The Innkeeper

The moment Lex crushed the token, a change took place at the Midnight Inn. A ripple seemed to travel through space itself, bending it as it passed through. The ripple in space caused proverbial knuckle cracks as it caused space to move and return to its original space, though none noticed such a detail, for the sound was at a frequency none at the Inn could hear..

Of course, the cracking sounds were not released randomly. Instead, it was the sound of micro-fissures in the space of the Inn snapping shut after being healed by the ripple. They had been caused by the massive tear that the Inn suffered from due to the attack of the Butter Knife and were left behind because the system had been unable to repair them directly. Yet now, through an indirect result of the rise in star level, the space at the Inn had been repaired.

But while this was one of many ethereal changes that the Inn underwent that nobody noticed, there were a few changes everyone noticed. The most widely noticed change was a ripple of spirit energy that flowed through the Inn - which happened to take place at the same time as the ripple through the Inn.

The stronger cultivators felt the nature of the energy change. It was like a window being opened in a stale room, finally allowing fresh air to flow in. It was the feeling of a cool spring breeze, except that instead of being felt physically on their skin like wind, the energy interacted with their own internal energy and refreshed their minds and bodies.

The weaker cultivators, and even the mortals, however, felt something else entirely. The weaker cultivators felt a rush of energy fill their bodies, making them feel sick and bloated. It was too much too quickly, so much so that they completely lost control over their own energies.

They did not even have time to feel alarm, for the energy immediately began displacing the energy within their own bodies. It did not disperse their cultivation, no. Instead, it changed the very energy that made up their cultivation, improving it, strengthening it.

Across the board, every single one of them immediately felt their cultivation was much stronger and stabler, even if it had not improved yet. Of course, that was still to come. Alexander was amongst them. He had reached the Qi training stage right now, as he was rebuilding his cultivation according to guidance by the Jotun Empire's secret techniques. He was supposed to have been phenomenally strong in his current state even as it was, yet he improved nonetheless.

Mortals, though, went through the most drastic change. Whether it was the guards that Lex had hired, the entourage accompanying more successful people, or the kids in the spaceship who had yet to come of age to cultivate, all of them underwent extreme makeovers.

The wave of spirit energy hit them hard, as if it were a physical sensation, and immediately flooded them with the feeling of nausea.

Jimmy, the kid who discovered the first ever golden key dropped by Lex, and Layla, the daughter of the Governor of Vegus Minima, who were the leaders of their gang of kids, had been playing together when the feeling hit them.

They went pale all of a sudden, and the immense buildup of nausea completely overwhelmed their senses! They dropped to their knees as they lost strength in their limbs and immediately began throwing up.

Partially digested food, blood, puss and strange black materials came out in their vomit, but it also drained them completely from their energies. The kids collapsed, having been knocked unconscious, but the changes to their bodies did not stop just because they were not awake.

Though they suddenly looked frail and starved, the fat on their bones having dissolved, leaving them in a skinny, boney appearance, an unusual strength began to fill them right after they were filled with weakness.

They did not develop muscles as their flesh seemed to fill back into the way it originally was, and their skins retained their softness, yet the strength that was filling their bodies was very real. Many kids who suffered from various inborn diseases and allergies would awake to find them gone. Others who had minor physical and mental defects would discover that they could think clearly, and that their bodies performed better than they ever even dreamed.

The mortals who were adults did not have changes that were as drastic, and they were not knocked unconscious, but they underwent some changes, nonetheless.

Even the normal, common animals that inhabited the Inn underwent a cleansing process

Back when the Inn underwent its first advancement in star ratings, Lex too had been a mortal, but he hadn't undergone any such experience, so he could never have imagined such a thing would happen now. The reason was, back then, the star rating was going from 1 to 1.5. Now it was going from 2 to 2.5. Although both were representing the same numerical change from their respective starting points, the actual change was far from being on the same scale.

The one vine, growing on the cliff side near the pool of lava, also underwent changes, and began growing in the direction of the temple.

While the change in spirit energy was the most obvious, and felt by the most people, it was by no means the most impactful. After all, it had to be remembered that while all the guests at the Inn wrought numerous benefits due to the increase in star rating; it was the Inn itself that was the primary beneficiary!

In the same way that the space itself of the Inn had been strengthened, so too had many other aspects of it. The light itself that shone all around the Inn took on a deeper nature, as if something extra had been added to it. All the greenery took on deeper colors, the ground became firmer - if that made sense - and the air became cleaner.

While all the humans shed visible impurities and unnatural oddities from their bodies, so too did the Inn shed, though its impurities were harder to detect.

The immortals at the Inn could not notice what exactly changed, but nonetheless, they felt that something grand and mysterious had happened. A strange light flashed through Loretta's eyes, the daughter of Ballom, though her thoughts remained a mystery.

Something that the immortals did notice, however, and the thing that was responsible for spontaneously triggering everyone's increase in cultivation, was a ripple through the laws that manifested within the Inn.

Based on their cultivation, they were able to witness a deeper or shallower change in the laws, but they all felt the change to some extent.

A point that had caused much curiosity for the past couple of weeks about the Inn's claim of the increase in star rating was how it would actually aid them in cultivation. Even if there was a wave of pure spiritual energy, it could at most be perceived that it would have some effect on those with a lower cultivation. Yet from the Nascent realm onwards, the nature of cultivation changed and it was no longer about absorbing more or purer spiritual energy. So how then would the change in rating affect them?

The answer was clear now. It was never about the increase in spiritual energy, though a shallow perception of the change may make it appear that way. From the get go, everything was about the laws.

There were other changes that all took place at the same time as well, but neither the mortals, nor the common cultivators nor the immortals noticed, for within a few seconds of the change happening, every living being at the Inn had been occupied by the state of a breakthrough in one way or another.

The Griffin who, due to its strong cultivation, was confident that it would retain its state regardless of what happened, and continue its task, had one of the most severe reactions. Immediately it crushed an unknown token, before retreating to one of the cultivation abodes the Inn offered. In its stead, another being appeared at the Inn to perform its job. The being was covered in a black cloud, so its appearance and race were unknown.

It silently took its place at the peak of the Midnight mountain and surveyed the Inn with its spiritual sense, and took in the odd hush that had fallen over the place.

It was an unusual silence, matched only by the strange stillness that had inhabited the Inn. After all, whether it was the guards, the guests, or the workers, all had retreated to a cultivation abode. The mortals who had experienced the change were still there, but they were currently too exhausted to do anything.

The being in the cloud wondered what had happened. After all, by summoning it to replace it, the Griffin had betrayed its contract, and would have to pay heavy reparations.

Only Mary was left beside the mysterious figure to watch over the Inn, though she was hidden from all.

From a short blissful time, nothing happened at the Inn. Then, the guests who had missed the timing for the change started appearing at the Inn, though they were destined to be disappointed. Not only would they not experience the breakthrough, they would have to wait a bit before some workers got free to help them.