The Innkeeper

Chapter 1324  Raising Phoenixes

Lex also pondered the possibility of nurturing a Deity of his own, but eventually dismissed it. As he grew in power, anything a Deity was able to do, he would be able to do. As it was, even as an Earth Immortal, the scope of his power was incredible.

Besides, Cassandra had told him not to step onto the path of the Divine, and even Vinei, who had become a Deity, seemed to be regretting it. There was effectively no purpose to nurturing a Deity of his own.

But then, his thoughts went into another direction. While he could not nurture a Deity, a Phoenix…

"So does that mean the other Deities are all Phoenixes as well?" Lex asked, once Vinei handed him a Phoenix feather, and they left the temple, returning to the battlefield.

"Yes, all five of us were Phoenixes once. As it is, there is only one left now."

"So does that mean that all the Sol birds are descendants of Phoenixes?"

"Descendants, yes. But that does not mean that they are Phoenixes. At most, they merely have trace amounts of their bloodline, but it is almost certain that they will never become Phoenixes. It is not so easy for a true Phoenix to be born, one way or another."

"Got it. Well, I'll see you when I have the Defiler core, or if you're ready to act against the Kraven prince."

The two reached an agreement, and Lex returned to the Midnight realm. He had originally planned to send the Battalion to the Crystal realm as well, but the fight there was beyond their level. Although they needed to get more experience, it wasn't worth sending them to their doom.

Lex stretched, feeling good to be back. He had promised himself not to get involved, and for the most part he succeeded. Sure, he had his own little fetch quest now to get and get a Defiler core, but it wasn't so urgent. He could focus once more on the Midnight Inn. More importantly…

He teleported to the turtle, who was planting something deep in the core of one of the volcanoes in the realm.

"How are things going?" Lex asked, checking in on the turtle while studying the seed in front of it. Why the hell was this seed larger than 300 minivans stacked atop one another? Lex blinked, realizing that was an odd thought, and then focused on the turtle.

"They are going well, but the newer plants require more diverse energy types."

Lex was genuinely surprised to hear such a thing. In a newfound realm, the one thing they should not lack is energy.

"Make sure to send me a list. I'll see what I can do about it. If we really can't do anything about it, then I'll go talk to the Innkeeper about it. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something else. You remember that flaming bird you adopted once? The injured Sol bird?"

The turtle had adopted many pets over the years. Basically anything that was wounded or in need had been adopted by the turtle, who nurtured them back to health and took care of them.

In fact, even Lex had been taken care of by the turtle when he was in dire need, so if anything, Lex genuinely appreciated this habit of the turtles. It was now, once again, coming in handy.

"Yes, of course I remember little Sunny," the turtle said. "He has been helping me with the weeding in the western gardens."

Lex expected nothing less from the turtle than to have the descendant of a Phoenix weed his gardens.

"That's great. Listen, I'd like you to pay special attention to Sunny. I was just having a chat with one of Sunny's parents' friends, and I just found out that the poor bird is malnourished, which is why its bloodline is not waking up. That's unacceptable. As a member of the Inn, Sunny should be thoroughly nourished, and achieve its full potential."

The turtle paused for a moment, and used one of the vines coming out of its shell to rub its chin, as if thinking.

"You're right. I was thinking that little Sunny looked weak, but I wasn't sure. No wonder his flames can only burn weed and not the divine barbs off the Ruse Bush Deity I planted."

"Wait what?" Lex asked, suddenly shocked. "You… you planted a Deity? How does that work?"

He scanned the Inn but found no signs of growing Deities. What was going on?

"Silly human, you cannot plant Deities," the turtle said and looked at Lex as if looking at a child. "I planted a rosebush that will grow a Rose Deity once it's mature. How else am I supposed to grow a garden greater than Eden if I don't even plant a few Deity flowers?"

"Wait what?" Lex asked once more, repeating his words. He had never been more confused. He just had a conversation with a Deity who explained to him how Deities were born. None of that had anything to do with gardening. And what was this about growing a garden greater than Eden? The only Eden he knew of was Eden corp, and that was a company, not a garden.

"Silly human, do not trouble yourself too much. Thinking too much is not good for your kind. I saw a human the other day lose his hair on his head. Thinking too much must have caused him to shed his hair."

"No, wait, that's not what I mean," said Lex, his lip twitch returning. "I mean, I just found out about Deities recently. I learned that one becomes a Deity by being worshiped. So how can you grow a Deity from a plant?"

"Silly human, that is only for beings who are not born Deities. That does not include those who are naturally born Deities. Besides, flower Deities are not the same as regular Deities, anyway. Don't worry about it - if the Innkeeper were worried about it, he would have stopped me already. My garden will be amazing, just you watch."