Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

The simultaneous summoning of so many Spirits altered the surrounding mana, concentrating it around the Leopards' group.

Strong winds and earth movements made the area more intimidating.

Mana was a crucial environmental component. Much like wind moves from high to low pressure areas, mana could influence natural phenomena depending on its concentration, affecting humidity, winds, electrical changes, and other natural elements.

The groups surrounding the Leopards couldn't ignore the actions of these 11 individuals. Robert's group was aware they were being followed, and given their behavior, they were poised to launch their attacks swiftly!

Eleanor frowned as she observed and sensed this, realizing she had no choice but to fight right there.

It wasn't part of her or her allies' plan to engage now. But if her enemies capitalized on the advantage of having already summoned their Spirits to fight her before she did the same, she would be in serious trouble!

"Get ready to fight!" she said aloud as she positioned herself and flashed her mana to summon her warriors, the strongest of which was a 2-Star Spirit Earth demon.

Her group mates formed a formation, following a distinct pattern than the Leopards, but organizing themselves as any group of cultivators would in situations like this.

Those with more physical and powerful attributes positioned themselves in front of the weaker ones, those who provided support. Meanwhile, their Spirits, 26 of them, appeared in the area.

Enos moved a hand and motioned for his people to wait. "Don't rush in. They don't know we're here. Let them fight for a while!" he warned quietly.

He was taking a risk. It would only take one of the enemy Spirits to attack in their direction, or to notice them, for them to lose all the advantage they were seeking.

But everyone in the group of Emerald Owls obeyed their leader, continuing to tighten their grip on their weapons and defensive items without moving their mana.

Enos himself took a few steps back, retreating to a safer position to launch his attack when the time was right.

Even though he was retreating, he could see from a privileged angle the beginning of the battle.

The first to act were the Spirits with ranged attacks. These creatures unleashed a barrage of flaming arrows, hailstones, mana grenades, and similar assaults while still close to their masters.

As these attacks flew toward their targets, Spirits with defensive abilities sprang into action, erecting mana barriers, manipulating the ground, or counterattacking to mitigate the enemy's offensive.

Liam stood with Thal'Korr at his side, biding his time for the most chaotic part of the combat—his specialty.

Yet, he couldn't help but watch the battle's onset with keen interest, observing how the Spirit Masters coordinated their group tactics.

Some of his companions used their mental or regenerative abilities to support those driving the primary actions of the group. Meanwhile, their forces attacked and defended with a portion of their numbers, advancing slowly toward the enemies, much like an ancient battle on Earth.

Explosions echoed around them; the enemy's attacks obliterated trees and plants. However, no Spirits or cultivators were injured in this initial phase of conflict.

The defenses held firm, sparing the Spirit Masters while the environment bore the brunt.

In the first moments of battle, both groups maneuvered extensively, and soon they were close enough to see each other directly.

From the distance they were at, two minutes into the battle, the first Spirits finally left their masters' side and ran toward the enemy groups. This happened almost simultaneously for both groups, with the Spirit Masters standing still while their warriors attacked each other.

Liam ordered Thal'Korr to join the fray, still hiding his Spirit's cultivation and acting without trying to draw the attention of the stronger opponents.

'Concentrate on killing the 9-Star Spirit Lords. If one of the stronger ones tries to act against you, don't hesitate to defend yourself. But avoid them unless they show themselves to be vulnerable.'

Liam gave his orders to Thal'Korr while already holding his Third Class sword. He was also dressed in armor of the same rank, his hands clenched on the hilt of his sword, eager to leave his position and run toward the enemy group.

His eyes fell on Eleanor, the beautiful white-haired woman dressed as an extremely seductive warrior.

Just as he had heard from Felicity before, most female cultivators had some kind of attribute related to seduction. He felt this clearly when he noticed that his eyes were hurting.

'She is mentally attacking me!' His eyebrows knitted together as he resisted. Fortunately, his cultivation was only one level lower than hers, and he had the incubus attributes to help him a lot. Otherwise, he would have been one of the first to fall for this woman's attempt!

Just as she tried to act against him, Liam did the same against Eleanor's group. Cleverly, he didn't attack the strongest of the group, but all 9-Star flowers in Eleanor's formation.

By raising his incubus attributes, not enough to emphasize his Spirit, but enough to attract the attention of the weaker women, he made them look at him differently while he manipulated the shadows in the area.

His companions also used their own abilities to attack, and some to defend themselves, not relying solely on the action of their Spirits.

'Bastard!' Eleanor noticed Liam's actions on her sisters, noticing a sudden weakening of her group, especially some of the warrior Spirits that were fighting directly.

Crack!

The first Spirit to explode, unsurprisingly, came from Thal'Korr's clutches, as the Spirit Master behind the destroyed essence weakened, feeling a twinge in her soul.

But the team of Leopards didn't just grow against their opponents. The fall of one of the Abyss Matriarchs took away their numerical advantage for only a few seconds. Soon after, one of the Spirits from Liam's group fell as well, ushering in the most brutal part of the battle.

Now the two groups were within 40 meters of each other, and most of the Spirits were no longer with their masters. Most of these magical essences were fighting directly against each other, causing destruction to the surrounding area, while working in a strange synchrony, some helping each other, others getting in the way.

But the combined action of several Spirits resulted in greater combined durability. Some Spirits withstood attacks that would have destroyed them and fought on longer than they could have with the support of their masters alone.

By the fifth minute of battle, the total number of Spirits in the area had fallen below 40.

The first Spirit Masters weakened, leaving gaps in their battle formations.

"Forward!" Seeing the moment they would have to fight each other, Eleanor drew her weapon and was the first to advance on the leader of her enemies.

Leaving one of her sisters to deal with Liam, she moved forward against Robert, willing herself to kill two birds with one stone.

But just as the two sides charged each other, with Liam heading for a 2-Star Spirit Earth cultivator, shouts came from the eastern side of the area, and then a group led by a fat man they all knew appeared.

Enos, his men, and 16 Spirits appeared from that direction, their Spirits already attacking the less than 40 Spirits left in the battle, while the Spirit Masters themselves moved forward against the humans in the area.

One of the 2-Star Spirit Earth cultivator from the Leopards paled when he saw the rapid movement of that fleshy mountain holding a staff the size of an ordinary human.

Enos moved his weapon diagonally and hit the person closest to him in the abdomen.

The 2-Star Spirit Earth cultivator's body split in half almost instantly, and his pieces flew in the opposite direction of Enos' movement.

The Spirits of the Leopards man exploded and a collective gulp sound erupted in the area. Not only the men of the Leopards but also the women of the Abyss Matriarchs recognized in horror the enemies who were there to kill as many of them as possible.

Robert and Eleanor were the only ones who could put up a minimally fair fight with Enos, but both were in battle at that very moment.

Meanwhile, Enos' eyes were focused on Liam. His chief interest there was to eliminate this curse that had been ravaging him for weeks!

"Liam!" he said aloud like an animal as he raised his blood-stained staff into the air.