Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 164: Chapter 164. First Academy Mission

”Brother Yong Lei, are you sure?” Lei Gun asked.

”He fits the description,” Yong Lei answered.

”Are you Lin Mo?” Jie Mei asked, to which Amon replied with silence.

”Hehe, I have never met a leader who is mute,” Zong Kui mocked. He then turned to Lei Gun, ”Lei Gun, if he is truly Lin Mo, isn’t you from the same hometown as he? Why didn’t you recognize him?”

”Do you think our city is a village? How many people do you think live in our city? No way I pay attention to a small fry like him,” Lei Gun returned. ”Furthermore, my Lei clan and his Lin clan have always been at odds. He is most likely just a nobody in the Lin clan so I’ve never heard of him when I was there.”

”Of course, he is a nobody when you were still in your hometown. You left ten years ago. He was still five years old at that time, you fool,” Zong Kui uttered.

”Are you looking for a fight?!” Lei Gun hit the wall again, producing additional cracks. This was the second time Zong Kui had insulted him. He had just begun to relax and now this asshole from the Astute faction had provoked him again.

Lei Gun clenched his fists and walked toward Zong Kui, but was stopped when Yong Lei said, ”Gun, stop. He is trying to coax you into getting disqualified from this mission. That will happen if you start a fight.”

Lei Gun stopped after hearing Yong Lei’s words. He stared dagger at Zong Kui, harrumphed, and turned back.

Zong Kui laughed, ”Haha, sigh... Brother Yong Lei are truly perceptive. No wonder you are Heroic faction’s top officers.”

Amon ignored the four’s bickering. Their fight had nothing to do with him. The door opened then. Li Shi came in with another girl behind her. The new girl seemed to be in her twenties, but not as old as the four originally in the room. Amon assumed those four were senior students while this new girl was a junior student.

The four stood after Li Shi entered. Li Shi’s brows furrowed when she saw the cracks on the wall. Cold sweat flowed down Lei Gun’s forehead then, but Li Shi didn’t ask about the cracks. She instead introduced the girl that had come with her, ”This is Fan Niang, a junior class student. She will be joining us in our mission.”

”See, I told you that freshman student came into the wrong room,” Lei Gun uttered. He then said loudly to Amon, ”You, Lin Mo, or whomever you are! Get the hell out before I throw you out. This is a private group. You are not welcome here!”

”Actually, I invited him as well to join our mission,” Li Shi informed and then added, ”Be nice! This is his first academy mission.”

”Didn’t you say only five students will be joining the mission?” Jie Mei asked.

”Yeah, tutor Li Shi. And why do you bring a freshman student with us? He will just slow us down,” Lei Gun added.

”Because he has what is required for this mission,” Li Shi said. ”Do you not realize why the four of you are picked for this mission?”

The four looked at each other. Zong Kui then said, ”The four of us are the big four during our third entrance exam?”

”Yes, your minds have been the strongest among your peers. That is what is required in this mission,” Li Shi said. ”And Fan Niang here is the second best during her third entrance exam, while Lin Mo there is the first during his.”

The news about Amon’s unnatural record during the third entrance exam had spread. But many were skeptical about the news. Even if it was true, they believed Amon used some sort of trick to cheat in the exam. That’s why some of them gave Amon a condescending expression, especially Lei Gun. He thought, ’Don’t you think this mission will be the same as the exam. You are dealing with the real world now. Your tricks will be useless.’

”Why not pick the first best from the junior batch?” Amon asked.

”Oh, he speaks!” Lei Gun uttered mockingly.

Zong Kui added, ”Yeah, he has been ignoring us four all this time. But when a pretty girl enters, he suddenly speaks. Well, I guess boys will always be boys. They can’t control themselves at this age.”

Zong Kui noticed Jie Mei was staring at him with an annoyed look. He immediately said, ”Ahaha. Please don’t be offended, sister Mei, you are of course also beautiful. Perhaps that Lin Mo boy just doesn’t like an older girl.”

”Fan Niang is also older than him,” Lei Gun reminded. She was in the junior class, after all.

”Much older girl,” Zong Kui corrected, but Jie Mei could see from his sly eyes that he was saying things on purpose. He was just trying to piss her off. She turned away and didn’t bother with him anymore.

”I see everyone has gotten to know each other,” Li Shi said, glancing at the cracks on the wall again. She then turned to Amon, ”Answering your question. It’s because the first rank junior during the third exam had an accident recently, so Fan Niang took over.”

”Please to meet you,” Fan Niang greeted with a beaming smile. She offered her hand to Amon for a handshake, but Amon ignored it.

Fan Niang retracted her hand but her smile didn’t diminish. She then greeted the four seniors in the room politely and with a bright smile.

When she was shaking hands with Zong Kui, Zong Kui said to her, ”Don’t bother with him, little miss. That fool thinks being cool is attractive for girls.”

”I don’t mind,” Fan Niang answered with a giggle. Her sweet voice and politeness alleviated the mood in the room. Amon just stared at her.

After that round of introduction, Li Shi took them out of the mission center. Three academy officers met them outside and followed them.

They walked out from one of the academy’s exits and then traveled South. Amon could only guess the cultivations from the people around him. He figured Li Shi should be the strongest one. Amon estimated her to be a Martial realm practitioner, but most likely only in the Mystic stage. The three officers she brought should be around the intermediate to peak Transformation stage. As for the four senior students, he thought they should be at the intermediate Transformation stage. While Fan Niang should be at the beginning Transformation stage. This made him the weakest of the bunch.

Lei Gun and Zong Kui were fully aware of that fact. They were making fun of it throughout their journeys. Amon simply ignored them.

Arriving outside the city, there was another group of people in soldier uniforms.

”They will be our escort,” Li Shi informed.

The soldiers took positions around the academy team. They then traveled together. Everybody had a movement art. So, the group traveled at a decent pace.

The most talkative in the group were Zong Kui, Lei Gun, Jie Mei, and Fan Niang. However, aside from Fan Niang, the others’ talks were full of sarcasm and insults against each other. They were from opposing factions, after all. Once in a while, they didn’t forget to throw a few mocking comments at Amon, even though Amon just ignored all their words.

”See, I told you that Lin Mo boy is interested in the junior girl. He kept on walking behind her,” Zong Kui said. He then turned back to Amon and said, ”Do you enjoy staring at her ass, pervert?”

Fan Niang giggled. ”Please don’t make it difficult for him. I don’t mind,” She said sweetly.

”You are so sweet, sister Niang. If only I was in Junior class as well, I would have asked you for a date for sure,” Zong Kui said.

”As if she is willing to go out with you,” Lei Gun mocked.

”At least I will have a better chance than you, you brute,” Zong Kui mocked back.

”Are you looking for a fight again?!” Lei Gun bellowed.

”Quite, you two!” Li Shi scolded. She had warned them a lot of times throughout the journey, but the two always came back to each other’s throats after a while.

The group didn’t follow the main road all the way. After two days of travel, they left the road. After leaving the road, they started to meet spirit beasts on regular occasions. The soldiers took care of those spirit beasts. Li Shi and the academy team stayed back from the fight.

From their fights, Amon confirmed the soldiers to be in peak Transformation stage, except for their leader, who was a Mystic stage of the Martial realm.

At night, they made a bonfire to cook their meals and erected tents for resting. The soldiers took turns as sentries while the academy team rest.

One night, everyone had retired to their tents except for Amon, Li Shi, and Fan Niang. Amon was using a whetstone to sharpen his throwing knives. Seeing that, Fan Niang asked, ”You do that often. Why? I think it’s sharp enough as it is.”

Amon glanced at her briefly, before replying, ”You take care of your weapons, your weapons will take care of you.”

Fan Niang nodded absently. ”I will remember that,” she said and then added while standing up, ”I am tired. I will go to sleep first. Good night, tutor Li Shi, fellow student Lin Mo.”

”Good night,” Li Shi replied. Amon didn’t respond.

After Fan Niang entered her tent, Amon asked Li Shi, ”The others said you originally planned for five students to join the mission. The sixth one is added later. Am I the additional one, or is she?”