Rise of The Demon General

Amon spent the next few days just resting and cultivating. It wouldn't be long now before they exited this dungeon. Once his body was fit enough to travel, he resumed his operation in enlarging the spirit plantation within his black space ring.

He resumed his routine of working on his plantation during the daytime and cultivating during the nighttime. All the while paying attention to his surrounding to make sure no other youths came near him. Especially the lot from Pai Wuci. Even if they won't recognize him as the person who had taken the mandrakes under their noses, it was still best not to make any contact with them.

Since he knew their time within this dimension was not long anymore, he reorganized the loots he had collected all this time. Aside from the ones he had gained himself, he had also collected many loots from the other youths who had the misfortune of crossing his path.

He checked what they had gotten and made an estimate of the normal gain one was expected to get during their stay here. He couldn't show too few loots, the White Cloud people would suspect that he was trying to hide some loots. They would put him under search then. He didn't want that. Additionally, His target was to be within the top ten, so he had to give them enough goods for that to happen.

However, he preferred to not give them too many as well. Several youths had died. If he presented too many goods, there might be a chance the White Cloud people will get suspicious as well. After all, what happened inside was unknown to the outside. Everyone knew there would probably be some bloodshed in the competition for the loots. As long as there was no witness or evidence, no one would make a hassle about it.

He collected what he thought was a reasonable amount inside his normal space ring, and kept the rest in his black space ring. Most of the goods he had put aside to be given to the White Cloud Sect were engraved weapons, spirit herbs, spirit fruits, spirit beast's parts, and some books containing martial arts, arcane arts, and cultivation arts.

He had no interest in these books because the library he had gotten from the pyramid legacy already contained books with better arts. The only book he kept that was not from the pyramid legacy was the Poison Claw book he obtained from Pai Ning. Firstly, because that was a book from a White Cloud sect's disciple. If this book was seen amongst his belongings, he would be easily identified as having something to do with Pai Ning's not returning. Secondly, he was interested to learn this Poison Claw art. If he combined this art with one of the poisons from 101 Primal Poison Tome, it could be another of his trump card.

There were also a few pieces of Aetherium Stone amongst the loots. He had tested their effects. They were not as good as his Black Aetherium Stone that he buried outside his house on the Lin clan's estate. So he kept two pieces for reserve and put the remaining pieces with the other tributes he had prepared for the White Cloud Sect.

After sorting out everything. He wore the normal space ring on one finger and then put the black space ring on the next finger, just the way before he entered this dimension.

"Any day now," Amon muttered.

He continued with his routine. One day, when he was in the middle of sharpening his throwing knives using a whetstone, he heard something in the vicinity. Amon looked over in that direction. The sound didn't approach. After a brief thought, he decided to head over. As he got nearer, he identified the sound as one of struggle. A struggle between a girl and a beast.

Amon hid behind a large rock and peeked out. He recognized the girl. She was Yang Li, the clanless girl. She was currently fighting against a weird-looking spirit beast that had two heads, or at least it appeared to have two heads. The beast was almost three times her size, yet the girl didn't show any fear.

Yang Li fought using a pair of claw weapons. The weapons looked crudely made with the claws probably coming from a spirit beast she had defeated before.

The spirit beast was ferocious. It looked strong and its two heads had big mouths with big teeth. Its hide was also thick, Yang Li's claw could only cause light wounds on its body. It was slow, though. Yang Li, on the other hand, had fast movement and reflex. She easily dodged the beast's assault. She also had a good memory. After dodging the beast a few times, she seemed to have memorized its attacking pattern. She started counterattacking with her claws. Her martial art allowed her to land rapid strikes with her claws. Her fighting style was crude but she was precise.

However, Amon thought she did too many unnecessary movements. She wasted too much energy that way. She might appear to be at an advantage against the beast now, but Amon doubted that the situation would stay that way.

Amon pondered about the situation while watching the battle. After a while, he decided to come out of hiding. He walked calmly towards where the two were fighting. Yang Li noticed Amon and was immediately on alert. It almost caused her to get bitten by the two-headed beast. She dodged the beast's relentless assault and took a position away from Amon, placing the beast in between her and Amon, so that she could monitor Amon as well.

Amon came to a decent-sized rock still a distance away from the two, so he didn't attract the beast's attention. He then sat upon the rock.

Yang Li was bewildered by Amon's act. The boy showed himself and now just sat and watched her fight?

Amon indeed did just that. His eyes stared at Yang Li. The cold stare unsettled Yang Li. She was just thinking about luring the beast towards Amon, but the stare made her cancel the attempt. She was worried this was a trap. What if the boy attacked when she was approaching.

Yang Li also thought about running away but was similarly anxious. What if the boy sent her range attacks when she turned her back? She couldn't run while worrying about the boy and the beast.

With the uncertainties, she became distracted. Her movements were not as sharp as before. One of the beast's claws scraped her arm, causing a deep wound. She gnashed her teeth, impeding a scream that almost came out of her mouth. Amon, who was watching, was impressed by her grit.

She focused her attention on the beast again. But with Amon still there, she couldn't fully focus. She could only dodge without successfully landing any counterattack.

With the pressure of Amon's presence, what he suspected was happening sooner. Yang Li was getting tired. Her movements slowed. She ended up receiving another scratch from the beast's claw, this time on her leg. Blood dripped from her wounds. She was also full of sweat. Amon could see that she won't last long. Yet, the girl's eyes didn't give in.

Amon was expecting the girl to cry for help already, but it seemed more and more likely this girl would prefer to die before that happened.

Amon grinned. She was perfect.

A knife appeared in his hand. With one smooth motion, he threw the knife. It flew and landed a bit below the left head's snake. The beast's hide was thick, but at that part, Amon's knife penetrated easily. While he was sitting and watching, he had looked for the information about this beast in his spirit beast encyclopedia. The spot where Amon had targeted with his knife was the part where its hide was the thinnest.

The two-headed beast stopped after the knife lodged inside it. It coughed for a bit before twitching and then fell to the ground. The knife that Amon had used was his poison knife.

Amon then walked leisurely towards the fallen beast. Yang Li was panting, her eyes remained on Amon as he approached. She backstepped a few steps but otherwise didn't show any attempt to run.

Arriving beside the beast, Amon thrust his hand into the wound caused by his knife. He retrieved his poison knife from inside the beast, wiped it clean, and stored it. He then stared at the girl who was still glaring at him. The girl's wounds were still dripping blood. It was clear that she was struggling even to stand, but her face showed no attempt to back down.

The two stared at one another for a long while. Yang Li's continued to lose blood from the wounds.

A bottle appeared in Amon's hand. "Recovery salve," Amon said. He uncorked the bottle, pour a bit onto his hand, and wipe it onto his skin. He closed the bottle again and then threw it to Yang Li. Yang Li didn't catch the bottle, she let it fall to her feet.

Amon smiled. He took a step back, then another. He then turned around, showing Yang Li his back. His two hands were placed on his back, letting the girl see them. He then stayed still.

Yang Li frowned. They continued to stay that way for a long time. As she was still uncertain, she felt her legs wobble. She was losing too much blood. She glanced at the bottle under her feet. She had run out of recovery salve and pill. She was not like those clan youths who brought many recovery items.

With her eyes still on Amon's back, she slowly lowered herself and picked up the bottle. She uncorked its lid and smelled the content. It smelled authentic, not only that. The smell told her that this recovery salve was of a higher tier than the one she usually used. And she was confident of her sense of smell.

She poured some of its content onto her hand. All the while, her eyes never left Amon's back. She was wondering why this boy was so daring to put his back on a stranger like that. Was he that confident that she won't do something to him?

She spread the salve onto her wounds. She winced from the pain, but she uttered no sound. Soon the pain subsided. The salve was authentic. She proceeded to spread the salve onto her other wounds. Amon stayed still.

After she was done, she asked, "What do you want?"

Amon turned upon her question. He was grinning.

"I'm offering you the chance to be my underling."