"Ya, Taksedia Inn tidak punya ragu-ragu sama rencana ini," kata Lex tanpa sedikit pun rasa malu atau canggungnya. "Tapi lo tahu, aku bisa bantu karena aku adalah..."
Lex tiba-tiba terdiam sejenak, dan dalam celah sepele itu, ia mendapatkan seperempat kebijaksanaan sekaligus. Sudah lama, sebenarnya ia jauh lebih lemah dibanding banyak pekerja di Inn itu.
Sudah lama sekali Anita dan Qawain lebih kuat darinya. Meskipun sifatnya ramah, Lex tahu bahwa sekedar satu kecelakaan saja bisa menghancurkan segalanya. Dan masih banyak yang lebih kuat darinya—seperti Zagan—tapi pada dasarnya, Lex akhirnya menjadi orang terkuat di Inn lagi. Zagan sedang meditasi—atau mungkin masih dalam prosesnya—jadi butuh waktu lama sebelum ia bangun. Saatitu, Lex yakin bisa mencapai alam Abadi Surgawi.
Bagaimanapun, ia sudah lama merasakan perubahan drastis yang dibawa oleh upgrade terbarunya, namun senang juga sekaligus menyadari bahwa ketakutan senyap yang selama ini mengganggunya sejak menemukan Inn dan dunia kultivasi—ketakutan akan bertemu seseorang yang lebih kuat dan dihancurkan tanpa kesempatan melawan—perlahan-lahan mengilang.
Tentu saja, Lex belum tanding persis dengan yang lain. Tapi dirinya semakin dekat. Satu alam pada satu waktu, ia mengeliminasi jumlah makhluk di alam semesta yang bisa mengancamnya.
Sebagai Earth Immortal, ia kini cukup layak untuk mengawasi dan mengembangkan Inn dengan benar, memastikan progresnya berjalan dengan cara yang sangat spesifik.
Alih-alih kekhawatiran dan ketakutan akan masa depan yang selama ini diajarkan dirinya, Lex akhirnya merasakan sedikit antusiasme. Namun, itu tidak berarti ia akan bertindak sembarangan.
Ia akhirnya belajar cara menghindari masalah yang tidak perlu, dan ia tidak bermaksud melupakan pelajaran yang diajari dengan keras.
Kemudian, perhatiannya kembali ke kura itu, dan ia menjawab situasinya.
"Aku lebih kurang bertanggung jawab mengurus hal-hal di luar Inn, jadi kalau ada yang butuh dari luar, bilang ke aku. Itulah sebabnya aku bertanya soal rencana kebunmu. Apalagi dengan Rose Tugu Ilahi atau Bunga-Bunga Dewi itu. Dengar-dengar gampang ditanam."
"Alangkah keliru dan keliru sekali, manusia," kata kura sambil membelai kepalanya Lex dengan salah satu rantannya sambil tertawa. "Ketika aku berbincang tentang energi yang lebih beragam, sebenarnya aku cuma ngobrol dengan diri sendiri. Kalau memang benar-benar butuh sesuatu, aku bisa langsung order ke Guild room, lalu salah satu toko di situ akan mengirimkannya. Lo seharusnya istirahatkan tubuhmu. Aku bisa lihat lo butuh tidur."
Lex tersungkur. Klaim kura membuat masuk akal, tapi bagaimanapun, ia tidak pernah bayangkan bahwa kura ini tahu cara pakai MP. Bagi Lex, kura hanya tahu menanam saja.
Ini juga mengingatkannya pada sesuatu: walau mengatur Inn pakai sistem saja cukup untuk menjaga operasional, ada banyak hal yang ia melewatkan. Misalnya, ia tahu segala sesuatu yang kura lakukan dan di mana ia menanam apa, tapi ia tidak tahu itu akan jadi sebuah Kebun Tugu Ilahi, Eden 2.0, atau apapun rencana yang ia ada. Ia juga tidak pernah bayangkan bahwa Dewi-dewi bisa tumbuh dari tanaman.
Jika itu terjadi pada kura, yang punya ratusan ribu karyawan, Lex hanya bisa bayangkan betapa banyak hal yang sedang terjadi di luar pengetahuannya. Itu adalah satu alasan lagi untuk mengambil alih kendali lagi. Tapi dulu, ia harus mengatasi situasinya. Jika kura tak bisa diyakinkan, ada satu orang lagi yang bisa ia minta tolong.
Lex menghilang, setidaknya cukup puas bahwa suatu hari nanti ia akan punya Phoenix di tangannya. Memang susah untuk lahir, dan bahkan lebih sulit lagi untuk sesuatu yang berevolusi menjadi Phoenix hanya dengan darah. Tapi, akan tetap sulit jika suatu Sovereign menghendakinya begitu? Lex ragu."
"Yes, the Innkeeper surely has no reservations about this plan," Lex without a shred of shame or awkwardness. "But you know, I can help out since I am the…"
Lex suddenly paused for the briefest of moments, though that miniscule gap was more than enough for him to have an entire epiphany. For so long, he had actually been weaker than many of the workers at the Inn.
For a very long time, Anita and Qawain had been stronger than him, and though they were friendly enough, Lex knew that a single accident was all it would take to ruin everything. There were others, too, who were still stronger than him - such as Zagan - but more or less, Lex was finally the strongest person in the Inn again. Zagan was meditating - or perhaps still undergoing his tribulation - so it would be a long time before he woke up. By then, Lex was certain he could reach the Heavenly immortal realm.
Either way, he had been feeling the drastic change his latest upgrade brought him for quite a while, but it was good to realize that the silent fear that had haunted him since he discovered the Inn and the cultivation world - that he would encounter someone stronger and he would be squashed without a chance at resistance - was slowly lessening.
Of course, Lex was far from being without equal. But he was getting there. One realm at a time, he was eliminating the number of beings in the universe that could threaten him.
As an Earth Immortal, was now somewhat fit to properly oversee the expansion and development of the Inn, ensuring that it went in a very specific manner.
Instead of the constant worry and dread of the future that Lex had been suppressing deep inside of himself for so long, he finally felt a bit of excitement about it. That did not mean, however, that he was going to go about things haphazardly.
He was finally learning how to avoid unnecessary trouble, and he had no intentions of forgetting his hard learned lessons.
He returned his attention to the turtle and addressed his current situation.
"I'm more or less incharge of getting things from outside the Inn, so if you need anything from the outside you can tell me. That's why I was asking about what you're planning with your new garden. Especially with the divine Rosebush or Deity flowers. They don't sound easy to plant."
"Oh silly, silly human," the turtle said, patting Lex on the head with one of his vines and chuckling. "When I was talking about requiring more diverse types of energy, I was only talking to myself. If I truly need something, I can just place a demand order in the Guild room and one of the shops there will provide it to me. You should get some rest. You clearly need some sleep."
Lex was stumped. The turtle's claims made sense, but somehow he never imagined that the turtle actually knew how to use MP. As far as Lex was concerned, the turtle only knew how to plant things.
This was also a good reminder for him that while running the Inn using solely the system would keep it running, there were many things he would miss. For example, he was aware of everything the turtle had done and where it had planted what, but he had no idea that any of it was supposed to become a Divine garden, or an Eden 2.0 or whatever he was planning. He also never would have imagined Deities growing out of plants.
If that was the case for the turtle, with hundreds of thousands of workers, Lex could only imagine the kinds of things that were going on that he was unaware of. This was just one more reason for him to take over things once more. But first, he had to address his current situation. If the turtle was being uncooperative, there was one more person who could help him out.
Lex teleported away, at least satisfied that eventually he would have a Phoenix on his hands. Sure, it was hard for one to be born, and even harder for something to evolve into a Phoenix using only the bloodline. But would it still be hard if a Sovereign willed it so? Lex doubted it.
He reappeared deep in the territory of the Inn. It would take years of travel for a mortal to walk this distance, and by mortal he meant a Nascent level cultivator, not a pure mortal.
In front of him spread out a vast, open field, carefully tiled and taken care of. In front of him was a Chad - no, a giga-Chad!
A shirtless man with a body worthy of a professional body builder used a simple hoe to plough the incredibly tough soil. Each action required an immense amount of barbaric, brute strength from the man, flexing and loosening his muscles with every obstacle he overcame. Despite being a cultivator, he was drenched in sweat with clear signs of fatigue and exhaustion apparent in his actions. Yet he did not pause for even a second, that is, until he noticed Lex.
Straightening his back and lifting his hoe to rest on his shoulder, the Gardener wiped the sweat off his brow as he observed Lex. He looked more like a barbarian warrior than a gardener, but then again, taming the wild and harsh lands of the Midnight realm was a duty befitting the fiercest warriors.
Even though the gardener was merely in the Nascent soul cultivation realm, Lex did not underestimate him. The fact that his hoe weighed a dozen tones was more than enough to demonstrate the Gardeners ferocious might.
"Lex, what brings you here?" the Gardener asked with a smile, though Lex sensed his hidden fears. For the most part, the Gardener gardened inside separate Minor realms so that he could unleash his art, but with the Midnight realm being the ultimate canvas, how could he resist? He just had to garden there as well, which is why he found a place far away from everyone so that he could garden in peace. So far, it was going well. So far.
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