The Innkeeper

There were countless races in the universe, more than Lex could ever know. Of them, there were surely many who were monstrously powerful, perhaps even more so than dragons. The Celestial race was one such example.

If looked at only using face value, then dragons were born as Earth Immortals, but Celestials were born in the Celestial Immortal level. By that comparison, they were much more powerful, and indeed their influence was unquestionable. Lex knew this because the small bits of information the Rhinocentaurs provided often mentioned them and their Celestial court.

But while they were incredibly powerful, Lex knew no distinguishing features about them save that they looked very similar to humans. Similarly, the other powerful races he knew all had incredible powers, such as the devils unquestionable control over demons, but no race seemed to be as well known as the dragons.

Who did not know about their insatiable greed? Who did not know about their unquestionable strength? Who did not cower when they brought their Might to bear? Similar to all those things, the fame of dragon's breath was also unsurpassed. It was their most powerful attack, and thus, it was incomparable, and could not be suppressed.

Even though Lex was merely using a Glyph, and was recreating the weakest version of dragon fire, and could barely be considered a training aid for actual dragons, within the Nascent realm even this contained devastating destructive capabilities.

Not only did every single one of the Trees defenses vaporize upon coming into contact with the crimson flames, even the energy used to create those techniques became chaotic and berserk, breaking free of the Tree's control, and causing it to suffer a minor cultivation deviation.

But before it could even feel the effects of such a thing, or rather, before it would even register that something had gone amiss with its cultivation, the Tree came into contact with the flames.

The damage was not limited to its soul at all as its entire body burst into flames so suddenly, it was as if someone used a flamethrower to light a tanker of crude oil on fire! The resulting explosion was so massive that Lex's instincts finally tingled a sense of danger, and he immediately teleported the battalion away.

Lex, however, remained since he had to ensure that the tree did not escape, not to mention he was confident in his own defense. Yet the wisdom of such a decision came into question almost immediately.

The Tree of Heaven, its entire body which rose up into the heavens and beyond, was bathed in yellow and golden flames, but those were not dragon fire. No, that was just the consequence of the heat of dragon fire. The atmosphere itself, alongside the tree, and spontaneously combusted when it came into contact with that crimson torrent due to its immense heat.

When the dragon fire finally reached the Tree, it was as if all that it touched was kindling, and that too soaked in highly combustible liquid. The Tree exploded.

There was a flash of white light so bright that, for a brief moment, it erased all other colors. In the entire realm there was nothing else save for the white light. Then came the blast.

Even though Lex had teleported all the workers away, he knew immediately that the resulting devastation of the dragon fire would reach them no matter where they were. Let alone them, the sanctity of the entire continent was at risk.

Actually, that was incorrect. There was no risk. It was certain that the entire continent was about to be wiped from existence. Perhaps Lex had underestimated the might of dragon fire, or the Tree of Heaven just made for excellent firewood. Regardless, as soon as the flash of white hit him, Lex's mind went into overdrive and he knew that if he didn't do something to contain this blast the consequences would be dire.

Time seemed to slow down for Lex as all the knowledge he had accumulated since he began his cultivation journey came together, and turned into something more.

Under the white light of annihilation, Lex recalled his earliest days. Marlo had said the best defense was offense - kill the enemy before they could harm you. Regal Embrace said the best defense was being so ridiculously tough that nothing could scratch him - just stand there and watch them struggle to scratch your skin. Experience told him that no matter how high his defense was, there were too many enemies who existed far beyond his level so he could not just rely on it - even if he was the toughest Foundation cultivator in all existence, an Earth Immortal could squish him like a big.

Arrays used the energy of the universe to sustain themselves. Spiritual techniques used the energy of the cultivator to give birth to astonishing phenomena. Formations used items and treasures in specific arrangements to bring about certain effects in a specific region. All of them were incredible, but none of them created something new - they were just replicating things that already existed in the universe.

All existence, then, was dictated by their associated laws.

Talk to the hand was one of the techniques he learned, and it created a barrier in front of his hand. Evisceration was one of his favorite attacks, but it used the eyes. What was the difference between using hands and using eyes to bring about an external result?

He had many states of mind which allowed him to think in various ways, such as Flow, Overdrive and Berserk, but at the end of the way it was still his mind doing all that thinking, so why did he need so many techniques?

Impervious Hands was a technique he originally learnt because its defense was ridiculously high, but practically he kept using it because it offered so many other benefits.

He learned Inferno Blade because he wanted new attacks and to train his sword intent, but in actuality he was now using it to gauge whether he was ready to become an Immortal or not.

Nothing was ever straightforward. Everything had obvious benefits, but more than that, they had hidden benefits that only those smart or lucky enough to realize them could unlock.

All these thoughts and millions more ran through Lex's mind in a fraction of a second, and he used all of them to, for the first time ever, create his own technique.