Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 230: Chapter 230. Underground Network of Caves

The first day ended without anyone finding the Jue Apes. They found several other spirit beasts, though. Luckily, the spirit beasts they encountered were just inferior beasts. They had no problem dispatching those beasts.

Some teams scouted two to three caves on the first day because the caves were not too deep. The rest spent the whole day but failed to explore the entire interior of the caves. Some of these deep caves possessed too many branching paths they might as well be labyrinths.

The one Amon was in was one with the labyrinth.

”Hey, freshman. I heard you are a hot shot who built your own faction in the academy,” Xian Mei called Amon. They had been exploring inside the cave for a couple of hours, but they found no clues to the presence of the Jue Apes. ”You are not so special, considering you failed to enter the Transformation Stage when your fellow students have. Tell me why you built a new faction, freshman. For fame? To show off? To gain benefits? You do know the faction you created won’t last long, don’t you?”

When Amon ignored her, Xian Mei raised her voice. ”Hey, freshman! Do you want to get a beating?”

”Shut up, you dolt. Are you trying to announce your presence to all the denizens of this cave?” Amon scolded.

”What denizens? This cave is empty,” Xian Mei returned. ”You are such a scaredy cat. Why does anyone even want to join a faction with you as the leader?”

Amon could see it was pointless talking to the woman. He ignored her as he continued to explore the place. Amon saw from the corner of his eyes Xian Mei made a sudden move. Two daggers appeared in his hands as he took a combat-ready stance. Xian Mei was in front of him.

”Your reflex is not bad,” Xian Mei praised. ”Haha. Maybe we should spar? My brother has been fascinated with you for a while now. I want to prove that you are not someone who deserves his attention.”

For an instant, Amon thought about the offer but dismissed it soon. He knew this woman meant him harm. She had not acted because it was not yet time. He didn’t need a spar to take her out. He could stab her in the back when she was not aware. He hadn’t done that for the same reason she hadn’t acted. It was too soon. It would raise too many questions. He believed the senior students wanted to make it look like he got into an accident in this mission, either by a spirit beast or other causes. For that, they needed to study the place first.

”Not interested,” Amon answered.

”Like I said, scaredy cat,” Xian Mei ridiculed.

Amon ignored her. He proceeded deeper into the cave while studying the environment. Xian Mei didn’t seem to let the issue go. She chased after Amon and continued pestering him.

”I know you are just a Strength Stage cultivator while I am an Intermediate Transformation Stage cultivator. I will give you advantages. I won’t use my hands, how about that? I will also not use arcane arts. That should be handicap enough for you to not lose immediately, shouldn’t it? What say you?”

Amon stopped.

”Oh? Are you finally taking up on my offer?” Xian Mei asked when Amon stopped moving. ”How about we find a place with a larger space? There is a cavern hall we passed by not long ago. We can go there and...”

She stopped talking because she heard a low growl from behind her. It was a very subtle growl she might as well imagine the sound, but her survival instinct kicked in that instant. She swayed to the side just as a shadow swept past her.

She felt a stinging pain in her right arm and saw that there was a deep cut in his upper arm. Blood was gushing out of that cut.

”Fuck!” She cursed. She hurriedly used a finger to poke a few spots around the wound. Her blood stopped flowing out.

After taking care of her bleeding, she looked at her attacker. It was a large and weird cat. It had a long neck and thick white fur on its back. One of its front paws had a long protruding nail. This nail was the one that cut her arm.

”Cave mantle cat...,” She uttered after identifying the beast. It was a higher inferior beast.

”Stupid cat! How dare you wound me...!” Xian Mei yelled. She was furious. Under normal circumstances, a higher inferior beast was nothing to an Intermediate Transformation Stage cultivator like her. It was because she got ambushed that this beast managed to wound her.

Her left hand emitted a green light. She shoved her palm forward. Leaves poured out of that glowing palm. The leaves dashed toward the cave mantle cat, who agilely jumped away. The leaves stabbed into the cave wall. They pierced into the stone and left deep cuts as if they were sharp knives.

”Do not think you can run away!” Xian Mei exclaimed. She waved her hand to the side. The leaves swirled following her hand’s movement.

The cave mantle cat was surprised to find the leaves suddenly surrounding it. It made another jump, but this time, it was not fast enough. The myriads of leaves stabbed into it during mid-jump. Each stab drew out a spurt of blood. The cave mantle cat became a fountain as uncountable jets of blood shot out from its body.

When it landed, it lay still on the ground.

”Fucking stupid cat!” Xian Mei came over and kicked the cat. It was already dead. She simply wanted to vent her frustration.

After kicking the cat several times, she realized something. She quickly looked around.

’Where is the kid?’ She thought.

”If this cat is here, it most likely the sighting of the Jue Monkeys was true.”

She turned back and saw Amon crouching beside the cat’s cadaver. She was shocked to find he got so close without her realizing. She could not sense other’s cultivation since she was not yet in the martial realm, but a Transformation Stage cultivator had keen senses. Yet, she didn’t hear Amon’s movements at all.

Another thing that confused her was why the Cave Mantle Cat ambushed her instead of Amon. She knew about this cat from Ha Gild’s lecture. According to the lecture, this cat would normally choose the weakest target among its prey. If that was true, it should have been Amon who was ambushed.

Xian Mei wasn’t aware that Amon constantly used the Concealed Ghost Body to mask his presence. The cave mantle cat didn’t ambush Amon because in its perspective, only Xian Mei invaded its territory.

”This cat’s favorite prey is the Jue Monkeys. Still, it only proves the Jue Monkeys are here, not the Jue Apes,” Amon said. He had been checking the corpse to see if he could salvage any parts, but Xian Mei’s brutal kicking had ruined everything of use.

”Let’s continue,” Amon said. He then added, ”You might want to use a bandage to stop the bleeding. Your technique of suppressing your blood flow using your meridian points is starting to wear off.”

Xian Mei looked at her arm with the cut. Blood started to flow again. She hurriedly took a restorative salve and a bandage out of her space ring and started applying them. While doing that, she said, ”I’m surprised a freshman like you knows about meridian points. That topic should only be taught when you enter the junior class.”

”I have read about it,” Amon replied.

He learned about this topic after reading one of the books from the Pyramid Legacy. He was interested in the topic because it was similar to pressure points. Yet, they were different. The pressure points had to do with the physical body. They were where the vital nerves gathered. As for the meridian points, they were more mystical in nature.

The meridian points could be described as the intersection points of channels where aether flowed throughout the body. Multiple techniques had been developed to make use of these meridian points. Some techniques boosted the flow of aether and strengthened oneself. Others produced different beneficial effects. For example, what Xian Mei did when she stopped her bleeding. Some techniques produced disruptive effects used on the opponents to paralyze or weaken them.

Amon only knew about this topic. He didn’t know any techniques utilizing the meridian points. He had to wait until he entered junior class before the academy started teaching him.

After Xian Mei finished bandaging her wound, the two resumed their exploration. They didn’t encounter any more spirit beasts after that.

In the evening, everyone returned to the village. Captain Lian Wui provided them with accommodation inside the fort. Before going to rest, they all gathered to discuss what they found. Amon didn’t say anything throughout the meeting.

One important thing they found was some of the caves were linked to different cave entrances. Two teams had the experience where they came out of a cave different from the ones they entered. They mentioned there were still sections inside the cave they hadn’t explored. This meant there was probably a huge and complex underground network in the area. This made the exploration much more difficult.

Gao Xi drew lines on the map to indicate which cave connected to which. This gave them a rough idea about the underground network.

”This might take longer than expected,” Gao Xi noted.