Rise of The Demon General

”Lin! What are you doing? I’m doing this for your good!” Yuka exclaimed.

Lin Li didn’t reply. She instead strengthened her bite. Her claws also dug into Yuka’s parts, which bled. That would be the upper half of her body.

Yuka was depressed. She knew Lin Li would come once she targeted Amon. She had been confident she could finish Amon before then, but her prey proved to be much tougher than expected.

Seeing that she couldn’t convince Lin Li, her tentacles grabbed her and forcefully pushed her away. As she was pushed away, Lin Li’s eyes shone.

Yuka’s face didn’t have eyes, but her wings did, and those large eyes were looking at Lin Li. Hence, her hypnotizing gaze still affected her.

Yuka found herself confronted by an illusion. She was back to the time when she was imprisoned inside the dimensional box. The ancient cultivator who imprisoned her was before her, torturing and threatening her so that she accepted his request to be his tamed beast.

She grunted, and the illusion shattered.

”Your illusion power doesn’t work on me,” Yuka uttered. The two large eyes on her wings were glowing. She possessed the power to undo any mental attack on her swiftly.

However, she soon found something unexpected. All the tentacles that swirled around her had been cut, including the ones that held Lin Li. The fox was free, and she was grinning.

”That’s okay,” Lin Li told Yuka. ”My illusion is only meant to rob you of a short second.”

A glowing blade pierced out below her throat.

”Hrgghh...!!” Blood spurted from her mouth.

Lin Li attacked Yuka while consciously positioning herself so that Amon was opposite her, effectively putting him behind Yuka. When her illusion struck Yuka, Amon executed White Slash. The martial art sliced most of Yuka’s tentacles, which acted as her primary defense. He then followed up by throwing his Broken Justice, just as Yuka broke free from Lin Li’s illusion.

The Broken Justice pierced her back and came out of her front. The pierced spot was where her spirit core was located.

Amon pulled her Broken Justice back. With her spirit core destroyed, Yuka lost power. She dropped to the ground below. Amon chased her. He wanted to ensure that she would never threaten him again. Lin Li followed him.

They landed near Yuka, who lay powerless on the ground. She was alive, but barely.

”... Before you finish me, may I speak a few words with Lin Li?” She asked Amon.

Amon observed her condition. Her aura was weak. She would die even if he left her alone. She couldn’t do anything that could threaten him in that condition.

”You should know by now it is pointless for you to persuade her,” Amon answered. ”Our bond is too strong.”

”I won’t leave Brother Amon,” Lin Li confirmed his claim.

Yuka chuckled. ”I know that. If I can persuade her using words, why do you think I resort to trying to kill you? No, I’m not going to persuade her.”

She turned to Lin Li and said, ”Lin, a spirit beast of my kind rarely develops any strong connection with anyone. I do know that your Mesmerizing Voice plays a part in making me believe that I have this special feeling for you. Even so, I do treasure it. I guess being imprisoned for as long as I have will make you crave a relationship, even if it isn’t real.”

”I was there with you before you knew her,” Amon said.

Yuka chuckled again. ”Sorry if I don’t find building a relationship with you appealing. You are not exactly good company.”

Amon shrugged at the remark.

Lin Li transformed into her human form, which she knew Yuka preferred. She knelt beside her and held her hand. ”I’m sorry...,” she uttered.

”No need to be sorry. I made my choice,” Yuka replied. ”Without a spirit core, I will expire soon. Before that, I want to give you something.”

”What is it?” Amon asked.

”I ain’t talking to you,” Yuka replied to Amon curtly before returning to Lin Li. ”I know you won’t leave this man, but being with him, you should know by now that you will always be faced with danger. If you insist on being by his side, you must grow stronger. Even stronger than the peak that you can reach.”

Yuka’s body began to glow. Amon was at first alarmed, but he remained still. He no longer sensed any killing intent from Yuka. Furthermore, he believed she wouldn’t harm Lin Li.

”I will give you my seed essence,” Yuka told Lin Li. ”It won’t provide you with immediate benefit, but you will understand its use once you reach your evolution ceiling.”

The glow from Yuka coalesced into her hand that was holding Lin Li. The glow slowly seeped into Lin Li’s hand.

”Consider this... my parting gift,” Yuka said. Once the last part of the glow left her body, her aura vanished. She had used up whatever life force she had left to transfer the seed essence.

”Thank you...,” Lin Li said softly.

Amon remained silent and let her process the incident. She was used to a solitary life, but anyone would prefer to have a companion. Additionally, Yuka was a fellow spirit beast who genuinely cared for her. There was no way she wasn’t sad about how things ended up.

”Hm...?!” Amon turned to where the others were battling.

”Something wrong, brother?” Lin Li asked.

”... Something is happening to Di Ying,” Amon answered.

”Is she hurt?” Lin Li asked with concern. After Yuka left, Di Ying replaced her as the new roommate inside the black space ring. They got along well, and Lin Li considered the fledgling dragoness her friend.

”... I can’t tell.”

”Can’t you access her senses and see what was happening with her?”

”My bond with her is not yet as strong as ours. All I can do is sense her feelings, locate her, and send her mental messages. She is currently not responding to my messages. Not because she refused to respond. It’s more like my messages can’t reach her at all. It was as if she were unconscious. Yet, her feelings were turbulent, and she didn’t stay in one spot. Those are not something an unconscious person does.”

”We should help her!” Lin Li exclaimed.

”Alright. Let’s go,” Amon said. He knelt and grabbed Yuka’s corpse. She was a Higher Primordial Beast. Her corpse would be a precious material for Dao Su’s altered beast experiment.

Lin Li returned to her fox form. She was faster than Amon in that form. She was also as large as an adult horse, so he rode atop her. She summoned winds to carry her, and they shot into the sky.

With her speed, they arrived soon at where the others were still battling. They were shocked to see how the battle had transpired. Thien Huo lay dead, and Di Yu was forced to fight Mo Wang and Ling Dau by herself. Di Ying was floating in the air, surrounded by Thien Huo’s blood that seemed to be alive. Her expression showed that she was in a trance.

”What is happening to Di Ying?” Lin Li asked.

”... I think she has matured and gained her element,” Amon replied.

”How can that be? Considering her age, she should need a few more centuries to mature.”

Amon also thought that the current situation was unusual. He hypothesized that it was probably due to the Primordial Blue Lotus’ nectar, which he regularly gave Di Ying, or something extraordinary had triggered her premature growth, or maybe both.

Di Ying began to move in Di Yu’s direction.

Amon approached Krassazh and Yao Ai, who were watching the battle from a safe distance. He asked them, ”Why aren’t you helping with the fight?”

Krassazh looked at Amon like he had asked a foolish question. ”Are you nuts? It was risky enough to interfere when they were fighting one-on-one. Now, it is two against one. I will just be throwing my life away if I interfere.”

”You go ahead and blow my head,” Yao Ai said. ”It is the same result if you ask me to insert myself in that battle.”

Amon looked at the battle ahead. Di Yu’s situation wasn’t encouraging. Di Ying was heading over, but he wasn’t sure if she would make a difference. Though she had matured, she had only recently gained her power. The opponents were those who had been at the top for a long time.

He looked at Thien Huo’s corpse before looking back at the battle ahead. Whatever the result, he wouldn’t have the chance to lay a hand on that corpse once the battle was over. Even if they lost here, he didn’t want to leave empty-handed.

He sent a mental message to Lin Li, telling her to stand watch. She was to inform him in case Di Yu and Di Ying returned. He then flew down and landed on Thien Huo’s corpse. From the look of it, the salamander dragon had lost all its blood due to Di Ying’s ability. This made it easier for him. He entered Thien Huo’s body from the large wound on his chest.

Krassazh and Yao Ai noticed his deed. ”What the hell is he doing?” the Hyanid asked.

Yao Ai sneered. ”He is a real villain through and through. Even in this situation, all he can think about is satisfying his greed.”