Rise of The Demon General

Inside the room, Amon continued to endure the tortures. His skin was mangled beyond recognition, only to recover in a flash and all of it repeated again.

His target was the ten hours that Lao Zen informed would grant the maximum of 2,000 points. With the maximum points, he was surely getting the first rank. Before, he didn’t care about this rank. But it was different now after hearing about the private residence reward. He would need much space for his alchemical equipment, so it was better to aim for the largest residence.

Even if others also get the maximum 2,000 points in this trial, they still couldn’t beat him, because he had the most scores in the first and second trials. Hence, he tolerated the pain and forced himself to stay inside the room.

The pains increased in intensity. It was as if a mob was beating and stabbing him to death. Only that he couldn’t die. It was unending pain.

He continued to keep the time in his head. After a very long torture, the clock in his head finally told him that it was already ten hours since he came into this room. All of his body was in pain, but he could still move if he wanted to. He was just about to walk towards the exit when he noticed something.

It was just a speck in the air outside the room. His mind was extremely clear at this time. Others in his situation would have thought of nothing but to go out and end their suffering, but not Amon. His sharp eyes saw this tiny speck. It was a fly. Normally, it wasn’t strange to see a fly. But this fly was moving at an extremely slow speed. Amon could even see it flapping its wings.

After this brief instant, he understood. He then sat back on the seating pad. All the dead people from his past were still clawing and stabbing him. He let them be. He couldn’t prevent them anyway as had been proven when he attempted to block their attacks the first time.

The reason he sat back was that he understood that this trial went deeper than just generating intense pain in the mind. There was also a time warp. The tortures that one experienced through the mind here went faster than the actual time. It made the person who went through this trial think that they had been inside for ten hours while in reality, only a few hours had passed outside.

Perhaps this was also the reason why until now, the record of this third trial never reached even half the maximum time. It was because no one would be willing to go through sufferings unnecessarily. If they stayed for ten hours and knew that they had already gotten the maximum score, why would they spend more time inside?

Maybe the past candidate who had reached the four hours record was one such case. He must have been confused about why the examiners told him that it was only four hours. Later, he probably attributed it to him losing the track of time. Who could precisely track the time when they were under duress? Especially under a torturous situation.

Thus, Amon stayed seated in his seating pad. This trial messed with his perception of time. Since it was like this, he couldn’t be sure how much time had passed. Perhaps the time-slow was not consistent. Perhaps it was slow now, and become slower later, and even slower afterward. Hence, there was no reference on how long he should stay.

’Nevermind, I will just stay for as long as possible then,’ Amon thought with resolution. He was determined to get the best accommodation.

Wei Sui was still laughing as she clawed at Amon. Many others were also laughing. Their laughs were like piercing needles that jabbed at Amon’s brain. The stinging was unbearable.

”Haha… Haha… Hahahaha…!!!” Amon started to laugh with them. ”You people want your revenge?! Go ahead! Do your worse!! Hahahaha…!!!”

His laugh somehow drowned the laughs of these ghosts.

*

In the hallway, the official was marking the time when the candidates came out of the room. They were always sweaty and wore a blank look when they came out. Most of the rooms were empty already, only a couple was left.

The official was rather amazed, the average time that the candidates came out of the room in this exam was longer than the previous exam. Many strong cultivators in this batch.

Another candidate came out from one of the last two rooms. He was having the same empty look as the others. He was lost when he came out of the room. He paused and just stood there for almost a minute before he started looking around as if trying to figure out where he was.

He spotted the official who then beckoned for him to approach.

The official gave him a pill. It was something to help clear the mind. It helped to recover the mental trauma from the trial.

When the candidate was about to swallow the pill, loud laughter echoed through the hallway. It took both the candidate and the official aback. The candidate even dropped the pill, hunkered down, and looked around in panic. He thought the ghosts who had tortured him inside the room had chased after him to resume the torture.

The official was no less unnerved. This was the first time he had heard such laughter inside this place. It even sounded as if the demon itself was laughing. Only after further listening, that he realized the laugh came from the last occupied room.

’Has the trial broken his mind?’ He wondered.

*

Outside the hill, a large crowd gathered before the cliff wall with the caves. These were the candidates that had completed their trials. Many were sitting on the ground with glum looks. They were still reeling from the aftereffect of the trial. They had eaten the pill given by the officials, but the experience was not something that was easily forgotten.

The ones that were least affected were those who had come out early. These were people that had lost themselves to the seduction of lust, wealth, and power. These youths also appeared depressed, because all of them were disqualified because they had come out before two hours.

”How many are still inside?” Lao Zen asked one of the officials who was taking notes.

”Three,” the official answered. ”This year’s batch is rather impressive. Including the three, we got five candidates who managed to break the past record.”

Lao Zen nodded. He was indeed impressed by the result. The first and second trials didn’t give many surprises except for a particular freak. Thinking about the freak, Lao Zen asked, ”Is Lin Mo amongst the three?”

”He is,” the official answered.

Lao Zen guessed that was expected. The boy was too calm for his age. Lao Zen had a feeling that the boy’s mind might even be his strongest aspect.

He looked at Zhuan San below. Zhuan San had also broken the record, but he was the last of the five who had broken the record. He had come out at four hours and twelve minutes.

He had high expectations of the kid. Knowing the boy’s temperament, he had expected the boy to score the first rank in this third trial. But instead, he was the fifth. It was as his official said, this year’s batch was indeed impressive.

Another person came out of the cave. It was another of the previous top ten, Xa Jien. He had always worn a cold face, as if everything was not worth his attention. But at the moment, his face was pale. He tried to walk straight but wavered some time. He didn’t try to walk too far. He just found a nearby empty space to sit down and rest.

Xa Jien’s time was at four hours and fifty minutes. Lao Zen took a deep breath. It was almost one entire hour than past exams’ best record.

Twenty minutes later, the second of the last appeared. It was a girl who had asked the question about the top ten’s reward, Sima Fang.

Sima Fang although had spent a longer time inside, her face was surprisingly more lively compared to Xa Jien. She was also a bit pale but didn’t appear as distraught. She could still walk gracefully to the crowd.

Lao Zen watched the girl with admiration. He might give extra attention to the girl. He always valued a cultivator with a strong mind.

”Only one person left,” the official told Lao Zen.

’So, the first is still that freak, eh?’ Lao Zen thought. His hunch had been proven correct.

They continued to wait. Even though it was clear that Amon would be the first in this trial, they still let him come out of his own accord. Everyone had the right to create their record, to leave a mark for future generations to try to strive past.

So, they wait, and wait, and wait. The sun had set. Lao Zen looked at the time with disbelief. It was already past ten hours mark one hour ago, and the boy was still inside.

Everyone had been waiting anxiously. Most of the crowd had recovered already, so they could think normally now. Everyone was asking, hadn’t everyone already come out? Why was the trial result not yet announced?

”Can something have gone wrong?” An official asked Lao Zen. ”Perhaps we should go check.”

Lao Zen didn’t respond, but his body immediately flew towards the cave that still had the last candidate. He entered and came to the official overseeing this cave.

”What’s wrong? Why hasn’t he come out?” Lao Zen asked.

The official just shook his head. Weren’t they not allowed to ask the candidate to come out if they didn’t come out by themselves? But then he remembered the demonic laughter from hours before. Perhaps he should have checked then?

Lao Zen didn’t wait for the official’s further explanation, he asked, ”Which room is he?”

”Thirteenth on the left…”

Lao Zen rushed towards the opening of that room. When he arrived, he saw Amon who was still sitting. Amon’s eyes were closed. The expression on Amon’s face showed that he was in pain. Amon’s eyes opened then. Lao Zen surprisingly saw clarity within those eyes.

”How many hours has it been?” Amon asked.