Rise of The Demon General

They came out into a vast grassland with a hilly landscape. The sky above was not blue like the surface world or red like the lower world, but vibrant white. A few clouds decorated the sky. Trees were sparsely spaced around the grassland. Three different types of spirit beasts were seen roaming in the distance.

”The spirit beasts that live around this region have learned not to come near here,” Nao Dou explained. ”Those who enter the formation will be lost in a maze. The lucky ones will end up back where they entered. The unlucky ones will die without ever finding a way out.”

”Ever have human cultivators enter this formation by mistake?” Amon asked.

”Yes, but it happens rarely. This place is far from civilization. If a human enters, they suffer the same result as the spirit beasts.”

”Which way should we go?” Nao Mei asked. She looked around and felt that the enormity of the outside world was stifling. She was a kid when she was brought to the village. She had already forgotten the freedom of being outside. The many directions she could choose to travel. It was overwhelming.

”You are all free,” Amon told them. ”So, I am going to give you a choice as free people. You can go and try your luck in this vast world, or you can follow me.”

”You said you aim to defeat the Divine?” Nao Pei asked.

Amon nodded. ”If you choose to follow me, you must contribute to this task.”

The villagers looked at each other. From their expressions, Amon could see that they were communicating telepathically. Though he had also awakened his Sea of Consciousness, he had not yet learned how to perform the mind-reading path’s conversation skill. Moreover, the telepathic messages of that skill are directed at the intended targets. So, if he were not included as a target, he would not receive the messages. Such communication was almost impossible to eavesdrop on.

After a while, Nao Mei spoke for the group, ”We will follow you.”

”It won’t be a peaceful road,” Amon told her.

”We won’t have peace so long as the Divine considers us heretics,” she replied.

”If we can help you defeat him, then we can secure true freedom for us,” Nao Pei added.

”Good,” Amon said. He was glad he didn’t have to bring up this point to persuade them to join his cause. These villagers were smart enough to understand their survival depended on the Divine’s downfall.

He told them, ”If you have made up your mind to follow me, then I must make one thing clear first. I will be the leader, so what I say goes. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

They all turned to Nao Mei, whom they considered their superior, even though she was among the youngest of them and had never been mind-transferred.

She replied, ”So long as you don’t give us the order that will most likely make us lose our lives, we will obey your requests.”

Amon chortled. ”We are going up against the ruler of this world and the strongest person known to history. Every step we take in the course of taking him down will be filled with the risks of losing our lives. Nevertheless, I promise you, I will not order you to throw away your lives senselessly.”

The villagers looked at each other again. Before they could decide, they were interrupted by a shriek that came from above. They looked up and saw a flock of five large birds diving towards them. The birds had bright yellow feathers. Each had four wings and three pairs of legs, each pair longer than the others. Their supercilium had a pair of extremely long feathers that extended from their heads and ran almost the length of their bodies. These giant feathers were pure white.

”Thunder Surging Rocs!” Nao Dou exclaimed. ”Be careful! They are Mid Primordial Beasts. I will confuse them with illusions. Those of you with telekinesis, try to stop them from approaching!”

”No need,” Amon uttered. He shot into the sky, directly toward the five rocs. The Elder God Veil covered his body.

He thrust his hand forward, and the air between him and the rocs darkened. Elder God Tentacles burst out. It was not the standard version, but one with multiple tentacles sprouting from the main one, similar to Hai Di’s art. These tentacles formed a large net, entrapping the rocs.

The rocs screeched. Lightning snakes poured out of their mouths. These lightning snakes bombarded the dark net. The hit tentacles were fried to thin layers, but they didn’t vaporize. They persisted.

Amon arrived before the dark tentacles and had his Elder God Veil combined with them. The Elder God Tentacles received a boost. They resisted the lightning and tightened. The tightened net of darkness shrank with surprising speed, catching the five rocs off guard. The net ensnared the rocs and squeezed them.

Amon threw his Corrupted Justice forward. Performing Infinite Phantom Slash, his dagger produced countless flashes that sliced the trapped rocs. Each flash not only emitted bright light, but also discharged a fiery burst. When he stopped slashing, the rocs burst into splashes of blood. They had been turned into mincemeat.

Bo Wu materialized and chased after the falling blood and meat. ”Ah...! Why do you have to cut them into such small pieces?” He complained.

Amon landed back where the villagers were. They looked at him as if they had only seen him for the first time, including Nao Dou. He could deal with Mid Primordial Beasts with his mind powers, but he wouldn’t be able to do it as swiftly as Amon did, nor as decisively. He might be able to protect himself but not all the villagers, at least not when there were five of those beasts.

This incident made them realize the effectiveness of cultivation. Even if the Divine did not suppress their practice, there would still be way more people choosing to learn cultivation over mental powers. Cultivation powers could better deal with most situations.

Amon could guess their thoughts. He purposefully displayed his prowess to intimidate them. Otherwise, they would never truly accept him as their leader.

He told them, ”Do not be discouraged. Cultivation powers might be more flexible, but there are things that only you mind practitioners can do. Know that your abilities will be crucial in helping me topple the Divine’s regime that has ruled this world since time immemorial. To succeed, I will need diverse talents to perform different tasks, and some of those tasks can only be done by you. It has been great luck that I came across your village when I entered this upper world.”

’It may be for you, but it was bad luck for us,’ Nao Dou grumbled inwardly.

Nao Mei nodded. ”Since we cannot freely use our mental powers in public, we must rely on you.”

”Cultivators below the Demigod Realm are mostly used for menial labor in this world,” Nao Dou informed. ”They occupied the lowest caste. Be ready to face discrimination when you meet others. Make sure to control yourself and don’t retaliate, no matter how bad the insult is. That is the key to our survival.”

”When I asked you for information about the upper world, you mentioned something about caravan masters?” Amon asked.

”What about it?” Nao Dou asked back.

Unlike the lower world, the spirit beasts in the upper world weren’t all clustered inside the outer border. They roamed in the wilderness between human settlements, with the powerful ones even having their own territories. The Divine allowed this because it served the design of his world. He didn’t like his subjects to wander the world as they wished. The spirit beasts provided a natural impediment without the need to use much manpower to regulate the people.

While the general public faced the risks of spirit beast assaults when they ventured outside, the Holy Temple members did not. When the spirit beasts were let into the upper world, the Divine had struck a deal with their leaders. Anyone carrying the Divine Emblem was not to be touched. In this way, only the Holy Temple members could freely travel between the settlements.

Nevertheless, as the upper world’s population increased, a problem arose. The Holy Temple couldn’t provide enough to meet all the settlements’ needs, so regular resource exchanges were required. Independent cultivators were forced to travel by themselves, resulting in many casualties.

While the public didn’t dare to voice their complaints to the Holy Temple, the discontent was plain to see. Before things spiraled out of control, the Divine decided to show leniency. This came in the form of the caravan system.

A caravan system revolved around a caravan master who led a group of independent cultivators approved by the Holy Temple. Those who passed the selection were given a caravan emblem, which was a weaker version of the Divine Emblem.

The Divine Emblems contained the aura given by the leaders of the four conquering beast tribes. Rarely would a spirit beast dare to disturb those who carried those emblems. As for the Caravan Emblem, it was a copy imbued by the Divine. Half of the spirit beasts with intelligence would choose to avoid causing trouble to those carrying the emblems, but the other half might still attack. Even so, the implementation of the caravan system helped solve the resource exchange problem while limiting casualties.