The Innkeeper

“You’re so going to regret this,” Lex said through gritted teeth one last time, right as he finally completed his cultivation, regaining full control over his body once more. The hate he felt for that accursed Nas was overflowing greater than ever before, though for now he had to restrain it so that he could focus on his more urgent tasks.

The reason for Lex’s hate, unexpectedly, was not because he trapped Lex in a strange game of universal Go with rules he didn’t understand and consequences that were very real. That, of course, caused some irritation. The fact that the game could also very well put his life in danger also contributed a bit.

At the moment, however, the reason Lex really hated him was because he had missed the Death Match between William and that Fiery Mammoth! Lex had wanted to watch his ancestor fight to try and understand more about him.

Sure, Lex could watch the recording of the fight, and intended to do just that, but with the outcome of the match already known, there was no suspense. It was like that damn accursed Nas had spoiled the TV show Lex had been so long waiting to watch.

Or a more accurate comparison would be that Lex had been looking forward to a highly anticipated boxing match – for example, a match between a world champion and some random youtuber trying to look cool – only for that stupid Nas to come along and rig the match so that the youtuber won the fight somehow.

However that comparison wasn’t completely accurate, since his ancestor still won the fight, just as Lex had expected. The point was, the frustration in both those scenarios was the same.

At least he intended on watching the emperor’s match in person to make up for it.

The problem he was now facing was that he was, once again, too strong. Fortunately, the furniture in his office wouldn’t break so easily.

Lex picked himself off the floor and sat back in his chair. The list of things he had to do almost immediately was pretty large, which is why Lex ignored the box containing the fruit from the Primordial Garden, and instead pulled up his system panel.

The first order of business was completing his quest. So far, he had a reputation for overachieving in most of his quests, though since this one had a fixed reward he didn’t think there was such a thing as an overachievement.

New Quest: Visit the Seraphim Resort, identify 3 shortcomings of the Midnight Inn, and then improve them!

Quest time limit: 1 year!

Quest Reward: The Burgandy Violin

Quest failure punishment: 3 MT!

Remarks: It’s not copying if you do it better than the original, it’s innovation!

Looking at the quest requirements, Lex thought back to his time and the resort and began to compare. To start with, one of the things that was most prominent about the resort, at least to Lex, was the number of unique services they provided.

Now the Inn also provided a lot of services, such as Meditation and Training rooms, not to mention the amazing healing services and the Guild room. But all of these were, to a degree, common services that all major powers provided. None of them were unique exclusively to the Inn.

Even though the resort may not necessarily have entirely unique services, since the existence of other Heavens meant other places could replicate those exact services, they were rare enough that they could be considered a resort exclusive.

The next thing that stood out to him was the existence of dedicated packages for guests. The Midnight Inn had a lot of services and amenities, but they were all individual, and it was up to the guest to pick and choose what they liked. But if various packages could be created, each one for a different price point or serving a different need, then that would certainly provide the Inns guests with a better experience.

The last thing that the Inn was lacking in, in comparison to the resort, was external prestige. Now Lex personally didn’t think that the Inn needed something like this, but he also understood how such things could add to the influence of the Inn.

For example, as soon as Lex came to the resort, besides telling him a little bit about the history of the resort, name dropping multiple Dao Lords along the way, Licanderoth also mentioned how the Phoenixes had recently visited the resort, and how they had a long history of cooperation.

By linking the Resort to the Phoenixes, Lincaderoth had basically linked the prestige of that race with the resort. Now one could argue about who was benefiting from whom, but the fact that such an argument could even be held in the first place was kind of the point of doing it.

With these things in mind, Lex began to plan out how to make up for the shortcomings of the Inn.

This wasn’t the kind of quest that could be completed by just buying a new service from the system, or plopping in a new Primordial Lotus into the Inn. Lex needed to actually plan, and personally make up for the shortcomings of the Inn. Fortunately, he had a plan.

“Mary, please summon Ash, the Galactic Sovereign turtle, and the Gardener to my office,” he said as he considered what exactly to do.

Now that he himself was an Immortal, alongside a number of other Inn workers, the easiest segment to cater to consisted of his mortal guests. Just as the resort, which catered to Dao Lords, had multiple services which could benefit immortals, he was going to use the powers of his immortal workers, and combine it with the Inns ability to cater to immortals, and create revolutionary services for mortals – services that did not rely on the system, but on the individual workers themselves.

He would create packages, design entire stays at the Inn, and establish new services all to address the many needs of his mortal guests.

He genuinely wanted to make the Midnight Inn the best inn in the universe – but for now, it would just be the best inn for mortals. With that as a foundation, one day he could take things a step further.

For now, though, he had to bring his vision to life.