The Innkeeper

The suit of armor struggled with all its might, but the grip Lex had around its arms and torso did not let it muster much strength. It used various techniques, but since they were mostly fire based they did nothing to Lex.

Lex had not figured out how the suit of armor made a clone and disappeared despite the fact that it had repeated the move a few times already, but Lex had figured out that as long as they were touching, the technique wouldn't work.

So despite all its effort and resistance, it turned out to be nothing more than its dying throes - or it would have been if Lex continued to use the technique the entire time. Space Warp was extremely expensive in terms of energy consumption, and he could not keep it active for more than a couple of seconds.

So, after using it for exactly half a second, Lex stopped. His main objective was not to defeat the armor like this, but only to severely injure it, which he did. Blood squirted out of the numerous holes that had appeared in Lex's body, but none of them seemed to weaken him.

The armor, on the other hand, was in a much worse condition than Lex. After all, Lex had made sure that the armor bore the brunt of the strange ash that space broke down into.

Weakened, but not defeated, the armor looked at him as it seemed to be preparing a counterattack. But Lex had no intention of giving it such an opportunity.

He summoned his second ceremonial divine item, his self made Butter Knife. Although the weapon was not too sharp, or powerful, as of yet, it was at least durable. Since his hands were behind the armor, as he still gripped it in a bear hug, he stabbed the knife in its back after coating it in his intent, which seemed to work.

With the integrity of the armor already compromised, one big slash was all it took to cut the entire backplate of the armor.

It suddenly lost power, and fell limp, but just to be sure, Lex stabbed it in the helmet before slicing it in two, before allowing the armor to fall out of his arms.

He stood over the armor, panting and wounded. If he had taken his time, then he could have probably finished the fight without taking any major injuries. But time was exactly what he lacked, so he had to make some compromises.

But if this was the difficulty level already, he could imagine how difficult the next test would be. It was unlikely he could pass it quickly, or even at all as he was right now!

Were there actually Golden core cultivators out in the universe who could make it through so many tests?

He… he had to ask Cassandra. Lex put away his two divine items, picked up the sword used by this particular suit of armor, and exited the test to find the two figures waiting for him. Cassandra, upon seeing his condition, actually looked disappointed.

"Are there really other people who can pass these tests at my level?" Lex asked as he waited for her to heal him. She would summon a suit of armor to control divinity to do so - at least that's what she used to do while they were training.

"It is rare to find someone with as many advantages as you, though not impossible. But throughout history there have been many humans who, despite having fewer advantages, were more versatile than you. They used weaker weapons to deliver greater damage.

"We can discuss these things another time. The deity you're targeting is still on this level. Get on your Fenrir and sneak up to it immediately. I don't even know if you'll be able to avoid its detection anymore, it is growing strong fast. I also can't heal you, if that's what you were expecting. If I use divine energy on this level, the deity will sense it immediately."

"What about using some of the suits of armor as backup?" Lex asked as he climbed the pup who did not mind his bloody state. Besides, his abnormally fast healing had already stopped most of the bleeding.

"That is not how it works. I do not have the authority to use training dummies in this manner. Any and all damage I inflict using the dummies, I also have to heal. Besides, if I summon any suits of armor strong enough to defeat the deity, it will sense the danger and escape. Approaching it stealthily is the only option."

"Well, you don't need to worry about him running away even if he does sense me," Lex said reassuringly. "We have an old grudge to settle. I doubt he'll miss the chance to get his revenge."

"Hurry now, and remember what I've taught you. Damage the core of the clone as quickly as possible. Since this is not its true body, there will be some ceremonial item inside its body which can sustain its divinity."

"I know," said Lex and leaned forward on the pup, so that their bodies were close together.

"This is going to be a big hunt. Do your best," he said to Fenrir, even as he mentally prepared himself.

The reason he took a new sword, despite the fact that it was normal length and not eight feet long, was that it was sharper and deadlier than the one he was using previously. He did not want to give up a single advantage.

The pup, well aware that their quarry was no easy prey, began to use its various techniques to hide them. He removed their presence, washed away all of Lex's smell, eliminated their energy signatures and did his absolute best to blend it.

It was impossible to completely take a deity by surprise, as divinity literally was of the min energies responsible for divination and future sight. But that also did not mean that deities were all knowing. They would try to get as close as possible before they were detected. Sometimes, even if one saw the future coming, they could not avoid it.