Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

A pigeon had just landed near the group's camp when one of the men handed him a message from the weaker Emerald Owls' men left behind in the city.

"Liam Porter is moving with the Leopards. How do we move against them, Boss? Robert has gathered a large group to hunt the Silver-Winged Leopard."

Enos had read the message about Liam and the Leopards leaving City Thirteen about an hour ago. It had the numbers of such a group, enough to challenge his group.

Enos was stronger than Robert. But given the losses Mary had inflicted on his faction, the current situation was not good for him to take a stand against the Leopards' group.

"I didn't expect Robert to be so determined in this hunt," Enos murmured in a low tone, his eyes narrowing as his hands clenched the message paper. "But that won't stop us. Be prepared to take action against those wretched Leopards. We'll track them down and follow them!"

The men in the camp began to move, the weaker ones dismantling their tents and the stronger ones approaching Enos to leave.

"The Leopards are in a worse situation than we are," Enos said to the men closest to him. "They will soon be fighting enemies. Then let's go after bloody Liam Porter!"

...

Later, Myles also received word of the Leopards' movements.

His group was far away from Enos', closer to City Ten at the moment than to City Thirteen. The place in question was more or less where the groups interested in the Silver-winged Leopard had to pass to reach it, a full day's journey from City Thirteen.

But birds crossed large territories like this faster than humans, and not long after Enos had learned of Liam's movements, Myles discovered the same.

"Boss, Miss McCalla is moving. She and her group of Abyss Matriarchs must have begun their pursuit of the enemies. If they follow the agreed upon plans, the battle will reach us before daybreak."

Myles smiled as he looked up at the treetops, now in a tent high in a tree where his group had chosen to wait for the enemies.

Beside him were his faction brothers, including Hudson, who didn't know it, but was carrying an item that emitted signals that were only detectable by Liam's radar.

"Perfect. Get the boys ready to fight tonight." Myles ordered as he threw the message he had just read into the fire. "Eleanor will keep her promise. She'll keep her distance from the enemies and follow them here."

...

Liam's group moved around all morning until they stopped in a grassy area where there were a few thousand square meters of space with no trees nearby.

Half the men stood guard, while the others sat, some drinking water, others chatting while eating something to keep them going.

They hadn't had to fight any creatures on the way here. Even though the forest was full of beasts, most of the creatures didn't live in their territories, and the group skillfully cleared such paths. Their only interest was the Silver-Winged Leopard.

But they kept an eye out for enemies that might attack them.

Eating a protein bar, Liam stood next to Lazarus and watched Robert meditate.

"There's a 99% chance that Eleanor is watching us from this direction right now," Liam said to Lazarus, making the man look in the same place as him.

"You want to face her here?" the square-headed man asked.

Liam had already communicated with the group about the things Ester had told him and helped him with.

They knew about the tracking device that would work when they were within a kilometer of Hudson, as well as the fact that the Crimson Rebels planned to attack them near the Silver-Winged Leopard's hunting grounds. The Abyss Matriarchs would follow them there and ambush them against Myles' group.

"I don't want to face anyone, Chief Ross. I'd rather be in a bathtub with my women, eating and drinking." Liam laughed bitterly. "But if we're going to fight, let's do it our way and not the enemy's way, right?"

He had been trying to convince the group to fight the Abyss Matriarchs for the past few hours. But so far, Robert had shown no interest. He didn't want to risk his group so far away from the location of the Silver-Winged Leopard, which he wanted to be his third Spirit.

Lazarus shook his head, understanding Liam's side, but also his leader's. "You are right. But there's still time for us to fight on when we're closer to our goal."

"Maybe." Liam didn't hide his displeasure. "I just fear that this will be the end of our group, Chief Ross.

We might even be able to deal with the Abyss Matriarchs later. But maybe the Crimson Rebels will realize this and catch up with us while we're exhausted from fighting. We may be able to deal with the Crimson Rebels, but we may end up weakened against the Silver-Winged Leopard and those who hunt it.

The safest thing would be to eliminate them where we are. The Crimson Rebels are far away, and we would have time to recover for the next opponents."

At that moment, Robert opened his eyes and finished his cultivation session in this place. He heard the last part of Liam's speech, something he had already heard this morning.

"I understand you are worried, Liam," the man said in an understanding tone. "But we can't risk a fight too far away from my future Spirit.

Fights in the forest aren't like fights in the city. Everything that happens in a place like this changes the weather and the behavior of the beasts miles away from us. We have to bring the confrontation as close to my target as possible, otherwise we'll lose it."

Liam sighed and said, "I understand the risks. This is just my vision of what's best for the group."

"I'm glad you feel that way. But don't worry, we'll soon take care of the vermin that follow us." The man glanced in the direction Liam had showed before calling to his people. "Come on boys, time to go!"

Liam followed the group, not having much of a choice. He was already quite strong by City Thirteen standards. But alone, he had no confidence against the numbers of the Abyss Matriarchs. His only alternative was to go along with Robert's decisions.

'I just hope this doesn't lead us into the Abyss...' he thought as he sighed softly. 'I have a feeling that the outcome of this hunt will be disastrous.'

He looked ahead and saw an enormous cloud in the sky, casting a shadow across the road ahead and greatly dimming the surrounding light.

As they moved, the Abyss Matriarchs slowly followed behind them, a group of 10 women led by the beautiful Eleanor, who now revealed a magical 4-Star fluctuation to those beside her. But anyone over 50 meters away from her couldn't sense her cultivation, a sign of the forest they were passing through.

Individual mana could be felt in different ways, depending on the environment. In certain very rich places, only cultivators with very strong cultivation could have their aura perceived by others. People below a certain level of strength would naturally be camouflaged by the environment. In other mana-poor environments, even weak Spirit Apprentices could be seen from a distance.

In general, it was easier to sense the cultivation of opponents in human cities. Even though cities were usually rich in mana, the equipment in those cities made it easier to sense the cultivation of cultivators. In rich forests, like the one at Demon Gate's headquarters, the trees, animals, and precious items made it more difficult to sense the presence of magical beings.

Of course, this depended on several factors. If a Spirit King stood there without containing their aura, cultivators and beasts from all over the forest would notice them. But young Spirit Earth cultivators didn't have to worry about being sensed in the same way.

So Eleanor moved while Enos approached her group unnoticed.

Luckily for the Abyss Matriarchs, the Emerald Owls' men were interested in Liam, not the women of that faction!

...

A few more hours passed, and the sun crossed the sky, passing through the central position and then descending a good part of the way until it gradually set.

The late afternoon brought a somber feeling to those seeking the death of their rivals, as the shadows of the forest deepened amidst the ever more terrifying winds of the area.

Stronger beasts gradually left their hiding places to take advantage of the early evening, the time of greatest activity for many of the area's creatures.

With the onset of night, the moving groups slowed down, already far enough into the beasts' territory to take their chances and move in the same way as before. Even though they followed their maps and avoided the territories of known creatures, there was no such thing as too much caution when traveling at night.

Among his fellow Leopards mates, however, Liam felt much better now that he had his Shadowfiend traits.

Not every demon was a fan of darkness and night, as some might think. Some had completely different affinities, related to nefarious essences, but not necessarily the night. Some had powers with plants, seduction, poisons, the ability to understand, heal, transform bodies, etc. Not all of them used shadows, like the Shadowfiends.

While some of his companions became more alert and worried, Liam felt his senses improving, gradually noticing his surroundings in more detail and with greater range.

He narrowed his eyes as he sensed a small insect-like Spirit, something like a fly, flying only 200 meters away from them.

'This is the Spirit of one of the enemies following us,' he realized as drops of sweat trickled down his back.

He couldn't ignore the anxiety in his heart, worried enough about the battle ahead, whether against his enemies or the competitors in search of the Silver-Winged Leopard.

As he looked at Robert and pointed at the insect-like Spirit, he couldn't help but feel the urge to yell at the man and make him do something. But this time, he wouldn't have to be frustrated with the leader of his faction.

"Time to sort out your intrigues, Liam." Robert tapped him on the shoulder as he motioned for the rest of the group to get ready.

Liam didn't mind the man's words, aware that his enemies hadn't been so well prepared to ambush them just because of him. He put his displeasure with Robert aside for today to prepare for battle.

When the entire group was ready, they gathered into a battalion, forming a formation while, one by one, they summoned their Spirits.

That was the signal for the Spirit Masters' war!