Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 221. Flashbang Grenade

Amon didn’t speak. He just watched Yang Li walking away. He ignored the other students who were still watching and told Xin Wuming that they were leaving.

"Sorry we failed to recruit her, brother," Xin Wuming said. He was aware of their intention to come here. "If only I had won..."

"No need to beat yourself up," Amon said. "Even if you won, she still would not join us."

"... Then why the spar?"

Amon smiled in response. He said, "There is no need for you to worry about this. This has gone as I predicted. We will settle this matter another day."

"Forgive me for asking, but why the interest in her?" Xin Wuming asked. "She might be good, but there are plenty who are better than her in this academy."

"You are right, but I’m not interested in people who are better now. I’m interested in people who are better in the future."

"Brother, I don’t understand..."

"She has great potential. Under normal circumstances, you should have won the spar just now. You have better martial arts than her. Why do you think it ends up in a tie?"

"I...," Xin Wuming couldn’t find the word to explain.

"What did you feel when you fought her?" Amon changed the question.

"... I feel as if I’m not fighting another cultivator. It is as if she is a spirit beast. I can’t let my guard down. I had the feeling if I do, I will lose my life," Xin Wuming answered.

"That is the pressure from her battle instinct. This is not something attainable simply with talent. It is something honed from real life-and-death battles. She probably got that due to training herself against spirit beasts from a young age. It is an extremely risky method, but if you survive, you are in a different league compared to a common cultivator. If such a combatant is provided with good guidance and techniques, she will be formidable. That is the reason I am interested in her."

"I see...," Xin Wuming said.

"Not to mention, she has S-level fire affinity. If we have the bout in the arena, your chance of losing is very high."

Xin Wuming was depressed hearing that. His elemental affinity was metal, which was weak against fire. If they were competing using arcane arts, he would indeed be at a disadvantage. He wondered if Yang Li had learned any fire-elemental arcane art.

"Enough about her. We can’t do anything to change her mind for now," Amon said. "How is the matter about members with specialization class aside from alchemy?"

"I’ve tasked our members with interest in smithing, engraving, and talisman-making to focus on the specialization classes. I have selected one from each specialization that shows the most progress."

"Good. Send them to me. I want to speak with them directly," Amon said.

"I will go find them immediately," Xin Wuming said.

"Before that, follow me to my residence. There is something I want to show you."

The two went to Amon’s residence. Amon took Xin Wuming to his basement before revealing a small round metallic ball.

"What is this, brother?" Xin Wuming asked.

Instead of answering, Amon threw the ball to Xin Wuming’s feet. The ball exploded with a blinding flash. A ringing sound also assailed Xin Wuming’s ears. He was having trouble orienting himself as he lost his vision and hearing. It was a while before everything returned to normal. When he could see again, it was thick white smoke all around him.

"Bro... Brother...?" Xin Wuming was confused as to why Amon did this to him.

He suddenly felt a cold steel on his neck. It was Amon’s dagger.

Amon let go of him and asked, "What do you think?"

The white smoke was still covering everything around Xin Wuming. He had a hard time seeing Amon next to him. The smoke was slowly dissipating.

"It was... surprising," Xin Wuming answered with uncertainty.

Amon took him out of the still-lingering smoke and to a nearby table. On top of the table, Xin Wuming saw many small metal balls similar to the one Amon had thrown just now.

"These are Flashbang Grenades," Amon said, imitating the name of his previous world’s tool that possessed the same function.

Amon produced them after many trials and errors. He combined his knowledge of alchemy, smithing, and engraving to produce a ball that could work as he intended. After he got the right process, he started mass-producing them.

"The other factions have stepped up their pressure on our members who venture out for missions," Amon said. "Our tactic of having one member with good movement art to flee when they encounter stronger enemies is still viable, providing that one member can successfully flee. But with more junior and senior students also targeting our members, this is harder to pull off."

Xin Wuming nodded. This was a problem he had pondered about without any solution. The junior and senior members mostly had higher cultivation and better movement arts. It was difficult to flee from them. He ended up telling members to reduce the number of missions they undertook, or only choose missions located in the city or close to the city.

"With these balls, our members should have a better chance of fleeing," Amon said.

"Thank you, brother!"

These Flashbang Grenades took a load off his shoulders. Their faction might be a formidable force in the freshman section, but they are non-existent in the junior and senior sections. They had no members from the junior or senior students. They couldn’t compete with those older students. They could only flee when encountering them. These balls were the perfect tools for aiding their escape. He had experienced the effects firsthand.

"Can we make more?" Xin Wuming asked. The balls on the table were many, but not enough to cover all their members.

"That’s why I asked for our members with the specialization classes. Call them here," Amon said.

Xin Wuming left to carry out the order. Around an hour later, he returned with three people. Each of them was the student Xin Wuming mentioned earlier, who showed expertise in different specialization classes except for alchemy. For alchemy, they already had Ah Bin.

Xin Wuming introduced the three. Shi Hei was a freshman student who showed promising talent at smithing. Diao Xan specialized in engraving. The last one was named Hu Hua, who displayed proficiency in talisman-making.

Amon talked with all three. He found the three acceptable in terms of character and attitude. This was why he liked Xin Wuming and made him his right-hand man. His potential as a combatant might not be top-rate, but he was a natural leader. Given time, he could understand the people under him very well. What their strengths and weaknesses were. What was the best way to deal with them, and who was suitable for what task.

Amon gave them a brief account of what he needed them for. He would be opening workshops specializing in the four basic jobs of the cultivation world: Pill Master, engraver, smith, and talisman master. These workshops would be in the city, inside the territory of the Demon Gang. His residence was not big enough to hold all the equipment needed for the four jobs.

He had already prepared the place. Ah Bin would oversee the Pill Master workshop while they would be in charge of the three other workshops. These workshops were not open to the public. Its purpose was to produce goods for their internal use. As such, the operation would be in secret. Xin Wuming would choose more students who performed well in the specialization classes to help in these workshops.

After laying out his intention, Amon taught them how to craft the Flashbang Grenade. Amon invited Ah Bin over and let them watch how he crafted one. After the display, he asked them to try. The process required Ah Bin, Shi Hei, and Diao Xan to work together. Only Hu Hua was free.

While the three worked, Amon called Hu Hua and showed her his one remaining exploding talisman. He asked her if she could produce one.

Unfortunately, she could not. A talisman that caused an explosion was considered difficult to make. This showed how talented Wei Lun was. Too bad Amon couldn’t trust Wei Lun. Otherwise, he would have been an asset.

The required materials were also not easy to procure. Wei Lun probably produced the talisman using the materials he stole from the Wei Clan’s storehouse. Otherwise, non-important clan members like him wouldn’t have procured the rare materials required for the talisman. With his wealth, Amon had no problem procuring the materials. He only needed experts to process the materials.

Amon told Hu Hua not to worry. He asked her to continue to hone her skills. He left the exploding talisman with her so she could study it. The tutor in the academy wouldn’t teach a freshman student like Hu Hua to produce a dangerous talisman that could explode. That would only happen after they graduated and became junior students.

Still, Amon hoped Hu Hua’s talent wasn’t that far off from Wei Lun. He hoped she could study the talisman by herself and produce an imitation.