Emperor Lawrence

In the Unquenchable Fire Brothel.

Serene Will stops in front of Lawrence and sighs. "Do you think she will return?"

“I don’t know, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from you all... it’s that you wouldn’t agree to stay with a man who limits your freedom. Not unless it’s of your own volition.”

After taking Imperial Absence to his personal dimension, they entered through a stationary door which sent them to Ice Petal City. There, he handed her some magic artifacts so she wouldn’t die and gave her three months to decide, because if she agrees to follow him, she will have to obey his commands.

That is the only way she has to take revenge on the Unquenchable Fire Brothel. It’s naive to think they had absolutely nothing to do with it. This could even be another one of the brothel's businesses.

“I slightly manipulated her mind so she wouldn’t intend to disclose my information or what happened during her rescue. If after three months she doesn’t return, she will forget everything about me.”

She remains silent for a few seconds, then sighs, sitting down beside him.

It would be about 20 minutes before Coldness Divine returned, and another 5 minutes for Sky Petal to do so.

Coldness Divine sees everyone's expressions and smiles, crossing her arms. “Only twenty days will be enough to map this place, it’s smaller than I remembered.”

Everyone’s level has risen so much that the destruction of the Unquenchable Fire Brothel is a certainty while the average level of the Path to Heaven Sect rises to level 500. Just one of them is enough to kill dozens of hunters at level 500, even if there are level 600 hunters hiding, they won't stand a chance against them!

The biggest problem they currently face is the enemy numbers. There are simply too many. There will be so many things to do that day, that killing will be the least of their problems.

Because no one must escape, no one must know what happened.

Lawrence gets up from his seat and dusts himself off, “Since I helped that woman escape, things won't be as quiet as before. Let's wait a few weeks before returning.”

“Tsk, because of that woman we had to change our plans. Are you okay with this?”

“There’s no rush, she won’t move from here. She never has.”

Coldness Divine clicks her tongue again, she knows which woman he is referring to.

Just as he was preparing to create a Dimensional Rift and return to his personal dimension, Sky Petal speaks.

“There’s something you need to know.”

Just those words are enough to ruin Lawrence’s mood, because if Sky Petal speaks in that tone of voice, it means bad news.

“The Unquenchable Fire Brothel is recruiting women of level 500.”

“What?!”

Sky Petal doesn’t dare to hide the information she uncovered, “Currently, there are around 50 women on level 500 offering their services, the security around them begins at level 580 and ends at level 650…”

The more they hear from Sky Petal, the more they regret their weakness.

No matter how hard they tried, how much Lawrence controlled them not to throw their lives away because of their stupid pride, they needed years of bloodshed to reach level 699… and even then it wasn't enough.

In their plans, they considered the existence of some rankers of level 700, but never that their numbers would rise to the double digits! Because that's what will happen next! If the Unquenchable Fire Brothel was already recruiting hunters over level 500 to watch over women of level 300, why wouldn't they start hiring level 700 guards now that their assets are at level 500? There’s nothing to stop them!

Lawrence sits back down on the rock and places his left hand on his forehead, Coldness Divine and Serene Will have a similar reaction after learning this information.

“Shit... Damn it!”

Lawrence was about to lash out at the environment, when he stops his foot before kicking a tree. He cannot leave traces of his existence in this place. He clenches his teeth and creates a Dimensional Rift. As soon as he disappears into it, Sky Petal and the rest follow, only to discover a huge hole in the personal dimension.

He may be temperamental, but he's someone who recovers from his emotions quickly. Seconds later, he restores the environmental damage with his god-like power.

After coming back to his senses, he talks as if nothing had happened.

“Let’s prepare for the next auction, I have to establish a relationship with that lizard woman once and for all. Whether as partners or enemies.”

Before leaving, he remembers something…

“If you're going to destroy something, do it in that direction. I’ll restore it later.”

These women are even more temperamental than he is.

+++

In a certain room, a man destroys everything in his path. Regardless of the value of his possessions, everything is destroyed with such vehemence that marks of the destruction remain on the walls and floor.

“Who…? Who is our enemy?!”

The founding partner yells with so much hatred that only then does he notice the chaos around him. He clenches his fists and sits behind his desk, slowly regaining his composure.

“This time a <good> from the warehouse disappeared… A woman who possesses an extraordinary innate ability!”

That good is none other than Imperial Absence. It would soon be the end for that woman, everything would have ended just like the contract they had accepted.

Now all of that is ruined, because that woman vanished out of nowhere! Just like all the previous disappearances!

“Lawrence, Wicked Fortune, and Golden Green… None of them are here and yet it happened again. What have we been overlooking?”

The most pleased by all this is none other than his grandson, whose links to the previous disappearances were severed and yet a new disappearance occurred again. If anyone still had doubts about him, they were extinguished after this day.

The founding partner holds a document and quickly reads through its pages, frowning when he discovers certain information related to one of the suspects.

“Is that guy dead?”

The information concerning Lawrence indicates that there are witnesses who mention having seen him with a group of hunters trying to earn money by collecting materials from demonic beasts, a group that was later found dead.

But that's not the most interesting part of this.

“In the capital, there's a Lawrence who matches the description, but…”

He reads through the documents and frowns again.

“Emperor Lawrence?”

+++

“Come on, cut the ribbon!”

In the personal dimension, Lawrence is urged by Stoic Compass to cut the inauguration ribbon. He euphorically hands him a pair of scissors and practically forces him to coordinate, he sighs and then nods his head.

Once he cuts the ribbon, all the workers cheer joyfully.

“The construction has been completed!”

The construction of the main base of the Path to Heaven Sect is finished.

Everything necessary for the functioning of a sect is present, from the servant quarters to a cultivation field for spiritual herbs.

The servant quarters are located away from the main buildings, alongside them are various cultivation fields for vegetables and animal breeding areas. This place will produce the food for the disciples.

More than a kilometer away is the main branch of the sect, the first thing that comes into view are the dormitories of the outer disciples. From there on, the Path to Heaven Sect showcases its wealth, from gardens with beautiful spiritual herbs, to the buildings where classes will be held.

In the center of the sect are eight training platforms, meeting places for practice duels and competitions.

Forming a half-circle around the library, there are the dormitories for the inner disciples and at a distance, there is the sect's treasure vault and the classification trials. Not all disciples will have the patience to wait for the official competitions and that's where the classification trials gain greater relevance, each testing different specialties and recording the names of the top thousand competitors.

Hundreds of meters away from the main buildings is the Refiner's Tower, whether for weapons or medicinal pills.

In front of this large circular tower are the cultivation fields for spiritual herbs. It will be the disciples themselves who will be in charge of cultivating them.

The master of the Refining Tower is Sky Petal, while Lawrence will continue to be the master of the sect. Both Serene Will and Coldness Divine opted out of obtaining a significant position, just honorary positions.

And there are many other facilities with different functions, in addition to the necessary bases to adapt to the future demands of the sect.

The sect is extensive, practically occupying 30% of the personal dimension. Considering that the personal dimension has the size of a small city, the Path to Heaven Sect is on the right track to becoming a major sect.

The residence of the sect master is located on a small hill, less than a kilometer from the center of the sect, obtaining a panoramic view of the entire sect.

Unlike all the sects in the world, the Path to Heaven Sect has a unique building.

[World Portal.]

The place where the stationary doors that connect the personal dimension with different cities of the Divine Plane will be stored.

Of course, this place will be strictly guarded. Only official trips and personal or group trips previously authorized will be allowed. Even if someone were to get past the security, the stationary doors will only allow travel to those who meet <certain conditions>, preventing unauthorized trips.

The prerequisite for their operation is to create a branch of the sect in each city, that way to guard the stationary door from both sides.

So far the progress of the disciples is as expected. While the average level of the outer disciples is level 80, that of the inner disciples is level 105. There is only one rarity in the entire Path to Heaven Sect and that is the number one disciple, who has level 120.

This level increase in the Inferior Plane would be impossible were it not for the resources coming from the Divine Plane. Even in the latter, no sect would spend all its money nurturing its disciples like the Path to Heaven Sect is doing. That would be madness.

Once the inner disciples reach level 200, the next step will begin.

“What will you do now?”

Stoic Compass does not hesitate to answer Lawrence's question, “Return to my retirement. If it weren’t for you, old friend, I wouldn’t have come back.”

“Yes…”

Lawrence falls silent and then looks at his women, soon a smile is reflected on his face.

“What are you doing--?”

Once his hand touches Stoic Compass's forehead, all his memories related to the construction disappear. When his boss falls to the ground, all the workers hold their breath. They would be foolish if they couldn't understand what had just happened!

Before they escape, he says: “Sleep.”

Immediately, all the workers fall to the ground.

Because from the beginning, Lawrence was prepared for this day.

If it weren’t because he might need their help again in the future, he would have silenced them forever. Because an artificial friendship is just that, a falsehood.