Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

The air crackled with an electric charge, and the faint scent of aged parchment lingered, mingling with the musty scent of history.

Their mana appeared to withdraw into their bodies, causing a subtle tremor to run down their spines.

After pausing momentarily, they scanned their surroundings. They found themselves in an entrance hall adorned with numerous side pillars, its vast expanse spanning 200 square meters. The soft murmurs of conversations echoed from the over 10 booths that lined up along a counter, waiting to be explored.

Several disciples came and went, and the Officials behind the counters were busy, forming a small queue for the service.

'The Records Hall is not just the wing of the sect responsible for registering disciples. It's a component responsible for dealing with the flow of merit points, the exchange of points for artifacts, the payment of sect members' wages, among other things.' Liam glanced at the row of outer disciples.

Outside the line, several groups of disciples stood together, engaged in lively conversations that drowned out the voices of others. Meanwhile, individuals clad entirely in black, donning masks and hoods, diligently guarded the different entrances and passageways leading into the area.

Liam and Mary would end up looking at the same door, one of the 12 doors around this hall, from which they could tell the sensation they had just felt upon entering the building.

What is behind this? They did not know. It could be a powerful beast, one or more powerful Spirit Masters, or even artifacts.

In this cultivation world, even artifacts could have an intimidating presence!

"Let's go. This should be normal." He shook Mary's hand and, after a few seconds of pondering, moved on.

Soon they would enter the line, where they would only have to wait 10 minutes before being called by different counters almost simultaneously.

Liam introduced himself at booth number eight, showing his badge.

"I'm a new disciple brought in by Commander Amos' group," the black-haired young man said quietly.

The man, dressed in black but with his face uncovered—obviously a First Officer—took Liam's badge and identified the boy's registration.

Liam looked with interest at the object the First Officer was using.

After receiving Liam's badge, the First Officer used an artifact the size of a shoebox with a small space in front of it where badges could be inserted.

Above the box was a series of colored crystals that glowed together after the badge was inserted, causing the badge to glow in those colors before a green screen with various symbols appeared in front of the First Officer.

Liam stared at the hologram with his data, unable to see what was written on it from his position. Yet, he was interested in such a device. From the memories of his predecessor, this world seemed to have technologies and customs similar to those of the European Middle Ages.

Twin Land had kings and emperors, states fighting over territory, families fighting over succession. Meanwhile, the common people were extremely common and miserable. As for the cities, they were awful! There was no basic sanitation for most of the commoners—people incapable of going through the Spirit Awakening.

Transportation was made basically with carts, animal-drawn carriages, wagons and boats—there weren't even trains. Electricity was another thing that didn't exist. The artificial lighting in some buildings was based on a completely different type of energy conversion than what Liam understood.

In short, Twin Land that Liam knew, at least for the moment, was still the one his predecessor had seen, devoid of many technologies and somewhat archaic.

When he saw the hologram in front of him, he couldn't help but reevaluate this world.

'The technologies of this world are much more advanced than I had previously thought... It must be based on mana manipulation. But why hasn't the rest of society evolved like Earth? Could it be that the rules of physics on Earth don't apply to this world?'

Liam wasn't a scholar or a genius when he lived on Earth. But he came from a place where primary education taught children the basics of every field of knowledge very well. As an above-average student, he remembered well what he had learned in his physics, chemistry, biology, and history classes.

As the First Officer read his report, Liam thought the rules of physics on his homeworld shouldn't differ completely from those on Twin Land. As much as there were things his common sense couldn't explain, gravity existed, time existed, if you threw a stone into the air it would still describe a parabolic trajectory, etc.

'Or maybe it's a lack of need?' He looked around and saw various mana-based devices at work.

With the mana of this world, and the magical applications of this mysterious force, why develop things not related to mana? Perhaps this was the answer to his questions.

But amid his thoughts, Liam saw the man in front of him open his mouth.

"Very well, your enrollment is complete, Liam Porter. As of today, you will have a position at the Runes Hall. Report to it by late afternoon today to learn more about your responsibilities.

For the time being, you must dedicate 10 hours a week to the maintenance of City Thirteen. You must contact the Mission Hall to learn more about these hours and the activities available to you.

Your last task as an Initiate Outer Disciple is to hunt for Arcane Crystals in the Peak Thirteen's area of influence. You must deliver 30 King-grade Arcane Crystals of the Middle-level tier, or a smaller quantity of higher quality crystals."

The man stopped explaining Liam's responsibilities to the sect and looked into the boy's eyes. "Do you have any doubts about your responsibilities?" he asked in a deep tone.

"No, I know what I have to do." Liam shook his head negatively.

"Well, in the Library on Street Twenty-Six there's a map of the city and the area of influence of the peak. There you'll find the location of the places you need to go. Anyway, to get your entrance award, go to the rewards wing. Just follow the main corridor and enter the fourth door on the right." He pointed Liam to the main corridor.

Liam understood where he had to go before he could remember the item he had received yesterday from the man who had bought his spear. "By the way, I traded an artifact of mine for merit points. How do I transfer them?"

Seeing the item that gave Liam 75 merit points, the First Officer completed the transaction for the young Initiate.

"From now on, you can transfer merit points in person with any member of the sect without having to come here. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that's all. Thank you." Liam went to where Mary was waiting for him. She also wanted to pick up her prize in the same place as him.

"So? How did it go?" She asked him with a bitter smile on her face. "They assigned me four mandatory activities. I have to work 20 hours a week for the city, gather herbs around Peak Thirteen, serve in the Disciples' Kitchen, and the Illusions Hall."

Liam told Mary what he had to do, which was a much lighter workload than his companion's, but also more difficult, given the mission to collect Arcane Crystals.

But he readily understood that while he would have some room for extra activities in his time ahead, it would be difficult for Mary to do all her activities and still have time for more than just cultivation.

'This is a system designed to keep most of us in inferior positions...' Liam realized it wouldn't be easy for any of them to advance to higher positions within the sect.

Mary's luck was that she had him and could cultivate faster than her peers!

Neither of them could run away from their responsibilities, so they let the matter drop and went to the rewards wing to collect their awards, or rather, their entrance wage.