Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 742: Chapter 742. Flesh Alterer

Wi Zhuang informed Amon that the leaning tower was called the Carrion Tower. It was where Yao Ai resided. Her favorite pastime was watching the matches in the arenas from atop the tower. As for the colossal red vulture, it was Yao Ai’s tamed beast, a Vermillion Vulture.

”Vermillion Vulture...,” Amon muttered. He had heard about this spirit beast in one of the Royal Academy’s lectures. It was classified as a Higher Primordial Beast. The lecture, of course, was based on records dug out from excavations. Such a spirit beast no longer existed in Aetheria.

”So, our domain lord is a beast tamer?” Amon asked.

”All the domain lords are experts in multiple fields,” Wi Yin explained. Their long age gave them the time to study various fields. Of course, it doesn’t mean they are good in all fields. In our domain lord’s case, yes, Mistress Yao Ai is an exceptional beast tamer.”

”I will head over to the mission center to report the success of our mission,” Wi Zhuang said. He dismissed all the grunts except for Amon. The remaining raiders were six people, including Wi Yin. ”Sister, why don’t you take them to Crow’s Bottom? I will head over once I am done with the reporting. We will celebrate our success there.”

”Crow’s Bottom?” Amon asked.

”It is the most famous tavern in Saintly Sin City,” Wi Zhuang answered. ”Okay, see you all there.”

After Wi Zhuang left, Amon asked Wi Yin, ”Something has been on my mind for a while. Can you tell me what the deal is with all those mutants?”

”Mutants? What’s that?” Wi Yin didn’t understand the term.

Amon pointed to a few citizens a distant away. One was a bald man with four eyes, two in normal positions, while the other two were at the back of his head. Another citizen had a hunchback. Sharp, spiky hairs were all over his hunched back, which made him look like a hedgehog. The third one was someone with a long, lizard-like tail. Amon also pointed at the sky above, where several humans with wings instead of arms fly above the city.

These mutants were not only in Saintly Sin City. In the three settlements they passed before arriving in this capital, Amon also saw plenty of deformed-looking humans with alien body parts.

”Oh, we call them Altered,” Wi Yin explained.

”How did they come to be like that? Or, are they natural phenomena in this lower realm?” Amon asked.

”The Altereds are a product of the Flesh Alterers,” Wi Yin answered. ”Well, I guess a surface dweller like you is not familiar with a Flesh Alterer. Flesh Alterer is one of the specialist jobs in this realm, much like pill masters or beast tamers. They were at first pill masters who tried to devise a way to cause artificial special constitutions to those who don’t possess them. Most of their results caused deformation to their subjects.”

”So, those Altereds are all the result of failures?” Amon asked.

”Some, yes, but not all,” Wi Yin answered. ”You see, from all the failures, the pill masters learned greatly by dissecting and studying their failed products. Their skill in surgical precision, comprehension derived from countless dissections, and combined with pill knowledge, later gave rise to a different path of expertise. They can artificially grow an altered body part or take a part from a spirit beast, then surgically transplant it to a compatible host.”

”Interesting,” Amon uttered. He remembered the portal guard with the claw arm. That guard must have been an Altered as well.

He looked up at the Altereds with wings. ”I guess those Altereds are those who originally can’t fly using their cultivation power.”

Wi Yin nodded. ”For infernal cultivators, we only gain our flying ability after entering the Monster Realm. Those are people stuck in the Acolyte Realm for too long, but they yearn for the ability to fly. Hence, they resort to asking the Flesh Alterers to alter their bodies.”

”Hm, this Flesh Alterer must be a pretty popular job in this realm,” Amon remarked.

”It is, but their fees are exorbitant. Some accept alternative payment by granting the Flesh Alterer to experiment on the requester’s bodies. These experiments sometimes end nastily. In a few rare cases, the subjects end up in a state worse than death. Because of that, you’d better possess a lot of aer stones if you need the service of a Flesh Alterer... Speaking of which, you are not actually interested in altering your body, are you?”

”Not at the moment,” Amon answered.

”It’s better not anytime at all,” Wi Yin said. ”Those specialists are bad news. Only a deranged person could excel in that field. If you ask me, I would rather stay the hell away from those freaks.”

Amon nodded without saying anything. He needed her information, not her opinion.

”We have arrived,” Wi Yin said. They stood on a busy street, facing a large, ornate building that seemed to be as busy as the street outside. Rowdy yells were heard from the inside. Above its large entrance was a giant plaque with the words, Crow’s Bottom.

”As busy as usual,” Wi Yin remarked. ”Come on. Let’s head in. My brother should be here soon.”

The tavern consisted of five floors and an open-air rooftop. The bottom floor was the most crowded and rowdy. When Amon and the others entered, people were congregating on one side, where a brawl was taking place. The crowd was cheering at the brawl and placing bets.

Wi Yin took them to the upper floors. She explained that the higher the floor went, the more exclusive it became. The furnishing also became more luxurious the higher they climbed. A guard checked their identity before every floor. Only influential people were allowed on the upper floors. As a member of the ruling faction of this city, they were, of course, allowed to head to the upper floors. Wi Yin took them to the fifth floor.

”Table for eight,” Wi Yin told the waiter.

”Who can enter the rooftop floor?” Amon asked.

”Only our faction members with the rank of slayer or above,” Wi Yin answered. ”If our domain lord keeps her promise, my brother will be included in that exclusive group.”

”If? Does Mistress Yao Ai sometimes go back on her words?” Amon asked.

Wi Yin shrugged. ”My brother only ever interacted with her once, but if the rumors are to be believed, we can never know when our domain lord decides to change her mind.”

Amon heard Bo Wu’s reproaching voice in his mind. ”See? I told you so.”

The fifth floor wasn’t empty. There was another group already on the floor. That group also wore red vests. Wi Yin had one look at the group and asked the waiter to place them at the corner opposite the group.

”Not someone friendly?” Amon asked.

”My brother had some disagreement with one of the people there. We should stay away from them,” Wi Yin answered.

They waited while enjoying wine and meals brought to them. Amon thought the quality was indeed top rate. The wine was almost at the level of the Heavenly Bliss Wine, the best wine in Aetheria, and Wi Yin said that this wine was only of middling quality in this realm. There were plenty of other, better, more expensive wines.

This proved that almost everything in this realm was of better quality than Aetheria. This was also true for the average cultivation of this realm’s inhabitants. Throughout his journey, Amon sensed that the average cultivation level was Diabolic Stage. Malicious Stage was aplenty, and he had walked past a few Fiendish Stage cultivators. This was like seeing Lord Stage cultivators on the street.

*

They continued to discuss different topics. Wi Zhuang came an hour later and sat in the chair reserved for him.

”How was it?” Wi Yin asked expectantly.

Wi Zhuang knocked her head. ”Do you think I will get promoted just like that? I have handed in the report and Xia To’s head. Whether this report will reach our domain lord or not, we will have to wait and see. Whatever the result, completing this almost impossible task is worthy of celebration.”

Wi Zhuang lifted the filled cup before him and saluted Amon. ”This is all thanks to Brother Amon. Without you, we will still be out there trying to figure out a way to complete the mission. I owe you one.”

Amon returned the gesture. ”Did you mention me in your report?”

”Of course,” Wi Zhuang said. ”I’m not someone who hoards others’ merits. I reported everything the way I witnessed it. All the merits of taking down the bandit base are yours alone, Brother Amon.”

”What? You didn’t mention that we help a little bit?” Wi Yin asked, disappointed.

”But we indeed didn’t help at all,” Wi Zhuang argued.

”What if Mistress Yao Ai considers this is not your achievement and does not grant you the promotion?” Wi Yin said.

”I think that will be for the best,” Wi Zhuang responded.

When he saw Wi Yin’s puzzling face, he sighed and said, ”Honestly, I hope my last encounter with Mistress Yao Ai is the first and the last. I prefer to be a common enforcer who handles routine tasks with average risk. If I were promoted to the Slayer rank, I’m afraid there will be more missions like the ones we have just completed. How many times do you think we can be saved by luck? I’m not an ambitious person. I don’t wish to compete with others. I am happy to earn just enough so my family can live peacefully.”

Amon snickered. He saw Wi Zhuang as nothing but a loser. What someone like Wi Zhuang didn’t understand was that trouble would still come even if they didn’t compete for the top, and, from what he saw, it was coming soon. He noticed someone from the group in the opposite corner became lively when Wi Zhuang entered the floor. Someone was pointing over, and now a couple of men were walking over.