Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 381: Chapter 381. The Real Intruder

While the battle was raging outside, Amon, Li Shi, and Yong Baili traveled through the underground maze. Amon didn’t remember the cave they were trekking in but remembered the way. Due to the circumstances, he was not blindfolded this time.

When they arrived at the hidden entrance to the Spring of Life, Li Shi said, ”The seal is not breached... How can there be an intruder?”

She turned to Yong Baili, who stood a distance away. Amon was between him and her.

”I don’t know, but someone is surely inside. Otherwise, who triggered the alarm?” Yong Baili replied.

”Perhaps the intruder entered through a different entrance,” Amon speculated.

”Impossible. One can only enter via this entrance. The enchantment inside made sure of that,” Li Shi argued.

”Perhaps the power causing the intrusion is more powerful than the words of power powering this enchantment?” Amon said. ”Maybe that’s why the alarm sounded. Someone or something broke into the inside room by force.”

”You mean, a spirit beast?” Li Shi asked. Under normal circumstances, she would have dismissed this theory immediately. There should not be any underground spirit beast in the vicinity of Qishurg City, much less directly underneath it. Not to mention, a spirit beast that could pierce through the barrier would have to be extremely strong. The chance of that was close to zero.

However, with what was happening to the city right now, she was not so sure anymore. Among the spirit beasts that invaded the city, one was probably an underground type that burrowed its way into this place.

”In any case, we have better go in and check to make sure,” Amon said.

Li Shi agreed to Amon’s suggestion. They were already here, after all. Taking a peek inside to make sure wouldn’t hurt. When she was about to place her hand on the wall, she noticed Yong Bail, who remained a distance away.

”Are you okay? Your aura seemed rather chaotic,” Li Shi asked.

”... I am just anxious,” Yong Baili explained. ”With everything that is happening. I want to quickly finish the task here so I can go out and help the others.”

Li Shi nodded. ”I am of the same thought,” she said. ”Although if there is truly a spirit beast strong enough to pierce the barrier here, I’m afraid we won’t be able to do anything.”

”Let’s check out the situation before we decide,” Amon said. ”If there is truly such a spirit beast. We will leave and deal with it later. A spirit beast won’t steal the spring. Most likely, it will stay inside and use the spring.”

”Alright. In that case, Amon, you stay behind me. You are the weakest,” Li Shi said. She then called,” Baili, come closer! Help me protect Amon in case a strong spirit beast is truly inside.”

”... Okay.” Yong Baili walked closer.

”Are you truly okay?” Li Shi asked. ”The aura I sense from you is really weird.”

”Tutor Li Shi, we don’t have much time,” Amon interjected. ”Remember the others are out there risking their lives right now. We must quickly determine the situation here. If nothing is wrong with the spring, we must return up there and help the others.”

”You are right. Let’s get this over with,” Li Shi said. She placed her hand on the cave wall.

The wall shone as the invisible words of power around it got to work. The solid wall slowly became intangible. As that happened, Li Shi’s eyes caught something strange from Yong Baili’s direction. She turned to him and saw something furry behind him.

She moved her head to change the angle and was surprised to find the thing behind Yong Baili was several furry tails. Yong Baili also noticed her stare. By that time, the wall her hand was touching had completely phased out, and the pathway was open.

She then sensed something else that caught her attention. Something small and fast was heading toward her neck. She moved back before this thing sliced her neck. She sensed something else from her back, which was in the direction she was moving toward.

It was too late to dodge. She felt something sharp piercing her back. A long sword made of black smoke pierced out of her chest.

She was too shocked to make sense of this. She vomited blood as she turned back to see her attacker. Amon was staring back at her with a blank face.

She remained speechless as Amon pulled out the ceremonial dagger from her back and proceeded to slice her neck. Her head fell to the ground. Her eyes were still open, wondering if all this was just a bad dream.

”Gah...! That was exhausting!” Yong Baili transformed with a poof. He turned into Lin Li. ”It is still difficult for me to disguise my appearance outside of you and me. Luckily, she is very trusting toward you.”

”It is the result of over ten years of work,” Amon replied. He offered his hand to Lin Li and said, ”Return into the ring.”

”But... I want to see the spring inside,” Lin Li said.

”You can look at it from inside the ring,” Amon said.

Lin Li didn’t argue with him. She obediently accepted Amon’s hand and entered the black space ring.

After Lin Li was gone, Amon stepped through the opened entrance. He didn’t spare Li Shi’s corpse a single glance. Inside, there was no intruder. He was the real intruder.

The intoxicating sensation he felt when he was here the first time assailed him again. He asked Lin Li to watch from inside the black space ring because he knew Lin Li wouldn’t be able to resist the influence of the Spring of Life. He even suspected she might go berserk and attack him to keep the spring for herself.

Amon willed himself to pay no heed to the exhilarating feeling. If he let it, he could fall into a trance. He didn’t have the time for that.

He approached the lake. The closer he got, the stronger the sensation. He knelt before its edge. Like before, the water seemed alive. The way the waves moved mesmerized him. He even thought he heard a voice from inside the water calling him.

He shook his head to clear his mind. There would be time to enjoy this water. For now, he needed to secure it first.

He placed his hand on the water. The instant he touched the water, indescribable emotion filled him up. His entire body tingled. Every cell in his body screamed for him to dive into the water, but he resisted it.

He took back command of his thoughts and sent the command to absorb this spring into his black space ring. The water level started decreasing as gallon upon gallon of water entered his black space ring. Inside his ring, he walled off a corner and kept the spring hidden. Otherwise, it would affect the Thunder Roc and Lin Li. This spring would drive them mad.

Slowly but surely, the water continued to decrease. The size of the spring here could be considered a large pond. As it turned out, it was also very deep. Even after he sucked the spring until its water level decreased by three meters, he still had not touched its bottom.

Only when he was nine meters deep that the spring was finally sucked dry. After that happened, he could feel the atmosphere changed. The air around no longer felt as intoxicating as before.

He jumped out of the now-empty pond. It was now nothing but a large cavity. Perhaps after a million years, the spring of life would return here, considering this place was the convergence of ley lines. He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. What’s important was that the spring of life was now his.

He checked inside his black space ring. The spring of life was safely tucked away in one corner. Neither the Thunder Roc nor Lin Li was aware of it. He could block even the intoxicating aura of the spring, preventing it from affecting others. He was the master of this space, so this was not a difficult feat.

Even though he didn’t want the spring to radically affect his two tenants, he also didn’t want to completely keep the spring from them. He removed around one liter of water from the spring and poured it into the artificial lake in the middle of his plantation.

Once the water from the spring mixed with the lake, it underwent a transformation. Amon originally took the water from the secret dimension owned by the White Cloud Sect. The water was already high quality, to begin with. After mixing with the water from the Spring of Life, it became clearer and even sparkled.

Lin Li and the Thunder Roc immediately felt the difference. They started drinking the water greedily while entering the water. Lin Li was in her true form, the six-tailed fox. The Thunder Roc and she swam in the lake blissfully.

The lake also served as sustenance for his plantation. Lin Li improved the irrigation around his plantation after studying to be a Plants Keeper. Amon believed that the upgrade of the lake’s water would help the spirit plants in his plantation to grow faster, including the Primordial Blue Lotus.

Amon returned his attention to the outside world. He was done with this place. He passed through the hole in the wall. Without looking at Li Shi’s corpse under his feet, he said, ”Bo Wu, clean it up.”

”My pleasure,” Bo Wu replied. He came out and devoured the corpse.

After it was done, Amon walked back toward the exit.