As Lex sat there, contemplating the dangers he had just faced, he entered an unusual state of mind. He was long used to nearly dying - from the very first days of his cultivation, death had been around every corner. But this was the first time he had come face to face with a near-fatherhood experience!

While the Innkeeper appeared entirely at ease, Lex was internally in a daze. Damn, he had meant the Innkeeper to appear impressive, but it was only now that he realized the dangers of being too impressive.

Life was truly tough when one was too cool.

Lex's mind raced as he went over the past few minutes again and again. His instincts were telling him, no they were screaming at him that he was overlooking an opportunity of a lifetime. He needed to think back, reflect, and realize exactly what had happened. He needed to identify what that opportunity was.

His mind began to race, scrutinizing everything with excruciating detail. Lex had nearly died. The Inn had almost shut down. That had happened because he was dealing with Dao Lords - being far beyond his level. They were at the peak of the universe, and he was spending too much time with them. It was only a matter of time before an accident happened. He had only survived due to an accident. The Butter Knife had somehow saved him.

The Butter knife relied on Dao materials. Was the opportunity within the materials?

As he went over the events again and again, Lex seemed to enter some kind of trance - though he maintained enough self awareness to break free if anything requiring his attention should happen.

Eclipse had also become quiet, simply sitting in the Innkeepers presence. Perhaps she noticed his state, or perhaps she had nothing to say at the moment. Whatever the case, no one disturbed Lex while he was in that state.

Somehow, he knew that if he let this chance slip him by, he would regret it. The Butter Knife was damaged, but it appeared fine.

The Butter Knife could, at most, output an attack at the Demi-Dao Lord level. Somehow, through an extraordinarily precise application of its strength, saved them all from an outburst of Dao level energy. To repair the knife-

Lex's pupils constricted as he realized something. Lex was not easily shocked, and especially when he was appearing as the Innkeeper, yet at the moment he was so shocked that he could not restrain himself at all!

The Butter Knife had used a Demi-Dao Lord level energy to skillfully resist Dao Lord level energy! That defied sense! That defied logic! This went against everything Lex knew about the Dao!

Although Lex had not witnessed how the knife had resisted the energy, he remembered the feeling of using it the first time! Was it possible that there was some way to resist Dao and Dao energy before reaching that realm?

If that was the case, then reaching a full Dao body held an entirely different meaning for Lex. Heck, even the partial Dao body that he had now contained far more potential than he had originally realized!

Lex suddenly changed all plans he had made so far, coming up with an entirely new set of plans of what to do once the tea party ended.

The Innkeeper glanced towards Eclipse, who had been silently waiting for him to conclude whatever had been occupying his thoughts.

"Everything alright?" she asked in an oddly reserved voice.

The Innkeeper sighed, breaking from his usual calm and casual demeanour.

"How can everything be alright?" he asked, shaking his head. "Lex is eager to return to the garden to undergo more tribulations, and he's asking to borrow some Dao material from me so that he can forge a Dao body. That kid can not keep still for more than a few hours."

Eclipse froze, and then looked at the Innkeeper oddly. She had suspected that the Innkeeper was plotting something, or that he was getting ready to spring some kind of conspiracy. After all, she found it hard to believe that he genuinely had no other ulterior motives for wanting to hold the tea party at the garden.

Lo and behold, it turned out he was just worried about Lex.

"This is why I never had kids," Eclipse said, sounding relieved. "Too annoying, and you worry about them all the time. What kind of human tried to go and build a Dao body before even becoming a Celestial? You indulge him too much."

The Innkeeper looked at Eclipse oddly. He had mentioned 'Lex's' intentions so she knew that he would be coming back for his tribulations. If she wanted to prevent him from coming, she could mention it now. Instead, she continued on about treating Lex as his son.

"Your sense of humor is just as sharp as ever," the Innkeeper said, hinting that any mention of Lex being his son was a joke. "As for Lex, he must walk his own path. I do not interfere too much - unless he is about to break some of the inn's

rules."

Eclipse merely rolled her eyes.

Seeing that she raised no objections, Lex confirmed his plans to return to the garden rights after the tea party. While he was here, he could, as Lex, ask Eclipse to show him how the Innkeeper had used the butter knife.

The more he understood about how the Butter Knife had saved him, the closer he could to uncovering what exactly it was that allowed the knife to close the gap between Demi-Dao energy, and actual Dao energy.

If the future was going to be as chaotic as everyone kept claiming, then he needed to improve as drastically and as quickly as possible. If he could really master the secret of the butter knife, then whether he was a Heaven Immortal or a Celestial would cease to matter. His strength would skyrocket!

But first, he needed to get through the rest of this tea party. Hopefully, with what happened to the last two Dao Lords as a warning, all the others would

behave.