Chapter 2516: Getting groceries in a silk dress

Based on what he had been told, the universe would mature in three phases. The first phase would last anywhere between 500 to 1000 years, and he wasn’t sure about the next two phases but it felt safe to assume that they would, at least take the same amount of time.

But Lex didn’t feel like making any assumptions as that’s how mistakes would happen, so he decided to find out the exact details at some point.

While that happened though... there was nothing to stop him from aiming towards having his realm mature in 3000 years, give or take. He didn’t feel any real pressure to succeed though. Sure, supposedly it wouldn’t be possible for a realm to mature once the universe entered its next phase, but it had already been established that there was nothing that was impossible.

Yes, it would be much harder, and he’d need to somehow create the perfect circumstances for it. He could only imagine how long Eclipse had been prepared to pull off her own impossible task. But the point was that he could find a way if he really needed to. He’d rather defer it in case this was too short a timespan and forcing it might endanger the realm or Lotus.

That said, it would be best if all that hassle could be avoided and it could be achieved right now.

Lex narrowed his eyes and composed his thoughts. Turning the realm into a Mature realm would also paint a bigger target on the Inns back. He might really end up getting some Dao Lords testing the Innkeepers mettle for the sake of controlling a Major realm. After all, the universe had clearly just lost a lot of them, and Major realms were prime real estate.

Maybe... it would be safer to only aim for the utmost limit of what an Immature realm can reach. While that in itself would be very tempting, considering Dao Lords couldn’t safely use their strength in Immature realms, they might hold off.

Then again, the rules might change once the universe matures.

Lex rubbed his chin as he thought more deeply about this. The idea was tempting, but his own strength needed to be sufficient.

Lex clicked his tongue. It was no fun being pragmatic after getting all excited. Then he had another idea. What if... he could turn his realm into a Mature realm, but keep it a secret from everyone! It sounded impossible, but with Lotus to help out... who knew what might be possible. After all, the universe was a strange place. All sorts of weird and interesting realms existed. Why not one that was controlled by his bonded lotus?

Regardless of whether he went through with his plan or not, it all started with Lotus.

"This is for you," Lex said as he summoned the tattoo onto his back once more. Without any hesitation or explanation, he fused the Chaos Amber resin into the tattoo effortlessly.

Although it was a Dao material, it was the easiest to absorb, and safest Dao material that even mortals could absorb. Its uses were many, but in general it helped to improve the foundation of a mortal’s body over all. The problem was that Lotus did not have a mortal body in the traditional sense. The tattoo was basically the only physical manifestation it had for now.

Moreover, since Lotus was fused with a realm, Lex doubted that a single Dao material would enhance its body by a great deal. He was mistaken.

Lex himself had absorbed so many pieces of Amber Chaos resin that by the end their effect was minimal. That, combined with his perceived size of Lotus considering it was fused with a realm, caused Lex to think that its support for Lotus would be minimal.

However, regardless of Lotus’ individual circumstances, it was still a non-Dao being absorbing a Dao material. Almost immediately, Lex sensed that Lotus began to benefit from the resin.

As if that in itself was not enough, Lex sensed that the laws of the realm themselves began to react to his actions, causing him to understand that his actions had finally positively impacted the realm.

A bunch of new ideas ran through Lex’s mind, but they all centered around improving his realm, his Lotus, and his personal power. He wanted to test Realm Flattery some more, but he had no other way at the moment as he had no realm fertilizer on him. He’d need to read Taro’s journal to better understand what that was made from.

Lex finally teleported back to his office and called for Mary. She was far busier than he had anticipated, for she was taking full advantage of finally having a real body again. When she arrived in his office, she was wearing a bronze, silk dress, earrings, necklace and a perfume that Lex could smell from across the room.

Of course, despite being easily detectable, the scent was not overwhelming, and was in fact subtle and warm.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Lex asked, not expecting to see her so formally dressed.

Mary threw herself on the sofa across from him without any reservation.

"I was heading out to do some groceries, and you know what they say - never leave home without dressing up. Speaking of which, you need to hire Geeves some assistants so he can take on bigger orders. All I did was place an order for thirteen thousand different costumes and he kicked me out of his shop thinking I was trying to prank him. The nerve!"

Lex’s lip twitched, and he could not help but imagine what that must have looked like.

"You know you can... just order the groceries to be delivered to your... wait a minute, where are you living? Did you get one of the worker’s apartments?"

Although Lex was connected to the Inn and could view all of it, he did his best not to specifically monitor his workers to afford them their privacy. That naturally included Mary.

"Yeah, something like that," she said with a sly smile that suggested that the truth was nothing like that.