Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 305. Stalling Because of Overconfidence?

Multiple words of power came alive. They encompassed the walls, floor, and ceiling; even the opening, where the stairs were, was covered with flashing words of power.

"Barrier enchantment...?" Yan Fan asked after seeing the display.

"Yes. I paid an experienced skilled-level Engraver to apply this enchantment," Amon explained. "It is not as strong as the one used on the Royal Academy top ten’s residency. It also only lasted temporarily, but it should be enough to keep you here for a while. Also..."

Amon took out a talisman. He activated it and threw it at the opening where the stairs were. The talisman froze in the air, and a translucent bubble appeared there.

"Barrier Talisman...," Yan Fan remarked.

"This two-fold barrier should give you trouble if you wish to flee," Amon said.

"Who said I want to flee?" Yan Fan said. "Even if I must spare half my energy dealing with your poison, I still have more than enough power to kill a Transformation Stage cultivator. I’m surprised you are here alone instead of having your lackeys ganging up on me."

"I would if I could," Amon said. "Unfortunately, having more people means more eyewitnesses. Killing underworld people is one thing, but killing a kingdom official is a different kind of beast. I can’t be certain if those people will keep quiet."

"Kill me, eh? I don’t know from where a Beginning Transformation Stage like you get that confidence."

Amon grinned. "My cultivation has already reached the Intermediate Transformation Stage."

Yan Fan furrowed his brow. That was fast, even for his standard. He remembered when he was at the Royal Academy the best student entered the Intermediate Transformation Stage in the last year of his junior class. He couldn’t tell if Amon was telling the truth. Under his sense, Amon was still at the Strength Stage. His knowledge about Amon being a Transformation Stage cultivator came from the gathered intel.

"I’m surprised that you are willing to share that information. You should have just used it to catch me off guard," Yan Fan said. "Not that it matters anyway. Even if you are a Peak Transformation Stage, you are still not my opponent."

Amon was still grinning. His hands went and made several complex movements. His fingers poked multiple parts of his body. A pulsing shockwave radiated out after he was done.

"Meridian points technique...? Body strengthening technique," Yan Fan identified what Amon did. "I’m amazed by how perfect your execution of the technique is, but do you truly think that is enough to fight me?"

Amon responded by having a transformation. The skin on his face turned scaly. He was using the Great Virulent Serpent.

"Full body transformation art," Yan Fan remarked. "Is there more?"

Amon didn’t answer. He just stood near the exit with folded arms. This confused Yan Fan. He expected Amon to attack immediately after using the body-strengthening meridian points technique. That technique’s effect only lasted a short time. Cultivators usually only used it when they wanted to go on full offense. As for him, he couldn’t use this technique as it would override the current technique that was slowing the poison in his body.

He didn’t understand Amon’s action. But if Amon was going to stay still and wait, he welcomed that. He chatted with Amon because he was trying to buy time. If he had enough time to concentrate on expelling the poison, that would be best. He could finish Amon more easily after the poison was expelled.

So, he waited. At least five minutes would do. No matter how gifted Amon was, the body-strengthening meridian points technique should last only that long. He should also be able to expel the poison in that time frame.

He no longer chatted with Amon to buy time because there was no need to. Amon seemed content waiting there, but his eyes remained focused on Amon in case he made a sudden move.

Five minutes later, the crease in Yan Fan’s forehead deepened. ’I... I can’t expel the poison...,’ he thought in alarm.

"Hehehe."

Yan Fan turned to Amon, who was chuckling.

"Do you think it is so easy to expel my poison?" Amon asked. "That poison is even more powerful than the one you saw on my victim. If you were exposed to the poison directly, even a Peak Mystic Stage like you would have died instantly."

"How the hell did you learn such a potent poison?" Yan Fan asked.

"Hehe," Amon simply chuckled without answering.

Yan Fan frowned. He wondered if Amon was stalling because Amon was confident the poison would triumph over him in time? Maybe he couldn’t expel the poison, but as long as he kept channeling his aether, the poison wouldn’t spread. It was an impasse. But in time, the poison would weaken. When that happened, this standoff would shift in his favor. It would take a hell of a long time for that to happen, though.

Furthermore, the barrier enchantment surrounding this basement would also weaken with time. Analyzing the situation, Yan Fan thought Amon’s stalling was because of his overconfidence in the poison. The logical thing was to play with it. Yan Fan saw only benefit for him in this situation. There was no reason not to utilize that.

However, his guts told him there was something more to Amon’s stalling. It was probably due to Amon’s calm demeanor. Was it true Amon was simply overconfident?

Even though Yan Fan saw no benefit in attacking now, he decided to trust his guts. A long and slender sword appeared in his hand. He advanced.

"Tsk," Amon uttered when he saw Yan Fan act. He supposed he could not have it the easy way. He stomped his foot to the ground, activating Earth Pulse. Earth-element energy radiated through the floor around Amon.

Yan Fan sensed the energy radiated by Amon’s stomp. He increased his movement speed. When he came into the area affected by Amon’s Earth Pulse, his speed suddenly multiplied. His body left afterimages as he dashed forward. The ground trembled, but he was already away by that time. The Earth Pulse couldn’t keep up with Yan Fan’s abrupt increase in speed.

Yan Fan thrust his sword even before he arrived. Its blade suddenly elongated.

If it was any other opponent, they would have been pierced by the elongated blade due to the false sense of distance. Amon, on the other hand, reacted when he sensed the danger of Yan Fan’s killing intent. He slid to the side just as the elongated blade came. The blade stabbed into the wall behind him. The words of power flashed as they resisted damage.

Amon had a good look at the elongated blade when it passed him by. It was light, a blade made of light. It was Yan Fan’s arcane art. His sword didn’t physically stretch.

Yan Fan swung his sword. The long, rigid blade of light suddenly became flexible. It was now more like a whip than a sword. It danced its way around Amon as it tried to lash him. Amon used Infinite Phantom Slash to cope with the whip’s seemingly random lashings.

Yan Fan himself kept zooming around using his movement art, leaving afterimages. This was because he continued to dodge the tremor caused by Amon’s Earth Pulse. He didn’t just zoom randomly, though. Coordinating with the lashes from his whip of light, he finally cornered and got close to Amon.

"I have you!" He exclaimed as he swung his sword at Amon from close range.

Amon responded with a powerful swing of his own. The swan dagger collided with Yan Fan’s long sword. The resulting impact staggered both combatants.

"What?! How...?"

This result took Yan Fan’s aback. He expected a direct clash like this to end with him as the clear winner. His blow should have completely thrown Amon off-balance. He was a Peak Mystic Stage, for goodness’ sake! Even if he could only utilize half his strength because he needed to control the poison in his body, his power should still easily trump an Intermediate Transformation Stage cultivator like Amon. Yet, what he felt from the impact just now was a power almost rivaling a Beginning Mystic Stage.

Amon was able to pull that off because of his body-strengthening meridian points technique and his full-body transformation art, Great Virulent Serpent.

Yan Fan thought by now, the body-strengthening meridian points technique had already run its course, and Amon’s strength returned to normal. He didn’t know that not only could Amon maintain this condition for one hour, but the power bestowed by the technique was also greater than it normally should.

As for the Great Virulent Serpent, it was a high-tier practitioner grade. The art’s current mastery provided Amon with improved strength. His muscles were also flexible enough to let him perform an explosive blow, giving him a burst of power for a short interval.

These factors gave him the chance to survive a direct clash with Yan Fan.

Due to his surprise, Yan Fan’s movement stopped. The Earth Pulse caught up with him. The tremor under his feet unbalanced him.