The Innkeeper

Typically, while the realm had changed, something as simple as just sensing spiritual energy should not provide an increase in strength or capability. Yet that was not the case because what was happening was more than the body simply sensing spiritual energy.

A simplified explanation of it would be that the body was awakening. This was because, while during the body tempering spiritual energy was used to temper the body, the cultivator could not actually feel the spiritual energy, just the effects of it. So when a cultivator entered the Qi gathering realm, the action they performed was only sensing the energy for the first time, but the result was quite a bit more.

The cultivator usually senses the energy for the first time on his or her skin and that initiates an automatic process whereby the body starts absorbing spiritual energy. This spiritual energy does not count towards cultivation, and is instead absorbed by the body itself as it is elevated to a higher stage of existence. This elevation, in turn, would allow the cultivator to sense the Qi that entered their body henceforth, and even use the internal pressure of their body to manipulate the movement of the Qi within their body. The movement of Qi in certain ways was necessary to use spiritual techniques.

So, ultimately, that elevation to a higher stage of existence is what strengthened cultivators when they transitioned through realms. For Lex, the spiritual energy absorbed did a lot more. His soul, spirit, and body had been melded together under an external force, but the spiritual energy being absorbed now was finalizing the process. Once the process was complete, Lex would forever be different from all cultivators in the rest of the universe. This is when the true power of the cultivation technique with the strongest defense would start to show.

While the transition in the realm happened almost instantly, Lex remained seated for another hour before his ascendance was completed. When Lex opened his eyes and finally regained control of his body, he shuddered. The process of his soul, spirit and body melding was extremely painful, yet somehow it was the kind of pain one liked. The more he felt it, the more he enjoyed it. He shuddered because he had a flashback of Marlo calling him a masochist. But he wasn't! Honest!

Lex stood up, and all the bones in his body let out satisfying cracks as he moved. He stretched his limbs and tried to sense the difference. But, once his body had finished adjusting to the changes, he only felt normal. In fact, he felt like he had better and more precise control of his body than ever before! This was just one of the many side effects of his existence going from being into three different forms to joining into a single one.

He wished he could have had more time to experiment, but the last match was about to begin and Lex wanted to watch it in the coliseum with the crowds. He had to suppress his longing to experiment with spiritual techniques, test out his strength and even play online games with his newly developed reflexes. He would definitely do all those things once he had the time. For now, he only had one thing left that he had to do first.

He opened the event management panel and looked at the prize for games. Originally, he was going to go for the second cheapest option, since the cheapest already had such a positive reaction. But he also understood that to get, you also had to give. The better the reward he gave out this time, the more participation he could expect next time.

He looked at his total MP which, by now, had accumulated to 9,430,675. After a moment's consideration, he spent 1,430,675 MP on upgrading the final reward! A small bonus to anyone suffering from OCD was that he was left with an even 8,000,000 MP.

Once that was done, Lex donned his suit, looked at himself in the mirror, admiring his own dashing good looks, and was off. When he arrived at the coliseum, the match had already begun. By now Harriot, the zombie leader, like Pramod, and long since stopped participating in the matches. While that made the battle easier, considering the severe lack of forces from Earth, each of the battles was extremely tough.

Still, while Golden Core zombies were more formidable, it was a fact that zombies were inherently weaker than most beings at their level. With the Jotun forces' steady attacks and the Beast's savagery, they had won all the previous matches, and it seemed like the trend would continue.

While somewhat watching the match, Lex also paid attention to the various guests in the coliseum. It was mostly empty, as people watched from the comfort of their rooms or wherever they happened to be. But a few groups still watched in the coliseum.

He noticed that the two people who sat beside him on the first day, Remy, the guy who wanted to have meetings for a secret society, and Akihiko, the influential man from Japan who chose not to cultivate for some reason, were seated side by side, chatting.

There was a large group from Earth that consisted of a few core members, and the rest were merely their entourages. Surprisingly, there was one group that Lex summarized from snooping on their conversations, that consisted of Beasts from Earth, Vegus Minima and Nibiru. Lex recalled that Golden hair had once requested everyone that they summon beasts from their respective planets, and it had finally happened - though Lex did not understand his incentive for doing this.

The largest group consisted of a mix of people and beast alike who were discussing their bets. It seemed there were a few core favorites that most bet on who seemed to perform well consistently. Rorick was, of course, one of them, but his points were too low. He fought very slowly and casually, though he always won and avoided all injuries. He also never tried to attack the node, and so had no contributions to boost his points. The biggest bet regarding him wasn't if he would die, but rather how many zombies he would kill before the game ended.

Suddenly, while Lex was enjoying watching his guests mingle, he got a very loud and abrupt notification from the system:

Warning! Entity capable of detecting system's signature detected! Going into hibernation mode!

The very next moment, Lex realized that he had lost his connection to the system and all its features! It was fortunate that the Host Attire kept its functions, but Lex was scarcely able to do anything at the moment.

He noticed, then, with the power of the suit, that two men had exited their rooms in the coliseum and were approaching him.

Perhaps if this had been before his breakthrough, Lex would have panicked at the sudden turn of events, but right now he was in complete control of himself. He wouldn't even need the Host Attires' help to control his facial expressions. So, instantly, he decided to play it casually, as if he were in a good mood.

He turned to look at the two guests but did not recognize them, but gave them a warm smile anyway. If the system had not been suppressed, his scan would have shown him that one of the men was actually Loretta in disguise.

"I hope you've been enjoying yourselves," Lex said calmly, as he turned his attention back towards the screen.

"Yes, my small vacation has been very... informative. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Ballom, I'm Loretta's father."

"You may call me the Innkeeper," Lex replied as he turned to look, not at Ballom, but at the other man. Lex assumed this man was Loretta in disguise, since Ballom had brought her up, but did not say anything.

"Innkeeper, I was looking forward to your finale, but an urgent task has required my attention and so I must leave. It appears, some trouble has been brewing in the uncharted territories of space."

"I wish you well then, on your journey. If you ever need to rest while on your journey, please come again."

Balloon had been staring closely at the Innkeeper, trying to pry some information from his reactions, but got nothing. It was true that there was some trouble brewing for the devils, but what he wanted to see is if this trouble had something to do with the way the Innkeeper reacted that one time. It seemed that either it was unrelated, or the Innkeeper kept his matters close to his chest.

"Farewell then, I look forward to seeing you again. I hope that next time, I may invite you over to try our hospitality."

Lex merely smiled, but gave no response. A few moments later, both Loretta and the man disappeared.

A familiar ting went off in his head as the system gave him a notification:

System is back online.

Before Lex could ask any questions though, Mary appeared in front of him, filled with excitement!

"I can't believe how lucky you are!" She exclaimed. "Your reward for this quest will be huge!"