The Innkeeper
chapter-1246

According to Lex's understanding of how tenets worked, the more he used it to influence a law, the more it would be drained. The greater his own understanding of that particular law, the less the strain would be, whereas conversely the less he understood a certain law, the more strain he would have to endure.

Lex also believed that there had to be some way to strengthen his tenet, though he did not yet understand what it was. The stronger his tenet was, the longer he could influence laws, and to a greater extent.

Based solely on those things, Lex assumed that the black pillar was actually some obscure law that Lex had never encountered before, or did not understand. The other immortals were, somehow, strengthening or boosting it to the point where there was no other law around him, and no escape for him.

Even if he tried to fly in a straight line towards the nearest immortal, and outside the territory of the black pillar, he would never make it out. Lex would feel like he was flying at his fastest, and traversing thousands of miles, yet barely cover a few feet.

Another lightning bolt struck him, and since he was not able to react at all due to the unusual suppression from the black pillar, he was thrown to the ground, both his shoulders completely charred.

Lex grimaced. It was time to resolve the issue, or use his hidden techniques, though he wondered how effective they would be. If all laws were being suppressed, then the ones that were needed for his other techniques should be as well.

He had to admit, this was a difficult situation to break out of, but the challenge only motivated him. Since Lex had decided to walk the path of supremacy, how could it ever be easy? He had chosen to walk the path filled with adversity, and this was his first major obstacle.

Lex narrowed his eyes and focused. He did not try to control the black pillar - not only did he not know what that was, he was certain the strain of trying to control it would immediately exhaust his tenet. Instead, he tried to apply the same principle the black pillar was using.

It had been strengthened to the point where it pushed aside every other law. So if Lex managed to reach out to and strengthen some other law, it should be able to push aside the black pillar.

Lex's soul, spirit and body were much stronger than his peers since he had trained them to be. His tenet, as of yet, received no such training, but its special nature made it especially suited for a fight.

Completely unaware that the amount of energy he used to create his tenet was vastly more than an ordinary immortal, Lex used his tenet to reach out to the one law he was intimately familiar with - defense.

Even more than space itself, Lex was familiar with the laws of defense for the very start of his cultivation journey and much of his progress, he had been mired in them.

He reached out, using his tenet to sense the law, but his tenet did not have any range. It could not extend beyond his body and reach out to any laws that were not physically touching him. Maybe in the future he might learn how to, but for the moment he was restricted.

So instead of manipulating those laws, Lex reached out to them. He reached out to the law of defense, and summoned it to him. Although Lex was no longer a user of Regal Embrace, its mark was left in every pore of his body.

His affinity for any law associated with defense was vastly greater than any other, and though Lex barely ever used them, it did not mean he was not aware of them.

Lex lifted his sword, and recalled another technique he had learned, but had not used in a long time.

When he had learned Inferno Blade, he had also learned a defensive sword technique called Stalwart Guardian because of how easy it was for him. But Lex rarely ever needed to use it.

Now he used those techniques, fueling them with his sword intent, even though he was not being attacked technically.

There was a vacuum of laws around him, yet he summoned them to him. His tenet fought against the pressure it was under, and reached out despite it. Neither suppression nor oppression affected the use of his tenet, for the path of supremacy was destined to be one filled with trials and obstacles. The summons of his tenet were augmented by his sword techniques, which sent shivers down the black pillar.

Naraka hummed. It did not know how, it did not know why, but it felt that something was preventing it from using its full strength, and so the sword hummed. It lent Lex its strength, which he used to practice out Stalwart Guardian, under the intense gaze of ten hostile immortals. In the face of absolute suppression and superiority, Lex fought back, and summoned the laws of the universe to himself.

While the black pillar tried to suppress him, he tried to replace it. His actions, his intentions, and the consequences of both of them formed a literal and metaphorical battle for supremacy for the laws around himself against the black pillar.

Lex, by pure happenstance, embodied the very nature and soul of his tenet, something most immortals did not achieve for a very long time, causing the strength of his tenet to explode temporarily.

The pillar trembled, and the immortals summoning it suddenly paled. Then it broke, and the laws of the universe quivered to rush back in. But they were pushed aside.

The area around Lex was the Domain of absolute defense, and hundreds of laws associated with it came rushing in, trembling with excitement.

In that moment, Lex understood how to better use his tenet, and he understood what an Immortals Domain was. But instead of feeling happy, he groaned, and looked upwards.

His fourth tribulation had not finished… yet his fifth tribulation had been provoked.