The Innkeeper

Chapter 1992: A final kindness

To be honest, on a day to day basis, Lex was someone who behaved very casually. He was not someone who was proud of his status, and although he was very self aware of the magnitude of the things he had accomplished, it was not the kind of thing he held over others usually.

He supposed, in the end, despite constantly stating that he was unaffected by his parents, it was much easier for them to get under his skin than others.

Lex had suffered enough hardships that he would not normally turn away any kind of help. His mother seemed to have access to super rare resources, not to mention a lot of information. It would be foolish to give it up. But...

At the end of the day, Lex was still human. He had survived this long, come this far without their help, and he felt reluctant to start taking it now. However, he was not stubborn enough to ignore basic sense, so he compromised.

He told them that he would accept any knowledge or techniques his mother had to share, but he also let them know to stop looking down on him. With or without their help, Lex’s goals would not change. Since he ran an Inn that accepted guests from across the universe, his lowest acceptable goal was to be strong enough that no one in the universe would bother him.

If he achieved that, humanity would naturally benefit as well, so he wasn’t even exaggerating when he said that as long as he was alive, humanity would inevitably benefit.

While Lex was internally justifying his actions to himself, his parents were having an entirely different reaction.

Serene was no longer as inexperienced as she was when Lex and Liz were born. Her cultivation was a lot better too. So, her insight, especially into her own children, far surpassed whatever Lex might have expected. As he blared his aura, instead of being intimidated by it, she began analysing it. Compared to examining him secretly, it was a lot easier to see through him when Lex made his aura apparent.

He did not seem to have any apparent weaknesses or flaws, which was actually quite rare and relieving, but it seemed like he was carrying around some ominous things. It was almost like... some kind of racial curse? Besides that, he seemed to have provoked certain entities which had marked him... oh, it was an Elder race. He had been marked by an Elder race.

There was also...

Meanwhile, Leon felt something else entirely. He felt Lex’s power, and felt an itch he hadn’t felt in a long time. He felt like fighting! As a sword cultivator, Leon’s combat prowess was his strongest aspect, and his personality was also quite forceful. Hiding and suppressing himself went against his nature, which is exactly why it was the perfect thing to hone his spirit. Yet it also made it that much harder for him to control himself in front of a strong opponent.

Serene sighed, and then looked at Lex with a hint of pride in her eyes.

"Here, take this," she said, handing him a couple of crystals. "One contains all the techniques I wish to pass on to you. The other contains all the information I can safely pass onto you that I got from the heritage. It contains some secrets that are scarcely known, so destroy it once you’ve read it, and don’t share it with anyone, your sisters included. Once we depart..."

She paused, and looked at Lex for a few seconds, as if to take in the strong and powerful image he was portraying.

"Once we depart, Leon will sever all connection between us. Whether it’s our karma, or our histories, all of it will be erased. The chances of you kids being targeted because of us will basically be as low as we can possibly make it. Even you... might not be able to track us again. This might really be our last meeting."

One of the reasons Serene could see through so many of Lex’s secrets was specifically because of her connection to Lex as a mother. However, once that was severed, she would no longer be able to look through his secrets. In a way, this would only make Lex safer.

Lex... wasn’t sure how to respond. His feelings were complex, their past was messy, and their future would no doubt go separate ways. To be honest, good intentions did not make up for all the harm they had suffered. He could forgive everything else, but not what Moon had suffered. At the same time, he used that as a reminder. His parents’ weakness... had resulted in Moon suffering immeasurably. If he did not grow strong enough, chances were high that sooner or later, those at the Inn would also suffer.

Since their mistakes could serve as a powerful reminder, and powerful motivator for himself, Lex decided to do them one kindness despite his complex emotions.

"I will take care of Belle, Liz and Moon, you do not need to worry," Lex said calmly. "Just focus on your mission. Maybe one day, something good will come out of all our suffering."

He raised his hand, pointing at both his parents, and did something he hardly ever did. He activated his original physique: Empyrean Resonance.

Before either of them could react, or resist, they were struck by the beam of crimson light that shot out of Lex’s hands, pushing them into a state of evolution that they could not resist.

Lex studied Serene and Leon for a moment, finding that he felt more at peace than before, and turned around.

He hadn’t known what to expect when Serene and Leon had shown up in front of him, but this was probably the best possible resolution he could think of. Good intentions or not, he would not have been comfortable with them trying to enter his life now after all this time, and all this neglect. An amicable parting, while knowing that they hadn’t purposefully tried to ignore him, or cause him harm, was a decent enough ending.

What’s more, he could tell that his parents might not have revealed everything about the troubles they were facing, and they certainly hadn’t been entirely forthcoming about that oracle either.

Even if they were pressured by circumstances, they were not so gullible or naive that they would so easily allow any random oracle to make such important or significant decisions for them, even if he was a Heaven Immortal.

Lex could sense that there was much going on behind the scenes, hidden from his parents as well as from himself. No matter. Lex was no longer some insignificant immortal. Considering his upcoming plans, he could be counted as a big player on the universal stage. He wanted to see... just who had dared to plot against him from when he was a baby. Then again, perhaps this was a plot that went even further back.