The Innkeeper

Chapter 1373  Shady turtle

Lex woke up from his trance feeling amazing, powerful, and as if he had another headache on his head. How was it so simple to go through the realms in the immortal realms? Wasn't it supposed to be harder, for various reasons.

He, instead, was cruising through the realm despite his best efforts to slow down. Cultivating was really tough. He was trying to be responsible, but it was just too damn difficult.

Of course, as far as anyone else was concerned, Lex was still a mortal.

He turned to look at Zuri, and discovered that her body was now much larger, for it was now a tree. But as far as trees were concerned, she was actually small. The canopy of the tree was barely 8 feet (2.4 meters) high.

The bark on the tree was light brown in color, while the leaves were deep green. The tree seemed just as unassuming as the clover had been, and all the surging aura it had been releasing before had vanished.

"Is it done?" Lex asked.

"Yes, it is done. A transformation millions of years in the making has been completed. The clover has become a tree, and its luck and fortune can no longer be plucked so easily," answered the turtle.

"Indeed, it is done," Zuri said, her voice a whisper. "But I need to rest for a while. Let us complete this transaction. I believe, in exchange for your help, you require a Sequoia Void seed?"

"Yes. I'm also looking for an Eternal Autumn Persimmon seed and a Genesis Oak seed, so if you know where I could find them, I'd appreciate it."

"One of my clones will deliver all of them to the Inn. This has been a pleasant cooperation. If, in the future, you require some cooperation, feel free to reach out to me."

"Do you mind if I spend a little more time on your planet?" Lex asked. If he stayed long enough, he'd be able to link the planet Zuri to the Inn.

"Do as you wish, though I would request you to leave this valley for your own safety. In fact, the rest of the planet won't be too safe either when I go to sleep."

"You know what? I'll explore next time," said Lex, and allowed himself to fade.

Yes, he did not teleport to the Inn. Instead, he faded, for what had visited the planet Zuri was not Lex, but a clone of his that required complete synchronization of his being. This way, if his clone was harmed in any way, he would not actually be hurt. However, now that he no longer needed it, he dismissed his clone, which caused it to fade from existence.

This was not something Lex had done. Creating the clones and then establishing such a link between them that no one would be able to detect the difference was the turtles idea and doing.

In fact, that was one of the reasons why he felt like he was a mortal. The clone was a mortal, though Lex could still use all his abilities with the clone.

It was a very peculiar arrangement, and one that worked to his benefit. Who knows what would have happened if Lex had been in front of the Bodhi tree in person? He may have resonated with it and triggered some kind of anomaly. Although his bloodline only worked on humanoids, who was to say that something odd and unexpected wouldn't happen randomly?

Odd and unexpected was basically the theme of Lex's life.

"The deal is now fulfilled, and I will now teach you how to plant the Void Stabilization Sequoia tree in the fastest time possible," said the turtle, though Lex suddenly squinted his eyes.

"There's something off about you," he said suspiciously. "You haven't called anyone silly in a long while, and you're in too much of a rush to complete our deal. Did you do something you weren't supposed to?"

"Do not be silly, human. I have done nothing wrong. I just see no reason to delay the deal. We both have things to do."

Lex squinted even harder, almost to the point where his eyes were almost closed, and the turtle started to look left and right nervously.

"Alright fine, I may have done a few things secretly, but that does not mean I harmed anyone or took advantage of anyone. Becoming a Bodhi tree is genuinely the best path for that clover."

"What did you do?" Lex asked, feeling like he was seeing a whole new side of the turtle baby.

"I may have secretly planted a few plants in the valley to take advantage of the aura of the Bodhi tree's birth. But then I quickly plucked them back up. This is not a loss. The aura was there, being wasted anyway, and now I have my roses for my heavenly garden."

Lex shook his head in disbelief. He had never heard the turtle talk as much as he did today. But, in the end, he just nodded, and asked the turtle to transmit the information. Although he was fairly certain the turtle was still feeling guilty, likely hiding something else as well, he could not be bothered to meddle in its matters.

It was best to stay on the good side of the Sovereign.

The turtle hastily extended its vine and touched Lex's forehead, transmitting all pertinent knowledge about the tree Lex wished to plant.

There was good news, and there was bad news, although to Lex it wasn't really bad news at all.

The good news was that the turtle knew exactly how to do just what Lex wanted, and even had a way to have it done in a small time frame. The bad news was that it was extremely expensive. But what did Lex have if not money?

The answer was that he still had a lot, but the point was that he also had a lot of money.

What was money good for if not for spending lavishly to fulfill one's unreasonable needs, such as growing a Void Stabilization Sequoia tree in a matter of days?

But for this expense, Lex really needed to pull out all the stops. He went to Pel Jr. and grabbed a vial of blood essence, which was not easy to get at all, considering how tough the dragon's body was. In fact, Pel Jr. had to self mutilate for Lex to get his hands on it.

He also took the opportunity to grab a few dragon scales, and preserve a single seconds worth of dragon's breath within a sealing scroll - an item which could seal anything inside of itself. Lex also grabbed some Jorlam heart's blood.

These were some of his most valuable treasures which he was willing to sell. He still had a couple Amber Chaos Resin on hand, but he would not trade that away for anything. Those were Dao level ingredients for heaven's sake!

Then, he compiled a list and went back to the Emporium.

Powell, upon looking at Lex, smiled awkwardly.

"How was the deal? Was it successful?"

"Yes, it worked out quite well for everyone involved," Lex said, not revealing the details. "That includes you, I might add. Although you refused a commission for setting up a meeting, you surely won't refuse an order that resulted from the meeting, will you?"

Lex held out the spirit crystal containing his list quite innocently, as if he was only requesting a few items. In truth, the list contained over four million items of various levels of rarity.

Powell grabbed the crystal, and after a moment, grinned as widely as his face would allow.

"Lex, I could kiss you!" he exclaimed in excitement, to which Lex responded by taking a step back.

"I'm sorry, I can do without that."

Powell didn't mind, and instead rushed to the back, forgetting to tell Lex anything about how or when the order would be completed. He did not even return quickly.

An entire twenty minutes later, Powell came running back in, holding what looked like a small jewelry box.

"The first batch of your items are in here," Powell explained. "Fulfilling your order this time will not be as simple as the previous ones, and will require a number of weeks, during which there will be multiple shipments."

"Can I pay to expedite the process?" Lex asked, unconcerned about the numerous issues such a request would raise. "I think you can take a peek at the payment I'm offering before you decide."

Lex held out a spatial ring which contained all that he was offering to pay, causing the poor shopkeeper to tremble with excitement.

"Please wait here while I see what I can manage," Powell yelled as he ran to the back once more. In truth, Lex had no estimate for the value of the items he was buying, or the price of the items he was selling. But since it got the job done, who was he to complain?Nôv(el)B\\jnn