Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 334: Chapter 334. The Guests from Oredolia

Amon joined Li Shi in receiving the delegates from Oredolia. Hua Rong and Hua Ling were with them. They were on a large balcony near the palace’s roof. This balcony oversaw the main courtyard and the palace entrance. When Amon asked Li Shi why they were not down there in the courtyard to receive the guests, she told him he would understand soon.

Amon asked if anyone else from the royal family would be at the meeting. Li Shi said that Princess Huang Er and Prince Huang Zen were waiting inside. The other princes and princesses were not available. Considering the tension between Princess Huang Er and Crown Prince Huang Zi, it made sense to let only one party deal with this delicate meeting. In terms of diplomatic matters, Princess Huang Er was better. Hence, everyone agreed to give her the task.

Amon asked, ”What about the king?” Li Shi informed him that the king had secluded himself to concentrate fully on his cultivation. The king was near the limit of his age span. If he did not break through, his life wouldn’t last much longer.

They waited for quite a while. Amon saw clear annoyance in the faces of all who waited there, including Hua Rong. It seemed their guests were much later than the agreed time.

After almost three hours of waiting, Hua Ling yelled a command, ”Attention!”

Amon first looked at the street leading to the palace entrance. No travelers were seen there. He then spotted two little dots in the distance in the sky above. These two dots approached fast.

”I thought the rules prohibit anyone from approaching the palace from the sky?” Amon asked Li Shi in a low voice.

”I told you these dignitaries from Oredolia are mostly haughty people, didn’t I? These people rarely respect other people’s rules.”

The two dots were now close enough for everyone to see them for what they were. They were two men; one old and one young. The old one was flying on his own, a characteristic of someone with the cultivation of Spirit Stage or above. The young one was surfing the air while standing on a broad sword.

Before the two arrived, Li Shi informed Amon of their identities.

The old one was Xin Dhaije. He was a Bishop from the Temple of Divinity. His cultivation was at the Peak Spirit Stage of the Martial Realm. On his back were six longswords secured in scabbards.

The name of the young one was Xin Jingsao. He was Xin Dhaije’s disciple and a Deacon of the Temple of Divinity. He followed his master on this diplomatic voyage to gain experience. He was a Peak Transformation Stage cultivator, which explained his need to use the broad sword to fly.

”The two are from the same clan?” Amon asked after hearing their names. ”I thought the Temple of Divinity doesn’t value bloodlines?”

”They don’t. Everyone who joined the Temple of Divinity must change their surnames according to which of the three sects they entered. Since they joined the Xin Lai Sect, their surnames were changed to Xin.”

Amon also asked what art was used by Xin Jingsao to achieve the flying feat. Li Shi explained it was a martial art exclusive to the Temple of Divinity, the flying sword art.

Hearing the name, Amon’s consciousness went into his black space ring, where his pyramid library was located. He soon found the book he was looking for. The title on the cover of the book was Flying Sword.

”The Flying Sword is an exclusive martial art of the Temple of Divinity?” Amon asked.

”Yes, they only taught that martial art to the temple members,” Li Shi answered. ”If they found others who practice the arts, they would hunt these cultivators down and capture them. Aside from being fanatical about their teachings, they were also fanatical about their arts. Then again, most clans or sects that possessed profound-grade arts treat these arts similarly to the Temple of Divinity. They declare those arts exclusive to them. Though they don’t punish people who learn them like the Temple of Divinity does, they still punish their members who teach outsiders without permission.”

Amon wondered how the Pyramid Library contained the exclusive martial arts of the Temple of Divinity. The original owner of the Pyramid Library probably stole it from the temple. But considering the Pyramid Library was from ancient times, the more likely possibility was the temple found the martial arts and then one-sidedly declared the martial arts as theirs.

Amon didn’t truly care about the martial arts’ origin. The more interesting point was that the Flying Sword art was classified as a low-tier profound grade. The art was among the few low-tier profound arts contained in the Pyramid Library.

’Xin Jingsao was a Transformation Stage cultivator, but he managed to learn a low-tier profound art?’ Amon thought in his mind.

He tried to learn some of the low-tier profound arts from the pyramid legacy in the past but failed. The only person he knew had succeeded in learning the art of that grade was Wu Di, but that was due to his elemental affinity, and the art was an arcane art compatible with his element. Martial arts weren’t affected by elemental affinity. Learning it depended on one’s comprehension. For Xin Jingsao to successfully learn one from the low-tier profound grade spoke volumes about his ability.

The two arrived and landed on the balcony. Hua Rong came forward and greeted the two.

”Bishop Dhaije, Deacon Jingsao, welcome. We are honored to have you in our palace.”

”I am sure you do,” Xin Jingsao replied. This drew several unhappy glances from the people on the balcony.

”Jingsao, mind your manner,” Xin Dhaije uttered. He gave Hua Rong a fist-and-palm gesture and said, ”I apologize for my disciple. He can be rather impulsive.”

”Forgive me, master,” Xin Jingsao said.

Although he said that, he never apologized directly to the others. Xin Dhaije also didn’t consider that a necessity. He told Hua Rong, ”Take us inside. We don’t have much time to waste.”

Hua Rong was unhappy with Xin Dhaije’s tone but didn’t show it. She said, ”Please,” and led the way inside.

Amon and Li Shi followed behind after the two guests walked past them. The two didn’t deem anyone a glance.

Hua Rong took their two guests to another room next to the guest hall where the mural was. The room was smaller than the guest hall but still big by normal standards. Inside the room was a long table with chairs filling its two sides. On the table were cakes, fruits, and delicacies. In front of each chair was a prepared cup filled with wine.

Princess Huang Er and Prince Huang Zen were in this room. Princess Huang Er came forward and welcomed the guests when they arrived. She brought them to seats already prepared for them. Princess Huang Er sat opposite Xin Dhaije. Amon, Li Shi, Hua Rong, and Hua Ling also took their seats on the table. At one corner of the room was a group of musicians playing their instruments.

Princess Huang Er made small talk with Xin Dhaije while the maids served everyone by refilling the cups and plates whenever they were empty. Prince Huang Zen tried to chat with Xin Jingsao, but the younger guest didn’t show any interest. This annoyed the prince. Huang Zen wasn’t as brash as when he was with Amon yesterday. He restrained his displeasure and acted cool, probably because he had been warned by Huang Er not to provoke these guests.

Amon thought this entire hospitality was a waste of time. They should just go to the next room to talk about the mural and be done with it. He was amused that Xin Dhaije mentioned they didn’t have much time to waste but seemed perfectly fine with this time-wasting social pastime.

Amon saw that this was not ending anytime soon. So, after finishing the wine in his cup, he decided to cultivate. He sat furthest away from the two Oredolia delegates, but his action still drew their attention.

”I see someone is not interested to be here,” Xin Jingsao remarked.

Li Shi felt uneasy by the remark. Since Amon started cultivating, she had jerked Amon’s arm a few times, asking him to stop. Amon ignored her.

The situation turned awkward because of this. Xin Dhaije stopped speaking. Princess Huang Er cleared her throat, but Amon acted like he didn’t hear it. It was Xin Jingsao who finally acted.

”If you don’t wish to be here, how about you leave,” Xin Jingsao flicked the cup in his hand. The cup flew toward Amon.

Amon caught the cup before it hit him. His hand moved gracefully. He redirected the force that was pushing the cup without fighting it directly. Only when the force was exhausted that he bring the cup down and place it on the table.

Xin Jingsao was both astonished and upset. He injected aether into the cup so that it would break even if Amon caught the cup. He didn’t know that Amon used the same trick in the past when he threw a cup at Gao Dou. As someone who had done it before, Amon, of course, knew of the way to counter it.

Amon finally opened his eyes. He said, ”If my action upset everyone, please excuse me. I will wait in the guest hall until it’s time to review the mural.”

Amon expected everyone to agree and let him leave so he could stop wasting his time here. Unexpectedly, someone came to his defense.

”I don’t mind him,” Huang Zen uttered. ”No one is talking to him anyway, and his cultivation didn’t disturb anyone. I don’t see why anyone is offended by that.”