The Innkeeper



Although at the moment the Immortal Bastion was nothing more than an empty shell, with time Lex would turn it into a huge gathering spot for all kinds of adventurers. Until then, it would have to stay just as a large gathering spot for various kinds of residencies.

After a couple of weeks, once more entrances to Minor realms were discovered, he would shift a few undiscovered ones and move them here.

But all of that was for later. The reason he was in a rush to complete the Bastion now was because the Grand Prix was about to begin. Last-minute changes to the course would have to be made to include the Bastion, and Lex kept himself separated from it so that he would not have any unfair advantages during the race. After all, he had thoroughly enjoyed the previous race and wanted to compete fairly. Moreover, the list of other racers was quite interesting as well.

Lex teleported to his room to take a short nap before the race began. He did not feel tired, mentally or physically, but he had been awake for multiple days in a row once again and although physically he did not need it, it was tough to break the psychological habit of needing to sleep.

Fortunately, although his breakthrough made it so that he did not need sleep, it did not interfere with his ability to fall asleep at all. When he woke up from his dreamless sleep, Lex felt a tinge of dissatisfaction. He did not feel refreshed at all, because he was not tired to begin with!

Never in his life did Lex think that he would complain of feeling too energetic and fresh, but it was taking away from one of his favorite activities!

Shaking his head, Lex put the matter behind him. He dressed up casually, put on his Clark Kent glasses and teleported to the Inn.

A massive crowd had gathered at the village for that was both the starting and ending line for the race. Stadiums were filled to the brim with families and cheering fans, all supporting their favorite racers.

Although Leo himself had only done a single race, mostly to get eligibility, most others had done quite a few races. Their intentions were to get used to the dynamics of the race and develop personal strategies, but they were in for a surprise.

The format for the final race had been changed! Instead of 3 laps of the track, there would only be one lap. The first to cross the finish line would be the winner. But, in exchange for this rule change, the rack had been made much larger. Not only did it go across every major attraction at the Inn, the traps and tricks were kicked up a notch.

Regardless of the changes, due to the fact that Leo had only participated in one race, his following was not as large as others, though his unique style of winning his only race had still won him some fans. Moreover, stories of how he defeated countless Nascent cultivators had also raised his popularity a bit. But it was only a bit.

Compared to others, such as Brandon Morrison, Alexander's grandfather, Pvarti, Greta Noel the famous strip poker player, the extremely handsome Gerard, the big brother of the Inn Z, and a few others, he was not that outstanding. Moreover, Lex was certain that the participants had been extremely limited because most of those whose cultivation level was very high were still cultivating. Despite that, there were well over 100 contestants in the Grand Prix.

But Lex didn't mind his lack of popularity - that wasn't why he had been participating in the first place. Wearing a carefree smile, Lex got into his highly modified golf cart and made himself comfortable.

Unlike the previous race, where he had been near the front, this time Lex was in the absolute last row of racers. It did not matter. The race was long enough to make up for any tiny disadvantage the starting position would give.

"Ladies and gents," a charismatic voice boomed over the crowds, "devils and dames, beasts and spirits, I'm your favorite commentator, Awry, here with you on the first ever Golf Cart Grand Prix!"

The crowd burst into an excited cheer jumping up and down at their seats. It wasn't just the stadium that had such a reaction. Due to the convenience provided by the Inn of being able to watch all events from personal screens anywhere inside the Inn, from the peak of the Midnight mountain to the floating rubber donuts in the lazy river, guests were watching the race.

Although most kids lacked the attention span for such a thing, some of the older ones inside the spaceship made themselves comfortable in their bean bags, ready with their chips and nuggets to snack as they watched.

"Alright contestants, get inside your vehicles as I walk you through the upcoming event. The screens that everyone other than the contestants could see started to show the track as the racers would experience them while the commentator continued to talk.

"Unlike previous races, this one will only have a single lap, so there's no time to familiarize yourself with the track, and you'll have to deal with the surprises as they come! The power ups are all the same that you've already experienced, but the obstacles you will face are all new!"

The crowds cheered once again while the racers psyched themselves up using their various ways. The betting, which had been open for quite a while now, was about to close. Lex himself did not bother to bet, for whether he won or lost, he would be the one making the payment. The rest of the racers, though, all bet on themselves as a show of confidence.

The favorite to win the race was Gerard and Lex couldn't blame anyone for thinking as such. He'd had the perfect record so far in any race he participated in, but that was only so far.

Lex tightened his grip on the steering wheel as the commentator finally finished explaining the race to everyone.

Finally, in front of all the racers, Little Blue appeared in the sky, surrounded by red water. A moment later the water turned yellow, alongside a loud siren, and a moment later, turned green.

The race had begun.