After leaving the Violet Twilight auction house and descending to the Inferior Plane, Lawrence retrieves the magic artifact Stele of the Past from his storage ring, and without needing to explain its function, Serene Will steps forward and is surprised.

“This magic artifact allows the user to fight old opponents. It can not only record them, but it can also decrease their level.”

Lawrence frowns because the auctioneer did not mention the latter. If he had, not to mention Eminent Greed, only the elders of the sects would have had a chance to win its auction.

Serene Will can read his thoughts and smiles, “As incredible as it may seem, this magic artifact has the potential to be upgraded. Once we gather the necessary materials, it will be possible to reduce the levels of the illusions and allow many users to interact with the same enemy or have each fight against a different adversary.”

“How much did you pay for it?”

At Coldness Divine’s question, he hesitates for a few seconds before answering. “Thirty million gold.”

“…Even a monkey is lucky sometimes.”

Lawrence grits his teeth but then sighs internally. Since these women always focus on improving their strength and silently gathering riches, he thought they would criticize him for acquiring an item that would only be useful for a limited time and that its true potential would only be utilized by his sect’s disciples. However, after hearing Serene Will, it has become an indispensable magic artifact for the growth of his Path to Heaven Sect.

It goes without saying that, even if it’s for a limited time, it will be very useful for them as well. There are many enemies they have fought against whose level difference was abyssal. The seventh life of Eminent Greed, Red Mountain, and Gate of Torment are the most evident examples of this.

Even though they will become useless once they surpass them in level or strength, there will always be new enemies to replace them. Lawrence is sure of it.

While they make plans to travel to the Divine Plane and gather the upgrade materials, he sees Absolute Prominence in the distance and approaches her.

“I thought you’d be the happiest about that magic artifact, aren’t you interested?”

Due to her pregnancy, she has been unable to train or overexert her body, she should be the happiest to be able to fight against a mental illusion, but instead, Absolute Prominence looks at the magic artifact for a few seconds and then shakes her head.

“Maybe another day.”

Lawrence is puzzled by her response but doesn’t delve deeper.

+++

In the following days, Serene Will, Coldness Divine, and Sky Petal travel through the Divine Plane in search of the upgrade materials for the magic artifact Stele of the Past, temporarily pausing the hunting of big shots.

They are not in a hurry because they have already eliminated all who were neglected by the Unquenchable Fire Brothel. Those who are still alive have a protection that at their current level is impossible or very difficult to surpass, but the opportunity will come soon.

Because they’ve already obtained certain information about the Forbidden Areas.

If the rewards are equal to the Boundless Fruit, there will be no need to wait until level 700 to kill those men.

Lawrence has already bought the magic artifacts from Eminent Greed and positioned them in his personal dimension to increase its mana concentration. For this, he personally went to his residence and had a conversation with that fox girl. If it weren’t for the damage this woman had caused him, he would think of her as a good ally, but that’s not the case.

She would already be dead if not for that aura still protecting her. It might be deeply hidden within her, as it’s impossible to perceive, but he does not intend to let his guard down.

Because if her previous enemies were also immortals, they would have waited as long as he has to kill her, but if she is still alive, it means that time is not necessarily a factor. Perhaps after surviving countless assassination attempts, that aura will be exhausted, but Lawrence has no intention of testing this theory.

A day before heading to the place written by Frozen Lake, there is a strange atmosphere in the mansion.

Lawrence has just returned from the Path to Heaven Sect when he realizes that all his women, even his son Ryan, are in the same room. He walks to it and after opening the door, they all look at him.

“Lawrence…”

Absolute Prominence is lying in her bed and in her arms…

“Dashiell, say hello to your father.”

There’s a baby.

His second son.

They make way for him to approach her, but there is only one obstacle. Ryan.

Lawrence thinks for a second and then picks him up in his arms, then sits him on the bed and holds Dashiell in his arms.

“Dad, who is he?”

“…Your brother.”

Dashiell is a male tiger race child, with tiger ears and a tail but mostly human appearance. He has blonde hair and black eyes. Although just a baby, it is evident that his body is much stronger than when Ryan was born, than a human baby.

Crying. Crying.

The second difference is that Dashiell doesn’t like being in his father’s arms… Maybe because he doesn’t see tiger ears and a tail on him? He’s not going to wear accessories just to please a baby!

Sacred magic is soothing, so regardless of Dashiell’s initial behavior, after feeling his father’s magic, he immediately stopped crying.

As he rocks Dashiell, Lawrence feels melancholic.

The birth of a new life always makes him think of the lives that will be lost. Just today, four outer disciples died from overreaching, no one is immune to death. After thinking about plans for the future… How many of the people in this room will die?

Because it’s impossible for everyone to survive.

+++

Heaven’s Fortress City, the capital of the Heavenly Path Kingdom. Divine Plane.

“Ugh… This place smells horrible.”

In front of Lawrence is a place very similar to a pig industry, at least in smell it’s the same or worse. It’s not a mansion, rather it’s like a fair because there are no doors regulating entry or exit of visitors, and the buildings are not suitable for living. No one would accept living in such conditions.

With no door, he enters and walks calmly.

“Mister Emperor Lawrence, I have been notified of your visit.”

Then an indistinct voice resonates in his ears. Perhaps a hunter below level 600 would have difficulties in finding its origin, but not him.

“Please follow me… This way.”

He finds the owner of the voice. In the distance is an elegantly dressed man, he is gesturing with his hand, like a servant guiding the way. The latter awaits Lawrence’s arrival and then walks beside him, commenting on what happens around to entertain his guest.

“This is where we store the slaves, from demonic beasts to humans. Regarding the latter, beauty may prevail on the Divine Plane, but there are always women who excel in this despite their lower level.”

Following the employee’s signal, Lawrence sees beautiful women wearing dirty rags. Indeed, their beauty is above their level, and it is estimated that they will always be more beautiful than their peers at the same level.

“Those who do not possess beauty, will have unique abilities. While those who possess both, their price rises accordingly.”

To the slaves whose appearance does not matter, it is possible to appreciate whip marks on their bodies or signs of drug addiction. In this world, there is no such thing as slavery magic, so trainers must use different methods to achieve the same result. With the help of medicinal pills or sacred magic, all these traces will disappear once they are put up for sale.

“…But the demonic beasts remain our specialty.”

Hundreds of cages in different places reveal the presence of demonic beasts inside, hence mainly the bad smell of this place. Each of these beasts is special in its own category. While some are as beautiful as seven-colored birds, others are exotic like an endangered animal.

All these possess a specialty, be it magic, abilities, or techniques that foster their high value. Like the Green Wolves in the personal dimension, which can turn a desert into a forest.

But all have a particularity… A docile and fearful expression.

“You will not see demonic beasts with less hatred for humans than these. As long as they are not cornered, they will never attack first.”

The guided tour continues for a few minutes before stopping in front of a woman covering her nose with a handkerchief. Frozen Lake, the subordinate of Reigning Myrias.

As the employee bids farewell, Lawrence looks around.

Frozen Lake snorts internally and then says: “My lady would not come to this place, not unless the same refiner Bearer of Light presented themselves.”

Although he hoped to exchange a few words with that lizard woman, he will have to give up on that for now.

“Where is the <product>?”

“Over here. It’s in a place free of this putrid atmosphere.”

Both enter a building and slowly the bad smell disappears. After climbing some stairs, they arrive at a room where a man is in front of a pill furnace. The <product> Lawrence asked for is not the pill furnace, but that man. A slave.

Before he could say anything, Frozen Lake raises her hand and stops him.

The man in front of the pill furnace controls the flame and makes some gestures with his hands, until a medicinal scent spreads through the room. He then uncovers the furnace and removes two medicinal pills from inside, one of which he hands to Lawrence.

Lawrence hesitates for a few seconds, to which Frozen Lake smiles.

She looks at the slave and orders: “Consume it.”

He complies without resistance and brings the medicinal pill to his mouth, proceeding to consume it. After seeing that nothing bad happens to the slave, Lawrence is the next to do so.

“This…”

His mana permanently increases in the following seconds, stopping at a 5% increase.

“He doesn’t have talent for fighting, but he was born with an extraordinary innate ability that will make him a promising pill refiner in the future. Don’t you think he’s perfect to be the assistant of the refiner Bearer of Light?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep