Ranobes » The Innkeeper » Chapter 2240: Weak
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Chapter 2240: Weak
The Innkeeper

Lex heard the sound of a system notification. He had been so focused on his own tasks that he completely forgot there was a system quest going on - one that he had more or less ignored entirely. It had been completed because mere moments ago, the Dream realm finished binding to the Midnight Inn. Now, once he lifted the lockdown, Lex would be able to travel to and from the Dream realm even without the tavern! .

Quest Complete!

New Quest: A new frontier has been discovered. No dream can be a good dream without the Midnight Inn. Gain access to the Dream Realm!

Quest Reward: Dreamy Mirror!

Remarks: Am I dreaming, or are you actually working hard? Must be dreaming.

It was good to know that even during the most trying times, the system didn’t change its habits. Ignoring the remark altogether, Lex focused on the Dreamy Mirror.

Dreamy Mirror

A mirror that allows one to enter the dreams of someone sleeping. The mirror also protects that dream from any other external interference.

As soon as Lex read the description, he directly exited the Dream realm. There was no need to worry since he could now enter and exit as he wished. Thus, when he returned, he would be in the same place. Or same dream - or however the Dream realm determined relative location.

As soon as he returned, Lex went to Moon and immediately used the mirror on her. Wanting to meet Moon in her dream was enough reason to use the mirror, but the fact that it could prevent external interference was the reason Lex didn’t waste a second!

Although he wasn’t sure if the mirror was strong enough to prevent the Dream realm from accessing her dreams, it was better than nothing. She’d been asleep for a long time, and would continue to sleep for a while longer. Even if she wasn’t continuously dreaming, considering her state she would definitely dream on and off.

It was one of the things Lex was actually quite concerned about, but there was nothing he could do about it - until now.

Lex waited, and waited, and continued to wait, but the mirror didn’t show any changes. Just when he started to wonder if there was something wrong with the mirror, it finally stopped showing his reflection, and instead showed the interior of a white castle that was all too familiar to Lex. It was the one where he originally found Moon, back when she was incredibly weak and frail.

Lex touched the mirror and found that it acted like a door, letting him enter. Thus, for the second time, Lex entered the white castle and found Moon, laying in a hammock. Fortunately, this time around, she was not in a weak state - though it was just a dream.

"Lex? What are you doing here?" Moon asked as she opened her eyes, confused by his appearance. "You’re not supposed to be here on Yildirim."

She scrunched her brow as if thinking hard, though it became obvious to Lex at a glance what was happening. She was not self aware in this dream.

"Yeah, I came to check in on you," Lex said, as if it was completely natural. "It must be tough being the saintess of Yildirim."

Moon was confused for a few more seconds, but then just nodded, and accepted that as an acceptable answer.

"It’s not too tough honestly," she said with a wide smile as she walked up to her balcony, showing him the breathtaking view she saw everyday. "I have a good team, so I only need to make the decisions and they implement it as I intended, which works out well enough. The people of Yildirim are also very receptive to my ideas, which helps things out a lot."

Lex stepped beside her, and saw that the scenery seemed to be moving, showing him the various scenes on the planet. Moon did not find it odd at all, and started to share stories about her various projects and how they were helping the people. This was a side of her he’d never seen before.

After she came to the Inn, she perfectly fell into the role of younger sister, perhaps making up for the missing years of her childhood. Here, though, she was an idealistic ruler, providing all the tools her people needed to live decent lives.

"You’re doing good work here," Lex said eventually. "You don’t get lonely doing all this work on your own, do you?"

Moon shook her head.

"No, the people keep me company, and the work keeps me busy. I don’t really think about it. The days pass in a blur," she said, not really looking at him. Lex looked at his sister, and could not help but suddenly feel so weak.

For the past few years, ever since he had started using his Dao Body, Lex had been feeling really strong because he knew he’d be good in a fight. But now, unable to find Almira after so long, and unable to help Moon wake up, he could not help but feel weak. What was the point in being content with a level of strength where he still couldn’t do the things he really wanted?

"Even so, I’ll drop in on you from time to time. Take care," he said before walking out, though Moon still didn’t turn to look at him. It was only after Lex left the dream that the look in Moon’s eye softened, and her expression became normal as well. How could she not know she was stuck in a dream? But there was no point in letting Lex worry about her when there wasn’t anything either of them could do about it.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t as good an actor as she thought she was. Or maybe it was because her abilities didn’t work on Lex like they did everyone else. He saw right through her, which is what caused him to realise just how powerless he really was.

Still, even if there wasn’t anything he could do for Moon, he could at least do his best to find Almira. Since nothing seemed to be working, it was time to start taking drastic measures.

The Innkeeper
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Comments 2

  1. Offline
    Zombiee
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Whatever it is that Dao lords are searching for.. in dream realm, should reach Moon instead.
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  2. Offline
    BRjawa
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    Chapter 2241: Pain
    The moment Lex returned to the Dream realm, he ventured far away from the position he arrived in, until he reached a dream where he sensed no other living being. Once he was sure that there wasn’t anyone around he could accidentally hurt, he braced himself.

    Before returning to the Dream realm, Lex had gone to the Innkeepers office and had used the scent diffuser alongside a Celestial level item to elevate his mental state. If this attempt didn’t work, then he would go back and use a Dao material if he had to.

    Letting his enemy dictate his actions was setting himself up to fail. It was time to put finesse and technique behind him, and use good old brute force!

    Without any concern that he may harm someone around him, Lex let go of all restrictions on his Dao Body, letting it act and react as it pleased. If he knew how to, he would have even forcefully increased the activity of his Dao Body, but that was still beyond him.

    Lex emptied his mind - emptied it of all things save his one, single intention to trace the karma between him and Almira. He took out his Karmic Bead and recalled the time he saw the strings of the Eclipsecrawlers Sentinel - the very literal Karmic strings that it seemed to create.

    He recalled everything he had learned, and all the things that were entirely beyond his comprehension, and then channeled them into his string... his string that seemed to go nowhere. It could not find the object it was supposed to connect to.

    But there were no real secrets in the universe - only layers of deception. Eclipse herself had told him that the complete, entire history of the universe was written in the fabric of reality in which they existed. If that history existed, then it also included Almira’s location, and the karmic connection between the two. If that history existed, then whatever means were being used to hide Almira were just another layer of recorded history in it.

    Lex did not need to tap into that history - he had no idea how he would do that anyway. He just needed to know that there existed ways for him to find Almira, and then force his karma to find one of those ways!

    His single-minded focus, his unwavering intention, and his dedicated effort did something that he had not expected. Lex entered the Flow state. Flow was basically a part of an ability created by William to help him understand and manipulate laws with greater ease and efficiency that his level should allow.

    It was the intense complexity of his ability which made it so difficult for that ability to translate into a bloodline for his descendants to activate. Lex, however, had long surpassed the need for Flow. In this moment, however, Lex’s Dao Body did something he had not anticipated at all.

    It used the instincts, and bloodline, in his body to activate his Flow state instinctively, and then the Dao Body enhanced the Flow state to a point beyond what William himself had ever achieved.

    Because of their connection, once Flow was improved, William himself started getting feedback, causing him to feel stunned as his technique seemed to improve on its own, easing the bottleneck he’d been feeling, allowing him to approach the next realm.

    Lex did not know about that, nor did he care. In his moment, he was focused on finding Almira. He had hoped that the Dao Body would react to his intention and supercharge his karmic abilities, but that’s not how his Dao Body had reacted at all. Fortunately for him, it had still resulted in Lex’s ability to search for her improving drastically!

    While his strings still could not find her, the weight of his Karmic bead kept moving as it searched, and that was not a weight that could be lightly ignored.

    Daekol was patient. He had every intention of making sure everything was in his favor before he acted. Yet in that moment, his senses as a Sovereign reacted when he felt something in the universe going against his will!

    He had decreed that Almira could not be found by Lex. He had erased her traces, and had used multiple other means to hide her. Yet in that moment, he felt an unstoppable force breaking through his restrictions and pushing against his will, trying to create an outcome contrary to what he had planned out.

    That... was unprecedented, at least ever since he had become a Celestial. When he was weaker, those with a much stronger cultivation than him could still go against his will. However, now the only ones above him were Dao Lords!

    Even Demi-Dao Lords did not count because Daekol himself had the ability to become a Demi-Dao Lord, but he had reverted that power, keeping himself firmly at the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm!

    Now, though, something unprecedented was happening! He even sensed the existence of the law of precedence itself acting up as it recorded this outcome, paving a possible way for the future!

    He felt an urge to act out to stop it, but he couldn’t. He was hiding himself. If he took any action, it would only reduce the effectiveness of his camouflage. Thus, he allowed the intrusion to happen.

    In fact, since something unexpected was happening, then he would also have to change his plans accordingly.

    Damian’s clone, which was in an unconscious state, opened its eyes and looked towards Almira. The clone smashed its own chest and coughed out blood, allowing it to fall upon Almira’s crib, covering it.

    Mere seconds later, a visible string appeared in the air, connecting from Almira and extending all the way back to Lex.

    Lex smelled it - a familiar scent, and a white hot rage threatened to consume him as he finally realized that Damian had been the one behind everything. But the Dao enhanced Flow state subdued his emotions and kept him focused on what mattered.

    The next second, Lex traveled through his Karma and appeared in front of Almira. He sensed Damian, and realized something was wrong. This wasn’t the real Damian - this was a clone. Lex’s mind worked overtime and quickly scanned the area for traps, but found nothing.

    Logic dictated that wasn’t possible, but that didn’t matter for now. Lex picked up the crib, in a hurry to rescue her, when he felt something Lex hadn’t felt in a long time. Pain.

    He felt pain as he saw a hand rip out from his chest, holding his heart inside of it. Lex never even sensed the attack coming.
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