Lex sucked in a deep breath, as unimaginable temptation took hold of his body and soul. What was a universe? It was the bloody container for all of reality, as far as he was concerned. All the realms, the void, Abaddon, Arch-Heaven, Nether, and possibly endless other entities he'd never even heard of all existed within this one universe.

Whether it was Dao Lords, or beings above the Dao Lord level, their very existence still relied on the universe. So then, to be able to take even the scraps of a universe was so unimaginably tempting that it could not be put into words. Lex could already think of two ways in which those scraps could be used. One option - the very first option that popped into his mind - was to absorb it himself. Surely that would boost his strength to an unimaginable level - surely it would. Or it would kill him, which is why he thought of a second possibility, which was to fuse it with the Midnight Realm.

While the whole universe was fighting over the rights to a Mature realm, Lex could become the only one with a realm that was fused with the foundation of a universe onto itself. He could not even imagine the potential such a realm would yield. That was a very literal statement, for the possibilities far surpassed what he could conceive in his mind.

But it also brought danger. If the changes to his realm were detected, it would make him a target for the whole universe. He was not nearly strong enough to protect such a treasure. So, while the greed in his heart told him to take those scraps immediately, logic told him that those scraps may as well be a death sentence!

Thus, with a tremendous amount of will power, he turned his gaze to the next option.

The Proscribed Path

In this universe, true reincarnation does not exist, but the framework for it lingers beyond normal reach. The Proscribed Path is the broken remnants of the physical manifestation of a law that never came to be. Its use, application, worth or condition cannot be determined.

Lex paused. The mystery of what happens after death was something that even Dao Lords did not know the answer to at least as far as he knew. It was an unending debate involving philosophy, science, cultivation, faith and many other fields. There was no strong consensus about what was correct because no one could prove anything.

This one system option, though, seemed to give a very definitive answer - at least to begin with. The more he thought about it, the more mysteries he detected. From his visit in Abaddon he knew for a fact that the universe channels the souls of the dead somewhere, and a few percent of the absolute worst get sent to Abaddon.

Thus, the universe clearly did something with the dead. Moreover, how could there be a physical manifestation, broken or unbroken, of a law that never came into existence? That was a paradox. Moreover, in the end, the system itself claimed that it could not determine the use of the Proscribed Path. Who was to say what its original purpose actually was?

Compared to the universe scraps, this path tempted him less, though he could think of endless uses for it. If he could establish a genuine path of reincarnation, then wouldn't that mean he could come back to life after he died? As long as he linked himself to it properly, and hid the path in a secret location, such as the Nexus, then it could act as the ultimate failsafe.

Not to mention, this could also be useful for those close to him. Should they ever die, through this they could be reincarnated.

However, in spite of the tremendous potential that this option presented, it just didn't appeal to Lex. There was something about it that just felt like it was destined to fail.

He turned his attention to the final option. He hoped it was something he could use without much trouble, otherwise he'd have to tempt fate with those universe scraps. Honestly, his heart was somewhat set on them already.

The Back of Atlas

The ancient fable was once truth, and what is now a legend was once reality. The Back of Atlas is a technique created by the Unknown - the first being to be born upon the creation of this universe - upon witnessing the demise of Atlas. It can allow the user to carry heaven and earth upon their shoulders.

Lex's eyes widened as he stared at the last option, and read it multiple times just to be sure he didn't make any mistakes. He had a feeling that the system hid a lot of secrets in the seemingly simple description of all three options, and it was up to him to see through them.

While he had some ideas for the previous two options, this third one especially intrigued him because he was familiar with the 'fable of Atlas.

Back on earth, the story went that after losing a war, Atlas was forced to hold up the sky and prevent it from reaching the earth by the victors, destined to suffer for all eternity while allowing all others to live in peace and enjoy the fruits of his pains.

Thus, when the description of this option stated that he could 'carry heaven and earth' Lex did not think it was referring to literal heavens. Instead, Lex had a feeling that it was referring to realms.

The reason this was particularly interesting was because Lex often carried the Lotus on his back, which just happened to be bonded with the Midnight Realm. That was a source of tremendous power for Lex, but he hardly ever considered himself carrying the Midnight Realm on his back. The distinction between the Lotus and the realm was always present.

However, if he could gain access to this technique, was it possible that he could carry the Midnight Realm on his back? The idea was unimaginable to him before this, nor could he understand what the true benefits of such a thing

were.

Yet compared to the high profile option of fusing scraps of a universe into his realm, this seemed a lot safer and a lot less likely to attract attention. Besides, if he got this first, and carried the Midnight realm on his back, and then fused the realm with those scraps of a universe, wouldn't that become an indirect way of fusing with those scraps himself?

Of course, that would require him to find those scraps on his own, without any hint whatsoever as to where those scraps really were. But it was better to prepare for the future with optimism than taking a blind risk in the present. After all, he had not forgotten that he was hosting a certain powerful entity within his own body or soul.

There was no guarantee that if he got his hands on those scraps, she would not take them from him.

Lex could not help but sigh, He was just a humble Innkeeper - was there even a need for him to attract so much unnecessary attention? Lex was conveniently forgetting the universewide projections he caused at every breakthrough to a major realm.

Lex thought about his options for a while, and even considered the warning the system prompt had given him. He was advised to choose cautiously and wisely, and of the options before him, this technique seemed like the smartest choice. Speaking of the technique, he could not help but think of the Unknown. He'd never heard of such an entity before. He wondered if Eclipse knew about it. Based solely on the name, or title, it was unlikely.

In truth, Lex's guess was spot on. No one knew the identity of the first being born in this universe, thus the title. However, there were a few events that were attributed to the actions of the Unknown. The creation of this technique

happened to be one of them.

He wondered if using his technique would get his attention. Then he just shrugged. That was just one more name on the list.

Lex knew which one of the options to pick, and he was short on time anyway, so he immediately picked. A few seconds later, he received his reward. Just as Lex anticipated, getting the reward attracted the attention of Nuwa, whose clone was hiding inside Lex. When she laid eyes on what Lex had gotten, she could not help but take in an incredibly deep breath, only so that she could sigh with sufficient depth of emotion.

For a moment she wondered if it was worth it to keep protecting Lex since he was just so passionate about trying to get himself killed. Then she remembered that the stupid human was a Nephilim candidate as well, and just forced herself

to keep protecting him.

Thus, Lex did not even realise that the option which he had picked thinking it would be the safest one, was actually the most dangerous one of all. It could

not be helped.

Lex's perspective, no matter how grand, was still limited. When he saw the

description of the Back of Atlas, he thought it referred to a realm, or maybe even a Mature realm. Why would he, even for a moment, consider that the technique referred to the universe itself? That was surely too absurd to be

true, right?

Unfortunately, since it was not even a question he asked, there was no one who would come and give him an answer.