Rise of The Demon General

Although he didn't look back, Amon continued to pay attention to his rear after leaving the hut. He was on guard against Xin Lie. Although he didn't feel danger from her, he knew for sure she was not a simple woman. He picked up his pace and ran towards the White Cloud City.

He half expected himself to get intercepted on his way, but he safely arrived at the city edge. He didn't let down his guard though, he wore back his disguise and picked the crowded area to travel through, as he made his way back to the Lin estate.

Only after arriving behind Lin estate's wall, did he feel a little sense of security. Although there was no guarantee he was a hundred percent safe inside this estate, it had become some sort of a safe zone for him here.

Arriving back in the courtyard of his house, he took out his new crossbow for a look. It was not an engraved weapon but its craftsmanship was superb. He did not judge Xin Lie's work wrongly. There was also a small bag tied together with the crossbow, it contained ten small wooden bolts.

The material that formed the body of the crossbow was a sturdy white-colored material. Amon had a feeling that it was bone. It was unlike any bone he knew though, this one was as hard as steel, yet light. The string was also very sturdy and elastic. Xin Lie was not kidding when she said she will be using the best materials. The material of the bolts, however, was simple wood.

Amon tried handling the crossbow. Its size was small but was just right for his current body. It didn't take long for him to familiarize himself with the weapon, it was customized for him after all.

Amon took out an engraving knife from his space ring. It was a special engraving tool he had bought from the market, it cost him 100 Aer stones. Using this engraving knife provided him with better control when injecting aether during the engraving process. His probability of success increased tremendously using this engraving knife compared to when he used a common kitchen knife.

He had expected this new crossbow to not be an engraved weapon. He would have been charged much more expensive if so. So, he had to apply the engraving himself. He preferred this way, as it helped him improve his Aether control as well.

Of course, he could not fail, as he only had one crossbow. He had chosen ahead of time the Word of Power he wanted to apply to his new crossbow and practiced it on mundane items. His latest statistic had him at over 90% success chance.

He went into his room and locked the door, as he did not want to be disturbed. He didn't want to lose this crossbow before it even made the first shot.

After meditating for a while and getting into a steady mental state, he started the engraving process. The Word of Power he had chosen was that of self-healing. Crossbow, like firearms, required maintenance, especially if it was shot often. Sometimes it even needed its parts to be exchanged. Amon could not afford the time to place special care like that, with the self-healing engraving, the Word of Power would keep the weapon in top condition. Thus, maintaining its durability.

The engraving process went smoothly. The process was completed in half an hour. Amon's expertise in the engraving process continued to improve with each application.

With his new crossbow, he could continue practicing his bow martial art, Soul Searching Shot. Since he had studied its basics, it didn't take long for him to enter Skilled mastery of the art. The art allowed him to maintain the shot arrow in a straight flight without losing power and penetrate deep into a tree at eighty meters away.

The art didn't look like much, only increasing the range and power of the shot. But like all other martial arts he had gotten from Hei Gong, he was sure this art would show its true power once he reached a higher mastery level.

One good thing that came as a result of him being forced to accept the Wei clan's deathmatch challenge, was the clan master granting him a free pass on the mandatory mission points. He no longer needed to fulfill a quota. Hence, he could concentrate fully on cultivation and training within these two and a half years.

The clan master's purpose for relieving him from the mission obligation, apart to give Amon enough time to strengthen himself, was also to prevent the Wei clan from doing anything to him before the deathmatch.

Of course, this was the only leniency he was given. Except for the dagger martial art given by Lin Weida, the Endless Concealed Slash, he didn't get any other resources to aid with his cultivation and training. He had to make do with his own. Amon had no problem with that.

Hence, he focused all the time available to train and cultivate, sparing only a little time to entertain some chats with Madam Lin during her visit. She never missed her weekly visit. Her visit even increased to two or sometimes three times a week.

Amon didn't mind, her visit usually only last around half to one hour. It didn't take much of his time. He still needed to put up the pretense of being a good son, after all. Madam Lin's support of the ingredients and materials for him to experiment on his alchemy and poison art was significant, after all.

*

Near the end of the two-and-a-half-year promised time, Amon was still at the Intermediate Strength stage of the Human realm. But It did not mean that he was not improving, it was simply that slow without using cultivation pills. He only relied on his innate talent with assistance from the Black Aetherium Stone. He was close already to breaking through to the Peak Strength stage after these two and a half years.

His martial arts and Arcane arts had gone through better improvements during the time. He had put his original four martial arts, Bone Shattering Shadow Fist, Hardened Bronze Body, Silent Swift Stab, and Hundred Shooting Stars, on hold. Those arts had reached Master level and the only way to improve was to the Grandmaster level.

He had tried to poke at this mastery but the comprehension needed was profound and would most likely require a very long time. He didn't have the luxury of time considering the incoming deathmatch. So he focused on his three new arts. The two martial arts, Soul Searching Shot and Endless Concealed Slash, and the arcane art Water Slicing Ring.

He managed to reach Master level also for the two martial arts within these two and a half years. As he expected, the Soul Searching Shot exhibited its true strength after reaching Master level. At this mastery level, the arrow shot could reach up to 150 meters away and still penetrate solid concrete. And not only that, the art could be used to mark someone in range. The arrow shot using this art then could have its flight path curved to reach the marked target.

As for the Endless Concealed Slash which he had gotten from the clan master. It was simpler compared to the Hei clan's arts. The art allowed him to execute a very fast slash with his dagger. As the mastery increased, it only increased the number of slashes. At the beginner level, he could only execute one swift slash. At his current Master level, he could send ten slashes that hit at almost the same time. The Grandmaster level of the art described the number of slashes to become endless after one reached that level.

While the two martial arts managed to reach Master level, his arcane art only managed to reach Expert mastery. From this experience, it could be said that training arcane arts were harder than martial arts. Or it was simply because he was more used to martial arts. In his past life, he also trained martial arts. Though the martial arts in this new world were much more fantastical, it was still about the training and utilization of one's body.

The arcane arts, however, were much more mystical. It utilized the world's elements. Something that was not tangible. Something that was more like the product of a wild imagination. Something that was magical. Therefore, it took him more time to familiarize himself with these arcane arts.

His Water Slicing Ring, once reached Expert mastery, no longer required long seconds to form the ring of water. It could be formed instantaneously. Its sharpness at this level also allowed it to cut even stone. And the best thing was, that Amon no longer needed to concentrate to maintain the water. Once it was formed, it would last indefinitely until he dispersed the energy that hold the water element together.

Although he was not allowed to use poison in the tournament, Amon did not slack off in his study on the 101 primal poison tome. Though he still could not experiment with most of the recipes described in the tome due to a lack of available ingredients, his comprehension of poison still underwent an upgrade. He could now utilize most of the common poison ingredients and extract their essences to be combined and modified into a stronger version. He applied the upgrade to strengthen his Poison Cloud Bullets. They could now greatly affect a Transformation stage cultivator.