Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 665: Chapter 665. The Earth Elemental

When the large talisman in Amon’s hand activated, the light it released seeped into the ground beneath Amon’s feet. The ground then rose with a loud rumble. The ground continued to rise until it appeared as if a mountain had been raised. It was around a hundred meters tall, and it cast a shadow over the battling army on the ground.

The emergence of this mountain took everyone aback. As they watched, a crack sounded, and the mountain broke apart. Large pieces of rock fell to the ground. Those who watched soon realized that instead of breaking apart, the mountain was actually shedding its outer layer. What remained after its outer shell was released was a broad-bodied humanoid composed entirely of rocks. It had arms and legs for limbs, and it could move.

”What the hell...?” Shou Zou was also baffled. In all his long life, he had never seen a talisman that could conjure a living creature.

While he was still taken aback, this giant rock entity swung its massive hand at him.

Despite the rock creature’s gargantuan size, its swinging speed was rather speedy. Shou Zou, still in a state of bafflement, reacted late. The rocky hand was already upon him before he knew it.

Shou Zou didn’t panic. He had fought many spirit beasts throughout his life. Many were gigantic, like this rock creature. The strength of a Lord Stage cultivator didn’t lose to a creature with such a titanic frame. He swung his stone axe at the incoming rock hand.

To his surprise, the force from the collision between his axe and the rock hand could push him back quite a distance away. He also felt slight pain in his grip. The rock creature’s raw strength probably surpassed his.

Before he was given the chance to gather himself, the rock creature’s other arm transformed. The rock that formed its arm rearranged itself into a long rock whip. It swung this whip at him.

Shou Zou used his movement art. He left afterimages as he zoomed away from the whip. The whip missed its target, but it responded by splitting into many smaller pieces. These rocks flew and chased after Shou Zou, who continued to zoom randomly to evade them.

Shou Zou was faster, but there were too many flying rocks. A portion always covered his escape paths. They kept him in the vicinity of the giant rock creature. While his attention was on the rocks that kept encircling him, the rock creature’s other hand transformed into another whip. It again swung this new whip at him.

Unlike before, Shou Zou had too many obstacles that prevented him from dodging. Thus, he met this incoming rock whip with his own attack. His stone axe, enveloped by a stream of water, clashed with the rock whip. The impact resulted in an explosion of wind and water. The rock whip broke apart. Chunks of rock flew everywhere.

While he was still unbalanced, a red light swooped in from above. He felt a sting in his left shoulder and learned that it was from Amon’s Alpha Puppet. The red puppet utilized the fact that battle puppets emitted no aura and stole a chance to stab him using its chainsaw sword. It failed to deliver a deep wound, but the stab still resulted in a cut.

The Alpha Puppet attempted a follow-up using its Morningstar fist, but a blanket of water blocked this second blow. This water blanket then wrapped around the Alpha Puppet, hindering its movements. Shou Zou kicked the puppet in retaliation for the stab. His kicking motion was followed by his axe, which aimed for the puppet’s head.

The Beta Puppet came to the rescue. It came between Shou Zou and the Alpha Puppet and used its energy shield to block the axe. While the energy shield endured the hit, the force of the blow still sent both puppets flying.

Shou Zou sensed another assault. His axe swung around him at high speed and broke multiple flying rocks, but he was not quick enough when the rock creature’s reformed fist came. A wall of water cushioned the fist, but it was ineffective. The rock fist crashed through and slammed into Shou Zou’s axe, which he used to block the punch.

He was sent crashing into the ground below. Given no reprieve, the flying rocks battered where he fell. More rocks shot out from the rock creature. Like a meteor shower, they battered the ground. Before long, Shou Zou was buried by a small hill of heavy boulders.

The rock creature stopped moving. It was still as it observed the rock mound.

The rock mound exploded. Shou Zou was visible again. His royal garment was full of tears and dirt. His appearance was no longer as grand as before. Small cuts were seen all over his body, but nothing serious. The one that leaked blood was the one in his shoulder, which was caused by the Alpha Puppet.

He looked at that wound. He touched it and brought his finger to his nose.

”You are still trying to use poison against me?” Shou Zou looked up at Amon, who stood on the rock creature’s shoulder.

”... I see that it is not effective against Lord Stage cultivator,” Amon said. He had coated the Alpha Puppet’s chainsaw sword with Cold Stiff Poison.

”It is not,” Shou Zou said. While it was true, he still felt an itch and slight cold where the wound was. He understood then that this was no ordinary poison. He used his aether to neutralize the poison.

A soft light fell on him. He felt warmth and comfort from the light. The small cuts all over his body started to close. The wound in his shoulder stopped bleeding.

”Thanks,” he said without looking back.

”What...?” Amon looked behind Shou Zou. A woman wearing the priestly garment of the Church of Eternity was there. She was Xin Wuyun. She was the one responsible for the soft light that bathed Shou Zou just now.

”There is an art that can heal others from afar?” Amon muttered. He sensed that Xin Wuyun was an Intermediate Spirit Stage. Her cultivation might be high, but the more worrying aspect about her was her healing art. She could make the battle against Shou Zou more difficult than it needed to be. Amon couldn’t allow that.

Amon sent a mental command to the rock creature. The rocks in the creature’s two arms churned before erupting. Chunks of large rocks headed toward Xin Wuyun and Shou Zou.

Shou Zou was about to throw his axe to protect Xin Wuyun, but canceled when he sensed something approaching fast. A ray of light shot past Xin Wuyun and collided with the barrage of rocks headed for her. The ray bounced multiple times as it struck the rocks that were still advancing. After all the rocks were neutralized, the ray rested beside Xin Wuyun. It turned out the ray was the Winged Qilin.

Shou Zou had destroyed all the rock barrage aimed at him. He retreated to where Xin Wuyun and his Winged Qilin were.

An imperious voice came out of the Winged Qilin, ”An Earth Elemental... No... This is but a copy.”

”A Winged Qilin...,” Amon had read the report about Shou Zou’s tamed beast. The Qilin was a spirit beast of Mid Mythical rank, and it possessed high intelligence and awareness, like the Multi-tailed Fox.

”You know what this rock creature is?” Shou Zou asked his tamed beast.

”I never met one, but it is recorded in my bloodline’s memory,” the Winged Qilin replied. ”A true earth elemental is a spirit beast of the Primordial rank. If this is the real one, you will have no chance against it. No, this one is but an imitation. Its power is at the Higher Mythical rank. It has no consciousness of its own. It is simply an invocation that serves the summoner’s objective and will vanish after a set time. Even so, you must be careful. It hasn’t revealed its full power yet.”

”Hmph,” Amon harrumphed. He didn’t expect the Winged Qilin to know about the Earth Elemental. He planned to catch Shou Zou off guard by unleashing the Earth Elemental’s full power at an opportune time. It was pointless now. Even if he interrupted the Winged Qilin, it could still inform Shou Zou via their mental link.

With Xin Wuyun and the Winged Qilin in the mix, Amon could no longer stay passive. He commanded the Earth Elemental, who flung its rock fist at the three opponents on the ground. The fist struck the ground and missed its targets, but it forced the three targets to jump in different directions.

The Earth Elemental broke apart after delivering its punch. Its inside was more sand than rock. The sand had a humanoid shape. This was the true form of the Earth Elemental. It was smaller than the rock form but could shift at will. Its sand formed many tentacles. At the end of each tentacle was a giant rock ball that was reshaped from the rock layer of its earlier body.

These rock balls assaulted Shou Zou from all directions. Flying amidst the sand tentacles were the Alpha and Beta Puppets. They kept watch in case Shou Zou tried to escape the tentacle formation.