Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 735: Chapter 735. The Demon Realm

Amon travelled through something that appeared like a malleable tunnel. The space he passed through seemed to be constantly transforming. At one time, he was free-falling through empty air. Next, he felt like he was dragged through sand. Then, he was going through water. After that, mud.

One thing was sure. He had no control over his direction. He continued to get pulled toward the other side of the tunnel.

During that time, he could feel his normal energy core vibrating madly. Whatever energy that formed this tunnel was applying intense pressure on his divine energy core. The pressure made him feel like he was about to burst apart.

While this tunnel seemed to be actively opposing his divine energy core, the infernal aether from his black energy core seeped out and wrapped around his body. This helped him ease the pressure. He still felt a great deal of pain, though.

He understood then why only infernal cultivators could travel through this gate. Even if someone from the divine realm could force their way into this gate, they wouldn’t survive the travel.

He didn’t know how long the travel lasted. It could be seconds. It could be hours. He lost sense of time in the tunnel. Finally, with a boom, he was ejected from the tunnel. He felt weightless as his body hung in the air. He soon felt the pull of gravity again as his body fell. His mind was still a mess from the travel. He couldn’t assert control and command his body to fly. He crashed hard into the ground.

He gasped for air as he looked at the sky, which was a weird dark red without any clouds.

A face suddenly appeared, covering the red sky above. ”Well, well, well. What do we have here?” The face said.

Amon’s mind started to clear, and so was his cultivation sense. He sensed four people nearby, but couldn’t grasp their cultivation levels. He rose into a sitting position. His body was numb, his internal energy flow was in chaos, and he was panting. His body hadn’t fully recovered from the stress of crossing over. He studied his surroundings.

He was outdoors. He was at the center of a monument carved from rocks. He could no longer see the gate that brought him here, but he could sense it hovering slightly above the monument. Beyond the monument was a desolate landscape with rocky hills and dead trees. He didn’t see any green vegetation as far as his eyes could see.

The four people he had sensed were loitering at different positions around the monument. They wore armor, but each one was different than the others. Even their outfits under the armor were not uniform. Amon’s first logical thought was that these four were the guards to the gate, but they looked more like ruffians. One of the four even exhibited weird physiology. He had a crustacean’s claw appendage for his left arm.

One of the guards asked, ”Is he someone who has crossed before? I can’t remember everyone who did.”

The first guard that Amon saw remained standing beside him. This guard answered, ”Not one of us. Perhaps he is a surface dweller who found himself compatible with infernal aether and cultivated it. He was discovered, ran away, and accidentally stumbled into the gate.”

”Ho... We haven’t gotten one of those for centuries. I thought all the infernal practitioners in the surface world had perished.”

”What’s his cultivation level?” The guard with the crustacean arm asked.

The first guard squatted before Amon, showing a concentrated face. ”Mm... Intermediate Diabolic Stage of the Acolyte Realm.”

”Oh? Same as me? Not bad for a surface dweller,” his partner remarked. ”I didn’t expect they could practice infernal cultivation to that level up there. Must have stumbled on a good infernal cultivation art.”

Amon was surprised that the guard detected his infernal cultivation instead of his divine cultivation. His Concealed Ghost Body was not working. His body was still adjusting from the dimensional travel, so he couldn’t yet use his concealment art.

Now that he thought about it, everyone only detected his divine cultivation when he was dormant. He was only worried someone would learn about his infernal cultivation when he was using the infernal aether to perform arts. Considering this, he surmised that cultivators only sensed the same cultivation type as the others when they weren’t drawing energy from their energy cores. Hence, the guard here only sensed his infernal cultivation. They weren’t aware that he was also a divine cultivator.

Amon could feel his control over himself return. He could now better sense these four and discern their cultivation levels. The one standing beside him was at the Peak Diabolic Stage, while the other three were at the Intermediate Diabolic Stage.

He tested his muscles. He had regained control of his motoric functions. The flow of his internal energy had returned to normal. The side effects from the travel had dissipated. He stood up.

”Guys, what do you think? Should we report him to base?” The first guard asked his comrades.

”It’s not often we get fresh meat,” the one with the crustacean arm answered. ”No one will know that someone has crossed over. What’s the point of bothering to report this? Might as well take whatever he has and have some fun with him.”

”Hm... Good idea,” his partner said.

”Hey, look at him,” Another guard said. Amon was flexing his fists with a calm face. ”Maybe he is deaf? He doesn’t hear what we are saying, so he doesn’t know what is about to befall him.”

”Does it matter? Let’s just be done with this.”

”Hold on, we can’t let this end too quickly. You know that we being assigned here is punishment, don’t you? No one can enter this world aside from an infernal cultivator, and the ones who are not originally from here are all weak infernal cultivators. This guy has the highest record to date, since eternity. There is, like, zero chance for an invasion. We are nothing but glorified guards to take note of those who use this gate. So, this guy’s arrival is a blessing to alleviate our boredom. We must play with him slowly. Don’t let it end too quickly.”

”Hm... You are right,” the one with the crustacean arm said. His crustacean claws opened and closed eagerly. ”We will do this one by one. One person does the deed. The others watch. We take turns. This should prolong the process. Let me have a go at him first.”

”Eat shit! I saw him first, so I go first!” The first guard uttered. ”Plus, my cultivation is higher than the three of you. It’s only right that the first turn goes to me. You help me restrain him. If I fight him, he might die immediately.”

Amon had been performing some warm-up moves as the three talked. From this, he was sure he had full control over his body again. He turned to the guard standing beside him and asked, ”What is the chance that someone will pass this place? Or are you going to bring me somewhere discreet?”

The four were stunned to silence.

It was a few seconds before one of them spoke, ”I will be damned, so he is not deaf.”

His friend asked Amon, ”Dude, are you not aware of what you are about to experience?”

”What is the chance that someone will pass this place?” Amon repeated his question.

The first guard laughed in amusement. ”Funny man, you are. Don’t you worry. This place is utterly isolated. It is sometimes weeks between us seeing another person, and there is no notice about changing our shifts. We can play with you here without fear of someone disturbing us.”

”That is good to know,” Amon said.

The first guard made a puzzled expression. ”Why is that good to–”

He stopped speaking because Amon’s fist was buried in his face. The power from the punch was not one of the Intermediate Diabolic Stage. He blacked out for a moment and crashed into one of the pillars of the monument. The pillar didn’t show any damage from the hard crash. It was made of extremely hardy materials.

The three other guards were surprised by the ambush. Before they registered what had happened, many flying knives headed toward them.

The knives pierced the limbs of two guards. The last guard, the one with the crustacean arm, was positioned the furthest. He reacted before the knives arrived. His crustacean arm moved quickly to block the knives. The shell of that arm was tough enough that the knives couldn’t hurt it.

While he successfully blocked the knives, Amon had arrived before him. Amon slashed using the ceremonial dagger before he could react. His crustacean arm was split in two. He screamed in pain from losing his arm.

Amon looked at the cut arm. The crustacean arm was not armor. It was the guard’s biological arm. He wondered what kind of mutation it was.

Within seconds, Amon took the four down and bound them using engraved chains. The Peak Spirit Stage from his divine cultivation was much stronger than the Diabolic Stage, which was equivalent to the Mystic Stage.

He addressed his four captives while showing a small bottle. ”Alright. Since I have only gotten here, I will need information about this place. I will be asking questions. If you don’t answer them, I will feed you this.”