Rise of The Demon General

The crowd was outside the caves, murmuring. The murmurs grew so loud it was as if thunder. Everyone was asking the person next to them what was going on? How much longer did they have to wait? Why did Lao Zen suddenly rush into one of the caves? Was there still a participant inside the cave? It didn’t make sense. It was already passed the time limit where one got the maximum score. They thought that they were simply waiting for the officials to finish the score tallying.

Everyone looked around them, trying to see if there was indeed anyone that hadn’t come out yet. But it was hard to know. It was not like everyone was assigned a spot. Everyone was free to stand or roam around the place. As long as they didn’t leave the premise, it was fine. Hence, they couldn’t know for sure if there was anyone that was still missing.

As everyone made their guesses, Lao Zen came out of the cave, followed by a few officials and… A candidate? Wait… It wasn’t any candidate. It was the first ranker of the first and the second trials, Lin Mo!

Everyone couldn’t believe what they saw. Did Amon stay inside all this time? How could he stand all those mind tortures?

The last two people who came out before Amon, Xa Jien and Sima Fang, were especially astonished. They knew how hard it was to remain inside. The intensity of the pain inflicted increased with time, and it was aimed directly into the mind, so the strength of their cultivated body meant nothing against this attack. They thought they were already at the best limit that anyone could endure, but Amon not only stayed longer, but whole several hours to boot. This was simply unbelievable.

The two watched Amon with eyes filled with both admiration and envy. They wondered how this youth that was around their age got a mind as strong as that.

Furthermore, Amon was still walking steadily behind Lao Zen. Unlike them and many others who seemingly were about to fall down when they came out of the cave.

Lao Zen gestured for Amon to take a rest with the others while the officials compiled the scores.

Amon went and took the most vacant space he could find and sat there. Xin Wuming came and stood by his side. He was announcing with his presence that no one was to come and disturb Amon’s rest.

Not long after, the scores of this third trial were announced.

*

First: Lin Mo - 2000 points

Second: Sima Fang - 791 points

Third: Xa Jien - 708 points

Fourth: Wu Di - 625 points

Fifth: Zhuan San - 550 points

Sixth: Wong Cou - 478 points

Seventh: Tuang Yin - 472 points

Eighth: Pai Wang - 460 points

Ninth: An Ling - 457 points

Tenth: Yan Long - 439 points

One thousandth: -

*

As expected, Amon placed at number one again, with a perfect score this time. The crowd was not surprised since they had witnessed Amon being the last to exit the cave, but seeing how there is such a big gap between his score and the second place still caused them to take a deep breath.

Yan Long was especially vexed. The one who had stolen his glory in the first trial had continued to shine, while he continued to slip down. He was even the tenth place in this third trial.

There was no name inscribed on the one-thousandth rank because the one-thousandth rank candidate was amongst those that had been disqualified. Only 982 candidates passed the third trial, which meant only this number were accepted to become students of the royal academy. All others were sent home.

Another announcement was soon given. It was the tally of the scores for the top ten. These ten would be the ones who received private housing accommodations during their study at the royal academy.

*

First: Lin Mo - 3978 points

Second: Sima Fang - 2086 points

Third: Wong Cou - 2031 points

Fourth: Xa Jien - 1943 points

Fifth: Wu Di - 1862 points

Sixth: Zhuan San - 1857 points

Seventh: Yan Long - 1723 points

Eighth: Tuang Yin - 1687 points

Ninth: Pai Wang - 1630

Tenth: Wu Lang - 1608

*

Lao Zen made a speech to congratulate those that had passed the exam and became the academy’s students. He also congratulated the top ten. He informed them that the academy officials would bring them to their proper accommodation which would be the place they spent their resting time while studying here.

The students were given a few minutes to say goodbye to the adults who had accompanied them here. These adults were watching on the side, they were not allowed to mix with the candidates during the trial. These adults would be going back soon. They were not allowed inside the academy’s complex after tonight.

Amon had no one he wanted to say goodbye to. The two remaining adults that accompanied him to this place, Lin Siaumau and Lin Siuni, one had been expelled and banned from entering, the other was recuperating due to exposure to Amon’s poison. Not that he would bother to say goodbye to them even if they were present.

Instead, another adult approached Amon. It was Lao Zen.

”Congratulations, kid,” Lao Zen said.

Amon simply nodded for a response.

”You don’t talk much, do you? Well, anyway. We will be paying attention to you. I am sure the other students will do so as well, considering your achievement in this exam.”

Amon glanced at his surroundings. There were indeed many eyes on him from the newly accepted students. Some of the eyes carried wariness, some carried rivalry, but mostly envy.

Amon snickered. He paid them no mind. Instead, he asked Lao Zen, ”Getting attention from the academy’s top echelons, is that a good or a bad thing?”

”Depends,” Lao Zen replied. ”You might be offered more tasks due to our high expectations. If you reject too many or perform badly, it might come back to bite you. But it is also an opportunity to gather academic points. These points are used to grade your progress and also can be exchanged for resources.”

Amon nodded his understanding.

”I must say, though. From all my time in this academy, and I dare say it’s a very long time already. I’ve never met a candidate such as you.”

”For breaking the record?” Amon asked.

”The record is indeed impressive, but that’s not my point. You see, there is a reason why we only give the first trial a 1,000 max score while the two others have 2,000 max scores. It is because most candidates were inexperienced kids who only excel at cultivation. This is proven by how many candidates scored higher scores in their first trial compared to the second and third trials, despite the latter two trials containing more scores. This has always been the case even on past exams. The higher scores on the second and third trials are to balance the system a bit so the resulting scores don’t differ too much.”

”But you are different,” Lao Zen added. ”Even though your first trial has a high score, your second and third trials still excel over that first trial. This is the first time such a thing happens to our exam. It’s as if you are already an experienced combatant.”

”I am not a greenhorn if that’s what you are asking,” Amon said. ”Will that be a problem?”

”Not a problem, just intriguing. Like I said. We will pay attention to you.”

Amon simply nodded again. This was the cost of standing out. But this was fine as well, he needed to stand out to have a certain degree of influence, and this academy seemed to be a suitable place to start building his influence.

The officials started to divide the newly accepted students into groups. They were distributed by rankings during the exam. Those below five hundred were one group. After that was a group between rank two hundred one to five hundred. Another group filled with ranks fifty-one to two hundred. The last group aside from the top ten was for ranks eleven to fifty.

From this arrangement, Amon speculated that these other students also received different accommodation facilities based on their rankings. The four groups were taken away first, leaving the top ten students.

Xin Wuming said goodbye to Amon before leaving. He was within the group of ranks fifty-one to two hundred. Yang Li was also in the same group.

The top ten students who remained on the empty field looked at one another. They would be rivals to one another during their time in this royal academy. Everyone’s expression slightly varied. Yan Long wore contempt on his face despite being only at the seventh rank. Wu Di showed battle spirit as if he was ready to take on anyone from this group at this instant. Wu Lang exhibited wariness. Sima Fang looked at everyone with contemplative eyes. Zhuan San wore his small smile and looked at everyone as if appraising.

Amon closed his eyes and ignored everyone.