The Innkeeper

He would find an opportunity to test the Innkeeper's business card on someone inconspicuous and test out its abilities and limitations. For now, however, he had another item he wanted to try.

He picked up the letter opener and, without waiting for the dramatic build up, used it to open the epistle. The wax seal easily came off, and the envelope unfurled on its own, revealing a single page that automatically began to hover in the air.

Due to the Universal Language converter that Lex had received he was able to pretty much read and write every language he ever encountered quite easily. In fact, it had been the reason he was able to communicate with the Kraven.

But when he saw the language written on the epistle, the beautiful purple calligraphy on the page, he knew two things immediately. First, regardless of whether he had the language converter or not, he would be able to understand everything this said. Second, he would have to learn some calligraphy of his own if he ever wanted to write a letter as the Innkeeper.

Putting away his random thoughts, Lex began to read.

'Honorable Innkeeper, your presence and activity in the Origin realm has been noted and acknowledged. The Henali would like to thank you for choosing the Origin realm to establish your business in, and would like to invite you to the centurial Henali assembly to meet and interact with other influential and like minded individuals.

'In case you are unfamiliar with the Henali assembly, it is a gathering that invites all those in the Origin realm who have touched upon the Dao, under the protection of the Henali, to come together and discuss current events. No affiliation is required to join the assembly, and attendees may keep their identity anonymous.

'The Henali assembly is also the only portal through which a Daolord can request to join the Henali court, and other essential, affiliate restricted events.

'This epistle also acts as a key to enter the assembly, and can only be activated in the first hour of the assembly.

'Henali looks forward to your attendance.

'Time to assembly: 104 hours, 33 minutes, 59 seconds.'

Lex read and reread the epistle time and time again, analyzing it for as much information as he could get. His heart beat extremely fast as he considered the possibility of going, and all the risks associated.

If he had to go in person, he would never ever risk meeting a Daolord for one simple reason. It did not take a genius to guess that the Daolord realm was even higher than the realm Bastet was in, since her cultivation was only titled as Demi-Daolord.

Moreover, since he now knew that high leveled cultivators could potentially detect his system, he was more than inclined to avoid them as much as possible. But the business card presented him with a potential solution.

Since the 'Innkeeper's aura' was being generated through the system, he would not doubt that it could emulate whatever strength people had associated with the Innkeeper, and since the event would be under the protection of the Henali, who or whatever they were, he would not have to take the risk of having his consciousness clone attacked or even analyzed in great detail.

He was extremely tempted, and his usual greed that was normally hidden once again showed its ugly head. This would be a great opportunity, and he could gain a lot... but at the same time, he was also risking a lot. Moreover, the assembly that happened only once a century was taking place a little over 4 days from now.

The timing was extremely unfortunate, for if it had been even a few years away Lex was confident he would be much better prepared to attend the event.

Still, time waits for no man, and he had a decision to make, and only a few days to make it.

Lex turned his head towards the other two things left behind by the Henali representatives. The wooden chest was apparently a gift, but the other was a copy of the Henali conventions.

Whether he would go or not, reading the conventions would greatly benefit him as they would supplement his understanding of the universe, or at least the Origin realm.

He picked up the purple tetragonal pyramid shaped crystal and tried to channel his spirit energy inside of it, but as expected, nothing happened. He then channeled his spirit energy into the crystal through his letter opener, and lo and behold, the crystal cracked, and a stream of energy flowed into Lex's mind.

Instead of merging into his memory, a sort of book appeared in his mind which he could open and peruse at any time. Just because the book was in his mind did not mean Lex had all the information memorized, but it did mean that Lex's reading speed would be astronomical.

Filled with anticipation, Lex began reading the conventions, and many things finally started making sense. At the same time, Lex finally understood why everyone was so afraid of Henali.

In the way that humans, devils and dragons were races, Henali was actually the name of a race. There was not much of a description of them in this book, as that was not entirely relevant to the conventions. What was mentioned, however, was that this entire massive Origin realm, that the humans on Earth used to previously consider the entire universe instead of just one realm of many, was but a single one of the realms that the Henali controlled, and their conventions applied in each and every realm that they owned.

Moreover, the reason Daolords were forbidden from participating in any civilization-related incident in the Origin realm was very simple. Much in the same way that the Earth Immortal realm was the peak of the Crystal realm, the Daolord realm was a level beyond the natural peak of the Origin realm. Should they use their strength, they would destabilize the entire realm.

After all, as the Origin realm was apparently only 19 billion years old, it was not mature enough to naturally support the existence of beings on such a high realm.

The more Lex read about the rules, the more goosebumps he kept on getting.

*****

In the heart of the Origin realm existed a landmass that was impossibly large. It could not be called a planet, for what planet could be so large that it made galaxies look small? Yet despite its size that defied science, at least as Earthlings understood it, the landmass existed in a stable state. It supported life, had rich and diverse climates, was absurdly rich in spiritual energy so much so that instead of water, it often rained liquid energy, and most of all, did not seem to affect the entire Origin realm with its gravity that should have been strong beyond comprehension.

Yet it was not just the size of the mass that defied fact and fiction. Six chains, each consisting of links, each one lather than the entire solar system, protruded from the mass out into space.

As if that was not enough, each link on the chains also developed a climate of their own, and gave birth to unique lifeforms and never before seen races. Yet that was mere happenstance. The true purpose of the chains was to act as leashes, and the thing they leashed would startle anyone who even slightly understood the universe.

Six blackholes hovered around the mass, sucking everything the universe had to offer, yet at the same time, they seemed to be doing their best to run away from the landmass, as if they had some kind of sentience. Unfortunately for them, the chains that held them in place were not at all threatened by their awesome power.

On this landmass, somewhere, was a temple in which a bird, seemingly made out of pure energy, was reading some kind of book. It was engrossed, as if the world itself could not distract it from the secrets of the universe it was indulging in.

Yet a powerful bolt of energy struck it, knocking it off its perch and attracting its attention.

"Stop reading that perverted crap and get back to work," an ethereal voice thundered. "Another epistle has been opened, and so another Daolords presence has been confirmed. Add another chair to the assembly hall, and look into who the new Daolord could be. Also find out if they're participating in the Henali Champions tourney. The betting pool will open soon, so if there are any new participants we need to do our research."

The bird made of energy only rolled its eyes and, with an exhausted sigh, began obeying the voice's instructions.

If a knowledgeable person saw the bird they would be scared out of their wits, for this bird was exactly one of the few remaining Phoenix's in the Origin realm, and yet here it was, being treated like a servant. The phoenix, though, did not show any reluctance or hesitation as it began doing its work.

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