Rise of The Demon General

After some time had passed, the new battle puppet was finally brought in. All tents were functional again.

The participants who had been queueing for the malfunctioned tent had been grumbling non-stop. It was already bad that they had to wait their turn, but now they had to wait even longer due to the malfunction.

As time passed, even more participants passed by defeating the battle puppets. Most were above four minutes mark, but there had also been an increase in the number of participants who passed below the four minutes mark. Yet, only Wong Cou was the one who was below three minutes.

Although the time one spent inside the tents was not announced, everyone was keeping their own tabs. Everyone did not doubt that Wong Cou would be the one at the first rank in this second trial. It was not that strange, considering he was the only Transformation stage among the participants. His Transformation stage power didn’t lose to the High-tier Engraved Battle Puppet used in this trial.

Xin Wuming and Yang Li were also among those who had passed by defeating the battle puppet. The two of them were above the four minutes mark. Xin Wuming was still understandable considering he was a peak Strength stage cultivator. But for Yang Li, this was an incredible feat considering she was still at the intermediate Strength stage.

Time continued to pass. The ones that failed to survive the battle puppets were sent home after being treated in the infirmary tents. The ones standing in the field reserved for candidates who survive the five minutes were nervous. They were originally happy for being able to survive, but as more and more candidates managed to defeat the battle puppet before the five minutes time limit, they became anxious. They were at the bottom of the ladder with zero scores for this second trial. If they didn’t perform well in the third trial, they would be the first to be cast out if there were more than one thousand candidates who passed.

The ones sitting in the section reserved for candidates that defeated the battle puppets had a different worry. What they were worried about were the rankings. These were all ambitious youths. They were eager to know how well they performed compared to others. They couldn’t wait to see if their names got into the top ten this time.

Only Amon appeared oblivious. He continued to cultivate and act as if this whole ordeal had nothing to do with him. He cared not for the rankings. As long as he got into the academy, it was all good. He had a more important goal than a measly recognition of this academy.

Xin Wuming, who admired Amon, sat next to him and mimicked his act. Xin Wuming was also cultivating while ignoring the others.

Yan Long grumbled when he looked at the two, but he didn’t dare make loud noise or he would be scolded by Lao Zen again.

When the day changed into the evening, all the candidates finally finished the trial. Out of 9,997 candidates who passed the first trial, less than half passed this second trial. At the end of the trial, a total of 5,853 candidates were sent home because they failed to survive against the battle puppets. Only 4,144 candidates were left now.

Out of the ones who passed, 1,123 were sitting in the section of the plaza with chairs, while the rest were standing. These standing candidates became even more nervous after seeing the number because they got zero scores for this second trial. If they didn’t perform well during the third trial, they were as good as gone.

Same as yesterday, the ranks of the top ten and the one-thousandth ranks were displayed.

*

First: Lin Mo - 1,051 points

Second: Wong Cou - 651 points

Third: Sima Fang - 480 points

Fourth: Zhuan San - 450 points

Fifth: Wu Di - 447 points

Sixth: Xa Jien - 423 points

Seventh: Tuang Yin - 399 points

Eighth: Yong Gan - 387 points

Ninth: Yan Long - 375 points

Tenth: Gao Dou - 372 points

One thousandth: Sin Ru - 98 points

*

All the top ten rankers were those who defeated the battle puppet in below four minutes. Most were the same candidates who were in the first trial’s top ten, but a few were new names.

Yan Long, who was in second place yesterday was now the ninth ranker. It was not strange if one thought about it. He might be exceptional due to his cultivation and age proportion. But in terms of strength, he was still among the weakest of those who were at the peak Strength stage. Even getting into the top ten was already a great feat considering there were other stronger peak Strength stage cultivators. He must have been able to beat those other stronger cultivators due to possessing better martial or arcane arts.

Yet, Yan Long was not happy after seeing the display. All because of the number one rank. He started to shout, ”How come a person who wins because of a malfunction gets the number one spot?! Not to mention, his score is way above the others! He is the only one above 1,000 points. There is clearly a mistake here!”

Loud murmurs started to circulate. Everyone agreed with his declaration. Everybody had the same thought that Wong Cou should be number one. He was the one who came out the earliest. Lao Zen didn’t mention that age or cultivation affected the scores in this trial, so it was only affected by the time one completed the trial. Yan Long was right! The officials must have made a mistake in calculating the completed time.

More people started to clamor for a recheck. Someone must have made a mistake. Wong Cou should be number one.

Wong Cou, who heard many supported him, was completely unconcerned. He was like Amon, treated the commotion as if nothing.

When the commotion seemed about to get out of hand, a loud and powerful voice was heard, ”QUIIEEETTTT…!!!”

Strong energy was transmitted with the voice. Everyone’s ears and head were hurt after hearing it. This energy-infused voice effectively shut everyone up. Silence descended upon the plaza.

The powerful voice came from Lao Zen, who had now floated up into the air so everyone could see him.

”The scores have been reviewed and rechecked before they were announced. There is no mistake! So quit your yapping!!”

”No way! Then how do you explain this Lin Mo getting a higher score than Wong Cou who has come out earlier than him? Isn’t the score based on how fast one defeated the battle puppet?” Yan Long pressed.

Lao Zen glared at the boy. The boy must have thought that his clan’s name gave him some kind of privilege. But if he thought so, he was still too green. This academy was under the royal family. Any clan out there was all beneath the royal family.

Still, with how the mass had been riled up, Lao Zen guessed that he had no choice but to explain. Otherwise, the crowd would say that the royal academy was biased once they left this place.

”The score is indeed based on how fast the candidate defeats the battle puppet. However, the scores allocated for this assessment were only 1,500 points,” Lao Zen said. ”As you know, I mentioned before that the maximum score for this second trial is 2,000 points. 1,500 points are for how soon you can clear the tent. If you clear it the first second that you go inside the tent, then you get a full 1,500 points. This is, of course, impossible. No one is ever meant to get the full 2,000 points. As for the remaining 500 points. It is for one even more impossible feat.”

Lao Zen paused then. He started muttering, ”To be honest, I don’t know why this 500-point assessment is implemented. It is not me who created the rules for these trials. I always thought of it as an unnecessary grading rule, but it seems I have been proven wrong today…”

Lao Zen seemed to notice he had been talking to himself. He quickly cleared his throat. ”Ehem. Anyway, the last 500 points were reserved for those who managed to truly defeat the battle puppet. Not just make it fall or hit the tent’s wall. But truly destroy it and render it unable to move again.”

The crowd gasped upon the reveal.

”You… You don’t mean…,” Yan Long uttered with disbelief.

”Yes. Lin Mo had successfully broken a battle puppet, thus scoring those 500 points in addition to the scores from the time assessment.”

Everyone now stared at Amon in a different light. Even Wong Cou, who had remained calm all this time, turned to him and gave Amon a contemplating look. Zhuan San had a small smile while glancing at Amon. Xin Wuming felt pride within him. He stood with his chin lifted high beside Amon as if he was the one who received the recognition.

Amon, as usual, treated it as if this was no big deal.