Lex, of course, was well aware of the fact that he had been followed. There wasn't much he could do about that, as his only power up at the moment was the kamikaze explosion.
Fortunately, his little maneuver paid off, as he climbed back on the track with a few seconds to spare. Moreover, the massive scorch marks where the cart in the lead had been targeted let Lex know he was on the right path. Only… there was no indication of the cart that had been targeted. Lex had to assume that whoever the driver was, Gerard most likely, had somehow survived.
All of them were driving the same cart? How had he even gained such a lead? Lex was genuinely curious now, and decided to watch a replay of the race after it was over. But it wasn't over yet.
The track led into the massive forest that surrounded the greenhouse. This would be tricky, as he had repeatedly strengthened the formation that would disrupt an intruder's sense of direction if they ventured in too deeply, and currently he would be classified as an intruder.
For once Lex withdrew his spirit sense back in, so as to not accidentally touch the formation, and readied himself for an interesting drive.
But something unexpected happened. Mary appeared sitting on his shoulder, dressed up in the attire of a racers pit crew.
"There's a situation. I would have waited to contact you, but there's a guest who wants to meet with you and they're claiming it's extremely urgent."
Even though Lex paid attention to what Mary said, his focus on the track had not dropped. His latest increase in cultivation made it so he could easily divide his mind into separate tasks without influencing one another, so even if he had full-fledged conversations with Mary, the amount of focus he would give to his driving would remain undiluted.
"Who's the guest?" he asked out of curiosity. Since Mary herself said the situation was urgent, he doubted it was an ordinary guest.
"It's emperor Jotun and general Ragnar, alongside a lady I believe is the emperor's wife. They all look… agitated."
The emperor, the empress and the general. If they had all come together for an urgent matter, it wasn't something Lex could ignore.
"Send them to my office," he said, deciding to meet them with his projection.
"They're already there."
Considering the fact that they wanted to meet urgently, Lex wasn't surprised that they were already waiting for his office. He used his Remote Presence to create a projection of himself sitting at his desk.
Merely a moment later, the trio entered the room, allowing Lex to analyze them. He immediately realized a couple of interesting things. First, while Mary had said they were agitated, a more apt description would be that they seemed excited. It was not alarm or worry that painted their faces, but suppressed elation. Second, the 6th sense he had gained from the Mystery trial could be used even through his projection! Although he had yet to say anything, he could feel it activate in preparation for the conversation they were about to happen.
But before he began the conversation, he observed the woman and checked her status.
Name: Elinor Jotun
Age: 298,555
Sex: Female
Cultivation Details: ???(Too high for host to see)
Species: Human
Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1
Remarks: Stop ogling at married women.
Elinor looked more mature than her husband, though that in no way diminished her beauty. But it was not because of her beauty that Lex was paying special attention to her. It was the fact that both her eyes were of different colors.
Such a thing was actually not uncommon, in mortals at least. In Elinor's case, however, it was not so simple. Although his instincts and intuition usually failed him when it came to those whose cultivation was far higher than his own, at this moment it was telling him that if he had looked at her eyes through his left eye, and not through his projection, he would be seeing something else.
But such things did not matter, for the moment at least. Lex did not wait, nor did he start the meeting with a casual conversation like their previous encounter, and instead directly asked the emperor, "is something the matter? I was told that you wanted to meet urgently."
"Innkeeper, I wanted to make a request, though I am afraid it might seem improper."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Among the many Minor realms that you have opened up for guests, there is one that is of special interest to us. I was hoping to ask for exclusive rights to that realm… at least for a time?"
The request was truly unexpected, and not at all in line with anything he was expecting. But he did not fall into a stupor at the request and immediately drew a conclusion that the emperor found something even he found valuable. Even Lex was curious now.
"As you probably know," began Lex in a somber tone, "the Inn is currently having an event. Blocking off or making certain realms exclusive to certain groups during the event… well, it is certainly not what was planned."
The three did not try to hide the anxiety on their faces as they heard Lex speak, or perhaps, due to his 6th sense, he was just more perceptive of the anxiety they felt. It was an interesting ability which allowed him to feel that he held all the power during this conversation. He did not need to beat around the bush to get them to reveal their motives, like he would have to do if he were using a different identity.
"Of course, that does not mean it can't be arranged. But I'm curious - why would you pay so much attention to this specific Minor realm?"
The trio instantly felt relief upon knowing that the task was achievable, and the emperor's mood even elevated immensely.
"Innkeeper, you probably already know that the history of my empire is very small," he began, as his thoughts drifted into eras past. "The history of the human race is longer than that, of course, but past a few hundred million years at most, nothing is recorded. Even if I use my authority to peruse the Henali records, I can, at most, look back a couple billion years to when the Henali arrived at the Origin realm. What was the Origin realm like before then? Who inhabited it? Did humans even exist in the Origin realm? These questions… I have never been able to find an answer to.
"Some, like the Henali themselves, think it doesn't really matter. After all, back then the realm was even younger than it is now. Any being or civilization that existed back then could only be weaker than those that exist now. Certainly, they would be much weaker than myself at this point."
Jotun paused to laugh, as if he had just said something amusing.
"But the mysteries of the universe are beyond what we can imagine? Once, in my youth, my father took my brothers and I to a secret pagoda, from which I gained the inheritance that brought me to where I am today. If the old civilizations were weak, how could they leave behind a heritage so powerful?
"Just a short while ago, one of my soldiers discovered another pagoda in one of your Minor realms, almost identical to the one I entered in my youth. But even now, at the pinnacle of my strength, the pagoda remains as mysterious and elusive to me as it was back then. Although it might be selfish of me to deprive this opportunity to others, that you have so selflessly provided to everyone, but I have to try, nonetheless. After all, even in the greater realms, the situation for us humans is not so great. If through this pagoda, another great heritage for the human race is uncovered, it will be a boon for humans across the universe!"
The emperor provided a lot of information to Lex, not only about himself but about the situation relating to humans across the universe. But now was not the time to mull over such things. If this pagoda was so great, Lex himself was quite interested in it.
"You're talking about the benefit of the human race. What you're saying is that if I give you exclusive rights to the realm, you'll provide the heritage out to the humans instead of keeping it for yourself?"
"Innkeeper, since I have already been in the pagoda once, I know how hard it is to pass its tests. I cannot enter it myself due to its restrictions, and there is no guarantee that if I only let my own progeny enter, they will ever succeed. If I have exclusive rights to the realm, I can take my time and only allow those of reliable character to enter so they may try their luck. If not, then I can only take a gamble. I have already asked Ragnar to keep his men on standby. He has approximately 300 million soldiers under his command who qualify to enter the pagoda. I can only have them enter first, while I gather more men from elsewhere to keep on entering."