The temple buzzed with activity after a long, long time. The workers did not get to experience the slight lag many of the rooms had displayed when Lex had first arrived, but as more and more rooms were opened up and put into use, everyone could somehow tell that the temple was somehow in better condition.
The air somehow smelled fresher, the energy was more vibrant, and the services had an extra edge to them that no one could quite pin down. But the results spoke for themselves. None of the Inn workers was ever lazy, and they all had excellent qualifications in almost every sense. But after months of grueling training, whether it be in combat, cooking or chiropractic therapy, they had improved considerably.
By the standards of the temple teachers, they were not yet shining gems, but they had definitely undergone a polish. With that polish came the accompanying confidence.
The workers all underwent a boost in confidence. Most of them never personally interacted with the Innkeeper, and so were never directly influenced by him.
While the likes of Gerard, Velma and Luthor were excellent examples of the heights a worker could achieve, it was a fact that they all got confidence boosts from interacting with the Innkeeper.
The rest of the workers, in a position of service to countless guests, almost all of whom had a higher cultivation level, began developing somewhat of a servile nature. If it were not for the extremely supporting environment developed between the staff members, the situation would have been even worse.
But there was nothing that built true confidence better than working hard and experiencing the benefits of one's hard work themselves.
At the same time, they worshiped the Innkeeper even more. He had made such an amazing temple and given them such an excellent opportunity, without asking for anything in return.
Geeves, who had joined at the last minute, nearly fell to his knees and wept when the temple taught him a cultivation technique centered around creating the most exceptional clothes!
There was a caveat to this, though, which is that the entire process had to be done by hand. From preparing the materials, to design, to stitching anything else that the process could possibly involve, he had to do by hand. That meant for his cultivation, he could not rely on the services of the Inn. But that was not an issue for him whatsoever.
Besides, the ceiling for the techniques he learnt was very high. If done well, he could theoretically even surpass the standards of the Inns services!
Z, who eventually got his answers when Cassandra suddenly appeared in front of him, had joined Lex in his training at some point. Lex had mentioned that Z also wanted to focus on developing his spatial affinities, and Cassandra thought that Lex might perform better with someone accompanying him.
But Lex had not expected Z to show up, and was not prepared at all. Since he would not be able to hide it any longer, Lex ultimately introduced himself properly to Z as Leo, which led to an incredibly awkward misunderstanding.
Z forgave Lex for working him so hard. After all, one could not expect a baby to work. He even gave Lex encouraging pep talks, praising him for becoming an entrepreneur at such an early age.
He then proceeded to inform Lex about a group of kids he took care of, namely the Peacock warriors, and promised to introduce him to some of his agemates.
It was only once they began training together that Z remembered that Lex was so much stronger than him, and indeed that was still the case.
Z had undergone a process which would evolve him into a different subtype of human, which was closer to his ancestor. As a result of this evolution, he gained immense physical strength. He had also broken into the Golden core realm. He still could not even cause a single scratch on Lex's body, even if he stood still and did not defend.
The teenager, instantly humbled, quickly set his sights on becoming stronger so that the babies of the realm did not have to work so hard to protect themselves.
Hera, one of the few hires of the Inn, had a much tougher time than the rest. She was not born with the inherent talent that the rest of the Inn workers arrived with, nor did she have a bloodline at all. But the one thing she had was a memory seared into her brain of her son, Jimmy, crying secretly at night because he lost his first friend, Layla.
Layla's family, coming from a prestigious background affiliated with the Jotun empire, did not approve of the extended time she was spending with Jimmy, and fearing that some feelings might develop between the children harshly separated them.
Though kids in general were resilient, he had since bounced back from the incident. Moreover, the Midnight Inn was an excellent place to live, and Jimmy was growing wonderfully. He had come out of his introverted shell somewhat, and still hung out with his other friends. But she never wanted anyone to look down on her son again for any reason. She would give him the best of everything. At the same time, she also realized that as a cultivator, she had a long life in front of her, and she wanted to live it well.
So she trained, and she trained hard. Though her initial progress was slow, as the months went by, she began surpassing the other workers in terms of progress. She had undergone a complete metamorphosis, and no longer seemed inferior amidst the highly talented crowd of workers.
Countless others experienced a similar nirvana, but Lex did not have time to focus on them. He was training as if his life depended on it. But, one day, when he woke up from his sleep, he was oddly not rushed to the breakfast table where he would get a briefing of the horrors that awaited him the next day.
For a moment, the lack of the expected push confused him. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Mary, how long before the new realm is born?"
"One and a half months," she answered promptly.
Just as he thought. His training period was officially over.