Rise of The Demon General

Amon threw his poison knife.

Since his black core was very weak, he could only execute the beginner mastery of his Hundred Shooting Stars. The power it produced allowed him to only throw one knife and it could only travel a very limited distance. Luckily, Wei Sui was extremely close to him, so distance was not a problem.

The entire sequence happened in a blink of an eye. The poison knife flew from Amon's hand even before Amon's body fell to the ground.

Amon targeted the knife at Wei Sui's left foot. Wei Sui's claw art allowed her hand to be as hard as steel. Even at his peak, Amon's poison knife won't be able to penetrate her arm's skin. Her other body, however, was not so. Wei Sui's left arm was already crippled due to the wound on her shoulder, she could only move her right arm. That's why Amon targeted her left foot, which was her body part furthest from her right arm.

The pain from her wound and the surprise of seeing Amon's demon energy further slowed her response. When she realized the incoming flying knife, she could only manage to shift her left foot by a little. It saved her foot from being punctured by the knife, but it didn't save her from being nicked by the knife's blade.

Amon's body finally hit the ground. He was unable to move anymore.

Wei Sui looked at the small laceration on her left foot. She then laughed despite the pain in her shoulder.

"Hahaha… You are so weak that you can't even throw straight. Even if it hit my foot, all you did is just anger me more. Oh… What I'm going to do to you…!" Wei Sui hissed with a grimace. She was full of sweat. Blood was still leaking from the open wound on her shoulder, but the pain seemed to have no longer bothered her.

"You demon boy. No wonder you are such an evil. Such a surprise! So, you are of the demon race. I will be hailed as a hero when I bring your body back. As for the Lin clan. Hehehe. For harboring a demon such as you, they are finished. From now on, the Wei clan will… the Wei… will…"

She was having difficulty speaking as her breathing became hard and rapid. Black blood started to leak from her mouth and nose. She touched the blood with her right hand and looked at it unbelievably.

"What… What hap…," She then looked at the small cut on her foot, then to the knife that had nicked her, then back to Amon who was lying still on the ground.

"Hehehe… Unfortunately, you won't have the chance to tell anyone." She heard Amon's words.

"Yo… You…!!!" She tried to lunge forward but she lost her strength and fell to the ground. More black blood was leaking. Now, they also came out of her eyes and ears. The Black Slaughter Poison worked fast as it invaded all the organs inside her body.

Wei Sui's one working arm extended outward, trying to claw at Amon, but he was out of reach.

After a long struggle, she finally stopped moving. Her hand was just an inch from Amon.

Hearing that there was no longer any struggling sound, Amon knew his adversary was gone. His right hand took out two pills from inside his black space ring, a recovery pill and a regrowth pill. He swallowed both pills, then closed his eyes to concentrate on the Nine Moon Restorative Mantra.

Before, he had hoped there were spirit beasts in these woods that he could use against Wei Sui. Now, he hoped there was none. He would be powerless if a spirit beast came.

He didn't let this worrying thought bother him. He focused his mind on his restoration art to reduce the time he needed to heal.

*

One night passed.

By the time the sun rose the next morning, Amon could move again. His body all ached, though. With his one remaining eye, he looked at his mangled left hand and the stump above his left foot. It would take some time for the regrowth pill to take effect.

He sat up cross-legged. Wei Sui's corpse was in front of her. It was exuding a foul smell. The Black Slaughter Poison probably accelerated the decomposition rate. Amon didn't let the smell bother him. The only thing he worried about was that the smell might attract the spirit beasts.

Yet, after one night without the sighting of any spirit beast, he assumed it was safe to remain here for a little while longer. At least until he was strong enough to walk. He thought perhaps it was because these woods were in the vicinity of the main road, so it was regularly being cleared by the kingdom's scout. That's why there was no spirit beast around here.

Amon applied restoration salve on his wounds and swallowed another restorative pill. He continued to use his Nine Moon Restorative Mantra to boost his recovery speed. When the sun was about to set, he decided it was not wise to risk another night so close to the decomposing corpse. Even though the vicinity was safe, the stench might draw spirit beasts from further away.

Amon fumbled around the ground searching for broken branches. When he found one that was long and straight enough, he used it to help him stand. His body swayed as he stood up. It took some attempts to balance himself with the branch.

With the branch as a prop to replace his amputated left foot, he walked toward Wei Sui's corpse. The smell was worse than earlier today.

He crouched down and took Wei Sui's space ring on her finger. He looked inside. Not many valuable things, just some aer stones and recovery pills. She must have kept her valuables inside the clan.

Amon kept the ring. If the Wei clan found her dead, there was no question already who they suspected.

He then searched Wei Sui's body.

After a brief search, he found what he was looking for. A box that was open at its top and half-open at one side. Inside were two dozen long and thin needles.

They were the needles Wei Sui had used for her long-range attacks. His flying knives were powerful, but they were large and eye-catching. These needles were more suitable for a covert attack. His victim would have a hard time seeing the needles.

He took one out and threw using Hundred Shooting Stars. His aether had recovered enough to allow a decent throw. Since the needle was smaller and lighter, its flight speed was even faster than his knife. The trail of light that was his martial art's signature was also thinner. It was akin to a flash. The needle punctured through a tree trunk and then struck the tree behind it. It was three-quarters into the second tree before it stopped.

"Good. This should be a good assassination weapon," Amon remarked.

"Hm?" He noticed strange writings on the box that housed the needles. After further inspection, he recognized them as words of power.

'The box is engraved?' Amon thought. He didn't know the purpose of the words of power, so he injected his aether into the box. The words of power around the box started glowing. He sensed the box reaching out. He then looked at the needle he had thrown. It was trembling. After a brief second, it tore itself out from the tree it was stuck to. The needle then flew back into the box.

'A weapon that reloaded its own ammo,' Amon thought amusingly.

He didn't store the box with the needles inside his space ring. If he did, it would be a hassle to take out the box every time he wished to call the needles back after throwing them away. He took out new clothes and wore them. He then hid the box inside his clothes so he could easily access them if needed.

He then took several clean cloths and covered his left eyes, his crippled fingers, and left foot. After that, he walked away and found somewhere in the woods that were closer to the road. But he remained inside the woods.

He looked for a suitable tree before climbing up and stayed there and resumed his recovery.

Lin Bubai had told them that after their planned two-week travel, they would still have one week of free time before the royal academy entrance exam. Due to him using Shadowless Sprint, he should arrive a couple of days ahead of the planned two-weeks travel.

Minus the one day he had wasted, he should still be one day ahead. But he didn't leave immediately. The one free week might be useful to get his bearing of the city, but with his current condition, he would be in trouble if someone meant him harm.

He was alone now so he had to be especially careful.

So, he decided to spend one week hiding inside these woods and let himself recover more before resuming his travel. He should be able to arrive in Qishurg city one day before the entrance exam.

*

One week passed. His left eye was not yet fully grown, so he kept it covered with cloth. His hands' fingers were fully grown already. He had a left foot again, albeit no toes yet.

He couldn't wait for his body to fully regrow, he had to leave now or risk not entering the royal academy.

He jumped down from the tree he was hiding and tested moving his body. His body could move perfectly again.

After making sure everything was fine, he returned to the main road and used Shadowless Sprint to run in the direction of Qishurg city.

After running for one and half days, he finally saw the outline of a city in the distance. There was a hill by the side of the road. He went and ran up the hill. On top of the hill, he observed the city. It was much larger than White Cloud City.

Deep inside the city, a large complex with multiple tall buildings was seen. The royal academy was known as the biggest complex within Qishurg city. Amon did not doubt that the complex he saw was the royal academy.

Amon grinned.

That place would be the next step in his path to this world's conquest.