The Innkeeper

Chapter 2312: Test

Years. So many years had passed, and Lex had used up all the resources that the Upper Battlefield could offer him. Still, Pearl and River had only reached the peak of the Nascent Soul, and made no real progress towards the Earth Immortal realm.

Lex did not want to blame them - they were genuinely trying very hard. However, he also found it irritating. It was just the Earth Immortal realm. What was the big deal? Why were they making such a big fuss about this?

He turned his gaze towards the basement. There, in her formation, Pearl even had an Earth Immortal trapped. They had attacked the Guest House with the intention of learning River and Pearl’s secrets, and hoping to use them to find Karev. Well, they learned some of the couple’s secrets, and that was enough to kill all the Nascent Soul cultivators.

They lacked the ability to kill the Earth Immortal no matter what they did, so they simply trapped him in a formation designed by Lex to keep him from accessing laws.

They kept asking for more time, but at this point Lex had nothing left to gain from the Upper realm, so he could no longer delay his departure.

"I’ll tell you what," said Cliff as he looked at the no longer young couple. "Cultivating traditionally will not allow you to breakthrough any time soon. You need some opportunity or resource that will help you bridge the gap between your current ability, and that which is required to become Immortal. While the Upper Battlefield does not lack such opportunities, I think it’s about time you attempt the test Karev offered through his token."

Pearl’s ancestor, Karev, had also recovered a lot during these past few years. His mental fatigue had waned, and his weakening resolve had once again been strengthened. He was feeling much better, and was once again ready to resume his cultivation journey.

The reason he was lingering was not because he couldn’t break through, but because he was enjoying the time too much. How long had it been since he was able to live such a relaxed life?

Unlike them, he could break through to the Earth Immortal realm whenever he wanted. After all, unlike them, Lex recognized him as a true, genuine genius. What’s more, he had what it took to be identified as a Destiny’s Child, meaning he would always find opportunity amidst hardship.

The reason he wasn’t transcending to the next level was because he didn’t want to leave Pearl and River behind, which would inevitably happen when they entered the Immortal realm.

Once they asked him, he was more than willing to take them. To begin with, he didn’t understand why they had been resisting in the first place.

They left the Guest House running, since there were many capable staff who could keep it operating behind their back, and pretended to go on a trip to search through a recently discovered heritage site.

Once they were far away from the Guest House, and they were sure that there was no one nearby to observe them, Karev activated his token and led the three of them into a whole new realm!

Almost immediately, Lex was hit by a sense of deja vu, for he could swear he had been there before. A moment later, however, he realized that it wasn’t deja vu. Rather, the layout of whatever area they had entered was particularly similar to the Temple of Fasting.

Of course, it wasn’t the same for Lex to recognize the laws of the Origin realm, and even the unique energy signature of the Temple. Still, it was obvious that this place was related to the temple somehow. That explained why this token was passing out a heritage to anyone who passed its test!

There were a couple of reasons why Lex wanted the couple to come and experience this place. First, he himself was curious about it, and wanted to know what the big deal was all about.

As far as he could tell, this place was likely worth the hype if it was really connected to the Temple in some way. Although the Temple was focused solely on humans, based on what happened to the Oolin, this could give something to other races as well. Maybe, this place was even superior to the Temple somehow. If that was the case, hopefully it could help them reach the Earth Immortal level soon!

The second reason he asked them to experience it was because he was hoping to encounter more valuable resources. As things were, he’d used up basically all the mortal level resources he would need, and to further improve the necklace he would need more valuable ones. That wasn’t even counting the need for absolutely rare resources that he usually had on hand, which were obviously now lacking.

The couple went through the process of getting tested, and the tests lasted a long time. Pearl took six months to pass, whereas River took nine! During the three months of wait time, Pearl retreated to a cultivation room within this unusual yet empty place.

All she did was cultivate - though she shared the inheritance she gained with Lex as well. The inheritance she received was quite unique, and would change her cultivation to make her similar to a fire elemental. Her body would evolve, and have two states - a normal state and an inflamed state.

Clearly, this cultivation technique had been specifically customised for her!

Though that was not the thing that had stunned Lex. It also wasn’t the fact that River came out receiving an inheritance for paladins.

No, the most shocking thing for Lex was that when he went into the test with River, who was wearing the necklace, he was teleported into a separate testing region of his own!

While Pearl was proving she deserved to become half elemental, and River was learning that there were other ways to improve a person’s life than to simply give them things, Lex found himself in a white chamber with the necklace harboring his soul hanging above a vat of silver liquid.

As for the test? It was simple. He had to create a mechanism by which Relational laws operated differently within his necklace. Basically, he needed to choose any Relational law, and make sure that within the necklace that law operated differently from how it normally would.

The only external resource available to him to make that happen was the vat of silver liquid beneath the necklace.

Lex extended his spirit sense and investigated the liquid. He wasn’t sure what it was, he’d never encountered or learned of something like this before. He would just have to find out on his own.