Rise of The Demon General

Amon encountered ambushes during their journey out of the misty border, but they were much less frequent than when he was heading in.

The reason was probably the giant spirit beast that flew beside him. Di Ying maintained her dragon form. She might be a dragonling, but her noble dragon aura still intimidated most of the spirit beasts. The spirit beasts that did attack were either dispatched by them or distracted by Amon’s battle puppets, allowing them to escape.

Di Ying never transformed back into a human throughout their journey. She used to adore humans due to the many stories she had read, but after her experience with Amon, she no longer had a favorable view of them.

When they were close to the edge of the misty border, Amon stopped. He told Di Ying to enter his black space ring. She was reluctant at first, thinking it was another trick from Amon, aiming to imprison her. Amon again asked her if she felt any deception in his soul when he asked her to enter the ring. He explained that the ring didn’t restrain one’s freedom. Those inside could exit it at any time they wished.

”You will be a prime target if you enter human territory in that form,” Amon explained. ”Even if you use your human form, it will still be dangerous. I can’t protect you if something happens.”

Di Ying continued to show a defiant attitude.

”Look. I can force you using our mental link if I must, but I don’t want to,” Amon said. He then followed up with a softer tone, ”I will prove to you that I meant what I said. We will save your mother. We will then punish the human who had imprisoned your mother and hurt your uncle. You can count on me to make that happen, but I need you to trust me. Please, give me a chance to prove it to you.”

Di Ying’s stance softened upon hearing that. She didn’t realize it was also due to Amon manipulating her mental state via their mental link. She slowly lowered her head at Amon. Amon touched her, and she vanished into the ring’s space.

She was surprised to find the world inside the ring. It was alive and abundant.

”Hi.”

Di Ying turned to the voice that greeted him. It was a large fox with multiple tails.

Amon’s mental image appeared between them. He introduced them, ”Di Ying, this is Lin Li. Lin Li, this is Di Ying. You will share this place. Please get to know each other.”

Di Ying’s eyes turned to another moving thing inside this world, a weird mechanical beast that uttered disturbing cackles.

Amon followed her sight and said, ”Don’t go near that one.”

”Come, I will show you around,” Lin Li offered.

Seeing that the one who made the offer was not a human, Di Ying was more cooperative.

Amon left Di Ying in Lin Li’s care. He already told her about the situation. He asked Lin Li to use her Mesmerizing Voice to persuade Di Ying to accept her situation and forgive him. He would also do it slowly, using their mental link. With influences from the outside and the inside, he believed he could brainwash her into obedience.

He continued to monitor the two spirit beast ladies for a while. After ensuring Di Ying wouldn’t do anything rash, he returned his attention to the outside world.

He looked back in the direction he came from. He wondered whether Mo Wang and Thien Huo were still locked in combat. Either way, the two would consider him a hostile after this incident. Having two such powerful beings as adversaries would send most people into despair, but Amon felt excitement instead. He swore there would be a time when he would dominate those two.

With that thought, he left the misty border.

*

True to his promise to Di Ying, he flew directly toward Mo Wang’s castle. He crossed through the Commitment Domain.

During his venture into the misty border, the flames of war burned even more intensely between the three domains. Mass-scale battles ravaged the land. Ruins, fire, and smoke were everywhere. Thankfully, he was one person. He easily sneaked through all the chaos.

Even without encountering a conflict, it still took him a week to reach the periphery of Mo Wang’s territory. He didn’t immediately enter.

”My mother is ahead?” Di Ying asked.

She was standing by Amon’s side in her human form. She demanded that Amon call her when they were near their destination. She was calmer now. Constant exposure to Lin Li’s Mesmerizing Voice and Amon’s mental influence had rendered her much more cooperative than before.

Amon answered her query, ”There is a castle ahead. Your mother is imprisoned in the basement of that castle.”

”Then what are we waiting for?” Di Ying asked.

”We can’t be certain that Mo Wang has not returned yet. Even though we rushed here before him, his cultivation level is much higher. His flight speed is faster. If his battle with your uncle didn’t last long, he could have reached here before us. Even if their battle took days, he could still be here already because he possesses the Law of Space.”

”Then how? Are we going to stand here like this?” Her impatience caused her anger to surface again.

”We will enter, but slowly and carefully,” Amon told her. He took out a crystal prism. The words of power along the prism’s surfaces shone when he activated it. An energy bubble radiated out of the prism, covering them.

”Stay within the bubble,” Amon said.

”What is this bubble for?” Di Ying asked.

”Mo Wang set up his entire territory with surveillance devices. They detect trespassers and allow him to know what happens inside his territory. This bubble helps conceal us from those devices. If he is back in his castle, he won’t know we are here so long as we stay within this bubble.”

It was Zee Whang who made the prism that produced the concealment bubble. It was tailored to reflect the energy emitted by Mo Wang’s surveillance enchantment. Zee Whang knew what words of power and devices Mo Wang used for his surveillance because Amon had scouted the territory before.

The reconnaissance was made using Dao Su’s bugs. The bugs were small and harmless, so they didn’t raise the alarm from either Mo Wang’s surveillance or the spirit beasts inside the territory. Those bugs carried scanners made by Zee Whang that took images and recorded energy readings. Amon released the bugs into Mo Wang’s territory several days before the Lord’s meeting and collected them after. Zee Whang analyzed the data from those scanners and made this concealing prism.

”This bubble hides us from Mo Wang’s surveillance devices, but not the spirit beasts, so we must still proceed with caution,” Amon warned. He preferred to sneak in alone, but Di Ying insisted on being involved for this part. He was trying to win her goodwill back, so he endured her demand.

”No problem, I can sense most of the spirit beasts in the area,” Di Ying said.

”Well, so it’s true that a noble dragon does have a keen sense,” Amon remarked.

Di Ying had also just discovered this ability recently. She had lived her entire life inside the misty border, where one’s ability to sense aura was dulled. She was rather surprised by this herself, so much so that she came out of the black space ring several times to test her sensing abilities.

Lin Li and Amon gave her many pointers on this point. While Thien Huo cared for her, he wasn’t exactly a model teacher. He mostly let her grow naturally without giving her much guidance. In his opinion, all noble dragons must learn things on their own. All he was concerned with was keeping her safe. Amon wasn’t so. Now that Di Ying was his tamed beast, it was in his interest to help her grow in power as soon as possible.

In his estimation, although Di Ying was not yet matured, her raw power already put her close to the level of a Lower Deity Beast. Yet, she needed more experience to utilize this power of hers.

The two relied on their senses to traverse the landscape, with the concealment bubble hiding their presence from Mo Wang’s surveillance devices. They stopped after Mo Wang’s castle came into view.

Di Ying asked, ”That is the castle where my mother is held?”

”It is,” Amon answered. Before she suggested that they immediately enter the castle, he added, ”As I said, we must ensure that Mo Wang hasn’t returned before we infiltrate that place. First, we look for a suitable place to hide. I spotted a cave on our way here. I sensed only one Lower Primordial Beast inside. We will get rid of that beast and use the cave as our hiding place.”

They doubled back to the cave and entered. The spirit beast, which was a King Slime, lunged at the intruders once they entered. Because of the concealment bubble, it didn’t know the intruders were an Intermediate Mammoth cultivator and a noble dragon.

Amon and Di Ying remained inside the bubble in case Mo Wang had surveillance devices inside this cave. When the King Slime slightly entered the bubble, it was shocked to a pause once it felt Di Ying’s aura. Amon’s scorpion tail moved and stabbed into it when its movement stopped.

The Void Volatile Poison from the tail quickly spread inside the King Slime’s seemingly liquid body. The King Slime soon burst apart, splashing goo all over the cave.