The Innkeeper

Chapter 2391: It’s time

"Lex, it’s time," said Romulus as his clone stood outside the Genesis Dew chamber, quite frankly feeling impressed at how well and how easily Lex had been able to make use of it.

Genesis Dew was his own creation using resources from within the Gilded Hollow, and Romulus normally used it to temper his treasures and elevate their levels so that even at the Dao level they’d be useful.

Considering that Lex was operating from a necklace, and that he had absorbed many Dao materials, he figured that his leftover Genesis Dew would help him elevate the necklace to a higher level.

It didn’t make too much of a difference to Romulus since this thing had a very short shelflife, and he wasn’t going to refining or improving any treasures any time soon. The Genesis Dew would have gone to waste soon enough, and it could not be preserved for its existence was not linked to the flow of time of any realm, but directly to the law of Chronos.

So he might as well use what was left rather than let it go to waste. That said, even he had not anticipated just how effectively Lex would use it. Romulus, naturally, did not pry into Lex’s secrets. That didn’t mean he couldn’t use his eyes to look at the human, and that in itself was enough!

He could see that Lex had improved, and not by a small amount.

He was right. Lex had reached 51% of the Primordial Dao Body in a mere two months. That was despite the fact that doing so had not been his focus. However, that also marked the end of his progress in that direction as the Genesis Dew hadn’t been able to help his Dao Body grow anymore after reaching 51%. Lex didn’t mind.

What was more important was that... Lex had established the basic framework for how he wanted the necklace to work. Everything operated on its own according to the set of instructions Lex had programmed into it, forming a mere framework of a working system.

Naturally, once the system would be complete, what it could do would be far more complex than what it was currently doing.

However, the lack of complexity did not mean that it was weak. No, the fake realm that Lex had established was built on a foundation of many Dao materials, tempered and reinforced by whatever that liquid was that he was submerged into. Yes, he obviously absorbed the liquid to improve the inside of his necklace too. If that was forbidden, the Fortune Lord would have told him in advance.

Moreover, being bonded to the necklace only made it easier for him to establish his own complete supremacy over the realm within. It occurred to Lex that this could be considered the equivalent to a Seat of Power, but for beings below the Dao Lord realm.

Moreover, while Lex himself did not know that he was forming a Primordial Dao Body instead of a regular Dao Body, he began to sense that there was definitely something strange going on.

The space within the Gilded Hollow was incredibly strong, but even so he could sense that his very existence put a certain weight on the surrounding space and laws.

"Thank you for your help," Lex said to the Fortune Lord with the greatest sincerity as he bowed towards him. Lex understood better than anyone just how much of a help these two months had been for him.

"No thanks necessary - you have also been very helpful to me by first letting me know the state of the qilin in the universe, and then by giving me an updated deadline. We are both helping each other, so there is no need to keep score between us. What you have to do now is prepare yourself because we have reached the destination.

"We will go our separate ways from here on out, so I have to explain to you what you must do, regardless of whether you choose to pursue that flower you were looking for, or if you want to exit the Hollow directly."

Lex was already mentally prepared to face this situation, and had already done everything he could to prepare. He was ready to return and kick some stalker butt. As for the flower... if he was inside the Hollow with his real body, he could have considered giving it to Regiz, not that he wanted to do that at all.

His only other option was to use it now himself, which was a moderate priority for him at best. He would give up on it if it proved to be too difficult.

"Outside, we stand at the edge of the Dao material zone," said Romulus as he turned the screen on and showed Lex a picture. "On one side we have Dao materials... and beyond that, we have materials of a level that transcend the Dao realm - something our own universe has yet to create at all."

Lex was stunned, and yet he was not so surprised. Hearing that statement seemed to confirm for him that the Gilded Hollow was definitely a remnant of the universe known as Pentagal.

As for materials beyond the Dao realm... fortunately, fortunately the screen showed it as blank, for Lex was not certain he could even tolerate the sight of what such materials looked like.

"Oh don’t worry, everything is there," Romulus said pointing at the screen. "You simply lack the senses relevant to ’see’ or even sense them. Funnily enough, that also protects you from the aura of such materials because you simply can’t distinguish them from the aura of the laws of the universe.

"Anyway, that’s not what’s important. What is important, though, is the location of the flower. Look, it’s right here," he said as he pointed at the screen. At the same time the view changed a bit, as the person whose eyes he was looking through looked a little to the left.

There was a tall structure similar to a mayan pyramid with a square chamber at the very top. The flower seemed to be within the chamber... but wait... something wasn’t right.

Lex narrowed his eyes and focused on the image which seemed to look through the structure entirely, revealing the image of the flower.

That wasn’t a Double Yin Death Metal Rose. No, that was a Double Yang Disaster Rose - the very opposite of the flower that Regix wanted. Lex knew almost nothing about it, so it was almost certain that he had no idea what it did, or how it could be harvested. It seemed like he wasn’t destined to get it.

"You should really find a way to get that thing," said Romulus as he looked at the picture.