Rise of The Demon General

Nao Mei asked Amon, ”When will it be time to make our move and leave this village?”

”Be patient,” Amon replied. ”I prefer to finish training my mind blast to the top of the second tier before leaving. I might not have the chance to once we are out there.”

Nao Mei turned to Nao Pei and asked, ”How much longer will that be?”

”I must admit, his mind is quite fascinating. It is much more flexible than the minds I had encountered. I thought at first he needed two weeks to master the first tier, but he has almost done it in only one week. By today or tomorrow, he is probably already at the second-tier mind blast. From there, my conservative estimate is that he will reach the upper limit within three months, but I may be wrong again.”

”Really?”

”You can go into his mind and check it if you don’t believe me. With your high third-tier Sea of Consciousness, you should be able to help him improve even faster.”

”No. I will focus on my assignment,” Nao Mei said. Even though Amon told her not to push it, she preferred to have more allies when it was time to go up against the elders. She worried Amon underestimated the elders. Since she had decided to join the secret rebellion, she must make it succeed. She didn’t want it to fail because of Amon’s conceit.

”You do what you think is best.” Amon didn’t try to stop her. ”Just be careful not to reveal our intention to the wrong person.”

”Don’t worry. I will be cautious,” Nao Mei replied.

*

Two days later, Amon’s mind blast had entered the second tier. Nao Pei continued to help him train. As Nao Pei had suspected, Amon’s advancement was faster than that of a regular person.

Two weeks later, during their training, Amon asked, ”Since you can help others train mind powers, why isn’t everyone at the fourth tier? Is it because the elders stop helping to prevent others from reaching the fourth tier and threaten their authority?”

Nao Pei shook his head. ”The elders aren’t that petty. If they could, they would have helped everyone reach their levels.”

”I heard admiration there,” Amon said.

Nao Pei paused a little before saying, ”I don’t like them for keeping us imprisoned here, but I don’t hate them. They only do it because they think it is best for us... Brother Amon, can you promise me? When we act, please don’t kill them.”

”... I can’t promise. If I hold back, it may result in a mistake that causes our defeat. If they somehow surrender, I give you my word that I will let them live.”

Nao Pei nodded. ”Anyway, the reason there are not many third- and fourth-tier mind practitioners is that there is a mental barrier one needs to overcome when one reaches the limit of second and third tiers.”

’Like cultivation chokepoints,’ Amon thought.

”To break through this barrier, one can only rely on oneself. Other mind practitioners cannot help,” Nao Pei explained. ”Additionally, progressing through the third tier requires significantly longer time than the first and second tiers. It needs years or even decades.”

”When did you come to this village?” Amon asked.

”Almost forty years ago,” Nao Pei answered.

”Tell me, Nao Pei. There are others in the village who look younger than you, but I can’t shake the feeling that they are older. The most telling one is Nao Thu, who looks like someone in his late twenties. I find it strange for someone as young as he to be an elder who possesses fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness. Also, I don’t see any children at all in this village. Care to tell me why?”

”That’s because...”

They were interrupted by Nao Mei’s urgent voice.

”Brother Amon! The grand elder has returned! The elders have summoned you. You are to head to the village hall immediately.”

”Mm... I guess it can’t be helped. Depending on what the grand elder decides to do with me, we may need to act earlier than I wish. Are you two ready?”

Nao Pei nodded. Nao Mei hesitated a little before nodding.

”Good. Once we are at the village, secretly tell those whom we have recruited to be prepared to act,” Amon stated. Armed with determination, the three headed to the village hall.

*

All the villagers gathered at the square before the village hall. Amon saw a few of those villagers engrave words of power on the square’s ground. He glimpsed the half-drawn engraving and couldn’t identify those words.

”The elders summoned Amon, the outsider. Open the door,” Nao Mei told the one who guarded the village hall’s entrance.

”Only the outsider may enter. The two of you wait outside,” the guard told Nao Mei and Nao Pei.

Amon didn’t mind. He stepped toward the door, which the guard opened for him.

Inside were the five elders. Amon had met three of them: Nao Dou, Nao Xin, and Nao Thu. The other two he only knew by name. One was a tall man in his fifties, while the other was a decent-looking woman in her thirties.

Considering the woman was the only one aside from Nao Xin, he could safely assume she was the grand elder. Under normal circumstances, this would have been odd, as she was the second-youngest in the group after Nao Thu.

The woman turned to Amon when he entered. She immediately confirmed her identity. ”So, you are the outsider. Your name is Amon, I heard? Mine is Nao Zuanyi, the grand elder of this village.”

”Where did you come from?” The tall man asked.

”I assume you must be Nao Dongli,” Amon replied to the man. ”As I have told your colleagues, I am from the surface world, but I have been to the lower world for some time.”

”What is your intention for coming to our village?”

”I don’t have one. You should have known this if you had spoken to your colleagues. If you haven’t, then let me tell you. I arrived here by mistake. My intention in coming to the upper world is to defeat the Divine.”

”... Well, they have told me, but I thought they were joking.”

”They didn’t. Neither do I.”

”Then you are but a delusional fool,” Nao Dongli said. He turned to his colleagues and said, ”He is a liability. We should get rid of him or lock him up. Why do you let him roam free like this?”

Nao Xin made an exasperated face and asked, ”And where do you suggest we lock him up? We don’t have a facility to detain a Mammoth Stage cultivator. He can easily break out. We can’t do anything with his mind because he has a strong resistance against our mental power, not unless we go full power, but that may break his mind. We are waiting for you two to return before deciding what to do.”

”Yeah, he can’t leave anyway,” Nao Dou added. ”So, we don’t have to worry about him exposing this village’s location.”

Sounds of knocking on the door interrupted their conversation. The guard peeked in and told them, ”The preparation is complete.”

The four elders turned to Nao Zuanyi. She said, ”We will talk about this outsider later. We must address the urgent matter first. Nao Gu may pass away any moment.”

They walked to the door. Amon followed them, which prompted Nao Dongli to stop him. ”You stay here!” He said.

”I know you are doing whatever you want to do at the square outside. I can easily see what is going on through the windows. This place is not exactly a jail. Also, What’s the point of keeping me from another secret when I am already privy to your other secrets?”

Nao Dongli’s face went red from Amon’s refusal. He said, I can stay here with you and hold you down with my telekinesis!”

Amon felt a strong pressure bear down on him. The force was much stronger than the one he felt from Nao Pei when Nao Pei used his power.

”Dongli, don’t waste your strength,” Nao Zuanyi said. ”Let him watch. As he said, he had already known most of our secrets. Knowing one more won’t make much difference. We will decide about him after we are done with Nao Gu.”

”You have a wise leader,” Amon remarked.

Nao DongIi’s face became even redder after hearing Amon’s words, but he didn’t cause a fuss. The weight that Amon felt bearing down on him disappeared.

Amon followed the five elders outside. The engravings on the ground had been completed. The words of power formed two circular symbols bridged by multiple lines. An old man lying on a stretcher was placed at the center of one of the circular symbols. The old man looked feeble and had difficulty keeping his eyes open.

”Bring the captive,” Nao Zuanyi ordered.

A young man in his twenties approached. He walked on his own, but Amon saw that his eyes were unfocused. He was under the control of an outside force. He stopped at the center of the other circular symbol opposite the man on the stretcher. He sat down and closed his eyes.

Nao Zuanyi walked into the formation. She stood between the old man on the stretcher and the sitting young man. She squatted and placed her hands on the two men beside her. The engravings on the ground began to glow.