The Innkeeper

Chapter 2458: New Dao

"I can’t locate Lex, but it’s already been more or less confirmed that he is alive. Whether he won his fight or lost is unknown, but he clearly survived that... tribulation of his," said Oaka as he looked at Liz with an honest and straight forward expression.

"That means our previous deal has become void. I can’t really help him out anymore, nor can I target his enemy. Naturally, that also means that your payment is not required, as per the agreement. I wonder, however, if you’re interested in another deal?"

Liz looked at Oaka and her thoughts raced. She hadn’t even come close to completing the mission given to her by the Tower of Providence, but Nemo had been getting restless as of late. He’d been suggesting that they return to the Midnight Inn - just to be safe.

Liz, however, wasn’t the type to give up so easily. Just as she was thinking of using Oaka to contact some old acquaintances in Ventura, the merchant’s expression shifted slightly, and he presented Liz with a document.

"What’s this?" she asked as she glanced at it. Then her expression changed too.

"Whats the meaning of this?" she asked, looking up at the merchant.

"It’s the bounty request I just got for all humans. Naturally, it’s quite the tempting price, but I did not take it."

Liz’s expression did not ease. That’s the part she didn’t understand. Why didn’t Oaka accept such a great deal? Such random kindness did not console her, but worried her that there was something even worse in store.

"You don’t need to be concerned with this," Oaka said with a soft smile "this is just a game."

Liz did not understand what he meant but the growing smile on Oaka’s face seemed oddly genuine... and creepy.

*****

Bourdow kept moving at a slow pace, whistling as he went, not at all concerned about being discovered. What he was concerned about, however, was how quickly all the luck he’d accumulated was being used up.

The Dream Arena was clearly extremely perilous. At the same time, however, he was also excited by how much luck was being used up because the reward would correspond to the amount of luck used up.

Over the years, Destiny had helped him accumulate a tremendous amount of luck from various declining races. The thing about declining races was that they still had a great deal of luck left, but not enough strength to defend it, not to mention no one would find it surprising that a declining race would continue to decline.

Whether it was the human race, the fairy race, various lizard races which leeched their luck off dragons, and so on. Any one of them had a great deal of luck that no one would notice if they disappeared.

As he was strolling, Bourdow finally spotted Wu Kong. Luckily, the monkey hadn’t noticed him. Now all he needed to do was use the monkey to find the great secret of this arena.

Along the way, he’d even found a whole lot of Dao Essence, so this trip really was turning out to be the luckiest trip of his life. He couldn’t wait to count all his harvests in the end.

*****

Alexander and the rest had blacked out. They neither saw, nor sensed in any way what was happening around them, and they weren’t the only ones.

All Immortals within the vicinity of the phenomenon had blacked out, but that was expected. But then again, such a thing was expected. How could mere Immortals witness the birth of a new Dao Lord?

Outside the formation, the other Dao Lords had stopped attacking. At this point, breaking the formation would be moot. What was important now was to observe who the new Dao Lord was, and what the level of his Dao was.

Although a Minor Dao was most likely, they couldn’t eliminate the possibility of a Major Dao as well. The difference between the two would be significant.

They did not, even remotely, consider the possibility of a Unique Dao for that was too unlikely.

Second by second, minute by minute, time passed and everyone waited patiently. As it happened, when only a few seconds were left before the deadline Eclipse gave to Lex, the figure deep within the formation stood up.

A bright light hid the outline of his figure, blinding even Dao Lords who squinted at an oddity. Why was there none of the Dao radiation that accompanied a new Dao Lord?

As if in response to their answer, an outline of the figure was finally seen. It looked like a man, donning heavy armor, carrying a massive weapon.

In the eyes of some he held a spear, and in the eyes of others he held a sword. What the weapon was didn’t matter at all, for his greatest weapon was not the one in his hand, but the oath that powered him.

The light dimmed, and the Dao Lords finally laid eyes on him. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a jaw so sharp it could cut through steel and a presence that weighed down on all who laid eyes on him.

This... was a human! Not only was he human, but his bearing... his aura... this was almost...

"My name is David Paladin," announced the man, his voice carrying across not just the realm, but the whole universe!

Just as Lex had caused a phenomenon, so too did this man. The difference was that David’s phenomenon was filled with the invincible power of a Unique Dao!

"The founder of the Paladin Dao, creator of the path of paladins, and the torch bearer of humanity’s glorious return to power. All those who have targeted humanity... prepare for your imminent demise!"

The universe welcomed the birth of the unique Paladin Dao, and watched in stunned silence as humanity’s destiny skyrocketed.

At the exact same moment, several other races revealed Dao Lords of their own, as if they had been holding back for so long. Even though none could match up to David, their rise was unquestionable.

Within the Dream realm, Bourdow’s expression changed, but it was too late. He had, for the first time, triggered an Unlucky Break.