Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Chapter 22: Basic Knowledge

As the group's carriages slowly moved along the dirt road, traveling at night even though it was the most dangerous time of day to be on the roads of Twin Land, the five Aspirants had many things on their minds as they read in their carriage.

In the six-seat carriage, which contained over fifty books, each of the new Demon Gate Aspirants sat in their own corner, reading their books according to the order Liam and Mary had given them.

Spirit Masters' reading speed was definitely superior to that of an ordinary person. But the first realm of cultivation changed more physical characteristics—strength, endurance, agility, and skill—than mental ones.

Two hours after leaving the shores of Violent Lake, Liam, the fastest reading man in the group, had only read three books.

He would probably spend the next few days processing the information in those books and would not finish until they were close to reaching Demon Gate's headquarters. However, while the guards of the group watched the surroundings and kept the carriages moving, he already had a better idea of his current reality.

From the books he had already finished and the one he was reading now, he had learned a few things about the reality of the Spirit Masters.

"I didn't know there were so many realms above the Spirit Lord Realm..." Mary said to Liam, breaking the silence in the carriage.

The four men looked up from their books and nodded their heads in agreement and interest. They all were ignorant of the world of Spirit Masters. What they had just read was an immense discovery for each of them.

"It's no wonder we could cultivate the first realm so quickly. From what I've read, the cultivation realms tend to increase the amount of mana needed with each step towards the peak. This extends the cultivation time and significantly elevates the difference in power of Spirit Masters as they become stronger," Seth commented as he looked at Mary with a twinkle in his eye.

What does this mean, other than curiosity?

The power, talent, and magical quality ratings were important to know how to differentiate between enemies and future targets, as well as to better plan their future.

Spirit Masters' power rating had eight realms in the Twin Land. The first two they already knew their names and divisions. The remaining six followed the same division rules as the first two realms—nine stars at each level.

They were: Spirit Earth Realm, Spirit Sky Realm, Spirit King Realm, Spirit Emperor Realm, Spirit Tyrant Realm, and Spirit Sovereign Realm.

"Imagine how strong a Spirit Sovereign must be?" Ajax, one of the two 8-Star Spirit Apprentices, asked.

"Spirit Sovereign, huh? I wonder if there's anyone like that on the continent. I don't know if it's good or bad. Imagine coming face to face with a demon of the same cultivation?" Liam looked at the men in front of him with narrowed eyes, his tone serious.

If there were such strong Spirit Masters, then there must be beasts, demons, and other creatures capable of producing just as powerful spirits!

The three men and Mary became more serious as they thought about it, imagining how much more dangerous it was to travel across the continent than they had previously thought.

"That's actually scary..." Ajax changed his tone.

Little did they know, demons were not among the most powerful races of mystical beings in Twin Land.

Later that night, they would learn how to classify the talent and power of beasts and spirits.

The same classification used for Spirit Masters applied to beasts and other intelligent beings capable of cultivate mana.

In certain situations, some beings, such as beasts, could lose their independence and become connected to other beings, such as Spirit Masters. When that happened, those beings would no longer be classified independently, but would be according to the rank of spirits.

Spirits had one classification for their potential and another for their power level. A spirit's power level classification was like that of Spirit Masters.

Yet, the power of a spirit was not necessarily the same as that of its master.

Liam and the others didn't know how to distinguish their powers from those of their spirits, but each spirit had its own level. This could either strengthen the master—with spirits stronger than the master—or it be strengthened by the master during battle; with spirits weaker than the master.

The second classification for these beings related to their potential for growth and transformation. This classification was important when choosing a target to become your next spirit, as it showed how far a being could go.

There was nothing in this world that couldn't be challenged. But for most beings, the cultivation rules were very valid.

When Liam read this, he couldn't help but let a dark frown appear on his face.

Mary read the book her companion had learned about right after him and understood why he was so serious all of a sudden.

"Don't worry about it. Most people don't stand a chance of getting anything better than Ancestor-grade spirits, from what this book says," she said to him, speaking only for Liam to hear.

The potential order of the spirits and beasts was: King, Ancestor, Sage, and Primordial. Each of these classifications had three sublevels: Low, Middle, and High.

With demons, regardless of their race, they were usually classified as beings between the King and Ancestor grades.

"I know. But if I'm not lucky in the future, I'll be left behind compared to my opponents," Liam said to her as he closed his eyes and thought about it.

'For low-level Spirit Masters, the difference in spirit quality is negligible. We're so weak we can't use our spirits well until the middle of the cultivation series. But as we get stronger, the difference in the quality of our spirits becomes apparent, and those with better spirits will separate themselves from the rest.'

Liam pondered and imagined how difficult it would be to cultivate in the future, when his competitors might have an advantage over him because he had hunted his second spirit prematurely.

After a long sigh, he tried to look on the bright side and not get overwhelmed by his discoveries.

'At least I'll be able to cultivate faster than my peers with the Incubus... Now that I think about it, I'll have to find more partners. Mary alone won't be enough.'

He looked at her, remembering how tired she always was when they finished intercourse, and he always seemed ready for more.

He returned to his reading as the night wore on and the guards of the group kept watch for the beasts that approached the convoy.

As much as these same guards had thrown the prisoners against the beasts along the way, they were now at work, giving the group space and time to familiarize themselves with this world they had only just begun to see.

The other members of the Aspirant group would soon read the classification of spirits, which basically talked about the natural growth potential of spirits, apart from fantastic events impossible to predict or unlikely to happen.

By dawn, when the group would make their first stop since leaving the shores of Violent Lake, they finally have a better idea of the positions of the convoy's guards and the path ahead at Domon Gate.

The sect had a long and well-defined hierarchy that didn't just depend on the magical power, the rank of the spirits, or the merits of one of its members.

From what little they had read about the sect, it was an unorthodox sect. In it, one didn't have to follow rules to grow.

If they wanted to, they could grow in Demon Gate by following the traditional path, getting stronger, earning merit, and taking the promotion exams. But if you wanted to use another method, such as a good relationship with a superior, growth could be quick and easy.

Liam did not know exactly how to do this. But the last book he finished reading had an attention-grabbing note talking that there were no rules preventing one from growing in alternative ways.

He became more serious as he thought about it, for this was a double-edged sword.

'A sect where you can grow easily is a dangerous place...' he thought as he stopped reading and felt the carriage slowing down, a sign the parade was about to take place.

'The rumors about the Demon Gate are far from the truth. If these books are to be trusted, the sect is much more dangerous than I thought.

If one can grow by mere recommendations, then assassinations and actions by the strongest against the weakest disciples must be quite common within the sect itself.'

He realized this even before he entered the headquarters!

'I must be careful when we reach our destination!'

Just then, the group's carriage stopped, and a guard opened the door, calling them in for their first meal of the day.

"Hurry. We'll only be here for half an hour before we hit the road again," said the man who Liam and the others could now recognize by his clothes.

After reading about the sect, each of them now knew the Demon Gate comprised inner and outer disciples. The outer disciples rarely wore uniforms, lived outside the headquarters, and had no advantages in the sect. They were: Aspirants, Initiates, and Senior Initiates.

The internal members had different uniforms for each position, benefits that varied for each position, great status, respect and fear due to the sect's vengeful reputation. They followed were classified as: Officer, First Officer, Commander, Guardian, Division Chief, Elder and Supreme Leader.