The Innkeeper

Chapter 2113: Farewell

As the last hour of the tea party arrived, many of the Dao Lords could not help but feel a hint of regret. It was clear to everyone that the Innkeeper had been more reserved after the incident of his tavern’s destruction. Even though they had repaired it, and done their best to amend the situation, the difference was clear.

It wasn’t as if the Innkeeper withheld his hospitality - far from it. In fact, by letting them spend so much time courting Mary, many of them felt like they had gained a lot. Yet he was no longer as proactive as he was in the beginning.

This could be felt in the fact that the first half of the tea party had been filled with shocking and eye-opening events, yet afterwards it had been stable and steady. Naturally, the fact that most of them were inside meetings contributed to that stability, but many of them had already concluded their meetings in the last few days, yet the Innkeeper had made no new revelations.

Eclipse, as if following the Innkeepers lead, also made no further efforts to let her hospitality be shown. They all could not help but feel immense regret, wondering what exactly the Innkeeper had planned for them had they not acted out.

On the one hand, it could be argued that he was making a big deal out of nothing. The tavern had been fully repaired, and by any measure it was far more valuable than it used to be. On the other hand, they could also understand where he was coming from. The matters of face and respect could not be so easily overlooked.

He had done them a genuine service by allowing them to attend this tea party, for he could have literally invited anyone in the universe and they would have been honored. Yet he had invited them. While the blame for the incident could not be placed on all of them, since there were only two offenders, technicality hardly mattered when things reached such a level.

Thus, in the final hour, while the Innkeeper gave no more speeches and Eclipse enjoyed her conversations with Nulli, the guests decided that they should do something.

The first to stand was Hiran Kokan - the one who started all this.

"Innkeeper, before this party is over, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for inviting me, and allowing me to attend," he said humbly. The others may not know, but he knew that the divine emperor of their race had also visited the tea party, and he left rather pleased - relatively speaking. If nothing else, that at least told Hiran that the Innkeeper had the qualifications of hosting even entities on such a level, and thus it was genuinely an honor for him to attend.

"Though it cannot truly reflect the benefits I have experienced here in your tea party, allow me to give you this gift as a token of my appreciation. While, for now, it is truly just a token, once the Origin realm matures, the true value of this gift will reveal itself."

With both hands, Hiran held out a small, wooden box that seemed to lack any and all aura. In fact, it did not even feel like a mortal item - instead, it was clear at a glance that the purpose of this box was to isolate all auras. Even the many Dao Lords in attendance could not pick up what the box hid, and while Ventura was somewhat tempted to peek, he restrained himself. Even without looking, he could guess what the box contained.

"There is no need for such formalities, but since you have offered this gift so sincerely, I will reluctantly accept," the Innkeeper said, taking the token.

He did not want to check what the gift was in front of so many people, and intended to investigate the contents later, in a safer environment. He had not expected that the moment he grabbed the box, his body felt a connection to what was inside!

This genuinely took him by surprise. It was not the system, or any other number of mysteries that he held onto that reacted to the box, but his own body! He had a feeling that whatever was inside the box was... intimately connected to his body somehow.

His thoughts flashed to whatever his mother used to build his physique, but he felt that it was unlikely to be related to that.

"Of course, I am also extremely grateful to the Primordial Queen for allowing us to be guests inside her realm. Although I know that such a small gift is unworthy of you, allow me to present it to you anyway."

Hiran then quickly offered a similar wooden box to Eclipse, who casually accepted it. Gifts didn’t mean much to her anymore. It was unlikely anyone would give her something that genuinely excited her, and a gift from a stranger or acquaintance could not move her emotionally.

Even so, she opened the box to take a glance inside, covering the opening with her hand so no one could see. When her expression slightly changed, and she raised an eyebrow, everyone became curious about what the box truly contained.

Instead of revealing the contents of the box, she merely nodded towards Hiran, as if expressing that she approved of this gift.

Following Hiran’s lead, many other Dao Lords began to stand up as well, offering small gifts and tokens to both of them.

The Innkeeper repeatedly stated that such things were absolutely not necessary, but he did not reject anyone’s kindness. In the Dao Lords eyes, this was an opportunity to build stronger ties with the Innkeeper, while in Lex’s eyes this was an unexpected rainfall!

Who would reject more Dao materials? He had no idea what any of these things did, since no one explained, but he could tell they were all Dao materials!

Thus, while putting on his best reluctant expression, he accepted all the gifts while telling all his guests that this went against Inn rules, but he would only accept due to their sincerity. The other Dao Lords did not even doubt him.

They had not brought anything special along with them, because they had not been expecting such an extraordinary event. What they gave truly were just some small tokens and trinkets. The way they saw it, the Innkeeper could give them to his juniors or subordinates. Regardless, they had to present a token gift. With all the others doing so, it would be quite rude if any of them did not.

Of course, when Ballom and Bridget tried to offer gifts, the Innkeeper absolutely refused to accept them. The same was true of Wu Kong. Unlike the others, they were old guests of his, and he was decently familiar with them. They had no need for such formalities.

Of course, the Innkeeper also especially added that since they had proved to be such great guests, there was no other gift they needed to give. This was to ingrain into the other Dao Lords that if they were to ever be his guests, they should behave well!

"Innkeeper, I won’t bother with anything trivial. This is an Iridescent Rainbow Sapphire. You can fashion it into any kind of jewelry you want, and whether the recipient is a Dao Lord or a mortal, they won’t feel any pressure from it. The sapphire can be taken as a Lifebound treasure, and can grow up to a Dao material level, alongside whoever bonds it. This is one of the best gifts to give to a special lady, if you know what I mean," said Voidmaw as he winked while giving the Innkeeper the sapphire.

It was not large - barely the size of his thumbs nail - yet Lex could feel that it held great potential. A lifebound treasure was something a cultivator bonded with their soul, attaching their life to. It was rare, yet doing so allowed certain treasures to grow extremely powerful. Sword cultivators often ended up doing something similar. Yet it could also work in reverse. If the Lifebound treasure grew stronger, so would the cultivator.

While Lex himself had no interest in such treasures, he had to admit that this sapphire was a great gift - especially if it could grow all the way to Dao material level!

"Innkeeper, I won’t mince words," said Ventura who tossed the Innkeeper a silver, round token. "Here’s a Dao Pedestal token. If one of your workers ever needs to undertake a Dao tribulation, they are free to use my academy’s Dao Pedestal, free of charge!"

Many of the guests looked at the token with envy, for that was not something that could be gotten easily even if one paid for it, let alone for free.

The Innkeeper only nodded, and accepted the gift, without offering any additional words. Instead, he focused his attention on the whole group.

"Everyone, I hope you all have sincerely enjoyed your stay at the tavern, and enjoyed the tea party. In the future, I look forward to seeing you all as friends and old guests. However, all good things must end, so on this note I would like to thank you all for being gracious guests. I wish you all success in your future endeavors."

With those last words, the Innkeeper bid the guests farewell. One by one, they all started to leave, not overstaying their welcome. After all, they did not want to find out what would happen if they stayed longer than the allotted time for the party.