Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

"You've just made a deadly mistake," said Liam, a long smile cracking across his face. He stepped aside, revealing two Spirits behind him; Thal'Korr and the Silver-Winged Leopard.

Liam did not conceal his 5-Star Spirit Earth aura as he introduced his two warriors for the battle.

Thal'Korr, a Shadowfiend, revealed his 3-Star Spirit Earth cultivation, while the large leopard, with golden fur and silver wings, displayed an impressive 7-Star Spirit Earth cultivation—a level rarely seen even among 9-Star Spirit Earth Spirit Masters.

Almost the entire audience gathered to watch the match looked at Liam's Spirits in shock.

No one had expected him to produce such a surprising revelation!

'How is this possible?' William's master stood up from his seat, smashing the glass in his hand. As he looked at Liam with narrowed eyes, he felt a chill in his soul and grew increasingly worried.

Even the Guardian of the Peak was stunned, witnessing for the first time a Spirit Master who dared to dominate a Spirit stronger than themselves!

"He is truly confident. He's certain he'll quickly reach the cultivation level of the Silver-Winged Leopard," Eliakim commented to Amzi, highlighting the goal of anyone who found themselves in Liam's situation.

Having a Spirit stronger than oneself meant that just to keep the Spirit in one's soul it would cost more than all the Spirit Master's available cultivation. If one weren't quick to close the gap, sooner or later, the Spirit would consume its master out of necessity. At that point, the master would stop growing and start regressing!

Amos nearly took a step forward, while a large question mark appeared on Merlin's face.

However, the one who mattered most in this situation was William, who couldn't help but grow serious as he positioned his three Spirits in front of him.

Of William's three Spirits, one was a demon with blue skin and hair that resembled seaweed, at 5-Star level; another was a red and black ant, as large as a full-grown pig, at 4-Star; and finally, the weakest of them all, at 3-Star, was a root.

Plants could also give rise to Spirits, particularly when they reached such high levels of mana control that they could think for themselves and consciously react to their surroundings.

Plants often possessed characteristics highly sought after by Spirit Masters, ranging from their vitality and capacity for severe resistance to improved mana manipulation and more efficient senses, among others.

Liam assessed his opponent's three Spirits and understood why William was so powerful. However, believing himself to be stronger, he promptly sent his two Spirits to attack the enemies in his path.

At the start of this new fight, however, Liam didn't immediately advance with his warriors. He remained behind, holding his weapon, while allowing the Spirits to fight on his behalf.

The issue wasn't that he trusted his current Spirits too much and thought he wouldn't have to fight. William's Spirits weren't simple, and this man's powers were likely to be equally complex.

'William has a Spirit known for its super stamina and another for its super strength,' Liam observed, eyeing the ant and the root. 'William's strength and physical endurance are surreal. If I underestimate him, I'll be the one to die here. The best way for me to defeat him is to weaken him first.'

But William knew his strengths and weaknesses. As soon as he had let his Spirits advance against Thal'Korr and the leopard, he charged towards Liam on his own, armed with a black and gold spear.

Liam attempted to restrict him by using the surrounding shadows to limit William's movements. But his opponent appeared to be a raging bull, while Liam's actions resembled those of a child facing a ferocious animal.

Liam spread his silver wings and leaped from where he was, flying into the middle of the battle of the Spirits, where at the moment Thal'Korr was acting against the red and black ant, while the Silver-Winged Leopard focused on the other two opponents.

Aware that the enemy's root possessed magical powers that greatly strengthened the enemy Spirit Master's defense, the Silver-Winged Leopard focused primarily on the weaker of his two opponents. However, his speed and strength were already so great at his current level that he did this while keeping the 5-Star demon busy enough to prevent it from escaping and acting against Liam or Thal'Korr.

William pursued in the direction where Liam was retreating, soon finding himself amid the Spirits' battle, where the powers of not only his enemies but also his own Spirits were affecting him.

"I must admit that your newest Spirit is impressive. But only if he manages to defeat my Spirits before I take you down!" William declared as he maneuvered his spear, dancing with the weapon in a way that Liam had yet to see from an opponent.

William's movements were fast, smooth, and full of viciousness. If Liam hadn't been so adept at deflecting attacks because of his great reflexes and speed of movement, he would have already suffered severe damage.

But as he dodged the enemy, giving the Silver-Winged Leopard time to fight brutally to take down the first of the Spirits, Liam counterattacked as well. It wasn't exactly his plan to engage in a direct confrontation with William immediately, but being attacked repeatedly was very irritating.

Black flames formed in one of the black-haired young man's hands when he finally used his sword to defend himself against the enemy's weapon.

Clang!

The two blades met, emitting a loud, deafening noise, until Liam's infernal flames passed from his hands to his weapon, reaching the enemy's spear a moment later.

William could have forced Liam to maintain his attack, but he didn't dare. With a shiver running down his spine, he retreated, destroying the shadow demons attempting to impede his movement.

Liam failed to catch his enemy with that move, but at that moment, he heard the sound he had expected to hear before he pushed himself even harder against his opponent.

Crack!

The Silver-Winged Leopard launched a swift and vicious attack against the 5-Star demon's neck, tearing a chunk out of the mana creature as it threw it to the ground.

The leopard's golden fur now bore patches of colored mana and a diagonal cut on one of its flanks, the result of the confrontation thus far.

Even though the leopard had wanted to take down the enemy root first, it could no longer withstand the occasional attacks from William's demon and changed its strategy. With a move focused on that creature, the leopard destroyed it a moment later.

Boom!

William's demon exploded into countless tiny fragments of mana, causing the Spirit Master to feel momentarily unbalanced, failing for Liam's quick attack.

"Die!"

Liam advanced against his enemy, using his sword to strike his rival in the chest.

When he finally reached the falling opponent, however, Liam found a root in his path, with his blade missing the target point, deflecting into William's left shoulder.

"Aaagh!"

A short scream came from William's mouth as he felt the cut on his shoulder, but nothing more serious happened to him.

However, at that moment, he got the best chance to counterattack that he'd had in this fight so far!

With a quick flick of his spear, he tried to ignore the pain in his soul and shoulder as he attacked the body less than a meter away from him.

Liam was already trying to move away when he saw his mistake, but he wouldn't be able to escape unscathed this time.

He felt the sharp point of the spear penetrate his abdomen until he escaped with a wound five centimeters deep.

'Shit!' He landed 3 meters behind where he had been at the time of the attack, quickly bringing one of his hands to where he felt blood dripping from his body.

In this condition, he saw the enemy root wrap around the Silver-Winged Leopard's body, momentarily preventing the beast from moving.

Thal'Korr, on the other hand, imposed his advantage against the enemy ant, burning it with his infernal flames while keeping it away from William.

William looked to the side and saw that it was basically him and Liam. Neither of them would be able to get their Spirit back to themselves quickly. But that was fine with him. Even if he had to sacrifice his root to keep the leopard away, that was fine.

Pointing his spear forward, he muttered as he ran with all his might. "You're the one who's going to die, Liam!"

Liam took a deep breath, but didn't run away from the confrontation. He used Amplification Power, as he felt his super-regeneration kick in to staunch his wound.

William was impressive, but he didn't have Sage-grade Spirits. Liam did, and even with less mana than his enemy and a not-so-strong body, he surpassed William in several other ways.

Taking an offensive stance with his sword, he also advanced, bringing this confrontation to its last moment!

'After this blow, I'm heading to City Two!' he thought as he ran, leaving drops of blood in his wake as his muscles trembled.

Both young men screamed as they attacked each other, Liam with golden fur sprouting all over his body, and William with his skin covered in root bark, both preparing for the outcome of this fight!