Cultivating as a Nascent soul realm cultivator was… it was almost divine! His control over spirit energy had improved drastically, and that improvement carried onto other aspects of his cultivation as well.
The rate at which he absorbed Dragons Might also increased drastically, and that was before Pel gave him a bunch of exercises showing him how it was actually supposed to be used. He could feel himself improving, and that was after consciously trying to keep his actual cultivation from increasing. Fortunately, there were countless other areas he could improve in, so stopping a single aspect of cultivation was no burden.
If previously, he had felt like he was adding water to a container that was near overspilling, now it felt like he was using a sink to fill up a dam! His body's capacity for strength, defense, comprehension, Domination, and so many other things had suddenly increased. Moreover, he could directly use the dragon underneath him as a source for all of them!
This was great news, not only because now he needed to weaken the dragon for its new host, though Lex honestly doubted he'd be able to weaken it enough any time soon, but also because he was unsatisfied with his defense.
Admittedly, it was still tremendously powerful, considering all he only got a rash from that black energy, but he was unsatisfied. He had traded his newest technique in exchange for Regal Embrace, and although it was a lot better in many ways, he didn't want to lose out the singular trait he had started his cultivation journey with: overpowered defenses.
Earlier on, he was still too weak for it to be too prominent, but now that he was much stronger he was finally getting to the things that were absurd. He wanted to walk on the surface of a star, and take a dive in a planet's core, to name just a few of the more sane ideas he had about what he'd do with a more durable body. This wasn't even considering the really unbelievable stuff, like play catch using a black hole as a ball.
So he absolutely could not give up on the path to making his body indestructible. In fact, he was determined to surpass the limits of Regal Embrace.
But those were all far off things. To aim a little closer to where Lex actually was, he wanted all the strength, toughness, might and everything else this Heavenly immortal dragon had to offer and make it his own, long before reaching the Heavenly immortal realm himself.
A tough but achievable goal he set for himself was to be completely equal to the dragon while still in the Earth immortal realm, at most.
As if responding to his intentions, his cultivation technique altered itself a bit, and Lex received some feedback. If he wanted to achieve what he set as his goal, he needed to stop cultivating in random places, and take the most he could from this dragon in his current realm before cultivating in other areas.
It felt like his technique was complaining to him for being so random. He imagined himself talking to an employee upset at his unreasonableness.
"It's okay, it's okay, I'll avoid cultivating in any active volcanoes for a while," he muttered.
The change in aura around Lex was noticed by John as well as Pel Jr. Both of them had completely varied thoughts running through his mind.
John was reinforcing his decision to give up his system in his mind, while Pel Jr. felt touched at the dedication Lex was showing in helping him weaken the dragon. Although it had not made any difference in the pressure Pel Jr. was feeling at all, he could tell that he was moving in the right direction.
Previously Lex had been pacing himself while cultivating, but right now he was going all in. Like a flood that had no end, Dragons Might flowed into Lex's body without restraint, and it vanished completely, leaving behind no trace of its existence.
Hours rolled by, and nearly sixteen hours later, Lex finally paused. He did not feel tired, in fact, he could feel his body hungry for more. But he wanted to test out if he had strengthened Domination enough to use Wyrm's Glyph.
As absurd as it sounded, this single session of cultivation more than tripled the strength of Domination! Lex could feel that he had a lot more room for growth, but his intuition had been correct. With Domination the way it was right now, he could begin to practice manipulating with precision hitherto unknown to him.
Without moving from his spot, as this was the perfect place to practice such techniques, Lex began to go through the exercises given to him by Pel. His amazing comprehension, accompanied by his Flow state, really began to show as he managed to form the Glyph within thirty minutes!
His Domination completely withdrew into himself, and Lex felt like his aura had vanished completely. But at the same time, he could feel the power coursing through his Glyph. Although this one was only supposed to help him search for treasures, it still gave Lex the impression that what he was controlling was a live weapon.
"Pel, do you know any more Glyphs I can learn using Domination?" Lex could not help but ask, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Of course. What kind do you have in mind? I'll have to search for ones suited for beginners, but there are countless such Glyphs that are supposed to help a dragon master their own strength. The Glyphs mimicking Dragons breath seem to be very popular."
Lex clenched his fists as he struggled to keep his excitement contained! Yes, this is exactly what he had in mind! How cool would it be to use Dragon's breath! His strength was about to skyrocket!
"We can start with that one, but make a list of all the Glyphs I can use at my level and send them to me later. For now though, it's time to hunt for treasure."
Lex looked down to John, who was studying the dragon and scribbling something. It seemed like he was busy creating a technique, so Lex did not bother him. Instead, he teleported away.
There were a few minor problems at the Inn caused by the fact that the countless people who had been stuck in the Minor realms before started to come out to the Inn. There were a few refugees who did not like the fact that they had been teleported to another realm and that the teleportation function wasn't working, though Lex very much doubted they understood what realms were.
He would normally take care of these things himself, but he was feeling impatient. The poor resin had waited too long for him already. It was time he welcomed it to its rightful place: among his treasure collection!
He teleported back to where the resin was supposed to be. He took a second to calm himself, lest he make a mistake in his excitement. The thought of treasure hunting and fire breathing had exhilarated him much more than he expected. Maybe he was being influenced by the dragon.
Nevertheless, he steadied himself and used the technique, forming the Glyph on his forehead. Once he overcame the most obvious sensations, which were of immense power, he became cognizant of a new sense entirely.
It was surprising that he missed it in the first place, considering how overwhelmingly it was reacting to the Midnight realm. He could… could feel… it was strange to describe. It was as if he was spying on the rules of the universe, and could feel the love the universe had towards certain things. Love might not be the right word, but considering how alien the sensation was for him, that was the closest thing he could equate it to at the moment.
The more valuable something was, the more attention it was given by the universe. Or perhaps, it would be more appropriate to say, the more valuable it was, the more laws it interacted with. This was all just guess work on Lex's end at the moment.
But regardless of what it was, Lex could feel, in a very quantifiable manner, the value of things all around him. The entire continent, every speck of dirt and every gust of air seemed to be valuable. Lex, for the first time, realized just how valuable the realm was. If he exported the dirt under his feet, he could probably raise the fertility of an entire planet with just a fistful!
It was not really the same thing, since the realm was only 0.25 lightyears large, but Lex felt like he had gotten his own version of the Bangle of Narn. His realm could not be compared to a galaxy in size, but perhaps in value they were close. Or maybe, his realm might even surpass it!
These things he had no answer for, nor did they matter. He turned his attention towards the lands in front of him. He hoped this Glyph could see through the seal on the resin, or else he would have wasted so much time for nothing.