Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

On leaving the cage of the ancient Starlight Mammoth, Liam already had the Sage grade Arcane Crystal that the creature had left in its corpse with him, but also the valuable body parts of the beast. He didn't keep all of its body, however, as there was a lot of flesh, bones, and other resources there that were of less use to him.

Shortly after receiving congratulations for successfully adding his fourth Spirit, Liam heard from the Elder that he would receive fair value for the remaining parts of the beast he was leaving behind. In only a week, the value of merit points should be credited to his ID.

Liam thanked the Elder one last time and left the Beasts Hall, following Felicity, Nance, and Toby back to the streets of City One.

'These new skills, combined with my armor, could make me a formidable warrior outside the sect,' Liam thought as he listened to his companions talk amongst themselves about things related to him.

'Now I just need to take this trip to improve my certification and then it will be time to put the finishing touches on my plans.' He looked at the women next to him now, pondering what their situation would be like at the time of the escape.
Explore more at empire

'Perhaps I can promote two of them to the fourth realm by then. That will give them the opportunity to absorb the last two Spirits I'm entitled to. Until then, I'll try to promote those who aren't under my command so that I can bring them over to my side with Elder Neill's help. That will be my last step before escape!'

On the way through City One, heading to the Combat Arena to watch some Commander fights—a very common type of inner dispute—Liam took the time to ask Toby a few questions about how to turn his women into his subordinates, just as Neill had transferred Toby himself several times.

He already knew about the possibility of bringing them over to his side using promotion and negotiations as Elders, but Toby knew of other methods besides.

They talked about it all the way, until they reached the grandiose Combat Arena, where Liam came across some competitors from the Law Enforcement Hall.

"Liam Porter..." said a man with an enormous body, similar to a balloon in its body shape, larger than normal doors, with large spiky red hair.

Liam looked at the 5-Star Spirit Sky Division Chief who had an office next to his, with whom he usually vied for Law Enforcement Hall missions.

"Hugue." Liam didn't shy away from the meeting of eyes thrown by his opponent, who never missed an opportunity to provoke him whenever they came across.

Liam had experienced little friction in the internal area. Perhaps because he spent so much time cultivating with his women and solving problems, he hadn't had much time to interact with the rest of the inner sect.

According to Toby, however, this was normal. As soon as disciples arrived in the inner area of the sect, they became so bogged down with responsibilities, cultivation possibilities, and study that it was common for one's first few months to be more peaceful than one would normally expect from a Demon Gate member.

But Liam had had a few stones in his path, and Hugue was one of those obstacles that had challenged the patience of Liam and his subordinates time and time again. Toby in particular had only done nothing because his position as First Officer didn't allow him to act against Division Chiefs unjustifiably.

Just looking at the human balloon in front of him today, the shaven-headed boy couldn't help but form an ugly expression on his face.

Hugue ignored Toby and pointed one of his fingers at Liam. "I heard you moved up a realm. Is that true?"

The Division Chiefs' uniforms hid their cultivations to the point where it was difficult to know the truth about each other's power, unless that cultivator showed themselves. But investigations played a critical role in this society and it hadn't been difficult for most of Liam's rivals or friends in the inner sect to find out about his meteoric rise.

Hugue, in particular, knew that Liam was a third realm cultivator when he entered the inner wing, and had heard just today of Liam's trip to the Beasts Hall to claim his right to one of the beasts in the hall.

"You have great informants, Hugue. I'd like to meet them. I'll pay you twice as much just to get them on my side," Liam joked, but without hiding the truth.

"You can have them if you want." Hugue smiled at Liam's game. "Fight me and if you win, you'll have more than just my informants."

"Oh? A challenge?" Liam had received no challenges from the arena for matches valid for the disciple rank until this moment. He had only fought twice in the arena since entering the inner area, both times against Toby, fulfilling his responsibility without taking unnecessary risks.

Already so close to his escape, Liam didn't want to get into trouble with any of Demon Gate's important inner members.

"Why are you doing this, Division Chief Hugue? Why challenge Chief Porter now?" Toby asked as he took a step forward, his positioning rather defensive.

The timing of Hugue's challenge was not good. Liam would leave for the journey to Ironham in a few hours!

Liam narrowed his eyes, imagining that this was a way for Hugue to hinder him in some way with his imminent mission.

'Becoming a Third Class Runemaster is the same as me gaining several merits at once with the sect. And if I can go beyond that...' Liam saw the smiling gaze of the large man in front of him grow provocative.

"You were too weak before. A fight between us wouldn't be fair, Liam. Now you've become more powerful. You're still feeble, but maybe you can handle a fight with me," said Hugue loudly, loud enough for several insiders passing by the entrance to the arena to hear his voice and look at their groups.

Liam scrunched up his face thoughtfully and asked, "What do you propose? I might be interested, given the right conditions, of course."

Hugue nodded, not expecting a newcomer to accept his challenge without a favorable condition. "I'll face you without my Spirits and beat you. You don't have to give me anything if you lose and you don't have to worry about your life. It'll just be open practice."

"What if I win?"

"That won't happen," Hugue said with a jocular tone.

"A fair challenge involves the chance of victory and defeat," Toby said, not directing his boss to back down since Liam had already put himself in the position of considering the challenge.

Hugue conceded, "I'll give you what I already promised. My informants and preference in any future mission."

This Liam was much more interested in than having good informants.

'Hugue is one of the biggest problems for me getting good missions. Beating him today could mean I get a free pass to take any mission I want in the future, especially the one I'll use to escape.'

"All right. I hope you're committed to putting the terms of this challenge in the fight announcement." Liam proposed as he showed one of his hands.

Hugue shook it without hesitation, narrowing his eyes as he squeezed hard enough to bruise Liam's fingers.

He only got a serious look from his opponent, noting that the stamina of the 'small' man in front of him wasn't bad.

"I already have a place on the schedule for today's fights. Get ready for our match in an hour." With those words, Hugue turned and left, leaving no room for questions from Liam and Toby.

"What a son of a bit..." Toby muttered as he launched verbal arrows at Hugue.

Liam remained silent, monitoring the big guy's path, while Nance and Felicity questioned him about what was happening now and whether it had been a good idea to accept the challenge of that strong Division Chief.

He then replied, his expression as resolute as his voice, "My constant training with Isa has paid off and now I have new skills. I must show Hugue what I'm made of and put him in his place in this fight."

"What are your chances?" Nance asked. "He's a 5-Star Spirit Sky cultivator."

"If he used his Spirits, my chances would be less than 10%. I still need to fight to confirm my expectations about my new powers, but I believe he wouldn't be able to hurt me, although I probably wouldn't beat him either. But without the Spirits, the situation is different and there's a real chance of me winning, although it's not certain."

Toby looked at Liam along with the two masked women, and since there was no turning back, he sighed and said in support, "Well, whatever the outcome, this will at least be good training for you to master your new skills and temper yourself for the outside world, Chief.

Demon Gate may seem violent and dangerous, but it is only a reflection of the commonplaces for cultivators and beasts in Twin Land. In particular, the continent's average level of power is between the third and fourth realms. For those below the fifth realm, traveling around the continent is dangerous. So try to use this experience for our journey ahead."

Liam nodded in understanding, already aware of more of the continental reality than a newly promoted Division Chief could know. He didn't know as much as Toby, but he knew already that the continent was dangerous even for Spirit Sky cultivators.

"Let's get inside. Time for me to move on to the competitors' wing." He gestured to the three of them, having only come today to watch some interesting fights, but now involved in one of the fights of the day.