Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 743: Chapter 743. Arena Challenge as a Means of Promotion

”Look at what we have here?”

Wi Zhuang and the others turned to the voice. It was two people from the group from the other corner. Wi Zhuang immediately identified the one who had just spoken.

”Lu Zou...? What do you want?” Wi Zhuang asked. His tone didn’t sound friendly.

”Is that how you greet your old friend?” Lu Zou asked back with a laugh.

”I’ve never considered you my friend,” Wi Zhuang said curtly.

”That hurts, man, but I’m a magnanimous person. Very well, a rival then. Surely you considered me a rival, didn’t you? With how we fought for the position of the enforcer.”

”I didn’t fight you. I simply completed all the tasks assigned to me. Aside from that, you are also an enforcer now, so there is no need for any hostility.”

”Dude, all I did was greet you. You are the one who continues to give me hostile treatment. If that is the case, don’t blame me for reciprocating.”

”Is that so...? Very well. Please accept my apologies. Let me toast to you. We are one faction, after all. Let us work together for the glory of the Mercy Domain.”

Beside Lu Zou was a tall, rough-looking man. He sneered contemptuously. ”Heh. He is, as you said, a spineless loser.”

”Hey! Who do you call a loser?” Wi Yin stood angrily.

Wi Zhuang held her and forced her to sit back down. He then saluted the man who had just spoken. ”Please forgive her, Slayer Lu Kang. She didn’t mean it. Allow me to toast to you as well.”

Lu Kang slapped the cup out of Wi Zhuang’s hand. The cup fell to the ground and broke, spilling its contents on the floor.

”... Slayer Lu Kang, we faction members are prohibited from fighting one another,” Wi Zhuang said.

”The rule is more a guideline,” Lu Kang responded with a grin. ”The faction will only make a fuss when someone is killed. They don’t bother with petty fights.”

A waiter came over and said, ”Mister, please do not fight on this floor. Take it outside if you wish.”

Without warning, Lu Kang unslung the large cleaver beside his belt and buried it in the waiter’s skull. The other maids and waiters screamed from the scene. A manager in charge of the floor came running over.

”My apologies, Slayer Lu Kang. He was new. He didn’t know you,” the manager said about the waiter lying on the floor.

”I don’t mind. He is dead now,” Lu Kang replied.

The manager called for the others to bring the body away. He then said to Lu Kang, ”Slayer Lu Kang, I can’t prevent you if you wish to fight, but you should know that the owner of this establishment is a good friend to Warlord Xou Yung. Any damage to the exclusive floors will be expensive to repair. I don’t think it will be good if this somehow reaches Warlord Xou Yung’s ears.

”Hmph...,” Lu Kang approached the manager and grunted menacingly. ”No, we don’t want that.”

He turned to Wi Zhuang and said, ”We won’t fight. We are only talking here.”

”Yeah. Rumor on the streets is that you are aiming for the Slayer rank,” Lu Zou said.

”You enter the Slayer rank with that cultivation level, and you will be run over in no time,” Lu Kang said with a condescending laugh.

Wi Yin could finally not take it anymore. He yelled, ”Don’t you look down on my brother! After he is promoted, he will catch up to your cultivation in no time!”

”Yin, be quiet!” Wi Zhuang reprimanded.

”Oh? You have a sister serving under you...? Hm, and she is not bad looking either,” Lu Kang studied Wi Yin’s figure.

Wi Zhuang stepped before his sister. ”Stay away from her, Lu Kang!”

”Oh? I see now what your breaking point is,” Lu Kang said with a grin.

”You may insult me all you want, but I will be damned if I let you lay a finger on my sister!” Wi Zhuang exclaimed.

”Relax. As I said, I’m not fighting you here. I am, however, giving you a chance to be promoted the proper way. Completing missions and sucking up to supervisors are the way a sissy is promoted. Do it the proper way, as I did. Challenge someone with a higher rank to a deathmatch in the arena. Defeat him and take his rank. I’m giving you the chance to challenge me and take my rank. What say you?”

”I refuse,” Wi Zhuang said.

”What did I say? He is nothing but a useless coward,” Lu Zou ridiculed.

Wi Yin was about to say something, but Wi Zhuang acted first and put a hand on her shoulder. The act discouraged her from speaking out.

”Call me whatever you want,” Wi Zhuang said.

”Hmph. What a waste of a man,” Lu Kang scoffed. ”Let’s go. I have no time to waste on a coward. Just watch it if you are promoted to Slayer. I will make sure you know it is not a walk in the park.”

”Watch it, loser,” Lu Zou echoed Lu Kang’s words.

Wi Zhuang sat back down after Lu Kang and Lu Zou left. He heaved a long, relieved sigh. He turned to Wi Yin and said, ”Do you understand now why I prefer not to be promoted? My cultivation is not yet at the proper level for that rank.”

Amon didn’t care about the rivalry between Wi Zhuang and Lu Zou, but he was interested in one part of their conversation. ”What he said about taking someone’s rank by challenging the person in the arena. Is there a requirement for that? Or can anyone issue the challenge?”

”Well, it’s not like there is a written rule about it. This challenge started because our domain lord suggested it one day. It has become a tradition since... Wait, you are not thinking about challenging someone from the upper ranks to fast-track your promotion, aren’t you?”

”What if I am?” Amon asked.

”Considering he single-handedly defeated Xia Ko, he did qualify to enter the Slayer rank,” Wi Yin told Wi Zhuang.

”I don’t deny that... As I said, there is no written rule, but normally, someone should be a member of our faction for at least a few years before issuing a challenge. For the challenge to be formal, the other side must be willing to accept it. If you are someone who joined the faction less than a year, the ones you challenge will either not take you seriously or treat it as an insult. If it is the former, they will ignore your challenge. If it is the latter, the person you challenge might attack you on the spot. Even if you win that fight, it won’t count as the same as if you win the duel in the arena.”

”Unless you happen to challenge someone when Mistress Yao Ai is present, then that person will have no choice but to accept,” Wi Yin added. ”There was one time when such an incident happened, she executed the person who rejected the challenge on the spot. Since then, no one dares to reject a challenge when she is present.”

”I see...” Amon thought it was a pity. Otherwise, he might immediately go over and challenge this Lu Kang fellow.

”Don’t be too hasty,” Wi Zhuang told Amon. ”You have just arrived in this realm. You need time to familiarize yourself first. I picked up another mission after handing in the report. It pays well. Speaking of which, here is everyone’s share.”

Wi Zhuang distributed the aer stones he received as payment from the mission. When he arrived at Amon, Amon slid the aer stones back. ”Keep it.”

”Brother Amon, the mission is only successful because of you. You should have gotten most of the rewards. At least take this much.”

”I don’t need them,” Amon said. He was not lacking in aer stones. His wealth from Aetheria was enough to finance a small country. Furthermore, he had taken Xia Ko’s space ring, which contained a decent number of aer stones.

”Brother, maybe you should receive his kindness,” Wi Yin said. ”You will need the funds to purchase cultivation resources if you want to improve quickly, in case you are truly promoted.”

Wi Zhuang pondered his sister’s words. He took another look at Amon, who showed that he truly was not interested in the aer stones. He said, ”Since it is so, I accept Brother Amon’s kindness. I owe you another one.”

”When will we go for the next mission?” Amon asked.

”I gave everyone a two-day rest. After that, we will depart for our next mission,” Wi Zhuang answered. ”Speaking of which, do you have a place to stay?”

”I don’t,” Amon answered. ”But I’ve seen several inns on the way here. I will stay in one of them.”

”I don’t recommend it,” Wi Zhuang said. ”Unless the inn is a prominent establishment, staying in one is not exactly safe. There have been many reports about people who travel alone being robbed or worse, murdered, inside the inn. If you don’t mind, I invite you to live in my house, at least until you get your bearings in this realm.”

”Yeah. Our house is quite large and located in a safe neighborhood, thanks to my brother’s achievements. We will be glad to have you stay with us,” Wi Yin added.

Amon didn’t reject the offer. ”In that case, I’m sorry to trouble you.”