Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

In a strange phenomenon, a purple mist formed a connection between the scarlet-skinned creature, the demon, and the boar, causing a momentary confusion in their minds.

Liam and Azariah turned on each other, the skinny man plunging his sword into his opponent's belly, while the fat man achieved something similar, wounding his opponent at the level of his navel.

"Wretch!" Azariah swung with hate instead of pain, unbelieving that such a wounded and finished foe had managed to attack him.

Amid his suffering, he could identify Liam's Spirit as the incubus underwent a transformation, becoming transparent and reentering Liam's soul space.

"That's why you're so strong!" The fat man swung furiously as his two Spirits finally reached Liam.

But both Spirits missed their moves, with the boar only reaching Liam's legs, and the demon only tearing off parts of one of the enemy's shoulders.

Liam's gaze locked onto Azariah's eyes, his hand tightening around the dagger aimed at the enemy's neck. Despite his exhaustion, wounds, and lack of advantages, Liam acted faster than the enemy, swiftly slashing his weapon into Azariah's neck.

Luckily, his cultivation surpassed Azariah's by two stars, and the plump young man's lack of speed became clear.

Azariah's eyes twitched noticeably, his mouth opening slightly, but no words escaped his lips.

As he glanced at Liam's expression of pure hatred, the skinny young man tightened his grip on the dagger, his disgust evident in the contortion of his face.

Azariah, unable to speak, could only quiver as he lost his balance and toppled to the ground, his enemy overpowering him.

Liam carefully withdrew his dagger from his fallen opponent's body, the metallic sound echoing in the tense silence.

The fat man soon lost consciousness, bleeding profusely from the carotid artery cut by the attack on his neck, while Liam found himself even more bloodied and wounded.

As he looked down and touched one of his hands to his abdomen, Liam saw his hand smeared with a wine-colored but viscous essence as he felt dizzy.

'Shit. Have I missed the effects of the potion?' He feared for a moment, wondering if he should risk drinking another of his potions.

But while he felt terrible after three consecutive fights, he did not notice as a fourth opponent approached him and hit his head.

Pow!

At that moment, Liam saw his surroundings darken before he fell face-first to the ground, already unconscious.

His scourge? A woman with dark brown hair, someone Liam had already met in City Thirteen.

"You were impressive." The girl, who must have been between 25 and 30 years old and cultivation of a 7-star Spirit Lord, murmured.

Ester, the information vendor who had helped him about his choice of faction in City Thirteen, smiled as she looked at the body of this handsome man, who was now quite finished. She looked around and saw the seven bodies of Spirit Masters, the weakest of them a 4-Star Spirit Lord and the strongest a 9-Star Spirit Lord.

'Seven space storage items—eight, if I include yours. And one of them is the number two of the Crimson Rebel faction.'

"You've given me quite a gift, hehe. You're really lovely."

It amazed her to see how right she had been in her earlier decision to follow Liam out of the shadows and enjoy the chaos that would surround him.

In City Thirteen, there were not just individuals seeking to steal enemies' power, exploit their strength, or end their lives. There were also those who saw an opportunity in Liam's struggles and wanted to seize it for their own benefit!

Ester gathered resources from the bodies or space storage items of Liam's dead enemies, leaving the young man unconscious and bleeding for a moment.

When she saw what was in Levi's spatial ring, the strongest and richest of those individuals, an exuberant smile formed on the woman's lips.

"Hahaha, I'm rich! As expected from one of the most important members of the Crimson Rebels!" She said aloud, having already made sure that no one else was around.

She looked at Liam with delight and bit her lip as she thought of something.

As she approached him, Ester turned Liam's unconscious body over and looked at his dirty face. "Maybe I should kill you now, but I have a feeling you'll bring me more riches..." She looked at his throat, tempted to cut it.

But Ester knew that a group of the Abyss Matriarchs were searching for Liam not far away. If she gave him the chance to fight those women, perhaps she could get more valuables similar to the one in Levi's storage item.

After a moment's hesitation, she took Liam's body on her back and left the place, where some beasts were already approaching because of the smell of blood.

"You were lucky today," She said as she left with him on her back. "This big sister will let you live a little longer."

The two disappeared from the scene of Liam's three consecutive fights, where a dozen beasts would approach in the next five minutes to devour the bodies of the dead in the area.

Not long after, three women at the end of the second realm passed by and noticed more bodies being devoured in the forest area of the headquarters.

But they were not surprised. Just as fresh groups of disciples were joining the sect every week, outer disciples were dying around these woods, whether from competitors from other cities, enemies within their city, or beasts.

The three individuals were just in the midst of their journey, actively seeking their despised aim.

...

An hour later, the sun had already left its peak position, and the heat of the day was dropping with the arrival of late afternoon.

Amidst the sounds of leaves moving, animals going about their routines, Liam squeezed his eyelids together, feeling a subtle pain in his navel, while also feeling a twinge in his head.

Opening his eyes slightly, he parted his dry lips and let out an "agh" of pain.

His hands moved to his stomach as he realized the dark place he was in, but from where he could see the still clear daytime sky and feel the cooling wind blowing toward him.

His senses worked again as he felt the cold ground where he lay in what seemed to be a small cave.

The strong smell of wet earth told him that there was water nearby, while the sounds told him he was safe, but that there were beasts nearby.

'What happened? I took the Survival Nectar earlier, and then I felt...' At that moment, he opened his eyes wider as he looked around and realized the problem.

'Who brought me here? Where are the bodies of the enemies?' He looked at one of his hands, but his spatial ring was still there.

The voice of the incubus came from inside Liam's soul space. "A woman has acted against you. You met her in the city. She sold you information about the city's factions."

Liam remembered Ester, the 7-Star Spirit Lord woman he had done business with in Missions Hall.

"What? How? Why?"

The incubus didn't help him much. "She stole your enemies' belongings and left you here."

Thinking about it, Liam couldn't help but become even more intrigued. 'If that's the case, why didn't she kill me and take my items as well?' He quickly checked his spatial ring and everything he had collected was still there.

This made him feel strange, while the Incubus were silent.

He had seen everything before. The incubus wasn't like other Spirits who could have their senses interrupted when their master fainted or was injured. He was independent of Liam, so he had spied and heard everything Ester had muttered to the unconscious Liam.

The incubus decided to let Liam handle the situation himself, giving the boy no further useful information.

'I can only think that she wants to use me in some way. It wouldn't make sense to keep me alive after stealing from me. Unless she wants me to do something for her...' He stood up carefully, feeling his stomach wound still open.

Of all his injuries, the Survival Nectar had healed all the wounds from the earlier fight with Levi, and even restored some of Liam's mana. But his wounds after he drank the potion hadn't healed, though they weren't too bad either.

The blow to his head had left only a slight pain and probably wouldn't bother him for long. But the cut on his stomach that Azariah had caused was only half healed.

If he wanted to get rid of it, he would have to wait for the effects of the previous potion to wear off before he could use another potion, or wait for his natural regeneration to heal it.

'I will stay here for the night. I believe my dark regeneration will heal this abdominal wound almost completely by the next morning. In the meantime, I must cultivate a bit and wait for Thal'Korr to recover.'

He sighed at the situation he found himself in, feeling more vulnerable than ever. Not only was he injured and without Thal'Korr to fight for him, but he was probably under Ester's observation.

'Damned woman. You'll pay me back when I get back to the city. I probably won't be able to do anything against you here, but I will deal with you in the future.'