CHAPTER 500: CHAPTER 500. ANCIENT LANGUAGE

"Did brother learn anything from him?" Lin Li asked.

Amon told her the short version of what Gao Tien said.

"Why didn’t brother let him live to reveal Princess Huang Er’s involvement?" Lin Li asked.

"He knew my secret of having infernal cultivation. That’s okay. I will find another way for him to be useful," Amon answered. He grabbed Gao Tien’s corpse and stored it inside his black space ring.

Lin Li and the Sun Hawk also returned inside. The Sun Hawk was wounded but not critical. With enough rest, it would recover.

Beside him was a pile of corpses. These corpses belonged to the six members of Gao Tien’s team. He took off their masks but didn’t recognize any of them. He stored these corpses in his regular space ring.

He flew into the sky and headed in the direction where Lin Li said she saw some people approaching. As expected, those people were a part of his troops who raided the rebel’s hideout. Lao Zen must have asked the soldiers to spread out, as they had no idea where Amon and the others had gone.

They rushed toward Amon after spotting him.

"Colonel! Are you alright?" The soldiers asked.

"I am fine. Let’s return," Amon replied.

"What about Pan Lohuan?"

Amon answered by taking Pan Lohuan’s upper body out of his space ring and showing them. They cheered at the sight.

"Serve him right!" One of them said.

"Today is truly the end of the rebellion!" Another stated.

"Too bad we can’t have him for public execution."

Amon stored Pan Lohuan back into his space ring.

"What about those black-suited people who tried to save Pan Lohuan?" The soldier asked.

"They are dead," Amon answered. "I have their corpses with me. I will take them back to the capital and let the headquarters check their identities. What about the one whose legs I cut near the hideout?"

"When we broke out of the barrier, he was already dead. He took a poison to avoid us from interrogating him," the soldier answered.

Amon had expected that. He returned with these soldiers to the rebel hideout. After seeing Amon was safe, Lao Zen called back the other soldiers he sent out as search parties. Amon debriefed everyone about what happened. He concealed Princess Huang Er’s involvement since he didn’t have any proof. The only witness he had could no longer testify. He didn’t want to complicate things for now. It was also better to let Princess Huang Er oblivious of his knowledge about her involvement.

After the debrief, he sat at the side and focused on recovering using the Nine Moon Restorative Mantra. He also ate a Regrowth Pill again to speed up the regeneration of his damaged eye, arm, and leg from the tortures.

The soldiers cleaned up the battlefield with help from the battle puppets. They separated the corpses of the fallen into two piles, their sides and the rebels. They burned the rebel’s pile. As for theirs, they stored the corpses in their rings to bring back and give them proper burials.

The rebels who were still alive were tied up and put into metal cages with wheels they had prepared. These were high-profile rebel leaders. They were to suffer public executions, both to give them humiliating ends and as entertainment for the public. Luan Xuan was among these captives. As for Ni Lulu, she didn’t survive. She fought till the end, and the soldiers were forced to put her down.

The soldiers also searched the hideouts for valuables. The rebels enjoyed scouring ancient ruins for artifacts, so there was a chance they might find something valuable. They didn’t.

The army returned after two days of hanging around the hideout. Considering their number and they also carried prisoners, their march was slow. They regrouped with the other splinters of the First Demon Legion that raided other rebel hideouts. The main fighting power was with the force raiding the hideout where Amon was held. The others were led by juniors such as Xin Wuming, Yang Li, and Wu Di. They didn’t encounter much trouble in the other hideouts because almost all the rebel leaders gathered where Amon was held.

Amon originally only expected the three rebel elders to be lured by his presence. He didn’t count on the elders to also use the occasion to hold a big rebel meeting. He was lucky he could communicate mentally with Lin Li. This way, he could instruct Huang San via the message talisman to adjust their army composition. That’s why most personnel with high cultivation were there during Amon’s rescue.

Because of his wounds, Amon was allowed to head back to Fort Fresh Maw ahead of the army. When he arrived, he found that the fort was empty. A pile of corpses was in the courtyard. He had heard from Lao Zen about Prince Huang Zhan’s visit. This must be the prince’s doing after discovering he was tricked. The equipment inside the keep was also mostly destroyed or gone.

Amon wasn’t concerned too much about those losses. He entered the keep and took out a sealed box. This was inside Pan Lohuan’s space rings, among other middling treasures. What made this box special was the inscription on the box’s surface. It was written in the language of his past world.

This was the second time he had encountered this language. The first time was inside the ruins, where he gained the Xian Cloth and Allure Beacon.

Pan Lohuan hadn’t opened this box yet because it was still sealed. The rebel elder probably kept it around while trying to figure out how to open it, which meant a valuable treasure was likely inside. That’s why Amon only checked on this box after he was safe and alone.

After reading the inscription on the box, Amon smiled. It was a riddle. The riddle was even one he had heard before in his past world. The riddle said, "The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?"

"Darkness," Amon answered.

Nothing happened. He spoke the answer again, but using his past world language this time. The box started glowing. When the glow vanished, the words of power sealing the box were no more. He opened the lid. Inside the box was a pill, a small marble, and a piece of paper.

A message was written on the paper. It read, "To my beloved Chan Er. These are my gift to you. The fact that you can open this box means you are paying attention to my lecture on the ancient language. These are the Divine Immortal Growth Pill and the Teleport Stone. I pray these items can save you in your time of need."

"Apparently, she did not pay attention," Amon remarked with amusement. The owner must have given up and put the box aside. Amon was more interested in the fact that the ancient people referred to the language of his past world as ancient language.

Amon didn’t ponder about this matter for long. He returned his attention to the pill and stone inside the box. He could sense the aura from them was extremely intense, especially the pill. To his surprise, someone near him knew about these two items.

Bo Wu materialized from his left arm. It stared at the pill inside the box and said, "I didn’t expect to see ancient-grade items in this surface world."

"Ancient grade?" Amon was surprised. The ancient grade was one grade above the runic grade. To his knowledge, no item existed in Aetheria with such a grade.

"Yes, the pill is high-tier ancient, while the stone is low-tier ancient," Bo Wu explained.

"Do you know what they do?" Amon asked.

"Sure thing," Bo Wu said while cackling. "If you crushed the stone, you will be whisked to another location a hundred miles away. As for the pill, one who eats this pill will be immortal for a short period of time. Within ten minutes of consuming the pill, you cannot die for as long as one part of your body remains. Even if you lose your head, it will grow back again."

"Fascinating," Amon remarked. Both were ultimate life-saving tools but could only be used once. So, it had to be reserved for a true emergency. He stored the pill and the stone inside his black space ring.

*

One day after Amon returned to Fort Fresh Maw, Huang San came. He was with the teams raiding the rebel’s smaller hideouts. He also returned early. Inside the fort, he reviewed the success of the operation with Amon. Huang San brought the report to the palace ahead of their army’s return while Amon continued to recuperate at the fort.

From the news Amon heard. The king and Prime Minister were very happy with the result. Prince Huang San would have no problem earning the right to join the Ancient Ascension Trial.

"I’m very glad you managed to eliminate the rebels before the deadline, boss," Gao Lan uttered.

She was with San Guo and Lu Fei. They were drinking wine inside Amon’s office. They left the capital to visit Amon at Fort Fresh Maw and congratulate him.

"I am also glad for your success, Boss," San Guo and Lu Fei joined in.

"No, you two don’t understand," Gao Lan told them. "I am happy for the boss’ success, but I’m especially happy because his success spares me from having to do something I truly don’t want to do."

"What something?" San Guo asked.

Gao Lan pointed at Amon and said, "He ordered me to prepare a team to sneak into the chamber where they were preparing the Ancient Ascension Trial to disrupt and delay the ceremony in case the First Demon Legion failed to eliminate the rebels in time."