Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

The only black-haired woman, the tallest of the three at 1.8 meters, frowned as she saw from a distance what it was.

"A fucking third realm beast!" She took a step back, forcing her two companions to look in that direction as they moved in line with her.

"How is this possible? How is a third realm beast so close to the lake?" The third and smallest of these women asked, her brown eyebrows matching her grimace.

"That... It must be because of that scream a moment ago?" The blonde asked.

They had been following Liam's footsteps when they heard a terrible high-pitched scream coming from the opposite direction they were now looking.

Now, however, they couldn't help but put Liam aside and focus all their attention on the creature approaching them.

"Get ready to fight. We won't be able to escape!" The taller woman said as her mana moved through her body and her two Spirits formed beside her.

She had good senses and could tell from the creature's wide eyes that a red-eyed tiger was targeting them. But against a third realm beast known for its speed, there was no way they could run so easily!

The two women swallowed their saliva as they listened to their leader, cursing the beast's scream that had drawn the third realm creature's attention in their direction.

They also moved their mana, condensing their Spirits to their sides.

In the blink of an eye, six Spirits formed on the women's sides, three 7-Star, two 8-Star, and a single 9-Star Spirit Lord.

"Prepare your defense artifacts!" The black-haired woman said aloud, gripping her bow and arrow, ready to begin the battle.

Just as the three were preparing for the worst, the white-furred, red-eyed creature stared at them as it move more slowly, its mouth ajar and its teeth appearing.

It had come this way, interested in its favorite prey, the Night Worm. But when it encountered three Spirit Masters, its plans changed immediately.

As interesting as a wounded Night Worm was, a single worm was no match for three 9-star Spirit Lord Spirit Masters!

With a 1-Star cultivation from the Spirit Earth Realm, the 1.7-meter tall, 4-meter long, 500-kilogram creature with razor-sharp claws on its paws prepared and leaped at these opponents.

The three women also went forward, commanding their Spirits to move against the enemy, with only one of them staying beside them while they moved in different directions.

...

While the women of the Abyss Matriarchs failed in their plan to get to Liam, he and Thal'Korr had already spent over 60% of their mana against the group of white worms.

After the first moment of enemy siege, they had taken down half of the opponents, arriving at the current situation where 11 night worms were attacking them as they felt the weight of the battle.

Despite their cultivation advantage, they were facing versatile creatures that could steal their vitality and seriously injure them with their corrosive saliva.

After using some of their mana to kill the first opponents, they were now more vulnerable, with Thal'Korr losing some of his offensive power, while Liam was sweating profusely and panting.

"Shit!" Liam dodged another spit in his direction, this time feeling the stench of caustic saliva pass close to his face.

A white worm leaped towards him, its tentacles writhing, ready to drain Liam's life force.

Fortunately, it was just a 5-Star Spirit Lord, and even though one of his arms was injured, Liam could still tap into his ability to absorb others' life force and fight back against the white worm.

Unfazed by the closeness of his adversary, he decisively impaled its head with his spear.

With a swift motion, Liam removed his weapon from the motionless body, leaping back just in time to evade another acidic attack, only to find himself entangled in the slimy grasp of yet another creature's tentacles.

In agony, he let out a piercing scream as he felt a portion of his life force being drained, only to retaliate by striking his enemy once more.

'Shit! They can hurt me with this skill now!' He realized as his mana reached only 30% of his capacity.

There were still six enemies around him, but Thal'Korr was in bad shape, his body already transparent, having lost a lot of vitality and mana to his enemies.

Not wanting to risk any more, he summoned the potion he still had with him—Life Serum—and consumed it while still in battle.

'This potion will take a minute to take full effect. I can manage them on my own.' Gritting his teeth, he moved to avoid enemies while commanding Thal'Korr to return to his soul.

With Thal'Korr about to explode and only 30% mana left, he would have to use up his potion anyway, if he didn't want to be vulnerable to whatever enemies he might find outside the city.

He preferred to preserve his Spirit and recover amid battle!

The six remaining creatures pressed against Liam, half of them advancing to steal his life force, the other half spitting at him.

He moved as best he could in this area of various rocks and sparse trees in the forest, using what little advantage of shadows he had to mask parts of his movements and be more efficient in his dodging.

Just thirty seconds after consuming the potion, an intense burning sensation surged through his entire body as an uncontrollable flow of mana coursed through him, steadily replenishing his power reserves.

When his mana reached 55% again, he could feel his injuries healing and his battle fatigue dissipating. With a subtle smile, he increased his speed and launched another attack.

With precise aim, he launched daggers towards the weaker enemy, steadily moving forward to confront the stronger adversary. In a swift motion, he thrust the body of his spear through another white worm.

The creatures were helpless in their attempts to defend themselves against him. Exhausted just like everyone else, they longed for a moment of respite from the fight. However, unlike humans, beasts were seldom equipped with any resources to rejuvenate themselves during the heat of battle. This was especially the case for creatures of lower rank, like these Night Worms.

By the time one minute had passed and the potion had taken full effect, Liam had regained 85% of his strength, swiftly eliminating four out of the remaining six enemies.

Even though the potion should have restored him to 100%, he was still engaged in the fight, making it impossible for him to reach that level of recovery. However, against opponents who were already close to exhaustion, it was enough for him to kill the last of the worms.

With a swift horizontal motion, Liam forcefully slammed the body of the final worm against a sturdy tree trunk. He carefully observed as the creature fought for its life, ultimately succumbing after four seconds.

Liam scanned the area, relieved to see no other white creatures emerging from the ground. The battle was finally over.

He looked around and saw 23 corpses, his sense of smell blocked by the foul stench these creatures emitted.

But before he could even move to take his prizes from the battle of the surrounding corpses, Liam turned his face in the direction where he could feel a powerful battle developing.

'That magical fluctuation...' He felt the power of not only the third realm beast but also three humans.

Because of his sharper senses after the evolution of the incubus, Liam could tell without seeing that these three were women and not men.

'Are these the women of the Abyss Matriarchs?' He asked himself, aware that there weren't many all-female groups around him.

Female factions were quite common in the world of cultivation. However, he felt it was too much of a coincidence for three women from a group other than the one hunting him to be so close to him.

With the realization of what was happening close at hand in his mind, Liam collected the Arcane Crystals from the 23 bodies before he left, climbing the side trees and moving towards the ongoing battle.

'I'll see what's going on. If it's too dangerous for me to move, I'll leave immediately.' He decided, imagining that this was how Ester had won so much from him.

It was worth trying such a woman's strategy at least once before deciding whether it was worth moving around the lair like this!