The Innkeeper

Chapter 1176 Temple of Frozen Dawn I

When Lex reappeared, he was surprised to find that he was actually inside what looked like a hotel room, with no one else there. This was most likely his waiting room.

He already knew what to expect once he was invited out. The actual tourney itself would start soon, but it would not be such a straightforward competition. There were, in fact, several concurrent streams through which the tourney would take place, all happening in various places across the realm.

Similarly, the preliminary tournament he had entered had several streams as well. The purpose of the preliminary tournament was to pick out any worthy candidates for the Champions tourney that were not a part of any major organization, and hence missed the opportunity to be nominated.

After all, the objective of the tourney was to complete a few challenges or objectives, not to promote their own people. As such, the Henali wanted anyone capable to get a chance. At the same time, there were likely many hidden reasons, but that did not concern Lex.

In his years controlling the tavern, Lex had gathered enough information about the events. His ultimate goal was a place called Trial of Eternity. Contrary to its name, the destination did not include any actual trials. In fact, in the history of the Origin realm, at least the bits of it which were known, it was quite a popular place.

Yet it could not be reached so easily. It was not on any planet, or even in any galaxy for that matter. Within the Origin realm there were certain places that were unique, similar to Minor realms but at the same time, not quite. The details eluded Lex but what mattered was the fact that they could not be entered normally, nor could Lex get any items or artifacts from those places. But those places were the exact venue for the tourney.

So what he needed to do was, in the preliminary tournament, follow the stream that would ultimately lead him to the Trial of Eternity. That is where he would undergo his tribulation, which was the first and most important step in getting his revenge.

Lex walked up to the exit and tried to leave, but as expected the door was locked. He shrugged, and strolled over to the bed to take a nap. He had been working nonstop all of last week, so he might as well get some rest.

He woke up a couple hours later when he sensed a small but significant change in his room. The door had been unlocked.

Lex took one look at himself in the mirror before he stepped out. There was also one more very significant difference between the preliminary tournament, and the Champions tourney. Most people did not actually know about the tourney, nor were they qualified to learn about it. Only the very top powers of the realm would be aware of it.

Yet the preliminary tournament would be streamed across the realm. So as soon as he stepped out, Lex expected to be seen across the entire realm - or at least, be capable of being spotted from anywhere. He doubted many people would pay too much attention to him from the start.

He left his room and found himself in a hotel hallway. That was anticlimactic. To his left was a werewolf who also looked surprised by where they were.

"Hey, do you know where to go?" the werewolf asked, looking at Lex.

Lex shrugged.

"Do you think that the preliminary tournament has already begun? What if we're in a test? The hotel could be in a-"

"Attention please!" a loud announcement interrupted the werewolf. "All tournament participants are requested to arrive at the hotel lobby for registration."

The werewolf's shoulders slumped. He had already become invested in his own thoughts about how the tournament had already begun.

Finding the lobby was pretty easy, though since teleportation was somehow banned here, Lex had to walk along with the werewolf who began to spin a new story about the treacherous traps that might await them in the lobby.

Instead what waited for them was a pamphlet that briefly stated what the nine different streams for the preliminary tournament were, their difficulty on a scale from one to five, and the passing conditions for each stream.

Lex skimmed them all until he found the one that would lead to the Trial of Eternity upon passing. It was the hardest of all the streams and had a 100% chance of death unless successfully resolved, unlike the others, and was called Temple of the Frozen Dawn.

Lex walked up to the receptionist and told her his choice.

"Please sign here, here, and here to declare that you understand the risks you are undertaking, and will not hold anyone responsible in case of your timely or untimely demise."

After a surprising amount of paperwork, Lex walked through one more door, and suddenly felt his environment change.

He was still in the Origin realm, he knew that much. He could feel that this was the Origin realm. But at the same time, the energy in the atmosphere reminded him of the Midnight Realm.

It was rich and vibrant in a way that reminded him of a newborn realm, still figuring out its laws.

Lex activated his left eye to get a look at the laws in this place, and his jaw dropped. The laws in this place were incomplete! It really was like a newborn realm!

But that was not enough to shock Lex. No, what shocked Lex was something much greater.

He had come to understand that one of the immutable truths of the universe, if not the only immutable thing about the universe, was time.

Although some realms had a faster or slower flow of time, that did not change the fact that time existed everywhere. Even in the Void, where space did not exist, time was present. Not only that, but to mess with time was perhaps one of the most dangerous and difficult things to do, though it was still technically possible.

For example, the flow of time in certain regions could be altered to flow faster or slower. But that was the extent of what could happen with time. It could not be stopped, as far as Lex knew, and it especially could not be turned back. He got that piece of information from the mouth of the super mysterious guy who just showed up at his Inn one day.

Yet… yet if Lex interpreted what he was seeing correctly, then the laws of this place had somehow eroded, or perhaps messed with the law dictating time itself.