The Innkeeper

Chapter 1375  Really bad

Upon teleporting successfully, Lex found himself standing in a swamp, with dark clouds hovering overhead. Thunder rumbled in the distance, filling the darkness with a sense of foreboding.

The spiritual energy in this place, wherever it was, had a concentration similar to a 3 Star planet, so it wasn't really exceptional, nor was it mundane.

Lex spread his spirit sense out, and discovered that there was nothing of significant interest anywhere around him, with the strongest being in the vicinity being an alligator-like beast, sleeping in the waters at the Nascent realm.

As far as appearances were concerned, there was nothing particularly special about this place. But, considering that Lex was being particularly attentive and thorough in his investigation, he discovered something.

There was a particular region within the range of his spirit sense that seemed completely normal. It was an unassuming portion of the swamp, where the waters flowed and the winds blew, some small animals traveling in and out and a few insect hives making that place their home. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was totally unremarkable, save for one simple fact. Within this region grew a black flower that Lex recognized. It was the Yin-dipped Lotus, a very rare plant that is difficult to grow artificially. The flower contains a heavy amount of Yin energy - one of the many kinds of energy that exists in the universe.

It wasn't the Yin energy in itself that made it special, but the fact that the Yin energy was uncontaminated with any residual evil or malevolence. After all, Yin energy usually accumulated in places where a lot of death had occurred, as it was a byproduct of dissipating souls.

Places with dense amounts of Yin energy were also associated with Hells, torture of the soul, ghosts, spirits, and generally all kinds of things with heavy negative connotations. Yet the Yin-dipped Lotus contained this energy without actually having any association with death or decaying souls, making it a very pure source for this energy.

As it happened, this flower was one of the items Powell told him that the Emporium did not have. It was believable, since the flower could not be grown in a greenhouse under ordinary circumstances, and needed to be harvested in the wild.

Such a flower, rare but with high utility, was hardly ever kept in reserve as demand was higher than supply. Lex did not find Powell's claim of not having it suspicious, but now that it was right in front of him, it was obvious that it was a sign for him to come here.

Lex proceeded towards the flower, though he maintained his vigilance, but found no issue at all. After reaching the flower, he easily harvested it, using a spiritual technique to seal it so that it did not lose any vitality, so that it could be used later.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not so much, as soon as he harvested the flower, his eyes fell onto an opening in a nearby tree that looked like it led to a tunnel that went underground. As it happened, Lex could not detect that opening with his spirit sense, nor were his instincts reacting to its existence.

"Not suspicious at all," Lex murmured even as he hopped into the hole, fully ready for this to be an elaborate trap of some kind. After all, he had not been inconspicuous as of late, and though the Emporium claimed to be a neutral organization, focusing only on commerce, who was to say they couldn't be swayed by a significantly powerful force?

He slid down the hole, and entered into a room, but in doing so clearly crossed some kind of threshold which caused his expression to change. When he looked up, the pathway leading down, predictably, was no more!

This room, whatever it was, had an isolating effect unlike he had ever felt before! It was like the Destiny level protection formation within the Inn, which could even block out the machinations of Destiny itself, but much more powerful!

Within this room, Lex found himself cut off from everything outside this room! He could feel his Karma, as esoteric as it was, suddenly freed. An invisible burden had been lifted off from him - the burden of his imbalance Karma. Yet this escape was only temporary, for the imbalance would return if he exited the room.

Lex also discovered that countless other connections he had with the universe at large, connections he did not understand or was even aware of, had been cut off. He had never noticed them before, for they had existed as long as he had. Only now, in their absence, did he realize they had existed to begin with.

One of them, he realized, was a connection to the destiny of the human race. Whether he was aware of it or not, whether he wanted it or not, he was inevitably linked to the human race. That link was not just in the feedback he got from the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum, but what he contributed to it as well, not to mention something much deeper that he could not yet understand.

Yet that was just one of the many, invisible influences that had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders by entering this room. Yet not all was so pleasant.

Among the many connections he lost, it also included his connection to Jack! Although Lex and Jack were one and the same, always aware of each other's existence and experiences, from the moment Lex entered this room, he could no longer sense his connection to Jack!

Considering they were a part of each other, instead of separate beings, this disconnection was extremely concerning. Yet even that was not at the forefront of Lex's concerns.

The most alarming and significant connection he had lost was not to Jack, but to the Midnight realm!

Although the system was still within him, the connection between the system and the Midnight realm had been severed! It was to the point where he could not even automatically return to the realm if he wished!

Mary suddenly appeared in front of him, her expression extremely grave.

"I suppose I don't need to tell you this, but this is really bad."