Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 236: Chapter 236. Jue Ogre

The Jue Ape stopped eating when it noticed Xian Mei. Xian Mei was stunned because she expected to find Amon instead of a Jue Ape. While Xian Mei was not moving, the Jue Ape uttered a loud howl.

The howl startled Xian Mei, which brought her out of her trance. Her saber came down, slashing using a martial art. Her swing created several flashing lights that cut into the Jue Ape. It howled in pain while jumping away. Blood spurted from its wounds.

Xian Mei’s attack just now could easily slice apart a cultivator with the same level as her. Her weapon was a mid-tier engraved weapon, and the martial art she used was mid-tier practitioner art. That was, of course, considering the cultivator didn’t use any defensive art.

The Jue Ape didn’t use any defensive art. Still, the attack failed to slice through its body. It received deep cuts but was not maimed. This was because a Jue Ape had a strong natural constitution. Its hide was thick and sturdy. Normal weapons from weaker cultivators wouldn’t even leave a scar.

The Jue Ape was also savage and easily enraged. The injured ape wasn’t frightened by its wounds. It was mad instead. It roared loudly and sent several rapid punches. The abrupt counterattack took Xian Mei by surprise. Her saber blocked most of the punches, but one struck her chest. She was sent reeling back.

Her wooden skin protected her from suffering an injury from the punch. She wasn’t hurt. She retaliated by swinging her saber, which conjured the flashing lights again. The Jue Ape was wiser this time. It jumped away before the lights hit it.

Xian Mei heard some voices from behind. She looked behind and saw two other Jue Apes approaching her.

”Fuck...!” She cursed.

She used her arcane art. Uncountable leaf darts materialized and assailed the two Jue Apes. At the same time, she jumped away. She didn’t want to get surrounded and attacked from all sides.

The two Jue Apes used brute force and charged through the gust of leaves. Because of their hardy hide, the leaves failed to leave deep enough cuts. All the leaves achieved were causing scratch marks.

The injured Jue Ape also advanced. It cared not even when blood continued to flow from its wounds. It was both horny and furious with the woman who had injured it. It couldn’t wait to get its hands on that woman.

Seeing her arcane art was useless, Xian Mei focused on her martial art using her saber. Her swing produced flashing lights that stopped the three Jue Apes from approaching her, but she was forced to retreat every time her saber clashed with the Jue Apes’ arms.

If it was a one-on-one fight, she should have no problem dealing with this Jue Ape. Three was risky. She was also in their territory. She didn’t know when another Jue Ape might appear.

While Xian Mei was thinking about retreating, Amon was enclosing from behind. This was his chance. Xian Mei still had her wooden skin. It was difficult for him to wound her. But if he ambushed her from behind, he might create a chance for her to get pummeled by the Jue Apes.

When he was about to act, he sensed another presence coming. He canceled his intent and hurriedly hid again. Not long after, a shadow zoomed toward Xian Mei’s back.

Xian Mei’s sense wasn’t as acute as Amon’s. She only felt the incoming when it was close. She almost swung her saber to her back when she heard a familiar voice from behind.

”Sister Xian, let me help you!”

The newcomer crashed into one of the Jue Apes with a flying kick. The momentum threw the Jue Ape tumbling away.

”Liang Tao!” Xian Mei called. ”Where are the others?”

”We split up,” Liang Tao answered.

”Why? Didn’t you all follow my markings?”

”That’s the thing. We came into several intersections with two or more of your markings. So, we split up. Each of us followed different markings.”

”What...?! How is that possible?” Xian Mei asked in surprise.

Xian Mei wasn’t aware that when she was chasing Amon, Amon took her in a circle. Amon had already memorized a portion of the maze inside the underground network. He crossed several intersections they had passed before. Xian Mei, who focused on chasing him, didn’t realize she had already passed those intersections. She also didn’t notice the previous markings she made on a different wall because she was in a hurry.

Unlike her, Gao Xiong and the others focused on looking for her markings, so they noticed. Due to multiple markings pointing in different directions, they were confused. They had no choice but to split up and pursue in different directions. Liang Tao happened to pick the correct path to Xian Mei and Amon.

”We can talk about that later. Let’s kill these Jue Apes before more arrive!” Liang Tao exclaimed.

His legs turned into a blur. Multiple flashing kicks assailed the Jue Apes. The kicks were too fast. Liang Tao’s legs had the same reach as the Jue Apes’ arms. Hence, their advantage was nullified. Without the reach advantage, the Jue Apes had trouble facing the complicated moves from Liang Tao’s kicks. Liang Tao’s feet slammed into various parts of the Jue Apes’ bodies, stopping their forceful advance.

Xian Mei took the chance to use a stronger martial art. Her saber shone as she channeled her aether. With a wide swing, her saber formed a crescent light. The light swept past a Jue Ape’s body and split it in two. The Jue Ape died instantly.

Without a pause, her other hand performed an arcane art. Vines materialized from that hand and intertwined into a long lance. These intertwined vines hardened into a wooden lance, which she thrust at another Jue Ape.

The Jue Ape tried to dodge, but the wooden lance still hit its leg. While the Jue Ape’s hide could resist most sharp weapons, it failed to defend against this wooden lance. The lance pierced the leg and went right through. The Jue Ape howled in pain as its movement stopped.

Liang Tao came from above then. His foot came down like a heavy hammer, slamming the Jue Ape’s head into the ground. The head couldn’t withstand the pressure. It popped like a balloon.

The only remaining Jue Ape finally felt fear after seeing its two buddies getting killed. It turned around and attempted to flee.

’Damn it,’ Amon cursed in his mind. Now, he had to sneak his way out of here. It was unlikely he remained hidden if Xian Mei and Liang Tao started searching this cavern. As he slowly made his way to an exit, his vigilant eyes caught something at one of the exits. The effect from the cat-eye pill, added to the boosted perception of his Great Virulent Serpent, allowed him to see far, even if not in detail.

’Shit!’ He cursed. He looked around until he spotted a narrow crack in a wall. He hurriedly entered that crack and hid there.

”Where do you think you are running to?” Liang Tao yelled as he chased the fleeing Jue Ape. Xian Mei followed closely behind.

Liang Tao had very good movement art. In a few jumps, he caught up to the Jue Ape. He gave the Jue Ape a strong kick on its back. A bone-cracking sound was heard from the impact. The Jue Ape flew forward and fell to the ground on all four. When it was about to get up, it noticed something in front of it.

Liang Tao, who was about to send another kick, stopped in his tracks when he saw the thing before the Jue Ape.

The thing shared several similar characteristics to a Jue Ape, like having long hair and dark blue fur. However, the fur was thinner than the fur of a common Jue Ape. One could glimpse the dark skin underneath it, glistening like metal. It also had no hunchback. It stood upright like a human and even wore a loincloth. It was larger than a Jue Ape, with a body filled with bulging muscles.

”What is that...?” Liang Tao asked.

Xian Mei shook her head. She also didn’t know what spirit beast that was.

They didn’t know because Ha Gild’s lecture never mentioned such a spirit beast. Amon, who noticed this creature earlier, knew what it was. It was called a Jue Ogre. It was one of the spirit beasts recorded in the Encyclopedia of Spirit Beasts. Like Jue Monkey, who evolved into a Jue Ape, Jue Ape could also evolve into a Jue Ogre.

However, the evolution into a Jue Ogre was extremely rare. It was not a natural evolution. There were almost always some external influences that caused this evolution.

The fleeing Jue Ape chattered to the Jue Ogre as if trying to say something. The Jue Ogre just stared at it with a condescending glare.

Without a warning, the Jue Ogre slammed his fist onto the Jue Ape from above. The Jue Ape sunk into the ground from the hit. Blood burst from its mouth and its other holes due to the internal pressure. It was shivering on the ground uncontrollably. Its shivering stopped when the Jue Ogre stomped its head, cracking it apart.

The Jue Ogre’s eyes turned to its next prey, Liang Tao.