Once Lex completed his chat with Mary, he did not rush to summon Shireen, but instead leaned back in his chair. While in his conversation with Velma, he did not reveal anything amiss, in truth the situation was far from being acceptable.

While on the surface it seemed like the Seraphim Resort was only putting up a front by condemning Lex instead of the Inn, allowing them to avoid entering a confrontation with the Inn, in truth Lex himself had been made into a scapegoat.

If that's all it was, the situation would not be so bad, however Lex was someone with a lot more exposure now, so he knew better. The will alone of a single Dao Lord was enough to kill Lex. Maybe if the Dao Lord was far away, it might take some time for it to happen, but it certainly would happen nevertheless.

Then, to be condemned by an entire organization full of Dao Lords was far, far worse. In fact, Lex suspected that the only reason he hadn't blown up already was due to a few critical factors.

When the condemnation happened, he was inside the Primordial Garden, and the specialness of that place protected him. From there, he had returned to the Inn, and a combination of protection from the system, and possibly the protection of the barrier around the realm was keeping him safe.

But these were only temporary measures. His understanding about Dao was at a very basic level, and Lex could not guess exactly what form this threat may take.

Now that things had come so far… perhaps it was time to stop playing so safely and take a few risks. A determined gleam shone in Lex's eyes. He had done his best to restrict the influence of the Inn, and to be as safe as possible, but ultimately that was only a delaying tactic. He had now arrived at the point where staying cautious and restrained would actually harm him.

He could not blame the Seraphim Resort for concluding the matter of their prisoners escaping by condemning him. After all, Eden seemed to have once again been plagued by war. Using those angels, or maybe even just killing them could have served them in the war in various ways.

However, similarly, they could not blame him for any actions he now took to ensure his own safety. It was not a matter of who was right or wrong - merely of self interest. It was in Lex's self interest that he not die, so first he needed to find a way to protect himself. Then, well, Lex was always one to get his revenge, even if he had to wait for it. Since they had condemned him, they must bear the consequences.

But all things in due time. Lex sat back in his chair, formulating a plan. He did not let the stress and anxiety of impending doom shake him - that had been his state of existence since he stepped into the cultivation world.

The first thing he needed to do was ensure his protection. One way to do that was to improve the defensive barrier surrounding the Midnight Realm, but another way was to get personal protection from an actual Dao Lord so that any possible influence against him was countered.

While he was making his own plans as well, Lex decided to consult someone who had a better understanding of Dao Lords.

"Mary, any thoughts on the situation?" Lex asked out loud. He did not need to elaborate - she was a smart woman. She knew what he meant.

Mary appeared in front of him, wearing a T-shirt with a print of abs on the front, and a pair of jeans.

"I think… well, there's a lot of things I can say to you, but only one will truly help you in this and future problems. You should hurry up and become a Dao Lord."

Lex rolled his eyes.

"If becoming a Dao Lord were up to my will, I would have been born a Dao Lord. I'm not even close to the Celestial realm, let alone that. Not to mention, even if I reach the peak of the Celestial realm tomorrow, I won't be able to rush into the Dao realm any time soon. Let's focus, instead, on things I can actually do."

Mary chuckled.

"You're worried about the condemnation, right? Actually, your situation isn't nearly as bad as you may think it is," she said, smirking at Lex.

"What do you mean?" he asked, with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Isn't it obvious? You have the condemnation of a bunch of Dao Lords over your head, which is truly bad. But you also have Heaven's Favor. Did you think that was just a fancier title for Karma?" Mary asked as she stretched her legs and placed them on Lex's table.

"For now, all you need to know is that Heaven's Favor will protect you from the condemnation until it is used up, but that's a huge waste. So, in truth, you do need to come up with better ways to protect yourself. The way I see it, there are only a couple of risk free things you can do, and one relatively risky thing.

"The first is to raise your strength. I know you joked about not being able to reach Dao Lord soon, but you must make cultivation a priority. From this level on out, cultivation will probably slow down for you. Unless you actively make efforts to continuously raise your cultivation level, it will take you too long.

"You remember Ragnar, the human general? He is considered a genius because he is averaging one Heaven Immortal level each century. Even if you're already many times faster than him, the comparison should allow you to understand that the gap between levels will become harder and harder to overcome."

"Alright fine," Lex said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll pay attention to my cultivation. Let me guess, the second thing I can do is improve the Inn, and the third thing I can do is get the protection of a Dao Lord."

Mary crossed her arms and frowned.

"If you want to say all the answers yourself, why are you even asking me? Yeah, those are pretty much your options. Unless you can pretty much somehow learn to tolerate the influence of Dao on your own, you'll always be reliant on external things to protect yourself."

Lex raised an eyebrow at the last thing Mary said. Due to the existence of Eclipse, Mary had not paid too much attention to Lex while he was at the garden lest she attract attention, which is why she did not know most of the things he did there, or what Eclipse told him about. That basically meant she had no idea about Lex trying to form a Dao Body, so her last statement could have been sarcastic.

Little did she know… Lex was already trying to do just that.

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