The Innkeeper

Chapter 2321: A humble perspective

Pearl almost laughed at Cliff’s claim. Lately, other than feeling helpless at the slow pace of her progress, she’d also been feeling somewhat empty. Previously, she’d felt numb. Once that numbness had gone, she felt rage. She wanted revenge on those that killed her family and tried to hunt her down.

Then, apparently, all those responsible were killed in public executions. Pearl saw them herself. Even so, she felt empty and unfulfilled. The enemy was gone, but her family had not returned. River and her were together, but it seemed like she had nothing to look forward to anymore.

What was she working hard for? Why did she want to get stronger? These were questions she had no answer to.

In truth, Lex could easily see through her mental barriers, and even understand why they existed. He could have given her a pep talk of some kind, but he’d avoided it. Even now, he wanted to witness how they worked through this problem themselves.

Although it might have seemed pointless to many, Lex’s journey with River and Pearl had given him a different perspective on the struggles of common humans. Even if he claimed that he could rise to his current level because of his own hard work, he had to at least admit that without the help and resources of his system, he would not have gotten so far so fast.

Even with his help, giving River and Pearl the best cultivation techniques and shortcuts, their progress speed was only mediocre by his standards. Any random worker inside the Midnight Inn cultivated faster than these two.

Was it because these two were lazy or lacking in talent? No, it was because the resources available inside the Midnight Inn were just too unique, even across the whole universe. Even the Temple of Fasting, which was the foremost training grounds for humanity in the universe, could only train and teach his workers. The resources it gave were in no way comparable to even the very air of the Midnight Inn!

Thus, through witnessing their struggles, Lex got a better understanding of the standard human experience. He’d always interacted with the very best the universe had to offer. He always met kings and leaders, or the heads of powerful organisations. The humans he encountered were the best of the best.

Was Jotun ordinary? Was King Cornelius someone who could be compared to others? Even weaker people he usually met were extraordinary geniuses, such as Alexander, Rafael and Marlo. Although he ran an Inn that catered to everyone, his understanding of the typical struggles and experiences were lacking.

River and Pearl, despite having so many benefits, were standard examples of that. Without his help or guidance, they would have died long ago. Even if they barely survived, they were too deeply embroiled in too many conspiracies.

Even when they achieved their goals and gained power, they were still not free to make their own decisions. The reason the two had not realized it was because from the moment of their birth, they had been indoctrinated to be vassals. They felt it was completely normal that the Humanoid Alliance dictate which realm they’d be stationed in, what tasks they were allowed to do, and how they could behave.

In fact, many times already River and Karev had supported the alliance during their missions and operations. They felt it was completely normal to cooperate with the alliance - especially when they were getting paid or compensated for their work. To them, it seemed like they were the ones benefiting since they could get the resources, or the treasures that they required.

Despite Lex’s efforts to guide them, they lacked that innate resistance to being controlled, and lacked the arrogance to face off against those stronger or superior to themselves. He tried many times to teach them respect but not reverence towards Celestials, yet it was impossible. The more they saw how powerful the Celestials were, and how afraid the other Noble races were towards them, the more they themselves began to become subservient towards them.

This was something Lex lacked - even when he had been trying to avoid those stronger than himself to save the Inn from destruction, he had never been completely cowed by them. This was not the effect of the system’s resources or his cultivation techniques - it was something innate in him. The system and its resources merely fast tracked his progress.

In short, through the actions and experiences of River and Pearl, he could see an alternate life and path that he may have needed to go through if he hadn’t found the system.

Compared to them, Karev was more like those Lex usually met with. Even if he didn’t have anyone holding his hand and helping him across every obstacle, he was resourceful enough to make it through. He obeyed the Celestials, but was never subservient.

In fact, he was the only one who suspected that the enemies who had targeted him previously may still be alive. It only made sense. As a proper cultivator of the True Path, his instincts about these things were strong, which is why he could detect certain flaws and inconsistencies in the stories they were told.

These thoughts flashed through Lex’s mind in an instant as he watched the struggle on Pearl’s face. If he were in her shoes, he would try to get stronger so that he could break free of the cycle of others informing him or telling him that the situation had been handled. The constant control that the alliance exerted on their life would be suffocating to him.

But since Pearl had been experiencing it from birth, she found it to be completely normal that they did such things. In fact, she could not even come up with the thought of one day being so powerful that she would no longer be under the umbrella of the alliance. Instead, to her, the alliance was a behemoth existence that would always remain a part of her life.

There wasn’t anything specifically wrong with that. Everyone had their own goals and pursuits. It was just that since Lex had witnessed the various levels of the alliance, he had seen the result of its haphazard structure.

With multiple races working together at various levels, there were varying levels of corruption and effectiveness, simply because each of them had their own goals. While the Celestial race appeared to be the controlling and guiding hand, trying to keep the alliance pure, there was only so much oversight that they could exert.

As he thought about that, Lex had a new idea. He wouldn’t try to enforce it, but... he could at least present it as a possibility to Pearl.

"Okay, forget about the quest for a moment," Cliff said, seeing how conflicted Pearl was at the moment. "Instead, tell me this: have you ever thought about your future? About what you want to do moving forward? Have you ever considered your past experiences, and what you can learn from them?"

Pearl looked stunned and confused. This was... very unlike Cliff, who usually left them to their own devices. Still, she wouldn’t reject his insight if he was offering it.