The Innkeeper

Leo nodded along to the two as he switched with Burgan, and sat down on his lawn chair. The two friends began to talk again with one another, while Lex began to read through the book.

With his speed, reading the whole book in a detailed and thorough manner would not take more than a couple of hours at most.

It was quite educational, and started to discuss not only what happened when certain objects were put in energy dense places, but why that happened as well. It was quite interesting, because it immediately made him think of Qawain, the Inn's resident sword expert, who also happened to be a sword.

His appearance was very misleading because he looked like a human, but he only did that with his powers since he was an Immortal. In truth, was and remained even now a sword that had gained self awareness and then had cultivated itself. This was a result of the sword binge exposed to some extremely unusual energy types in very high concentration.

Before he could read the book much further, and delve into the secrets it held, the two old men called him because it was his turn yet again. Just to be sure that he did not miss any opportunities, he put the book away for now and decided to continue fishing.

Who knew, maybe he could gain something extremely valuable or interesting. Later, when he was convinced he had taken all the benefits that the well had to offer, for a short time at least, he would once again continue reading the book. He had not forgotten that soon, the entire Inn would be flooded with incredible energy.

For hours, the three continued to fish and chat with one another. The family that was having a picnic nearby came in, and as it turned out they were a part of the old men's retinue. They brought more food, which Leo no longer rejected since it wasn't from his failure of a cook apparently.

During this time, he went fishing 21 more times, and his haul was mostly mundane. Actually, they were quite valuable, but Leo was rich so it made no difference to him. Only one item seemed interesting.

It was a manual for creating an item literally called a time capsule. Making one encompassed some of the steps involved in treasure manufacturing, which Leo was not too familiar with, but he found the item interesting nevertheless.

It was more of a ty item than anything. The concept was simple. The time capsule would have a sturdy body, as well as the capacity to hold an enlarged space. Whoever was creating the capsule could add things into it, and set a certain time. The time capsule would not open before that time elapsed.

There were other ways of setting the opening requirement, such as feeding it certain specific types of energies, or giving it enough water or heat. Basically, it all depended on the creator.

Since cultivators lived so long, items like these were quite popular, and many cultivators would leave behind trinkets, gifts or their treasures which were no longer useful for the future generations. Or it could be a way to preserve old memories.

Either way, Leo liked it, and decided to throw out a few with various items in them, though he'd most probably end up throwing out golden keys for the Inn.

But ultimately that too was just a ty item, and did not attract his attention the way the book did. After parting ways with the two old men, and wishing them luck, Leo returned to his apartment and removed his glasses, once again returning to his baby size.

He found his favorite spot atop the dragon, and continued to read the book. The way that it educated him on the dynamics of energy and existence, and how certain materials which can act as a container for souls become sentient objects under those circumstances was explained in just a simple yet thorough way was amazing. If the temple was perfect for receiving training, then the books from this library were the best possible source to learn from.

It went beyond just certain items coming to life. It elaborated on how certain treasures were born, how to predict the kind of treasures that would be created as well as their grade, and so much more.

Lex originally thought he could go through the whole book in a couple of hours, but he was wrong. The size of the book was deceiving, and the knowledge it contained was extensive. After several hours of reading, he had to take a break, not only to contemplate on what he learnt, but also to cultivate. After that, he would need to start taking precautions.

He had just realized that his Inn was perfectly primed for almost everything to either come to life, or turn into extremely valuable treasures. That in itself was not an issue, but there was no way in hell that Lex was just going to sit around and let his cultivation mat, also known as the dragon he frequently sat on, come to life!

Was that the reason that the Inn was destroyed in his visions? The dragon came to life, destroyed the Inn and then ran away. Many years later, it would track him down and kill him?

That seemed a little far fetched, which is exactly why Lex believed it could happen. Because only absolutely crazy and absurd things happened to him. Since when has his life made sense?

He began cultivating, and just like that, another day passed him by. He was getting closer and closer to the day of the new realm being born. He could not help but feel excited, but then he suppressed that excitement.

He teleported to his office, and put on his Host Attire. It was time for the Innkeeper to get down to business, starting with meeting the sovereign turtle. From what he recalled, he had a clone tree of a very powerful celestial immortal in his Inn. He needed to make sure that would not turn into a problem for him - and it would be just one of many things he needed to address.