Eclipse looked at the human in her arms and chuckled. She'd been through this a few times, so she knew what to do. She picked up his body, carried him over her shoulder, and brought him to the lake before sprinkling some water on his face.

The feeling of being slapped in the face with water drops, each of which

weighed as much as a small planet, startled Lex awake. The first thing he saw was Eclipse sticking her tongue out at him as if she had pranked him, and nearly fainted once more.

This was a Dao Lord! And not just any Dao Lord, but apparently the strongest recognized Dao Lord in the universe! And she was sticking her tongue out at him!

If Lex hadn't been so strongwilled, he would have collapsed once more, his mind losing its grasp on reality.

"My sincerest apologies, Lord, I..." began Lex, intending to apologise in case he offended her. Right now, he was literally laying at the feet of a Dao Lord, and if she was the strongest one, there was a decent chance she even spotted the system hidden within his soul. This up close, he couldn't keep any secrets from her.

Yet his apology was interrupted.

"Oh don't worry about it, it happens all the time," Eclipse said, waving her hand. "Old Ventura even stopped sending kids to the Garden because they kept getting traumatised. I don't see the big deal though. I mean, I don't look that scary"

Eclipse started to look at her own arms and legs, as if to confirm that she didn't look too frightening. In truth, she learned absolutely no secrets about Lex, or anything about his body save his weight, because she had all her extra abilities and senses sealed. Basically, she was just a very strong person walking around - the only thing she could rely on to gain information were the few basic senses mortals were born with.

Lex was normally not one to leave awkward pauses in conversations, but he was having trouble processing what was happening with him currently. He did not, however, take too long to return to normal. If she wanted him to behave normally, he would he just had to make sure he didn't say or do anything obviously disrespectful.

"How embarrassing," Lex said with a smile as he got up, noticing how

abnormally red his face had gotten. That was not a result of his embarrassment, but his body's natural reaction to the secrets he had heard. It couldn't be helped.

"Please pardon me if I do something silly. I am not familiar with the local customs, but I'll aim to learn quickly. Lord Eclipse..."

"Just call me Eclipse," she said offhandedly.

"Alright then. Eclipse, before I ask any questions, I should tell you that I am a member of the Midnight Inn. My presence here will link the Primordial Garden to the Inn, or at the very least, allow the Innkeeper to find this place. If... if you do not want me to do that then I can stop."

Lex came clean immediately. He couldn't risk the fact that she might get offended by his actions because she'd find out sooner or later, if she didn't already know.

Eclipse had been very relaxed as long as Lex had seen her, but she finally frowned a bit, grabbing her chin as she thought for a moment. She rubbed her index finger on her chin, as if she was facing a very serious conundrum. Lex did not interrupt her, and even kept his mind clear of all thoughts.

If even a certain monkey Dao Lord could read his thoughts then, there was no doubt that she could too.

"Alright fine, you can form the connection, but I'll treat that as payment for taking your energy" she finally said, looking at Lex. "Also, if you or the Innkeeper want to send anyone to the garden you have to ask me first. I don't want to have to deal with annoying troublemakers. It'll be bad for everyone!"

Lex nodded.

"Yes, of course. We won't let anyone come here from the Inn. I will make sure to share your instructions with the Innkeeper. On the other hand, if you ever wish to visit the Midnight Inn, you can use this key to visit us."

Eclipse took the golden key Lex summoned and looked at it oddly.

"It's a nice offer, but I better not. Bad things will happen if I'm forced to use my abilities," she said, though she kept the key out of politeness. "Since our transaction is complete, I'll head off now. I have a lot of work to do. You can stay as long as you like, but you're a little weak, so try not to provoke anyone. Maybe find a city belonging to one of the races and stay there."

"Thank you for your guidance. I will definitely do that. I've heard that the Kyron race is very hospitable, so I'll try to go find them," Lex responded.

"The nearest Kyron settlement is that way," Eclipse said, pointing in a particular direction. "Good luck getting there. Try not to get caten. Feel free to defend yourself if you get attacked. Although this place is my garden, it operates on the law of the jungle."

Eclipse waved at him, and then just turned around and started walking in a different direction. Lex was so used to everyone teleporting away that seeing a Dao Lord casually stroll through her garden, at the actual pace of a normal mortal human, felt kind of odd.

But Lex dared not watch her leave, nor did he allow himself to have any thoughts on the matter. He simply turned in the direction she pointed, and

started walking.

Eclipse looked at the key Lex had given her, feeling slightly tempted to use it, but she was also hesitant. Leaving was not an issue, but if she encountered any problems and was forced to unseal her ability, bad things would happen.

To be more specific, the moment she unsealed her ability, the transition from the Dawn Era into the next would be initiated. After all, as the strongest living Dao Lord in the universe, her powers had touched the natural power ceiling that the universe allowed.

Since she wasn't a cheater like those other fellows, she couldn't force her way into the next realm through roundabout ways. That was actually why the progress of the universe was linked to her powers. When she felt ready to break into the next realm, she would unseal her powers, and the pressure her cultivation would exert on the universe would force it to officially leave the early development phase of existence, and into its mature phase.

It would be incredibly awkward if that happened because she was forced to unseal her powers to deal with some random problem, instead of when she was

ready.

After all, she wanted her garden to be perfect before she kicked off the next Era of the universe. Only then would her garden get the most benefits.

So, she pushed away her temptation and put the key in her pocket and moved

on.