The Innkeeper

Chapter 1383  Swirly christmas tree

The tree was growing, the spiritual energy was raging, legends were being written, and within his heart Lex lamented that he was once again doing something heaven defying, setting an incredibly high bar for others his age.

If his life were a cultivation novel instead, you know, real life, then his skill level would be so high, others his age would never even get an opportunity to try and slap his face. It would be a boring novel.

That is why real life was more interesting, because it hardly mattered who was his age and who wasn't. When one faced an enemy, the talent level, cultivation time, genius level, and any number of such things did not matter. What truly mattered was how much money Lex could make from it, and from this tavern he would make a killing, so he put his utmost effort into it, tapping into the noble and sacred Dao of capitalism.

On a serious note, Lex had to concentrate not because of capitalism or anything else. It was because the tree was growing rapidly, being nurtured by the most exquisite quality energies available. Such nourishment meant that there was a high chance that the tree might gain spiritual awakening, which was not ideal.

To be clear, just because something was of a high level, or had an immense amount of power or strength did not mean that they would undergo spiritual awakening and become sentient.

If that were the case, every rock and tree in 5 star worlds would be a living entity. Instead, such things would need to be nourished by spiritual energy of a higher quality depending on their own inherent strength.

For example, a random apple tree from earth could easily gain spiritual awakening in the Midnight realm, because its own inherent level was low. But such an environment would not be enough to awaken a Void Sequoia tree. But the specific nourishing Lex was providing the seed with, not to mention the fact that he was stimulating a mutation, meant that there was a pretty decent chance that the tree might encounter a spiritual awakening.

Strictly speaking, the system did not set any conditions preventing such a thing, and a sentient tree would still serve as a treehouse. But Lex had learned his lesson from having a spaceship with a fear of heights.

Becoming sentient was good and all, but what if the tree woke up with a personality that was a neat freak? How would he deal with customers walking all over it? Or what if the tree had a personality that wanted to transform into a human shape, much like Zuri walked around looking like a human? That would not be conducive to acting as a treehouse at all.

At such a time, Lex would have to take measures to address the situation. But something like that, in his mind, would be Plan B. Plan A was to prevent such a situation to begin with. As they say, 'my tree, my choice.'

Unfortunately, preventing a spiritual awakening was not a part of the manual the turtle provided, so Lex had to rely on the few methods he already knew. Unfortunately, most methods could not be used, since they required slightly injuring the spirit, and he did not want to compromise the quality and strength of the tree.

Even without having a spiritual awakening, most living things had a spirit, even trees. It was just that they weren't to the point of being sentient. The way Lex used to prevent the tree from gaining sentience was to oppress the spirit!

This wouldn't harm its growth in any way, yet keep it from growing.

How did Lex oppress the spirit? Naturally, with his display of Domination!

With Domination pressing down on the tree's spirit, Lex could monitor it for any changes, and ensure there was no activity.

At the same time, he continued to grow the tree. Under the influence of the formation and Lex's numerous other preparations, the tree's growth in a matter of hours could rival what would normally take centuries.

But it was far from enough. The Void Stabilization Sequoia tree was barely as big as a regular oak, let alone the size of the Sequoia trees back on Earth. What Lex needed from this tree was to be even larger than that, which meant that there was still a lot left.

This is also when the nurturing became more difficult and strenuous, requiring a lot of Lex's effort, as well as resources that were priceless.

In fact, one of the options the turtle had given Lex was to use his own blood to nurture the tree, since his own blood was also invaluable, having been tempered by the most incredible cultivation technique and even having been influenced by a Dao level item.

But Lex was not willing to do that. Although he relied on his blood for his healing techniques, Lex was very secretive with his blood, and was unwilling to use it for anything - especially since his body, spirit and soul had been fused. His blood also contained his soul, so mixing it with other things was certainly not a good idea.

Yes, he'd done it before. But now that his realm was higher, he was unwilling to repeat those actions.

Instead, he used dragon blood. He had an endless supply of that stuff with Pel Jr. now controlling the dragon body, so he wasn't stingy with it at all.

As the Void Stabilization Sequoia tree finally crossed 300 feet (91.4 meters) in height, Lex took out his Butter Knife - the one given to him by the system - and began to implement his newly learned Bonsai techniques.

A true Void Stabilization Sequoia tree could grow up to several thousand miles in height, but that would not be ideal for a treehouse. Maybe if Lex wanted a treehouse that could replace a small planet he would consider it, but since he didn't, that was not ideal.

Moreover, a tree that grew up in a straight line was good for a treehouse, but also boring. As such, he needed to begin shaping it, and use the remainder of its growth potential to strengthen the tree itself rather than growing it taller.

Of course, since he was just beginning to use his bonsai technique now, the tree would still end up growing a few hundred feet more. At the same time, the requirements of the tree, in terms of nutrients and energy began to subtly surpass what Lex was providing from the various ingredients he was providing.

This was on purpose, for he didn't want to grow the tree to the end of its potential, and instead wanted to grow it sufficiently and with a steady foundation. Over the course of countless years, the tree would surely get many opportunities to grow even stronger.

This clear malnutrition would not actually weaken the tree, but slowly halt its accelerated growth. Of course, it would also leave the region where the tree had grown barren of nutrients and spiritual energy. But, with time, that problem would fix itself, much like the dead zone around Earth suddenly vanished one day.

Lex was momentarily distracted by thoughts of the dead zone once more, as if his subconscious was directing his attention towards it. Lex noticed this, but the list of things he had to do were too numerous. Adventuring would have to wait.

Under Lex's careful guidance, while the main branch of the Void Stabilization Sequoia tree remained straight, its many branches grew outwards in a spiral all around the tree, forming a peculiar yet beautiful sight.

It was as if Lex was looking at a christmas tree, yet instead of the branches coming straight out, they swirled around the tree from the bottom to the top. That was merely the appearance from the outside.

Hidden behind the thick outer layer of leaves was a complex maze of trunks, as if numerous streets going across a vertical city. The foundation for the treehouse was complete, and the tree was finally grown. Now, Lex had to actually build the treehouse on top of it.

Best of all, the tree hadn't gained any sentience, so he could rest easy.

Now, to construct the actual treehouse itself, Lex was not using wood. Instead, he would refine the entire treehouse out of metal, using bits of Veevatil within, the same metal as his sword.

The house portion of the treehouse was going to be a treasure he refined himself. While Lex couldn't claim to be the best treasure manufacturer around, otherwise he wouldn't have had Orin craft Naraka for him, he was still pretty good.

Lex teleported away, and with his departure the pressure on the tree finally faded.

The trees spirit, having been refined under the pressure of Domination, nourished by the purest forms of energy Lex could provide, and fertilized in dragon blood, began to bubble, as if it was about to undergo a metamorphosis, shedding its mundane form for a far greater one.

Above the tree, a tribulation cloud began to gather. This was not the tribulation cloud of someone entering the immortal realm, but the cloud that provided tempering to a universal grade treasure that was about to be born.