The Innkeeper

The planet was, as its name subtly hinted, frigid cold. The warmest he had experienced so far was -10 celsius (14 Fahrenheit), and the average temperature was far below that. Lex was far beyond the point where such temperatures could affect him, but since this was a 3 star planet, even the cold was tinged with a hint of spirituality which did make Lex feel like this place was the perfect weather for a nice nap in a cozy blanket.

Yet what surprised Lex the most was that for a supposed 3 star planet, the spiritual energy was surprisingly diluted. Compared to earth, there was a great deal more, of course, but it was still below that of the Inns. Perhaps there was more to the star ranking than just spiritual energy concentration. Maybe it was the various precious ores present on the planet.

Another surprising thing, though, there was a noticeable lack of snow for such a cold planet, which was strange. It would have made sense if there was no water on the planet, and the local lifeforms had evolved to not rely on it, but as he crossed the countryside… uhh, did they even have countries on this planet? Would this then be called planet-side? Whatever.

Not letting the random intrusive thought distract him, he once again began focusing on the fact that as he crossed the empty and uninhabited terrain leading towards the castle where the Lord Dragon resided, he picked up many steam vents, and even a couple of hidden hot springs deep within some caves he crossed.

There was a surprising amount of flora, with roots that went deep far beyond the limit of his spirit sense. They must have adapted somehow to keep the water from freezing within them. Some of them gave off a gentle, blue light, which was the only source of light he had seen on this planet so far.

From time to time, Lex would see other towns or even cities, but he managed to avoid them though he could increasingly detect the growing acrimony even from a distance. He avoided the main roads, preferring to remain hidden. He had already encountered one assassination attempt, and the locals weren't exactly fond of foreigners at the moment, so he wouldn't be making any friends if he was spotted.

Since he was in no rush, he did not mind the fact that it took him nearly two days to get near the castle, and even that was also only because he landed relatively close to it. It was not because the castle came into sight that Lex knew he was close, but because of a subtle pressure he felt, weighing him down.

He had read about this as well, and knew exactly what it was even if he hadn't. This was Dragon's Might! Although, reading up on it had educated him on exactly what this aura was. Dragons were a race with a very high level in the natural hierarchy of existence within the universe. This was the very same hierarchy that was raised each time that a cultivator broke through, but the starting point of dragons was so high that even if a human reached the Heaven Immortal realm, their level might still be below that of a dragons.

It was while doing research for this very planet, and then studying the dragon, that Lex learned more about this very hierarchy, which was officially called the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum.

The Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum was a manually compiled list which denoted the usual hierarchy that a race was born with, and the significance of it was similarly explained as well. The higher along on the list one was, the more they would gain benefits from the universe itself, and be able to wield higher forms of spiritual energy.

Dragons, for example, were born at the Earth Immortal realm, exuded a terrific and oppressive aura known as Dragon's Might, and had an inborn affinity which allowed them to discover valuable treasures. This placed them very high up on that list. Comparatively speaking, humans had no innate advantage except their learning capabilities and adaptability, and had weak and fragile bodies. This was because they were very low on the same list.

So, even if a human became an Earth immortal and faced a new born dragon, they would be at a disadvantage or face great difficulty, because even in the same realm, they were not on the same level. That of course did not mean that humans could not overcome that difficulty and beat the dragon, just that there was an undeniable advantage that dragons would always have. This was also one of the reasons Jotun did his best not to get into a direct fight with the devils.

The only fortunate thing was that beings could raise this level, not only through cultivation, but also other means, elusive though they may be. Lex's cultivation technique happened to just be one such way.

As such, when Lex finally encountered the Dragons Might, he did not feel the usual fear or oppression that it brought along. Instead, he just found it to be an interesting challenge.

The closer they got to the castle, the stronger the effects of Dragons Might became, though they were still manageable for now, for Lex and Fenrir both. But did this mean that the dragon was alive? Or could dead dragons exude the aura as well?

The reason Lex was wondering such a thing was… the closer he got to the castle, more hidden assassins he discovered with his soul sense. They never saw him, and he never saw them, but he could tell that they were all headed in the same direction. If the dragon were truly alive, would these assassins really have the guts to go and pick a fight right under its nose?

Or were they just trained so well that they did not care about their own life and death? Moreover, who was sending them, and what was their purpose? Since the journey was so long, Lex could not help but muse along these lines.