The Innkeeper

Chapter 1690: When my captain breaks through

"Sit down cross-legged and concentrate on my voice," said the old fairy as he stood up for the first time.

"Hey old man, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you? I don’t think you’re a real fairy, right?" Jack asked, even as he sat down as instructed.

"I am the incarnation of the Challenge realm. I appear before you as you expect from one who can guide you along your path. If your expectation changes, so does my appearance."

"Ahan, that makes sense. And that old man Simons you mentioned earlier. That was a totally made up thing right? Why do I get the feeling that there’s something to that?"

The old fairy smiled at Jack knowingly.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked.

"On second thought, let’s just start my ascendance," Jack said, closing his eyes and beginning his meditation.

The old fairy just chuckled, and sat opposite to Jack in a similar pose before also closing his eyes.

Jack felt a subtle, almost gentle pressure on his body, pressing down on his skin and transmitting a warm, comforting energy inside his body, initiating some kind of change. The ore that he had within his spatial tool was pulled out, and started to coat Jack’s body, making him look like a metallic statue.

Jack, of course, didn’t feel the touch of the ore, nor did he feel the actual strength of the force encompassing him. Everyone

else in the Artica realm certainly felt that force, however.

The skies across the realm, in every level, suddenly turned dark, filled with countless stars in the far distance.

An ancient, decrepit power radiated from that darkness, and an equally ancient, almost jovial power slumbered in those stars. Comparatively, the darkness was infinitely larger than the stars, but it could not blot out the stars entirely either.

A very rare event occurred where the entire realm stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at the sky. Some were afraid, some curious, others intrigued, but none could look away from what was happening.

That is because they were watching from a safe distance, not in the least threatened. Many Dao Lords inquired about what was happening, but the Artica race did not reveal what was happening. Considering that they were not alarmed at all, it seemed they were well in the know.

But soon, a surprising news was spread - at least among the Dao Lords. The phenomenon was not specific to the Artica realm. It was happening in countless realms across the universe.

In fact, it was similar to an incident that had happened only a short while ago. A projection had appeared everywhere in the universe where humans existed. Now, though, the projection of the night sky was present everywhere that fairies existed.

As soon as they made that connection, a realization dawned on the Dao Lords. Those were not dormant stars in the night sky. That was fairy dust, and the night sky was...

Compared to the relative peace alongside the night sky in the Artica realm, most other realms were in chaos. That’s because the night sky was not as calm and peaceful as in the Artica realm.

There, the observers felt the force of a great tug of war. The night sky had incomparable power, unquestionable authority, immeasurable influence, yet something was being taken from it.

A raging roar, as if by some mindless behemoth of a beast, rocked the universe, yet it was futile to scream. The fairy dust continued to shimmer weakly, as it had always done. There was not much else it could do.

But as the cry faded out from existence, a change occurred. The change was not just

in the night sky. Fairies all across the universe suddenly felt like a lost path had appeared beneath their feet - though they did not know how to walk such a path.

In the night sky, a patch of darkness had been ripped open, and a much larger celestial body, almost like a distant moon, appeared. It gave off an ethereal light, as if the light itself were concerned that someone might be harmed if it shone too brightly.

But the harm was already done. The night sky had been ripped apart, and a curse that had plagued the fairy race for over an age had been weakened.

For a time, nothing else happened, and even the night sky began to dim. It was as if the phenomenon was about to end. If only things were ever so simple.

In a certain part of the universe, a pair of hateful eyes looked at the distant moon, and attacked. The owner of the eyes could not tolerate any blasphemy to its power at all. Yet there was one thing true for all beings in the universe, and it remained true even for the owner of those angry eyes - everyone has enemies.

While there were some who were angry at what had happened, many also saw opportunity, and similarly made a move to block his attack.

The fight did not take place within realms. Instead, it took place in the fabric of the universe, hidden from sight. But regardless of the winner or loser, the consequences of this fight would spread out and manifest across the universe.

The Challenge realm could not care less. It functioned according to the laws that had been defined in the universe already, so if anyone wanted to pick a fight with it, they could go complain to the universe.

The divine ore, which up until now had done nothing, began to merge with Jack’s body. The moon in the sky trembled, and started to grow, ripping more of the night sky. Divine energy filled the sky, uncaring about right or wrong, big or small. Divine was divine, and it needed to care not for the rules that limited the mundane.

Rage, anger, chaos, all spread across the universe, and many armies immediately readied themselves to fight a war. In response, countless other armies also began taking up arms, ready to wage universal war at the drop of a hat.

The intricacies of the situation went far beyond what anyone understood. The universe itself held its breath, its karma and destiny wound up tight. A palpable fear spread across all of reality. It could not, however, frighten those who had never known fear.

Bob looked up at the sky, and simply snorted.

"Big deal. That’s nothing. When my captain breaks through to the Immortal realm, the whole universe will know it."

His words resonated with the divine energy all around him, and spread out. Since he, too, was in the Challenge realm, that resonance touched the divine ore encompassing Jack as well. Through him, that divine energy reached the night sky seen across the universe.

The distant stars - nay, that distant fairy dust began to reassemble itself, forming a simple sentence.

’Jack the Hell slayer sends his regards.’