As soon as Lawrence returns to the mansion, his women approach him asking about the situation, but instead of answering them, he creates a Dimensional Rift.

  "We'll talk on the way." He stops as he observes Coldness Divine's severed arm and says: "You can wait here, we'll be back soon."

  "No, I will go with you."

  "As you like."

  At first, none of them understands why Lawrence returned in such a bad mood, nor could Serene Will get a clear answer through his thoughts.

  In the Divine Plane, he doesn't need Sky Petal's help to find the portal he lost that day. Each time he removed the portal to lure the enemy, he perceived that point demonstrating the current position of the lost portal. He did it with such readiness that he is sure to find it even with his eyes closed.

  As he and his women head to the place, Lawrence explains what happened.

  "That qilin used his own death to make his clone escape from the Forbidden Area."

  Those words alone are enough to spoil the group's mood, but the worst was yet to come.

  "Storm of the End, that quilin spoke of a disaster and..."

  Lawrence dares not infer the last words of that deer, he repeats each one verbatim, including the voice tone and the emotions the quilin conveyed to him. The conversation erupted at that moment, Serene Will, Coldness Divine, and Sky Petal, each mentioned some conjecture about it, but the journey was soon to reach its final destination, and still, they failed to get the answer they wanted.

  Everyone kept quiet and sank into their thoughts, no word was mentioned until Lawrence found what he was looking for.

  "The portal... Years passed until I could hold you in my hands."

  The third portal of that incursion, which he lost to those higher-level beetles, today returns to his hands this time with him being the ranker. Time may have left some marks on its structure, but nothing significant.

  "Let's go back, there are still loose ends to tie."

  That day they leave Dragonfall Mountain with the hope of never experiencing a situation like this again, but everyone knows that such a wish is impossible to fulfill. They are stepping into a territory that will lead them to the peak... or to misfortune.

  +++

  Inferior Plane.

  The mountain where Celestial Firmament resides today is surrounded by nature. The Inferior Plane may be limited to level 300, but strangely only the places inhabited by a dragon acquire special flora, considered by many as high-grade spiritual herbs.

  "Although it takes 50 years, your cave already has some outstanding herbs."

  "You would be surprised to know what my previous home was like."

  "That reminds me, do you have any children, Celestial Firmament? As for mine, he would be delighted if you took him for a flight."

  Lawrence's words do not make a great impression on the golden dragon, rather it is Sky Petal who reacts upon hearing her son being mentioned. She wanted to argue that Ryan would wet his diapers at the sight of a dragon tens of meters tall, there would be no happiness in that little boy who is learning to speak.

  Celestial Firmament looks at Lawrence for an instant and then at the people behind him. It is very strange for Lawrence to visit him in company, but it is even stranger after seeing the wounds on their bodies.

  Lawrence, noticing his gaze, simply sighs and performs his sacred magic on Coldness Divine. In front of everyone present, her severed arm slowly regenerates until at some point her arm is completely restored. Even meeting the conditions, an ordinary user of sacred magic could not do this, not even someone with a talent resembling his. To this day, his only explanation for this is that he is the bearer of the doors of change.

  Although the disadvantages of being so mean not being able to possess an own Way.

  At that very moment, Lawrence faint, he would fall to the ground if it were not for Sky Petal who holds him and then sits him down on the ground leaning against the wall.

  "What is the meaning of this?"

  Celestial Firmament still does not understand why they made him witness this.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Nothing special. The side effect of regenerating a limb without meeting the requirements is losing my mobility, I had nothing to do meanwhile, so I came to keep you company."

  Celestial Firmament: "…"

  Although it is difficult to discern expressions in a dragon, Lawrence believes he has read his thoughts perfectly and smiles. He was about to say something when Serene Will's words interrupt him.

  "Lawrence, we will leave. We don't know what will happen if we delay any longer. Celestial Firmament, goodbye. I hope there will be another occasion when we can talk."

  Serene Will and Sky Petal say goodbye to Celestial Firmament, only Coldness Divine remains in place, her gaze lingers on Lawrence for a few moments and then she turns around and walks away without saying goodbye to either of them.

  When they leave, Lawrence looks at Celestial Firmament and asks: "Does that dragon really love me?"

  "Did you really come just to talk?"

  Celestial Firmament understands this human less and less.

  Away from them, Serene Will and Sky Petal stop before a portal. No more than a few seconds pass when Coldness Divine appears behind them.

  "Let's go."

  Both women enter without looking back, moments later Coldness Divine does too. When the teleportation is completed, she and the others are surprised to see how the terrain has been destroyed, with corpses of humans and that of a legendary beast with no signs of life.

  But what surprises them the most is not this.

  Sky Petal communicates with the plants and takes a deep breath. "There is no reaction, there seems to be nothing that prevents Coldness Divine from entering the Forbidden Area."

  She has not met the conditions to set foot in this place, but with the death of the guardian beast, there is no one to stop her from doing so. There is no extraordinary phenomenon that manifests before them, nor a sign of repulsion from this place.

  Nothing.

  After relieving themselves with this result, Serene Will uses her ability on the corpse of Disdainful Tempest and frowns.

  "Strange..."

  "What did you see?"

  She looks at Coldness Divine without understanding what is happening. "Nothing. As if what I'm trying to assess doesn't exist, like a mere illusion."

  Serene Will tries again and again, but sighs resigned. Clearly, there is a body before her, but her innate ability refuses to recognize it.

  Quickly, both set aside their thoughts and store the corpses in their storage rings. They don't think too much about it because the interior of a Forbidden Area is a mystery in itself, but more than that, the gathering of information and their corpses is just one of the reasons why they came to this place.

  Once they finish, they follow Sky Petal.

  In the center of the Forbidden Area, there is a tree with a white trunk and few branches, she stops before it and extends her hand towards the tree, then closes her eyes.

  "It's... It's sad."

  "Sad? Can a tree that hasn't reached wisdom have emotions?"

  Both Coldness Divine and Serene Will are surprised.

  "It's not that it hasn't reached it, it is forbidden to do so." Sky Petal opens her eyes and gently caresses the trunk. "Just as the qilin was prevented from leaving the Forbidden Area, this tree will never be able to gain wisdom. It is in a state close to achieving it, but will never consummate it. Because of this, losing the only being that has been accompanying it throughout its life awakened a new experience for it, sadness. Although it still doesn't know it."

  The tree lacks self-awareness, it is just in an endless dream of not knowing who it is and where it is. But just like an animal can learn over time, it is capable of understanding some things.

  It knows that the beast that always slept by its side and with which it could never communicate, will never return. Nothing will be the same without Disdainful Tempest, its guardian beast.

  "Don't worry, you won't be alone."

  It is then that Sky Petal reveals the main reason for their arrival at this place, why that protective beast had to die.

  "From now on, we will be your guardians and those who will provide as many corpses as you need. There will be no era in which you suffer from hunger."

  This tree needs corpses to produce the Boundless Fruit, and with the protection of Disdainful Tempest, they would never see a new fruit in the next century. This is why they had to replace it, to increase the supply of corpses!

  "I will tell you stories that he will never be able to tell you."

  Someone who cannot even be classified as a thinking being, is not likely to retain the memories of this day forever. As long as Sky Petal exists, this tree will not be long in being at her complete disposal.

  Sky Petal reassures the unnamed tree, preventing its dreams from turning into nightmares. Silently she narrates some events from her past, events that a human like Lawrence would never appreciate.

  Time passes and then Sky Petal moves away from the tree with an exhausted sigh. Talking with the mouth is less exhausting than transmitting such an immense amount of thoughts in such a short period of time.

  "It feels uncomfortable with the presence of Coldness Divine, it would be best if she does not return to the Forbidden Area. There may no longer be a guardian beast, but the tree feels that there is something strange about her presence."

  Coldness Divine looks around and then nods. Anyway, there is nothing interesting in this place, she would not return unless it was for something extremely important.

  "Did you manage to make us recognized?"

  At Serene Will's words, she nods. "At least you and I. I don't know what would happen if it saw Lawrence again..."

  "I understand, that's enough. He also has no reason to come back."

  Until there is a new Boundless Fruit, it doesn't have to be Lawrence who brings the necessary fertilizers for this tree to fulfill its purpose. They will have the task of doing so in his name and collecting the new fruits.

  Their work in the Forbidden Area is done, they all walk towards the portal leading to the mansion, but moments before crossing the portal, Coldness Divine stops.

  "Sky Petal. Your innate ability, Assimilation, can replicate the capabilities of the plants you come into contact with. Just... What did you assimilate from that tree?"

  They have been hiding this from Lawrence for a long time, much more than her talent with respect to pill refinement. Perhaps he has noticed something and has remained silent, but they understand the relevance of what will happen if Sky Petal reveals to that man words that should never be spoken.

  Sky Petal turns around and looks them in the eyes. The next moment she extends her hand and from the ground a white trunk tree emerges, a tree very familiar to them.

  A tree identical to the one in the distance.

  "At the cost of my life, I can produce a Boundless Fruit."