Lex asked while chuckling. He wouldn't mind getting some advice from her if she had any. It was always good to hear outside ideas and external views.

"It's neither good nor bad. Most Inn's I've visited were just places to rest while I performed some other task. The purpose of this Inn seems more like visiting the Inn itself is the main goal, not that it takes away from its ability to allow guests to rest while they perform other tasks. In fact, it's quite convenient, in a sense, since it can be accessed from anywhere - theoretically."

Lex simply nodded. It was not his intention to turn the Inn into a vacation spot rather than just an Inn. But the more options his guests had to spend MP on, the more he had to work with. In the end, this was the end result. But like Cassandra said, it was not like that took away from the Inn's ability to simply function as a hotel - at least when it was open to the public.

He sat down and chatted with her for a while. After this, neither he nor she would have the time to sit and converse like this for a long time.