The Innkeeper
chapter-1335

Ripley, despite having his race described as a Titan, looked very much like a human. However, while Titans vaguely had a humanoid body shape, Lex was fairly certain they were not a part of the humanoid racial group universe wide. Lex had read about them since they were a powerful race, and some of their members existed even within the Origin realm.

Titans were essentially an extreme version of what Lex was originally on the path towards becoming. They were nigh indestructible within the same realm, and it was quite common for them to tank attacks from cultivators in higher realms. Their attack power was nothing to scoff at either. But that was more or less the end of what made their race special - as if it wasn't enough. Insane defense and strong offense were their natural racial traits, but they lacked the versatility that the human race had, so they usually just kept honing those two traits, slowly and steadily becoming a race of overpowered beings.

That was not to say that they were dumb or lacked intelligence either, so they were far removed from the trope of dumb brute. They were, instead, intelligent brutes.

For now, though, Ripley appeared as a human, likely because he was about to meet the Innkeeper, who famously presented as a human.

"Please, I am just a humble Innkeeper. I am grateful that you would visit my humble Inn."

"Oh, it is anything but humble," Ripley said, as he followed the Innkeeper to his desk, where he took a seat across from the Innkeeper.

"I must say, I am extremely impressed by the realm boundary you have in place, not to mention the formations. I am especially impressed by how the laws of the realm are woven around the Inn itself. Even in all my travels, I have rarely seen such bonsai realms, but I have never seen one as impressive as yours."

Mary whispered in Lex's ear, despite not needing to whisper.

"Bonsai realms are realms where the laws have specifically been molded and developed according to the wishes of the realm owner. They are usually Minor realms, although I suppose some major powers could use actual, full realms for a similar purpose."

Lex understood what Ripley meant. He thought that the integration of the system's rules in the environment was a result of the Innkeeper purposefully molding the realm to suit the needs of the Inn itself. Lex actually wondered what high level cultivators even saw when they looked at the realm. Did they see all the rules the system imposed as laws?

But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts.

"It is still a work in progress," the Innkeeper said. "We are experimenting with many things even now. Hopefully, when the Inn is properly opened, even you will find it a suitable location to rest."

"Oh please, no need to be humble," Ripley said, with genuine joy in his voice. "Just observing the masterfully crafted work on this realm is enough to give me immense pleasure. I must admit, originally I had merely visited the Inn to introduce myself. The bank usually has special members incharge of inviting potential new clients, but I just can't help myself.

"There are a few things I just can't help but try to offer you. In fact, I'd like to offer you my personal discounts if you'd like to avail our Realm Growth Stabilizer package, as well as our Void Dweller Invasion Insurance."

Lex blinked, as he had no idea how to react to those terms. He could understand what the names insinuated, but could he really take them at face value? "Thank you for your offer, Mr. Ripley. I will consider them and let you know when I make my decision."

Ripley was startled by the response, but then suddenly began laughing.

"Look at me, getting ahead of myself. How dare I presume you don't already have plans in place to consider such options. I was just a little taken aback by the beauty of this place. I have to admit, even in my line of work, I have never been to a full blown realm this young. By the way, I'm sure you already have considerations for this as well, but if you'd like the bank's assistance in ensuring your realms location remains hidden, we have countless packages for exactly such a thing. "So far, not a single one of our clients' realms have been accidentally encountered or discovered. A few were discovered, I'll be honest. But those were mostly due to negligence on the clients part. I'll stop myself right here. I'm usually an auditor, not a salesman. Even I find my actions a little over the top."

Ripley laughed once more, but his words gave Lex an idea. If he was an auditor, then his eyesight, or rather, his ability to scrutinize must be one of the best. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was so overwhelmed in his visit to the Inn. His enhanced perception allowed him to see the influence of the system far greater than most others, and it thoroughly impressed him.

"Auditor Ripley, if you don't mind me asking, how did you learn of the Inn?"

"Oh actually, I had heard of it before, but I only paid closer attention to it when a close client of the bank mentioned it to me. Apparently, the service at the Midnight newsroom is phenomenal. Naturally I became curious, especially after seeing how highly the Henali commended the Inn. As an investor in many of the Henali's projects, the bank has full faith in their judgment, so if they attest to the quality of the Inn, then it must be a place worth visiting.

"I must admit, it really is worth visiting. In fact, I'm surprised it's not more popular. Especially in the way that I see you're blending laws of entirely different planes altogether in one place. That 2D portion of the Inn is inspirational. I honestly don't know why more Celestials don't visit this place. It would be quite enlightening."

"Like I said, it is very much a work in progress, so we have not taken to marketing it properly," Lex said, as he quickly increased the priority of limiting access to the Inn in his plans. If the banker started telling his Celestial immortal buddies about the Inn, then even the additional security he bought might not be enough to handle things. Speaking of, it wasn't as if the additional security didn't have issues of its own.

"When we are ready to properly host all sorts of guests, only then will the Inn have its grand opening across the universe. But before that, I wonder if you could lend me your support in a matter?"

Ripley seemed delighted by the request and couldn't hold in his excitement!

"Of course! In fact, it would be my honor to represent you with the bank! I am already thinking of putting in the notice for an early vacation from the bank just so that I can study the Inn some more. The way the plane of reality within the Inn merges with that of the actual realm to allow the presence of higher level guests is so ingenious, I could spend a millenia just studying it."

"I'm glad you enjoy it. In fact, my request has nothing to do with the bank, but has to do with you instead. You see, I myself am preoccupied these days with another project of mine which demands my attention, so my staff has been handling the Inn. They do a good job where they can, but they are young and lack exposure. Since you're an auditor, and have an excellent eye, why don't you explore the Inn a bit with one of my staff and audit the Inn itself. Just a few areas where they're lacking, or a few areas where they can improve would be a tremendous help to them I'm sure."

Ripley froze, for more than one reason. The fact that the Innkeeper hardly cared about the bank, but wanted his help instead… he had never had such an experience. As someone who represented one of the largest entities in the universe, it was rare that someone saw him as anything other than an arm of the bank itself. Such an immense amount of trust in his ability and discretion almost moved the Titan to tears.

The second thing was that the Innkeeper casually revealed that he was working on another project that took up his attention. Ripley was a good judge of power, so he instantly judged that Innkeeper was one of the most, if not the most powerful Dao Lord he had ever met. Yet for something to occupy all his time and attention, it must be monumentally important - especially if he chose not to oversee the Inn personally.

Ripley could only think of one possible option: the Innkeeper was about to ascend to a higher realm!

Holy freaking shi-