Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Mary had departed from the Infirmary after completing her initial recovery, and should be able to resume her duties as an Aspirant.

Meanwhile, he went back to his routine in the Runes Hall, fulfilled his weekly five-hour commitment in the Battle Hall, and carried on with his reading in the Library.

Today, he stood outside the coliseum late in the afternoon, waiting for Azariah to go to the Arena. The fat young man had invited him a few days ago to go to it. And Azariah was not late. Just a minute after Liam had arrived in front of the Beasts Hall building, the chubby young man with small eyes and frowning eyebrows appeared from one of the coliseum's front arches.

The moment their gazes met, Liam's eyes lit up, a wide smile spreading across his face. He nodded to Azariah, his excitement palpable.

"Are you going to fight after your service in the Beasts Hall?" Liam asked as he greeted Azariah, thinking this guy's physical strength was not to be underestimated.

"My Spirits will fight on my behalf. Why should I rest before a battle?" Azariah replied confidently, not hesitating as he strode ahead of Liam towards the street of the Arena.

Liam opened his mouth but said nothing. He still hadn't adjusted to the fighting style of true Spirit Masters.

'Maybe I'll never adapt... Not being able to use the incubus in battle puts me at a tremendous disadvantage. Unless I obtain a Spirit that is very strong on its own, it will be difficult for me to simply command my spirits.'

The incubus would never fight for him, that was for sure. At most, the incubus could help him fight women, and even then, he would still depend on his own actions or those of his other Spirits to do more than just weaken his opponents.

After reading enough to comprehend the requirements for his third Spirit, Liam's focus was on acquiring a being that was significantly superior in battle to his other Spirits. Without it, he knew he could not solve his current problem.

The higher the latent quality and rank of the Spirit, the more challenging its powers and the greater its chance of overcoming creatures of stronger levels than its own. But finding a good Spirit is like searching for a diamond in a pile of rocks!

Finding such a being would not only pose a significant challenge, but gaining mastery over it would present an even greater problem. A creature of high rank possesses extraordinary powers, which implies that the magical being behind its Spirit would be equally extraordinary!

Azariah didn't know what was on Liam's mind and talked about the rank of disciples.

"For a beginner like you, the most important thing is to fight in the Arena. It has its rules and schedules, but the most important thing for you to know is that you can challenge almost anyone. Whether it is your superior, a Senior Initiate, or your inferior, an Aspirant.

However, while you may challenge, the person being challenged may refuse the challenge or even be forced to accept it."

"I read about that. Challenged members of lower rank may refuse to fight. While one who is superior to the challenger has the obligation to accept it." Liam nodded, showing he understood this peculiarity of the arena.

Azariah continued, "An Aspirant challenged by an Initiate may refuse the duel, while a Senior Initiate must accept an Initiate's challenge.

But when the challenged is of the same rank as the challenger, the situation becomes more complex. The challenged may refuse the confrontation, but this would cause them to lose points in the disciple's rank.

Are you familiar with the rank?" He looked at Liam.

"No, I haven't gotten to that part yet. I've only read that, depending on the rank you're in, you can get some benefits," said Liam as he walked to the top of the stairs leading to Street Ten, the home of the Arena.

As they made their way up, the side streets became smaller and the surrounding people became stronger.

The fat young man smiled as he thought about his main goal, a goal shared by almost all of Demon Gate's outer disciples.

"There are indeed many benefits to be gained. The top ten positions in the rankings for each city's outer disciples are rewarded with the best incentives, although rewards are given up to the 100th position.

Apart from having fewer sect obligations, merit points, and gold coins, they also enjoy regular resources, receive extra wages, have free access to the city's special cultivation rooms, and can be promoted without having to take the Promotion Exam.

Notably, those who maintain the first rank for twelve consecutive months are directly promoted to the position of inner members with the rank of Officers!"

"That's incredible..." Liam said, not so much impressed by the top prize of first place, but by the other awards.

'It might seem that promotion to Officer is the best prize, but someone who has held the top position for so long could probably pass the Promotion Exam or even use their influence to get promoted.' Liam thought to himself.

However, he didn't know that there were a certain number of promotions for inner disciples every year, and the position of first rank was one of the few that political decisions could not change.

Azariah smiled in response, showing his large white teeth, almost as sharp as spearheads. "Staying in first place for a year would be enough to guarantee an important promotion. But staying on top for just one month would be enough for a disciple to try their luck at one of the sect's five annual Promotion Exams."

"Annual?" Liam frowned.

"Yes. To become an inner disciple, there are three ways: getting the nomination—which is nearly impossible—staying on top for a year; or going through one of the five promotion events." Azariah focused his gaze ahead, feeling the sweat forming on his face as he ascended the last steps of the path.

"There is a slim chance of getting promoted in another way, but only 100 disciples can ascend to the inner wing of the sect annually."

"That doesn't sound like much..."

"Yeah... Tens of thousands of external members live in the eight cities on this side of the fjord. And these 100 positions are for all the outer disciple, not those of just one city." The fat young man interrupted Liam.

'If that's true, then there are 48 fixed ways to ascend to the inner wing. The other 52 are for nominations or atypical tests.' Liam closed his mouth and put a hand to his chin, seeing that things weren't that simple.

'There is also the possibility of being promoted to the inner wing if you reach the third realm before the age of 20...

The number of vacancies for nominations or atypical tests is less than 52. As the inner disciples watched each city, and they are the ones with the power to nominate someone, there should be about four nomination vacancies per city.'

"I see. It's more competitive than I thought... But you said the top ranked person can take the Promotion Exam. Does that mean that the Promotion Exam for one to become an inner member has prerequisites that limit who can join it?" Liam pondered Azariah's words.

"Yes, you don't just have to want to take part in it. Either you earn the right to compete or you can't even try," Azariah said before they arrived at the Arena, a place as large as the Beasts Hall, but with simpler architecture, an immense building in the shape of a shoebox.

But despite the plain appearance, the place wasn't simple. Surrounding the enormous building, the size of a basketball arena on Earth, were several devices depicting different parts of the disciples' rank in the garden surrounding the arena.

In obelisk-like constructions, matrixes displayed the rank positions. The smallest of these obelisks displayed different parts of the rank, alternating every few seconds to show different positions. Meanwhile, a screen projected onto one wall of the rectangular building showed the top ten positions.

Liam and Azariah stopped to look at the most important positions in the rankings, which totaled over 7,000 positions, a number nearly equal to the population of the City Thirteen.