The Innkeeper

Why were immortals so much more powerful than mortals? It was not just because it was, obviously, a higher realm in cultivation. Immortals were a higher form of existence.

For someone following the normal route of progressing, reaching the Nascent realm made them barely strong enough to just detect the laws of the universe vaguely. It was mere detection, not interaction or manipulation. It was, instead, when they became immortals that their bodies and souls would be strengthened enough to tolerate the burden of touching upon laws, and their tenets could act as anchors to keep them from being swept away when they touched the laws in any way.

So, in essence, their base strength came from the fact that they had to be strong enough for their body to not fall apart under the burden of laws, while the limits of their individual power came from how much or how deeply they could influence those laws. That was also why tenets were so important: they directly impacted how an immortal not only perceived laws, but how they interacted with them.

For an ordinary person, that was not a simple divide to cross. For Lex, it was something he had been doing for years already. A part of him wondered if he should take this opportunity to whet his sword as well, but then decided against it.

Lex watched as a portal opened and an Earth Immortal walked out of it. Unlike the realms before it, which were divided into early, middle, late and peak, the immortal realms were divided into nine sub-levels though he did not yet understand the significance of those levels.

Either way, this immortal who suddenly arrived seemed like he was close to the beginning of the immortal realm. Heck, even Qawain and Lilith seemed stronger.

The immortal ignored Lex and looked towards Moon, who still lay in her hammock. Even now, she did not really have the energy to move too much. The immortal smiled, and took in a deep whiff. The air, it smelled so…

Before the immortal could enjoy the prelude to his victory, Lex appeared in front of him and pushed his hand right into the immortal's chest.

"Hmm, you have thirteen tenets. No wait, fourteen tenets. Don't you think that's too many?" Lex asked.

Although his hand had pierced into his body, no blood was dripping. That was because Lex had not pierced his physical body, but rather his soul, and taken ahold of his tenets within.

Implementing his own, upgraded version of Impervious Hands, Lex could easily touch laws. In the case of immortals, he could directly influence whatever laws they were trying to manipulate, or even take control of their tenets deep within their soul.

The immortal looked at Lex, in shock. Seeing as how Lex was not doing anything, and just standing there, the immortal grabbed Lex's hand and tried to pull it out of his body to no avail.

He could not even cause Lex flinch, let alone move his entire hand. Seeing as how he could not pull out Lex's hand, he instead tried to punch him. But once again, Lex did not move at all. Instead, the immortal's hand fractured.

"Hmm, not so strong," Lex murmured.

Moon, who was trying to use all sorts of devices to call for help, was stunned. Although she could not turn to view what was happening, she could still use her spirit sense. The sight of the immortal struggling to resist Lex was enough to leave her flabbergasted.

"Just for my own reference," Lex asked, "what is your cultivation realm? Are you like a level 1 Earth immortal? Surely you can't be higher than a level 2."

"Do you know who you're up against?" the immortal asked instead, as he grit his teeth and began secretly preparing for an attack. He could not manipulate any laws because Lex had literally gripped his tenets, making it so that he dared not touch upon the laws. "It would be in your own best interest to step away. As long as we get the girl, no one will bother you."

"No, actually, I don't know who I'm up against. Why don't you enlighten me as to who exactly is interrupting my little reunion? Don't be afraid to get specific. Go ahead and take some names."

Moon smiled, and finally relaxed. It seemed like she had underestimated Lex.

"This is no joking matter. The Fuegan have taken notice of the saintess. One way or another, they will get their hands on her. This is not something someone at your level can resist."

Before Moon could process what she heard, and once again start to get worried, Lex asked, remaining nonchalant, "so like, the entire Fuegan race? Or like some specific Fuegan members? Like I said, names would really help."

The immortal was frustrated to see that his attempt to intimidate Lex failed, but either way he never intended to let Lex leave alive. Even if he could not use laws, he could still use other attacks!

A black, three pronged dagger appeared in his hand suddenly which he stabbed into Lex's neck! Lex was too close, he didn't get an opportunity to dodge at all.

With all his strength, as well as a special technique to increase the sharpness of the knife, the immortal cut Lex's neck, but… but nothing happened. The tip of the knife got stuck against the earliest signs of stubble Lex had just begun to show. Let alone skin, the knife could not even cut his not even fully grown facial hair!

"You know what, I'll just find out later."

In truth, Lex had not really dropped his guard this entire time. He was fully ready to unleash his power and crush the immortal's tenets at a moment's notice, but it turned out he was just too strong even before his final seal was opened.

Maybe he was a little too successful in his efforts to reach towards the strength of a Heavenly immortal dragon during his cultivation the past few years.