Lex opened his eyes and took note of the mistake he’d made. When he’d designed the necklace, he should have also designed a method for it to be able to pull energy directly from the void hidden behind the space of a realm, or maybe he should have added some kind of rechargeable battery.

He’d thought of many possibilities and prepared for them, but he’d never really imagined that energy deprivation was what would get him in the end.

He sighed as he let his gaze sweep over the Guest House, and at the snowy scenery all around it.

To be fair, it wasn’t like Lex was suffering. Due to the sped up flow of time, not only was he not running out of time, he had more than enough of it to allow himself to plan out his next steps meticulously.

The issue was... he wasn’t used to having so much free time. He was always busy, with a surplus of tasks and limited time on his hands. Now, he had endless time and relatively little to do. While he certainly wouldn’t waste this time, pondering over laws, his plans and his revenge, it still left him with a certain part of his mind unoccupied.

In the end, he could not help but pay more attention to River and Pearl. Pearl was making steady progress in her cultivation. At this early stage of cultivation, ambient spiritual energy did not play too significant a role in cultivation, so her speed was decent even by normal standards.

It would be when she broke into the Foundation realm that her speed would be affected by the low energy levels of this place. Of course, by local standards she’d still cultivate quickly. It was River who was severely lagging behind.

While pondering the path of paladins, Lex realized that overcoming obstacles through combat wasn’t the only way to progress in this path. It was just the one with the most straightforward way of progressing. All he had to do was overcome death while fighting impossible odds. Or, well, difficult odds.

Lex noticed that the requirement for overcoming an impossible situation provided the greatest feedback, but wasn’t strictly necessary. It was likely that was how the path actually began, but shortcuts and easier paths were developed later on. For example, the recognition of the oath became much easier with another paladin watching.

Similarly, different kinds of oaths could be fulfilled using simpler methods as long as one was satisfied with slower returns. For example, an oath to heal could be fulfilled by treating hundreds of millions of patients. It was a slow, tedious process, but it would work. Moreover, the patient’s own cultivation level would also determine the feedback.

Thus, after months of taking care of Pearl, and running the Guest House, River had successfully accumulated enough feedback to be equivalent to one day of Pearl’s cultivation. In short, the paladin path was definitely not suited for the masses as the indirect methods of fulfilling oaths were too slow.

Lex turned his gaze away from River, who was shoveling snow from in front of the Guest House, to the surrounding scenery. The Land of Hundred Rivers had some unique flora that Lex hadn’t seen before, causing a certain vegetable called Icy Cabbage to grow in fresh snow.

It was a major crop and, more importantly, quite beautiful to look at. The surroundings of the Guest House were filled with wild Icy Cabbages, making it look like a winter paradise of some sort. It was a truly serene and peaceful sight... something that the young couple cherished greatly.

When they had started the Guest House, neither of them had anticipated just how much they would come to love it.

The early morning serenity was broken, however, by the sound of carriages in the distance. River looked up in confusion. It had snowed through the night, meaning the roads hadn’t been cleared yet, making it impossible for carriages to pass.

He didn’t need to look for long to get his answer, for he saw a tall figure, wrapped in white, linen clothes. He punched the snow in front of him, and the snow moved aside for dozens of meters in front of him, clearing the road, allowing him to casually walk forward and punch again.

It was obvious at a glance that the man’s strength was great, and that he could probably clear the roads even faster. Doing that, however, might damage the road which is why he opted for the slow but less destructive method.

Behind him, a number of carriages slowly rolled up, pulled by massive beasts that River had never seen before, nor recognised.

"Ahoy there!" the man called out when he noticed the building, and River clearing the snow. "Do you know how far the nearest city is? The storm has covered everything in ice and we can no longer tell which way we’re heading! It’s fortunate that we found the road, but I’m afraid if I don’t get my lords some hot food soon, someone is going to have a very bad day."

River paused, and gulped. As the man drew near, the aura from his body imposed onto River, suppressing him, causing him to realize that he was a Foundation realm cultivator!

"Blue Stone city is a few hours that way," River said as he pointed. "If you want, I can cook you some food. It’ll be basic - it’s not easy to get supplies these days, but at least it’ll be warm. I run an inn called the Guest House."

The Foundation realm cultivator was unusually friendly, and seemed to have none of the arrogance or attitude one would expect from someone so strong. He quickly ran up to the carriages behind him as if to ask whether they wanted to eat.

A few minutes later, the man came running back and quickly cleared the path to the Guest House. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"You’re in luck. I bet you’ve never had anyone from one of the noble races as a guest before," the man said with a wide grin as he shook River’s hand.