The Innkeeper

Despite whatever feelings he felt inside, the doppelganger did not reveal it externally. Instead, he thought about the real-Lex’s answer for a moment before answering.

"There’s no fixed percentage, but generally speaking, I think everyone who usually takes the Body Tribulation is around 5% during their first tribulation. If we account for the increase you may face for delaying it, a safe percentage would be around 20%.

"But you need to understand, it’s not as simple as surviving a difficult tribulation once. If you do this, then every subsequent tribulation you experience will kick off from the same level as the one you experienced last. In short, you’d be making your own future tribulations permanently more difficult, and reducing the amount of time you have to reach the peak."

Real-Lex nodded, but internally he was thinking of something else. This doppelganger... something was off about him. Not in the sense that he was trying to fool Lex or conspire against him, but that his emotions were... easy to sense.

He didn’t think too much into it. Instead, he focused on his tribulation. Even if it was harder than normal, and the current safety net was at 20%, then even if he doubled it, it would at most reach 40%. With a 51% Dao Body, Lex felt like he’d be safe.

Lex was not as averse to this option as his doppelganger expected, but it would be foolish to decide when he hadn’t heard all his options. So, after sufficiently deliberating on this option, Lex began to discuss his other options with his doppelganger.

He felt no rush either, delving into detail about each possible plan. Unfortunately, the option to allow Lex to experience the tribulation then bring him inside the book so that he could finish processing the result within this flow of time was not possible.

Allowing Lex to enter and exit the Fable of Time, which is where they were, wasn’t so easy. It required them to rely on certain conditions that the doppelganger could not recreate on his own. Traveling out of the Hollow just incidentally fulfilled those requirements which is why he had been able to intervene.

After several hours of discussion, Lex decided to get some rest. He didn’t sleep, but he got about as close to sleeping as he possibly could as a necklace. He entered a state of deep meditation, cycling through his cultivation technique as he recovered his spirit and stabilised the space within the necklace.

His strength had reached a whole new level now, and Lex couldn’t wait to have a faceoff against his stalker. Then he could finally return to the Inn and relax for a bit.

Knowing his luck, he’d get sucked into some universe-wide plot of some kind, but at least it was nice to imagine returning home to the Inn. It had been far too long since he’d returned.

Of course, if Daekol had done something to his body by this point...

Lex did not dwell on such a thought. He’d deal with things as they came. Besides, even if the shield around his body broke, getting something from his body wasn’t all that simple or easy. Lex’s cultivation technique was unique - getting anything from his body or soul would require far more effort than his stalker would have expected.

Once Lex was thoroughly recovered, he checked his condition and then made up his mind. Many of the alternatives his doppelganger presented him were much safer than delaying the tribulation, but they came with considerable drawbacks.

To others, the drawback of a more difficult tribulation would be the most significant one, but that wasn’t the case for Lex. With that, he made his decision. Now it would be up to his doppelganger to actually make such a seemingly impossible thing happen.

"I must say, you’re still very much on theme with giving me intense anxiety," said the doppelganger, though his tone was relaxed and somewhat amused. "I never even imagined that this was the option you would pick, even if it was my idea to begin with. But, since we have reached an agreement, I will honor it. Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer?"

Lex shook his head.

"I have too many things I need to do. I have already thoroughly prepared for them to the extent of my abilities, and spending more time won’t meaningfully increase my strength or ability to handle them. In that case, waiting around will just be delaying things unnecessarily, I won’t be able to truly relax. I’d rather leave and get things done. What do I need to do to delay the tribulation?"

The doppelganger took a deep puff, and then shook his head.

"You don’t need to do anything. I’ll take care of everything. Once you leave from here, the Dao Body tribulation won’t trigger. I suspect you’re on the verge of a Major tribulation, though, and you should be able to suppress that on your own."

Lex nodded. He could feel that he was on the verge of triggering a tribulation to enter the Celestial Immortal realm. He could likely delay it until he returned to his main body, but no more. He was already pushing the limit of what a Heaven Immortal should be able to do in every sense, and that was before having access to his main body.

Regardless of anything else, even if the necklace could allow him to show great strength, it could not replace that his main body was the core of his being. No matter what, his greatest strength would always come from it. Once the necklace returned to his main body...

Lex narrowed his eyes in anticipation of that moment. With nothing else left to say, the doppelganger waved goodbye to Lex, and then sent him away.

Lex disappeared, and for a few moments the doppelganger remained the same. Then, however, his appearance changed to that of a scruffy looking teenager who immediately fell to his knees as if he was extremely drained or exhausted.

"Are you alright, master?" asked the cane with the grandfather-clock shaped handle as it floated up beside him.

The teenager looked up, and though his body was trembling and his skin was pale, his expression was that of utter excitement!

"We did it, Morrow. I think we managed to fool him," the teenager said as he grabbed the cane and with wobbling hands used it to help himself stand up. "That was so cool, wasn’t it! That was actually Lex, the Bulldozer, Williams! In our library! Ah, I was so tempted to ask him for his autograph!"

The cane, also known as Morrow, looked at the teenager with an exhausted expression and resisted the urge to sigh. He failed.

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