Rise of The Demon General

It was similar to Wei Lhosa's stone pellet art! Amon thought after seeing the attack. The wind that the bullet produced when it passed by made Amon think that it was even faster than Wei Lhosa's art.

Amon activated his Hardened Bronze Body just as he dodged that first shot. A strong impact hit his chest right then. The impact sent him flying backward.

Amon fell to the ground on his back, but he didn't fight the force, he backflipped and was back on his feet in an instant. The pain in his chest was stinging, but he was relieved that nothing was broken. The combination of his defensive art and the self-adjusting chainmail he wore inside his suit had saved his life.

Amon glimpsed a surprised expression on the bodyguard's face, but it soon disappeared. That surprise had made the bodyguard pause. He must have expected the successful hit to have finished Amon. That confidence had caused him to stop attacking when Amon was down.

Amon jumped to the side just as his feet touched the ground. The bodyguard made another flick then. He missed. Amon used the same tactic as when he fought Wei Lhosa during the tournament. He did a constant zig-zag move, making him a difficult target.

The nimbleness of the bodyguard's fingers when flicking the metal ball was extraordinary. Amon almost could not catch the telltale sign as to when the ball was shot. The bodyguard's hand didn't move much when he did his finger flick. Thus, it was difficult for Amon to predict the bullet's trajectory. Despite Amon being much faster now than during the tournament, he was having a more difficult time dodging similar attacks this time. It was completely different fighting an inexperienced kid compared to a real expert.

Yet, unlike during the tournament, this time Amon could retaliate with long-ranged attacks as well. As he dodged the bullets, his hands also threw several knives. Normal knives, however, he was keeping the remaining poison knives for a sure-kill attack.

However, the bodyguard acted as if he didn't see the incoming flying knives. He let the knives hit him. The knives stayed hanging at the point of impact for a few seconds before falling down. The bodyguard was completely unharmed.

Seeing that, Amon conjectured the bodyguard's defensive art didn't fully act like metal. It had the ability to absorb impact force. That's why the knives didn't just bounce off when they failed to penetrate the bodyguard's skin. Amon thought it was a very advanced defensive art. This art would perfectly block both sharp and blunt attacks, which meant his Bone Shattering Shadow Fist won't be effective as well.

Since the bodyguard didn't worry about Amon's attack, his hand continued shooting the metal balls non-stop.

Luckily, Amon had run into the grass field. The tall grasses helped to obscure him, making it even more difficult for the bodyguard to aim at him.

However, he won't win if all he did is dodge. Because the art that this bodyguard was using, although similar to Wei Lhosa's Earth Bullet, was also inherently different. What Wei Lhosa used was an arcane art, it produced the bullet from nothing, so it was never considered a weapon during the tournament that prohibited the use of weapons. The aether consumption of that arcane art was tremendous, so Amon could just rely on his dodging to tire Wei Lhosa.

What this bodyguard used, however, was a martial art. It used a real metal ball as its projectile. The aether used was just the energy to generate the propelling force. It didn't consume much aether. Hence, as long as the bodyguard had enough stock of the metal balls, he might be able to go all day with this attack. The metal ball was small, Amon suspected the bodyguard to have a ton inside his space ring.

Amon knew he needed to find the weakness in his opponent's defensive art. Otherwise, he had no choice but to flee and accepted the risk of leaving his knives.

Amon again threw his flying knife from inside the grass field. He was aiming at a specific spot this time. When the bodyguard saw the incoming knife, he tilted his head. The knife hit the side of his face.

'Okay, his eyes are vulnerable,' Amon said in his mind. That thrown knife just now was aiming for the bodyguard's left eye.

Amon waited for the next time his opponent fired the metal ball. At the same time, he threw a similar tiny ball. The bodyguard was extremely confident in his defensive art, he never showed any sign of dodging an attack except for the one aiming for his eye. Still, Amon didn't take any chance. He threw his Poison Cloud Bullet at the same time as his opponent's attack to make sure that his opponent couldn't dodge.

The two opposing balls flew passed one another. Due to Amon executing an attack at the same time as his opponent, he failed to dodge the metal ball. The metal ball hit his body. Amon had activated his Hardened Bronze Body and planted his feet firmly on the ground. He wasn't thrown away by the impact like before. It hurt like hell, though. He thought some of his bones were cracked this time. He ignored the pain and dashed forward.

At the same time when Amon was hit by the metal ball, his Poison Cloud Bullet also hit the bodyguard's body. The bodyguard saw the incoming bullet but remained confident in his defense as before. Only when purple gas erupted from the point of impact that he became alarmed.

'Poison?!' He thought in a panic. He hurriedly closed his eyes and mouth and forcefully blocked his nose and ears with aether. At the same time, he jumped back.

His fast response protected him from inhaling the poison. He didn't dare to open his eyes so soon. He continued to jump back several times. Until he felt he was a safe distance away from the poison cloud that he dared to open his eyes.

Amon was nowhere to be seen.

He looked around, trying to find his opponent. Suddenly two hands came from both sides of his head. Two hands covered with black skin.

The hands grabbed his head, with the middle fingers jabbed into his eyes. He screamed as the pain flared.

He jerked around with hysteria. Slamming his elbows repeatedly at the opponent behind him. He heard cracking sounds from where his elbows had struck, but the hands that grabbed his head remained firm. The fingers that were inside his eyes even stabbed further in.

Amon had used the Poison Claw art to turn his hands into poisonous weapons. He didn't release his hold on the bodyguard's head despite the stinging pain from his waist. The bodyguard struck with the strength of a transformation stage cultivator. Every hit broke one or two bones. If Amon didn't have strong enough willpower, he might have fainted from the pain.

But the Black Slaughter Poison delivered by Amon's Poison Claw worked fast. The bodyguard soon lost strength after hitting Amon three times. His body trembled as black blood started oozing from the orifices on his head. His body lose strength and slumped. Amon kept holding him for another minute to make sure that he was truly dead.

Amon released him then. The bodyguard's body fell to the ground, unmoving.

Amon was panting. His entire body hurt like hell. He tried very hard to not fall unconscious. He popped a recovery pill into his mouth. He then walked slowly to where Lin Zuyi and Lin Xiaoying were lying. Every step caused him extreme pain, but he persevered.

He slowly collected all his knives and stored them, before walking away. This street was deserted, but it was better if he moved away as soon as possible. Too bad he could only walk due to his wounds.

After a safe enough distance, he went into a dark alley and sat on the floor. Leaning on the alley wall, he ate another recovery pill to boost the effect. He then steadied his breath and relaxed his body. He activated the Nine Moon Restorative Mantra to assist his healing.

Someone landed beside him.

'Asshole. Now only you show up,' Amon cursed in his mind.

"As impressive as ever," Pai Kuan complimented. "Winning against an opponent whose cultivation level is above you. That is no easy feat. However, I am curious about that poison claw you used. Where have you learned it?"

Amon had expected this. He had made a blunder. The fight with the bodyguard had been too dangerous that Amon had no luxury to consider too many things. He had used the Poison Claw because that was the art that was most convenient for him to secure a victory at the time. Only after he won that he remembered that this art was originally from a white cloud sect disciple, Pai Ning, who died inside the secret dimension.

Amon was not someone who panicked just because of a mistake. He replied calmly, "I learn it from inside the secret dimension."

"Really? Then why we didn't find a book on that art from the goods you've submitted after exiting the dimension?"

"Because during my time inside. I saw a girl of the white cloud sect using the same art. I'm afraid that if I bring the book back, it might create a misunderstanding with the White Cloud sect, so I toss the book away."

"And you successfully learned the art during the short time inside the secret dimension?"

"I memorized the book and continued learning it after coming out from the dimension."

Pai Kuan was massaging his chin while staring at Amon. Amon stared back at him.