The Innkeeper

Chapter 1976: I am here to see my son

Vox did not answer immediately. Instead, he studied Lex. Normally, after hearing about Star Dust Dandelion, most would hesitate or give up. Even Vox himself, a Demi Dao Lord, had not had the confidence to properly plant it for various reasons.

Sure, one of the reasons was that he could not stay in one place long enough to plant it, and that nothing could be ’planted’ in Arch-Heaven in the traditional sense. Basically, no life can be born within Arch-Heaven. All the plants being grown in the farm inside the fort were grown using special seeds from within Arch-Heaven. While the plants mimicked life, they weren’t actually alive. The same was true for all the plants, vegetation, and even livestock within Arch-Heaven.

This was another reason why, despite actual power being largely irrelevant within Arch-Heaven, normal mortals could not survive here long. As long as one depended on food to continue living, they would eventually die here - unless they took to hunting other residents of Arch-Heaven, but as a mortal with a small power percentage, such a thing was basically impossible.

But even ignoring the fact that the plant couldn’t be grown in Arch-Heaven, Vox would still not be confident in growing it. The extreme volatility of Star Dust, the acute fragility of the seed, and the difficulty in growing it in general made it a task he dared not attempt without full confidence.

"The Star Dust Dandelion is one of the most, if not the most, valuable space related treasure one can find that’s not at Dao level. Each seed of the dandelion, once it is grown, houses a Minor realm, making it so that the entire dandelion has about 15,000 to 20,000 Minor realms on it once it is grown. More importantly, all the Minor realms have the same origin and so are highly compatible with one another.

"Meaning, many of them can be used together to create an ultimate space treasure. I do not need the dandelion, but I definitely need about 12,000 of the seeds once the plant is fully mature. With the rest, you can do as you please. You can even continue to plant more of the dandelions, if you so wish."

Lex frowned, as if he was faced with an incredibly difficult choice, but internally he was already thinking of what he could do with such a valuable plant. At the very least, he could create some incredible spatial treasures or, better yet, make a ship the size of a country to travel the Void.

Heck, he could make a tavern that was an entire, powerful Minor realm onto itself. Actually, with his current strength, Lex could easily make smaller Minor realms himself with passable stability. But this dandelion presented a whole new possibility.

"Alright, I think this is a task I can manage," said Lex, adding a certain conviction into his voice. "If the seed is harmed before I can give you the 12,000 mature seeds you require, I will bear the cost of your loss."

Vox smiled, and held out his hand.

"In that case, let’s seal it with a shake. To be more clear, a shake backed by the..."

"Yes, yes, using the influence of the limiter to make a promise through a white marble building which is effective throughout the universe, not just in Arch-Heaven, I know," said Lex as he grabbed Vox’s hand.

Lex had clearly learned a lot from Diyor’s memories, and was no longer as weak as he was when he met Vox at first either. Yet the half Sage did not question it at all, not even showing a hint of surprise. He just took things in his rhythm, which could be said to be a great trait of his.

Was he surprised by Lex’s transformation? Probably. Did that interfere with his plans of cooperating with Lex? Not at all, so he did not concern himself with it.

Lex shook Vox’s hand, and felt his power percentage shift a little. His percentage did not drop, but it was used as a kind of signature when making the pact with Vox. The power of Arch-Heaven extended to the normal universe as well, as was obvious from the fact that Vox messed with his tribulation. Thus, a pact or promise made like this would have a binding effect even in the universe at norm.

Of course, nothing was foolproof. The consequence of breaking the promise was a tribulation with the strength and purpose of killing the target. Comparatively, major and minor tribulations during cultivation were meant to temper, nor kill. The fact, then, that so many died from that alone should make the difficulty of a tribulation designed to kill obvious.

The fact that the strength of such a tribulation scaled with the target is what mattered. So, if someone was suicidal, or maybe had some way to resolve or survive such a tribulation, they could still break the pact.

Lex no longer believed in anything foolproof. After all, Eclipse herself had told him so.

With their simple handshake, a pact was formed, and so Vox withdrew a small, stone box.

"The seed is sealed within. I’ll give you all the information you need to know about Star Dust Dandelion separately so you can review it before you begin. Feel free to do your own research as well. I have no time limit for this task either, I’d rather you do it right than in a rush."

Since Lex’s personal spatial ring was still healing, Lex used one of the many other rings he had acquired and put the box within, taking the numerous recording crystals Vox gave with information on the plant. It seemed like this was something he had put a lot of work into. For him to trust Lex with the seed so straightforwardly made Lex wonder exactly what secrets of the universe he had seen to make him behave so.

In exchange, Lex merely handed the Heavens Puppet a single, golden key. The puppet would keep the key on him until he would exit through Lex’s tribulation.

Just to be sure, Lex tried to get the Puppet to break the key, to see if he would be sent to the Inn, but it didn’t work. Entering and exiting Arch-Heaven could only be done through specific rules. Perhaps if the system was fully healed, it would have enough strength to allow teleportations even from here. At least at the moment, that wasn’t true.

The systems claim that the Inn could be reached from anywhere in the universe was really being put to the test and failing, but Lex didn’t complain. After all, its teleportation capabilities already somewhat surpassed ordinary Dao Lords. What more could he ask for?

Now, he needed to find a way to exit himself. There were two options available to him.

First, he could sacrifice 10% of his power percentage for an opportunity to exit this place officially - just as the jackal had claimed. This was doable, especially since Lex didn’t want to come back here any time soon.

Once he was back, he could summon Fenrir back, since it seemed that the Arch-Heaven allowed for such reverse teleportation.

But even though Lex didn’t like Arch-Heaven, he thought it was best to preserve his Power Percentage if possible, so he first wanted to try the second option, which was finding the mermaid.

"Vox, I need a few mounts," Lex said, which irritated Mango.

"What do you need a mount for when I am available?" the fish questioned, feeling offended. "I can take you anywhere and everywhere you wish. What mount can compare with me?"

"Haha, as our guardian, naturally we cannot rely on your effort to help us get around," said Lex, thankful that enough days had passed that Mango already forgot how he brought them to the fort.

"Hmph, fine. That makes sense," he reluctantly said, though he still felt this was wrong.

"That’s not a problem at all. I’ll even waive the fees. Come on, let me bring you to them," he said, enthusiastically, not prying into where Lex wanted to go. That was one of the things Lex liked about this half-Jorlam. That was exactly why Lex himself didn’t ask if it was his mother who was a Jorlam, or his father, because... how did that work?

Yes, that was a question that Lex simply kept to himself. He was such a gentleman.

As expected, once leaving, they started heading towards the ranch section of the fort.

What Lex did not expect, however, was that halfway through, two figures appeared in their path, blocking their way. Lex frowned, and checked his karma.

The two karmic strings pointing towards his parents were still far away, yet now, two people stood in his path, resembling those two good for nothing geezers quite a lot.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Lex asked, his voice far deeper and much more solemn than it usually was.

Leon smiled awkwardly, ignoring the danger he suddenly started to sense emanating off his own son.

"I am here to see my son, what else?"