Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

"The fight will continue until one of you concedes or loses fighting condition. Beware of deadly blows. Killing blows nullify the results of the fight if used with the sole intention of killing. No one can stop a fight once it has begun, so be mindful of the risks of crippling and ultimately death!"

Technically, deaths were frowned upon, and such occurrences would invalidate the fight for the winner's score. But there were no other consequences for killing sect members in the arena.

If the fight was fierce, and the fatal blow was necessary to determine the winner, then it could be validated, even with a death.

Liam ignored the rules and focused only on Susanna, waiting for her to show her Spirits, the only thing he needed to strategize against her.

He had already studied 300 different types of Spirits over the past few weeks, and he knew every type of demon. Liam would know how to counter at least one of Susanna's Spirits as soon as he saw it!

"You may begin!" The Official stepped away from the center of the platform.

A barrier surrounded the place to ensure that no one outside it would interfere with the outcome of the challenge.

Susanna smiled mischievously and simultaneously revealed her two Spirits, an Ifrit-type demon and a red-beaked, black-feathered eagle.

The Ifrit had long horns on its head, and parts of its legs, arms, and hair were on fire. Its eyes were orange, the same color as the flames around its body. Its lips revealed razor-sharp teeth, which also marked its powerful jaw, where it certainly had a lot of strength.

As for the black bird with the red beak, it was the size of a full-grown pig, with wings that stretched over four meters when fully opened. Its sharp, curved claws were its most striking feature, as were its piercing eyes, the kind that would frighten the unwary mortal.

'Ifrit, a demon with the fire attribute. Its weakness is water and ice, while its strength is obviously fire and fighting in scorching areas.'

Liam identified the two types of Spirits.

'Night Eagle, a type of bird with shadow powers, notable for its speed, quick and efficient attacks with its claws, and an extremely tough beak. They are said to be strong enough to pick up a bull with their beak and throw it into the air... I can't let it come near me.'

The only good thing about Susanna's Spirit was the eagle, which had a similar basic elemental affinity to Thal'Korr.

Besides nemesis elements, another way to counter special powers was to use powers with similar affinities, but stronger than the enemy's.

From what Liam saw, Susanna's Spirits both had 5-Star levels, while her actual cultivation was also at that level, something impressive!

But that wasn't the end of it for Liam. She had Spirits of the same level as Thal'Korr, and was capable of fighting above her own level, but he was under the full effects of the Ephemeral Ascension Pill.

By summoning Thal'Korr to this platform, Liam revealed a 7-Star Spirit Lord aura while his Spirit was at the peak of a 6-Star!

'The pill helped me counteract the negative effects of my injuries, and made me a whole level stronger.' Liam thought as a silver sword appeared in his hands.

The result of the Ephemeral Ascension Pill was fantastic. If he hadn't been in such a dire situation when he took it, he probably would have reached 8-Star and Thal'Korr, 7-Star.

Susanna frowned as she felt Liam's cultivation jump while she was already commanding her two Spirits to attack him, not holding back.

'You used something to boost your powers, huh? Tsk! A coward! I can hardly believe that Sister Phila fell for a worm like you!'

She moved the muscles in her face, feeling disgusted with Liam but even more eager to kill him.

As the two sides advanced at the start of the battle, Eleanor McCalla, leader of the Abyss Matriarchs, frowned as she noticed Liam's power.

As much as a barrier had formed around the platform, all the spectators could easily sense the cultivations of Liam and Susanna, as well as their Spirits'.

"He used the Ephemeral Ascension Pill..." She muttered as she identified the medicinal traces already present in Liam's aura.

"A coward indeed! It's a shame Sister Phila was so careless with him. Dying for a piece of shit like Liam Porter was a real shame!" Said a redheaded girl next to Eleonor.

"They say he got beat up by Hannibal's gang..." Someone next to the white-haired woman whispered.

Eleanor looked at the woman next to her in surprise. "Hannibal, huh?"

"The Emerald Owls intend to deal with Liam Porter as well. An Initiate named Francis beat up Liam Porter three days ago. It is said that this Francis badly injured him."

"Well done! He deserved it!" Eleanor's right-hand woman commented with a broad smile on her face.

As they talked on their in another part of the stands, Mary's hands were clasped tightly together, her fingers wrapped around each other as she felt strange.

As her feet raced to the floor and her heart leaped in her chest, oblivious to her surroundings, a hand touched one of her shoulders, awakening her to her backgrounds.

"Were you looking for me?" Asked a beautiful woman with orange hair, a Spirit Master in the third realm.

For a moment, Mary didn't understand who this senior was, forgetting the description of Felicity's appearance that Liam had given her.

Felicity looked in Liam's direction with a frown on her face, not understanding what the hell he was doing.

'Why is that idiot fighting her?'

The reason for this, one of them, at least, was watching the start of the fight from the other side of the arena with a broad grin on his face.

Azariah, with a bucket of popcorn and a cup of juice in one hand, anxiously watched the start of this fight that he had helped to bring about.

'Fight and die together!' He was even happier when he felt the lingering aura of the Ephemeral Ascension Pill coming from the platform.

'Boss Ross will abandon you after you fail and take all the negative consequences of this pill—if you don't die, of course.' Azariah watched the first exchange between Liam and Susanna.

'Even if you survive, you'll either make the Abyss Matriarchs even angrier with you, or Chief Ross will discard you. Either way, you won't live long, and soon I'll have a chance to promote myself in the coliseum. I

f I save the lives of some foolish 'Leopards' in a week, I'll seize the moment of your downfall and change my position!'

Azariah clenched his fists, having already planned Liam's entire downfall and planned a heroic action for the next few days.

But that wasn't important right now. While Liam's enemies and allies watched the beginning of the fight, understanding what he had done and already imagining the results, he jumped against Susanna's Ifrit.

Fighting an eagle would be difficult for him. Besides, Thal'Korr would be more effective against a creature with elemental affinities similar to his own.

Since Liam couldn't use water and ice, the best way for him was to reach Susanna. As he moved his sword against the Ifrit, he imbued the blade of his weapon with purple energy. He then sliced through the air while moving to dodge the enemy's fireballs.

Thal'Korr didn't hesitate to use Power Amplification at the beginning of the fight, his muscles and shadows growing stronger as he attacked the bird that flew toward him.

'I have to risk getting past Ifrit and reaching her body. She's efficient in combat, but she'll be weakened if I affect her mind.' Liam ran across the platform while being chased by the attacking Ifrit.

Because of his temporary level increase and his passive abilities, he could counterattack, dodge and evade the Ifrit's movements at first. But he knew he wouldn't last long, and unlike the Spirit attacking him, he would be finished once he was wounded.

'I can subtly affect the Spirit Master's mind by influencing the Spirit, but these effects are secondary. I need to get close to Susanna to unleash as much of my seductive aura on her as possible.'

He took a deep breath and went for the Ifrit, causing the crowd following the fight to stop their shouts and comments and watch his suicidal attack.

Liam ran with his sword in front of his body, ignoring the flames that reached him.

His mana protected his body as much as possible, but without being 100% efficient.

Gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain, he swung his sword wildly at the Ifrit.

'Is he crazy?' Susanna let the Ifrit stand in Liam's way, not caring about the secondary injuries to one of her Spirits, more interested in keeping the enemy away from her.

But just as the Ifrit was about to face Liam's sword with its long, sharp claws, a large black demonic silhouette emerged from the Ifrit's shadows.

Liam shifted his body movement and walked past the Ifrit toward Susanna with a smile on his scorched face. 'Gotcha!'