Chapter 1519 — 1519: Primordial Garden

Although Lex remained largely unaware of the ramifications of the projection of the pair of eyes that appeared during his breakthrough to the Immortal realm, he was not completely unaware. In fact, it was basically impossible to not hear about the pair of eyes that appeared all across the universe, any place a humanoid race existed, and somehow caused them to experience an elevation in talent of some sort.

Or, well, in Lex's case, he didn't hear about the whole universe, but he'd heard enough about it. The rumors existed in his Inn, as well as inside the Origin realm and even the Crystal realm. That was enough to give him some idea of what the projection caused by his breakthrough had done.

The rise in talent was minor, almost inconsequential. But the scale was absolutely unbelievable, which was the true reason there was endless gossip about it. More importantly, the effect of the projection was identical to the effect of his physique.

As such, when the guest in front of him refused to reveal the identity of who he was supposed to protect, Lex was still fairly certain that it was him.

Although one could ask how anyone could discover that the projection had been caused by Lex, considering that Nuwa was supposed to be the patron of the Humanoid Alliance, and the true source of its power, he wasn't too surprised by it.

If he had to guess, just based on the random bits of information he had, he could easily say that she was probably above the Dao Lord level. Or perhaps even two or three realms above that - if such realms even existed. Who could really say?

If anything, his recent experiences had informed him of how little he really understood about the universe. While Dao Lords appeared to be the largest, and most powerful force any organization could have, that was just on the surface. If even he could get in touch with this level of information, then the secrets those very organizations held surely had something to do with a level above Dao Lord, right?

Regardless, Lex was fairly certain that the patron, or founder, or creator of the Humanoid Alliance - whatever the Mothers official position was - was interested in protecting him because of his ability to improve the talent for all humanoid races.

Although Lex hardly ever made use of his physique, for obvious reasons, he couldn't even imagine how powerful it would become as he grew stronger. If he ever managed to enter the Dao realm, he could only begin to speculate how drastic the effect of the subsequent projection would be.

Maybe he could, single-handedly, raise the level of humans on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum by a vast margin. In fact, he could not even begin to imagine the kind of Karma that would involve.

What Lex couldn't begin to guess, however, was who the worker was who was all but ready to discover his Dao. If he really had to guess, he'd say Qawain, since he was really into swordsmanship and was, himself, a sword. But somehow, he doubted it. It couldn't be that easy.

"Fret not. I do not need an army of humans for any purpose. In fact, it is in my best interest to ensure that they continue to grow and thrive in a safe and secure environment. As such, I cannot help but think that they are already too exposed. After all, if I can stumble onto Z using a long forgotten sword technique, then so can others. The ideal situation would be if they were completely hidden from view.

"Barring that, since I have a feeling you would not want to replace all of your workers overnight, it would be best to make them as inconspicuous as possible. One of the best ways to do that would be to begin hiring another, very conspicuous race as workers at your Inn."

"In case it was not clear," the Innkeeper said, immediately taking advantage of a slight pause in Wu Kong's speech. "The Midnight Inn does not utilize any form of bonded or coerced labor."

Just as the Innkeeper said that, he was reminded of the two Rhinocentaurs, who were literally being forced to work at the Inn in exchange for their restricted freedom.

"At least, the Inn does not partake in such things unless the target is someone who has actively acted against the Inn by breaking multiple significant rules."

Wu Kong smiled mischievously.

"Yes, I understand. I've seen the kind of environment you've built here. It's rare for such a large number of beings to foster such familial feelings for one another, yet you have somehow created exactly such a place that enables that. I doubt that's the kind of thing you'd want to compromise. But what if I told you that there's a race out there who would make excellent workers for your Inn, and they wouldn't compromise the environment you've built either? If anything, they'd fit right in perfectly."

"I would not be averse to giving them an opportunity to take the test to become an employee," said the Innkeeper calmly. "Whether they can grasp the opportunity or not would be, ultimately, up to them. Naturally, there wouldn't be any backdoors opened for them."

Wu Kong resisted the urge to grimace as he maintained his mischievous smile. This accursed Innkeeper. He was not playing by the script. Shouldn't he ask what this race was, or how he could find them?

"Tell me, Innkeeper, have you ever heard of the Primordial Garden?" Wu Kong proceeded to ask.1

"As a matter of fact, I have," was all the Innkeeper said.

Lex immediately thought back to the Crystal realm, where he had heard of the Primordial Garden. The Crystal realm was limited to the Earth immortal realm, and it was all but impossible to break through a higher realm. But, as with almost everything else in the universe, there could be exceptions under special circumstances. If anyone broke through the Earth Immortal realm and entered the Heavenly Immortal realm, they would ascend from the Crystal realm to the Primordial Garden - an entirely different realm.

From what he recalled the Crystal race had some kind of influence there as well.

The Primordial Garden was mentioned in chapter 685 - for those that want a refresher.