Rise of The Demon General

Amon watched Madam Lin walk away.

'This is easier than I thought. Heh, I was worried for a second that I still need to pathetically argue with her,' Amon thought with a grin.

Now that the matter of Madam Lin's objection was solved, it was time to deal with the issue of making sure he was picked for the spot. From what Lin Fong had told him when they signed the application, twelve candidates were being recommended for the four spots. This meant he had to fight against eight others to make sure he was selected.

He asked Lin Fong how the selection was done. Lin Fong said that was up to the clan master. Sometimes it was done by simple sparring, another time it was by a different type of competition. They would know by later today.

Without realizing it, Amon's gaze stayed on Madam Lin's back. A strange kind of feeling was lingering inside him as he watched her. The feeling was too alien so he dismissed it. Unbeknownst to him, the feeling was a tinge of guilt.

*

At the center of the great hall in the Lin clan's main building, twelve youths were standing. Lin Weida was sitting on his throne with Lin Bubai by his side. There were several others in the hall but not as many as the time when Amon first met the clan master.

Lin Weida watched the twelve youths in silence. After a while, he pointed his hand at the youths. "You, you, and you. Go away! Sending the three of you will just be a disgrace to our Lin clan. You are still at the beginning Strength stage."

The three that were pointed out by Lin Weida walked away with depressed expressions.

'Five more to go,' Amon thought in his mind. He was among the youths that stood at the center of the hall. Now there were nine of them. The entrance spots for the Royal Academy were only four.

Lin Weida gave the remaining youths another observation. He again pointed to one of them, "You, come forward. There is no need for you to go through the selection process. You are already at the Peak Strength stage."

The one who Lin Weida had picked was named Lin Baxiong. He walked forward with a proud expression.

"The rest of you will have to go through a selection process," Lin Weida uttered.

'Asshole,' Amon said in his mind. He was also at the Peak Strength stage. The clan master surely could sense his cultivation level, he was not using his concealment art to cloud his cultivation. Not that it could deceive someone at Lin Weida's level anyway.

"Do you have something you want to say?" Lin Weida asked. He didn't point at anyone in particular but his eyes were on Amon.

Amon sneered. He didn't show any facial discontent just now, Lin Weida was just guessing his discontent. Still, since the clan master had asked, he won't shy away.

"I am also at the Peak Strength stage. May I ask why I need to go through the selection process while he doesn't?" Amon asked.

"How dare you! It is the clan master's right to decide how he likes. Who are you to question the clan master's decision?" Lin Baxiong uttered. Now that he had been given the special privilege and stood near Lin Weida, he considered himself special and above the other eight youths. He was gazing at them with contempt.

Amon completely ignored Lin Baxiong. His eyes never left Lin Weida. This irritated Baxiong.

"Hahaha," Lin Weida laughed. "Yes. You are at the Peak Strength stage. However, Baxiong is one year younger than you, which makes him a more talented cultivator. He deserved the special treatment."

In reality, Amon was the one who was one year younger. Everyone in the Lin clan still mistook him for being two years older than he actually was. However, Amon understood it was just an excuse. He knew Lin Weida intentionally want to put him through the selection process. The age issue was just a convenient excuse.

"Hmph! Just because you managed to become a peak Strength stage, don't think that you are special," A girl's voice chided Amon from the side. It was Lin Fen, who was the White Cloud Tournament finalist together with Amon. She was another youth who had been nominated for the spot to partake in the Royal Academy entrance exam.

"Sister Fen is right! You don't deserve this spot," said Lin Cang, who stood beside Lin Fen. "You might have cheated your way inside the secret dimension during the White Cloud Tournament, but the Royal Academy is different. The entrance exam is not something that will let a cheater like you pass. Giving the spot to you will just be a waste."

Amon breathed out heavily. He was a calm person, but these kids were starting to test his nerve. In his past life, he would have executed them on the spot.

"What's the selection process? Let's just get this done with," Amon said.

Lin Fen and Lin Cang were vexed by Amon's attitude. They were just about to scold him when Lin Weida's laughter echoed through the hall.

"Hahaha… Good! Now, the eight of you, follow me!" Lin Weida uttered as he shot towards one of the side doors of the hall."

Amon and the others ran over following the clan master. When they arrived outside, they saw in the courtyard that lots of wooden poles had been erected. These poles were different in length and size. The poles nearest to them were the largest and shortest, while the furthest ones were smaller and taller. The tallest ones seemed to reach almost thirty meters in height.

The poles were arranged in a particular layout that made it look like a maze, but it also looked like stairs where it started from a lower elevation and gradually became higher as one proceeded further. There were three tallest poles. Above each of these three, was a piece of red paper hung from a rope. The ropes were tied to two pieces of long bamboo that were fixed to a nearby tall building.

These pole structures and the red paper reminded Amon of the Lion Dance ceremony from his old world. Amon could hazard a guess as to how the selection process was carried out after seeing this setup.

Lin Weida was standing beside the row of the lowest and largest poles. When the eight youths arrived, he said to them, "You see those three red papers hanging above the highest poles? Whoever holds those papers will have the right to go to Qishurg City to participate in the Royal Academy's exam. This place will be the starting point. You have to climb up there racing the others and take those papers. Anything you do is fine. You can even attack the others on your way up. But no weapons, just use your body and your arts. On my mark, the selection process will begin. Are you all ready?"

The others who were in the great hall just now had also followed out into this courtyard. They were very eager to watch how the eight youths perform in this selection process.

"Ready."

"Ready!"

Everyone uttered with confidence. Amon simply nodded.

"Then begin!" Lin Weida uttered. He then floated above. He served as both the referee and the judge of this selection process.

The eight all jumped at almost the same time. They landed on the first row of poles and immediately jumped to the next one without pause. Each pole was positioned around two meters away and one meter higher than the rows before, so for Strength stage cultivators who could jump a distance of five meters, this was not a problem.

However, they soon discovered the distance between each pole is increasing as they proceeded higher. This demanded higher control on the accuracy of their jumps.

Lin Fen seemed to shine in this selection process. Her figure shot from one pole to the next with grace. She soon left the others behind.

'A movement art,' Amon thought after seeing it. The art seemed to lighten Lin Fen's body mass and allowed her to glide forward as if riding the air.

From how Lin Fen led the race, no one doubted that she would be the first to get the red paper. But there were three red papers, so the others didn't worry too much even if they couldn't chase Lin Fen. All they had to do, was to aim for the remaining two spots.

In terms of jumping accuracy, Amon was ahead of the others. So, he was second place in the race, although not by much. Lin Cang was the next after him.

As they neared the middle section, the layout of the poles changed dramatically. There were plenty of poles for everyone during the first half, but in this middle section, there was only one row of poles forming a bridge to the next half. So, everyone would have to jump through this same row.

This row was located right at the center. Amon started from the right side, so he had to veer to the left to get to this bridge of poles.

Lin Cang started from the middle, so he was at an advantage as the bridge was directly in front of him.

Amon who was ahead ended up arriving at the bridge at the same time as Lin Cang because he had to travel that extra distance.

"Move aside, you bastard!" Lin Cang uttered as he executed his martial art. His fist punched at Amon, creating a loud sound and a visual effect where the air around his fist exploded.