The Innkeeper

Chapter 1445 Five percent of my true power

Chapter 1445  Five percent of my true power

While Jack was devising a way to grow in strength, Lex had also considered what his own growth would look like. As an immortal he already had a tenet, and it was slowly and steadily growing stronger.

He could already see and understand laws, and manipulate them within reason. He could create formations with the blink of an eye, and could completely rewrite how the world worked according to his whims. Of course, all of this was only true within reason, but when considering that the one the reason is being applied to is Lex, the scale itself became much larger.

That is to say, he was strong, and didn't see any obvious weakness in himself. As such, he wondered what he would gain when he reached the Heavenly Immortal realm. So far, each realm played a fundamental part in his growth, each distinct from the others.

The answer was actually pretty easy. Predictably, there was an order to laws, just as there was an order to energies.

Certain laws were Base level laws, present everywhere in the universe. Then, there were Fundamental laws, which were slightly more esoteric but at the same time present everywhere in the universe, and made up the functionality that allowed base laws to exist.

Fundamental laws were superior to Base laws in terms of hierarchy. Similarly, there were a number of other sets of laws, each with their own place in the hierarchy of laws, such as Natural Laws, Prime Laws, and so forth.

Earth Immortals, as it turned out, could only access Base laws, whereas Heavenly Immortals gained the ability to sense deeper, more esoteric laws, though there was no defined range or limit of what they should be able to sense or not.

Besides gaining the ability to sense deeper laws, the exact accomplishment of each Heavenly Immortal was highly individualistic, and could not be predicted on the basis of race or species.

The concepts of the universe that had so far eluded him, such as Destiny, Fate, Karma, and so on, would finally be accessible to him to understand. Laws with a higher hierarchy naturally have a suppressive effect on lower level laws, as well as a certain influence.

The reason why he was looking into all of this at the given moment was because he had run into a most unexpected issue.

Lex looked to his left and saw Velma encouragingly giving him a thumbs up. In her other hand, she held an emergency first aid kit, and behind her stood a few medics. To his right stood Gerard, who merely gave him an acknowledging nod.

Besides the two of them, Lex was also surrounded by hundreds of other beings of all races, observing him eagerly and with anticipation.

Sitting directly opposite to him was a pretty elf with bright red hair and a special gleam in her eyes. To be more specific, the gleam in her eye was due to the excitement she felt as a result of her rather unusual interests.

"How did we end up here again? All I did was ask for your name?" Lex spoke weakly.

"Nonsense! Our situation here is very standard and matter of fact. Anyone interested in pursuing me must at least beat me in arm wrestling first," the brunette elf said as she flexed her slender arm.

"But… but all I did was ask your name. I didn't say I was interested in pursuing you!" Lex exclaimed, to which the elf only responded with a look that clearly spelled out her disbelief.

There was hooting, chanting and excitement all around them as everyone was eager to see how long Lex lasted. Clearly he was not the first to fall prey to her plot.

"Don't worry, since my cultivation level is higher than yours, I can give you a handicap. How about I fold my other hand behind my back?" she asked.

"That's not- I mean, I'm not- ugh, okay fine, what are the rules?" Lex finally said, too embarrassed about the situation to talk his way out of it. "That's more like it. Now you're talking like a real man. The rules are simple," she said, before summoning a table between both of them, and then placing her right hand down on it.

"First rule, the elbow cannot leave the table," she said.

"Naturally," Lex responded, putting his elbow down on the table as well.

"Second rule, the moment the back of your hand touches the table you lose, and you cannot manipulate the table into turning upwards towards your hand. The table must remain flat!"

"Obviously," said Lex, as if the thought had never crossed his mind.

"Third rule, you cannot attack your opponent."

"Yes, that makes sense."

"Fourth rule, you can use your alternate hand to grab onto the desk if you wish."

"Sounds fair."

"Besides that, you can use any law, technique, ability or anything else to increase your own strength during the arm wrestling match. I'll limit myself to Base laws so that it's not unfair."

"No need," Lex said. "Since you're a Heavenly Immortal, you should use all the tools available to you. I will do the same."

The elf raised an eyebrow, but merely nodded.

"Just so you know, bravado cannot change my heart. To court me, you must defeat me in arm wrestling. That is the basic standard."

Lex did not know whether to laugh or cry as he looked on at this beautiful elf. Ah, beauty really does let one get away with anything.

"In that case, before we begin, I must also make one thing clear," said Lex as he wore a mischievous smile. "To earn my romantic interest, you must at least make me use 50% of my power."

The surrounding crowd started whistling and hooting, appreciating Lex's attitude. It was all fun and games, and the elf was about to respond, when suddenly something happened.

Lex let a bit of his aura loose. What he was emanating was not Domination, which could suppress everyone and everything around him. Instead, it was the natural aura of his body, which carried all his innate charm.

This was normally the kind of thing Lex kept suppressed mostly because he was too used to trying to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. But now that he was in the limelight anyway…

The crowd was suddenly stunned silent, as they all looked at Lex in a new light. The young man standing there casually, his muscular yet lean body being complimented by specially tailored clothes, giving off a mysterious yet mischievous feeling.

The spiritual energy around him felt fresh and radiant, like a garden in full bloom during spring, and the air around him carried a pleasant aroma.

Someone in the crowd gulped, and the sound of it broke everyone free from their reverie. Suddenly, they all started to wonder which of them was courting whom.

"Using charm techniques counts as attacking the opponent," the elf said weakly.

"I'm not using any charm techniques," Lex said, as he began rolling up his sleeve, revealing his chiseled forearm which exuded a strength that demanded attention!

When he was ready, he grabbed the table with his left arm, and looked forwards towards the elf, waiting for her.

A flicker of interest flashed through her eyes as she clasped Lex's hand, and grabbed onto the table as well.

A referee appeared and clasped both their hands, holding them tightly.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked, looking at them both. When they both nodded, the referee took a quick step back and exclaimed, "begin!"

Neither of them moved a single inch, or at least it seemed that way, and yet a loud bang exploded out from the center of the room, as if the sound barrier had been shattered.

Lex's expression was casual, and so was the elfs, and yet neither of their hands moved from center.

"You're already better than most Earth Immortals I'll give you that," the elf said admiringly. "But it will take a lot more than that if you want to beat me."

The scenery behind the elf started to change, a vast starry sky appeared behind her, with raging balls of fire traversing through the expanse. As if she herself gained the powers of the stars, the strength she began to exert increased rapidly, and the room suffered from a few more sonic booms, yet from start to finish, Lex's hand did not move at all.

This was an enlightening experience for Lex, for he hadn't had the opportunity to challenge Heavenly Immortals before - at least not like this. In terms of physical strength, there were few who could challenge Lex.

Even Dragons, as long as they were on his level, no longer held an advantage over him. With a body that could directly use brute force to manipulate laws, not even requiring his tenet unless he needed it, the amount of physical strength Lex boasted was not something that could be easily comprehended.

"Congratulations," Lex said with a warm smile. "You've pushed me to about 5%."