Rise of The Demon General Chapter 799 799. It Was Time

Utterly astonished by the disembodied voice, Amon momentarily forgot the searing pain in his hand. The agony soon returned, jolting him from his stupor. He reflexively yanked his mangled appendage from the swirling void, its flesh and blood a ruined mess, barely recognizable as a hand anymore.

He forced his mind to suppress the pain once more, then downed a curative pill followed by a regrowth pill.

The ethereal bell within his mind continued to chime, though its resonance had softened considerably. This lingering sound confirmed that the celestial voice he'd heard was no mere figment of his imagination.

As he hesitated over whether to respond, the bell's chime grew fainter still. A sense of urgency filled him as he understood the Heavenly voice's offer would vanish with the bell's final toll. "I accept!" he hastily declared.

Abruptly, it felt as though a celestial hammer struck his head. A torrent of information flooded his consciousness, its contents initially incomprehensible. The process, which felt like an eternity, concluded in a mere second.

Staggering from the mental impact, Amon slowly ascended, regaining his equilibrium. Though he couldn't articulate how, he knew with absolute certainty that he now possessed the Law of Darkness. The entire experience, especially the voice from the heavens, felt profoundly unreal.

Amon didn't linger on contemplation. In this new world, as in his previous one, countless questions remained unanswered. To chase every enigma would be a path to madness.

He examined his palm. The ambient darkness elements swirled towards it, drawn by an unseen force. The usually imperceptible natural energies condensed under his will, becoming visible to the naked eye. These swirling motes of darkness danced above his hand, responding to his every whim.

"Fascinating," Amon breathed, reveling in his newfound dominion over the darkness elements. With the Law of Darkness at his command, their manipulation was as natural as breathing.

A grin spread across Amon's face. "Heh. Time to put this to good use."

He ascended once more, halting just before the ominous dark gateway. Closing his eyes, he focused on his cultivation art, the Infernal Divine Absorbing Art. The technique began drawing in the surrounding aether and elements. Empowered by the Law of Darkness, he channeled an immense surge of dark energies. The fusion of the law and his art allowed him to absorb colossal quantities of darkness elements. Had he opened his eyes, he would have witnessed streams of dark light pouring from the gateway into his very being.

'Incredible!' he thought, the energy flooding his black core like an oceanic deluge. He teetered on the precipice between overwhelming power and sheer ecstasy. The sensation was intoxicating, and he focused his will to maintain control.

For hours, days, months, he cultivated, motionless. Even when the gateway spewed forth unknown bones, they harmlessly deflected off him before clattering to the ground. He remained utterly unfazed, foregoing food, water, and even nourishment pills. In his current state, his body was sustained entirely by the absorbed elements.

His intense cultivation only ceased after more than a year had passed, interrupted by a message from Zee Whang, delivered via a battle puppet residing in his black space ring. Zee Whang's communication indicated a critical shortage of materials.

Amon informed him of their predicament within the pocket dimension, unable to egress. This news caused Zee Whang alarm. Amon, unconcerned with placating him, stated he was devising an escape route and still possessed ample materials. He directed Lin Li to deliver them.

When Zee Whang inquired about the timeline for their release, Amon glanced at the dark gateway. Its once-impenetrable blackness now held a faint greyish tint. "It will still be a long time," Amon replied to Zee Whang.

Shortly thereafter, Dao Su made a similar request, having depleted his stock of live subjects for experimentation. Amon resolved to interrupt his cultivation and bring both men out to assess the situation firsthand. He even left the prison box accessible, maintaining the portal's open state for their convenience.

They spent mere minutes outside before returning to their respective workshops within the prison box.

Next, Yuka disturbed his focus. She sought nothing from Amon, merely expressing her boredom. She could exit the black space ring at will. Each time she did, Amon remained vigilant, wary of a surprise attack. While attacking him in their current confinement would be foolish, potentially trapping herself, he refused to lower his guard. Yuka, a spirit beast imprisoned for an extended duration, might be mentally unstable.

Beyond those interruptions, Amon persistently continued his cultivation. Eight years elapsed under this rigorous regimen.

*

Upon concluding another prolonged and intense cultivation session, Amon's eyes fluttered open. His cessation of practice wasn't due to external interference. Instead, he halted as he perceived the dark gateway suspended above him had grown exceedingly tenuous. What was once a jet-black gate, churning with volatile energies, had transformed into a pale grey portal, seemingly woven from wisps of mist.

One final exertion, and the gateway was poised to shatter.

The instant that occurred, this pocket dimension would inevitably dissipate, expelling all elements originally belonging to the tangible world back into existence.

"Hm..." Amon's feet met the ground as he meticulously assessed his progress. His infernal cultivation had seen a dramatic surge. He had attained the Peak Supreme Stage, advancing two full stages since his arrival in this cavern. His cultivation power now rivaled that of a King Stage cultivator within the Demigod Realm, making him superior to the ascended Zhang Daofeng.

Conversely, his divine cultivation remained at the Intermediate Lord Stage. This dimension, saturated with dark elements, made focusing solely on infernal cultivation the most logical approach. The enhancements to his divine cultivation were a consequence of his body's passive aether absorption and the yearly consumption of aetherium fruits. Even with this passive accumulation, he was nearing the Peak Lord Stage.

The dynamic interplay of his two opposing cultivation paths had shifted; his black energy core now possessed greater potency than his standard energy core.

His gaze drifted upward to the ethereal grey gate. A sense of regret surfaced. If only he could uncover more ley nodes imbued with dark elements, his infernal cultivation could have accelerated even further. However, ley nodes were exceedingly rare, particularly those possessing a specific elemental affinity.

'No matter,' he mused. He would prioritize seeking information regarding ley nodes once he had egressed this place.

He grazed his face. While his head remained bare, his lower face was now adorned with a beard. Though appearance held little sway over him, he found himself disliking this particular feature. A beard offered a vulnerable point, susceptible to being grasped or yanked during close combat. Even though such tactics were unlikely to be employed by opponents in a cultivation world where victory hinged upon the deployment of mystical energies, he preferred to leave nothing to chance.

Utilizing a blade, he proceeded to trim away his nascent beard. Once the grooming was complete, he redirected his focus to the grey gate above and ascended towards it.

The moment had arrived.

*

Beyond the confines of the pocket dimension, another Worthiness Trial was underway. As previously observed, eight entities engaged in a chaotic battle royale. However, a key distinction from Amon's prior trial was the singular focus of this trial: a Hyanid, whose cultivation level rested at the Peak Fiendish Stage. The remaining seven combatants consisted of altered beasts and spirit beasts. The most formidable among them was, once again, the Steel-clad Titan, a Lower Primordial Beast.

Similar to the past, the Steel-clad Titan maintained a solitary demeanor, remaining undisturbed by the Hyanid and the other beasts. These Titan beasts were frequently utilized in the trials due to their manageable nature among the available captive beasts. Their primary drawback was their excessive passivity, a trait that enhanced the spectator's enjoyment of the trials; otherwise, the trials would conclude prematurely.

The Hyanid participant was no novice to the Worthiness Trial. He understood the paramount strategy for success lay in conserving his strength, skillfully manipulating the beasts into mutual combat, and strategically employing the dark pond situated at the arena's center.

He had adeptly incited the altered beasts to clash, reducing the opposition to a mere four. One was the passive Steel-clad Titan. Two beasts were locked in combat with each other. The final beast, however, proved elusive, refusing his attempts to provoke it into attacking another creature and persistently shadowing him.

This predicament compelled him to utilize the black pond. He had witnessed previous participants achieve victory by luring beasts into the pond, a fate even the formidable Titan Beasts could not escape. The dark pond served as one of the primary elements allowing the trial to take place within the pit. Without it, a participant could not possibly triumph, as there would invariably be a beast possessing a power far exceeding that of the competitor.

The Hyanid executed a clever ruse, tricking the beast—an altered creature with the upper torso of a human and the lower body of a spider—into the pond. As the spider's legs made contact with the murky water, the Hyanid anticipated the creature's demise. To his astonishment, the spider beast managed to extricate itself from the pond's grasp and launched itself directly at him.