The Innkeeper

Chapter 1864 Petty Heaven

Lex had never heard of a realm experiencing a tribulation before. Considering he saw the birth and development of a realm, he could be considered moderately knowledgeable about the field.

Vinei, however, assured him that such a thing was not only possible, it happened all the time. A majority of developing realms that had not yet reached maturity had an innate connection to more developed realms, regardless of whether the developed realms were themselves mature realms or not. The rightful source is novelꜰire.net

Major powers and large organizations had, over the years, thus conducted immense research about how to connect the two realms together as one. While such acts sometimes result in weird or unexpected outcomes as the laws of the two realms may be somewhat contradictory to one another, it was a price most were willing to pay because it seriously and considerably improved the maturity level of the more developed realm, and sometimes even pushed it to the level of maturing completely.

When such a process to fuse the two realms was initiated, the smaller realm would undergo such a tribulation. When Immortals go through the tribulation, each lightning strike, or every other form of tribulation, plays an important role in creating a new, stronger body which could withstand the requirements of the new realm. Similarly, for realms, when they encounter tribulations, it is mostly to improve the foundation of the realm and eliminate redundancies so that when it fuses with a more developed realm, the weight and burden of the more developed realms laws does not destroy the less developed realm entirely.

Lex had never heard of any of this, but Vinei had stated that he had been researching this for countless years as a part of his plan to become independent from the Crystal realm, so Lex took him at his word. It was not so easy to lie in front of Lex, so at least Vinei believed whatever he was saying.

Lex’s next concern was what would such a tribulation do to the occupants of the realm. While he had no love for the Kraven, he did not want to eliminate all life in the realm, or provoke Ventura.

For that… the answer was a mixed bag. None of the natives of the Crystal realm would be harmed during the tribulation, for the realm would protect them. Everyone else, whether it was Lex, the Kraven, or the Hellions, would have to protect themselves on their own.

Lex… felt a little conflicted. But then he got over it. He didn’t want to provoke Ventura, but that didn’t mean he would bend over backwards for them either. If the school was confident enough to send them out into a realm war, the students should have enough protection prepared, or they could only blame themselves.

Besides, he’d made it clear in this case that Lex was just a hired hand, and Vinci hadn’t yet joined the Inn himself, so what did any of this have to do with the Inn?

As for himself? Not only was Lex not concerned about resisting the realms tribulation, he thought it was the perfect supplement to his own tribulation. He remembered how, back when he was becoming an Earth Immortal, all the lightning from his tribulation wasn’t enough to convert his entire body, and he had to rely on subsequent minor tribulations to finish the job.

So, by stacking tribulations on top of one another, Lex hoped to be able to get the best results. As for the matter of surviving the tribulations themselves – the greatest hurdle for most Immortals – Lex hadn’t spared it much thought. As an Earth Immortal, his body was as tough as Pelvailin, who was a Heaven Immortal dragon. He was certain that he would survive.

Belail looked up at the dark clouds with a heavy heart, as if he was looking at his impending doom, for he could feel the tribulation locking onto him as well. Lex grinned wider and wider as he felt the power of the tribulation clouds, and finally gave Vinei the signal to close the connection to his own image. He didn’t want anyone having a front row seat of what he was about to endure – that included Belail and the others.

Belail was placed within a barrier Lex had arranged, and the others he just teleported away at random, far away from himself. Then, once he was finally alone, Lex flexed his tenet with his utmost ability, causing the Pineapple to explode.

Immediately he felt the universe’s laws lock onto him as his tenet expanded, influencing and controlling a lot more than it should have. His tribulation began immediately, though lightning did not fall just yet. The lightning would take its time in growing strong enough – it was just the tribulation was in a rush to begin lest it be denied again.

Lex took in a deep breath as he smelled the fresh air before a thunderstorm. It was crisp and carried an electric, reinvigorating change. He even felt as his tribulation started to grow much stronger as a result of the realm tribulation. In mere seconds, his clouds became so thick that Lex was certain he would once again be struck not by lightning bolts, but by those lightning monsters from last time. Farham, he believed they were. An extinct race given form, or maybe imprisoned, within the laws of the universe.

Lex cracked his neck as he prepared himself for a good roasting – for after the lightning would come his fire tribulation. But then something else happened. A different aura locked onto him – one that felt too familiar. For a moment, Lex was confused.

“What?” he uttered in a bewildered state.

“LITTLE TWERP, YOU ACTUALLY REJECTED MY OFFER TO BECOME MY AUGUR, SO NOW YOU HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE! HAHAHAHAHA!” a voice roared not only in Lex’s mind, but across the Crystal realm.

A white, holy light shone down from a small hole in the dark clouds, though instead of gracing him with comfort, it seemed like Lex was being observed… by Heaven. The true Heaven. The one that contained the entire universe, the one that could easily kill Dao Lords, and the one who, apparently, was holding a grudge at being rejected.

“Shi-” Lex began, but before he could complete the word, the world turned white as a bolt of lightning as large and wide as the entire sky fell on him.