Lex harus menggunakan segala cara agar tidak tersenyum atau tertawa terbahak-bahak saat menyaksikan atraksi drama-kucing itu. Apapun yang terjadi, dia tak siap melihat mereka berlutut dan mulai mengeluhkan nasib mereka yang 'agung' kepada 'tuan' mereka.
Lucu dan menggemaskan sekaligus. Tapi Lex mulai merasakan bahwa saat pertemuan pertamanya di alam ini perlahan mendekat, jadi dia harus buru-buru.
"Mari, kuberi kau lihat kota ini. Kita bahkan belum menentukan apakah kau menyukainya atau tidak. Kalau tidak, kau tak perlu menggunakannya, orang lain pasti akan. Soal kemampuan bayar drama-kucing lain, kubisa hanya mendoakan keberuntungan bagimu."
Lex menteleportasi mereka ke kota bawah tanah, yang diterangi redup oleh jenis lumut yang ditanam di sekeliling. Ventilasi, temuan Lex, jadi salah satu masalah terbesar dalam mengembangkan kota bawah tanah utuh. Tapi berkat kemampuan barunya, dia butuh waktu hampir tak terhitung untuk merancang aliran udara alami dan berkelanjutan yang mengalir melalui permukiman, didorong oleh lubang-lubang strategis di tanah, beberapa heatsink, dan sifat alami udara panas yang naik.
Pada dasarnya, udara dingin masuk ke kota melalui lubang-lubang itu dan melintas melewati berbagai sektor kota sampai menemui heatsink yang cepat memanaskan udara lalu naik melalui jaringan cerobong dan ventilasi.
Tentu, menciptakan siklus alami itu hanya memberi keunggulan kecil, karena Sistem sendiri akan memastikan lingkungan tetap sempurna. Tapi rasanya enak menciptakan desain yang otomatis mengakomodasi sejumlah masalah.
Saat ini kota bawah tanah agak gersang, tapi dia rencanakan mengisinya dengan sejumlah tanaman bioluminesen lain untuk menambah cahaya dan warna ke permukiman itu.
"Demi bulu di daguku, ini sempurna," gumam Jacob saat dia tenggelam dalam pemandangan kota yang luas itu. Lex merasa seharusnya berhenti memberi mereka begitu banyak kabar baik dalam waktu singkat. Mungkin tak baik untuk jantung mereka.
"Jelajahi sesukamu," kata Lex, saat dia merasakan momen kritis mendekat. "Ada urusan yang harus kuurus, jadi aku harus pergi. Kau bisa cari pekerja Inn kalau butuh bantuan."
"Siapa yang akan menyelamatkan dunia, kalau penyelamatnya sibuk dengan kita? Pergi, Pengelola Inn, dan jangan lagi mengurangi belas kasihmu dari dunia ini."
Lex tak tahan tertawa sebelum teleportasi pergi. Saat muncul kembali, dia sudah tidak memakai Pakaian Tuan Rumah, melainkan dalam bentuk bayi, berdiri di puncak Gunung Midnight.
Cassandra duduk bersila, satu matanya tertutup rapat, yang lain hampir begitu.
"Kuharap kau akan berkunjung," kata Cassandra dengan suara terengah-engah. "Waktuku sebentar. Aku akan masuk ke kondisi epifani, dan tak bisa pasti kapan bangun. Ada nasihat untukmu. Dengarkan baik-baik. Kultivasimu aneh sekali, bahkan aku dan kuil tak bisa menembusnya. Tapi aku lihat satu hal. Alam Nascent ada untuk menyiapkan jiwamu menanggung beban hukum, tapi jiwamu sudah mengalami banyak penempaan seperti ini sehingga seluruh alam itu sia-sia bagimu.
"Jadi, apakah kau coba atau tidak, kau akan melampaui alam Nascent dengan kecepatan rekor. Bagi orang lain, seratus tahun cepat jadi imortal, tapi aku ragu kau bisa tetap fana setahun lagi. Tapi di balik kekuatanmu, ada kelemahan ekstrim. Pemahamanmu terhadap hal yang lugas menakjubkan, tapi pemahamanmu terhadap hal yang mendalam lemah.
"Apapun yang terjadi, kau harus benar-benar menguasai Inferno Blade dan Stalwart Guardian teknik pedang sebelum mulai membentuk Tenet keabadianmu. Kau kesulitan dengan aspek abstrak teknik itu persis karena pikiranmu tertutup. Kalau kau bentuk tenet dalam kondisi seperti itu, kau akan melemahkan fondasimu selamanya. Hanya begitu kau membebaskan dirimu dari batas pengalamanmu sendiri kau bisa mencapai puncak..."
Suara Cassandra semakin lemah saat bicara, dan pada akhirnya dia tak bisa menahan mata untuk tidak tertutup sepenuhnya. Saat itu terjadi, tubuhnya seolah menyebar, membuat orang kira dia membuang klonnya. Tapi Lex tahu ini sebenarnya bentuk proteksi untuk klonnya saat mengalami epifani. Mungkin, saat dia bangun, dia akan selangkah lebih dekat ke alam Dao Lord, bahkan siap melangkah ke sana.
Lex teringat teknik pedang Inferno Blade-nya. Dia mempelajarinya usaha memperbaiki diri, serta menyempurnakan niat pedangnya agar nanti bisa menyerap pedang di jiwanya. Tiga gerakan pertama, dia pelajari sekilas. Tiga terakhir, dia bahkan tak mulai memahami.
"Jadi aku harus menekan pertumbuhan kultivasi sampai kuasai ini?" gumamnya. Kalau begitu, lebih baik mulai sekarang. Dia menoleh ke arah kejahatan yang dirasakannya, dan teleportasi ke sana.
Meski teleportasi ke batas wilayah Inn, dia tidak benar-benar pakai Pakaian Tuan Rumah untuk itu. Dulu, dia butuh bantuan Sistem untuk segalanya. Semuanya terasa begitu magis. Sekarang, dia tiba-tiba sadar banyak hal yang diizinkan Sistem, bisa dilakukannya sendiri.
Dibandingkan betapa magisnya yang dia kira... ini bahkan lebih keren!
Menggunakan instinct, dia menelusuri sumber niat jahat itu, tak peduli seberapa jauh. Meskipun jangkauan indra rohnya berkembang, dan kini bisa mencakup 1000 km penuh, dia sepertinya bisa mengikuti instinct-nya bahkan lebih jauh! Meskipun diakuinya, dia tak bisa lihat apa-apa. Dia hanya nemuin lokasinya.
Dari atas tembok Lex melangkah satu langkah ke depan, tapi next moment dia muncul di wilayah completely berbeda. Daripada wilayah subur dan berkembang biak di Midnight Inn, dia menemukan diri di tanah gersang terbakar yang mencatat bekas perang brutal.
Mayat tak terhitung menutupi tanah sejauh mata memandang, dan orang langsung tahu dua pihak telah berperang sengit di sini. Tapi pertempuran mereka entah bagaimana melahirkan semacam monstrositas, mengakibatkan kekalahan kedua belah pihak.
Di depan Lex berdiri makhluk raksasa dengan tubuh mencakup puluhan mil. Bagian bawah tubuhnya persis seperti lipan, dengan tepat 100 kaki tulang panjang di setiap sisi badan panjangnya. Bagian atas, alasan tak diketahui, memiliki torso dan wajah manusia, berukuran proporsional dengan tubuh raksasanya. Tapi bukan tangan manusia, melainkan cakar mengerikan, bergerigi seperti mantis religiosa.
Makhluk itu belum sadar kehadiran Lex, sibuk memakan mayat di tanah, tapi bahkan dalam keadaan itu Lex merasakan aura menakutkan darinya.
Pedang muncul di tangannya. Saatnya alam Midnight menyambut pembawa perang.
Lex had to use everything to keep himself from cracking a smile or laughing out loud as he watched the drama-cats theatrics. No matter what, he had not been prepared for them to fall on their knees and start lamenting their great fate to their 'lawd'.
It was both funny and adorable. But Lex began to sense that the time for his first showdown in this realm was slowly approaching, so he had to rush.
"Come, let me show you the city. We haven't even determined if you like it or not. If you don't, then you do not have to use it, as others naturally will. As for the rest of the drama-cats ability to pay, I can only wish you good luck."
Lex teleported them to the underground city, which was lightly illuminated by a type of moss planted all around. Ventilation, Lex discovered, was one of the greatest issues in developing an entire underground city. But given his new capabilities, it took him hardly any time at all to come up with an arrangement for a natural and persistent flow of air to flow through the settlement, driven by strategically placed holes in the ground, a few heatsinks and the natural action of hot air to rise.
Essentially, cold air would enter the city through the holes and travel across the various sections of the city until it encountered a heatsink which would quickly heat up the air and then rise up through a network of chimneys and vents.
Of course, creating such a natural cycle was just giving it a bit of an edge, for the system itself would ensure that the environment stayed perfect. But it felt nice to create a design which automatically accommodated for a number of problems.
For now the underground city was a bit bare, but he planned on filling it with a number of other bioluminescent plants to add both light and color to the settlement.
"By the fuzz on my chin, it's perfect," Jacob muttered as he lost himself in the sight of the sprawling city. Lex felt like he really should stop giving them so much good news in such a short time. It probably wasn't good for their hearts.
"Explore at your leisure," Lex said, as he sensed something a critical moment was approaching. "I have some matters to take care of, so I must depart. You can find one of the Inn workers for help if you need it."
"Who will save the world, if the savior is busy with us? Depart, Innkeeper, and deprive the world of your magnanimity no longer."
Lex could not help but chuckle before he teleported away. When he reappeared, he was no longer wearing his Host Attire, and was in his baby form, standing at the tip of Midnight mountain.
Cassandra was sitting cross-legged, one of her eyes completely closed, and the other nearly so.
"I was hoping you would visit," Cassandra said with a strained voice. "I have little time. I am about to fall into an epiphany state, and I cannot say when I will wake. I have some advice for you. Listen closely. Your cultivation is very strange, even I nor the temple can see through it. But I have seen one thing. The Nascent realm is there to prepare your soul to bear the burden of laws, but your soul has already experienced so much tempering in this manner that the entire realm is pointless for you.
"Thus, whether you try or not, you will surpass the Nascent realm in record speed. For others, a hundred years would be quick to become an immortal, but I doubt you will be able to stay mortal for even a year more. But for all your strengths, you have one extreme weakness. Your comprehension of the straightforward is astounding, but your understanding of the profound is weak.
"No matter what, you must completely master the Inferno Blade and Stalwart Guardian sword techniques before you begin to form your Tenets of immortality. You struggle with the abstract aspects of those techniques exactly because your mind is closed off. If you form your tenets in such a state, you will forever weaken your foundation. Only once you free yourself from the limits of your own experiences can you achieve the peak..."
Cassandra's voice became weaker and weaker as she spoke, and in the end she was unable to keep her eyes from closing completely. The moment that happened, her body seemed to dissipate, making one think that she had dismissed her clone. But Lex knew that this was actually a form of protection for her clone while it underwent an epiphany. Perhaps, when she woke up, she would be a step closer to the Dao lord realm, or may even be ready to take a step to it.
Lex recalled his sword technique Inferno Blade. He had learnt it in an effort to improve himself, as well as refine his sword intent so that he could eventually absorb the sword in his soul. The first three moves, he had learnt at a glance. The last three, he could not even begin to understand.
"So I have to suppress my cultivation growth till I learn these?" he murmured to himself. If that was the case, he might as well start now. He turned his head towards where he sensed the maliciousness from, and teleported in that direction.
Though he teleported to the limits of the Inns boundary, he did not actually use the Host Attire to do so. Once, he needed the system's aid to do everything. It had all seemed so magical. Now, he suddenly discovered that many of the things the system allowed him to do, he could do on his own.
When compared to how magical he thought it would be… it was even freaking better!
Using his instincts, he traced the source of the malicious intent, uncaring about how far it was. Although the range of his spirit sense had grown, and could now encompass an entire 600 miles(1000 km), he seemed to be able to follow his instincts even farther! Though admittedly, he could not see anything. He just found the location.
From the top of the wall Lex took a single step forward, but in the next moment he appeared in a completely different region. Rather than the lush and thriving region of the Midnight Inn, he found himself in barren, scorched lands that had suffered the scars of a brutal war.
Countless bodies covered the ground for as far as the eye could see, and one could immediately tell that two sides had fought a grievous battle here. But their battle had somehow given birth to some kind of monstrosity, resulting in the defeat of both sides.
In front of Lex stood a massive creature with a body that spanned dozens of miles. The bottom half of its body was exactly like a centipede, with exactly 100 long, bony legs on each side of its long body. The top half, for some unknown reason, had the torso and face of a human, though sized proportionally to its gigantic body. But instead of the hands of a human, it had gruesome, jagged claws like that of a praying mantis.
The creature had not noticed Lex yet, as it was busy consuming the bodies on the ground, though even in that state Lex could feel an intimidating aura from it.
A sword appeared in his hand. It was time for the Midnight realm to welcome the warbringer.
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