The Innkeeper

Chapter 1354  Own path

"There's something wrong with my system?" Ereboth asked with a mixture of confusion and shock.

"Yes," the Innkeeper confirmed. "I do not know the details since I do not want to pry into my guests personal details besides what's evident on the surface. If you wish, I can take a look."

"Yes, please! If there is something I can do to fix my system please let me know!"

The Innkeeper merely nodded and said, "I will use a light, gentle probe so as to avoid hurting your soul. Do not resist."

Since Lex fully expected the system to be integrated within Ereboths soul, Lex extended his soul sense to look into the details.

With his quest complete, Lex had already officially lost his authority to peek at others' systems, and Ereboths system interface was already beginning to fade. If he could peek a little before that authority completely disappeared, it would be for the best.

With Ereboth lowering his defenses completely, trusting that the Innkeeper wouldn't want to hurt him at all, he allowed Lex's soul sense to look into his soul. What was originally a weak soul sense to Ereboth instead became an excellent display of the Innkeepers fine control over how to extend a gentle soul sense lest he accidentally hurt the planet.

Lex had often looked into others thoughts and memories, but he rarely looked into others souls. It was, somehow, a lot more private than even the most private memories a person might have.

After all, by looking through the soul, Lex was looking through the very essence of a being down to their innermost core.

When lex peeked in on Ereboth, he expected to see the system. In truth, he did see the system, but he was almost immediately distracted by something else!

There was a soul missing! To be specific, the system user had a soul, and a system also had a soul. Even though a system merged with the user, it should retain its own soul. Even if the two souls somehow fused, there would be obvious signs of alterations to the soul. It was not the kind of thing that could be hidden.

Well, maybe considering that Ereboth had clearly been alive for billions of years, any signs of soul fusion could have slowly been eroded. But Lex chose to believe he'd still spot any signs, after all his own senses were not weak.

But there was no such sign, and between Ereboth and the system there was only one soul!

Countless thoughts ran through Lex's mind as he tried to come up with a possible explanation.

He thought back to Ereboths' story. He had said that his very birth was linked to the system, and though his first few years he was guided by instinct, he happened to complete the system quests based on those instincts.

What if the truth was not as Ereboth thought?

Lex suddenly came up with a theory for what could have happened, and that suddenly even explained why even the system network could do nothing for the situation.

What he suspected was that the anomaly that occurred was that instead of the System system fusing with a living, sentient target, it instead fused with a planet that had no soul. Whether it was by design, or by mistake, that fusion ended up granting the planet life. Or rather, it might be more accurate to say that the system's soul moved out of the system, and into the planet.

Lex did not know how the system network operated, but the fact that all systems had souls was something he had already confirmed. A system without a soul might not be able to integrate with the network. In fact, it might even be a good way to retain a functioning system without any supervision.

Lex's eyes flashed as certain thoughts went through his mind, but he dismissed them. There was no need to make a hasty decision. More importantly, he wanted to understand what the limitation on the system's growth was, and if it truly could not allow a user to reach the Dao realm.

If it simply couldn't forcefully raise a user to the Dao realm that was still fine, but if it artificially limited the users realm that would be a problem.

Lex retracted his finger, having finally confirmed as much as he could at the moment. He would learn the details of what stopped the planet slowly over a course of a long, successful business relationship, the seeds of which he would sow now.

"I have learned all I need to learn," the Innkeeper said. "Would you like my advice, or would you simply like me to dissect your problem? Or perhaps you'd like to listen to both."

Excitement! Relief! Gratitude! Countless emotions flooded the now demure planet, leaving no signs of the once bloodthirsty nature that consumed its entire being.

"Please, Innkeeper, enlighten my path. I am willing to pay any price."

The Innkeeper nodded, and directly began his explanation.

"You are no doubt curious about the system anomaly, how to grow your system stronger, and how to become stronger yourself. They are all inevitably linked. I won't go into too much detail, for it will do you no good. All you need to know is that the growth of the system and the user have always been linked, but not entirely dependent on each other. However, your situation is a little unique in that your system grows alongside you.

"Now that in itself has not been an issue so long as the system can support your growth. But you have now reached the end of that path. To proceed forward, you must no longer be the one being carried, but must instead carry your system. "You see, so far, for the entire duration of your existence, you have done nothing independently and everything you have done has revolved around the desires and designs of your system. You have done nothing of your own volition - or at least, nothing on your own that wasn't in some way linked to or with something relating to the system.

"So far, such devotion has helped you, but now it is what is crippling you. Before you even begin to search for a way to become stronger, you must first search and discover who you are without the system to drive the direction of your desires."

The Innkeeper paused, allowing Ereboth some time to consider his words. In truth, Lex was also gauging Ereboths reaction. He had no idea if what he was saying was accurate or not. How was he supposed to know the path to the Dao? Moreover, how was he supposed to know what the planet had and had not done in its long life.

All that he was saying as a result of his deductions. He just needed to watch out for signs that he had said something too drastically different from reality.

"You must begin a new journey, not necessarily separating yourself from the system, but acknowledging that it is a tool existing to serve you in completing a purpose. It, in itself, is not the purpose. Once you realize this, and truly embody this with your thoughts and actions, you will have taken a step in the right path."

"A… a tool…" Ereboth repeated, at a complete loss.

Lex waited patiently for Ereboth to recompose himself before he began.

"To separate yourself from the influence of your system without actually getting rid of it is not such a simple thing. It might have been easier if you could get away from the system entirely for a period of time, but that also wouldn't be helpful, for whether you admit it or not, the system is a part of you.

"As impossible as it sounds, this is only the first step on the path you wish to walk, with every subsequent step seeming even more impossible. Cultivation, to begin with, is to challenge the natural order of one's birth, and do the impossible, so this should come as no surprise."

Lex stopped once more, allowing the planet to come to terms with what Lex had said. Honestly, if Lex pitched some ideas right now, the planet would listen to them no doubt. But Lex wanted to cement his position even more. He wanted the planet to ask him for some guidance now that he had stated the problem so clearly. He wanted to establish himself with a superior position, and that would come with patience.

Being too eager to offer help might reveal a sign of weakness, and working with this temporarily suppressed homicidal planet Lex could not take even the slightest risks.

Lately it felt like he was working with more and more planets as of late. He hoped this wasn't some kind of pattern or something.

He already had his hands full with regular guests, he didn't want to consider what it would take to host an entire star system in the Inn.

"Innkeeper so… how… how do you think I should do that?" the planet finally asked.