The Innkeeper

Chapter 1308  History of humanity

Although Cornelius might not fully understand what Cassandra meant, or at most might suspect what she was hinting at, Lex could tell what she was considering. She was already on her way to becoming a Dao Lord.

Truthfully, Lex had no idea how long to expect such a thing to take. Each of his breakthroughs had not taken so long, but it was only after becoming an immortal that he was getting a hint of how much time these things take.

He was always an outlier, but even so, now when he began to meditate or contemplate on various laws, minutes would turn into days without notice. It was, perhaps, the nature of greater powers that even considering them took greater time.

So he was suspecting that, whenever Cassandra finally did take that leap into the realm of Dao Lord, she might find Cornelius once more and invite him to join her in her venture.

”I do not know how long your cultivation session will last, but I will always try my best for the sake of my people,” Cornelius said, but for once exhaustion became apparent on his face. ”But I do not know how much longer I can hold on to this realm, at the very least. You are right about one thing. It is difficult to face greater powers on your own. But this is exactly the situation that humans must get used to, and learn to overcome. We will use whatever means we have available.”

Cassandra only nodded, before her body suddenly became illusory. She was fading away in front of their eyes, so as a last gesture, she pointed her finger towards Cornelius. Her body turned into a purple light that shot into the Kingʼs body, suddenly beginning to heal it.

Yet instead of feeling better, Cornelius immediately fell to his knees and began to cough violently, until eventually a large, writhing insect similar to a millipede was coughed out.

Immediately, he felt much better, and as his gaze fell upon the suffering insect, disgust filled him. Cornelius stood up and crushed the bug underneath his foot.

Energy and vitality filled his body, restoring the strength he had lost, and in fact enhancing it even more. His realm did not increase, but his strength did.

Yet he did not dwell on that, and instead looked towards Lex.

”You always surprise me every time I see you. Student of Cassnadra Vans Agnew - I canʼt believe it. Do you know how many people would clamor for just the sight of her? And not just humans.”

”I think youʼre more familiar with her background than I am,” Lex admitted truthfully. ”Although, I admit, I havenʼt been the best student either.”

Cornelius froze. He pointed his finger at Lex and wanted to say something, yet words failed him.

”What?” Lex asked.

”Do you… do you know nothing about the history of humanity?”

Lex shrugged.

”I havenʼt been to a fancy academy like you. Besides, Iʼm too busy working on my strength, growing stronger to be worried about studying history.”

Cornelius shook his head, and threw himself back on the sofa. It seemed Lexʼs words were a bigger blow to him than even the insect that crawled out of his mouth.

”Itʼs important to at least know a brief history. But I suppose with the Innkeeper to support you, you do not need to be worried about such things. Cassandra comes from a legendary family. Although humanity no longer has a Dao Lord, that has not always been the case. There was once a time when humanity had Dao Lords, and more than one.

”Though itʼs extremely rare for Dao Lords to die, generally speaking, during realm wars, that is usually the aim of the enemy. Cassandraʼs mother, Jacinda Vans Agnew, was the last Demi-Dao Lord of humanity, and it is said that her family originated from a Dao Lord as well, though itʼs impossible to confirm things like that. Her mother died in the same battle as her son, supposedly. As far as humans are concerned, her family is the closest thing to true nobility that exists.”

Lex raised an eyebrow. He always knew Cassandra was strong - after all, she proclaimed herself the strongest living human in the universe. But heʼd been too preoccupied with his own issues to pay much attention to her. Heʼd like to say that heʼd make it up to her by being a better student now, but chances were high that the next time he saw her, she would be a Dao Lord.

Lex sighed. Suddenly, he felt a bit of pressure on his shoulders, but these were things to worry about in the future.

”I truly didnʼt know that. I will look into her history a little more. But for now, Cornelius, we have other things to discuss. One of the reasons I came here was so that you and Cassandra could talk. Now that that is done with, we can proceed to my personal task.”

”What is that?” Cornelius asked. ”I have to warn you, the situation in the Crystal realm is a lot more chaotic than before. Under Vineiʼs lead, the monsters are rampaging against the Kraven. At first we thought that was a good thing, but we were suddenly betrayed by the other races, who stopped fighting the Kraven and began invading each other instead. At first everyone was confused, but later I found out that the Ventura exam had already begun.

”The examinees want to take control over the whole realm, for which theyʼve attacked all sides. Even the Crystal race is not safe from them. Theyʼve already assumed control over the Sentinels, and theyʼve brought in entire armies to assume control of the realm. At least before, there was an order to the chaos. Now, itʼs impossible to tell what will happen in the next minute, let alone the next hour.”

”Canʼt you file a complaint in Ventura or something? I thought you were a member too. This realm was already on the verge of destruction. All this canʼt be good for the realm, all things considered.”