Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 524: Chapter 524. Keep Them Busy

”Amon, are you alright?” An Guan brandished his glaive as he landed beside Amon.

”I still live,” Amon answered while panting. The mental and physical strains of surviving the battle just now were too taxing.

”Hehe, An Guan, isn’t it?” Huang Zhan chuckled. He climbed back onto the Qing Lion. ”You used to be a tutor at the Royal Academy. Why follow that failure of my brother? It was due to his incompetency that Qishurg City was destroyed. How about coming to my side? I can promise you a better future.”

”Forget it! I will never betray His Highness Huang San!” An Guan exclaimed.

”Are you going to throw a bone at everyone?” Amon asked. ”That is pathetic even for you.”

”Hehe. I already told you I can’t let you live. There is no need to give me more motivation,” Huang Zhan uttered. While talking, twigs, vines, and leaves grew all over his body. They continued to spread to the Qing Lion under him.

”Be careful. That is Nature Assimilation,” An Guan told Amon. ”It is a low-tier profound art. It increased his defense. At higher mastery, he can also use it for offense. For him to extend that art to his tamed beast, his mastery must be very high already. Stay behind me.”

Amon whispered to An Guan, ”I will deal with his Mystic Stage follower before aiding you. We must be fast. His other followers must be on their way.”

An Guan nodded. He swiped his hand over his glaive, using the Gold Enhancement art. A layer of gold encased the spear. He twirled this golden glaive and rushed toward Huang Zhan. Amon moved toward Gan Xi once An Guan left.

Huang Zhan saw what Amon was doing. The nature armor had finished covering the Qing Lion. He sent the lion to support Gan Xi while he waited for An Guan.

An Guan lifted his glaive. A giant iron blade materialized from the tip of his glaive, making him appear as if holding a gigantic weapon. He slashed downward. The giant iron blade followed his swing.

Huang Zhan moved away, letting the gigantic iron blade strike the ground. He then threw his rope dart. An Guan lightly spun his glaive and deflected the rope dart. Even though the giant iron blade on the tip of his glaive made the weapon look heavy, it was not so.

Huang Zhan attacked with his other hand. That hand might look empty, but the vines that covered it suddenly shot out. Five long vines covered in leaves lashed like tentacles, attempting to capture An Guan. An Guan responded by twirling his glaive at high speed. The vines were cut to pieces.

”Your Nature Assimilation might be a low-tier profound art, but its wood element is a weakness to my metal-element art,” An Guan said. ”You will not win this battle.”

Huang Zhan chuckled at the taunt. He said, ”Hehe, do you not know my affinity to the wood element is S class?”

As he spoke, the vines cut by An Guan regrew. They were like new again. His smile turned even wider as he said, ”Furthermore, I am not the opponent you will be facing directly.”

An Guan sensed an incredible pressure coming from his side. He turned in that direction and saw a gigantic figure rushing over at high speed. It was Da Niu. He was charging like a rampaging buffalo. A powerful energy wave followed his charge. This wave obliterated everything in his surroundings. When he came close, An Guan thought this energy wave formed the shape of a horned bull.

Just from the pressure, An Guan knew it was not wise to clash with this charge. He ran to the side to move away from Da Niu’s charging path. Huang Zhan didn’t let him off that easy, though. He used his rope dart and vine tentacles to block An Guan’s path. An Guan’s glaive moved at light speed around him, deflecting the rope dart and cutting the vines that tried to block his way.

Although Huang Zhan couldn’t completely stop An Guan, the prince still slowed him. Da Niu adjusted to his charge and turned a bit sideways, following An Guan. An Guan was not out of danger, yet.

An Guan resorted to swinging his glaive in Da Niu’s direction. The giant iron blade at the tip of his glaive detached. The giant iron blade flew toward Da Niu. Da Niu didn’t show any concern with that blade. He continued charging. When the energy wave of his charge collided with the giant iron blade, the blade disintegrated. His charge wasn’t slowed.

An Guan never put much hope on that giant iron blade to win a contest of strength with Da Niu. He let go of it to focus on his movement art. His body shook, and he split, or at least that’s what he appeared to do. He continued to run in all directions. Huang Zhan’s rope dart and vine tentacles lashed at these split copies, but they turned out to be illusions.

Only one of the copies was real. The movement art not only created images that fooled the eyes. Even Spirit Stage cultivators like Huang Zhan and Da Niu couldn’t pinpoint the real An Guan among those copies. An Guan’s aura was blurred during the execution of this art, and all his copies carried his aura.

Since they couldn’t tell the real An Guan, Da Niu charged into random targets. His charge crashed into multiple An Guan’s copies, but they turned out to be just illusions. Huang Zhan did the same, except he targeted the copies in the opposite direction from Da Niu. He also hit nothing but illusions.

Da Niu stopped his charge. It was pointless now that he had passed his target. The energy wave following him continued for a few hundred meters, obliterating most things in his path except for the protruding white bones. Those bones were indestructible.

An Guan’s copies faded before vanishing altogether. The real An Guan was visible again. He was slightly panting and pale. This movement art was powerful but used up a lot of aether. It would be some time before he could do it again.

”Not bad, tutor,” Huang Zhan praised. ”But how do you think you fight two Spirit Stage opponents? With one even stronger than yourself.”

An Guan frowned upon hearing that statement. Huang Zhan was not wrong. His chance of winning was too slim.

”Play defense,” An Guan heard Amon’s voice in his head. Amon was fighting Gan Xi and the Qing Lion a distance away. ”We don’t need to win this battle. We only need to keep them here long enough until Yang Li arrives at the fire well.”

The determination in An Guan’s eyes returned. The grip on his glaive tightened. Amon was right. Even if the opponents were too strong, he should be able to pull it off if he only needed to keep them busy.

*

In the meantime, Yang Li, who had become the hope of their survival, was running across the white sand. She carried the giant white bone made of wood on her shoulder. Though she could carry it, it was still heavy. The weight prevented her from flying, and she couldn’t run as fast as she wished to.

Xin Wuming, who was told to aid her, finally arrived. He circled the perimeter to ensure no enemies were around. If he saw one, he would lead that enemy away before they saw Yang Li.

After circling three rounds, he returned and saw Yang Li was even slower than before. He landed beside her and said, ”Let’s switch. I carry that thing, and you patrol the perimeter.”

”No,” Yang Li replied.

”Don’t be ridiculous,” Xin Wuming scolded. ”This is not the time to be prideful. Brother’s life is on the line. You are slower than before, and you know it. We are in a race for time. You can carry that bloody thing again once you regain your stamina.”

Yang Li made a deviant expression but eventually gave in. She tossed the giant bone unceremoniously at Xin Wuming, who stumbled a few steps when he caught it. This bone was indeed heavy. He positioned it on his shoulder.

”Watch the perimeter,” he told Yang Li.

”I know,” Yang Li replied. She was stretching her body. It felt great to have such a weight off her shoulders.

When Xin Wuming was about to start running, he heard Huang San cursing in his mind. Everyone on their team did, too.

*

”Fuck!” Huang San cursed. He was standing beside the fire well, but his attention was on a small dot in the distance. This dot was approaching. ”I have been found out.”

”Does the enemy see the well as well?” Amon’s voice asked in his mind.

Huang San looked at the hole in the sand. He answered, ”From that distance, I don’t think he spotted this hole yet.”

”Then move away! Lure the enemy away,” Amon ordered. ”Xin Wuming, memorize Huang San’s previous position and continue your way! Don’t follow his next position.”

”Yes, brother,” Xin Wuming answered.