The problem wasn't that Will sought out revenge. The problem Lex had was the slaughter of so many innocents along the way. Honestly, Lex was certain that if he faced something similar, his revenge would have been even worse. Just killing his enemies was not enough - he would make them live in regret and suffering.

But... even in his grief, he would not target innocents. Destroying an empire could have been done in other ways. Even if he found an empire of his own, and slowly took over his enemy's empire, it would have caused fewer deaths - not that Lex was condoning such a thing.

Although, from his own point of view, the old man was simply seeking revenge, he had become the villain in so many other people's lives.

The old man's body trembled. He had expected condemnation or hatred, maybe even accusation. What he had not expected was to be faced with words filled with such profound pity. He felt them in his heart, in his soul.

He had been a farmer for only the first two decades of his life, the majority of the rest being spent as a cultivator. Comparatively speaking, his mentality as a cultivator, especially one who had committed such heinous acts, should have overshadowed his old mentality of a farmer.

Yet the guilt, the weight he'd been feeling on his chest ever since he'd been trapped inside the Midnight Inn spoke of something else. His old self was still buried inside somewhere. It was just that he never allowed himself to have the time for it to come out. He was always focused on revenge and survival.

"There are no innocents," the old man said with conviction, giving the Innkeeper the same excuse he gave himself over the years. "They all ignored my plight when I needed help. They ignored my wife and daughter when they were sold off as slaves. They ignored my wife when she was worked to death in a mill! Time and time again, when my family and I were in the depths of our desperation, not a single hand stretched out except to do harm!

"Who are the innocents? There are none! I have not become worse than the thing I hated. I have only become the fruit of the seed my enemies planted, nothing more! Who are you to cast judgment upon me?"

The old man's voice contained anger and accusation. His aura threatened to unleash itself upon the young man. It threatened... and yet it did not. The whole situation looked incredibly dangerous if taken at face value, but Lex could see the desperation underneath.

He could see that though the man looked angry, as if he did not want to be questioned, he still stood there, hoping, praying that the young man might have something to say... something other than the condemnation he had heard his whole life... something other than his own guilt ridden thoughts that he lived with everyday.

He appeared threatening because after everything he had been through, he could not allow himself to be weak, or at another's mercy. But underneath it all, he was just a broken man longing to once again hear the voice of daughter.

"The innocents are those who, like you, went out to work and came back to empty homes," the Innkeeper said softly, unaffected by the threat. "Do not confuse weakness and fear for treacherous intentions. They were not guilty for not offering you help - just afraid that their families too would be affected. You could have been a liberator for the oppressed. Instead, you became even worse than their oppressors."

The old man clenched his fists and stared at the young man filled with anger. How dare he? How dare he!

Lex, though, just stood there wondering what to do. As the Innkeeper, if he did anything to a guest undeservedly, not only would that affect him via the system, it would set a bad precedent. The neutrality of the Inn would then forever be affected.

"It is not my place to judge anyone," the Innkeeper said suddenly, changing his tone. "We are merely passersby in each other's lives. We met today, and may never meet again. I will live my life, and you will live yours. But even a chance meeting can be an opportunity for change.

"Allow me, then, to offer you some advice. You will not find any peace in your current path. I am not discouraging you from revenge, only encouraging you to uplift the oppressed instead of targeting them. Do not target those who have done you no wrong. You know the desperation of having no one help you, so be the hand that stretches out to help, not the one that stretches out to harm. Save someone else from suffering the same pain that you did."

The Innkeeper returned the spatial ring to the old man, though he had secretly changed the prize inside.

"Though we only had a chance encounter, it was an enlightening experience for me. I hope you can take away something from this meeting too. Farewell," the Innkeeper said, before his body faded into the wind.

Will was stunned, not expecting the man to disappear so suddenly. He had not even learned his name. Will stared at the ring in his hand, and looked inside. It contained a mask, one that would allow him to change his appearance.

Something like this was perfect for assassination. With this he could... he could...

Will felt tremendously conflicted. He could use the mask to carry out assassinations... if only there weren't a small note next to the mask that merely stated 'for new beginnings. With the mask, he could also turn over a new leaf, or live a different life. With it, he could be someone other than the Lord of

Death.

What Will didn't know was that after the Innkeeper disappeared, Lex's Karmic clone appeared once again inside the Inn. While the Innkeeper could not do anything, Lex certainly could.

He would not act against Will. But, when the time was right, he would try to convince him once more to start helping people while he sought out his revenge. It could not undo the crimes of his past, but at least it could prevent further harm and misery.

At the same time, Lex had somewhat of an epiphany. So far, the Midnight Inn had been a place where guests could come and just be on their own. He left them to their own devices after offering them countless services that could

help them out.

But maybe he should do something that would... increase the amount of goodness in the universe rather than leaving everything as it was. For example, he could not harm or act against his guests in any way, even if they were particularly sinful. But if they could be convinced, naturally and not using any manipulative techniques, to do more good, then there could finally be an excellent reason to accept all kinds of guests inside the Inn.

Lex was not naive. He knew not everyone could be influenced. But even if the success rate was 0.0001%, considering the trillions of guests, the end result over a long period of time would still be monumental.