Chapter 2450: She’s at it again

Eclipse was unusually silent, but no one disturbed her. They all watched Lex as he absorbed both the tribulations feedback as well as the curse, and grew visibly stronger.

Lex himself closed his eyes and felt the changes taking place, for alongside his new cultivation realm, he also received a lot of information. The key detail his instincts told him was that he really needed to talk to Eclipse, and that their conversation would play a significant role in his future.

Besides that, he also felt oddly aware of how unevenly distributed his specialities were. For example, his array skills, sword intent and law manipulation were very high level, but his spirit and soul based arts were actually lagging behind.

He was also aware of the difference in level of mastery among the many laws he used regularly.

He wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling that all of this had something to do with reaching the Dao Lord realm.

The tribulation feedback and cursing attempt didn’t last long, barely a dozen minutes or so, after which he was completely free. Lex flexed his fingers and tested his new strength and found that it was entirely incomparable. Before reaching the Celestial Immortal realm, he was already equal to some Celestial Apex.

Now... Lex could not gauge how strong he was at all. He simply felt that most of the fear in his mind disappeared, as if there was hardly anything left in the universe capable of making him afraid.

Even Dao Lords, while still far beyond his power level, seemed not as invincible as they always had. That particular illusion was because his Dao Body had jumped to 60% after the tribulation.

To be fair, a lot of his strength also came from the fact that there weren’t countless hidden curses on his body and soul, dragging him down. To this day, Lex had no idea where these curses came from, but that just went to show the true depth of this universe.

Confidence was good, but the moment he became overconfident was the moment he would seal his fate to be the same as Daekols. Even beings like Nuwa had to be careful, so how could he, a mere Celestial Immortal, claim invincibility?

Lex blinked, and then turned towards the garden. Though Eclipse was nowhere in his sight, he knew she was looking at him.

"Thank you for saving me," Lex said with the humblest tone he could produce, and bowed towards the forest. He was not quick to rise either, for this was not a performance. He was genuinely thankful, for he knew Eclipse had no obligation to help him.

There was nothing he could offer her beyond the relationship that they already had, and that relationship was like that of a lost child being guided through the darkness by a caring figure.

Harriot appeared beside Lex and nodded at him, not revealing even a hint of the earlier anxiety he displayed when he felt Lex was going to die.

"Come on. She has some words she wants to share with you," the poodle said before walking ahead. Lex silenced his mind, and did not at all notice that the poodle was wagging its tail happily.

Now, as a Celestial, Lex realized that the Primordial Garden was actually a whole lot scarier than he previously imagined, and that a lot of the scary parts were being held back by his escorts. His senses were sharp enough that he could realize that... just the beasts and creatures in this garden alone could probably conquer many realms if they were allowed to exit.

A few moments later, he found himself kneeling. Lex had no idea how that happened. One moment he was walking behind Harriot, and the next he was kneeling, and his gaze was fixed on the floor in front of him, as if his body dared not look up.

"You put on a good show, Lex," said Eclipse from her throne, an amused smile on her face. She did not explain to him why he could not look up - his confusion was much too amusing. Beside her, Nulli looked at Lex longingly, as if she could somehow reach the Innkeeper through him.

"Much more important than that, however, is that you showed me something new," she continued. "I have witnessed two of your Major tribulations now, and both of them were quite enjoyable for me. I can scarcely wait for your Dao tribulation."

Lex recognized the voice, so he now knew that he was in front of Eclipse. That helped him calm down.

"Thank you, I’ll take that as a vote of confidence. Actually, considering how notoriously difficult Dao tribulations are, I’d be quite happy settling for a normal one," he answered, a hint of resignation in his voice.

That caused Eclipse to chuckle.

"You’re perhaps the first person I’ve witnessed who thinks fondly of a regular Dao tribulation. Then again, I suppose you have sufficient reason for that. But enough of that - I did not call you here today for casual conversation. I do not want to interfere in however the Innkeeper intends to train you, but I felt compelled to give you a hint of advice based on your fight with Daekol.

"You have an acceptably adequate mastery of karma for your level, and it is far beyond most of the other laws that you use. However, while that appears good for now, I think it will cause you problems down the lane. When you reach the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm, you will automatically understand how to reach for the Dao Lord realm.

"The only thing I’ll say is that... find alternative laws. Specialise in something else. You have quite a lot of potential - I’d hate to see you waste it on forming a Dao based on karma."

Lex paused, unsure of what to make of that. Was Eclipse telling him to avoid Daos related to karma? Wasn’t she, herself, an expert in karma? So why would she say that?

Instead of elaborating, Eclipse continued to speak.

"The second piece of advice I’d like to give you is..."

Eclipse paused her speed as she slowly turned to her right where Nulli was standing, a hint of exasperation and disbelief in her eyes. Nulli, oblivious to Eclipse’s feelings, was once again sniffing the air, as if she could smell something familiar on Lex.

"The smell is stronger than before. Did you go... meet the Timekeeper? Is the Timekeeper hiding in the Hollow?" Nulli asked, locking in on Lex.

As the Primordial Nullith, she was especially sensitive to the presence of the Timekeeper. Or, rather, his smell.