After laughing for a bit, Marlo yanked the disoriented Lex off the ground and skillfully popped his dislocated arm back into its place. After making sure that Lex wasn't hurt anywhere else, Marlo put the handgun back into the briefcase and signaled Lex to follow him. Lex, still in shock at what happened, followed the giant man. The difference between Marlo's steady hand repeatedly firing shocks without any visible change, and himself being launched off his feet after a single shot was too mind-blowing.
They retreated to the lounge, where a butler served them some herbal tea.
"Have some, it'll nourish your body. You've been through a lot lately."
Lex took a sip and was pleasantly surprised. The tea had a very subtle taste of honey, but more importantly, he immediately felt a warm sensation spread through his body. It was like his muscles were being massaged from the inside, making him feel very comfortable.
"This is tea from a hidden monastery near Mount Tupungato. It's something I used to drink when I started body cultivating. It's not useful to me anymore, but I still enjoy the taste so I keep it on hand. For you, though, it should be very beneficial."
"I can tell, thanks," replied Lex, having recovered from his previous shock.
"Do you know why, even as a Body Tempering cultivator, you need to use a spirit gun when it's so difficult to use? It's because regular guns, even high caliber ones, only rely on basic force to deal damage. The basic concept is, if I hit something harder or with more explosive energy, it'll do more damage. In theory, that is not wrong, but in practice, anything with spirit energy is extremely resistant to any force lacking spirit energy. So against a cultivator, in practice, most of the time, even an assault rifle will inflict less damage than the weakest spirit weapon. This is only considering a cultivator's body that has been tempered by spiritual energy and their internal spiritual energy. Body armor, talismans, spirit techniques and anything else a cultivator can use only add more variables to overcome. A normal Foundation realm expert, with his average gear, can easily withstand an attack from a tank.
"The Heavy Harley is named as such because of its heavy recoil, but it is the best gun for someone at Body Tempering to use on the market. Once you raise your level a bit, you'll be able to withstand the recoil better."
Marlo explained a bit, in case Lex was dissatisfied with his weapon, although all of this was common knowledge and if Lex did his own research, he would learn all this sooner or later. During this period, Marlo was relatively calm and went almost fifteen minutes without bursting into laughter. Clearly, he was treating this very seriously.
Lex smiled after listening to his explanation, and said, "I understand. There is no gain for free. If I want to use the gun, I need to improve a bit. You do not need to be concerned, I am very satisfied with it. But you could have just sent the gun to me. Since you called me here, there must be something else you want to discuss as well."
Marlo let out a knowing smile before he chugged his tea in a single gulp and put the cup down. He lazily put his back against his sofa and spread his arms to the side. His appearance looked very casual, yet he gave off the aura of a King in his own kingdom.
"I want to know more about the tests you encountered when you used the key. What were your tasks? What were the dangers? How were you evaluated? What do you think I can expect when I use the key? Since I am about to undertake this test, I should be fully prepared, don't you think?"
Lex smiled, and internally, he was filled with jubilation. Marlo was finally about to use the key.
"The first time I encountered the key, the test was really simple. I was given a cultivation method, and I had to cultivate it at a set time. Who evaluated me, or how they did it I don't know. As a reward, I was given a pill that increased the durability of my body. I'm sure you've already noticed that, compared to others, I can really take a beating."
Marlo only grinned, but said nothing.
"The second time, before the test began, I met someone and was offered something, and if I accepted the offer, I could take the test, otherwise I could go back. What I was offered and who offered it, I don't remember anymore, but I remember thinking that this was a valuable opportunity.
"After accepting, I was sent to a different place. Where that place was, I have no idea, but I remember thinking it felt like a different world. My task was to kill a certain number of zombies and …"
"Zombies, did you say?" Marlo interrupted, leaning forward. "Like in the movies and games?"
"Yes, zombies. If they scratch you, you'll be infected after a certain amount of time. But it's not entirely like movies and games because not all zombies have the same strength. Some are stronger than others. One on one I had no problem fighting them, but the hordes are too dangerous because they're too many and the stronger ones mix in and you can't tell the difference…"
As far as his experience fighting the zombies was concerned, Lex told Marlo everything. If he lied or made something up, there were greater chances of failure. Since he planned on having Marlo fight zombies as well for his test, this was the most appropriate solution. From time to time, Marlo interrupted Lex to ask questions in greater detail or clarify some things. The meeting continued for several more hours before Lex found himself repeating what he already knew.
Still, Marlo asked him again and again to ensure he understood everything. In the end, when they finished, Marlo helped Lex register the gun to his name on the Bluebird portal. As soon as Lex left, he got a text message from Marlo addressing his Beginners Self Defense class where he canceled all classes for the next week, and assigned them some non-mandatory tasks in case they wanted to do some extra practice.
Lex returned to his apartment and immediately returned to the Inn to await Marlo's appearance. A part of him wanted to practice with his gun, but his logical side told him he wasn't ready for that yet and he should not waste his relatively expensive ammunition. First, he would go to a shooting range and work on his aim with regular guns before trying to use the Heavy Harley.
When he returned to the Inn, he also found out that Falak had returned to his room and the soldiers to theirs. Apparently the soldiers were going to leave the Inn but suddenly felt like they could break through to the Foundation Realm. Previously it was all but impossible, but once they recovered from all their old, unhealed injuries due to the recovery pod, their cultivation became smoother. After a few hours to stabilize, they immediately felt like they could break through. They decided to try to see if they could succeed before they returned to their planet, as that would greatly improve their chance of survival.
Eventually, Lex's patience paid off. It still wasn't Marlo, instead Hugo, who left the recovery room and excitedly asked to rent a room for a week. Lex happily accepted the 350MP from the man's credit card, which was followed by another notification from the Inn that he temporarily ignored, and asked Gerard to take Hugo to his room.
When the man left his view, Lex quickly checked his status and was delighted.
New Notification: Hidden Achievement Unlocked!
Hidden Achievement: At maximum Capacity
Reward: Authority +1, 1 Free Inn Expansion, Inn Star Rating + 0.5, + 2000MP
As soon as Lex checked the rewards, a subtle change swept through the Inn. Like a wave, spirit energy rushed across the Inn as the area of the Inn increased exponentially. Lex could not feel the change in spirit energy, but all of his guests were overwhelmed!
The two soldiers, both meditating in their PB rooms, felt a rush of extremely pure spirit energy enter their bodies and suddenly consolidated their cultivation to form their Foundation realm. Their bodies shivered with excitement, but they couldn't afford to stop and continued to cultivate to stabilizing their new realm. Hugo, who hadn't even begun to cultivate in his room yet, felt a wave of spirit energy fill his body and strengthen his Foundation to the point where he almost immediately entered Peak Foundation realm! For the first time in years, Hugo felt excited for a moment before he stabilized his emotions and quickly sat down on the floor and began to cultivate.
The biggest shock, however, was received by Bastet and Falak. When the wave of spirit energy entered the Inn, it wasn't spirit energy that entered their bodies, but a higher and more complex form of energy! Bastet, who was asleep, woke up to a feeling of horror and excitement! Excitement, because she had instantly recovered enough to where she could leave Earth immediately on her own, and horror because she knew all too well what level of power that energy represented. Falak, likewise, knew what it meant and immediately stood outside Bastet's room, awaiting his mistress' exit in case she needed him.
At this moment, Lex didn't know how the changes had affected his guests. As the only person in the Inn unable to feel spirit energy, he did not know how tremendous an opportunity he had missed. His focus was on better understanding his reward and thinking about the hidden achievement.
The land available to the Inn had increased by a couple of acres, that he understood easily enough. The half star rating meant he could now better cater to guests in a higher realm, or at least that's what he assumed. He was looking into all the new things he could do with his newfound authority, and they really were exciting!
With the increase in authority, there were new upgrades for the Inn available for Lex to buy. Firstly, he could increase the size of the building and add new rooms, as well as purchase a private courtyard that could be rented to guests as well. There were three new buildings he could buy as well: a Training room, a Guild room and a Patisserie! The training room had combat dummies at various levels that a person could spar with. The Guild room was less of a place where the Inn offered services and more of a place for guests to interact; guests could put up and accept requests in the guild, at a price, of course. The Patisserie, naturally, was a bakery that sold pastries and sweets - though for that he would need to hire an actual baker. Furthermore, he could increase the level of the buildings he already had as well! Another very important thing that he was rather concerned about was that he could completely purchase AIs for the Inn, though currently he still had some time with Velma and Gerard.
Lex had to think of how he could use these new upgrades to increase the Inn's income. He had only just begun planning when he noticed both Falak and Bastet exiting the Manor. Falak had returned to his form of a bull, and Bastet was once again seated upon his back in her litter. With a warm smile, Lex made his way to the unusual duo. He had been waiting for Bastet to leave her room so he could have an opportunity to talk to her. Alas, his desire would remain unfulfilled.
"Welcome guest, I hope you've rested well."
"Indeed, I have," the cat replied with her previous pomp reduced, though Lex didn't seem to notice. "It has been a very pleasurable experience resting here, but unfortunately I must depart. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality."
Lex was taken aback. He had not expected them to leave so suddenly when they had already paid for a month.
"It's my pleasure to host you. We will keep your room reserved for the rest of your original duration if you wish to return."
The cat hesitated, but eventually said nothing. Internally, she couldn't wait to leave! The power she felt earlier was tremendous, and someone with that strength would not be afraid of her father's influence. That meant that she wasn't really safe, and she did not dare to tarry.
In the end, the two left without saying anything. Leaving the Midnight Inn for a guest was extremely easy, they only needed to think about their intention to leave and they would be returned to the area they were received from - with the golden key in hand. The bull and cat returned to Earth for less than a millionth of a second before they tore open a hole in space and escaped. The tear was quickly repaired and there was no proof of them having ever been there, except for two keys which eventually dropped to the ground.
The two didn't dare take the keys with them, even if it could allow them to return to the Inn as they knew a high-powered being would be able to track them if they carried his treasure. Hours went by and the two keys lay on the barren ground until a hawker from the nearby village was leaving towards the city. He saw a shining glint on the ground and picked them up. He observed them for a while before trying to bite into one of the keys. He wasn't able to leave a mark, which meant it wasn't gold, but regardless, they looked pretty enough to where he could sell them. The hawker added the two keys to his wares. Lex had no idea that his two keys had been abandoned by his most powerful patrons, and then dismissed by a hawker as cheap trinkets, which was for the best, as he would be dumbfounded and unable to react if he did.
*****
In Marlo's apartment, the giant behemoth of a man was nearly ready to depart using the platinum key. He had pushed all his commitments forward and prepared the little gear he planned to take with him. Before him were a few pills that he planned on taking right before leaving, as well as a protective talisman he had planned on activating. But right as he was about to begin, his butler told him he had a guest.
When the man saw who it was, he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. It was Lex's female class fellow in his self-defense class, Matilda. From head-to-toe she was covered in blood, most of it dried, some of it fresh from her wounds. The scene looked very familiar to how Lex had come to him just a short while ago. His new students really didn't like living safely. That thought put a wide grin on his face.
"Come, let me fix you up!" Without asking the young girl anything, he carried her to a small clinic that he had in his apartment. As a multimillionaire, what did he not have in his apartment? He lit up an incense and sprinkled a red powder over Matilda's wounds that made her grimace.
"Clean her up," he said to a nurse who was standing by. "Come to me when you're done."
Marlo walked to his lounge and waited for his student. None of his three students were normal this time around. Lex was someone his family was ordered to investigate - something that would shake the whole world if word got out because everyone would ask the question, who exactly could order around the Bravi family? Lex, as the target of the investigation, naturally wasn't as normal as he tried to portray. His acting was not so bad, but as an experienced man, Marlo could instantly tell when he was hiding something. Then there was Larry, the renown good-for-nothing of the once famous Dershaw family. His reputation was so astounding that when the Dershaw family was destroyed, and the few survivors banished to the moon, he was specially exempt from the banishment because his enemies found it amusing to watch him try to struggle. Finally, there was Matilda Ross. At first glance there didn't seem to be anything too special about her, but in the little over a week that she had been his student she had risen from a stage 1 body tempering cultivator to stage 4! She also picked up combat skills like she was picking up money from the floor and her focus was the most extreme Marlo had ever seen.
Marlo continued to muse until finally Matilda entered the room. It appeared as if she had taken a shower and had changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt, with most of her body being wrapped in bandages under her clothes.
"How are you feeling?" Marlo asked, his voice filled with amusement instead of concern.
"Excellent," Matilda replied, as if she did not look like she was at death's door. "I need a little help. I want to enter the Grand Canyon tournament in two months, I need to get an invitation but I don't plan on joining any organization."
"You know, you need to be at least a Qi Training cultivator to join, right?"
"Don't I have two whole months to reach it?" Matilda asked nonchalantly, before getting up to leave. Marlo burst into an excited laughter as he thought about what his student was planning. He never actually said he would help her, and she didn't stay long enough to chitchat, either. It was as if just letting her intentions be known was enough. When she left Marlo's building, two Bluebird agents were waiting for her, wanting to take her in for questioning. She expected as much, and didn't resist. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere as they escorted her, and her eyes were filled with determination.
*****
Larry Dershaw, the heir to the family that used to be the richest in all of North America, slowly picked himself up off the floor with wobbling arms. He had a black eye and several bruises, but that's what one should expect when they accept a job as a sparring partner in the Greavers Club. The Greavers Club was a small business that catered to the newly rich. They catered to those who had just entered the cultivation world and had not had enough time to build up their resources and foundation. To train their children in live combat, they would join the Greavers Club and pay for sparring partners - though lately they had a tremendous demand for one specific partner: Larry. Who didn't like to take advantage of those who were down on their luck?
Since Larry got paid for it with resources, he usually accepted all requests. The Greavers Club would cover his medical expenses anyway, and weapons weren't allowed, so he never got seriously hurt. If his opponents tried attacking too viciously, the Club had overseers to stop them. Even as amusing as it was to bully others, they couldn't afford an inquiry by Blue Bird.
"See you tomorrow, kid," said a particularly fat man as he watched Larry leave the practice room. Larry didn't respond, but the fat man didn't mind and simply watched him leave with a mocking look on his face. Who could believe that the welp before him once underwent a $300 billion procedure to allow him to cultivate, but still failed to do so? Nobody knew why he could cultivate now, but nobody cared too much either. Not everyone in the cultivator community took pleasure in bullying him, but everyone took him as an example of how quickly the mighty can fall in the cultivation world.
Larry was oblivious to all of this. Deep in his heart, he knew the only reason he was continuing to struggle was because he had seen a small glimmer of hope. Would that glimmer of hope be strong enough to carry him on his journey? Even he didn't know.
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