The Innkeeper

Lex spread his spirit sense in the pitch dark corridor he had entered, trying to understand the layout as well as detect any nearby Frigals. One of the most important considerations Lex had during this period was how dangerous this specific adventure was going to be.

Surprisingly, so far, he had not faced any significant challenge, though Fenrir could take most of the credit for that. His instincts, too, did not warn him of any overwhelming danger looming around the corner. To be clear, there was plenty of danger about. If Lex was not careful, he could be besieged by countless Frigals, not to mention whoever they were fighting.

But the 3 star planet he was on was showing a surprising lack of immortals, who were the greatest threat to Lex. Either they were not nearly as common as he had assumed, and his frequent encounters with them could be attributed to a skewed probability of facing them due to how many unusual circumstances he faced.

He made a mental note to look up such information when he got back. Considering the fact that he encountered Earth Immortals so frequently in the Crystal realm, and saw so many immortals coming to his Inn, Lex thought that there would be immortals anywhere with enough spiritual energy, but that might not be the case. Perhaps the tribulation also played a role in their absence.

But, the most significant thing was that despite the Dragons Might being much stronger now, Lex's instincts still did not warn him of any lethal danger. In fact, the poison on Polebitvy was about a million times more dangerous than anything he was feeling currently.

Of course there was also the possibility that his instincts were failing him, or that they were unable to detect a certain type of threat, such as those that involved systems. Lex still had to be careful.

Unable to decipher the ridiculously large labyrinth that was the interior of the castle, Lex decided to use his instincts to search for any good leads. His instincts were unable to directly tell him where to go to fulfill his purpose, but it did point him in the direction of the nearest item which could be considered a treasure.

"Any idea which way to go?" Lex asked Fenrir, just in case the pup had any other abilities he was unaware of, but the pup only shook its head. The Dragons Might was affecting it much more than Lex, and causing it to become agitated. Its general temperament was rather friendly and mild, at least in the presence of those that it trusted, but it was still feeling challenged and aggressive. It was as if the very blood in its veins was angered that a dragon was daring to display its might within Fenrir's presence.

Unfortunately, regardless of how noble the instincts in its body, it was nowhere near as strong as the dragon. At least the dragon was born in the immortal realm - Fenrir, despite its noble bloodline, had been born a mortal.

That thought gave Lex pause. Fenrir should have had a very high position in the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum, so then why was its cultivation at birth so low? Why was it still unable to speak, even if only through spirit sense? The mysteries surrounding the pup were not few, but right now was not the time to ponder them.

Without any other lead, Lex decided to move in the direction of the nearest treasure. The corridor was, just as the Frigal town had been, elaborately decorated across every inch of its length. Precious ores had been used to add color to the carvings in the walls, even if no one could see those colors in the dark, and spirit stones had been embedded every so often, keeping the ambient energy within the castle high.

Lex felt like he had encountered something he had no knowledge of, for there were no formations in place nor did the alignment of rooms or corridors seem like they merged to form a massive character, like in Valesco, but the deeper he walked into the castle the more impressive it seemed. The spirit energy was the least of it. It seemed like every step he was taking, he was walking on the physical manifestation of history itself.

Countless beings of incredible importance had once passed through these halls, and world shaking decisions had been made in nearly every room. Although Lex did not have enough information to judge, he guessed that perhaps the influence of the dragon whose home he was walking in was larger than he had first thought. Maybe the dragon held a great position in this galaxy, but information of that level would not be easily available on the Henali portal.

For a massive portal that was supposed to cover the majority of the explored realm, it was surprisingly strictly monitored and controlled.

Also, now that Lex knew a lot more about the universe, the size of the Origin realm surprised him greatly. After all, long before Lex knew of the concept of realms, he assumed the Origin realm was the entire universe. It was then that Lex came across the concept of the 'known universe' which should now accurately be called 'known realm'. This was because a large part of even the Origin realm remained unexplored.

Lex did not know if such a term counted the Henali as well, or if they truly had explored the entire realm, but he definitely knew that the devils, at least, had not explored the entire realm yet.

Lex suddenly stopped, and frowned. He noticed something unusual. He was undergoing a lot more introspection than usual, and his thoughts seemed to be becoming more and more random. Why was he thinking about the Origin realm while exploring a potentially dangerous castle?

Something was silently influencing him, and he had not even noticed! When exactly did this start? Was it when he first entered this planet, or did it only begin after he started to resist the pressure of Dragons Might?