A strike hits a table, causing many objects on it to fall to the floor.

  "Damn it!"

  The one behind this blow is an elderly man known to all as the founding partner. His usually calm face is impossible to discern, only a gaze filled with hatred is visible.

  "Despite our warnings, a new client has died. Did he not take our words seriously? Or is the enemy more formidable than we thought?"

  Thousand Leaves has died. And with him, he takes to the grave all his contacts.

  There was no one better than him to deal with the eccentric pill refiners, he had that certain je ne sais quoi to attract these variables and turn them into sure results. Now, who the hell will meet the demands of those pill refiners? Will they even return to the scene after what happened with Thousand Leaves?

  Their pills might not have been unique in the world, but they were willing to produce them in large quantities when requested! Which proud refiner would do that?

  To those guys, pills are like works of art, they refuse to replicate them to avoid diminishing their value. It's no wonder that pills are auctioned only once a year and in such limited quantities that everyone fights over just one.

  At that moment, someone knocks on the door, interrupting his train of thought.

  "Sir, one of the partners wishes to schedule an urgent meeting."

  "Grant his request, I will attend."

  "As you order."

  Once silence returns to the room, he sighs and adjusts his attire.

  "Without Thousand Leaves, it will be difficult to obtain so many medicinal pills. But this will only delay the inauguration of the new project. It is not the end."

  The founding partner leaves the room and attends the partners' meeting.

  The specialty of the Unquenchable Fire Brothel is not private security, but that doesn't mean they don't know experts. For a while, they will offer this service to their clients, let them take it as a compliment for their long-standing friendship.

  +++

  When Lawrence descends to the Inferior Plane and detects his three wives in the Refining Chamber, he knows something bad is happening.

  After opening the door, he sees Sky Petal in front of the Twin Phoenix Furnace refining a medicinal pill. In the distance, Coldness Divine can be seen sitting with her eyes closed, noticeably weakened.

  Serene Will stops leaning against the wall and approaches him, explaining what happened.

  He becomes furious. Walking towards Coldness Divine, and after using his sacred magic, he realizes there are wounds his magic cannot heal. Internal wounds.

  "Tsk, you'd rather be injured for months than lose a day of your life?"

  Only then does she open her eyes and look at him. Despite her injuries, her pride remains the same. "You wouldn't understand, I'm not like you."

  He snorts but doesn't continue arguing. Internal wounds are much deeper than physical damage, he doesn't want to destabilize this proud dragon girl. There are more important things to worry about, such as the fact that their hunt for big shots can no longer continue as before.

  "That brothel has indications that you are the culprits, either stop your hunt for big shots now or... Level up and eliminate any possibility of the enemy."

  Lawrence looks them straight in the eyes, unhesitant in presenting his deductions as veritable facts. "Until then, you can only take care of the small fish. Take for granted that the enemy will be waiting for you with an army."

  Both agree with his words, but agreeing doesn't mean they won't try to find another alternative. Lawrence has no doubt that they will do as he asks because one of his links has fallen, Coldness Divine. This brings back a question...

  Since when can she reverse time?

  Coldness Divine hesitates, looking around before answering.

  "I've always been able to do it. The difference is that now I can survive."

  Lawrence frowns, if she couldn't do it before, why now? What difference does her current self have from her past self? Almost as he figures out the answer, Coldness Divine nods.

  "Since Celestial Firmament bestowed upon me his knowledge about the laws of the world, I always knew that was the answer I was seeking... I managed to merge my knowledge with my Way and I survived, but it's still far from being of use. The cost is too high."

  Her Way and her innate ability are enough to make her a formidable ranker, but if she is also capable of rewind time, she would have no rival in the Divine Plane.

  When this woman reaches level 999, what will she be capable of?

  That moment is still far away, Lawrence shakes his head and talks about what he saw in Agares City after the assassination of Thousand Leaves.

  "If the Sacred Rock Sect was the problem before, now the Lunar Cascade Sect can no longer live under the same sky as them. The conflicts are escalating and will soon replicate in other cities and other branches of the sect."

  It's not difficult to discern the thoughts of the Lunar Cascade Sect. Thousand Leaves claimed before he died that his relationship with the sect was not simple, and it appears he wasn't lying. The same day he left this world, the Lunar Cascade Sect didn't delay in attacking the main suspect.

  And that was none other than the Sacred Rock Sect.

  "We have a fate with these sects, at every stone we turned we found them. It's time to think about how to resolve this enmity."

  Lawrence's words leave both women silent, for he is not the only one who has thought about it.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  An hour later Sky Petal successfully refines a medicinal pill.

  "I made it in a hurry, but I'm sure of its effectiveness."

  The pill in Sky Petal's hands has a rich medicinal aroma, Serene Will blinks with curiosity and silently evaluates it with her innate ability. She would soon be surprised, but she doesn't let her emotions show on her face.

  Coldness Divine nods and without hesitation pops it into her mouth.

  In the seconds that follow, her condition improves significantly.

  After hearing her impressions, Sky Petal sighs relieved. "It's specially made for you, here's the recipe."

  Any other refiner would take their secrets to the grave, but not her.

  These are the benefits of personally nurturing a talented pill refiner.

  +++

  Given the conflict between the Sacred Rock Sect and the Lunar Cascade Sect, Lawrence really does not want to go to the capital to gauge the situation. There, the main branches of the sects reside, the elite of the elite live there, if someone of his level is caught by the embers, not even ashes would remain. But greater designs would force him to go.

  Due to what happened with Coldness Divine, Sky Petal was inspired. She solved the problem of months in just weeks. One day she arrives with the medicinal pill capable of curing that malicious poison, the pill required by Ephemeral Principle.

  Lawrence wants to curse, but no words come out.

  This is simply a bad play of fate.

  "Although this is nothing more than the sale of a medicinal pill, wait here. I'll open a Dimensional Rift if I need your help."

  "Sending someone injured to fight, so typical of you Lawrence."

  The veins on his forehead bulge at Coldness Divine's insidious words. This woman has been in a bad mood since she was injured and he is not the greatest example of tolerance, he's been enduring her, but this dragon girl is seeking his attention in a bad way, making his efforts difficult.

  She's still far from her best moment, but that's not what's important about her. As long as she has her innate ability Return from Death, he will send her to fight even if she's injured… Something that shouldn't be necessary for now. This is just a business trip, it's only his cautious personality that compels him to have a backup plan.

  Lawrence ignores her words and crosses through a stationary door. His destination, the capital of the Heavenly Path Kingdom, Heaven’s Fortress city.

  He looks through the window and sighs, "From here everything seems in order, I hope it continues this way until the end."

  After leaving his house, he stops a carriage and heads towards the residence of Ephemeral Principle. His insecurity lessens being within these four walls, through the windows he sees the life of the capital continue as usual, nothing suggests the enmity between the two major sects.

  "No rumors of the hatred between them, it seems it's still not enough to shake the foundations of the capital…"

  A smile appears on his face after realizing that, the sects may act unrestrained in other cities, but they do not dare speak loud in this place. If a conflict originates in the main branches, the result would be nothing but war.

  Their enmity is only important in the secondary branches, the main branch remains unaffected at all.

  "This is the place."

  The words of the driver bring him back to his senses. Lawrence looks through the window and frowns, this time directing his gaze to the other side of the carriage and understands that he has arrived at the right place. Across the street are multiple buildings, all with a similar pattern and constantly emitting smoke from their chimneys. Behind them, at a distance, there is a large and beautiful mansion.

  Lawrence gets off the carriage and crosses the street avoiding the other carriages. After arriving in front of the entrance, he places his hand on the door and injects his mana.

  Seconds later a servant opens the door.

  "Mr. Lawrence, please come in. Mr. Ephemeral Principle is waiting for you."

  He nods and follows the servant. As can be discerned from the outside, Ephemeral Principle lives in the same place where he works. All the buildings emitting smoke from their chimneys serve no other function than to melt raw elemental ore into elemental ingots ready for commercialization.

  As he progresses, he sees multiple refiners performing this task, along with other workers unloading the ore from the carriages and others loading the processed ingots. After all, entering them into a storage ring would only diminish their quality.

  But something in all this catches his attention.

  'Are there no refiners creating weapons? Why?'

  He does not reveal his thoughts and continues following the servant, until they reach the mansion. There, two guards look at Lawrence and then at the servant, the next second both clear the way and the servant enters the mansion.

  Lawrence had never seen such ostentation in his life, not even the Violet Twilight auction house went so far to display its wealth. Every wall, every inch of the floor inside the mansion exudes the solemnity of a wealthy merchant.

  On the first floor, they walk down a hallway until stopping in front of a door. The servant bows respectfully and then walks away.

  When Lawrence opens the door, for a moment his heart stops.

  Inside the room, a lion-man directs his eyes toward him and smiles.

  "This is the first time we're speaking, isn't it Lawrence?"

  The merchant of elemental ingots and one of the faction leaders of the Violet Twilight auction house. Ephemeral Principle.