The Innkeeper

Chapter 1945 Guest Garden

Meeting a single person once a century? Lex raised his eyebrow, then looked at the four karmic strings attached to him, then back at the jackal. It seemed like he had other issues he needed to resolve.

“What does the registration include? I don’t want to take up any obligations while I run my errand or spend too much time here. Also, would you happen to know a quick way to move around this place? My teleportation doesn’t seem to be working too well,” Lex said very casually.

He didn’t outright reject the registration, but he was now aware of the karmic consequences leaving behind any trace whatsoever. While there were clear benefits to registering, such as the reduction in the limiter, as the jackal put it, Lex wasn’t sure if there were any hidden costs. In a place such as this, he wanted to be extra careful.

The jackal chuckled, as if he could tell exactly what Lex was thinking.

“You remember when you stepped in here? Did you hear a muffled sound before eventually hearing me? You should have heard it twice,” the jackal said, knowingly. “That was because before entering the Heaven Immortal layer, I checked the Dao and Celestial layers first. Do you believe you have truly entered Arch-Heaven? Just like that? That all it took was to cross a portal and you would stumble into this mythical land? Well, I’m afraid to inform you that it’s not so convenient.”

Lex heard the jackal calling this place the Arch-Heaven because his universal translator took over, converting the name into something Lex knew.

“You are merely witnessing a single layer of Arch-Heaven,” the golden jackal said. “Even within that layer, you will forever only roam within the Guests Garden unless you register. Only after registering can you even lay eyes upon the true Arch-Heaven. That means if your ‘errand requires you to get in touch with anything from the true Arch-Heaven, or meet anyone who is not stuck within the Guests Garden, you will need to register.”

Lex froze. But he could see the karmic strings connecting him to others. Just to test things out, he traced one of the karmic strings, following it to its destination. Quickly he discovered that he could not follow the karmic string far enough.

He summoned the Karmic Bead discretely and fused with it, using it to trace the string, but no matter how far back he traced, he could not reach its end. Either the distance was so great that in his suppressed state he could not track it, or there really was some division between layers that he did not know about.

The jackal maintained a knowing smile, as if he knew exactly what Lex was doing. It wasn’t like he pried into Lex’s or actions. It was just that, in the given situation, one’s actions became highly predictable.

“If you wish to take your time and enjoy the scenery, feel free to go out,” he continued. “You can come back any time. I’m always reachable through this registration office. Of course, if you travel far enough, you may encounter other such offices, in which case I can merely consider this my loss. You asked about better methods of travel, right? In the Guest Garden, the best way to travel is atop Radicle Vines. They are a kind of vine that travels underground. Finding and binding one is not easy. But I can give you some tips. You can register once you’ve satisfied your curiosity.”

“No need,” Lex said decisively, forgoing any plans of avoiding registration. There were already enough obstacles in his current plan, he didn’t want to add more.

“Let’s get me registered. What do you need to do for it? By the way, you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find a Heavens Puppet, would you?”

The jackal happily trotted back to his podium and began shuffling through some papers as he spoke.

“Never heard of a Heavens Puppet. You might want to try finding others who live in Arch-Heaven, they might know. As for your registration, you need to only enter the testing platform and let yourself be scanned. As long as you’re from this universe, there should be no problem in your registration.”

Though the jackal spoke casually about being from this universe, that was merely something he needed to say for his job. He’d never heard of anyone from another universe, and he’d never heard of anyone having any problems during the registration.

Lex raised an eyebrow, but showed no hesitation as a small platform rose out of the ground for him to stand on. He could not help but wonder… if there had ever been any visitors from other universes in theirs. The registration process seemed standard, but what were the chances that the process had been designed at random? Lex was more inclined to believe that there really had been visitors from other universes, and that they had caused enough issues to the point where this became a requirement for entering Arch-Heaven.

Then again, it really was a possibility that this was merely all standard procedure.

“By the way, once you’re registered, you might be interested in learning how you too can get an official position in Arch-Heaven,” the jackal spoke as he interacted with something behind the podium, beginning the process. “It’s a matter of chance, unfortunately. If you’re lucky, you’ll stumble onto a vacant position like I did. Otherwise, you may roam the Arch-Heaven for endless years without finding a suitable position.”

Lex shook his head.

“More than a position, I’m interested in where I can find the puppet. Since you don’t know about the puppet, do you know where I might find another person who might know? Or maybe you have some idea-“

Lex’s question was interrupted when a loud siren rang through the room, and red light flashed over the platform he was standing on, freezing him still. Similarly, the jackal was taken aback when he noticed that an emergency, higher detailed scan was initiated on Lex – an occurrence he had never witnessed before.

It did not even occur to the jackal that Lex might have something associated with beings from outside the universe on him. Instead, he began wondering if he himself had screwed up the registration somehow. If he did, that would not be a first he wanted to experience.