Rise of The Demon General

Amon ran non-stop. The Shadowless Sprint allowed him to conserve energy while continuing running. He also did not need any sleep. So, he ran days and nights.

Because he was running at full speed, he reached the next checkpoint station one day earlier than predicted. Yet, he didn't stop there. He continued to run. He had no need to sleep in a comfortable bed or resupply. He still had enough dried food to consume while running. Furthermore, the checkpoint station would be the first place Wei Sui came to check when she regained her senses. So, he continued running, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and his pursuers.

Once he reached Qishurg city, he could blend in with the crowd. At that time, it would be difficult for Wei Sui to find him. Not to mention, attacking someone in the streets of the city would surely attract the attention of the city guards.

By his estimate, he would need to rest one time to replenish his aether before continuing again to Qishurg city. The maximum he estimated he could run using Shadowless Sprint before depleting his aether was five days. Five days were not enough to reach Qishurg city.

On the beginning of the fifth day since he started running, he could be said to have reached halfway between Qishurg city and the last checkpoint station. The few travelers who passed were intrigued to see a lone youth running at high speed on the road, but they otherwise just left Amon alone.

In the afternoon, he could feel his aether reserve drained. It was very taxing to continue running. He might need to stop before sunset.

Right then, he heard a voice that made his heart leap. "Finally caught up to you, you piece of shit!"

Amon looked back and saw Wei Sui running towards him at high speed. Her appearance was disheveled. Her long hair was a mess. Her black shirt had torn here and there. Gone already her usual lofty and elegant look. There were dark rims under her eyes. It seemed that she had been chasing him non-stop as well without any sleep.

"Madwoman!" Amon uttered and tried to increase his speed, but he was also at the end of his endurance.

Amon looked back again. Wei Sui seemed to use similar movement art that focused on long endurance runs. Considering her higher cultivation, her aether reserve should be more than him, even if Amon considered his special constitution that allowed him to absorb aether passively.

Seeing that competing on endurance wasn't promising, Amon thought he must make his stand. Luckily, it seemed his Thousand Dream Poison took some toll on Wei Sui. There were wounds on her body. She must have fought the others who were affected by the poison as well. Furthermore, Wei Sui didn't have his demon body's physique which required no sleep. This meant the woman must have been very tired. If he had any hope of defeating her, now would be the best time.

The bad thing was, his aether reserve was also low. So, he might not be able to do many assaults. He needed to be able to finish her in a short time.

After looking around, Amon decided to run away from the road. There were small woods on one side, and Amon ran into those woods. There might be spirit beasts, but he took his chance. As they were both cultivators below the Martial realm, Amon believed his ability to detect spirit beasts' existence was better than Wei Sui.

After running around the woods, he didn't sense any spirit beast. So, he decided to find a secluded place and hide inside a shrub in between two trees. He then used his concealment art, Concealed Ghost Body. Wei Sui was not a Martial realm cultivator. If she was able to sense his position, it would be because of a sensing art. His concealed Ghost Body should negate that sensing art.

However, when he sensed Wei Sui's killing intent came directly at his position, he knew he had gravely misjudged the situation. He jumped away just as a powerful claw tore through one of the trees next to him.

"Forget about running or hiding! I have placed a tracking art on you!" Wei Sui uttered.

'Tracking art? Is it like the one Lei Muyin and Wei Lun used on him inside the secret dimension?' Amon didn't see a tracking squirrel on Wei Sui, so the method she used was different. Amon swore he would find books regarding this tracking method that had troubled him a few times. He needed to study them. The books from the pyramid legacy didn't touch on this topic. Perhaps tracking methods were something the later generations devised. That's why the pyramid legacy's library didn't have anything on this subject.

Amon wondered when was it that Wei Sui put the tracking on him? The last time when he was tracked, he would need to be touched or hit with something before he could be tracked. He then glanced at the small scar that had already healed on his arm. It was where Wei Sui's needle had scraped him.

Wei Sui swung her arms wildly. Her claws produced powerful winds that cut trees apart. Amon kept on swerving in between the trees to make him a harder target to hit.

Amon noticed that Wei Sui had been attacking wildly without any semblance of control, which was a good thing. Perhaps the woman truly had gone mad from going for days without sleep and without taking care of her wounds. She was fueled only by her hatred of Amon.

Amon continued to run as Wei Sui wreak havoc on the woods. Many of the trees had already fallen. Too bad there were no spirit beasts in these woods, otherwise Amon might have been able to use it against her. Now, all he could hope for was for Wei Sui to exhaust her aether reserve. All those powerful attacks must have used a large amount of aether, while Amon conserved his aether by only dodging.

"Arrgghh…!! You worm! Stop moving…!!!" Wei Sui yelled. She slammed her claws to the ground. As she did, the ground rumbled.

Amon was alarmed when he felt the tremor. Wei Sui was using a very powerful art.

Suddenly, the ground cracked and several powerful vines burst out from the cracks. These vines were all around Amon, they lashed at him from all angles.

Amon had his Swan dagger at the ready. When the vines came, his dagger danced. His Infinite Phantom Slash hit all the vines that were coming at him. His dagger failed to cut the vines. They were as hard as steel. All he achieved was preventing the vines from reaching him

However, the vines were relentless. They came again and again. Amon repeated his Infinite Phantom Slash to defend himself, but he knew this was not a solution. His aether reserve was also dangerously low!

When he saw Wei Sui keep her position with her hands on the ground, he knew that she would need to keep in contact with the ground to control these vines.

Amon decided to take a risk. After executing another Infinite Phantom Slash to repel the vines, he rushed forward with Lingering Shade Stride. Despite the fast speed boost given by the art, one of the vines managed to entangle his left leg, while another stabbed into his shoulder. The vine was strong enough to pierce both the self-adjusting chainmail and the Hardened Bronze Body that Amon used at the last second. The two defenses prevented the vine from piercing too deep and hitting his vital part.

Before the other vines came, Amon's free hand summoned a ring of water that rotated rapidly. It was his one arcane art, Water Slicing Ring.

Wei Sui remembered that art was the one Amon used to cut off her Lhosa's two arms. The sight reignited her hate. "I WILL KILL YOU…!!!" She screamed.

Amon wasn't intimidated by her threat. He waved his hand with the Water Slicing Ring forward. The water ring flew away. After much practice, Amon managed to achieve the Master level of this arcane art. In the Master level, the produced water ring could be thrown as if a flying weapon.

Wei Sui's claws were as hard as steel, any of Amon's flying knives wouldn't be able to cause wounds on those hands. That's why he didn't bother using his knives, even the poisoned ones. The knife needed to be able to cut into the flesh before the poison could be delivered.

From all his current arsenal, the Water Slicing Ring had the strongest cutting power. Even more so after reaching the Master level.

The water ring flew directly at Wei Sui. However, before it could hit her, a vine came into the water ring's trajectory. The water ring hit the vine. It cut the vine until halfway but failed to cut through. The water wing dissolved after exhausting its power.

Amon lamented that he didn't have an arcane art with the metal element, because the wood element was weak against the metal element.

When his water ring failed to reach its target, the other vines came and stabbed Amon in multiple parts of his body. Blood spurted out. The vines then lifted Amon's impaled body and brought him towards Wei Sui.

"It's impressive that you don't scream," Wei Sui said. "But worry not, I will make you scream soon enough."