The Innkeeper

Lex actually became genuinely interested in whatever the fairies were doing. Pel had already told him that the fairies were different, but how could they create a law when the strongest of them was barely in the Golden core realm? Or perhaps, back when they created this enchantment they were stronger, but the problem still remained.

The most likely answer was not that they created a law, but that domains themselves had the unique ability to create or influence certain laws within its territory, and that they were just influencing the domain. Yes, that made sense.

But even that was no small feat. Basically, didn't that mean that as long as Lex learnt what they did, and took control of this sealed domain, he could recreate the Midnight Inn using only this domain?

Long ago, when he was learning arrays, he imagined himself creating such a complicated and thorough array that it could effectively replicate a system. He eventually ran into problems with arrays and couldn't do it, but the theory stayed with him even if he never made progress on it.

Now that he was stronger and understood more about cultivation, he knew that it would be impossible to properly replicate a system unless he could influence laws themselves, which meant that he was not quite at that level. But he still thought it was theoretically possible. This was good research, and may benefit him in the future, so he stopped everything else and focused all his attention on the fairies and how they were influencing the laws.

Lex could see a lot of things happening, and though he did not understand them yet, he memorized them nevertheless. In the future, once his level grew even more, and his understanding about laws was deeper, maybe he would be able to make sense of what he was seeing now.

As the flowing stream of energy weakened, the power of the fairies technique grew and all the chains he could see began to tremble. In fact, Lex could even sense a subtle change happening in his own crown projection.

At the same time, he could sense that the fairies' strength was also fading. It was not an exaggeration to say that the entire race of fairies had been weakened tremendously as a collective. Each of them had frail bodies and wrinkly skin, not to mention that their aura was fluctuating rapidly while they focused on attaining freedom.

Perhaps there were some younger fairies who had been spared the burden of maintaining the enchantment for a period, but as far as he could tell, they would cycle that burden amongst all their people as a way of keeping all of them alive, even if it was in a weakened state.

But at least the fairies in front of Lex, all 1450 of them, were all on the verge of collapse. He wondered if there were other fairy settlements for the younger generation. The alternative, of course, was that this was all that was left of this entire race. That was a tragic thought, truth be told.

Lex did not wait long. At the moment the energy dried up, the smaller, weaker chains suddenly all snapped. The sealed domain suddenly trembled, and this time much more violently than from the earthquake. That was because it wasn't just the ground that was shaking, but the massive boundary wall of the sealed domain as well.

Lex could feel currents of energy forming, flowing just like the wing, and like the wind, gathering into a massive storm.

Lex raised an eyebrow as his body experienced goosebumps. For the second time, he was about to encounter something in this domain that could threaten him, and the same as the first, it had to do with energy. At least this time, it could fall under the category of a natural disaster. It was humbling to know that a natural disaster formed from massive currents of energy could still harm him. He was almost beginning to think he was indestructible over here.

But the energy storm was happening far away from him, and was up above the surface. He expected that he was probably safe underground, even though energy could technically travel through the ground. He was not sure what to expect actually.

On that thought, he decided to stop dallying around. He turned his attention to the door of the final chamber, which was no longer sealed shut. It had cracked open on its own, though no one came out or went in. The fairies who were in the square had all collapsed, and though they had attained their freedom, it would take a while for them to recover.

Lex was, of course, going to offer them all jobs at the Inn. It was not just because he felt pity for them, but because they had literally influenced laws in front of him! No matter how many loopholes they used, he could not deny their feat. They would make incredible allies in the future, once they recovered from the deep exhaustion that haunted their entire race.

As for the curse that haunted their race… well, Lex would deal with it when it became a problem. He was convinced that there was something about him that would never let him have an easy time. Maybe it was the system that could bend the universe to its will, or maybe it was something else. Either way, he was no longer afraid of trouble, because it would come his way regardless.

But offering the fairies jobs would have to wait. For now, he walked up to the door and opened it, revealing a destroyed chamber. The entire ground had collapsed into rubble, and a good portion of the roof had caved in as well. Lex could feel lingering traces of the energy that used to course through this room, but it seemed that as soon as the energy faded, the integrity of the room failed as well.

His spirit sense picked up something, and it wasn't the resin. Buried beneath the rubble was the body of a fairy.