The Innkeeper

Chapter 2197: Humanity’s Karma

"What even the hell is the Masterless technique?" Lex could not help but murmur as he rubbed his eyes. He had not felt this exhausted and strained in a long time. Ever since he started cultivating this unique cultivation technique of his, his perception had increased manifold.

That allowed him to always master new techniques, and even learn about new laws with relative ease. Of course, that didn’t mean that he suddenly knew everything about everything, but at least his ability to learn new things increased exponentially.

Even learning the Back of Atlas, a technique created by the Unknown, and one that was even capable of affecting incredibly abstract concepts such as racial identities, had not been this difficult to learn. In comparison, not only was learning the Masterless technique proving to be an unbelievably difficult task, he could not even understand what the technique was for yet.

Perhaps it was because the Back of Atlas was a technique that could be applied in phases. For now, he only learned as much as he could use, but as his strength and power grew, his insight into the technique would increase as well. In comparison, the Masterless technique needed to be mastered in its entirety.

Thus, Lex was now in a situation where he was more exhausted than he had felt in a long time.

Only when he would finally learn the whole technique would Lex realize how absurd it was for him to try to learn this technique as a Heaven Immortal. Perhaps, in the entire history of the universe, he was one of the few entities even capable of accomplishing such a feat. But he did not know that yet.

Lex groaned, and turned his attention towards the panel. The list of things available for purchase had really broadened his horizons, making him realize how little he actually knew about this universe. But he could not focus on any of that for now.

He had to figure out how to rescue his workers and guests from the Dream realm. For that, he could buy a few, powerful one time use treasures. But, ultimately, Lex put a stone on his heart and forced himself to choose something that would be far more beneficial long term. The only drawback was that it would take him some time before he could use it to help him rescue his workers.

Taro’s Journal

The personal journal of Taro, compiled and collected before the mysterious disappearance of the Dao Lord Taro. It includes the sum of his knowledge published in Omnirealm Compendium, as well as his personal notes that he did not publish. The journal also includes his personal thoughts and musings, but those have been sealed.

Cost: 7 ME, 3 pieces of Amber Chaos Resin, 1 Dao material (generic)

The cost for this journal was both incredibly high, and yet unbelievably cheap. Although he had no idea what the Omnirealm Compendium was, considering that Taro was considered the foremost expert in realms, anything he published had to be extremely valuable.

For it to be something he could buy for a few measly Dao materials seemed too cheap, especially considering how easy it was for the Innkeeper to accumulate over a hundred Dao materials.

Although the journal would not immediately help him find his workers, it would give him insight into the Dream realm. Of that he was sure, largely because he had been discussing his options with Mary. In his current, mentally drained state, he had to rely on her help.

Thus, using the Universal shop, Lex bought Taro’s Journal, bringing his accumulated wealth down by a lot.

A moment later, he felt something appear within the territory of the Inn, and his expression warped.

It was somewhat predictable that the journal was special. He also found it acceptable that the journal, for whatever reason, could not be added inside an inventory or a spatial item. However, this was the first time he encountered something that could not have its size reduced by the system!

Taro’s journal was a massive book, made of some unidentifiable metal that was absolutely enormous. Each page was 150 feet (45.7 meters) long and 60 feet (18 meters) wide, with a thickness of six feet!

The number of pages was near infinite, in the sense that Lex was entirely unable to determine how many pages there were. Perhaps it had to do with whatever the seal on the book was that locked up the original author’s personal musings.

The actual book itself was like a massive highrise, and its weight was such that, surprisingly, Lex could not move it at all from its place. Even using the system interface, he could not move the book elsewhere, so all he could do was cordon off the area around it. Fortunately, the book had appeared in a relatively remote mountain range, far away from any of the Inns main facilities.

The problem was... now that he had the book, how was he going to read it if he couldn’t even move it? Even the cover could not be lifted, that’s how heavy it was.

Lex had a faint idea, as his instincts faintly pulsed in the back of his exhausted mind. He used the characters he had learned from the Book of Changes, the book he received in Abaddon, to create an opening within the book.

To be clear, he didn’t use the characters to open the book, but instead to create an opening within it, almost as if the book itself was a realm.

But... it was too exhausting. He needed to recuperate a bit before he could succeed. His instincts were telling him that he had made the best choice he could have by getting this book, but the feeling was too faint. He couldn’t understand why it existed.

Unable to do anything else, Lex dismissed his Innkeeper projection, and allowed the part of his mind that was free to fall asleep. This was a rest that he sorely needed.

He woke up seven days later, feeling somewhat energised. Much more importantly, his mind was a lot clearer, meaning that he could finally discern what his instincts were actually telling him.

Instead of using a projection of the Innkeeper, Lex appeared in front of the book in his Karmic clone, and once again used the characters to create an opening. This time, the book responded.

Yet it was not the characters from the enigmatic Book of Changes that served as the catalyst for this sudden change. Nay, it was Lex’s own karma. To be specific, it was the karma of humanity that the book was responding to.

For the first time in a long time, Lex finally encountered something positive due to his identity as a human, rather than another burden.