The Innkeeper

Chapter 2232: And so it begins

Things were happening at an unprecedented pace throughout the current Age. If the trend continues, then this Age may be named after the extreme frequency of major events happening. Whereas previously millions of years went by without any major, universal news, now things were happening all within the same century!

Any number of Dao Lords and Immortals would one day exit from their cultivation retreat and find the whole universe a different place from when they went into retreat.

To be clear, the reason things did not happen on a universal scale was because the universe was just too damn big. Moving from realm to realm on its own was too difficult, so for something to affect the whole universe was almost impossible.

That was why the existence of this war was so baffling, for so many had successfully planned and invaded countless realms without letting any secrets loose. It confounded all weaker cultivators, though many top organisations and stronger Dao Lords all arrived at the same conclusion: this was the result of the action of one of the seniors above the Dao realm.

The problem was, most people and organisations didn’t even know who those beings were. Were they from the Sage races? Were they unique beings, without a race of their own? Did they control multiple races? Most did not know - even if they knew, or speculated the existence of beings above the Dao Lord realm.

Regardless of who was behind it though, they had to deal with the consequences. What many now began to wonder about was whether whoever was behind the war was also behind whatever was hidden in the Dream realm.

Could it be? Were they really watching a plan over an Age old unfold? But who could have planned for things so long ago? And for what purpose? Why did they need to wait this long? These were questions they could not answer, and perhaps they would not learn the truth even after everything had unfolded.

For Daekol, the sudden change presented both opportunity and risk. It would be much easier to hide the trail of his actions between the turbulence caused by the revelation of this treasure, and the arrival of countless Dao Lords. At the same time, ironically, he was a lot more likely to get discovered as well.

Risk and reward - those things came hand in hand. It was up to him to make sure he ended up with the reward and not the consequence of taking that risk.

Although he had planned things out meticulously to avoid any accidents, plans often don’t keep up with reality. He could either miss this opportunity to hide his actions from the Innkeeper, and foolproof everything, making it impossible for his prey to escape or survive. Or he could accept the small flaws and weaknesses left in his plan, and act anyway. In truth, what he considered an incomplete plan was already far more thoroughly prepared than what most others would do.

But then, that was the difference between him and others - he left nothing to chance. He would always use his full strength, regardless of how noble his identity was or how insignificant the task was. What others considered a perfect or ideal situation was still riddled with deficiencies to him.

That did not mean, however, that he could not act unless circumstances were perfect by his own standard. The benefits this opportunity brought outweighed the risks, for Daekol implemented his plan earlier than anticipated.

He had organised a team of five hundred and twelve peak Celestial Immortals to act on his behalf for the purpose of his plan, but keeping them all together within the Dream realm was a tedious task. Fortunately, he did not need them to be together, or even close to him - at least for now. He had already made arrangements for how to summon them if he needed them.

Currently, their sole task was to hide Almira’s traces. Heck, they did not even know why they were doing that, or the fact that they were targeting Lex. He would not need their help in the fight, but they all played a crucial role in the set up.

Now that he was forgoing the complete set up, they could skip to the part where they provided a real, plausible lead for why Almira was undetectable so far, and why she would suddenly become detectable soon.

But her tracks would not be revealed permanently, and not for long. They would only be revealed for short intervals at unpredictable times. That was to spur Lex into hurrying, and not wasting time probing.

At the same time, they had to make sure no one else found Almira either. Since the bait was for Lex, it would only work if Lex rescued her. If anyone else intervened... they did not need to live.

He turned his emotionless gaze to the sleeping baby, and then to the sleeping Fenrir with an impure bloodline. They were both at the very core of the stage he had created.

Daekol narrowed his eyes as he felt a vague, indiscernible threat. He expected nothing less from the wielder of a powerful system.

Mentally, Daekol began to exert his will on the universe around himself. He was already impossible to detect, but he reinforced his stealth, made sure to remove his traces, and ordered his surroundings to align perfectly with his will.

Everything was in motion now, which is why the wolf began to rouse from his slumber, entirely unaware that he had fallen asleep in the first place.

"And so it begins..." he muttered to himself.

Elsewhere within the Dream realm, Lex was searching for Qawain when he finally sensed something familiar. It wasn’t Almira’s tracks, but instead he sensed Karma related to Fenrir. Moreover, his instincts seemed to guide him that he had caught onto something incredibly important to himself - and at the same time, something incredibly dangerous as well.

A strange light flickered through Lex’s eyes, but he kept his inner thoughts hidden. In response to sensing karma related to Fenrir, Lex finally remembered to summon the wolf back from Arch-Heaven.