Rise of The Demon General

As they passed through the crowd, Amon wondered why are they gathering here for? Was it because of the royal academy's entrance exam? Amon understood the royal academy was a big part of the city. It could be said that this city existed because of the royal academy.

Was the exam being done in the open for everyone to see? Like some kind of an entertainment exhibition? Was that why these people gather?

Amon ignored the crowd's curious stares as they walked. With the two soldiers leading the way, Amon arrived soon at the abnormally large doors of the blue building. The doors were ajar. But since it was so large, a small opening of these doors already allowed four people to enter side-by-side at the same time.

More soldiers stood before this door. The two soldiers brought Amon to them and introduced him as one of the exam participants. Amon gave his badge to them to verify.

As they were checking Amon's badge, a large carriage came through the crowd. A driver and another person were sitting in front of the carriage. This other person kept on shouting for the people to part ways to allow the carriage to pass through. As they arrived, Amon recognized the person who had been shouting was one of the two rough-looking men in the Wu clan's entourage. The other rough-looking man, Abdu, might still be whimpering in the slums.

When the door to the carriage opened, it was as Amon expected, the Wu young master came out with the elegant-dressed middle-aged man.

When the Wu young master, Wu Yang, caught sight of Amon when he walked to the entrance. He stopped and had a surprised look. He then looked around the place. Amon had no doubt this young master was searching for Abdu, intending to scold him and ask how the hell he allowed Amon to get here?

Amon didn't bother giving him another glance.

The soldier gave Amon back his badge after he was done checking. "Go in," he said. "The others are waiting. It's almost time."

"Good luck, little brother. We are rooting for you," The two soldiers who had ushered him here said.

Amon nodded and walked in.

Wu Yang also wanted to go in, but the soldiers stopped him. His elegant-looking aide quickly produced Wu Yang's badge. Wu Yang was irritated that Amon had entered before him. After the checking, Wu Yang and the elegant-dressed aide were let in. Only one adult was allowed to accompany the youth, so the other aide, the rough-looking man, had to wait outside.

The hall inside was large. Amon was instructed to go to the next hall. As he walked towards the door to that hall, Wu Yang rushed by. He was unwilling to be behind Amon. The elegant-dressed aide ran following his young master.

'Kid,' Amon sneered. He continued to walk at a steady pace.

Aside from them, another pair of an elder and a youth also walked towards the same door. Amon was amused that so many were also almost late for the exam. The elder wore a Taoist robe with white hair and a white beard that almost reached his waist. The youth wore an ornate suit that showed his aristocratic style. He was holding a white fan in one of his hands.

*

The aristocratic youth saw Amon glanced at him. He nodded and gave Amon a warm smile. Amon looked away without any response.

The Taoist elder noticed the brief interaction. He shook his head. "The youths these days all lacked manners. They only care about strength. Please don't let it bother you."

"I don't. How strong is that one just now?" The youth asked.

"He is the same as you. The peak strength stage."

"Impressive."

"He should be older than you judging from his body size."

"Maybe, but achieving peak Strength stage in our age is not easy. He must be special."

"All the ones who are invited here to join the exam think of themselves as special. The ones who actually pass the exam and enter this academy will be the truly special ones. Our exam will make sure of that. Speaking of which, do you truly wish to join the exam? You know we can just enroll you without the hassle of you going through the exam."

"I don't want any special treatment. And I hope my identity will be kept a secret here. Is that understood?"

"Yes. Everyone here will just know that you are from the wealthy Zhuan clan from the border city."

"That will be best."

*

Amon had entered through the door while the pair were speaking. He came into an even larger hall filled with people. He estimated there were probably more than ten thousand people inside the hall. The majority were youths. They must be the participants in the exam. Amon was amazed to find these many participants were joining. These were youths selected from prominent clans and families from all over the country.

There was a floating stage at the center of the hall. Some people were on the stage. They seemed to be waiting.

The youth who had smiled at him came into the hall and stood beside him. The elder walked away somewhere. When Amon looked over, the youth again smiled at him. This time, Amon returned the courtesy with a simple nod. He didn't want to encourage other people to think he was friendly and came to bother him, but he also didn't need to antagonize anyone when he was alone in unknown territory. A simple nod after the guy's persistence should be enough.

He walked away afterward, not intending to give that youth the opportunity to approach him.

As he walked, someone called out his name, "Lin Mo?"

He turned and saw several familiar faces. Lin Fen, Lin Anwen, and Lin Siaumau. These were the people he came together with when he left White Cloud City for Qishurg City. There were three more that had left with them. One of them, Lin Toru, had died when Wei Sui attacked. Two others were missing, Lin Baxiong and Lin Siuni.

"You! Do you know what you have done?" Lin Fen shouted. "We almost die due to the hallucination drug you used! You have to be punished for what you have done!"

Amon gave them a silent treatment, which caused Lin Fen to become more heated.

"Aren't you going to say something?! Lin Toru died because of the hallucinations. Lin Baxiong and Lin Siuni are wounded. Now Lin Baxiong can't join this exam, is this why you drugged us? So that you have no competitors in this exam? And don't you remember how Lin Siuni treated you so well? Look how you repay her, you fiend!"

"Sister Fen, Lin Toru died because of the Wei clan. Brother Mo only did what he did to save himself," Lin Anwen said.

"On whose side are you?" Lin Fen hissed. "Are you in cahoots with him? If so, then you have to be punished as well!"

Lin Anwen shut himself up after the threat.

Lin Fen turned to Lin Siaumau, "Uncle Siaumau, you have to take this fiend back to the Lin clan to be punished."

Lin Siaumau stepped forward. "Lin Mo, although you do what you do for self-defense, it still didn't erase the fact that one member of the Lin clan has died and two others are wounded. You have to follow me back to the Lin clan to answer for this crime."

"I ain't going anywhere," Amon finally opened his mouth.

Lin Siaumau frowned. He didn't expect this boy to dare oppose him so openly. "I will prefer not to use force, but if you can't see reason, then don't blame me."

Amon folded his arms defiantly. "Try it then. Do you forget already where we are at?"

Lin Siaumau's frown deepened. Amon was right. If he created a commotion here, he would be the one that got into trouble.

As if to hammer in the point, two officials in uniform came and asked, "What's the problem here?" Lin Fen's yelling had been quite loud and attracted everyone's attention. Everyone nearby had been looking at them and hoping for a show to happen since they were bored waiting for the exam to start.

Lin Siaumau quickly addressed the two officials. "My apology, Sirs. This is a matter of our Lin clan. I am just trying to discipline one of our unruly youths."

"Is that so? But you are disturbing the others. If you want to deal with your clan matters, then take this outside."

"I will, sir. Now, Lin Mo, come with me!" Lin Siaumau ordered.

"I said it already, I ain't leaving," Amon said.

"You see how disobedient he is? I'm sorry, sir. Not to overstep your authority, but please allow me to use force to bring him out."

Before the officials could answer, Amon took out his academy badge. "I've been formally invited to take the entrance exam to this academy. This is my badge. Does the academy allow someone to take away its potential student before taking the exam?"