"The ones who followed Lawrence were fewer in number compared to the last time, although it was difficult to shake them off, none of them tried to attack or showed hostility."
Sky Petal casually explains what happened, but the most surprising thing is that there is not a single drop of sweat on her body. "His performance at the auction house must have made a big impression on his opponents, next time we might not be needed."
"What makes you think that?"
Coldness Divine doesn't believe this will be easily resolved, no one would want to let go of the golden goose when the farmer is a user of sacred magic.
"I couldn't get answers from the plants, but I felt that the situation surrounding those pursuers was not harmful. As if they had orders not to cross the line, something that didn't happen the first time Lawrence attended the auction."
For her, it's hard to explain this feeling, the intention delivered by the plants. So, when asked for proof, she can only express it in that way.
Serene Will reads her mind and then sighs, changing the subject by directing her attention to Lawrence. "You were given an interesting magic artifact, do you want to practice with me?"
He clicks his tongue at seeing her smile, but before responding to her question, he hands over 18 storage rings to Sky Petal. She is curious about what they contain inside and evaluates one of them, soon a smile appears on her face.
"This..."
Her smile is much more pleasant to see than that woman's, Lawrence says: "These are the pill recipes I managed to acquire using your second name, but before you lay your hands on them I want you to tell me what this is for."
He gives her a new storage ring and she pulls out a piece of paper from inside. Her expression changes as she reads its content.
"Lawrence, can I ask who needs it?"
"Why do you want to know?"
The smile on Sky Petal's face slowly fades, "Because this recipe is the cure for a very malicious poison. Either someone is trying to poison and have a countermeasure or--"
Lawrence interrupts her, "Or someone needs it to save their life."
All joy from receiving that storage ring is gone, he thought someone like him would deliver a miraculous recipe which Sky Petal would replicate like the rest, and everyone would benefit from it. Not only will that not happen, but he willingly walked into a conspiracy of which he doesn't know the outcome.
He explains who the client is and his business, Coldness Divine clicks her tongue.
"Ephemeral Principle? Why would someone who deals in the business of elemental ingots ask you to develop a cure for a poison?"
She can't understand what is inside that lion man's head. "Someone with his power, not to mention a poison, anyone would wag their tail and kill his enemies for the sake of a closer relationship with him. Resorting to a poison would be absurd."
"The key point of all this is found in his last words." Serene Will crosses her arms and repeats Lawrence's words, "Don't bother contacting us if your refiner can't create a medicinal pill without impurities."
"Do you mean that guy is looking to save someone's life?"
Lawrence frowns, Ephemeral Principle doesn't represent the image of someone protective or caring for others. In this world, such a person would already be dead.
But Serene Will shakes her head, "We're thinking too much about it, that he gave you that recipe doesn't mean he's directly involved. It could be one of his friends, someone he owes a favor to, anyone could be. This is an opportunity, if you want to get close to Ephemeral Principle, I consider this a necessary step."
There's still time to think about it, he decides to leave the answer for another occasion.
What's most important at the moment is to plan what will happen in three days from now. He already had an idea in mind, but after discussing it with them, a much simpler plan emerges.
+++
White Utopia City, Heavenly Path Kingdom.
"Inner disciple Decaying Flame, wait for us!"
"Tsk, waiting for my bodyguards? Does that even make sense?"
Since he dueled with Serene Will, his master has forbidden him from leaving the sect alone. It is his senior disciple who acquired these stupid bodyguards for him, Decaying Flame knows he did it to grant him a certain degree of freedom so that he could escape from them whenever he wanted, but that is the problem.
He doesn't understand what Chaotic Dispersion gains by doing this. To begin with, their relationship isn't brotherly, rather it's cold. Although he can't say that he has been treated poorly, neither can he say the opposite.
'What is that guy thinking?'
Both share the same master, but their situation is very different. He only has his master, but his fellow disciple Chaotic Dispersion has the support of different elders. It's no wonder that he ascends like a tiger with wings, while Decaying Flame has to hide his own level to avoid ruining his future.
But that ended that day. In the duel with that woman.
"Those bastards…!"
Decaying Flame clenches his fists and teeth as he recalls what happened.
After that day, all the disciples who wanted to stand out from the rest or do a favor to his enemies, challenged him to a duel. Decaying Flame only accepted some of them to use as an example in front of the rest, but still there were recklessly who continued challenging him relentlessly.
This was nothing more than a ploy to force him to level up and ruin his future.
It is common knowledge that, the more one nurtures the Way of a hunter, the more chances one has to ascend to a higher level. Rushing to level 700 is no different from giving up on reaching the peak.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Why he thinks about all this, is simple.
"Come out, I know you're hiding."
A new challenger has just appeared.
The bodyguards hurry to protect Decaying Flame to conduct a fair duel, but then they are surprised. Who appears is a beautiful woman with long emerald hair, wearing a partially transparent one-piece dress, she doesn't wear the garments of her sect, she is not a disciple of the Eternal Wind Sect.
"You are… I know you! You are that woman--!"
He stops talking the moment he feels the mana flowing from her body.
"Be careful!"
The bodyguards react too late. A tree with a white trunk appears a few meters away, its branches approach them at high speed and adhere to their bodies.
"What--? AAAAH!"
"AAAAHHH!"
A bizarre sight appears before Decaying Flame, the white branches suck the life out of his bodyguards, turning young men into old men in just seconds. Another branch attaches to their necks and ends their lives effortlessly.
'What the hell is that white tree?'
Crack.
The sound of wood creaking brings him back to his senses. He directs his attention towards the sound's origin and notices the arrival of a new woman.
"Serene Will."
There stands Serene Will, and beside her is Sky Petal. The two women whom Decaying Flame once saw in that fragment of Archaic Ruin as nothing more than talented hunters, but he never thought he would meet them again in this way, that that meeting would cause all this.
"Let's finish what we started that day."
Serene Will manifests her Way and Decaying Flame holds his breath.
'She only has level 659, only 20 levels difference compared to months ago, then, why…?' Decaying Flame clenches his teeth, 'Why is her Way more distinguishable than the last time?'
All his thoughts stop at the same time Serene Will moves her sword. A cut appears on his cheek and blood starts to gently fall down his face.
"The next one will aim to kill you, get ready."
"I knew this day would come, but not that it would be so soon."
Decaying Flame manifests his Way, but it doesn't stop there.
"I didn't think it would be you who would force me to level up."
The surrounding mana gathers around him, and his thirsty body absorbs it. The illusion on his back becomes corporeal, it's no longer just an illusion, he's entering a new realm. Sky Petal and Serene Will watch this without intention to stop him, for them, this is a new experience.
Experience that will be useful when it's their turn to ascend to level 700.
"Serene Will!"
Anyone else would feel pain when breaking through the level 700 barrier, but not him. Not when he developed his Way over long years and the barrier, was nothing more than an obstacle that thinned day by day.
"You are the one I must surpass. After this day I will remember you forever."
Serene Will laughs cheerfully and then covers her smile with her hand. "You speak as if this was over for me, but, you know what?"
Her smile becomes as sharp as her sword. "It's been a long time since the last time we met. You're not the first ranker I've fought."
Decaying Flame nods, now it all makes sense. Why Serene Will's Way is clearer, why without meeting the conditions she is able to prove her Way as a hunter of level 690.
But that won't stop him. He must kill her.
"Heaven's Division!"
"Second Life!"
The slash of a sword against hundreds of dark hands emerging from the ground, both Ways collide and generate a shock wave that destroys everything in the surrounding area. Decaying Flame smiles, despite having leveled up he still hasn't adapted and revealed his true strength, if not for that… His Way would have prevailed over hers.
The duel they had at the Eternal Wind Sect is incomparable to their battle at this moment. Everything touched by her sword is split, everything touched by his daggers is destroyed. Their attacks are imbued with their Ways and no living being can survive the havoc caused by their fight.
Serene Will knows that he hasn't yet adapted to his new strength and takes advantage of it, her Omniscient View allows her to see the dark hands from all angles, she won't allow herself to be captured again like on that occasion.
Decaying Flame knows all the attacks of this woman, knows how versatile she can be and focuses only on decisive attacks. Each time his daggers move, they leave a cut on the smooth skin of that woman, a woman he once wished was his.
If there is something to regret, it's that he didn't take the step earlier. If he had leveled up earlier, it would be him who would be oppressing Serene Will and not the other way around.
"Cough… Cough…"
No matter how much he strived, leveling up to 700 only gave him the form to equal that woman's strength, but not to surpass her. Decaying Flame coughs up blood, his heart is pierced by a sword. Not just once, on two occasions.
This is the only way to truly destroy his Way and defeat him.
"Why… do you do this?"
In his last moments of life, he forces himself to find answers.
"It's better that it ends this way, I wouldn't have accepted it otherwise."
She withdraws the sword from his heart and the blood escapes from his body, but he still doesn't die. A ranker of level 700 doesn't die so easily, even when his heart is pierced. Despite this, Serene Will doesn't deliver the final blow, allowing Decaying Flame to redeem himself from his regrets in life before dying.
She stops in front of Sky Petal and then looks towards the white trunk tree. "That tree… Did something happen when you consumed part of their lives?"
Sky Petal shakes her head, "Just mana and vitality, but not what you're thinking."
"I see."
Serene Will walks away from her and then stops in front of a stationary door, "Remember to bring all the corpses with you and…"
"If Lawrence asks, you can take all the credits."
She disappears through the stationary door, leaving Sky Petal alone.