Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 651: Chapter 651. The Creator

Amon stood at the foot of Jiangshen Mountain. It was a mountain on the Northwestern side of Kazhan. He had come here with Xan Chi and Fen Nu. This mountain was where the Tribe Mother resided.

Apparently, the Tribe Mother was an unofficial authority figure to many Kazhan tribes who still followed the old ways. She wasn’t a ruler, and she had no formal followers. None of the tribes was obligated to obey her command. Even so, most tribes looked for her whenever they were in a bind. For instance, if two tribes faced a conflict that might spell extinction, they were required to seek the Tribe Mother for councils or mediation.

From Fen Nu’s explanation, Amon considered the Tribe Mother was more like someone empowered due to tradition rather than having any actual power. Even so, she seemed like someone both Xan Chi and Fen Nu revered.

During the idle months Amon spent in Khode after defeating Zee Whang, Amon sent many scouts to dig for information about Kazhan’s internal situation. That’s how he learned of Xan Chi and Fen Nu. He was confident of these scouts’ information-gathering skills because he trained them himself. Yet, they didn’t learn anything about the Tribe Mother. This proved that the existence of the Tribe Mother was a tightly guarded secret.

When Amon asked Xan Chi about this, he confirmed that the Tribe Mother was indeed not public knowledge. Only tribe chiefs or elders who still followed the old ways knew about her. Those who had adopted the Temple of Divinity’s teachings no longer associated with her.

Aside from serving as a mediator or advisor for the tribe chiefs, the Tribe Mother also sometimes delivered important messages. A portent or prophecy that might affect Kazhan. Those messages were, most of the time, cryptic.

Amon was standing beside Xan Chi. They were waiting for Fen Nu before they climbed the mountain to meet the Tribe Mother. Her hut was located near the summit.

They were not the only ones there. Around them were many tents. These tents were erected by people from different tribes. Fen Nu spoke with the people of these tribes to find out why they had gathered here.

”Considering how secretive the Tribe Mother is, I’m surprised you revealed her existence to me,” Amon said to Xan Chi.

Xan Chi chuckled. ”Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have. The only reason I did so was because she told me to.”

”What do you mean?” Amon asked.

”Well, I don’t know yet when she gave me the message. All she said was that one day, a forceful stranger would come who would offer me the chance to return Kazhan to the old way. When that happened, I was to bring this stranger to her. Honestly, I have forgotten about her message since it was from fifty years ago. Even during our conversation, I never considered that you were the stranger she mentioned. Only when you demanded my immediate answer did I somehow remember that old message. That’s why I told you about her.”

”Fifty years ago...?” Amon asked. That was before he was born in this world.

Xan Chi expected Amon’s bewilderment. ”I told you already that the Tribe Mother bestows prophecy and omen, didn’t I? Your offer is one of the prophecies I received from her.”

”I don’t believe in prophecy,” Amon stated.

”So do I, until I met the Tribe Mother,” Xan Chi said.

Fen Nu approached them.

”So?” Xan Chi asked her.

”Apparently, these tribes gathered here because they have been summoned by the Tribe Mother. They weren’t told what to do except to stay here until further notice. The purpose as to why they were gathered was a cryptic message telling them it was time to return to the old ways.”

Xan Chi turned to Amon. He asked with a grin, ”Still don’t believe in prophecies?”

”Let’s go meet this Tribe Mother of yours,” Amon said without answering Xan Chi’s question.

Only the three of them ascended the mountain. The other tribes remained below the mountain.

A forest dominated by standing snags covered the mountain. Aside from several large crows Amon identified as Omen Crows, he saw no other animals or spirit beasts in their journey. This gave him the impression that they were walking through a dead forest. Even when it was still afternoon, the atmosphere was dark. Dark clouds covered the sky above. Very little sunlight passed through.

”This Tribe Mother chose a rather peculiar place to live in,” Amon remarked. ”What is her cultivation level?”

”From what I sensed the last time I met her, the Peak Mystic Stage,” Fen Nu answered.

”Not too impressive. What about her age?”

”No one knows,” Fen Nu answered.

”How is her role passed down? Does she select an apprentice?”

”No one knows,” Fen Nu repeated.

”Over my two hundred years, the Tribe Mother never changes in her appearance,” Xan Chi said. ”From the depiction I heard from the elders of the other tribes, the Tribe Mother they know is still the same one.”

”Peak Mystic Stage can live for three hundred years. If this Tribe Mother never changed, she must be near the end of her lifespan already,” Amon remarked.

Xan Chi chuckled. ”I know a Spirit Stage elder who is nearing the limit of his five hundred years. From how he described the Tribe Mother, whom he met when he was still young, her appearance is still the same as the one I know.”

”What are you saying? That the Tribe Mother is immortal?” Amon asked.

”I didn’t say anything. It’s just that sometimes, some things can’t be explained,” Xan Chi replied.

”Hmph, the Tribe Mother must be using a concealment art,” Amon said.

Xan Chi shrugged. ”If that’s what you choose to believe.”

After traversing through the dead forest for almost an hour, the three arrived near the summit. Up there, a small wooden hut stood alone. Around the hut was a garden filled with vibrant flowers. The sight contradicted the forest filled with dead trees around it.

The three walked past the garden and to the door. Before Xan Chi could knock on the door, it opened. A beautiful middle-aged woman was behind the door.

The woman smiled and said, ”I have been waiting for you, General Amon. Please come in. As for Xan Chi and Fen Nu, please wait outside.”

The two tribe chiefs bowed to the woman before stepping aside to let Amon pass. After Amon entered, the woman told Xan Chi and Fen Nu, ”Whatever happens next, you must cooperate with this man until Kazhan is back to its old ways. I will also send the same message to the other tribe chiefs waiting below this mountain.”

Xan Chi and Fen Nu didn’t quite understand, but they agreed to comply by bowing again. The woman closed the door then.

”Are you the Tribe Mother?” Amon asked while looking around the room. The inside of the hut was modest. It only had a bed, a table with four chairs, and a small kitchen on one side.

”I am,” the Tribe Mother replied with a smile.

”You are much younger than I pictured,” Amon said. His Spirit Sense also informed him that the woman before him was at the Peak Mystic Stage.

”I don’t blame you. Many who met me for the first time expected to see a hunched, wrinkled old woman. Please, call me by my name, Xuan Ming. Have a seat.”

Amon sat on one of the small chairs. Xuan Ming took a pair of cups and a kettle from the kitchen. ”Tea?” She asked.

”I’m not here for pleasantries,” Amon replied. ”I was told you are the one whom I must convince if the tribes are to cooperate with me.”

”Did you not hear what I told the two outside? I’ve already given them the blessings to cooperate with you, including the other tribes below the mountain. Since that is the case, you have already achieved your objective, haven’t you?”

”Hm... In that case, I have no reason to stay,” Amon said.

”On the contrary, I think you do. You might pretend that you don’t care, but I know you are curious about me. You have many questions, especially about how I know your arrival and intention. However, you don’t want to let me see your curiosity because you are afraid that I will request something in return for the information.”

”... Will you request something?” Amon asked.

”No, I just wish to tell you something,” Xuan Ming replied. ”Depends on how our chat ends, I might even give you something that might help you in your endeavor.”

”In that case, I will take the tea,” Amon said.

After Xuan Ming put the cup filled with tea on Amon’s table, Amon asked, ”So, I heard you can see the future?”

Xuan Ming laughed. ”Who told you that nonsense? No one can see the future except the creator.”

Amon was amused that Xuan Ming chose to use the word creator instead of God. Perhaps because the Gods in this world had a different definition. It was not the omnipotent deity as defined in his previous world, but simply humans who had the pinnacle cultivation levels.

”So, how do you explain your knowledge about me coming here?” Amon asked.

”I was informed by the higher power,” Xuan Ming answered.

”The higher power?” Amon asked.

”The creator, of course,” Xuan Ming replied.