Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 482: Chapter 482. Falling Back into the Smoke

Amon had read about the talisman Gui Xa used to make him invisible. It had the grade of low-tier runic. Only an expert-level talisman master could produce such a talisman. The materials required to make the talisman were also rare.

Such talismans were very valuable. The news was that the kingdom possessed these talismans. Still, they were reserved for use by the royal assassins, a shadow unit hidden within the army that specialized in eliminating political opponents. Amon wondered if Gui Xa was from this unit.

He could worry about Gui Xa’s identity later. Right now, he needed to deal with the immediate danger. The invisible talisman not only made someone invisible but also clouded the user’s aura from being sensed by cultivators of the Mystic Stage and below.

Hence, for Amon, Gui Xa had become completely undetectable. At least, that was what Gui Xa thought.

”Hehe. Do you have any last words?” Gui Xa’s voice was heard.

”No. Do you?” Amon asked back.

”What a funny prey you are. I admit you surprised me. I never thought an Intermediate Mystic Stage cultivator could trouble me so. But now that I use this talisman, your fate is sealed. You won’t know when or where I will strike.”

”I will if you keep yapping,” Amon said.

”Hehe. I plan to finish you quickly out of respect for your capability. I have changed my mind now. Let’s see if you can still mouth off after I cut off your legs.”

Gui Xa’s words were accompanied by his laughter, but Amon could hear the rage in his voice.

’Good,’ Amon thought. He closed his eyes. They were useless in this situation, so he focused on his other senses.

Gui Xa no longer made noises. He snickered at Amon, who forwent his vision. Did Amon think about relying on hearing to detect him? He was tempted to laugh again. Since they were in the air, there was no footstep. Hence, he produced no sounds. He slowly floated to Amon’s flank.

Gui Xa readied his spear after getting into position. His long spear was aimed at Amon’s head. He might have mentioned targeting Amon’s legs, but that was a lie. He was a professional. He wouldn’t let his emotions affect him. Even if he was indeed angered by Amon’s taunt, he would still choose the most effective way to finish his prey.

His eyes never moved from Amon, who had become completely still. He didn’t understand Amon’s action but didn’t try to. The confusion would just dull him. For all he knew, Amon had given up. That was fine by him. He thrust his spear forward.

Gui Xa didn’t know Amon’s most reliable detection method was not his Mystic Sense. Amon had gone through untold battlefields. The instinct he had honed through those countless life-and-death battles was something that could not be attained by simple training. His sensitivity to danger and one’s killing intent bordered on the supernatural. One could even say he had developed a sixth sense when it came to danger.

Amon felt it before Gui Xa thrust his spear. The killing intent of a professional assassin was strong. It might as well be a blaring alarm. The hairs on the upper left side of his body stood. This was how he determined the direction from which the danger came.

He ducked away. He felt the wind caused by something rushing past above his head. At the same time he ducked, the ceremonial dagger controlled by the Xian Cloth shot at where the danger was coming from. Frictions happened as the dagger scraped briefly against the invisible spear. The two weapons were heading in opposite directions.

A ripping sound was heard, followed by the flowing of blood.

Amon’s well-timed counterattack hit Gui Xa’s left arm. The flowing blood came from the resulting wound. He remained invisible, but the blood that left his body was visible.

”How... How did you see my attack?!” Gui Xa asked. He was shaken more by his surprise than the pain of his wound.

However, he detected something that alerted him. With a quick swing of his spear, he cut his left arm off. The arm that detached from his body also became visible. There was a slash wound on that arm.

”Urghh...!!” Gui Xa gritted his teeth as he endured the pain. He stabbed his finger to multiple spots on his shoulder. It was the meridian points technique to stop the bleeding from the arm he cut off.

”That was a quick reaction,” Amon commended. ”I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I noticed the strange color at the tip of your spear before you turned invisible. You also use poison.”

Amon applied a salve of the Black Slaughter Poison to his ceremonial dagger when he left the howdah to ambush Gui Xa. He hit the Yao Bird instead of Gui Xa in that ambush. Amon had read that a Yao Bird had natural resistance against poison. It was proven to be true since the Yao Bird didn’t die.

Amon continued speaking, ”To spot yourself getting poisoned so swiftly, you deserve to be among the rank of the royal assassins.”

Gui Xa removed the talisman on his forehead and came into view again.

Amon grinned. ”From your expression, I must have guessed correctly. Tell me, who sent you? Is it the crown prince or the second princess?”

”Don’t think you have won! You simply caught me by surprise!” Gui Xa exclaimed. His spear turned into a blur as multiple spear lights assailed Amon.

Amon again used Infinite Phantom Slash by utilizing the Xian Cloth and Ceremonial Dagger. He kept a safe distance to let him better cope with his opponent’s fast stabs. He had to move back from the pressure. Despite maiming his opponent, he was not at an advantage. His cultivation was still much lower than his opponent. In a direct clash, he was still weaker. Plus, the boosts that allowed him to fight Gui Xa wouldn’t last indefinitely.

As if to prove this fact, several spear lights pierced through Amon’s defense and grazed him. Small cut wounds were all over his body. The increased defense from the Great Virulent Serpent and Hardened Bronze Body couldn’t stop Gui Xa’s spear.

Gui Xa laughed. ”Haha! You are done for! Even if they are just small cuts, my poison is deadly. What are you going to do? Cut all your limbs from letting the poison spread?”

Amon didn’t respond. He saw the black smoke from the Yao Bird. The smoke covered a large area, and it was close by. He used Invisible Sky Steps and flew into the smoke.

”Huh? Are you trying to run away?” Gui Xa was confused by Amon’s action. That was futile. In a short moment, Amon should lose mobility due to his poison. He looked under the black smoke. He expected to see Amon fall from the smoke toward the ground. Yet, no such thing happened even after a while.

He was about to rush into the black smoke to look for Amon when he remembered how Amon wounded him. He didn’t know how Amon detected him even when he was invisible. There was a chance Amon entered the black smoke because Amon had an unknown detection art that could bypass the invisibility talisman and Yao Bird’s black smoke. If that were the case, he would be in trouble by blindly entering the black smoke.

He used the mental link to call his Yao Bird but was surprised to receive feedback that it couldn’t comply. The Yao Bird was in a critical conflict. Leaving might cause it to get seriously wounded.

Gui Xa was astounded. The Sun Hawk shouldn’t be his pet’s equal. Why did it have trouble?

Nevertheless, Gui Xa couldn’t stay still. He needed to enter the black smoke to either look for Amon or help the Yao Bird. He looked back at the great eagle. The five Yao Birdlings harassing the great eagle were now down to three. He was again dumbfounded by this.

This was supposed to be an easy mission. Yet, he had lost one arm and six underlings. However, the enemies were not without loss. Less than half of the soldiers inside the howdah remained. The leader of the swallow rider had fallen. The great eagle had bloody wounds all over its body. It was only a matter of time before they succumbed.

The remaining two Yao Birdling riders were on their way to join their brethren. They had just killed off the Mystic Stage soldiers from the first great eagle.

Gui Xa called these two riders. He climbed atop one and told the other to resume to help their comrades. He ordered the one he climbed on to enter the black smoke. With the Yao Birdling, he would not lose his way inside the smoke. The Yao Birdling could locate Amon quickly.

The Yao Birdling flew into the smoke without hesitation. Through their mental link, the rider learned that his pet had located both Amon and the Yao Bird. He informed Gui Xa and asked which one he should move towards.

Gui Xa told him to go to Amon. His Yao Bird was in a battle but not in danger. He would finish Amon first before helping his pet.