Rise of The Demon General

"Four thousand youths were joining this tournament. They come from every walk of life. Noble's sons, commoner's sons, merchant's daughters, it doesn't matter. As long as you are a cultivator of at least beginning Strength stage and at age fifteen years or lower, you can join," Pai Kuan uttered with his enhanced voice. "Our grand White Sect complex has five arenas that are used for this tournament. Four side arenas in which I am standing in one of them. This is the South arena. The other three, West, North, East, housed one thousand youths each."

"The preliminary round will be carried out within these four arenas. Each arena will have a battle royal until the number of youth still standing is one hundred. This one hundred will then join the three hundred from the other arenas to move forward to the elimination round. These four hundred youths will then compete to become the remaining fifty finalists for the final round."

'A Battle royale? So that's why they separate the youths from the same clan,' Amon thought. The other three must have been brought to the other three arenas. It must be to prevent the youths from the same clan to team up. Commoners would have more disadvantages if the clan youths teamed up.

Pai Kuan continued, "Let me tell you all that the numbers of youth that have applied were much more than the four thousand here. A qualification review has been carried out to determine the ones that are worthy enough to join. So, you should be proud to just stand in this arena, because you are the best four thousand youths currently residing in White Cloud city!"

The youths in the arena cheered from the recognition.

"Now, I will lay out the ground rules," Pai Kuan declared. "No killing is permitted during this preliminary round. Any intentional killing will have the perpetrator disqualified and held for further penalty."

'Intentional killing, eh? Meaning if it is done accidentally, it is still acceptable?' Amon thought. He was no stranger to making a killing and made it look like an accident, but with that Spirit stage expert watching, Amon doubted he could fool him.

"No weapons are allowed in this preliminary round. No defensive or recovery tools, nor engraved charms are permitted. You will have to rely on your own. Other than these rules I have laid out, there is not much else. You are free to group up during this battle royal. Conditions of losing are becoming unconscious, surrender, being thrown out of the arena, unable to stand back up, or unable to continue the fight."

'Pretty simple,' Amon thought.

"As for the Elimination round. The no-killing, no weapon or tools are the same. The competition, however, is a one-on-one fight. Four hundred survivors from the Preliminary round will be divided into fifty groups. Each group will have an elimination fight, totaling seven fights. Winners will proceed and losers will lose their rights to continue. Only one fight, no do-over. You will have to win three times to become the champion in this elimination round. Fifty champions who win this elimination round will then proceed to the final round. As for the final, it will be explained to those who are strong or lucky enough to reach there."

Pai Kuan's body floated upward after he finished his last sentence.

"The battle royal of the preliminary begins… NOW!!!"

The youths standing in the arena were very much still in a daze. They were still expecting some kind of ceremony or preparation before the tournament started. So, they just stood there even after Pai Kuan's announcement.

There were others though, that were sharper and also eager for the tournament to start. They acted once Pai Kuan gave the go. Amon was amongst those ones. His body moved to the youths at his back and without hesitation executed Bone Shattering Shadow Fist.

He didn't use the master-level version but instead the skilled-level where it only delivered a strong punch on impact. This was so he could conserve his Aether consumption. It was impossible for him to fight the entire youth in this arena. He had to fight smart if he wanted to be amongst the surviving one hundred.

Amon's position was not that far from the edge. The two youths struck by him flew backward. They landed outside of the arena and were immediately declared to have lost. Amon stayed by the edge. If he was to conserve energy, throwing his opponents out of the arena would be the best way to do it.

Lin Gai was nearest to Amon when the tournament started, but Amon decided to ignore him. If it was up to his whim, Lin Gai would have been the first person he had thrown out. But he suspected Lin Bubai would have something to say about that afterward, so Amon restrained himself.

There was no obligation for him to help the kid as well, though. Lin Gai was at the moment getting swarmed by a number of opponents. Those opponents were kids from commoners. They had been suppressed and bullied by clan people all this time, so when they recognized one from a clan, they ended up working together.

It was all his own fault, Amon thought after seeing the scene. The kid came here wearing fancy clothes with the Lin symbol etched on them. Anybody would have known that he was from a wealthy clan. An adult might have stepped back from offending the powerful clan despite their discontent, but kids were less rational and more emotional. They simply saw this as a chance to pay back the bullies they had suffered. Hence, they targeted the clan youths without hesitation.

As Lin Gai was having trouble fending off his attackers, he looked over to Amon and called out, "You! Lin Mo! Why do you just stand there? Hurry up here and help your fellow clansman!"

'Hmph, trying to drag me down?' Amon thought.

Several of the youths turned to Amon. Four of them came over to him. "You are also from a clan?" One of them asked. They spread out to cover Amon's escape path. Amon's back was facing the outside of the arena.

"Die, clan dog!" The lead boy shouted as he lunged.

Amon jumped as his assailant arrived. He could jump to a maximum of five meters but he did not do that at this time. He simply jumped over the boy's head as he grabbed the back of his shirt. The boy was choked by his own shirt due to his forward momentum. Amon yanked as he somersaulted. The boy's body was hauled into the air. Amon swatted the other three using the first boy's body in a circular motion, before throwing him out of the arena.

The other three lost their balance when they were hit using their comrade. They didn't dare to attack out of worry that they will hurt their friend. Amon took the chance and made a low roundhouse kick, swiping all the three's legs. They were already unbalanced to start with, this kick made them fall.

Amon's two hands grabbed the legs of two boys, he tugged the two and threw them out of the arena. For his Strength stage cultivation, throwing a heavy full adult was child play, not to mention these light-weight kids. The third one Amon kicked and he fell outside as well.

All four that came at Amon were sent out of the arena in a very short time. They did not even have the chance to perform any arts, nor did Amon waste any aether for that. Amon felt a noticeable pressure. He looked to the source and saw Pai Kuan was watching him. Amon returned his attention to the participants around him.

In the air, Pai Kuan was originally observing the battle royal below in boredom. He never really considered any youths outside of the White Cloud Sect to be noteworthy. But Amon's fight had caught his attention. He had spread his consciousness to the entire arena. Although the battle royal down there was very much chaotic, no movements underneath could escape his notice. That's how he took note of Amon's fight.

'Who is that kid?' Pai Kuan wondered. He had not bothered to look at the list of every participant, and Amon's garb made him look like a commoner. Yet, Pai Kuan noticed the precision of Amon's movement. It was not something that normal kids possessed. It made the kid look like a veteran combatant, which was odd, considering his age. The kid was also very calm despite the chaotic battlefield as if he was unaffected by it.

Pai Kuan continued to observe to make sure no one was breaking the rule, but a portion of his attention continued to linger on Amon. He could feel that there was something about the kid, something dangerous. Something only someone who had often gone through a life and death situation like him could detect, a very thick killing intent.

Lin Gai himself managed to free himself after a portion of his opponents went to Amon. He executed a martial art that forced his other assailants off. He then followed up with an arcane art of the water element. The art defeated one of his assailants and scared the rest off. A commoner was, after all, still a commoner. Although they were talented and had a decent cultivation level, they did not have a good enough art to support them like the clan youths.

Lin Gai looked over to Amon and found Amon to be staring back at him. Lin Gai was planning to ridicule him but Amon's stare caused his words to be choked back. He did not know why, but the stare made him extremely uncomfortable. Lin Gai decided to distance himself from Amon. He could not admit that the uncomfortable feeling he felt just now was called fear.