Chapter 1917 — Chapter 1917 New race

All the monsters that were under Vinei's command were becoming Heaven Immortals. Millions and millions of them, each one nurturing their strength since time unknown. In fact, Vinei himself was undergoing a tribulation, although his was a little different.

He was not undergoing a tribulation to become a Heaven Immortal. Rather, he was bearing the universe's punishment for forsaking his role as a Deity!

Just like when diviners and oracles, who foresaw a future that they should not have seen or revealed, were punished through a tribulation, many others who earned the ire of the universe suffered as well. Using his divine fire to baptise his physical body to build himself the ultimate foundation for when he gave up divinity gave him a huge advantage. In fact, his entire journey to the very peak of the Celestial realm would be a piece of cake after this. But he also provoked the universe through his actions, and thus he earned a tribulation.

Moreover, the hold he had over monsters was broken. Through loyalty, or respect, or maybe even habit, he might still be able to control monsters. But no longer would his hold be absolute!

A new race, a race born merely through Vinei's obsession and manipulation of the Crystal realms laws, had been unleashed onto the universe, freed from the chains that originally bound their race from spreading. Henceforth, anywhere in the universe where shadow or darkness could be found, there was a chance for a monster to be born.

On the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum a new name appeared, and immediately jumped up to the Immortal tier, reaching the Heaven Immortal list. They were no longer simply called monsters. Instead, the name granted to them by the list was Abyssals.

Originally they existed only to support Vinei's mythology and lore. As a Mythical Phoenix who turned into a Deity, the absolute amount of power he wielded as a Deity was unfathomable. Mythical beings had the ability to influence how the laws of their realm developed, and unlike the Sol and Frio birds who manipulated the laws of the realm to depend on them and their kin, Vinei had tied the darkness of the realm to his legend.

According to his myth, the monsters born from the darkness owed him absolute allegiance since they were born from the traces of energy that leaked out from his body. By staying longer and longer in the darkness, they could grow independently, absorbing energy from the realm!

That is why all monsters were born weak, and took millions of years to grow strong. In theory, Vinei's mythology was not too strong, his ability still within the confines of what was possible. But allowed to accumulate and grow infinitely, the monsters that had been born pathetically weak had become true nightmares.

Now, freed from the chain that linked them to Vinei, they did not cease to exist. Instead, the universe corrected the flaw in their laws, allowing them to become a race of their own.

What Vinei had accomplished was no small feat, and it clearly could not have been done by accident. Something like this would require immense foresight and meticulous planning over a period of many years.

Then again, Eclipse thought the Innkeeper was a Dao King, so who was to say what was real?

The Dao Congress couldn't care less. A new race? They were born everyday in the universe, and every day another race went extinct. Such things didn't bother them. The only thing that mattered to them was how this was affecting the climate in the Primordial Garden. Some of the plants and herbs here required very specific climates to continue their growth.

Meanwhile, Lex finally reached the final portion of the obstacle course. It had only taken him a total of eleven days.

While that may sound like a lot, considering his distance and the types of obstacles he had to overcome, it was a genuine feat deserving of mass recognition and praise.

"Hey Mary, I have a very serious question," Lex suddenly asked internally, not daring to speak out loud, or even summon her hologram to speak to her. "The system is hinting that I should hold the tea party in the Primordial Garden, but I'm concerned if the Host Attire will be enough to keep my identity hidden. After all... things aren't exactly normal here, nor are the residents ordinary." There was a very specific reason Lex was asking this question. Far in front of him was the pool where he was supposed to find the belt. He could finally see it. The end was in sight, so he needed to decide.

He could either take permission to have the tea party here, or he could ask for a reward that'll help him with his Dao body and have the tea party elsewhere. Over the past few days, as he was exposed to just how amazing the Garden was, he had formulated a plan of his own to extort- eh, no, that wasn't the proper terminology.

Lex had thought of ways to bring trade and commerce to the residents of the Primordial Garden, even if only for a short time. Yet he dared not do it without permission, and without assurance that he could get away without attracting trouble.

"There's a very easy way of ensuring that your identity will remain secret," Mary said. "Your system has recovered enough that it is starting to exhibit some new, powerful functions. If you can upgrade your system once, you will likely unlock the means to hide your identity even in the garden. By the way, before accepting the system upgrade, I recommend you upgrade your butterknife once as well - it'll be worth the investment."

Lex pursed his lips.

"To upgrade the Inn I just need to make a number of new taverns, which is not easy but it's not hard either. The Butter Knife is the issue - for that I need to accept a Heavens Puppet as a guest of the Inn. How am I going to achieve something like that? Besides, is a regular upgrade to the butter really worth the distraction and extra effort? If it were a full powered attack, it would be totally worth going for it first, but the way I see it, a regular upgrade is not worth the extra effort of squeezing it in my already tight schedule."

"Hey, it was just my suggestion," Mary defended herself. "If you think your time is tight and it's not a priority, then you don't have to do it. At the end of the day, you are the one who has to bear the responsibility of the Inn and the system."

Lex nodded, but the clenched his jaw. Time was tight, yes, but if he rushed... maybe... would it be worth the risk? Maybe if he planned things correctly it might work out. Mary had rarely led him wrong, so he was inclined to trust her advice.

"Well, even if I want to go get a Heavens Puppet as a guest, where would I find one?"

Lex didn't mean to ask Mary - he hadn't expected her to know the answer. Yet almost immediately he noticed a hint of hesitation in the silence that followed.

"Do you have a suggestion?" he asked.

"Well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it?" Mary asked hesitantly, unsure if it was a

good idea to say this. But then again, it was already too late. "Heavens Puppets will reside in Heaven - you just need to go there."