Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Lazarus was also there, extremely pleased with Liam's display of power and how the boy had countered the Emerald Owls' trick.

"You played it right by using a pill to promote yourself... But how will you be now? Do you need to rest for a few days?" Lazarus asked Liam. He was in the dark about the truth of the boy's cultivation.

Robert didn't want to reveal the secret, as he wanted Liam to stay in City Thirteen for the time being. He stepped back and said nothing while he waited for Liam's answer.

"I think about three days will be enough for me to be at my best again. As much as I risked it, I used nothing as violent as that man," Liam replied, pretending that he needed to rest.

In fact, he wouldn't even need an hour to get back to his best!

Robert said, "Rest for these three days. Just continue with your activities at the Runes Hall and don't worry about the faction."

Liam nodded in thanks before watching them leave. He had also been working on various activities for Leopards, businesses within City Thirteen itself. Robert had relieved him of those responsibilities for the next few days, which was enough to make the boy smile with satisfaction, as it would give him more time to work on his enchantments.

The day of his test was approaching. In a few days, it would be time for him to use weeks of study and development to achieve his Second Class certification as a Runemaster!

But he wasn't thinking about that right now. Seeing Mary and Jane, he followed them out of the competitors' wing, hearing their congratulations as they 'helped' him on his way to his dormitory.

He wouldn't have to go to the Infirmary this time. Even if he wanted to make it look like he was wounded because of the pill he had taken, one didn't need treatment from Healers in cases like his.

He just pretended to be spiritually wounded and trudged home.

Halfway home, he realized that something was wrong with Jane, and when they reached his bedroom door, he asked her, "What's the matter? You seem too thoughtful, Jane." He smiled at her.

The green-haired girl looked at Liam's bedroom door and asked him to come in, which he accepted without strange thoughts going through his mind.

"Brother Liam, you didn't use a pill to promote yourself, did you? You used a paste to simulate a temporary improvement, right?" Jane got right to the point, surprising him, but not Mary.

Mary laughed softly as she rolled her eyes at Jane.

'I wonder if anyone else noticed,' he thought to himself, obviously not concerned about Jane.

Jane was sure that she was right, as she saw his reaction. "I knew it! My instincts didn't fail me."

"Jane, you have to understand what this means." Mary was the one who spoke in Liam's place, giving him time to worry. "Liam doesn't want his enemies to know about his true cultivation, but not only that, he still has things to do in City Thirteen. So I'm asking you not to mention this to anyone."

Jane saw no problem with Mary's request. She had just said something to check if her instincts were right. "All right. I'll keep it a secret. I just said it out of curiosity, hehe, you were ingenious with such a choice, Brother Liam."

Liam looked into the girl's eyes and asked, "Jane, how did you notice? Is it possible that others have also noticed me?"

His worried tone made her think for a moment about how best to answer him.

"It's not impossible, I can tell you that. But I believe only I noticed it, Brother Liam."

"Why do you say that?" he asked as he grabbed her shoulders.

"I am a Herbalist, so I know the mixture you used. Only someone like me, or someone who has used the same strategy as you, would know such a thing. But I can tell you I was the only Herbalist in the arena earlier. Unless others who were there had used your strategy in the past, no one else would have noticed it."

There was no way for either of them to be sure of such a thing. But since they had no way to verify it, they just remained silent, praying that only Jane had discovered the truth about him, or else their plans would be quickly disrupted by others.

"Anyway, we shouldn't think too much about it." Mary tried to ease the bad feeling that hung over them. "You won, and as far as we know, the town still thinks you're a Spirit Lord. Let's keep getting stronger. Whatever happens, that is the only way forward."

Jane then suggested something. "I can help you with that.

The Essences Hall grows herbs for the sect, herbs that are used by the city's official Alchemists who make the pills and potions that are passed on to us through our wages.

But the ingredients for these pills must be of good quality. When we harvest inferior roots, fruits, leaves, and herbs, we are forced to discard much of it. Some of this waste is used in the compost room to make good quality fertilizer. But some of it is burned by the city formations."

Liam had read about these formations. It was because of them that the city had a higher mana density than the surrounding area, but he hadn't expected the sect to use the low-quality remains of magical plants.

"I can get some of that waste product. With it, we can create an artificial magic well and enhance our physical properties. The only problem is finding a place to do it. Gathering the inferior leftovers from the plantations will be easy with me and Sister Mary in the hall."

Mary was silent as she watched Jane, but Liam couldn't help but ask, "I'm interested in the opportunity, but why do you want to help me with this, Jane?"

The girl made a complicated expression. "Everything that's happened to you and Sister Mary is unfair, Brother Liam. These people from Emerald Owls are persecuting you just because you didn't want to be one of them. I think that's wrong. And after what they did that day, I'd like to see them regret it bitterly."

Seeing the sly smile on the girl's face, Liam realized that the sweet and kind Jane wasn't as pure as she seemed. 'It seems she wants revenge and has just seen that I can do it for her. Is that why she's bringing it up now?' he wondered with interest.

Jane obviously wasn't as naive as she looked!

He thought for a moment and said, "All right, then, let's do it. We can pool our merit points and pay for a group room at Lotus Temple. It'll cost us about 300 merit points, but we'll have privacy and a pleasant area to do it in."

Jane hadn't thought of the Lotus Temple because the shared rooms were expensive and the individual rooms didn't allow more than one person to use them simultaneously. The formations of those rooms prevented more than one person from cultivating in them concurrently.

"Then we can do this." She looked at Mary.

"Won't that be dangerous, Jane? You've just become a Senior Initiate. We could get into trouble," Mary warned.

"No, I know the hall well. We just need to prepare for a few days and then we can be safe." The girl laughed. "And after all, I want to do this for my own ambition, Sister Mary. The creation of this magic well could help me improve my rank and reach the peak of the Second Class as a Herbalist. I also want to use it alongside you two and speed up my cultivation a bit."

"Oh? It looks like you were planning to do that before," Liam said as he sat down on his bed. Although he wasn't injured, he was physically and mentally tired.

Jane said, "Of course. If you and Sister Mary hadn't come along, and if I hadn't had this problem with Emerald Owls, I would have made it when my cultivation reached the end of the second realm. But with your help, I can do it now."

Mary accepted the plan and looked at Liam, waiting to hear what he had to say to confirm this agreement.

"I see how Mary will help you and how you will benefit from all this. But what do you want from me, Jane?" Liam knew there had to be one last condition to her proposal.

"Just one thing, Brother Liam. When you deal with Enos, I want the herb he has in his spatial ring. It's important to me."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "Herb? Can you sense things that are in other people's spatial rings?"

"Not in the way you imagine, but yes, I can get clues. Some plants leave scents wherever they go. If you're not careful with them, they can leave marks on your hands and belongings. And those marks are like fingerprints, which are not so easy to get rid of if you're not a Herbalist," she explained with a smile.

"Enos has a strong mark on his hands and his spatial ring that made me smell this scent, even though I was on the other side of the Arena during your challenge. If he still has that herb when you fight him, I want you to give it to me."

Liam accepted the condition, learning something new.

"I'll do it if you agree to teach me how to manipulate herbs to hide these traces. Don't get me wrong, but I don't want anyone to know what I have in my spatial ring."

Seeing him smile, she agreed. "All right. I can do that. If you still have the Shadowleaf you picked up recently, I can teach you now."

Liam sighed as he closed his eyes, seeing how impressive the girl was. Luckily, she was his ally and there to help him protect himself!

Looking at Mary, Liam thought that his blonde companion had made the right move by approaching Jane.

Soon, he would summon the Shadowleaf that was still in his spatial ring to let Jane teach him. Before that, the girl treated the Shadowleaf like a baby for about a minute, telling him how valuable the Third Class plant he had with him was and even making an offer for it.

Liam didn't accept a deal right away, but said that if she gave him pills and potions with the properties that Shadowleaf would create in artificial resources, they could do business.

She then taught him how to manipulate his mana around medicinal plants, taking only 10 minutes to teach him the basic Herbalist technique.

Liam was smart and learned fast. After those few minutes of explanation and demonstration, he was confident he could develop this technique on his own and eventually reach the level of proficiency needed to hide all traces of the items he came in contact with.

With that settled, Mary and Jane left his room to talk about things that didn't interest him, finally leaving him alone to meditate after the fight.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to collect Rauf's Arcane Crystal. But with meditation alone, he could recover from the fight and bring Thal'Korr back to his best. Hence, he would spend the next few hours in his room, preparing for his post-fight plans in the Arena.

In a few hours, it would be time for the event Felicity had told him about, the moment of his new onslaught in search of cultivation partners!