Lex tersenyum. Meski Pel belum menghasilkan hasil substansial apa pun, dan hanya tampak siap mengejar passion-nya yang melintasi beberapa kelahiran dalam pencarian harta karun, Lex sudah puas. Lagipula, apa pun lebih baik daripada mencari secara acak di daratan.
Mengingat indra spiritualnya kini bisa mencakup area sangat luas, yang seharusnya mempermudah pencarian secara teknis, hal itu tetap akan menjadi usaha besar jika dilakukan sendirian. Lebih-lebih, dia tidak begitu yakin indra spiritual bisa menemukan getah itu dengan mudah.
Lagipula, jika getah ini benar-benar getah Amber Chaos, seperti klaim Pel, dan Pohon Surga sudah merasakan beberapa manfaatnya, maka kemungkinan besar pohon itu sudah lama mencari lebih banyak getah itu di seluruh benua.
Faktanya, jika semuanya seperti dugaan Lex, dan ras-ras yang hidup di bawah naungan pohon itu adalah pelayannya, maka getah ini mungkin alasan beberapa perang yang dia lihat dari atas.
"Baiklah, biarkan aku lihat... bukan ini... aku tidak tahu... tunggu, oke, ini mungkin bisa..." Pel mulai bergumam pada dirinya sendiri sementara Lex menunggu. Dia tidak khawatir. Sebaliknya, dia mengamati area sekitar untuk melihat apakah ada permukiman ras lain dalam jumlah besar.
Untungnya, tampak tidak ada apa pun di sekitar selain binatang liar. Itu terbaik, karena dia tidak ingin menarik terlalu banyak perhatian.
"Tuan, setelah momen semangat berlebihan, aku ingat bahwa dalam wujud saat ini aku tidak bisa menggunakan sebagian besar teknik dari kehidupan sebelumnya. Aku cuma tidak punya energi untuk menopangnya. Namun, setelah banyak renungan, aku berhasil menemukan teknik yang bisa kulatihkan padamu dan seharusnya berhasil.
"Secara ketat, teknik ini seharusnya hanya bisa digunakan naga, karena syarat pertama dan paling ketatnya adalah Dragons Might, tapi kau mungkin tetap bisa melakukannya. Aku akan kirimkan detailnya sekarang."
Lex merasakan cincin itu terhubung ke pikirannya sesaat, sebelum mengirimkan aliran informasi. Dia tidak menahan desah melihat cara segalanya berjalan. Jika tubuh dan jiwa Lex tidak begitu mengesankan, dan jika dia tidak menerima informasi tentang seluruh realm, dan jika dia tidak menelan Dragons Might, teknik ini tidak akan pernah berhasil.
Menerima teknik saja sudah menjadi beban baginya, tapi tubuh dan pikirannya sudah lama terbiasa menghadapi hal di atas levelnya, jadi alami mengalami backlash, dia hanya merasakan sedikit tegangan. Menggabungkan fakta bahwa bahkan teknik terlemah yang dirancang untuk naga ditujukan untuk Earth Immortal, Lex sudah jauh melewati realm di mana dia bisa diukur dengan akal sehat.
Teknik itu disebut Wyrm's Glyph. Menggunakannya tidak simpel, dan mungkin butuh latihan, tapi Lex tidak menduga butuh waktu lama. Lagipula, pemahamannya meningkat lebih jauh setelah dia mencapai realm Nascent.
Masalahnya muncul dari fakta bahwa, di samping energi spiritualnya, Lex harus memanipulasi Dominasi-nya dengan cara yang tidak pernah dibayangkan sebelumnya.
Pertama, belajar memanipulasi Dominasi dengan presisi master bukan hanya menamparkan ke target akan jadi rintangan pertama, dan mencampurkannya dengan energi spiritual jadi rintangan kedua.
Setelah mengatasi rintangan itu, waktunya mencari getah. Menurut info yang melekat pada teknik, sekali digunakan, teknik membentuk sesuatu yang disebut Glyph di tubuh pengguna.
Tidak ada penjelasan proper tentang apa itu Glyph, tapi sejauh Lex tahu ada tumpang tindih dengan array, jimat, dan formasi sekaligus. Itu tidak terbuat dari karakter, meski saat Glyph berlaku ia membentuk satu pola terlihat yang justru Glyph-nya.
Setelah terbentuk, bahan bakar utamanya adalah energi ambient, itulah kemiripan dengan array, dan Lex merasa mereka bisa dipersiapkan sebelumnya, di sinilah kemiripan dengan jimat. Meski tidak ada item yang dipakai, fakta bahwa Glyph terbentuk melalui penggunaan gabungan Dragons Might dan energi spiritual memberinya kesan mereka butuh berbagai material atau energi untuk terbentuk, di sinilah kemiripan dengan formasi.
Tapi sekarang bukan saat menyelami profesi baru sepenuhnya, meski beragamnya penggunaan menjanjikan. Lex menciptakan jangkar spasial di titik ini, yang berarti dia mencatat koordinat spasialnya agar bisa teleport kembali ke sini kapan pun.
Lalu dia kembali ke Inn. Segara dia ingin segera belajar teknik itu, sepertinya butuh waktu.
Tanpa sia-siakan satu detik pun, dia mengisolasi diri dan mulai latihan, dan langsung sadar persyaratan manipulasi Dominasi akan sangat tinggi.
"Pel, apakah kau punya teknik atau latihan yang bisa bantu aku melatih manipulasi Dominasi?" tanyanya.
"Aku akan transfer semuanya yang relevan segera," kata Pel, merasakan urgensi tuannya. Lex bisa memperkirakan tanpa bantuan, butuh minggu belajar kontrol halus Dominasi! Mungkin dia meremehkan kesulitan teknik yang dipakai Earth Immortal!
Saat dia merenung pemikiran itu, Pel mentransfer sejumlah panduan dan latihan dari memorinya, yang menjelaskan masalahnya. Bukan bahwa dia tidak bisa mengontrol dengan cukup baik, tapi Dominasinya masih terlalu lemah dibanding naga asli!
Hanya ada satu solusi untuk itu.
"John, aku tidak bermaksud mengganggu, tapi aku punya tugas mendesak yang harus diselesaikan!" kata Lex, teleport ke ruang meditasi pribadinya. "Jika kau ingin terus mempelajari naga saat aku berkultivasi silakan, tapi kau harus sangat diam."
John terkejut dengan kedatangan mendadak Lex, dan sedikit bingung dengan urgensi di suaranya.
"Ada apa?" tanyanya, khawatir.
"Ya, aku terbatas waktu dan perlu menyempurnakan aspek kultivasiku untuk tugas Pengelola Inn. Kau bisa terus mengamati, itu justru mungkin bantu kau merancang teknik yang kau inginkan. Tapi maafkan aku."
Meski kelihatannya Lex buru-buru, yang memang benar, percakapannya dengan John juga terhitung. Dengan menunjukkan betapa keras semua orang bekerja untuk Inn baru, sementara dia tidak melakukan apa-apa selain mengeluh, Lex bertujuan membuat John merasa dikecualikan. Dikecualikan dari komunitas, sampai derajat tertentu, yang sudah jadi kebiasaannya, juga akan jadi motivator kuat bantu dia mengambil keputusan.
Meski Inn tidak menyediakan formasi saat ini, itu tidak mencegah Lex memasang beberapa array pelindung di sekitar dirinya saat dia mengambil tempat di dahi naga.
Dia bahkan sempat bicara ke Pel Jr. dan memberitahu bahwa dia akan berkultivasi, jadi jangan ganggu. Setelah memastikan semuanya siap, Lex memejamkan mata dan memusatkan pikiran ke informasi terbaru yang dikirim cincin Pel. Dia memasuki state Flow hanya untuk memastikan hasil terbaik.
Sebagian besar teknik adalah latihan praktek untuk mengajari naga muda cara mengontrol aura mereka, serta menyempurnakannya agar lebih kuat. Saat Lex mulai berkultivasi, dia fokus hanya pada aspek menyempurnakan aura-nya agar Dominasi berkembang lebih baik.
Dari samping, John tidak menahan menatap ke jauh ke Lex. Meski kultivasinya rusak, dan tubuh melemah, dia tidak sepenuhnya terduai dari indra lama. Sehingga dia bisa merasakan perubahan yang terjadi di aura naga sampai tingkat tertentu.
Berdiri di bawah, menatap ke atas Lex berkultivasi di kepala naga, John tidak menahan merasa lebih hina dari seluruh hidupnya. Jika bayi sialan itu bisa berkultivasi sendirian di atas naga tanpa sistem bodoh, kenapa dia melekat pada sistemnya begitu keras?
Bahkan jika dia kehilangan sistem, hidupnya bisa lebih parah seberapa? Dia sudah di dasar. Dia dari salah satu pekerja paling dihormati di Inn jadi orang lemah, sensitif yang harus diurus semua orang.
Dia membakar gambar Lex berkultivasi di benaknya saat dia memutuskan menyerahkan sistemnya! Dia akan percaya pada Pengelola Inn untuk membimbingnya ke jalan lebih baik. Lebih-lebih, jalur asesin adalah yang diputuskan sistem. Sekarang, dia akhirnya bisa memutuskan sendiri apa yang ingin dia kejar dalam hidup.
Dia tidak tahu apa itu, tapi pemikiran mencarinya saja mengisi dia rasa antisiipasi yang sudah lama tidak dirasakan.
?Lex smiled. Although Pel had yet to actually bring about any substantial results, and only seemed ready to pursue its passion spanning multiple lifetimes of searching for treasure, he was already satisfied. After all, anything was better than randomly searching the land.
Given that his spirit sense could span a very large area now, which should technically ease the search somehow, it would still be a great undertaking if done alone. Moreover, he was not so sure spirit sense could find the resin so easily.
After all, if this resin really was the Amber Chaos resin, as Pel claimed, and the Tree of Heaven already tasted some of its benefits, then it is likely that it had been searching the continent for more of it for a long time.
In fact, if things were as Lex expected, and the races living under the tree's canopy were its servants, then this resin may be the reason for some of the wars he had seen from above.
"Alright, just let me see… no not this one… I don't know… wait, okay, this might work…" Pel began muttering to itself while Lex waited. He was not concerned. Instead, he surveyed the area to see if there were any settlements of other races in large groups.
Fortunately, there seemed to be nothing in the vicinity besides wild beasts. That would be best, as he did not want to attract too much attention.
"Master, after a moment of overzealousness, I remembered that in my current form I cannot use most of my techniques from my previous life. I just don't have the energy to sustain them. However, after much reflection, I was able to search for a technique I can teach you that should do the trick.
"Strictly speaking, this technique should only be usable by dragons, as its first and most stringent requirement is Dragons Might, but you may be able to do it, nonetheless. I will transmit the details to you now."
Lex felt the ring connect to his mind for a moment, before sending over a stream of information. He could not help but sigh at the way things worked out. If Lex's body and soul were not so overbearingly powerful, and if he had not received information about the entire realm, and if he had not devoured Dragons Might, this technique would have never worked.
Even receiving the technique was a burden on him, but his body and mind had long since become accustomed to dealing with things above his level, so instead of experiencing a backlash, he just felt slightly strained. Considering the fact that even the weakest of techniques designed for dragons were aimed at Earth immortals, Lex was long past the realm where he could be judged by common sense.
The technique was called Wyrm's Glyph. Using it was not so simple, and would probably require a bit of practice, but Lex did not anticipate it taking too long. After all, his comprehension had improved even further after he reached the Nascent realm.
The issue came from the fact that, alongside his spiritual energy, Lex would need to manipulate his Domination in ways that he never imagined before.
First, learning to manipulate Domination with masterful precision instead of slamming it down on his target was going to be the first hurdle, and mixing it with his spirit energy was going to be the second one.
Once he overcame those hurdles, it would be time to search for the resin. According to the information attached to the technique, once used, the technique formed something called a Glyph on the user's body.
There was no proper explanation about what a Glyph was, but as far as Lex could tell it had some overlap with arrays, talismans and formations all at once. It was not made from characters, though when a Glyph came into effect it formed a single, visible pattern which was the Glyph.
Once formed, it was fueled most by ambient energy, which is what was similar to arrays, and Lex got the sense that they could be prepared beforehand, which is where the similarity with talismans came in. Although no items were being used, the fact that a Glyph was formed through the combined use of Dragons Might and spirit energy gave him the impression that they required various materials or energies to form, which is where the similarity to formations came from.
But now was not the time to delve into a completely new profession, regardless of how diverse its uses promised to be. Lex created a spatial anchor at this point, which meant he recorded its spatial coordinates so that he could teleport back here when he wished.
Then he proceeded to return to the Inn. As much as he wished to learn the technique immediately, it seemed like it was going to take some time.
Without wasting a single second, he isolated himself and began practicing, and immediately realized that the manipulation requirements for Domination were going to be incredibly high.
"Pel, do you have any techniques or practices that can help me train manipulating Domination?" he asked.
"I'll transfer over everything relevant immediately," Pel said, sensing its master's urgency. Lex was able to estimate that without help, it would take him weeks to learn fine control over Domination! Maybe he had underestimated the difficulty of the techniques used by Earth Immortals!
Just as he was reflecting on that thought, Pel transferred over a number of guides and exercises from his memories, which clarified the issue. It was not that he could not control it well enough, but that his Domination was still too weak compared to an actual dragon!
There was only one solution for that.
"John, I don't mean to disturb you, but I have an urgent task that I need to take care of!" Lex said, teleporting over to his private meditation room. "If you want to continue to study the dragon while I cultivate go ahead, but you will have to be extremely silent."
John was taken aback by Lex's sudden arrival, and a bit confused by the urgency in his voice.
"Is something the matter?" he asked, concerned.
"Yes, I'm on a time limit and need to refine an aspect of my cultivation for one of the Innkeeper's tasks. You can continue observing if you want, it might actually help you design the technique you want. But you'll have to excuse me."
Although it seemed like Lex was in a hurry, which he was, his exchange with John was also calculated. By showing him how hard everyone was working for the new Inn, while he was doing nothing but lamenting, Lex aimed to make John feel left out. Being excluded from the community, to a degree, that he had become used to was also going to be a strong motivator in helping him make his decision.
Although the Inn was not providing any formations at the moment, that did not prevent Lex from setting up a few protective arrays around himself as he took his spot on the dragon's forehead.
He even took a moment to talk to Pel Jr. and let him know that he would be cultivating, so he shouldn't disturb him. After making sure everything was ready, Lex closed his eyes and focused his mind on the latest information the ring Pel had sent him. He entered his Flow state just to make sure he got the best results.
Most of the techniques were practice exercises to teach young dragons about how to control their aura, as well as refine it to make it stronger. As Lex began to cultivate, he focused solely on the aspects of refining his aura so that Domination would develop better.
From the side, John could not help but look up in the distance at Lex. Although his cultivation was broken, and his body weakened, he had not been completely deprived of his old senses. As such, he could feel the change happening in the dragon's aura to a certain degree.
Standing there, on the bottom, looking up at Lex cultivating on a dragon's head, John could not help but feel more pathetic than he had in his entire life. If that damn baby could cultivate all on his own atop a dragon without a stupid system, then why was he latching on to his system so hard?
Even if he lost it, how much worse could his life really get? He was already at the bottom. He went from being one of the most respected workers in the Inn to the weak, sensitive guy everyone has to take care of.
He burned the image of Lex cultivating in his mind as he made his decision to give up his system! He would trust the Innkeeper to guide him on a better path. Moreover, the path of an assassin was something the system decided for him. Now, he could finally decide on his own what he wanted to pursue in life.
He had no idea what it was, but just the thought of figuring it out filled him with a sense of anticipation he hadn't felt in a long time.
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