Lex sat there, opposite to the Havi, his senses on full alert as he waited for her to respond. He was slightly concerned that she had been able to tell his cultivation level. The Masterless technique only made him untraceable, it wouldn’t stop someone in front of his face from detecting his level. The Tyrant’s Mask, however, should have done that.

Still, it could just be because the Tyrant’s Mask was designed to prevent snooping or scanning him through normal means. Since the Havi had a unique cultivation style and technique, maybe he’d need a better way of defending against her scanning - even if the Tyrant’s Mask was powered by Divine energy!

Besides that, he was somewhat concerned about the fact that she had basically summoned him here by trying to attack him. Yet when he arrived, she had shown not the slightest hint of hostility at all. At the same time, he couldn’t quite understand what ’here’ really was.

The Havi chuckled as she observed Lex some more, and thought about how to answer the question.

"The Celestial Apex... well, if we only consider your cultivation level, you have no business knowing about it yet. But based on the strength you’ve displayed, it’s almost inevitable that you join, so I may as well tell you ahead of time," she said as she summoned one of the waiters.

"I’ll have a Green Sea Milk, and you can ask my guest for what they want," she said as she sent the waiter towards Lex. He glanced at the menu, and then ordered a drink at random since he couldn’t detect anything amiss.

"You probably already know this, but anyone who makes it to the Celestial Immortal realm is the cream of the crop, the creme de la creme, the absolute best any race has to offer. Merely passing the tribulation sets apart the talented and the true geniuses. Yet each cultivation level after that further filters the wheat from the chaff, all the way until the peak of the Celestial realm. But what do you think happens after that?"

The Havi paused as she received her drink, and allowed the devil to think for a bit, and respond.

"Naturally, the peak Celestials begin to think of ways to approach the Dao," Lex answered as he received his own drink. He scanned it thoroughly, but found nothing wrong with it. Even his instincts didn’t pick up anything amiss. A part of him still wanted to avoid drinking it, unsure of what the Havi may have done to it.

But he drank anyway. Fear could not restrain him, and he was confident in his ability to get himself out of trouble if any found him.

"Correct. But that is easier said than done, which had led to an unusual anomaly among Celestial Immortals. Universe wide, it is the only cultivation realm that has more cultivators at its peak than the sum of cultivators in its lower levels!"

Lex found those statistics questionable, yet he could also imagine how it could come about. At the Celestial level, it became exceptionally difficult for cultivators to actually die. It was easier to trap them than to actually kill them. That, combined with the fact that Celestials were, indeed, immortal meant that over hundreds of trillions of years since the dawn of the Enlightenment age, countless cultivators had reached the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm, and had been stuck there.

Some may have become Dao Lords, and more likely died in the process of attempting to become one, but even more would just remain stuck there, entirely unable to even cause the Dao tribulation to descend!

"I shall avoid the topic of Dao for now, I’m sure you can imagine that most Celestials don’t even get the opportunity to glimpse at it at all. So what of the countless Celestials who are at the peak? What are they to do? Or rather, what does their continuous search for the next realm result in? The answer is pretty simple: they become powerful.

"They continue their search, they continue their study, enhancing their understanding of laws, improving their application of them, until a point where they entirely transcend the realm of power the Celestial realm should have allowed for them to attain.

"Those cultivators, who have ended up in this awkward stage between realms, entirely stronger than every other regular cultivator in the universe, but still unable to even stand up Demi-Dao Lords, are said to have reached the Celestial Apex, resulting in the Celestial Apex list.

"Each and every one of them has unimaginable power, the likes of which ordinary cultivators cannot imagine. The only reason they lose out is because no matter how impressive their manipulation of laws is, they are suppressed by the Dao."

Lex casually enjoyed his drink as he listened to the Havi. What she said sounded plausible enough to be real. Considering his own abnormal strength, it would make sense that someone might mistake him for a Celestial Apex. What he found more worthy of note, however, was that while he considered himself extremely powerful, the Havi in front of him just considered him equal to a new member of the Celestial Apex.

That meant that there should be quite a few Celestial Immortals out there just as strong, and possibly even stronger than him. In fact, this very Havi might be one of them.

"Quite interesting, though I suppose it will be some time before I am honored as a member of that list," said the devil as he looked at the Havi. "The question now, though, is what your intentions are to invite me here?"

The Havi looked at the devil with quite a bit of interest. For a mere Heaven Immortal to have strength to rival a peak Celestial Immortal... was definitely interesting.

"Well, originally I intended to see if I could glean an opportunity to touch upon the Dao from you, but that is no longer a possibility, so I have no interest in fighting you. I wouldn’t mind forming a connection with a new and upcoming powerhouse, though.

"It’s clear to me that you are searching for someone, or something. How about you do me a small favor while you’re at it, and I’ll do you a favor in return - helping you out."

The devil looked around, clearly not trusting her in the slightest, but also not making any moves to rush away. She found it quite amusing. Clearly he was very young, or very uninformed about the Havi race, or he would not have stayed around for so long.

"Well it depends. What favor do you want?" the devil asked eventually.

The Havi chuckled, leaning forward as she materialised a piece of paper from thin air.

"Do you know how the powers of us Havi work?" she asked as she slid the piece of paper across to the devil. "It is through names. To be more specific, it is through True Names. We are the race most in tune with the rhythm of the universe, and so we hear it sing. We are the ones who gave names to many of the things you know.

"However, the Dream realm has a unique ability to interfere with our senses, making it difficult to hear True Names. I have heard rumors that you have a special way to resist the influence of dreams. If you can bring me a dream - any dream - and let me study it so I can hear its True Name, I will reward you."

Lex looked at the empty piece of paper, and then back at the Havi. He checked both sides, but found it empty. His instincts were finally kicking in, indicating that the Havi was doing something, but he wasn’t alarmed at all. Instead, he felt... amused. Lex didn’t even find the need to properly defend - the Masterless technique alone hid all his traces. Still, he let a small crack of information slip through.

"And what will you do in exchange?" the devil asked, leaning back as if he finally relaxed.

"Well, there are many things I can do for you. For example..." the Havi held out its claw and summoned the paper back. Lex had touched it, and that’s all she needed for her trick to work!

"I can keep your True Name from slipping out and alerting your enemies!"

She picked up the paper and channeled her power, causing a deep blue ink to slip onto the paper and spell out some characters.

With the Devil’s True Name in her hand, she could weaken him tremendously, and take him as a servant. Who would say no to a powerful servant? If he were a true Celestial Apex, this wouldn’t have worked, but since he wasn’t...

The Havi’s expression suddenly distorted as she read the characters on the paper, and then looked towards the Devil who was looking at her with an amused expression.

"Go ahead. Read it. Call me by my ’True Name’," he said tauntingly.

The Havi looked from the devil back to the piece of paper in her hand. It had spelled out a single word: Daddy.