"The Forbidden Area remains unchanged, I don't know whether this is good or bad."
Cloudsea, that is the name of the Forbidden Area.
Years ago, Lawrence entered it thinking his level would be sufficient to delve into its secrets, but after moving a hundred meters, his intuition warned him of the lurking danger.
This intuition should not be ignored, perhaps hunters below level 300 cannot perceive beyond their noses, but above level 400, hunters can see beyond the fog's secrets.
"Cloudsea. A vast fog dwells in this place, it's impossible to distinguish between sky and earth. Anyone who ventures in without sufficient level cannot turn back. My vision only allows me to see part of it, but all I see is an endless desert. What are you hiding?"
Lawrence admires the place, trying to unravel its secrets, but after a while, he gives up. Without the ability to advance, conjectures are useless.
"There's one month left until I return to my mansion…"
It took two months to travel from his mansion to the Acacia Kingdom. On his return journey, he decided to stop at this place, because it was time to go to the Divine Plane for work.
After crossing the Dimensional Rift, he arrives at the Divine Plane.
"The task from the Lunar Cascade Sect involves transporting fire ingots of celestial purity. It's impossible to send them through portals, as well as to keep them in storage rings because this would diminish their quality. Therefore, any hunter who wants to join must possess artifacts that protect against fire and high temperatures. The requirements are, being level 450 or below, having been a hunter for more than a year in Agares City..."
Lawrence doesn't stay any longer at the place, as soon as he hears the contents of the task, he decides to leave.
+++
"The Lunar Cascade Sect is truly incredible, although I have only seen it partially, its atmosphere is extremely mysterious. Upon entering, the sun hides and the moon appears in the sky, stirring the mana around making it especially useful for those who practice moon-related magics."
"..."
"Are you going to continue not talking to me? I went there specifically to tell you this."
In reality, he didn't go there to do something so futile, but since she doesn't know, he decides to take advantage of this.
Since the day they slept together, Serene Will has not spoken a single word to him. It's not that she avoids him, even if she wanted to, she couldn't, but all communication has been cut off. She continues to listen to him as she usually does, but there is no reaction on her part.
"I understand… Do you want to change your dao protector?"
These words immediately have an effect, Serene Will looks stunned at Lawrence.
"Scoundrel..."
But after seeing the smile on his face, she realizes that this is a bad joke on his part.
"I must go. I've been neglecting my other women by being with you, see you tomorrow. Goodbye."
"..."
Silently she watches him leave. Normally he stays with her for at least two hours, this time not even twenty minutes have passed and Lawrence has left. It was a mistake to sleep with him, but it's too late for regrets now.
This uncomfortable situation cannot be prolonged any longer, tomorrow Serene Will will try to clear everything up.
The next day arrives, but not Lawrence.
It's the first time Serene Will experiences such a lonely day.
+++
"The Sacred Rock Sect has posted a new task."
After leaving the bar, Lawrence heads towards his residence in the Divine Plane but then hears the commotion near a board.
"It's a task that cannot be fulfilled through the portals, eh."
He meets the proposed requirements, so he heads towards the Sacred Rock Sect, one of the three major sects that manage the Heavenly Path Kingdom.
Upon arrival, thousands of hunters were at the entrance of the sect, waiting for a spokesperson to announce the details of the task.
The Sacred Rock Sect possesses ten thousand rocky pillars, naturally created, vast in every sense. Each of them brought from different locations of the Divine Plane, with different qualities and affinities. On them, various temples and residences exist, from which disciples can be seen entering and exiting.
The tasks can easily be carried out by these disciples, but not long ago the Lunar Cascade Sect announced a large-scale task, the Sacred Rock Sect cannot fall behind.
Not much time passes until the spokesperson arrives.
After a proper presentation, demonstrating the power of his sect, he gets to the main point. "The task consists of transporting three portals to Ice Petal City, it is impossible to store them in storage rings as well as to enter a portal through another. For this, we must…"
'This is my opportunity!'
Lawrence doesn't wait for the spokesperson to finish speaking, he moves away from the crowd towards the registration booths. He is the first to arrive, so he fills out the paper along with his background and hands it over to the administration.
The disciples of the sect are in charge of verifying the information.
"Sacred affinity? Approve it, those with sacred affinity are the most reliable hunters."
"True, it's impossible for one of them to betray us."
Sacred magic can only be used by hunters with pure hearts. If one were to succumb to temptations, the magic would turn black, becoming corrupt sacred magic. Since Lawrence demonstrates the purity of his magic, the disciples hold him in high regard.
Minutes later, he is called to notify him that he has been accepted, to which Lawrence returns to the Unquenchable Fire Brothel with a smile on his face.
"Fine. I'll get ahead on tomorrow's work."
Serene Will takes a lot of effort to be pleased, so he simply skipped her. His job only requires maintaining the mental health of the prostitutes, she has only been in the brothel for over three years, far from the 10 years where special services begin to be offered.
Remembering this, a look of displeasure appears on Lawrence's face.
'These women are the craziest, I haven't applied for any of them because they're dirty. Too much even for me, they stink no matter how much they wash!'
After a prostitute surpasses ten years of service, clients lose interest in them, making them no longer useful. That's when special services begin, such as threesomes, outdoor relations... All those services that a regular client would never request.
Everything changes after twenty years of service...
"No wonder the pay is so high, although I must admit that, as a newcomer, I had to deduce much of this information, because nobody explains this to you. Nobody wants to talk for fear of reprisals."
For his meritorious services to the Unquenchable Fire Brothel, he is granted five days off. This only after explaining his friendship with Dark Root.
These are the vacations of the Divine Plane, he must be thankful for having them, nobody else does.
+++
"I introduce you to the rankers in charge of the three portals and who will accompany us on this task..."
On the day of departure, about a thousand hunters gather at the entrance of the Sacred Rock Sect. Among them, Lawrence.
"Darkness Devourer, level 541"
"Distant Dusk, level 570"
"Abyssal Gleam, level 566"
Of them, only Abyssal Gleam is a woman, whose beauty is significantly inferior to Serene Will's. While Darkness Devourer is who will be the leader of this task.
Lawrence shakes his head, 'Appearance really is important in leadership, huh.'
"It will be a three-day journey to Ice Petal City, we will travel through Dragonfall Mountain and avoid fierce beasts--"
"Will rankers of level 550 be enough? Won't we become cannon fodder if the worst happens?"
One of the hunters interrupts and makes such a question. The next second all the hunters talk about the same thing.
"Don't worry!"
Darkness Devourer raises his voice and silences the crowd.
"We possess a magic artifact capable of locating demonic beasts, as long as you follow my orders, nothing will stand in our way!"
At that moment a pyramid-shaped magic artifact appears in his hand and illuminates the entire space around, illusory demonic beasts appear in the air and roar in unison. Immediately all the hunters shout in amazement.
"If that magic artifact is in our hands, then it's impossible for the demonic beasts to detect us!"
Lawrence grimaces as he watches the other hunters praising the Sacred Rock Sect, he doesn't like being surrounded by so many conformists. It's obvious that those rankers are not enough, if the worst case scenario occurred, they would only take care of themselves.
"Take your positions, insubordination will not be allowed."
Thousands of hunters take flight. Among them were hunters with elemental swords, such as swords of fire, water, and lightning, which illuminated their surroundings extravagantly.
"Sacred magic..."
Lawrence stands out to a lesser extent when everyone sees the characteristic glow of sacred magic manifest around him.
"Amitabha. Fellow hunter, in times of adversity we must help each other. Would you mind if I join you on your journey?"
"..."
Lawrence clenches his teeth and for a second shows a look of disgust, the next a radiant smile appears on his face.
"Of course, fellow."
"Amitabha"
Not only one, in the minutes following the start of the flight, dozens of upright hunters, of absolute good, joined forming a small group. Among them, Lawrence.
'Stupid sacred magic, it always happens the same.'
Around him everyone smiles radiantly, he is the only one who looks gloomy in comparison.
+++
The first day passes without any problems. They manage to enter Dragonfall Mountain and establish a camp without attracting the attention of any problematic demonic beasts.
It is at the end of the second day, before breaking camp, that Darkness Devourer realizes a problem.
"Fellows, the camp is canceled."
Everyone immediately falls silent.
"Demonic beasts are in front. Don't worry, none have noticed us thanks to this magic artifact. But if we stay in this place we risk attracting their attention. Pack your things, we'll make a detour."
"What kind of beast is it and what are their levels?"
Among the hunters, one makes such a question.
Darkness Devourer hesitates before answering. "Around ten thousand insect-type demonic beasts, with the appearance of a rhinoceros beetle, between levels 400 and 450."
"Are you kidding, right?"
Without answering him, it's the other rankers who hurry the hunters to leave.
The atmosphere among the hunters worsens with the prohibition of flying and instead, running through the forest with a torch as a guide in the darkness.
"Eh? Did anyone see hunter Lawrence?"
The upright hunters sincerely worry about his well-being, but after searching for him, they fail to find him anywhere.
They continue traveling with the others, thinking that hunter Lawrence simply advanced before them, leaving them behind. That's what they most wish, hoping to see him safe and sound, that nothing bad has happened to him.
"Lawrence?"
After advancing tens of kilometers, one of them sees a familiar figure.
"Where...? Fellow hunter, I'm sorry to say but there's no one there."
"How strange, I was sure I had seen him-- AH!"
Suddenly the hunter falls silent and begins to tremble. Seeing his strange behavior, the others decide to look towards the place... They quickly discover the cause of his terror.
"The demonic beasts have discovered us!"
"Help! AAAH!"
"They are attacking us!"
Darkness Devourer realizes the commotion and arrives at the place at great speed.
"Kill them as soon as possible! Don't let them inform the rest!"
From his hands is born infinite darkness, the next second hundreds of needles appear suddenly from the trees and the ground, defeating dozens of demonic beasts in just an instant.
"Follow his example!"
Abyssal Gleam also uses magic, turning the trees into terrifying flesh monsters that attack the rhinoceros beetles.
Standing out to a lesser extent, Distant Dusk also helps, generating a small sun among the demonic beasts. The high temperature fire destroys them in just a blink, without even leaving a corpse.
With the joint help of the rankers and hunters, about 200 demonic beasts were eliminated just seconds after appearing.
"If you see one of them again, don't hesitate to exterminate them. Individually they will not be your adversary, but when thousands of them join together, even I would not be their match. Now let's hurry the march, the sound might have alerted them."
Darkness Devourer raises his sword triumphantly, but does not hear their answers.
"What are you doing? Move forward!"
The strange situation makes him look towards where all eyes are directed.
"It can't be..."
There, in the sky, thousands of demonic beasts wait to eat their flesh and drink their blood.
"Hahaha!"
In the distance, a cheerful and mocking laugh echoes, but no one can hear it.
"Being too confident is a crime, why did you take your eyes off that magic artifact? That will be the cause of your death, their deaths."
No one would think he is a user of sacred magic.