Back in his early days, when he was a young 24 year old, Lex thought that teleportation was the fastest and easiest way to get around. In many ways he was not wrong. However, teleporting via space laws had its own issues and constraints, not to mention that almost everyone anticipated it at higher levels which is why they were prepared for it.

Either he needed his skill in teleportation to be as great as everyone thought the Innkeepers was, and that would allow him to get past the regular limitations of teleportation, or he needed other ways of traveling. Thus, Lex found that in the situation where he had a strong enough karmic tie with whomever he was teleporting to, traveling via karmic lines was a good option. This was actually quite a rare way of traveling - at least as far as Lex had seen. It was also quite convenient, although doing so stealthily might be a bit of an issue. While others might not be able to detect his arrival, whoever his karmic tie was to might be able to sense his arrival if they were sufficiently skilled or strong enough.

Vinei, for example, was deceivingly strong. Although he was only a level 1 Heaven Immortal, he was a Mythical Phoenix who had spent millions of years at the peak of the Earth Immortal realm. On top of that, the ascension of his entire realm allowed Vinei to adapt, in a limited capacity, to the Primordial realm, giving him a hint of Primordial aura.

That did not mean that Vinci, by any means, thought himself as strong as the Innkeeper. He had felt his power, and knew the difference between them. The reason why he was so late in showing up to the Inn was the same as Zagan's reason for being slow with his tribulation - he had lived so long that his concept of time was messed up.

To him, waiting 10,000 years before showing up to the Inn would not even be considered a short time. It was barely enough for a decent nap - not even one round of deep sleep.

Thus what he was currently doing was studying the actions of what the Crystal Phoenix had done since it entered the Primordial Garden. While the

progenitors of the Sol and Frio birds, Firin and Aizel, were scummy in his opinion, the progenitor of the Crystal race was no better.

Vinei had thoroughly destroyed all of Firin's and Aizel's plans, and had finally rid itself of its Deity status as a result, but the fight was far from over. He expected some kind of retaliation eventually, but he was not worried about them. The Crystal Phoenix though...

Vinei suddenly realized that someone had managed to approach him without alerting him, and was standing right behind him! The immense shock of the realization caused him to suddenly turn around, blaring his full strength, ready to fight for his life, when a hand calmly grabbed his wing and suppressed all his strength.

"You shouldn't unleash your aura like that in the Primodial garden," said Lex. "You're not going to survive if you make such a mistake. The Primordial garden is not usually as forgiving as it is these days."

Vinei was unable to respond, and not just because Lex had its entire body and power suppressed with a single hand. No, he was shocked! Vinci was there when Lex became a Heaven Immortal. He was there, and had planned everything alongside him to set the ascension of the Crystal realm in motion.

So how did Lex become so powerful? Vinei was not sitting out in the open to be discovered by anyone. Instead, he was hiding in the darkness - something he was so intimately familiar with that he had created the monster race to be born out of it. Yet not only had Lex found him within it so easily, Lex had taken control of the surrounding darkness from Vinei without even giving him a chance to resist.

Just as Vinei was reeling from the revelation of Lex's strength, Lex did something unexpected. He grabbed the air around Vinei, and pulled, revealing a snake that had camouflaged itself and wrapped itself around Vinei's body without alerting him!

As a Mythical being, with a hint of a Primordial aura and a former Deity, Vinei was far from ordinary, and that's what made him the best target to devour. Unlike Lex, Vinei had not specifically received the protection of any Dao Lords, so he was open prey for the creatures of the garden.

The snake, who was slowly absorbing the energy from Vinci, was shocked when he was detected. Just as it was getting ready to retaliate against Lex, it locked eyes with him. Lex did not seem angry, or intimidating, yet his eyes held a deep terror that frightened the snake to its core.

Behind those calm eyes, the snake sensed the wrath of a dragon. Previously, the original residents of the garden could easily resist Lex's intimidation because their Primordial aura allowed them to easily resist all kinds of pressures. Even the Sage races - the top ten races on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum - would not be able to pressure them, that's how much of a hack being a Primordial was. Yet now, he was one of them - at least as far as aura went.

Thus, he could negate their resistance. His Dragon's might had not even been revealed - it was entirely restrained within his body. Yet the snake could sense it, and feared it.

Lex had no idea what cultivation realm the snake had, but he could measure his strength, and found that it was not worthy of his concern. At this point, even the average Celestial Immortal was no obstacle to Lex.

"Why don't you go back home. I need to have a private conversation with this fellow," said Lex as he let go of the snake's neck, allowing it to quickly slither

away.

The snake did not miss the opportunity to escape now that it had been granted. Mercy was a rarity in the Primordial garden, one that it had no intentions of

squandering.

Vinei got chills as he saw how easily Lex dealt with the snake that had attached itself to him without him realising at all. He was beginning to question reality. How could Lex suddenly be so strong?

Almost as if Lex could see through Vinei's thoughts, Lex chuckled.

"You curious as to how this happened? Maybe if you'd come and joined the Inn like you were supposed to, you might have had some opportunities to grow stronger as well. Instead, you're spending all your time here, doing your best to get killed. What's up with that?"