The Innkeeper

After Lex took another 100 steps, he developed somewhat of a rhythm. The rhythm helped reduce the strain on his mind which was focused on even the subtlest movements he made with his body during this time. The hyper focused state he was in was also one of the reasons he had failed to notice his growing and evolving aura.

What he did notice, however, was that while he had expected each progressive step to grow harder, sometimes it would get easier instead. He could not understand why the strain would reduce, and he didn't have the mental capacity to spare to analyze such a thing.

Now that the strain on his mind had eased up a little, he could focus on the next thing, which was to speed up. He had to be especially careful with this as he did not want a recurrence of him tripping and injuring himself. His task was already hard enough without accumulating more injured joints.

One, almost completely irrelevant, benefit that Lex got from this was that he refined his posture a lot. After all, walking and maintaining balance was a lot easier with proper posture.

With his efforts now refocused, his speed began to increase at a steady pace. But so focused was he, not just with his mind and body, but even with his instincts and everything else that he had at his disposal, that Lex began to miss out on other things he would have normally noticed.

For example, his cultivation technique finally started producing results. Amazingly, cultivation under such immense pressure sped up his cultivation by over a hundredfold! His Golden core started to shrink in size, but that was not a bad thing. It was becoming more compressed and therefore only allowed purer and higher quality energy to enter. 

His body also started to undergo a subtle refinement. It was not that he was gaining more strength, but the elasticity of his muscles was increasing. Moreover, the way his muscles connected to one another and his bones were also subtly changing. This would allow him finer control over his strength and allow his body to tolerate more stress with greater ease.

Alongside his sweat, fine black grains of impurities also started to be pushed out of Lex's body. Although Lex had previously undergone cleansings, as he grew in cultivation level and strength, what was considered essential and waste material inside his body also changed.

For example, there were certain minerals and nutrients that his body required to strengthen and hold his body together while he built his Foundation. But once in the Golden Core realm, his strength and level had increased so much that those same materials that once held things together now became sources of instability. Of course, that was only relatively speaking as the body could easily tolerate their negative effects as they were common in all cultivators.

But now, due to the immense pressure his body was cultivating under, they were being pushed out, cleansing his body as it grew stronger.

Another thing that Lex failed to notice was a figure that appeared in the same hall. It was the dwarf, Barley, and much like Lex, he slammed into the ground. But while Lex recovered and moved on, Barley was already in such a poor state that he could barely tolerate the force.

Quickly, or as quickly as he could manage, he dragged himself back out of the hall. But as he sat on the steps, panting and heaving, his sight fell onto Lex.

With his back held up straight, he walked at a steady pace with all the seeming ease in the world, despite being under the immense pressure of the dragon. In front of him, the monstrosity that was a dragon stood calmly, his eyes seemingly focused on the approaching figure.

Although Barley knew that the dragon was dead, or at least it should be, that is not what it seemed like. From where he sat, it seemed like the dragon was crouching down on the ground, his posture docile and his tail safely curled up, and he dared not move as the tiny figure approached him.

It was crazy. It did not make sense. Such a thing was impossible. But the confident gait that Lex had walking forward, his head held up high looking directly at the dragon, his broad strong shoulders that did not seem like they were weighed down by the Dragons Might at all, all combined together to make an image that looked like he had the dragon cowed.

Feeling weak, bitter, and unwilling, Barley pulled out a recording device. This was not just a video recorder, as this device would record everything, from the scents, the sounds, the temperature, and even the pressure of the Dragons Might, inside of it. This way, when someone reviewed the content later, it would be as if they were there in person.

He began recording, and even whispered an introduction.

"My name is Barley Holdinson, and I am on the planet Frigra. My team and I snuck into the great dragon's hoard, but… but this is what we found. I do not know who that person is, but I do know his name… is Lex William."

The video lacked a full explanation, for example the fact that the dragon in the recording was already dead. But he left it that way on purpose. If he couldn't get the dragon's treasure, at least he'd leave here with a video that will make him an overnight sensation on the Henali Portal. He would set a very high price for viewing this recording, and thus set himself up for a lifetime.

As for what this Lex might think of his actions… well, with the whole realm knowing that Lex looted a dragon's hoard he would not live for long. Who cared what he thought? Barley was not being malicious on purpose. He just never even considered things from any other point of view at all.