The Innkeeper

Chapter 1372  The height of ridiculousness

Bodhi tree? Lex had never heard of it. It was almost as if it didn't make an appearance in almost every cultivation novel he had ever read.

That was because this was one of those rare trees, the knowledge and history of which had been lost to time, with only a scant few retaining their knowledge. Even Zuri, a formidable plant herself and one of the strongest beings in the Origin realm, had never heard of it.

Incidentally, there was a guest at the Midnight Inn who had also heard of, and in fact trained under a Bodhi tree. But such things were so ancient that no one would know of them, and not think to mention it to a random guest in the Inn - especially when that guest was a Dao Lord.

"How can I evolve into the Bodhi tree?" asked Zuri. Although she was herself unfamiliar with this tree, she did not hesitate now that she had made a decision.

"It requires a few steps, but the most important is the transformation of the fortune power in your body to the power of Golden Purity. This will be difficult and intense, absorbing all your power of fortune and converting it into something else. That will be the primary cause of your loss in cultivation. The second thing you will need is a seed of enlightenment, the waters of Mount Buddha, and lastly, you will need to save the life of one with immense Karmic virtue, or to grant someone enlightenment into the secrets of nirvana."

Lex raised an eyebrow. Although he did not know what all these things were, they did not sound easy to-

"Done," said Zuri, interrupting Lex's thoughts. "My clones have collected the necessary materials, and have simultaneously saved 13 billion beings with great Karmic virtue, 300,000 beings of immense Karmic virtue, and one being with visible Karmic virtue."

Lex immediately changed the lesson he was taking away from this experience. Having trillions of clones all across the realm was more useful than it seemed.

The turtle then began to describe to Zuri how exactly to begin the change. The unusual thing was that, unlike almost every growth and power up within the immortal realm, her evolution would be instantaneous. That is what the seed of enlightenment was for. It would enlighten her on how to change her fortune into Golden Purity, which would automatically begin the transformation.

But while Zuri had gotten all the ingredients using her clones, they had to be absorbed by her main body. Transporting everything over would take time… ordinarily. With the Midnight inn, it took her barely a few seconds.

She sent her clones with the items to the Inn, and then sent a clone from beside her main body at the Inn to collect them and bring them back.

It was lucky for her that Lex had not limited teleportation in the Origin realm yet due to the ongoing Midnight Games.

"If you do not mind, please witness my evolution," Zuri said with her clone as it walked up to the four leaf clover.

"Don't mind if I do," said the turtle, seeming pleased.

Lex did not mind either. After all, if the turtle's strategy had not been seen through so far, it would not be revealed now. They were perfectly safe, so he might as well watch the show.

The clone kneeled before the clover, and one by one added the ingredients. As soon as the seed of enlightenment was added, which was not as much a seed as a glowing orb of light, the clover began to glow with a golden hue, and Lex felt an immense amount of power wafting from her.

It was fortunate mortals were not affected by the aura of Celestials. If he were anyone else,he would already be kneeling in the face of such awesome power.

"Isn't this a little too easy?" Lex couldn't help but ask the turtle. "Like her evolution took only a few minutes to arrange. It seems too simple."

To be precise, the feeling Lex was getting was that he was witnessing someone who completed all the sidequests before doing a single main quest in a video game.

"It is not quick at all," the turtle said, as he looked at the clone disappear into a mote of light, absorbed by the clover. Across the Origin realm, many of Zuri's clones suddenly disappeared, though not all of them. "This evolution is millions of years in the making. She has already done the hard part. Now all that's left is the easy part - even then, easy is a relative term. Silly human, how can something so powerful be easy?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Lex murmured, as he gazed at the clover. It was growing at a visible rate before his eyes, turning from a mere plant into a young tree.

But more than anything, what impressed Lex was the mist. No matter how impressive or formidable the change happening down in the meadow, the mist did not let slip a single hint of it.

Although the turtle had said the change would be instantaneous, it was more of an expression than something literal. The actual transformation still took over a day, during which time Lex fell into a trance, all without knowing it.

The aura of the Bodhi tree, even unformed, put him in a state of enlightenment, and he began to digest all the numerous gains he had accumulated so far. It was not that his cultivation rose - it was that he began to fully comprehend the nuances behind all the laws, his immortal state, his eyes, his sword intent, his bloodline, his Domination, his newly acquired Lawcraft, and everything else.

Within a few hours, he mastered all of them - or atleast, as much of them as he could at his current level. Then, the thing he had been trying to avoid began happening. Lex's cultivation began to rise once more, until he reached the point where he could take the tribulation for the ninth and last level of the Earth immortal realm.