Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

He first wanted to join the strongest faction that had first approached him—Crimson Rebels. But the damage of choosing that, at least in the short term, seemed greater to him if he joined that group.

His major concern was the short term. As soon as he had the chance, he wanted to escape from the sect, and he felt that with dual cultivation, he could become strong enough to protect himself in City Thirteen in a few months.

So, without hesitation, he went to the Beasts Hall, determined to find one of the Leopard men and join the group!

'With Leopard, I can at least guarantee my safety inside the hall. I can handle the pressure from the members of the Battle Hall, but you can't play with powerful, irrational beasts.'

Beasts might actually be very intelligent. They could easily distinguish between the behavior of an enemy and that of an ally, understand the intentions of others through simple observation, and so on. But most beasts had no language skills, even at a high level.

While a powerless human child could communicate easily, and a low-level demon could speak several languages, most beasts didn't have sophisticated communication skills. Talking to them would be a problem for someone who had been wronged, which posed a great danger to the enemies of a group that could control beasts.

All it would take was for a member of the Leopards to anger a beast and accuse Liam with one of his possessions, and he would become the beast's enemy.

By the time the creature realizes the injustice or he proves his innocence, it could be too late!

'Against humans, I can at least appeal to reason...' He took a deep breath as he stopped in front of the coliseum and looked at it. 'ut even that doesn't have much power.'

However, feeling a sense of urgency to find a group that could offer him protection, Liam swiftly entered the building. He followed the directions he had been given, leading him to the exact location he was advised to go to if he chose to become a member of the Leopards.

Given the fact that the various factions in the city were adversaries, one might wonder how joining one of them would provide Liam with protection. However, the situation was far from being as straightforward as it seemed.

If he could continue without choosing a faction, Liam would be better off both inside and outside the city. But as he was being targeted by groups that wanted to eliminate him, he had to join a faction. And that meant one delicate thing: retaliation.

There were several ways for a faction to protect its members. But the most important was retaliation, the guarantee that the group would not stand idly by in the face of injustice against its members.

Why was retaliation effective? It worked because a group that didn't let intimidation and aggression go unanswered showed that they were not to be disrespected or challenged. This was crucial because a lack of response would undermine the group's authority.

As a result, even the smallest members felt reassured that their losses would be avenged, and potential rivals knew their actions would not go unsettled.

That was enough for Liam at the moment, but he was about to discover the 'wonderful' world of factions.

"So you've made up your mind?" A tall, muscular man dressed in battle gear with metal plates on his chest and back asked as he got up from where he was sitting on guard.

When James saw Liam approaching, it didn't take him long to realize that this tall, lean, black-haired young man wasn't there to say hello.

Liam smiled as he greeted the 8-Star Spirit Lord at the entrance to level two of the coliseum, where the members of the Beasts Hall would normally pick up the keys and equipment to handle the cages and beasts.

"Senior James, I am ready to join the Leopards. I hope the offer still stands." Liam got straight to the point, drawing the attention of two other people nearby, also members of the faction.

James nodded in recognition of the boy's intelligence before motioning for one of his two colleagues to come over. "Abel, take our junior to the headquarters."

Abel promptly left his position, nodded to Liam with a smile, and motioned for the boy to follow.

As Liam had expected, the Leopards were deeply integrated into the Beasts Hall, with their headquarters located in the coliseum itself.

"Is it normal for factions to have their headquarters in sect service buildings?" Liam asked as he surveyed the corridors overlooking part of the city and the entrances to the various wings of the coliseum. He had to speak up because of the loud noise of the beasts on this level.

"Yes, our leader is an inner member in charge of the hall. All the lords of the Beasts Hall are members of our faction," the man, who didn't look much older than Liam, said proudly.

"The sect doesn't care about such things. As long as we follow the fundamental rules, using the coliseum as our headquarters is the least of it. Other important factions do the same... In fact, you should know this."

If some factions had their headquarters in such halls, Liam would soon have to risk going to and from the headquarters of enemy groups!

"But don't worry about that for now. You'll understand and adapt to everything in no time," Abel said, interested in Liam joining the faction for his own reasons.

'If a newcomer like him joins us, I'll be able to quit my job as a guard...' Abel thought as he led Liam, and soon they reached an area where the sound of the coliseum's beasts wasn't so prominent, where the administration of City Thirteen's Beasts Hall was located.

On the highest floor of the magnificent coliseum, the Leopard's headquarters was integrated into the administrative area of the place.

In this location, filled with shared rooms housing over twenty-five individuals diligently performing their tasks, Abel paused beside a man positioned behind one of the initial counters along their route.

"Duncan, I brought this friend here to talk to Robert," Abel said to the well-dressed man with a serious look behind the counter.

"Go ahead. He's free now."

Abel made his way to a room close to Duncan's counter, while Liam watched the surroundings, curious about the roles of the people there.

"What do the people in the administration wing do?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

Liam could understand the functions of the members of the hall in relation to the care of the beasts. But he couldn't imagine what these people did on this level of the coliseum.

Abel smiled at him. "Nothing as difficult as we do... But it's not as easy as it looks. Some of them are professional tamers and calculate every day how much each type of beast should eat and how to keep them healthy.

There are also beast healers who take care of their health. Each of the beasts in the hall is valuable and can cost thousands of gold coins.

In addition, they are responsible for awarding disciples the chance to choose one beast as their future Spirits, which beasts can go into battle, and so on. They also set up beast hunting missions and negotiate with great Beast Tamers outside of here."

"That..." Liam hesitated, not imagining that there was so much to do to run such a place. "But I thought outer disciples couldn't leave headquarters."

"It's not that simple. External tamers occasionally come to the sect, and it's even possible for a high-ranking outer disciple to leave the headquarters if they are accompanied by inner members. Anyway, welcome to the Leopards."

Abel opened a door in front of him, revealing an old room where a bearded man dressed like a hunter was apparently finishing dressing.

"Boss, this is the new member appointed by Senior Lazarus," Abel said before closing the door and leaving Liam and the faction leader alone.

Liam greeted the third realm cultivator, not expecting to meet the leader of this group today.

The man, who looked about 35, motioned for Liam to sit down and asked, "Do you have questions, Liam Porter? I know a newcomer like you must be full of doubts and quite anxious."

Liam shook his head negatively. "I just want to know my role in the group and what to expect as a member. The Senior has to know that my situation is delicate."

"Hmm, about that, while you're in the city, we'll help you. But out here, you have to be careful. Anyway, I'll give you a welcome gift to help you through your first days here."

The man threw something in Liam's direction, causing the boy to flick to catch what looked like a metal ball.

"Your responsibility in the faction will be to help us hunt a Silver-Winged Leopard. But that's for the future. For now, you'll be a guard until you reach the third realm. In the meantime, you'll have our protection."

Liam was not surprised by the faction leader's goal, as he looked at the orb with interest, a device he could sense was not ordinary.