Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Chapter 187: Liam's Seclusion

At dawn, Liam still hadn't communicated with any of his women. He woke up early and went to the artifact shops in the city.

He had many Second and even Third Class items that were of no use to him. He could keep them with him and sell them outside the sect in the future, but he needed resources now to strengthen himself in City Thirteen. With an enemy like William interested in his downfall, Liam didn't want to take any chances.

He planned to keep only Third Class artifacts and resources with him and sell everything else!

He had enough for himself and each of his wives, including Ann and Joan, with whom he hadn't cultivated yet, and Mary's friend, Jane. This included consumables, but also materials useful for making pills, potions, enchanted items, etc.

Liam had so many items to sell that it wouldn't be enough to go to just one shop. He would go to four artifact shops and sell 80% of what he wanted to get rid of that morning.

His sales were so brutal that he collected all the merit points those stores had for deals like the one he made. He even took high-quality Third Class weapons as payment from the shops that couldn't pay him with merit points alone.

He planned to exchange the remaining 20% at the Barter Fair later. But before that, he went to the Lotus Temple with his newly acquired 5,000 merit points!

...

As soon as he arrived at the Lotus Temple, Liam stopped at the counter to get his cultivation room on the third level of the place.

But before he even got his room, which cost 100 merit points for 2 hours of use, he couldn't help but notice that all the women in the area were secretly glaring at him.

He laughed to himself as he noticed how many of them wanted to get close to him and get to know him better.

His appearance had improved after the qualitative breakthrough of the incubus, and even with his Spirit now available, his natural features were already strong enough to attract women without him even trying.

There were no women from the fourth realm nearby, so everyone there could be affected by him.

"Very well, Initiate Porter. Here is the key to room 606. You may use it for 12 hours. Make good use of your time and I'll see you later," said the woman, who had already taken the payment when she gave him access to the cultivation room.

Liam thanked her and left with 600 less merit points on his ID. Fortunately, he still had 4,450 merit points, which would allow him to make the most of the next few days.

He quickly made his way to the top floor of the Lotus Temple, passing through the stairwells that were busier on the lower levels and deserted on the higher ones, until he reached the corridor on the top floor, where there were only 24 rooms available.

Of the 24 rooms, only 6 were occupied this morning, which was unusual.

But Liam didn't know that he had helped to eliminate almost half of the users of these rooms in the last month, especially in the last few hours.

As he reached the front of room 606, he saw the door to room 607, right next to his, open.

"Liam!"

It was Nance who appeared from that room, surprising him with her call.

"I didn't expect to find you here..." He smiled at her as he opened the door.

"You're back... Is the hunt over?" she asked in a strange tone. But as she spoke, she realized where they were and what that must mean. "What happened?" she asked in a more solemn tone.

Liam entered the room with her and explained how his group had fought the Abyss Matriarchs, then Enos and his people attacked them, and finally, the fight against the Crimson Rebels.

He didn't go into detail about what happened after that.

Not that he didn't trust her, but he didn't feel the need to talk about everything that had happened.

"Incredible! You must have gotten a lot out of all this!" She was happy for him while feeling a strange sensation. To think that the strongest of the arena's rank were no longer alive was strange.

"But what now?" she asked awkwardly. "What will happen to these four factions?"

"I have no idea. But I imagine that the Leopards' men will come looking for me, and those of the other three factions will avoid me from now on... Perhaps they will unite to protect themselves from me?" He smiled as he considered the possibilities.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. I just want to focus my time in City Thirteen on strengthening myself. If they don't come after me, it will be best for everyone. I consider my business with these factions finished."

She sighed as she thought about everything that had happened and what he wanted for himself.

"We'll talk about this later. I'm going to leave now. I don't want to disturb your precious time here." She kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

Once alone, Liam scattered several Arcane Crystals around him before consuming a special pill. This wasn't an essence to strengthen his soul, but something to speed up the recovery of Spirits.

'Right now, I can't think about the Silver-Winged Leopard. It will take me a while to get it back. My priority is to recover the incubus so that I can cultivate with my women.'

He didn't know if he could retrieve Thal'Korr today, but he intended to spend the next 11 hours doing his best to get the incubus back.

Liam would then go into meditation to process the pill he had taken and the surrounding crystals, beginning his recovery seclusion.

The density of mana and elements in this room was strong. He would soon feel his progress in improving the condition of the incubus, now around a purple cocoon on one platform in Liam's soul space.

...

While Liam was cultivating in the Lotus Temple, news of his premature return to the city spread throughout the area.

The remaining men of his three factions quickly learned of his return after their leaders moved in with plans to, among other things, eliminate him.

Since few of them had any information on the vitality of their faction leaders, most immediately thought that the worst had happened. Some still doubted that and considered that Liam could have simply fled back to the city. But even those who still didn't believe in the death of the city's leading cultivators soon gathered at their headquarters.

The time had come for them to lower their movements and go into hiding!

If the worst happened and Liam was the only survivor, they could be in the sights of an angry, vengeful hunter!

Meanwhile, the remnants of the Leopards had already moved on, with men talking to Electa and Mary about Liam and some having already gone to the Lotus Temple to wait for him.

In particular, the general leader of the Leopards, an inner member of the sect, was currently in the Beasts Hall, waiting for Liam in the office that had previously belonged to Robert.

Unlike those who were unsure of what was going on, this Officer knew that his trusted man in City Thirteen was no longer alive.

Now sitting in Robert's place, he clenched his fists tightly, eager to hear from Liam what had happened on the hunt while he was away from the sect.

At the same time, in another part of the city, William heard of Liam's return and the non-return of the two Spirit Puppets he had sent earlier!