"Interesting. How interesting" Eclipse mused again and again as her gaze was fixed on Lex. Even after stepping out of Sin City, he remained still since he was in a state of enlightenment. That is not what she found interesting, or even the fact that he had exited the city. What was interesting to her was that, even in his state of enlightenment, he had not forgotten to taunt the mayor.

She felt like Lex had a real shot at achieving the Dao of Pettiness, if only it hadn't already been taken. What a tragedy.

"Harriot, take a look at Lex's karma, destiny, fate, and causality and tell me what you see," Eclipse stated as a few random possibilities crossed her mind.

"I can see a bit, but if I pry too deeply then I encounter a force that obscures my vision. Even so, I can see that basically every aspect of his existence is abnormal, and prone to calamity," Harriot answered. "Do you want me to probe forcefully?"

Eclipse shook her head.

"No, that's enough. I can pretty much guess everything about him based on just this. Did you notice how easily he passed through the barrier? He shouldn't have been able to do that, but he was provoked into a state of enlightenment. Even then, the ease with which he saw through the barrier means he has been exposed to peak level laws from very early on. Basically, I can guess that he must have started his cultivation with a technique from beyond this universe."

Harriot gave Lex a shocked look! Even as a Dao Lord, he hadn't been able to glean that little bit of information! How mysterious!

"How could he cultivate a technique from a foreign universe? That's taboo!" the poodle exclaimed.

"Taboo? So what?" Eclipse asked dismissively. "For the weak, taboo is death, for the strong, taboo is merely a fine they need to pay to do what they want. For cultivating a technique from a foreign universe, he must have been marked by the universe itself, destined to face calamity forever. That should explain the abnormality you sensed. But it's clear at a glance that he merely used that foreign technique to set his foundation, and then decisively gave it up.

"Such courage, such foresight, is not something you see a lot these days. I'm beginning to suspect that the Dao Lord behind Lex, guiding his cultivation, is actually a Dao King. Only a Dao King can have the audacity to discard such a powerful foreign cultivation technique so easily. Back then... no, forget it. If I tell you too much, you might just die. Have someone look into this Innkeeper, and send me the information on him."

Earlier on, Eclipse had mentioned to Lex that if she told him too much, he might die instead of fainting. The fact that she was now saying the same thing to her poodle, a Dao Lord, was a testament to the enormity of the secrets she knew, and just how dangerous they were.

Harriot wasn't surprised by the statement. Instead, he contacted the member of the Primordial Gardens Dao Congress who lived outside the garden. In mere seconds, the entire investigation had been completed, with the highest level information and speculations collected, before they were sent back to Harriot.

Eclipse perused through the files and merely nodded.

"See, they're speculating the Innkeeper is preparing his Seat of Power. Definitely a Dao King. I'm really curious about what he's planning. As someone marked for taboo by the universe, it'll be incredibly hard for Lex to become a Dao Lord. Then again, he had managed to collect some Heaven's Favor. Maybe the Innkeeper has already planned ahead.

"But the more someone interferes in Lex's path, the harder it will be for Lex to attain a Dao. How interesting. Who knew that the universe was turning into such an interesting place. I'm getting more and more tempted to take a stroll outside my garden."

Harriot looked at his mistress with an expression of exhaustion, and wondered if he should remind her of some of her obligations. After a little hesitation, he decided to casually mention them.

"Mistress, the Primals have invited you to the Primary realm many times to take a look at the Primordial Pool. If you leave the garden, but go to the Innkeeper instead before visiting the Primary realm, it might cause some

misunderstandings again... after all, it has been a while since you took a new husband."

Eclipse flashed Harriot an odd look, but did not comment. What did he mean it's been a while since she took a new husband? Was she the kind of lady who would marry so casually? No, she was a modest and sincere lady.

Just because she had been married eight times, twice to Eternix, did not mean she was a loose lady. She had a good reason for each of those. Besides, they were talking about Lex and the Innkeeper - how did the conversation shift to her?

"Lex's enlightenment is lasting a really long time. Do you think he'll trigger another tribulation?" Eclipse asked, shifting the conversation towards a more

appropriate topic.

Harriot looked towards Lex and tried to predict his future.

"No, it seems like he will seal his cultivation when he reaches the peak of level 2 Heaven Immortal. He won't challenge the tribulation again without thoroughly maximising his strength - the previous tribulation was quite challenging for

him."

Eclipse shook his head, before pausing.

"It just occurred to me that Lex undergoing a Primordial tribulation may also be a part of the Innkeepers plan," Eclipse said. "My powers are sealed, so I can only speculate without being certain. The number of familiar aura on Lex are too many - to counteract the influence of taboo, he will need more than just Heaven's Favor. At the very least, he will need to gain a tremendous amount of Universal Affinity by killing beings suffering from Universal Rejection. For that, Lex would need to go to a certain graveyard.

"Yes! No wonder I sensed something so familiar... so Lex has even been to that place. Interesting - the Innkeeper has a lot of faith in Lex, even sending him there. So now let me see, with Heaven's Favor, Universal Affinity, and a Primordial Tribulation already in the bag... what else might Lex need to increase his chances of becoming a Dao Lord. At the very least... he needs a thorough cleansing of his destiny, and what do you know, a Nexus event is

coming up..."

Eclipse suddenly sat up straight as she felt like she had caught onto a huge secret! How many secrets were there left in the universe that she did not know? Very few. For a new one to walk right into her garden and catch her attention... perhaps even this had been planned in advance by the Innkeeper. "Yes, definitely a Dao King..." Eclipse muttered as her gaze sharpened onto Lex

once more.