The Innkeeper

Chapter 2194: Going on a road trip?

Liz did not understand the unusual sadness that gripped her when she heard about Levi having to leave. Honestly, ever since she had fused with Nemo, she had been on an uninterrupted high.

Sure, Nemo was a little eccentric, and his whims caused them to face numerous, unexpected and often awkward encounters. But honestly, Liz began to enjoy that a lot. She felt like she was having the childhood she never got to have, which is why she became even bolder with her adventures.

Grabbing onto Levi and taking her as a friend was completely on a whim. Initially, Liz was just teasing the little bear because of how cute she appeared. The Rosy bear race looked a whole lot like the teddy bears Liz used to see back on Earth, but they were far more formidable. They were also quite straightforward.

Thus, becoming friends with Levi had been a mere whim since she wanted to hug the cute bear. But now, after years, when the bear was getting ready to leave, Liz suddenly found their separation... unbearable.

Liz suddenly felt an urge to facepalm. Puns were such a Lex thing to do. He used to crack a lot of puns when they were younger - fortunately that was a habit that he had broken out of.

"How do you plan on leaving?" Liz asked. "As far as I know, the Midnight Inn is sealed and we can’t go anywhere."

Levi bear shook her head.

"It’s not too difficult. While others have to rely on the power of the Inn to come and go, the Path of Order can reach anywhere and everywhere. I can be sent out directly from the Inn itself, if I so wish. However, even that’s not necessary. I have been informed that the Midnight Inn has a reliable means to enter the Dream realm. I merely need to go ask the Innkeeper, and he should allow me to enter the realm directly."

Levi did not question her orders - the Rosy bear race was a race entirely and wholly dedicated to the Tower of Providence, and the Path of Order. The reason they had grown so strong to begin with as a race was by relying on the tower, and so they continued to follow its guidance.

What Levi did not know was that the Tower of Providence itself had played a key role in the development of the Midnight Realm. In fact, the help that it had provided before the realm was even born was now once again playing a significant role in helping shape the future of the Midnight realm. It was almost as if the machinations and considerations of the tower were far more complex than anyone realized.

Perhaps when Lex first encountered the Tower of Providence, having him help out and do good was just incidental. Setting him up for all that he would, himself, do in the future might have been the tower’s goal all along.

But then again, that is only one conclusion that could be made at this point in time. Perhaps, in the future, an even deeper plan could reveal itself.

"Alright, let me at least see you off then," said Liz as she tried to suppress her emotions. The last few years had been incredibly fun and fulfilling, but as Levi was now leaving, she found it hard to feel any kind of excitement for the future.

If the last few years had been to make up for everything that she had missed out on, then now that it had been made up for, the question was what should she do with her future. Her cultivation had been progressing quickly, to the point where Lex put a seal on her and even gave Nemo a stern talking to.

Apparently, she needed to grow at a stable and sustainable rate so that she was completely familiar with her growing power, and so that she could establish a firm foundation for the future. To surpass each cultivation realm, she would have to personally break through the seals he created without using Nemo’s help. Moreover, the seals he made were ridiculously strong, to the point that it was almost unfair.

However, those seals became the sole sources of hardship and adversity in her life. While that sounded bad at first, it was the only thing that grounded her. When everything was too easy, life would lose its meaning - at least that’s what Lex told her. The seals served many purposes.

First, they ensured her cultivation was strong. Second, they grounded her so that overwhelming strength would not warp her mentality. Lastly, they served as a reminder that though she had suddenly gained tremendous power, there were other stronger forces in the universe.

The very fact that Nemo listened to Lex’s warning so seriously and sincerely, despite being bonded to her, hinted at just how formidable he was even when facing a Sovereign.

While all of that was well and good, she was now reaching a point where she was beginning to feel lost and unsure about her future. With her safety assured, and her cultivation progressing steadily, she seemed to have no strong purpose or guiding personal drive. She didn’t feel it too strongly before, but with Levi leaving, she could not help but feel it now.

Perhaps if Moon were awake, she wouldn’t feel like that. However, there was no telling when Moon might wake up. Her situation was so unusual that even Nemo’s power failed to wake her up!

Just as Levi and Liz were heading towards the Innkeeper’s office in silence, both lost in their own thoughts, Levi suddenly looked towards Liz in surprise. She had received new orders from the Tower of Providence!

"Hey Liz, have you ever thought about leaving the Midnight Inn?" Levi asked suddenly.

Liz, lost too deeply in her thoughts, was not sure she heard correctly.

"What?" she asked, unsure if she heard right.

"What indeed," said another voice, startling both the girls. A third figure had appeared right behind them without alerting either of them. The fact that Levi, as a peak Celestial immortal on the search for a way to enter the Dao realm, had not sensed the arrival of the figure was incredibly frightening!

Yet when she turned over to look, she saw a familiar face. Lex’s karmic clone was standing behind them, looking at Levi with a neutral expression, though both of them got the feeling that hidden beneath that neutral face was serious discontentment.

Liz, even more than Levi, was surprised because her passive ability granted to her by Nemo seemed to be failing facing Lex. She could not sense his emotions as clearly as she once could, as if she had finally encountered a barrier she could not see through.

Lex was already quite busy going through his Universal system shop, looking for something that might help him with this situation. However, no matter how busy he was, Lex always assigned a certain part of his awareness to monitoring Liz and Moon to make sure they were safe.

He did not look into the details of Liz’s life, merely checking for any unexpected dangers she might encounter. The fact Levi bear was talking to her about leaving the realm triggered that hint of awareness, causing him to immediately use his clone.

"I don’t mean any harm," Levi quickly explained, feeling like she was being targeted by something gravely dangerous. "I merely received instructions from the Tower of Providence. If Liz enters the Dream realm, she can play a significant role in tempering the chaos being spread by it, but only if she chooses to go on her own. I was ordered to extend an invitation to her before my own departure."

Lex frowned, staring at Levi. He was not in the best state of mind to consider all the implications for such a thing, however he knew well just how unpredictable and dangerous the Dream realm was. He did not want Liz to face any unnecessary danger, and sending her out of the realm greatly increased the risk of her bond with Nemo being detected.

"Are we going on a road trip?" Nemo suddenly asked excitedly as he swam up to Liz’s cheek, still in the form of a tattoo. "That sounds like fun."

Lex glared at Nemo, but the fish only smiled back at Lex, happy to see his friend after a long time. He had no sense of danger at all.

"Levi, you know full well how dangerous it is for Liz to leave the safety of the Inn," Lex said, as if was talking to a little child. It did not matter that Levi’s age was greater than his, or that her realm was higher either. To him, his younger sister’s friends naturally fell into the same age group as her.

Lex conveniently forgot that Liz, in fact, was a full grown adult woman, and not a child.

While the two had a confrontation, Liz instead was thinking about the invitation. She could help reduce the spread of chaos? She wasn’t exactly sure what that even meant, but suddenly she couldn’t help but feel attracted to the idea.