The Innkeeper

There was a void. Nothing existed for all of eternity, except for the color black, which was all encompassing. There was no sound, no temperature, no energy, nothing. But in that endless nothingness, a round, stone table appeared.

There was no light source, yet the table was perfectly visible and, in fact, forcibly attracted one's eyes in the vast nothingness. Since there was no light source, the table had no shadows either, which was very important. In this area that was devoid of everything, darkness was acceptable but shadows were not, for they would compromise the security of this place.

One moment the table existed alone, the next a group of nondescript figures appeared around it. Even if one tried, they would not be able to count the number of figures, for that information was just too elusive. It was for that reason that it seemed all but impossible to determine how large the group was, or how large the table was for that matter - after all, the only other thing with which to compare the existence of the table could not be properly observed at all.

Yet, when one of the figures began to speak, his appearance became clear, revealing a young, devilishly handsome man.

"The phenomenon has ended, but the Origin realm did not elevate, which means a Daolord was not born. I strongly suspect that someone was manufacturing a Dao treasure, and I have a suspicion of who it might be."

"Why should that matter to me, Ballom?" asked another figure, revealing his appearance as that of a Celestial. "Or to any of us? We are all here, in this fledgling realm, to observe the formation of laws to expand our own understanding of laws. Whoever is interfering is speeding up the process, which is taking away precious time from us to observe. I say, let the Henali evict whoever it is so that they stop causing us problems."

"No, forget him. Do elaborate. A Dao treasure you say? Tell me more" The third figure that spoke revealed itself to be a dragon, and a massive one at that.

"Do you think I invited you all here because I wanted you to do something?" Ballom asked, scoffing. "What? Did you think I wanted to steal the treasure? Do you think what happened to Ra wasn't enough warning?"

"Wait, you think the Innkeeper is responsible for the phenomenon?" asked another figure yet again, this time in the appearance of an angel. She had four, beautiful white wings and a halo of pure light above her head, which, accompanied by her own reprehensible beauty, made her a figure which haunted everyone's damn nightmares.

Ballom, as well as every other figure, resisted the urge to grimace at hearing her voice. That stupid angel was too freaking powerful, and never restrained herself. All of them quickly scrubbed the memory of her voice from their brains, lest she start appearing in their dreams - again.

"The aura of the phenomenon was unique, I would have recognized it if I had ever felt it before. But my instinct tells me that the aura is at least related to the Innkeeper."

"It's not your instincts, just your wishful thinking," said another figure, revealing a spirit. "You humanoids all favor one another."

"Being humanoid has nothing to do with it," said Ballom, his voice turning ever deeper as he changed from his human appearance to his true one. "I have met him so I know. He is a mysterious man the depth of whom even I was not able to gauge, though I didn't really try to avoid being rude. His means elude me, and his purpose is unknown. I brought you all here not to conspire against him, but as a professional courtesy. If the Innkeeper really is the one who caused the phenomenon, then other than being powerful enough to oneshot Ra, an original Deity of this realm, he is a deeply knowledgeable person from whom we can learn much."

The other Daolords listened, but did not reveal their true thoughts about what the Devil said. Honor? Respect? Devils cared for none of that, only profit. They knew he had some hidden purpose, they just didn't know what.

The meeting continued on past that topic, and many secret deals were struck. No one found it ironic that a meeting held by a devil had more participants than the one held by the Henali themselves. After all, the Henali were the owners and enforcers of this realm. Why would they do shady business in front of them?

*****

The mysterious, profound and honorable Innkeeper, as many Daolords knew of him as, was grinning ear to ear as his cart was pushed to the finish line by all the carts behind him. In his search to find loopholes in his own event, Lex discovered one that would make the game kind of boring, but then at the same time, the thought of irritating and frustrating so many drivers excited Lex's inner child. Most of all, it wasn't like he was cheating or anything, so no one could blame him.

Since the only way in which he could use his ability was defensively, his plan required him to become the car in the lead. Once there, he turned around and used Talk to the Hand. The invisible shield it created now was much larger than before, and though the technique had not been able to bring out his full might as a Golden Core cultivator, it was strong enough to withstand anything his fellow contestants threw at him.

So, now in the lead, and with his invisible shield deployed behind him, Lex let go of the accelerator, and awaited the rest of the carts. Not realizing an invisible shield stood in their path they would crash into it full force, pushing Lex forward each time.

To be honest, Lex originally didn't plan on being so mean to them. But when he became the target of every other racer for not only being a crowd favorite, but a nuisance on the track, Lex felt it was okay if he let loose a little.

Truth be told, this was very different from how Lex normally behaved. But he was feeling good today, so it was fine to act a little childish.

Like that, in complete disbelief of the entire crowd, all the participants, as well as the race commentator himself, Lex won the race and became a nominee for the Grand Prix.