Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 357. Defeating the Battle Puppets

"No...! Windy!!" Huang San called. The killed hound was his tamed beast.

"Bloody hell... You named your tamed hound?" Wong Cou asked.

Huang San’s hound was not the only casualty. More Marsh Howling Hounds were killed. They were only lower superior beasts, after all.

Aside from Wu Di, the other frontline students were not doing well. Xin Wuming used his body to protect Yang Li while she prioritized offense. He was full of bruises. Blood leaked from his mouth and nose. His Iron Skin was out after he received too many punches.

Wong Cou’s Rock Suit was also full of cracks. He adopted the same method as Xin Wuming. He served as a shield, while Xa Jien was the sword. Xa Jien’s sword elongated from behind Wong Cou and pierced a battle puppet’s head. Despite the seemingly fatal attack, the battle puppet continued to fight.

"Damn it! Where is its core?" Xa Jien cursed. His martial art was best at thrusting, but this method was highly ineffective against the battle puppets.

The students were now in trouble. Their formation was a mess, while the battle puppets remained fighting methodically. Both sides had wounds, but only one side was affected by these wounds. Battle puppets remained fighting at full efficiency, even with the wounds. The humans and tamed beasts were not so.

Amon had used the body-strengthening meridian point technique and the Great Virulent Serpent before advancing. The power he possessed was at the level of the Beginning Mystic Stage, so he didn’t lose to Wu Di under Saintly Ape. He used Infinite Phantom Slash and struck all the battle puppets in his vicinity. These puppets stumbled back with lots of deep scars on their mechanical bodies.

"Everyone, prioritize your attacks on the left shoulder part!" Sima Fang ordered.

"Why? Is that where their cores are?" Huang San asked.

"One of them is," Sima Fang answered.

Xa Jien’s sword elongated again. It stabbed into the left shoulder of the puppet whose head he had pierced before. The puppet continued moving.

"It doesn’t do anything!" Xa Jien protested.

"One of them should have the core in that position. Continue targeting that spot on different puppets!" Sima Fang exclaimed.

Amon used Hundred Shooting Stars. His flying knives flew all around and struck all the still functional puppets on their left shoulders. One of the puppets emitted sparks from the hit shoulder. Thin smoke came out of it. It then shut down and fell to the floor.

Sima Fang was stunned by Amon’s display of accuracy. She hid her surprise and gave her next order, "Now, target the center of their left upper arms!"

Amon looked around the place. He understood then what Sima Fang was doing. They had already downed several battle puppets during the fight. A few were because they were too damaged to move. Most were because the students accidentally destroyed their cores. Those with perceptive eyes could see thin smoke leaking out of the downed puppets. This indicated the puppet’s core was hit.

Amon noticed that each of the downed puppets had different spots for their cores. The puppet maker who made them must have differentiated their core locations so it was harder for the enemy to defeat them. Following this thinking, the other puppets should no longer have their cores at the same locations as the downed puppets. This meant they could avoid those spots and save time by targeting other spots. Sima Fang was using the elimination technique to search for the cores of the remaining puppets.

While Sima Fang was stunned by Amon’s accuracy, Amon was impressed by Sima Fang’s quick thinking. But like Sima Fang, he hid his amazement.

His flying knives flew out again and struck the spots Sima Fang indicated. All his flying knives were new knives made from the sturdy parts of the spirit beasts he hunted during his missions. They couldn’t puncture completely through the battle puppets’ bodies, but they could stab deep enough to reach the cores.

Another puppet went down because its core was hit.

"Next, Under the left armpit!" Sima Fang informed.

Amon repeated the process. However, none of the battle puppets fell this time. Amon didn’t think too much of it. The number of positions where the core could be hidden was more than the number of puppets. This was bound to happen. At least they knew they should avoid this position in their next attack.

Sima Fang issued the next target.

After taking down another puppet, Amon said, "I’m out of flying knives!"

There was no time to pick up the knives, so he took out his crossbow. The bolts for his crossbow were also new. They used the same materials as his flying knives, so they had no problem piercing the battle puppet. The downside was he could only shoot one target at a time. This reduced the speed of taking down the battle puppets by a great deal.

Thankfully, they had taken down more battle puppets. Most of the deeds were achieved by Amon and Wu Di. The Thunder Roc ranked third. This brought down the number of battle puppets to a manageable level. There were only ten remaining by the time Wu Di’s body reverted to human.

Without a sufficient number, the battle formation applied by the puppets diminished in efficiency. One-on-one, the battle puppets were not the students’ equal. These puppets couldn’t use art, after all. Additionally, Amon still possessed power rivaling the Beginning Mystic Stage. He limited the usage of his art. He didn’t know how much Sima Fang had researched him. He preferred not to let her find out more. After five minutes of using the body-strengthening meridian points technique, he purposefully ended it to make it seem like he had the same limit as normal cultivators.

Some more time passed, and they finally took down the last battle puppets. Everyone was panting as they dropped to the floor to rest. They were not without losses. All the Marsh Howling Hounds were killed. The Thorny Earth Snake, White-beak Hawk, Crimson Lynx, and even the Thunder Roc had wounds on their bodies.

Tuang Yin and Xin Wuming suffered heavy wounds. Xin Wuming ate a recovery pill and pretended to use healing art. Thankfully, there were no cut marks, so his natural healing ability was not apparent.

Everyone else had some wounds on them. The only ones unscathed were Amon, Sima Fang, and Huang San. In Huang San’s case, it was not because of his competence. It was because Xa Jien came over when Huang San was in danger. Huang San disapproved of this because it could blow Xa Jien’s cover, but Xa Jien didn’t care. Protecting Huang San was his duty.

Wu Di came to Tuang Yin, who was resting by sitting cross-legged. He said apologetically, "I’m sorry, you are wounded because I left my post."

"I’m still breathing. It’s all good," Tuang Yin replied with a smile.

"Pah! What a disgrace!" Yan Long’s voice drew their attention. "The woman of a faction leader was harmed, and the so-called leader acts like a chicken instead of teaching the perpetrator a lesson."

They didn’t have to ask to understand who Yan Long was referring to. They turned to Amon. Amon was walking around picking up his flying knives. He didn’t pause from Yan Long’s words. It was as if he didn’t hear anything.

Yan Long was annoyed that Amon ignored him, but he didn’t give up. He added, "Such a letdown. Let’s see what everyone in the academy thinks after they hear about this. Perhaps they will think that everyone is free to lay a hand on your woman."

"Fuck you, you Yan scum!" Tuang Yin scolded. "Are you trying to pit them against each–ahack!"

Tuang Yin vomited blood. Her wound wasn’t light. Yan Long’s provocation made her restorative energy run rampant and caused a backlash.

Wu Di slammed his fist to the floor. He rose and walked to Yan Long. "You, twat. I’ve endured you long enough. I’m going to teach you a lesson today whether you agree or not!"

Sima Fang quickly came between them. "Stop this," she said. "We are a team. No one is allowed to lay a hand on a teammate on purpose."

Wu Di stopped, but he didn’t back off. "Move aside!" He asked.

"No," Sima Fang planted her feet.

"Haha! Do you think I’m afraid of you, brute? If you dare lay a hand on me, I’ll..."

Yan Long stopped speaking because he felt a chill behind him. Those who looked in his direction were surprised to find Amon behind him. They weren’t aware when Amon moved there.

No one had yet to register what was happening when Amon’s fist smashed into Yan Long’s head. Yan Long slammed into the floor like a fallen statue. He experienced a temporary blackout. When he could feel anything again, he felt great pressure on his head. The pressure was Amon’s foot pressing on his head.

Yan Long’s Thorny Earth Snake sprang at Amon once its master was attacked. However, before its fangs touched Amon, a pair of giant claws snatched it and carried it into the air. The Thunder Roc’s powerful beak stabbed into the snake’s body, causing a bloody wound. It then pulled.

The snake was ripped apart, just like the first battle puppet the Thunder Roc killed. The blood of the Thorny Earth Snake showered Amon and Yan Long down there. Amon’s face, covered in blood, looked extremely sinister as he stared at Yan Long beneath his foot.