Emperor Lawrence

Everything happens just like yesterday-- no, just like in her memories. Coldness Divine silently watches as Lawrence prepares to go to the capital to meet the contact who will hand him the documents to travel to the Wind Divider Kingdom.

Everything proceeds as planned until she intervenes.

Changing the future once again.

"As soon as you arrive at the Wind Divider Kingdom, look for an opportunity to create a Dimensional Rift immediately."

Lawrence frowns. Was this why she wanted to speak in private? Isn't that something already planned? Even if she hadn't told him, he would have done it anyway. But knowing this arrogant woman, he realizes there's something more beneath the surface.

After asking, his entire body chills in the next second.

"You will die."

Because every time this woman utters those words, danger looms at his doorstep.

Without letting his behavior appear suspicious, Lawrence returns to the itinerary and heads to the capital via a stationary door. Serene Will and Sky Petal part ways, leaving her alone in the place. Coldness Divine then observes them behave exactly as they did in her memories, but once again, she intervenes.

"I know what you did with <that> book."

Serene Will frowns, she doesn’t usually read people's minds all the time, only when the situation requires it or when something piques her curiosity. So, when Coldness Divine places such emphasis on a single word, she reads her mind.

Her expression sharpens almost immediately.

The silence between them lingers for a long time until Serene Will sighs and gazes into the distance.

"Are you satisfied with the result?"

"Ha! What would you do in my place?"

Serene Will simply smiles while Coldness Divine looks at her with hatred. Knowing who is in the right and who is in the wrong, Serene Will withdraws without another word. Despite this, what intrigues her the most is not the first wife’s response, but someone else’s behavior. Sky Petal.

Coldness Divine observes the Refining Tower from a distance, the place where Sky Petal and her disciple are. For a long time, master and disciple remained in the same location until a Dimensional Rift appeared in the personal dimension.

Serene Will and Sky Petal head toward the Dimensional Rift while she sighs. Now it will be impossible to know if that plant girl would respond the same way as in her regression, though she knew this would be the outcome, she cannot help but feel disappointed.

+++

"Welcome to the Wind Divider Kingdom."

Lawrence couldn't care less about the similarities between this place and the Heavenly Path Kingdom. In his eyes, there is only one goal. Finding the exit.

He quickly leaves the area and walks toward the nearest street, proceeding to stop the first empty carriage he finds. As the driver sets the carriage in motion, he creates a Dimensional Rift, and seconds later, three women step out of it, each as beautiful as the last.

"What do I do now?"

Coldness Divine places her hand on her cheek and looks out the window. "Act as if we don't exist. I want to know why you died. We need to find out if we have enemies in the Wind Divider Kingdom."

"Huh? You died? How?"

Lawrence notices Sky Petal's reaction and then looks at Coldness Divine. "You didn’t tell her?"

"She looked busy."

It’s Serene Will who explains what happened to Sky Petal. The carriage travels no more than five minutes before Lawrence makes it stop. The driver’s expression doesn't change in the slightest upon seeing more people emerge from within, it's not unusual for secret meetings to take place inside carriages, where many can enter and few exit, or few can enter and many exit.

As long as he’s paid, he’s blind, deaf, and mute.

"There are no available rooms in the registry, but you can head to..."

From that moment on, Lawrence lived a nightmare. He entered a shop specializing in hotels and room availability, only to receive a negative response along with the address of another shop that might have vacancies, but such a thing never happened.

Hours passed before a tourism agency gave him good news, there’s a hotel with rooms available.

As they were about to enter the hotel, Coldness Divine stopped them.

"Let's wait, the time of your death is approaching."

If Lawrence truly managed to replicate his past actions, his killer is nearby.

Since this was also part of his plans, he has a certain degree of confidence that he followed the same route last time. Because he doesn’t want to attract attention, because he doesn’t wish to talk to people he doesn’t trust, he only approached authorized agencies.

In a nearby building, the four of them wait patiently while observing their surroundings. Is the problem inside the hotel or outside it? Was Lawrence the one who caused the problem? Is this even the right place?

Many questions plague their minds...

"Huh--? W-What is this feeling?"

Until Lawrence loses control of his breathing.

"...There, that carriage!"

Everyone turns their gaze to the place he points, where a carriage stops in front of a bar, and three men step out. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that two of them are bodyguards and the man in the middle is the client.

"Who is that man, and why--?"

Lawrence stops his words halfway, because just as he can sense him… the other party can as well.

As soon as the man steps out of the carriage, he almost immediately looks toward the spot where Lawrence and company are hiding. If not for their quick reaction to conceal themselves in time, their eyes would have met.

One of the bodyguards seems to notice the client’s strange behavior and asks him about it, but the latter remains silent and continues to gaze into the distance. Tens of seconds later, the man furrows his brow and shakes his head, proceeding to enter the bar.

"What was that, Lawrence?"

At Coldness Divine's question, he leans against the wall and exhales loudly. "I don’t know. I just... felt that something about him was important. It could be a magic artifact or... him."

Serene Will narrows her eyes and then looks at Sky Petal. "Do you think you can find an informant, like you did in the capital of the Heavenly Path Kingdom?"

"Let me try."

Sky Petal closes her eyes and talks with the plants. While this happens, Coldness Divine stares intently at that bar because only she remembers how it felt to see the personal dimension crumble before her eyes. If he was her husband’s killer, he will regret making her his enemy.

"I’ve got it." Sky Petal interrupts her thoughts. "This informant has some power, he operates more openly than the one in the Heavenly Path Kingdom. It wasn’t hard to find him."

"Lead the way, that hotel has lost its purpose."

Lawrence has already died once by staying in that hotel, he won’t do it again.

She nods and hails a carriage. During the ride, she explains the password and how to contact the informant in this kingdom.

Both capitals are equally modern, sharing a similar atmosphere. The ability for hunters to travel between kingdoms fosters cultural and commercial exchange, making it easy for a foreigner to adapt to life in Nine Eyes City. While it’s true that the requirements for traveling between kingdoms are quite high, as long as one has some wealth, it’s not impossible to achieve.

"This is the place."

Following Sky Petal’s directions, they all take their positions and act according to their roles. If it were up to him, Lawrence would prefer to handle the negotiations, but such a thing is unacceptable. It would be different if his level were 699.

He waits patiently in the designated spot until, minutes later, Serene Will returns. Afterward, Sky Petal and Coldness Divine arrive, both responsible for ensuring the first wife’s safety during the negotiations.

"It will be a bit difficult to steal this informant’s contacts. He’s at level 800, but after ascending to level 700, I’ll be able to partially read the minds of some of his subordinates."

"Any information of that guy?"

Serene Will shakes her head at Lawrence’s question. "I gave him his portrait and last known location. Since this is recent, we’ll know who he is within a week."

Hence their urgency. The sooner they contacted an informant, the sooner he would send his men to that bar. It’s only a matter of time before they discover his identity.

Lawrence sighs and asks: "What about the other matter?"

"The housing in the capital is as expensive as in the Heavenly Path Kingdom, but there’s still a chance. I have the address of a shop that can help us."

If Stoic Compass hadn’t completed the construction of the main branch of the Path to Heaven Sect, they wouldn’t even have the money to buy a house.

Sighing, they all head to that shop.

+++

After buying a house in Nine Eyes City, Lawrence creates a stationary door and only then returns to his personal dimension. With this, he can now travel freely between the Heavenly Path Kingdom and the Wind Divider Kingdom.

No one will be able to stand in his way.

The biggest advantage of this is versatility. Soon his disciples will reach level 180, and only the Divine Plane will be able to provide the proper conditions for them to continue leveling up. If they were to stagnate in the Heavenly Path Kingdom, they would eventually attract unwanted attention, but now it’s different.

Not to mention that his stationary doors can be installed in optimal locations for hunting demonic beasts. With the right plan, the disciples will be able to attack and retreat under controlled danger. The mortality rate will be negligible, even lower than in the Inferior Plane!

"Imperial Absence, you’ll soon return home."

She frowns, but after the explanation from the sect master, Emperor Lawrence, Imperial Absence holds her breath. Returning to the Wind Divider Kingdom means she will gain access to information about her captor, she will know her enemy!

"What do you know about the Wind Divider Kingdom? Choose your words carefully, they will determine the Path to Heaven Sect’s next steps."

Imperial Absence is surprised. ‘A sect operating in two kingdoms? This…’

She doesn’t dare to be careless. With one hand on her chin, she thinks carefully about the most important information to consider… until she remembers something.

"Sect Master, how much do you know about the Emotion Suppression Technique?"

Lawrence feels curious but doesn’t show it on his face. "I’m listening."

Nothing would suggest that a mere level 287 woman would possess information that closely ties kingdoms and sects together.

"...The king and his subjects are no different from autonomous dolls ruling the kingdoms without emotions or feelings. An irreversible technique."

This was the only way for the Heavenly Path Kingdom and the Immortal Radiance Kingdom to reach a peace agreement and defend themselves from the threat of foreign kingdoms.

"Then… the Wind Divider Kingdom…?"

"Yes. In a desperate attempt to escape the shadow of the two kingdoms, the three major sects forced the king and his subjects to practice this technique. Every so often, they send some of their most loyal subordinates to become part of the kingdom, because although they lose their emotions and feelings, their memories remain."

An indirect control of the kingdom, one that prevents betrayal and corruption.