Rise of The Demon General

From the book Amon had read, the city of Qishurg covered an area of roughly two thousand square miles. It was said to be the second-largest city in Echos country. Second only to the capital city.

Its borders were lined with twenty meters high stone walls. None below the Martial realm could jump up the wall.

As Amon approached, he saw etchings along the wall. They were words of power.

Along the wall were sentries with uniforms, ever vigilant against any who tried to enter or exit the city unannounced. The degree of security in this city was completely at a different level compared to White Cloud City.

It was said that there were eighteen gates around the city, but only five were normally opened for daily passage. The road that Amon was taking bring him to one of these five opened gates. Amon saw people forming a line to enter and exit the gate. Guards with the same uniform as the ones on the wall were at the gate to manage and control the mass as well as perform checkings.

Amon walked to the back of the line once he arrived. It was a long line, he was behind around thirty people. For a world where only cultivators could afford to safely venture out of the city, this number could be considered heavy traffic. Considering the size of the city, Amon didn’t think this to be weird.

While Amon was waiting for his turn, more people came and queued behind him.

At one point, Amon heard someone talking to the people behind him.

”Hey, you! We are the Wu clan from Wuyin City. My young master is in a hurry, give us face and let us cut the line, eh?”

Amon didn’t look back. He didn’t care if people were cutting the line behind him. This Wuyin City the guy mentioned about, he had read about it. It was another city in Echos. It was reportedly a larger city compared to White Cloud City. The Wu clan was the de facto ruler of that city. It was no wonder this clan was so haughty even outside of their territory.

After some whispers, Amon heard some shuffling. The person behind him appeared to give in to this Wu clan’s demand. Not long after that, Amon heard the same voice from behind him. ”Hey, dude. We are the Wu clan from Wuyin City. My young master is in a hurry, give us a face and let us cut the line, all right?”

Amon didn’t turn back nor respond.

”Hey, man. Did you hear what I say?”

Amon still ignored it.

Someone came beside him and spoke to his face. The man was a middle-aged man with immaculate clothing. His voice was not the one who spoke before. ”Young friend, do you mind letting us go first? My young master is participating in the entrance exam for the royal academy today, so we are in a hurry. We will be truly grateful if you let us go first.”

Amon turned to him. ”Today? Isn’t the entrance exam tomorrow?” He asked.

”No, it is this afternoon. Around three more hours from now. You can see now why we are in a hurry. Can you please be so kind as to let us go first?”

”I can’t,” Amon replied flatly.

The man frowned. Amon not only rejected him outright, but he didn’t even bother to give a reason.

”Young friend, don’t be so unreasonable. Here, I can pay you simply to let us pass first,” the man showed Amon a handful of aer stones.

One of the people behind the line who had let the young master’s group slip past their queue, uttered, ”Uh, why didn’t I get paid…?”

”You be quiet!” A rough voice scolded.

Amon looked back. This so-called young master’s group consisted of four people. The elegant and polite-looking middle-aged man that had been offering him aer stones, two rough-looking men, and one youth. The youth was no doubt their young master. This young master turned away with an expression of disgust when Amon looked at him. The two rough men gave him a menacing look. Only the middle-aged man still retained a friendly expression with a wide smile.

”Not interested,” Amon said to the middle-aged man and returned his attention to the front.

The middle-aged man’s smiling face froze. They had taken one step back and offered compensation, why was this youth being so unreasonable?

A hand grabbed Amon’s shoulder. It was one of the two rough men from behind.

”You f*cking commoner! Do you think you can afford to offend our Wu clan? Are you tired of living?!” He exclaimed with a loud voice.

Amon looked back at the hand that was on his shoulder. He was still thinking about whether to break the fingers on that hand when another loud voice bellowed, ”What is this commotion?! What are you people doing? Trying to cause trouble?”

One of the guards who were controlling the mass around the gate came over.

”No, sir. There is no trouble here,” the middle-aged man hurriedly said.

”Then get back in line!” The guard scolded.

”Yes, sir,” the middle-aged man said. He gave the other three a helpless look. Even if they were of a prominent clan from a big city, these guards were the sanctioned soldiers of Echos kingdom. They didn’t dare to offend these guards. They lined up obediently behind Amon under the guard’s watchful eyes.

After the guard saw that everything was in order, he returned to his post.

”You watch your back, asshole!” Amon heard the voice of the same man who had grabbed him.

Amon gave him no response.

They then waited quietly for their turn in the queue.

It was almost an hour before it was Amon’s turn. When he arrived at the checkpoint, the guard asked, ”Name and city you are from?”

”Lin Mo, White Cloud city,” Amon answered.

”What’s the purpose of your visit?”

”Joining the royal academy.”

A ridiculing voice was heard from behind after Amon’s words. ”So, a low-life wishes to join the royal academy? White Cloud City he said? Lin clan? What’s a backwater clan from a backwater city trying to join the academy for? It will only result in a disgrace.”

”Silent!!” A guard next to the one who was questioning Amon scolded. ”Wait for your turn to be questioned!”

”I… I’m sorry, sir…”

After the commotion settled, the guard continued his question for Amon, ”Do you have an identification to show your claim?”

Amon took out the badge Lin Bubai had given him. The guard inspected it. The name carved on that badge was indeed Lin Mo.

”Why didn’t you come with your group? The others have arrived days ago,” the guard said.

’So, they survived,’ Jack said in his mind. To the guard, he said, ”I became ill during our travel, sir. So, I have to stay behind and can only come now.”

”Heh, so he is the useless straggler from a backwater clan,” the ridiculing voice from behind again.

The guard looked behind Amon and stared dagger. No follow-up remarks were heard.

”Here,” the guard returned Amon’s badge. ”You can pass. The entrance exam is in two hours, you’d better hurry.”

”Which direction should I go for the entrance exam?” Amon asked as he stored his academy badge. The royal academy was the largest complex at the center of the city, so he should be able to find it as long as he headed to the center. However, the complex was also very large. If he only searched and asked around after arriving at one side of the complex, it would be a waste of time if the exam avenue was on the opposite side. With only a couple of hours to spare, he preferred to not make a mistake.

”The entrance exam is on the South side of the academy. This is the West gate. Just go straight in that direction. It is a very large blue building with an equally large entrance. It is the only blue building there, so you won’t miss it. There should also be many people crowding there.”

Amon nodded. He immediately ran forward using his movement art, Shadowless Sprint.

”Stay out of trouble…!” The guard yelled after seeing Amon using his art without reservation.

”Young master Wu Yang, please,” the well-dressed middle-aged man said to the youngest man in their group.

”Abdu first,” Wu Yang replied. He then turned to one of the rough men and said, ”You know what to do.”

Abdu bowed, ”Don’t worry, young master. You won’t see him there.”

After Abdu went through the checking process, he immediately dashed forward as well. His movement art was even faster than Amon’s. The guards looked at him. They understood why Amon was in a hurry, but what’s this one’s excuse? But as long as they didn’t crash into someone or create trouble, it was none of their concern.

*

The city was even larger than Amon thought. It took some time to travel through such a large city even by running at top speed. There were more crowds here compared to White Cloud city, but Amon could still weave through pedestrians without slowing down. He even zipped past several people who were riding horses on the street. His running speed was faster than horses.

As he headed in the direction the guard had told him, he noticed he came upon an area that was a bit shadier. Less people were seen here. He figured this must be some sort of the slum districts of the city. He decided to just run straight. He was short on time.

Several suspicious-looking men watched him run by. Amon kept on running at full speed. If they couldn’t chase him, they won’t bother to do anything. Not that he was afraid, he simply had no time to spare for them.

While he was still running, he suddenly sensed danger from behind. He rolled to the side just as a large rock crashed into the sport where he would be if he had continued running.

”Huh? You dodge it. Damn, kid! You are truly lucky!”

Amon turned to the source of the voice and saw it was one of the rough-looking men that accompanied the Wu clan’s young master.