Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Liam let out a long sigh as he surveyed his surroundings, taking in the sight of three lifeless human bodies nearby and a person convulsing beside the bear's lifeless form.

The forest was eerily quiet, devoid of any signs of life. Despite the darkness of the night, Liam's keen eyes allowed him to see clearly in his surroundings.

His Shadowfiend traits allowed him to recover quickly in the shadows of the night, while also enhancing his strength and sharpening his senses.

He scanned his surroundings, making a complete circle, ensuring there were no potential attackers within a 300-meter radius.

However, it was clear that safety was not a guarantee in this place. In a swift motion, Liam gathered the space storage items from his adversaries, dispatching the final one in excruciating pain before retrieving the Arcane Crystals from their lifeless forms.

Similar to beasts, Spirit Masters also possessed Arcane Crystals within their bodies. These crystals served as the universal organ responsible for mana absorption. The value of these crystals, found in both beasts and humans, was equal to Spirits. So, Liam swiftly severed the heads of his fallen foes in order to get these invaluable essences.

It was a simple task to remove Arcane Crystals from either a human or a beast. The moment the creature took its last breath, the crystals underwent a rapid transformation, solidifying within seconds. All that remained was to make a careful incision and watch as they were expelled from the body.

With his dagger, Liam carefully made an incision, feeling the resistance of the flesh before a drop of blood emerged, followed by a small, reddish crystal.

He repeated the same process with the four Spirit Masters, going back to the bear's side, where the humans had stopped him from retrieving its crystal.

In just one minute since the end of the fight, Liam had finished and left the area, leaving the four human bodies, the hyena bodies, and the bear behind.

It might be interesting to destroy the bodies of his fellow sect members, right? They were murdered, so it would be better to get rid of the evidence. But in Twin Lands, there was never any need to worry about such things in the forests ruled by beasts.

The chance of those bodies being found 24 hours after their deaths was practically 0%. In the next few minutes, maybe even less, Liam was sure that beasts would appear to devour not only the bodies of the dead beasts but also those of the humans.

Even their bones would be eaten by some creature, and by the end of the next day, nothing would be left but the signs of the battle.

This was the situation in forests like this, where unsolved murders took place every day.

'I need to find a place to rest. I've spent most of my mana dealing with them.' Liam walked away without looking back, having done enough tonight to think about resting.

...

An hour later, Liam found a good place to spend the rest of the night, a hollow tree 3 kilometers from where he had fought the group of Emerald Owls.

This was no ordinary tree, but a magnificent wooden structure with a radius of 5 meters and a hollow spherical area with a radius of 2.5 meters.

Liam didn't know what had built this place, but he decided to use it as a hideout after making sure no one lived there.

It was easy to know if a place was inhabited or not. Wild beasts usually had powerful scents and used their body fluids to mark their homes. It would be hard for a person like Liam to be confused about whether a place like this was owned by someone.

Liam smelled nothing strong in this hollow part of the tree, which gave him the confidence to position himself there and cultivate.

He didn't want to use his potions right away. He wasn't injured and could recover in less than 30 minutes of meditation.

Before he even checked the items his enemies had left for him, he closed his eyes and meditated for a few minutes, realizing the difference between the city and this area.

The natural mana in both places should be more or less the same. But in the city, there were matrices—combinations of complex runes—that made the density of mana and elements higher than natural.

Even the weakest street in Thirteen City offered a more conducive environment for cultivation than this forest!

Still, this area was far superior to any other place Liam had been. After 42 minutes, he opened his eyes, 100% recovered.

With a sigh of relief, he scanned the surrounding area, grateful that no creature had ventured near. His eyes then settled on the small opening through which he had entered the tree. The sight of the starry sky above and the absence of any immediate threats put him at ease as he retrieved the four space artifacts.

Space storage artifacts may have restrictions to prevent strangers from using them instead of their owners. But these security protocols depend on a soul mark, something that disappears when the artifact's owner dies.

By infusing some of his mana into Francis' spatial bracelet, Liam gained access to the inside of this 7-Star man's storage item, who was now likely being devoured by beasts.

As he accessed the item of the strongest of his enemies for the night, Liam regretted not having hit a winning 'ticket'.

'As expected... Outer disciples are really poor.'

He laughed bitterly as he counted the resources Francis had left for him.

Francis' bracelet contained 43 gold coins, 167 silver coins, three Second Class daggers, a Second Class sword, magic boots, some books and scrolls, and a key similar to the one Liam had received when he joined the sect.

There were no Arcane Crystals, let alone potions and pills.

Outer disciples rarely carry pills and potions. As for Arcane Crystals, most of them use up as much as they can quickly.

That was normal, and when Liam looked at the other three spatial storage items with them, it did not surprise him to see that none of them had any Arcane Crystals or absorbable resources.

Since this group wasn't in the forest to hunt for crystals, it was unlikely that they would have anything in their spatial storage items.

But Liam had no regrets about his booty. In the end, he received the equivalent of 200 gold pieces in coins, as well as some items that could be exchanged for coins or even merit points.

There were no marks on these artifacts to identify their owners, so it would be easy for him to sell them.

While perusing through the books he had received, Liam quickly noticed six new techniques that he hadn't acquired before.

'I'll see what they are when I get home. They might be important to me or Mary.'

These techniques were of great value to him. Techniques could only be taken from the Library by paying the price in merit points. Getting some techniques without spending merit points was actually a good advantage. He just needed to find out if any of them were compatible or if it would be interesting for him and Mary to learn them.

In his spatial ring, he safeguarded his cherished belongings, while the items he intended to sell were securely stowed away in an enemy's storage artifact.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to sell those storage artifacts. Trading storage artifacts were forbidden within the sect. If he tried to sell them, it would be tantamount to taking responsibility for the deaths of his fellow sect members.

He would keep these artifacts with him until he left the headquarters. He could surely sell them for a good price once he left Demon Gate.

Such items were highly valued in the mortal world!

He turned his attention to the crystals he had taken from the bodies of his enemies.

'Two Low-level Ancestor-grade crystals and two Middle-level Ancestor-grade crystals! I didn't expect that!'

Liam's eyes widened as he clutched the higher level Arcane Crystals.

What did a human's Middle-level Ancestor-grade Arcane Crystal mean? It meant that such a person had a natural talent of nearly 50 points on the test Liam had taken when he joined the sect!

It meant that two out of the four people's talents were greater than Liam's!

But Liam paid no attention to this. As incoherent as it seemed to think that people weaker than him were more talented than him, he already took it for granted that dual cultivation went against the prevailing notion on the continent. What struck him most was the potential of the two crystals in his hands.

'Thal'Korr will probably not advance qualitatively just because he has two crystals of this quality. But he will be close to reaching the Middle-level.' Liam wrapped his fingers around the two dark crystals.

Theoretically, Spirits needed to consume crystals of a similar or higher quality than their own in order to evolve.

Liam now had two crystals of similar quality to Thal'Korr's and two of higher quality. But that alone wouldn't guarantee evolution. Depending on the affinity of those crystals to the Spirit, he might or might not evolve.

Not only that, but as Spirits consumed crystals, the need to evolve increased with each step. In short, low-quality Spirits would need more and more high-quality crystals to improve. Therefore, Liam didn't know if just four crystals would be enough for Thal'Korr.

However, it would certainly bring this Spirit closer to a qualitative advancement, hence the satisfaction in Liam's eyes!