Chapter 188: Challenge and Promotion
"He's back in town?" William frowned as he looked at one of his subordinates who had just brought him this news.
"What about my Spirit Puppets?" he asked in a harsh tone, his gaze growing sharper as he thought about what it meant.
"Destroyed, I suppose," said the Officer who trained William, sitting on one couch in the office of the city's number one disciple, drinking tea.
Spirit Puppets were born hunters. Once you sent them out to hunt something, they would hunt it anywhere.
Vicente had returned to the city hours ago, but William's puppets still hadn't returned. This could only mean one thing to them!
"How is that possible?" William looked at the man, who was calmly sipping his tea.
Seeing William slam his hands on a table as he stood up, the Officer said, "It's hard to say. He may have defeated them, but he may have used the beasts of the forest to his advantage, special artifacts, the help of allies, or even enemies. It doesn't matter. Now he's here. How are you going to deal with him?"
The man looked at William, who turned red with rage. Losing two Spirit Puppets was no small matter, even for him!
William was willing to risk the investment of the puppets to eliminate a potential competitor in the inner sect. However, he didn't want this loss to fail in eliminating the enemy.
'If that bastard handled this, then he's much stronger than he gives himself credit for. In that case, his cultivation is more terrifying than it looks.'
William tried to calm himself by sipping his tea before sitting down in his chair.
He looked at the one who had brought him the news and said, "Arrange a challenge in the arena for Liam Porter and me.
William's underling widened his eyes in surprise. "You're going to challenge him, boss?"
The officer laughed when he heard that, seeing William show that worried reaction for the first time in months. "Haha, it'll be a good fight. I'm looking forward to it."
...
Liam did not know what his enemies and allies were thinking about him right now. After 8 hours in the highest level cultivation room that disciples living in City Thirteen could access, he was still meditating in the room, with several piles of dust resulting from the decay of the Arcane Crystals he had used since arriving there.
But despite his efforts, he still hadn't been able to break the cocoon that enveloped the incubus at this point.
Inside Liam's soul space was a large purple cocoon that was currently very thin, with several cracks around it.
Liam's soul mana seemed to be focused on the incubus cocoon, pressing harder and harder against the cracks as he was almost at his limit, having used up all the essence crystals and pills he had consumed.
Looking at this particular place now, one could see that the mana vortices of the three platforms available in Liam's soul space were depleted, while the mana vortex around the incubus platform was fully concentrated.
In the midst of his efforts, Liam could feel himself drenched in sweat, with a pain behind his eyes that gradually spread to the back of his neck.
Another hour and a half passed, and the incubus's cocoon continued to thin, its cracks growing larger. But Liam still wasn't sure if he would succeed in the hour and a half he had left in his room.
He concentrated harder, feeling his mana entering the incubus' body and its soul weakening, until suddenly the blue star in this room emitted a pulse. Liam shifted his focus to that blue glow, where he saw the symbols and lines grow around the essence.
Three lines expanded until they reached the platforms of Liam's three Spirits. They connected to the cocoons of the destroyed Spirits before vibrating with the mana of soul space, causing the vortexes that had disappeared beneath Thal'Korr and the leopard to reappear.
Meanwhile, above where Liam sat, the mana from the room began to powerfully enter his body. It happened at such a high level that Liam felt for a moment as if he were in a violent sea that seemed to want to enter his body at all costs.
He put his hands down and clenched his teeth, feeling deeply what was happening.
But he could hardly think straight in this situation. All he could do was to remain stable while trying not to lose himself physically or mentally. Simultaneously, the three cocoons in his soul space cracked, and half an hour after this phenomenon began, the three creatures reappeared on their platforms.
Their cocoons shattered into infinite pieces while their bodies glowed with energy, much more corporeal and stronger than before.
Liam felt this clearly as he noticed the Thal'Korr reached the beginning of a 3-Star, while the incubus continued to grow, reaching a 4-Star. But even the Silver-Winged Leopard, already stronger than Liam, advanced, breaking the barrier of its level and reaching 7-Star of the Spirit Earth Realm!
Liam felt the creatures' powers as his mana increased by 40%, not enough to advance, but enough to give him some peace with the incubus.
'
What just happened?'
he wondered as he opened his mouth to see a small blue symbol on the three creatures above their left eyes.
Liam connected this symbol, similar to a tattoo, with the star that had finally dimmed. But it had not returned to its previous state. Liam took a closer look at the symbols and lines around it, noting that it was bigger and stronger.
'Thal'Korr had even improved his magical quality a bit, reaching the threshold of qualitative advancement!
Perhaps the next time I absorb a demon's life force, I will develop his powers to the next grade!'
Liam looked at this great silver lining, while the three creatures looked at the blue star.
"You should hurry to research this essence. Don't doubt what strange things can do in this world. It helped us now, but what about tomorrow?" The incubus opened his mouth before sitting down on his platform.
"Hurry up!"