Rise of The Demon General

The four remaining Lin cadets continued to watch Lin Wuli who was on the floor. They didn't know what to make of it.

Lin Dong was the first one to snap out of the trance and ran to Lin Wuli. He turned him over and found out that the boy had fainted. Lin Wuli's mouth was foaming with a trail of blood coming out of it. He made some checks on the body and was relieved that the boy was still breathing. He quickly took out a small medicine bottle and poured it down his throat. The medicine should help some of the wounds inside his body, Lin Dong thought. He also channeled some of his aether into the boy's body to help alleviate the injury.

This group of boys was under his care. If they were injured, he would not escape responsibility. He gritted his teeth with anger as he looked at Amon.

"Huh? I thought you all said that your cultivated body is supposed to be tough?" Amon spoke.

Hearing his words, the other four turned to him. They felt chagrined by his words.

"Y–you…! What kind of trick did you pull?" Lin Xiaoying yelled out.

"Trick? It is called a martial art if I am not wrong," Amon replied.

"You… how come a backwater kid like you knows a martial art?" Lin Xiaoying asked again.

"The right question should be why shouldn't I know one? Perhaps you Lin kids had been too sheltered in this secluded mansion of yours that you didn't know other houses have martial arts as well. What is that expression called? Oh, yes, like a frog in a well."

Amon was not sure if this world had the same saying as his old one, but seeing their darkened expression, he assumed they caught what he was trying to say.

"Well said, then let me experience what you who are from outside our well have to offer," Lin Xiaolong said as he took a step forward.

Lin Xiaoying came forward and stopped him. "Brother, as I have said, you will only sully your hands if you fight him. Let me be the one to teach this arrogant kid a lesson."

Lin Xialong did not reply but he didn't take another step. Instead, he folded his hands and stood his ground. His brother took it as him giving his permission. Lin Xiaoying then approached Amon and stood before him as Lin Wuli had done.

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He gave Amon a contemptible look and said, "I am an intermediate mortal stage, don't think just because you know a little bit of…"

Before he could finish his words, Amon's right hand shot out and slapped his face. The act had been so sudden and so unexpected that it caught him off guard. The slap caused no wound but his pride was certainly injured. His bloodshot eyes bulged as he stared at Amon in fury.

"Heh? You kids talk too much. Too many weak spots," Amon ridiculed.

"You!" Lin Xiaoying hunched down as crackles of power rose in his vicinity. Amon watched with amazement as his opponent's skin slowly turn dry and hard as if the skin of a tree. It turned grey and stiff and had cracks everywhere.

"You will pay for this!" Lin Xiaoying screamed as he lunged forward.

This is more like it, Amon exclaimed in his mind as he watched his opponent's movement with all his concentration. His opponent was fast, much faster than he was in his previous life. In fact, much faster than anyone he had ever seen in his previous life, apart from those movies which featured superhumans with abnormal speed. Still, his current body even though was tiny, was also stronger and faster than his past self.

His instinct kicked in as he predicted his opponents' move. He dodged to the side and grabbed a part of his opponent's body that moved past him and used his opponent's own strength to perform a judo throw. His opponent's body spun and was slammed hard onto the floor.

While his opponents were stunned by the sudden reversal. Amon punched down at Xiaoying's chest with Bone Shattering Shadow Fist. A loud crack was heard as his fist connected with Lin Xiaoying's body. The floor beneath Xiaoying's body cracked and caved. However, Amon did not revel in this success. Instead, he quickly shot back just as Xiaoying's arms shot out to grab him. Amon narrowly evaded the catch.

Despite his success, Amon was already used to paying attention to his opponent's eyes and never making an assumption. When his Bone Shattering Shadow Fist connected, he saw the pain in his opponent's eyes, but there was still clarity, meaning that his punch did not cause enough injury. Hence, he had decided to immediately retreat.

Lin Xiaoying stood up as he watched Amon. There was no contempt in his gaze anymore. It was replaced by wariness instead.

Amon was also astonished. That tree bark skin art that his opponent used was certainly a good defensive art. It was not like his Hardened Bronze Body which required continuous concentration to maintain while still giving superb defense.

'Yes, this is more like it,' Amon thought. A grin subconsciously appeared on his face.

A grin that caused Lin Xiaoying's heart to burn with rage. "You think you are good because you landed one punch on me?!" He screamed, which then turned into a long bellow.

As he was bellowing, his hand experienced a transformation. His fingers became elongated and his nails protruded out and sharpened, shaping into bizarre claw-like hands.

Was that also a martial art? Amon was astonished. There was an art that could utilize the aether to transform one's physiology?

Before he could analyze the situation, Lin Xiaoying had made his move. He darted forward and swung his arm, clawing at Amon. His claw-like hand left a white trail as if it cut the air itself. Amon didn't stay and let himself be a clawing dummy, he backstepped to evade the attack.

Lin Xiaoying continued forward, sending out one relentless claw after another, non-stop. Lin Xiaoying's speed was faster than Amon's due to his higher cultivation. Amon had to concentrate all his instinct to predict Lin Xiaoying's attacks before they were executed, and enacted proper dodge for each one. Amon's feet continuously shifted, profoundly evading one attack over another by a hairbreadth.

However, it was still impossible to bridge the difference in speed with just skill. Lin Xiaoying's clawed hand finally reached Amon's abdomen. Amon knew that he could not avoid this attack. His body turned bronze just before his opponent's claw arrive. A loud clang was heard as Amon's shirt was torn. Sparks were seen where Lin Xiaoying's claw hit Amon's stomach. Amon was thrown away from the impact.

Droplets of blood fell to the floor. Amon rose and saw behind his torn shirt that there were four long red lines on his belly. Despite activating Hardened Bronze Body, it still could not mitigate all of Lin Xiaoying's attacks. Luckily though, the art had protected him enough that the wounds were not deep. If he had not used the Hardened Bronze Body in time, his innards might have been all over the floor already.

He had not been wearing the self-adjusting chainmail as it caused him discomfort when he was training. He had always trained barechested to allow his sweat to flow freely. He also did not think that there was any danger inside the Lin mansion that prompted him to wear the chainmail.

"Xiaoying! Do not kill!" Lin Dong warned. Lin Dong also realized the fact that if Amon had not used his defensive art, he could have died already.

"Hmph! So you also have a defensive art?" Lin Xiaoying said with a harrumph. It was not clear if he had heard Lin Dong's reminder.

"Can't compare to you. Your arts that turned you into a monster are truly impressive," Amon replied with a smile. Such life and death combat was what he lived for in his previous life.

Being called a monster irritated Xiaoying. But looking at his current body, no one could deny it. His defensive art had turned him into a weird grey-skinned creature while his offensive art turned his hands into monstrous beast claws. Yet, what annoyed him the most was Amon's smile. "You can still smile? I will rip that smile out of your face!" He roared.

Lin Xiaoying lunged forward. His right arm swung down, intending to claw Amon's face.

Amon had experienced Lin Xiaoying's moves in their last exchange. Despite the boy's superior strength and speed, his moves were monotonous. He simply swung his arms with the same motion again and again. Amon perfectly read the arm's trajectory. His punch shot out, hitting Lin Xiaoying's wrist when it was on the way down, stopping its advance. Then Amon's other arm punched out, hitting Lin Xiaoying's armpit.

Each punch was executed with Bone Shattering Shadow Fist. Amon's fist art had reached skilled mastery, which allowed him to perform it easily under any situation. Despite his protective skin, Lin Xiaoying still felt the punch when it landed on his weak points.

Amon did not stay still after his successful hit. His body continued moving as he moved to Lin Xiaoying's back while the boy was still being paralyzed by his punches. He sent another punch onto the back of Lin Xiaoying's knee, causing it to buckle.