Chapter 1356 Options
Lex had set the stage for long term cooperation, ensuring that the vicious planet would not turn against the Inn, for Ereboth himself was the one seeking favor between them. That did not mean Lex would drop his guard against Ereboth - far from it.
No matter what it claimed, the planet had an evil nature. Yet a cautious relationship built on mutual profit was about as stable a relationship Lex could hope to build between them.
But though the stage was set, the final details needed to be hashed out. This was, naturally, not something the Innkeeper would do himself.
Ordinarily, this was the part where the Innkeeper sent his guest to go consult with Lex, the Inn worker, to hash out the finer details. This time, however, he could not. Not only would Lex have to deal with Ripley soon once more, but there was also the fact that over the past few years, he had nurtured highly competent workers.
He drew up his requirements in his mind about how he wanted the cooperation to go, what was required and what could be negotiated on, and sent it to Luthor. He also sent him a message to coordinate with the Planning Division on it.
"I have guided you enough," the Innkeeper finally said. "Anymore and it would be counterproductive to your path. I have sent certain details to one of the Inn workers named Luthor. You can go find him and work out the details of the Inns cooperation with him."
With the clear dismissal, Ereboth awoke from his internal monologue and laughter session, and quickly bowed to the Innkeeper, ready to leave.
"Oh, and Ereboth," the Innkeeper spoke, just as the shrunken planet was about to leave the office. "There shouldn't be any more accidental relapses while you're at the Inn."
When he felt like his state was good enough, he opened his eyes and made a list of the options.
The first and most obvious was to take control of where the Inn would be teleported to from. This was not a foolproof option, as restricting the place to a location rather than cultivation level meant that strong enemies could still find a way through.
But if he restricted it to a cultivation level, then the reach of the Inn and knowledge of it could technically continue to expand across the universe, making even more Dao Lords aware of it - a policy he wanted to avoid at the moment.
The rule he could change could also be something related to self defense. Over the years, Lex had used numerous ways to defend the Inn, each more roundabout than the next. He had used formations, body guards, massive training dummy puppets, butter knives and more, yet it was a persistent worry.
However, the idea of increasing the defense of the Inn had certain flaws, which was that no defense was perfect. Rather than focusing on that, Lex would rather focus on making fewer enemies.
Of course, Lex could also make some kind of rule that would help make the guests' experience even better, but Lex felt like he was doing a decent enough job with that anyway. Even if he wasn't, it wouldn't be a priority.
Lex could also change the rule somehow to make the Inn itself more difficult to find in reality. In truth, this was also one of his concerns. He wanted to ensure that the newborn realm would not be discovered by others, lest he get a war on his hands.
This was genuinely a very pressing concern. Yet so was the concern of overwhelmingly powerful cultivators just dropping in whenever they wanted from anywhere. In fact, there was no point in hiding the realm to begin with if Dao Lords and Celestial immortals could just pop in without his knowledge.
But while he could add all those preventive, precautionary laws, he could also change a law to help him become stronger quicker. For example, if he sped up the development of the Midnight realm through changing the system's rules, Lotus would grow stronger, and he would get the corresponding feedback in strength.
The options were limitless, but he only had one opportunity. He would have to carefully decide what to do.