Rise of The Demon General

Amon didn’t know what to make of it. He never believed the notion of an omnipresent being watching over the world. But if there was indeed a voice that could grant people power for fulfilling certain requirements, then there was certainly something that did. Could the creator mentioned by Xlasstazh and Xuan Ming have something to do with it?

He didn’t think about it too much. What Bo Wu had told him didn’t have to be the truth. The Hell Beast himself admitted that what he knew was only hearsay.

Amon asked, ”So, if I have acquired a law and experienced another enlightenment, I will hear the voice of Heaven telling me I cannot get any more laws?”

”In my knowledge, you won’t even hear the voice anymore. It won’t speak to you again once you accept a law,” Bo Wu answered. ”That’s why one can only possess one law.”

Amon went silent as he pondered the information. Bo Wu asked with an impatient tone, ”Hey, are you going to tell me how we can get out of here?”

”Before that, please go to the wall over there,” Amon said.

”Which wall?” Bo Wu asked.

”The one with the writings,” Amon answered.

Bo Wu looked around until he spotted the wall that Amon mentioned. The wall had many line carvings. Bo Wu thought it was random scribblings. If they were writings, they were written in a language he didn’t understand.

Bo Wu walked over. In front of that wall was a human skeleton posed in a cross-legged sitting position. On the skeleton’s lap was a broken sword. From its look, it used to be a longsword. Its blade, however, had broken, leaving only around twelve inches from its cross guard. Though broken, this sword emitted an aura that outclassed the other weapons strewn about the cavern.

Bo Wu was observing the broken sword due to its unusual aura when he heard Amon say, ”The upper part of the writings tells the story about how this place came to be.”

”Huh?” It took Bo Wu a second before he understood Amon was talking about the scribblings on the wall. ”You can read the writings?”

”Yes. These words are using the language from where I came from,” Amon answered.

”What do you mean? Are you telling me the one who wrote on the wall came from your hometown in Aetheria?”

What Amon meant was his previous world, but he didn’t bother to explain.

”My hypothesis is correct. This place is formed by the unintended result of the clash between Mo Wang and someone called the Divine. The skeleton here belongs to one of Mo Wang’s subordinates who joined the fight against the Divine. His name was Yun Chao.”

Bo Wu returned his attention to the skeleton with the broken sword on its lap.

”The writings on the wall were his testimony. Hmph! A vain attempt to mark his existence for the poor souls who were unfortunate enough to enter this place.”

Bo Wu chuckled amusingly. ”Why do you speak as if you were talking about other people? Aren’t we those unfortunate souls?”

Amon didn’t respond to the derision. He continued translating the writings on the wall.

”Yun Chao described the Divine as a fearsome existence. Even supported by hundreds of his loyal followers, Mo Wang couldn’t triumph over the Divine. Many of Yun Chao’s comrades fell during the battle. It was through many sacrifices that they managed to damage the Divine’s sword, which he called the Light of Justice, before finally disarming him. Yun Chao here was the one who managed to snatch the damaged sword away.

”However, the collision of energy between the enraged Divine and Mo Wang, who tried to shield Yun Chao, sent him plunging into the ground. He happened to crash into a dark-element ley node deep inside the ground. The combined energies that sent him plunging reacted with the ley node, resulting in a chain reaction that altered the space. This reaction sucked everything on the ground within the vicinity into the newly created space.

”Yun Chao was badly wounded. The divine’s sword also broke in two during the process. He tried to leave the place, but found the darkness energy blocking the pathway too powerful for his wounded self. Hence, he was trapped in here.”

”Tch!” Bo Wu uttered. ”If even someone who can join a battle against a being at the level of the Divine cannot flee this place, what hope do we have?”

Amon didn’t respond to Bo Wu’s pessimistic statement. He continued reading. ”The second part of the writings was a treatise on what he described as a cultivation art he was most proud of.”

”Tch! A cultivation art? What use is that for? Why can’t he leave behind something more useful? Fuck! Shitty dead man!” Bo Wu cursed. He also kicked the skeleton, causing the bones to break apart and scatter. The broken sword fell to the ground with a clang.

Bo Wu continued to vent his frustration by hitting other things. He was like a kid throwing a tantrum because he had just lost his favorite toy.

It took a while for him to calm back down. When he did, he asked Amon, ”Hey! Why are you so quiet? Didn’t you say you could help me flee this place?”

When Amon didn’t reply, he asked again, ”Hey! Are you dead already?”

Amon still didn’t reply. Bo Wu was about to scold him again when he suddenly found that he had difficulty moving his body.

”Wha–What...?”

While Bo Wu was puzzled by his condition, he heard Amon’s ominous laughter.

”Hehehe...”

Bo Wu’s puzzling soon turned to worry. He directed his consciousness inward. His form appeared from the dark smoke enveloping Amon’s black energy core. He saw that the energy space he had seemingly conquered had transformed. Glowing words of power floated around the space.

”How... How do you...”

”Hehe. Remember when you asked me how I restrained you when you were about to attack Dao Su? I temporarily activated these restraining words of power and deactivated them before you noticed. That was a test run to see if these engravings can affect you.”

”But... When did you make this... and how...?”

”How? It’s actually pretty simple for an engraver. It’s just that no one ever thought about engraving their own energy space. I have been secretly and slowly engraving these words of power for a long period. I mostly did it when you were occupied, like when you were talking or manifesting outside my body. It was easy to keep them hidden when I did not activate them.”

Bo Wu watched the words of power floating around the space. They were the same ones displayed on the engraved ropes and chains. He remembered then that long ago, Amon had practiced making a few engraved ropes. He had asked Amon then, why bother? It was easy to procure an engraved rope. Why go through the trouble of making one himself? Amon answered that he wanted to practice his engraving skill then.

”Hmph! So what?” Bo Wu said defiantly. I still possess the dominant control over your body. All you can do is render me immobile. How long do you think you can keep this up?”

”Hehe. You overestimate yourself,” Amon chukled.

Finished speaking, Bo Wu felt a strong pressure from the other side of the energy space.

”Hai Di knew about me possessing two cultivation paths, but I guess he didn’t expect the extent of their effects, because he still imprinted you into my body even when he knew that fact. My consciousness still exists, even after you had taken over my black energy core, because I have another energy core. These words of power that restrain you now are powered by my divine energy core, and that is not all it can do.”

Bo Wu felt rising heat from the black energy core under him. He looked down and saw black lights seeping out of his smoky form.

”What? How...?”

The heat continued to rise until it was unbearable. His smoke began to burn. He knew if he insisted on holding onto the black energy core, he would be disintegrated.

Seeing that he had no choice, he let go of the black energy core. The moment he did, the words of power around the space began to come together. They formed long ropes that cut through the dark spiderweb and converged around Bo Wu.

”Do not think you can catch me!” Bo Wu exclaimed. He burst into thin smoke and spread before the glowing ropes arrived.

”Hehe... Have you not considered why I wasted my time conversing with you instead of immediately activating this restraining power when you showed your true colors?”

Bo Wu’s smoke form was too vaporous. It was not tangible enough to catch. The ropes didn’t chase after his smoke form. Instead, they floated to one corner of the energy space.

”What?!” Bo Wu’s anxious voice was heard when he saw where the ropes were headed.

”A soul imprint meant your soul is somewhere inside me. Throughout the years, I have also secretly learnt how to detect your soul’s presence. I know how to find it even when you render it invisible. I only require time, which is what my conversations with you are for. I have you now!”

The ropes lunged and wrapped around something round and invisible. The moment they did, Bo Wu roared in anguish.