The Innkeeper

The nearest troll and human both stopped their fight and attacked Lex with a burning fury, only to be blocked by his invisible barrier. The troll's anger only grew, and it redoubled its efforts, but the human paused after the shock of a failed attempt.

Still, it only took a glance to be able to pick out a flaw in Lex's so-called defense. If the barrier extended from his hand, and he was holding it forward, all he needed to do was attack from a different angle.

It was the deduction of an experienced fighter, but alas, it made no difference, as Lex simply moved one of his hands so that instead of one strengthened barrier, he had two. His plan was simple: he would block as many attacks as he could, and should any get through, he'd just suffer them.

There were a few reasons why he chose to follow this method. First, he was confident in his defense, obviously. Second, while he was confident he could fight the humans and the trolls here if he met them one on one, in a group like this he had no doubt that he could not win. The coordination of a team was something that would put him at a severe disadvantage. Third, and most importantly, it was only when he finally sat on the rock that it occurred to him that he could have waited for them to at least finish fighting before making a move. That way, there would at least be fewer opponents targeting him.

But after days of no food, water and limited sleep, Lex was finding it hard to think clearly. There was, however, one unexpected pleasant surprise for Lex. He was anticipating taking control of the focal point to be a process that lasted several hours. Yet when he channeled his spirit energy into the rock, he felt none of the resistance Cwenhild warned him of. Instead, it flowed freely into the core and started binding the rock to him.

In the meantime, the troll and the human continued to attack him, to no avail. After a minute, the furious fight surrounding had slowed down, as the trolls and humans alike tried to understand what was happening. Then it stopped. There was a moment of disbelief shared by both parties as they looked at Lex who was actually sitting on the rock with his legs wrapped around it, gripping it tightly.

The humans quickly retreated, freeing the trolls to surround Lex and battering him from all sides. They weren't really afraid, for they knew the usual time to take control of the focal point was a few hours. Instead, they used this reprieve to rest and recover their strength. They planned on letting Lex attract all the trolls' attention. Either when Lex fell off, or when they were ready, they would attack again, kill the further exhausted trolls and finally achieve their goal.

It was a good plan. Furthermore, they took great pleasure in watching the occasional troll attack slip past Lex's barrier and smash him - though he seemed mostly unhurt.

Their plan came to an end, though, five minutes later when Lex finished merging with the focal point.

The all too familiar feeling of control over the realm filled Lex and, with a wave of his hand, all the humans were kicked out of the realm, and the surrounding trolls kicked off to some distant corner of the Minor realm.

He felt a tide of energy begin to rush into his body, but before it could make any real progress, it suddenly disappeared, absorbed by the system.

Lex glanced at the amount of energy accumulated, smiled as he saw the number at 4%, and teleported out as well. He appeared in Cwenhild's living room once again, and received the same treatment of being swarmed by doctors.

"Water…" he said hoarsely. To his dismay, the doctors refused to cater to his request until they fully understood his situation. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, but let them do their job. Eventually, when they were finished with their diagnosis, Lex was provided with a small portion of some kind of soup. It would serve to both rehydrate him and quench his hunger. Furthermore, it was filled with several extremely valuable spirit plants that would speed up recovery.

Forgoing all etiquette, Lex picked up the bowl, put it to his mouth and began gulping it down. A part of him told him to take it slow, as he should not just eat so much so quickly, and another part of him said screw it, he was a cultivator, he could handle it.

Lex let out a satisfied and long 'ah' once he finished, and threw himself on a sofa to relax. He took off the crown and the mask, mostly because being so focused all the time drained him greatly. He would think about its limitations later, when he wasn't so groggy.

Just before he fell asleep, Cwenhild arrived in the room with a look of excitement and anticipation in her eyes. Before she could ask anything, Lex said, "have your buyer ready. We'll make the deal when I wake up."

He closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep, snoring lightly. Cwenhild chuckled as she signaled everyone to leave the room and dimmed the lights. Outside, a woman who looked remarkably similar to Cwenhild was standing, an amused look on her face.

Nora Haugen, head of the Haugen estate, Earth Immortal and an official wife of King Cornelius, was not an easy woman to meet, even for Cwenhild. She was an enigma to everyone, her child included. No one knew what her goals were, they only knew that she was a woman who got what she wanted. Even the King ended up marrying her.

Yet, such a woman had promptly dropped everything and returned to the academy upon hearing news of her daughter's confirmation into the core of the academy. Was it out of pride and love? Not really. Cwenhild sent her a message informing her that if she didn't come, Cwenhild would destroy her art collection.

"Is that your half brother?" she asked, amused. "I can see a bit of Cornelius' flair in him, but it's too mild for now."

"Right now, he's not my half brother, he's my business partner. Have you arranged everything?"

"Yes, the buyer is ready. He will never know who sold him the realm, but the price still needs to be negotiated. We'll need access to the realm to gauge its worth."

"What about the assassins? Did you find out who sent them?"

"I'm your mother, not your nanny. You can take care of these minor things on your own."

Cwenhild pursed her lips in mild frustration, but suppressed her rising emotions.

"Well, what about 'that' thing? I've entered the core academy before entering the Golden core realm, and fulfilled your requirements. When will we leave?"

"'That' thing? Why the need to be so secretive? It's just going over to the Crystal realm and having them disperse your cultivation and designing a custom cultivation technique for you to cultivate the truth path. The arrangements are made. We can leave once your business is concluded. But, you have to remember, if we do this, you owe me two favors."

"Say whatever you want, I'm not letting you pick my husband," Cwenhild said as she rolled her eyes. This mother of hers… all she wanted was grandkids.

"What? I would never. But two favors, remember that."

"I don't owe you anything, you're the one who set the conditions for this exchange."

"That's because you were being annoying and kept breaking my things. Two favors."

"Zero favors, no husband, and you have to help with negotiations. Don't test me, I know where you've planted your Pink Dream Tea. I'll feed it to the dogs!"

"Is this how you talk to your mother?" Nora exclaimed, her face contorting in anger and her immortal aura leaking a bit, but Cwenhild was unperturbed. This woman who could manipulate kings and had more than one nation wrapped around her finger had no idea how to be a mother, and Cwenhild knew her weakness well.

"By the way, did you hear about my name…" Cwenhild continued the conversation, uncaring. One of the main reasons she dropped her father's name… was because it would irritate her mother to no end. It would be so entertaining to watch.

*****

Lex's cultivation professor, the one who had taught about the true path, and suspected Lex's cultivation path, had just left one of his classes when he received a letter. A long time ago, he had requested to see the King. He was only a normal professor at the academy, so he did not hold much influence. Yet to be selected as a professor at the academy was no small feat, so even with his limited influence, he was eventually able finally get a response.

One month later, he would be granted a private audience.