The Innkeeper

Chapter 2522: Good news

Lex tapped his finger on the table for a moment, contemplating the gravity of the decision he needed to make. Then he remembered that he didn’t necessarily need to make this decision at all!

"Excuse me, Mother Nuwa? Are you there?" Lex asked out loud, though he did so inside his office to ensure no one overheard him.

But he got no response. He didn’t doubt that she could see him, because the Midnight Inn had never really been an obstacle for her before. In fact, hardly anything seemed to be a secret for her, which was strange because Eclipse had never indicated that she might know the Innkeepers secret.

So Nuwa was clearly the stronger one, but Eclipse seemed to be the person who most frightened everyone.

He didn’t understand the intricacies, but right now he didn’t matter.

"I swear I’m not calling on you for anything random. I’ve accidentally discovered a huge danger to the universe, and it apparently exists within the Void. It can even threaten Major realms it seems. I was just wondering if that’s a known issue, or if I should mention it to some people? Like the Henali or the Primordial Queen?"

Once again, all that answered him was silence.

Far away in the universe, Nuwa paused and looked towards Lex. She had already clearly decided not to interfere with his actions for the better or for worse. He had to look out for himself now. If she kept compromising and interfering, her own plans could be affected, and the consequences of that were far greater.

Thus, Lex sat in his office without a response, but that did not demoralise him. In fact, if anything, it reassured him greatly. He didn’t doubt for a moment that his words had been heard. If his discovery really had been monumental or unknown, she would have certainly responded. Even if she didn’t respond, at least she knew about it now. That meant that what he did next was entirely up to him.

With the pressure of determining the fate of the universe off his shoulders, Lex could now think of ways to use this information to his benefit. After all, even if it was not such an immense secret - though technically Lex didn’t know how big of a secret it was - that did not mean he couldn’t use it to his advantage.

Lex took out his pen and inkwell and took special care to remind himself that he was now paying for this ink in Dao materials. The return on this investment needed to be worth it!

Yet before he could even begin to let capitalism flow through him, Lex was awarded with another piece of good news!

"I’m ready. Once you give the word, I can hide the Midnight realm from being sensed by anyone outside it, and then the process will run automatically even while I sleep," said Lotus, sounding extremely weary. "I’ll leave behind a special node and a manual in case you want to lessen the degree of stealth while I sleep."

Lex actually felt bad for how overworked Lotus was, but at the same time, he was technically helping Lotus out. It had now fused with a realm and was stronger than ever. It cultivated a top notch cultivation technique, and even though that technique was foreign, there was hardly anything that could compete with it.

Seen that way, Lex was the one helping Lotus more than Lotus was helping him. So slightly compromising on a little rest shouldn’t be a big deal.

Oh no, the capitalism was already flowing through him! He needed to make the most of it.

"In that case, begin immediately, and then get some rest. I won’t wake you up unless it’s something absolutely critical," said Lex warmly.

Lotus was too exhausted to appreciate how considerate Lex was, and instead simply employed its defensive stealth technique. The main goal was to hide from the universe - although that in itself didn’t make too much sense to Lex. How could the realm continue to exist if it could not be found and supported by the laws of the universe?

A better way of putting it was that the main goal was to hide from the certain aspect of the universe that was specifically observing minor realms to devour. Or even more simply, the goal was to hide from all those who sought to harm the Midnight realm.

For Lotus, that included that hidden, malevolent presence within the Void. For the system, that meant that oppressive presence that was as wide spread as the system network itself. For Lex, that was any Dao Lord who might want to find the realm once it potentially became a Major realm.

Within the Void, the Midnight realm, which had only recently begun to alternate its appearance from what a typical realm looked like, first lost its presence, as if it didn’t exist at all.

The numerous Void Dwellers that had been attacking the realm boundary, desperate to escape their prison, suddenly felt confused. Why could they no longer sense the realm they were seeing?

Almost as if to answer them, the realm slowly but surely also began to disappear from their vision, as if it was merely an illusion.

But it wasn’t an illusion. The Void Dwellers were more sensitive to the flows of Chaos energy than anyone else. Their senses told them that a realm still existed here, rapidly absorbing and filtering the chaos energy that filled its surroundings.

But slowly, even that sensation began to disappear, and the flow of Chaos energy became random and chaotic, as it usually was.

This was a mystery that the Void Dwellers could not understand, and they could not quietly frankly care enough to understand it either. With the disappearance of the realm in front of them, they could only disperse in the hopes of one day finding a place where they could go to escape the Void.

Slowly, even the traces that the Midnight realm had left behind previously within the Void began to disappear, almost as if it had never existed at all.