Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 368: Chapter 368. Poison Blood Infusion Method

Amon started mixing Yuka’s blood with the other ingredients. The other ingredients came from his plantation and the local market. Some rare and some common. The hardest ingredient to obtain for this Poison Blood Infusion was its main ingredient, which was divided into three interchangeable ingredients.

The first, which had the lowest effectiveness, was using the blood from a higher mythical beast. The second, with middling effectiveness, used the blood from a higher mythical beast of the insect type. The third and most effective used the blood of a particular spirit beast, the Zuanze Butterfly. This was where he first learned the spirit beast’s name.

Amon spent a couple of hours mixing the ingredients and processing them following the recipe described in the tome. When he was done, he looked at the result. Inside the flask was a bubbling red liquid that oozed nauseating fumes.

’I am supposed to drink this?’ Amon thought.

He took out the 101 Primal Poison Tome and read it again to make sure. It was unnecessary because he had a photographic memory. Still, this tome was a magical artifact that revealed its content following its reader’s cultivation level and alchemical skill. The higher those two factors were, the more recipes were revealed. So, there might probably be additional information if he read it now.

He didn’t know how the writer of this tome achieved such a feat. None of the lectures at the Royal Academy mentioned such a technique. It was probably a lost technique.

There was no additional information. The method described inside the tome was still the same.

He returned his attention to the smelly and bubbling red liquid inside the flask. ’I guess I will have to drink this then,’ he thought.

He placed the flask before his mouth. He was not someone who made a fuss about the medicine tasting bad, but the stench from this flask was atrocious even for him.

He held his breath and chugged the liquid down his throat with one gulp. The second the liquid entered his stomach, he felt like he was getting burned from the inside.

”Gghhh...!!!” He gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain. He forced himself to sit on the floor and started cultivating. He was not cultivating using the usual cultivation art, though. He used the cultivation method described in the recipe.

Normal cultivators might have fallen unconscious due to the inner pain. Amon relied on his willpower to stay awake. From the recipe’s description, if one succumbed to unconsciousness after consuming the liquid, one would not wake up anymore. In a way, the liquid could still be considered poison.

The pain inside his body intensified, but he didn’t relent. He focused on circulating his aether using the cultivation method. After three hours, the pain started to subside. After twelve hours, the pain had lessened to mild inconvenience, but the burning sensation remained. He didn’t stop cultivating. He practiced the Poison Blood Infusion method until the next day.

He only stopped after the burning sensation was completely gone. He reviewed his body. He didn’t sense any change.

He wasn’t discouraged. This was mentioned in the tome. The transformation brought by the Poison Blood Infusion method wasn’t an overnight result. It needed repeated applications. The tome even stated that he needed to apply the method at least twelve times before there was any apparent change. As for the average time of completing the infusion, the tome estimated one might need to apply the method around sixty times.

Furthermore, the tome advised not to apply the method immediately after an application. The advice was to wait at least one month before another application. A normal human body could not endure repeated applications with intervals shorter than one month. It risked turning the concoction into fatal poison. Amon’s body wasn’t exactly normal, but he was unwilling to take the risk.

This was also why Amon told Yuka he would take her blood every month.

*

Amon spent the following days cultivating. He only stopped when Xin Wuming visited him. Xin Wuming brought the tools from Lin Li’s list. However, he couldn’t procure any Zillium. It was unavailable in the public markets.

There might be many independent puppet makers, but most of them didn’t make the power source themselves. They ordered it through the kingdom’s official channel. The puppet makers certified by the kingdom would then produce the power source for them. This, of course, made the product expensive and had a lengthy process. There was normally a long queue when requesting a power source. This caused many independent puppet makers to simply recycle the available power sources.

Amon told Xin Wuming not to worry about the Zillium. He would probably ask Huang San for the right to purchase the material from the kingdom, but he preferred not to. Zillium was only used to make battle puppet’s power sources. Asking for the material was the same as revealing he was planning to build one. The prince might start asking questions or demanding he share the battle puppets he was building.

”I have gotten a reply from Sui Kui. He agrees to meet,” Xin Wuming told Amon.

Amon nodded in response.

---------------

In a lush forest deep in the wilderness, a group of rebels met to discuss something.

”You know you are in trouble, don’t you, Xi Weng?” One of the rebels asked another.

”I made a mistake. Everyone makes a mistake,” Xi Weng argued.

”You did not make a mistake. You made repeated mistakes. The elders are running out of patience. There has been talk about terminating you.”

”Come on, Wui Hang. It can’t be that bad...?” Xi Weng asked.

”I think it is. I’ve heard talk about this. I thought it was just baseless rumors,” a man next to Xi Weng said. Xi Weng’s face turned grim upon hearing that.

”Look. We have been friends for a long time. I tried persuading my superior, who persuaded his superior. The good news is that you might still have a chance to redeem yourself,” Wui Hang said.

”Really? You are truly a good friend!” Xi Weng exclaimed.

”Don’t get too happy first. The condition for your pardon is for you to carry out a mission.”

”What mission?” Xi Weng asked.

Wui Hang took out a metal box. He looked around before opening the lid of the box. Inside was a small leather bag. He said, ”Take this and deliver it to someone in a shed North of here.”

”That’s it? I just have to deliver this?” Xi Weng asked.

Wui Hang nodded.

”There is a shed North of here? Who would build a shed so deep inside the wilderness?” Xi Weng’s friend remarked.

”You will accompany me there,” Xi Weng told his friend.

”I don’t want to, but very well. I can’t help it for being such a good friend.”

”Go, now!” Wui Hang said. ”Time is of the essence. The faster you complete this task, the better your chance is for a pardon. Don’t fuck this up, Xi Weng. You will only get this one chance. Do not lose that bag under any circumstances.”

Xi Weng nodded. He gestured for his friend, and the two ran toward the North.

”... How long do you think they will last?” Wui Hang asked his companion, who had been silent the whole time.

”That’s why we do this test run, to learn its effectiveness,” his companion answered.

*

Xi Weng and his friend ran as fast as they could. They were using movement art. They wanted to finish this task quickly, not because they were hard-working followers, but because they didn’t want to spend longer time than necessary in this forest. This forest was close to uncharted land. They could be said to be at the border of civilization. Many spirit beasts roamed this border.

As if to accentuate that point, they heard inhuman howls from somewhere nearby.

”That sounds a bit too close...,” Xi Weng’s friend remarked.

”We should run faster,” Xi Weng proposed.

They were both already giving their all to run, but they pushed themselves further. Another howl was heard. It sounded closer.

The two looked at one another without saying anything. Their faces started to turn pale. They readied their weapons without slowing their running speed. They turned to move away from the direction of the howl.

They heard rustling from the bushes directly in front of them.

”Look out!” Xi Weng’s friend warned. He pushed Xi Weng while he jerked in the opposite direction. Something fast charged out of the bushes and would have crashed into them if they hadn’t gone out of the way.

The something turned out to be a large albino wolf with a pair of long whiskers. Three more such wolves appeared from behind. These three were the ones that had been howling and chasing them.

”Stand fast! We should be able to take on these moon wolves if we work together,” Xi Weng exclaimed.

The sounds of trees breaking were heard from the side. They turned and saw a pair of giant ogres with two heads approaching. Their bodies were so large that they had to knock out the trees so they could move.

”Fuck this, run!” Xi Weng shouted. The two ran again. The wolves resumed pursuit.

They then heard rustling from above. They looked up and saw a large bird bursting through the tree canopies heading directly at them. They jumped in evasion as the bird’s claws crashed into the ground.

”Fuck! What is happening? Why are so many spirit beasts suddenly after us?” Xi Weng yelled.

”I don’t know! We can’t fight them all. We should split up to separate them!” His friend proposed.

”Alright. I will continue heading North. You go Northwest. We will regroup ahead!” Xi Weng said.

His friend nodded, and they split. When they did, he noticed a peculiar thing. The wolves, the ogres, and the birds all turned and chased him. None of them chased his friend.

”What the...,” he suddenly came to a realization. However, it lasted only a moment because the ground directly before him suddenly burst open. The last thing he saw was something large with six legs grabbing him and pulling him to the ground.