Rise of The Demon General

Xin Wuming jumped away with his entire body burning. With a cry of agony, he dropped and rolled on the ground to douse the flames. After some time, he finally succeeded. He lay on the ground, panting. His fabric cloth had been burned to dust, his armor was charred, and his skin was covered in burned marks.

”You are too weak,” Amon said. ”The sword isn’t willing to accept you as its master.”

Amon’s statement hurt Xin Wuming’s pride. He might be submissive to Amon, but Amon was the only one he afforded this state of yielding. To everyone else, he was extremely prideful. It was even more so to a non-living object. He couldn’t accept being rejected by a mere sword.

He rose to his feet and walked back to the Dragonfire Sword. Amon didn’t stop him.

His body had begun healing thanks to his Undying Body, but smoke could still be seen from the burned wounds. This showed how severe the burning was. Even so, his face showed determination. There was no fear in his eyes. As he walked, a metallic layer covered his skin. This was his defensive art, Iron Skin. Without hesitation, he shoved his hand toward the sword’s hilt. He didn’t just touch the sword with his finger like before. He grabbed it with his hand.

As before, fire burst out at the point of contact. It engulfed Xin Wuming. However, unlike before, Xin Wuming neither let go nor retreat. He stood his ground as fire blanketed his body.

The metal element was weak against fire. His Iron Skin was of little use. It quickly melted, and the flames ate at his skin again. Nevertheless, he didn’t let go. He gritted his teeth as he endured the torture.

”Aahhhh...!!!” His scream filled the cave as he pulled the red sword and lifted it high. ”I am your master, and you will listen to me!”

He channeled his power into the sword and slashed it down with all his might. A wave of fire erupted from his slash. Interestingly, the wave that erupted from the slash sucked all the flames encasing his body. The fire wave traveled outward, burning everything it touched.

”Hah... Hah... Hah...,” Xin Wuming panted. His whole body was charred. The armor that survived the previous burning had now turned to ashes. His naked body was covered in soot, and no part of his body wasn’t severely burned. Despite his horrible condition, he was laughing. ”Hahaha! You will serve me...!!”

His laugh didn’t last long. He lost consciousness and fell to the ground. The Dragonfire Sword left his hand and clattered on the ground.

Amon walked over with a smile. ”Heh, not bad. It is too early for you to use that sword, but at least you show potential.”

Though Xin Wuming had an Undying Body, Amon didn’t want to leave his fate to chance. He fed Xin Wuming a recovery pill and a regrowth pill. He then opened the prison box and carried Xin Wuming through its portal. He took him to Yeresdyx and asked her to check his condition.

*

The next place Amon visited was Golden Stone City, the capital of Echos. It remained the governing center of Echos, but the Huang Clan no longer held power. It was the Regent. Huang Clan still lived inside the royal palace, but they were no longer involved in politics.

After Amon’s treacherous ploy, the Huang Clan was reduced to only two individuals, the queen and her son.

At this time, Yang Li and Huang Bei were in the palace inner courtyard. They were enjoying a routine outing between mother and son.

Huang Bei was now thirty-five years old. He was an Intermediate Transformation Stage cultivator. As for Yang Li, she was at the Peak Spirit Stage. Since they were no longer involved in court matters, they had a lot of free time. Yang Li mostly spent it cultivating or worrying about her son, while Huang Bei fooled around most of the time.

”Bei Er, I received complaints again from the brothel owners. They said you are treating the girls there poorly.”

Huang Bei, who was drinking his wine, rolled his eyes. ”What are they complaining about? I paid them extra, so I’m justified in enjoying a little bit more.”

”Not so if your enjoyment left a permanent trauma on the girls. All of them demanded not to serve you anymore.”

”Hah! Like they have a choice!”

”I’m serious, Bei Er,” Yang Li admonished sternly. ”Stop causing trouble. Our family is no longer as untouchable as we used to be.”

”We are never untouchable, anyway,” Huang Bei argued. ”One demon managed to wipe out almost all the members of our family. I don’t see what the difference is between then and now.”

Yang Li winced. If only her son knew that she was one of the culprits.

She sighed and said, ”Just try your best to behave, okay, for Mom. Can you do that for me?”

”Alright. Anything for you, mother. Can I go now?”

Yang Li shook her head and waved her hand, signaling it was okay for him to leave. He got up from his seat and walked away. As he did, the bushes on the side stirred.

Yang Li noticed it. ”Bei Er, watch out...!!” She exclaimed as she rushed forward.

Four people burst out of the bushes. They wore concealed outfits and had been using concealment arts to mask their aura. Each concealed person wielded a long sword. The ambush took Huang Bei aback. He froze as the assassins arrived.

”Die, you useless monarch! Echos is better without you!” One of the assassins declared.

”Nobody hurt my child...!!” Yang Li’s loud voice was accompanied by an intense heat that forced the assassins to turn to her. What they saw rattled them.

Flames draped around the Echos’ queen. These flames formed eight long appendages, each ending in a large and sharp claw. With her speed, the fiery claws would reach them before they reached Prince Huang Bei. They had no choice but to turn their attention to defending themselves.

Nevertheless, their defensive attempt didn’t make a difference. The swords they used to block the fiery claws melted upon contact. Moreover, there were twice as many claws as there were of their number. Two claws targeted them each. While one struck their swords, the other came from below and grabbed their legs. Three assassins screamed as fire spread from the point of contact and engulfed their whole bodies.

Only one out of the four survived Yang Li’s attack. He managed to jump away before the claws caught him. However, he was only delaying his fate. Yang Li’s fiery claws extended, abruptly covering the distance and encircling the last assassin.

The assassin executed a water-element arcane art, hoping it could break through the encirclement, considering fire was weak against water. Yet, his hope was doused when he saw the fire claws resist his water attacks. Yang Li’s fire element was powered by S-class affinity. Weak water attacks couldn’t overpower it.

All eight claws grabbed the last assassin at different parts of his body. But different from his partner, he wasn’t consumed by the flames. He was instead slammed into the ground and restrained.

Yang Li towered over him. ”Who are you? Who sent you?”

The assassin didn’t show fear even after he lost. He shouted back with much defiance. ”Go to hell, you bitch queen! You surrendered without a fight when Farghous invaded. You are a disgrace to all of Echos! You asked who we are? We are Echos patriots! If you, pathetic Huang Clan, don’t have the guts to liberate our country, we will do it ourselves!”

”You, bastard!” Yang Li lifted her hand, making a gesture like she was about to deliver a killing blow.

”Mother, hold!” Huang Bei called. ”Don’t be so hasty. He must have a collaborator to sneak so far into this palace. We must interrogate him. Let me take him to the interrogator.”

Yang Li saw sense in her son’s words, so she agreed.

”Your Majesty, are you alright?” Palace guards had come running into the courtyard after the commotion. In the lead was Xa Jien. He was now an Intermediate Spirit Stage cultivator.

”We are fine, but you must investigate how these intruders sneaked into the palace grounds,” Yang Li said.

”I will not rest until I learn how this happened,” Xa Jien declared.

Yang Li let Xa Jien and Huang Bei take the surviving assassin away to be interrogated, while the other guards carried the three dead assassins away from the courtyard.

Yang Li sighed after they all left. This was not the first occurrence. These so-called patriots had made several assaults. Sometimes targeting her, sometimes her son, and sometimes simply causing damage to the palace. However, this incident had been the closest to when her son almost got hurt. She had doubled her son’s security detail for when he ventured outside the palace’s walls. It seemed she must also put him in constant protection inside the palace after this incident.

”Good arcane art. Did you create it yourself? What is it called?”

A voice startled her. It sounded directly behind her, dangerously close. She instinctively jumped away while using the same arcane art as before. Eight flaming claws with long limbs sprouted out of her. They grabbed the trespasser, who wore a hooded cloak.

Flames burst upon contact. To her surprise, the burst of fire consumed her claws instead of the trespasser. The fire was even hotter than her art, which was powered by her S-level affinity.

”Is this your way to greet an old friend?” The trespasser asked as he removed his hood.

Only after hearing the voice for a second time did Yang Li recognize it.

”A–Amon...?” She asked.