Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

"What?!" Hannibal shouted as he smashed the wooden table in front of him, having just heard of Liam's return.

"Some men saw him selling weapons at a Blacksmith's shop this morning before he went to an Alchemist's shop. He sells body parts from the beasts he hunted in the last few days." The subordinate who brought the news detailed.

"What about Francis and the others?" One of Hannibal's companions, who was at his side in the arena for their daily work, asked with an apathetic look.

"They haven't returned..." The 5-Star cultivator said more quietly, his voice filled with an uncertainty that was hard to ignore. "Liam also returned stronger, with 7-Star cultivation..."

At the suggestive tone of this short red-haired man, Hannibal shivered, his eyebrows drawn together in a grimace. "Are they dead?"

There were items that could show the vitality of distant cultivators. But these matrices weren't cheap and had several restrictions that made them exclusive to the highest-ranking cultivators in their organizations and families.

"Possibly." The man estimated. "But we should investigate or wait a few more days to be sure. If they don't return within three days, the chance that they are still alive is less than 2%."

As weak as he was, this 5-Star Spirit Lord was a born investigator. He knew what he was talking about, and Hannibal trusted him.

"We don't have the men to investigate that right now. Monitor the entrances to the city for signs of their return. If they're not back in three days, consider them dead." Hannibal said between his teeth, his tone as dark as the circles under his eyes.

"What are we going to do about Liam, boss?" Hannibal's companion asked, standing with him in the area they were in, a weapons room near the competitors' wing of the arena.

"Right now, we can't move on him directly in the arena. We'll have to wait another two weeks and then we'll be able to confront him with our men... Until then, we can only act outside the hall."

Acting outside the hall would be dangerous, both because of Liam's current position in the Leopards and because of the sect's rules. The slightest mistake and they could be in much more trouble than they are now.

"I have a suggestion, boss," said the 5-Star man who was still standing there.

"Speak up." Hannibal looked at the man with little expectation.

"I've heard rumors he has a friend who visited him in the Infirmary. I don't know how far their friendship goes yet, but we can observe it. Depending on the outcome, we could use her to force him into traps, or even turn her into one of us and work against him quietly.

Poison is a woman's weapon, boss." The man said in a rather wicked tone.

Hannibal's frown gradually lost its strength, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Hahaha, I was right to bring you into the faction, Abimael!" Hannibal placed his hands on the man's shoulders, pleased with what he'd heard. "Very well, do whatever it takes to make it happen. Whether she poisons Liam herself or we use her to force him to make mistakes. Whatever, just guarantee me the results!"

"I'll get on it right away, boss!"

...

While doing her job at the Essences Hall today—the one responsible for the city's resources production—Mary sneezed, brought a hand to her face and scratched her nose.

"Are you all right, Sister Mary?" Asked a young woman, about five feet tall, with a slim build and big cheeks. She looked like a child, not only in her physical appearance but also in her clothes and thin voice.

This was Jane Foster, 6-Star Spirit Lord, an Initiate at Demon Gate, in charge of the area where Mary was working at the moment.

The Essences Hall was enormous. It had an exclusive library, special gardens, greenhouses, communal plantations, and much more.

The place where Mary was working this morning was a thousand square meter greenhouse, where various fragrant plants were neatly arranged with much mana around them.

In this colorful place, Mary and the other Aspirants had to take care of the plants that were grown there, sometimes harvesting them, sometimes planting them, and tending to them so that nothing would go wrong with them.

Jane was at her side, the only one there whom Mary could call close to her. It would be foolish to trust anyone at Demon Gate. But she liked the 'girl' and got along well with Jane.

"Yeah, it must have been the dust." Mary said as she took off her special gloves and walked out of the greenhouse to get some air.

Jane followed her, leaving the other women working behind. "Sister Mary, have you thought about my proposal?" Asked the 'girl', one of the youngest outer disciples of City Thirteen at just 16 years old.

Mary looked out over the beautiful view of the Essences Hall garden and took a deep breath of fresh air. But it didn't take her long to answer her superior. "Yes. I'm tempted to join you, Sister Jane."

Jane smiled, having invited Mary to leave town and hunt beasts.

As an Aspirant, Mary couldn't do that alone. She didn't have that kind of permission. But she was already a 4-Star Spirit Lord and could soon become a 5-Star. She was willing to take the risk of hunting her second Spirit.

Mary hadn't hunted her second essence yet because she had been busy since she joined the sect. Another important point was that she had had so little time in the over three weeks she had been in this place that the thought of taking the Promotion Exam was out of the question for her.

She didn't have the time or resources for it.

But as she grew stronger, her activities would become easier and faster, and eventually there would be time for her to be promoted. If she got a new Spirit now, she could speed that up, so it made sense to accept Jane's offer.

Since Jane was Mary's superior, she could take Mary out of town.

Mary had already studied enough of the available Spirits in the forest, so she already had the most interesting targets in mind.

Ideally, it would be better for her to go with Liam. But Liam had so many enemies right now that she didn't know if that would be good for any of them. But she needed to get out of town to get her next Spirit.

Jane smiled at the blonde girl, shaking her small head and greenish hair. "How about we leave tomorrow?" The girl suggested.

"That's..." Mary hesitated, thinking of Liam. "I'll have to think about it. Can I give you an answer tomorrow?"

She wasn't suspicious of Jane's interests. As much as it wasn't good to trust people in this sect, Jane wasn't like the ordinary members of this place. Jane was one of the few disciples who had been invited to Demon Gate instead of being forced to come here after surviving a cruel experiment.

Jane didn't have the same hatred that many Demon Gate disciples had in their hearts and, as far as Mary knew, was favored by their superiors in the city.

Staying by Jane's side shouldn't be a problem.

'Jane is a friendly girl. Most people are afraid of her because of her position and powers, but she's someone who just needs a little attention.' Mary smiled at the girl, who couldn't help but accept the answer.

"All right. I'll wait until tomorrow before we decide," said the green-haired girl. She saw in Mary the first person who treated her as an equal instead of a little genius or a monster.

Jane had received her first Spirit at 13, when she made a pact with a Verdant Parasite demon, a type of creature with a high connection to plant life. In doing so, she unwittingly ended a plague that had ravaged a village in her home kingdom for decades.

But instead of affection and gratitude for what she had done, the people of her village saw her as the plague itself, a being that could return at any time to wreak havoc.

Soon after she received her first Spirit, she was banished from her village and left to die alone in a forest.

She lived alone for an entire year until an inner member of the sect found her and invited her to join the group.

Now she had two Spirits and a second realm cultivation, and was a great prodigy with great potential to become a Spirit Earth Spirit Master before she was even 18.

While Jane saw in Mary only a little of the affection she had lost when she awakened her powers, this blonde woman saw in this girl what most people couldn't see.

"Let's get back. I have six more Lunarberries to pick..." Mary led the way back to the greenhouse, with Jane happily following, talking about how amazing these plants behind the Lunarberries were.

Because of her special power, she understood plants very well and enjoyed talking about each one.

As she nodded to Jane to indicate that she was listening, Mary couldn't help but think of Liam. She missed his touch, but she was also worried about him.

'I hope you come back soon... Or maybe I'll go on my hunt without seeing you.'

Soon she returned to her work.