Rise of The Demon General

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom

On the first day of the White Cloud Tournament, Madam Lin and Lin Guo came to pick Amon up.

Lin Guo had a complicated expression when he met Amon. He could sense that the kid is close to the Peak Strength stage. Considering the kid's age, this put him at the same cultivation speed as the best Lin clan's current younger generation, Lin Xiaolong, who had become a Peak Strength stage cultivator at age fifteen, four years ago. Not to forget Amon didn't receive any cultivation resources from the clan. If one looked at it this way, this put Amon's base cultivation speed to be even faster than Lin Xiaolong's.

The two then brought Amon to the Lin clan's grand hall to meet with the others. There would be five Lin young generations who represented the Lin clan in the tournament, Amon was one of them.

When he came in, there were not many people in the grand hall, unlike the first day when he met the clan master here. He also didn't see Lin Weida amongst the people present. Lin Bubai was the one who was heading this meeting. Amon saw the four other kids there, three boys and one girl. They should be the ones that went with him to the tournament.

He also saw another familiar face there, Lin Rong. She was talking with the lone girl who would be joining the tournament. From the way they talked, Amon surmised that they were siblings.

When Lin Bubai saw Amon arrive, he called everybody to attention. He then addressed the five representatives. He introduced Amon as Lin Mo. The four others were Lin Cang, Lin Gai, Lin Anwen, and the girl was Lin Fen.

"You five are the brightest of our young generation who were fifteen years of age, that is the age limit one is allowed in the tournament," Lin Bubai said. Of course, he didn't know that Amon's real age was actually thirteen at the moment.

"As you know, the White Cloud Tournament is the most prominent tournament in this city. Every eye will be on you. You can't afford to bring shame to our clan's name. This is also your chance to have your name be known throughout the city. Grab this chance for fame and glory!"

"We will!" One of the participants, Lin Cang, declared with ardor.

Lin Bubai nodded at the boy, "If you still have something to prepare, do it immediately. We will leave in half an hour."

After Lin Bubai excused them, he took Madam Lin to one side for a talk. During this time, Lin Rong came to Amon.

"Hmph, can't expect a backwater kid like you is being asked to represent our clan as well. You better not cause us to lose face out there," Lin Rong said to Amon.

Lin Fen was following behind her, "Sister, is this that brat you told me about? Can't believe I will be on a team with him. Hey, you! You better not drag us down."

"Don't worry, sister Fen. If he does. I will throw him out of the tournament myself so as to not let our clan's name be tarnished," one of the participant boys named Lin Gai, came as well to fawn on Lin Fen.

The other two, Lin Cang and Lin Anwen approached when they saw the others were gathering.

Lin Cang addressed Lin Rong, "Sister Lin Rong, unfortunately, the age limit is fifteen. If it was not, it should be you that represented our clan. The other clans won't have a chance if you did."

"That's right!" Lin Gai joined in the praise. "And the worse of it, we get a nobody instead. Such bad luck."

"Don't bother with him. He is just here to make up the number. Although of course, someone else could have made a better candidate. I wonder what he said to his mama that had made him get selected."

Amon just wore an indifferent expression as they continued to ridicule him.

"So rude! He is ignoring us," Lin Fen uttered.

"You bastard! How dare you ignore sister Fen?" Lin Gai called. He made a threatening step toward Amon, but he didn't make any move. He just stood before him with a menacing look. Amon was still treating it as if they were not there.

"Perhaps he was just scared shitless," Lin Cang said.

"Hmph, forget about him," Lin Rong said. "You four should do your best to make up for him in the tournament."

"With me there, there is no need for you to worry," Lin Cang tapped his chest. "I will make the Lin clan's name be heard throughout the tournament."

They then left, except for Lin Anwen who had not uttered a word. He came to Amon and said, "Don't mind them. In my opinion, I think the clan has made the right call in including you in the tournament. I have seen your fight in the training arena. I don't think any within our age can fight the way you do. It is very enlightening watching you fight. Who trained you to fight like that?"

Amon, who had been treating those kids as empty air, finally turned and looked at Lin Anwen. He stared coldly at the boy, grinned, and then said, "No one trained me. I learned by myself how to fight. You said you are inspired by my fight? Then let me give you a tip. Whenever I fight, I fight with the intention to kill."

Lin Anwen didn't know why, but he could feel his hair standing on end. He subconsciously took a step back. He felt as if he was standing before a ferocious beast that could pounce at him without notice.

Lin Bubai came at this time with Madam Lin, Lin Anwen excused himself then.

"I have something I need to say to you," Lin Bubai said. "This is about the arranged deathmatch with the Wei clan. Although the White Cloud sect had agreed to host a deathmatch between you and the Wei representative within the tournament, they do not want the deathmatch to simply be a fight between two low-level cultivators. They had given the requirement that the participant of the deathmatch should reach at least the semi-final of the tournament. If you failed, then the deathmatch is canceled. We will then have to rearrange with the Wei clan to settle our dispute elsewhere, but it would be a disgrace. I hope that will not happen."

Amon sneered. "It won't," he said.

"Good," Lin Bubai said.

"Do you know how the tournament's fights are arranged?" Amon asked.

"It will be explained by the White Cloud Sect's people before the tournament. It usually changed in each tournament, only the final stays the same. There will be fifty people chosen to participate in the final."

'Fifty? Then the final is not a one on one fight,' Amon thought. "What kind of fight is the final?" Amon asked.

"That will be explained after you win the semi-final. Make your preparation, we will depart soon," Lin Bubai said and left.

"Do you bring enough restoration pills and salve?" Madam Lin asked.

"I do," Amon replied.

Madam Lin nodded, "I won't go to watch the tournament. Lin Guo will go in my place. He will keep you safe if the Wei tries to do anything outside the tournament."

She then used her hand to lift Amon's chin up so she could stare at him directly. "Don't you die," she said to him.

"Don't worry, mother. I won't," Amon replied.

Madam Lin maintained her gaze for a while before she nodded. She then left without further words.

"I never saw her that obsessed about something. She really treats you as her child, you better not disappoint her," Lin Guo said after Madam Lin left.

Amon didn't comment on that.

*

After half an hour passed, everyone gathered again. Seeing everyone was ready, Lin Bubai led them out of the estate. They went together to the tournament venue. Which was to be held at the White Cloud estate in the center part of the city.

The city was especially lively at this time. Everyone was excited about this White Cloud tournament which was held every ten years. Many hawkers set up their stalls in the streets around the tournament venue. It was like everyone in the city had come to watch the tournament.

As the tournament participants, the Lin clan was given a special entrance, separated from the crowded main entrance. The White Cloud estate was even larger than the Lin clan's one. It was almost a small town by itself. The tournament venue was a specially constructed place that housed several arenas, large and small.

The arena had viewing platforms that could house a million people. For those that stood the furthest, some kind of projection screen was placed so the spectators there could also see the ongoing fights.

At this time before the tournament started, these platforms were already almost filled to the brim.

Amon was rather fascinated. So fightings were something the people of this world treated as exciting entertainment.