Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 438: Chapter 438. An Elder Spirit Beast

Amon looked back and saw the same bald, old man who slew his Silverback Hound.

”Three months...?” He asked. He only spent three days inside the maze formation. Apparently, the formation also applied time dilation.

’Never mind,’ he thought. He was still ahead of the promised schedule with Xei Nuli.

He asked the old man, ”So, do I get the Longevity Tree’s fruit you promised me?”

The old man grinned. ”Follow me,” he said.

The old man glided away. His feet never touched the ground. Amon knew the floating feet were not because of the old man’s cultivation but because the old man was also an illusion. He couldn’t sense anything from the old man. Amon did not doubt the one responsible was the lord of this forest, the higher mythical spirit beast that drove away Farghous army years ago. This spirit beast had the rare mind assault ability.

They went deeper into the forest but encountered no trouble throughout the journey. The other spirit beasts must have scurried away under the influence of the higher mythical beast.

The old man led Amon into a lush but beautiful part of the forest filled with colorful flowers and a small lake with a waterfall. At the center of the lake was a small island. On the island were two tall trees. Amon identified one of the trees as the Longevity Tree he was looking for. It fit the information described by the books from the Pyramid Library.

While the Longevity Tree was impressive, Amon’s eyes were glued to the other tree on that island because that tree was even more impressive. The other tree was one grade higher than the Longevity Tree. It was classified as a Higher Mythical Plant. The name was Aetherium Tree.

The record of the Aetherium Tree was no longer available to the general public, so the masses had no idea about this tree. Amon only knew it from the record inside one of the books from the Pyramid Library.

This tree carried the namesake of this world because the fruit it bore contained the condensed aether of the world. Under normal conditions, a cultivator’s body could not withstand such a concentration of aether. The effect would be like someone drinking the Spring of Life directly.

As for this Aetherium Tree, it processed the aether it had absorbed and made it easily digestible. One could eat the fruit and experience the same effect of cultivating for several years. It was a shortcut to cultivation! For a cultivator, the fruits of an Aetherium Tree were much more valuable than the fruits of a Longevity Tree.

While Amon’s attention was on the Aetherium Tree, the old man had vanished. Amon looked around and could see him no more. Suddenly, he felt heavy pressure followed by an intense feeling of danger.

A bald, fish-like head emerged from the small lake. Its eyes were golden. Two pairs of long whiskers from its snout danced in the air as more and more of the creature was revealed. Below its fish-like head was a long serpentine body with four tentacles for limbs. The tentacles were filled with rows of suckers.

Amon searched his memory and identified the creature as the Ghoul Koiyu. It was an aquatic spirit beast that possessed a longer life than other spirit beasts of the same grade.

”Well met, human cultivator,” the Ghoul Koiyu greeted. ”Now, your prize.” One of its tentacles elongated unnaturally. It plucked a fruit from the Longevity Tree and tossed it at Amon.

Amon caught the fruit and examined it. It appeared fresh without any defect. This fruit was good enough for his transaction with Xei Nuli.

”Thank you,” Amon told the Ghoul Koiyu. He turned and started walking. Though he was very interested in the Aetherium Tree, he was not delusional enough to think he had a chance to acquire its fruits.

The trees nearby suddenly reshuffled and formed a fence that surrounded the area. Amon frowned at the sight. He knew it was only an illusion, but the fact that this illusion was conjured only meant one thing. The Ghoul Koiyu told him to stay.

Amon turned back and asked, ”I’m not allowed to leave?”

”We agree that I give you the fruit if you pass my test. I never said anything about you leaving,” the Ghoul Koiyu answered. ”Like I said, I’m bored. Won’t you entertain me by staying a while longer?”

”How much longer?” Amon asked.

”Well... That depends,” the Ghoul Koiyu replied. His fish face displayed a wicked grin. ”I can assure you it will be in your interest that I let you stay. You won’t like it when I decide you are boring and no longer want you here.”

Amon’s frown turned deeper. In other words, this spirit beast didn’t plan to let him leave this place.

”What do you want from me?” Amon asked.

”Nothing for now. Just stay here and accompany me,” the Ghoul Koiyu answered as he submerged himself back in the water. ”Oh, one other thing. You are free to take anything outside this lake, but never come into this lake, and never lay a hand on those two trees on the island. The last people I let in here violated the rules, and I had to punish them. One fled outside the forest and thought he was free. I proved him wrong by visiting him in his home. I can track the aura of those fruits, so no matter where you run off to, I can find you.”

”I understand,” Amon said.

”You better be,” the Ghoul Koiyu disappeared into the water again.

Amon looked back. The illusionary fence was still there. He walked around the place to familiarize himself with the terrain. The territory marked by the fence was not large, so there was not much to explore. He saw no chance of fleeing for now. The Ghoul Koiyu could track him down unless he was willing to let go of the Longevity Fruit. If he did, there would be no purpose coming here. Since his life was not in danger for now, he decided to stay and observe the situation.

He sat beside the lake and cultivated.

*

Days passed. The Ghoul Koiyu remained inside the lake. Amon started to wonder why it detained him at this place when it showed up again.

”How do you feel?” The spirit beast asked.

”Nothing in particular. Do you need something?” Amon asked.

The Ghoul Koiyu grinned. ”You don’t look disturbed despite your situation. You are much more interesting than the humans who accompanied me last time. Tell you what. Let’s be friends. You can call me Daimu. What can I address you with, human?”

”...Hei Lin,” Amon lied.

”All right, Hei Lin. Let’s play chess,” Daimu said. The water around the lake started changing shape. It formed a giant board and multiple chest pieces. Amon knew this happened not because Daimu had control over the water but because the board and the chess pieces were mere illusions.

”You know human’s games?” Amon asked.

”A human taught it to me a long time ago,” Daimu answered. ”You can make the first move.”

The chess was one native to this world, not the one from Amon’s previous world. Amon never played it, but he knew the game and its rules.

Since he had no choice, Amon complied with Daimu’s request. He uttered, ”Wood Fish move forward two spots.”

The chess piece Amon was referring to began to move by itself. After it did, one of the chess pieces from the opposite side moved.

”Fire fish move diagonally one spot,” Amon made his next move.

They spent more than an hour playing the game. Daimu won in the end.

”Hm... You are not letting me win, are you?” Daimu asked.

”No,” Amon lied. Other than Daimu enjoying human company and games, there was not much he knew about its personality. He didn’t want to risk drawing its displeasure by defeating it in the game.

”Okay. I guess I still got it. You are not bad yourself, Hei Lin. I enjoyed our game. Let’s play again tomorrow!” Finished speaking, Daimu returned to the lake.

Starting that day, they played chess every day. Amon let Daimu win most of the time, but he took victory once in a while. Otherwise, Daimu might suspect something. Daimu didn’t appear offended by Amon’s occasional victories.

*

A month passed. Daimu requested Amon to play other games aside from chess. All were folk games from this world. Amon wondered how Daimu knew so much about human games.

At one point, Daimu was absent for three days. When it resurfaced from the lake, its scales were pale and crusty. It looked sick and old. It was crawling toward the island.

Amon used his Mystic Sense to scan the Ghoul Koiyu. Its aura was extremely frail. It was like the aura of someone who was on his last legs. At that moment, Amon thought about attacking but canceled the notion. He was not yet ready to take the risk.

Daimu reached the island. Its long tentacle snatched one of the fruits from the Longevity Tree and gobbled it up. It then disappeared back into the water.

The next day, it resurfaced. Its scales were back to their fresh color. Amon understood then. Daimu was a spirit beast nearing the end of its natural age. It was very old. It prolonged its life by consuming the Longevity Fruits regularly.