Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 219. Preferred Recruit

"Kid, has anyone ever told you that you are too smart for your own damn good?" Dao Se told Amon.

"Are you going to threaten to silence me again?" Amon asked in return.

"Nah, it happens that our backer is interested in you as well."

"Boss...," Gao Lan gave Dao Se a reproaching look.

"It’s pointless. I hate to admit it, but it seems like we can’t hide anything from this kid," Dao Se told Gao Lan. He rose and put his face close to Amon. "That being said, the purpose of the kingdom secretly cooperating with an underworld party is so they remain in the clear. They can’t just swoop in and interfere. If the clans find out about their meddling, it will cause a different kind of political problem."

"They don’t need to," Amon said. "All they need to do is pressure the city officials to be impartial. Or, they can replace the officials with ones who are more supportive of you instead of the Yan clan. As for the Yan Clan’s direct antagonism, you can build a relationship with their opponent. The An clan, for example. That should make them think twice about making trouble for you."

Dao Se was silent for a while before he said, "You are forcing me to do a lot of work, kid..."

"Hard work is the only way to success. That bullshit about ’work smart, not work hard’ is just an excuse for lazy people."

"Bloody hell, why am I being lectured by a fifteen-year-old kid?" Dao Se complained. "I ain’t talking with you anymore. I feel like you will just test my nerves the longer we talk. I’m off!"

"Before you go, I need something from you."

"You must be kidding, right...? I was here to scold you, not to discuss business," Dao Se responded.

"I want to buy Flame Powder," Amon said.

"Kid... That stuff is restricted."

"I’ve seen your people use them in your underground arena. Considering your backer is the kingdom, you should have access to it. I only need a small quantity. One pound for each month. I will buy them at the market rate. In exchange, I will double the current production of Thousand Dream Powder."

Dao Se thought about the matter for a bit. He said, "Buy them at double the market rate. You can’t find this stuff in the market, anyway."

"Very well," Amon agreed.

"However, I must warn you, kid. If you try to play us, I can assure you that you are not going to like what we do. You’d better make sure you stay on our good side. Is that clear?"

"As long as our interests are aligned, you don’t need to worry about that," Amon returned.

"Heh! That doesn’t sound convincing, but I will take it."

Dao Se stood and left. Gao Lan stared at Amon a while longer before leaving.

*

In the next few weeks, the city remained in an uneasy state due to the cold conflicts between the Street Aristocrats, the Yan clan, and the Sewer Snakes. There were no big scuffles because the authorities were monitoring the situation, but small skirmishes still occurred.

The Sewer Snakes lost men because of the joint assault between the Street Aristocrats and the Yan Clan. Thanks to the extra income from selling the Thousand Dream Powder, the Sewer Snakes could hire more cultivators to replenish their manpower. Their rising fame also swayed many independent cultivators to join them. This allowed them to resist the joint assault.

Dao Se followed Amon’s advice and approached some of the clans known to dislike the Yan Clan. Aided by gifts in the form of aer stones and the Thousand Dream Powder, Dao Se made friends with the An and the Yong Clans. This put pressure on the Yan Clan and reduced their aggressiveness.

Eventually, the situation cooled down. The clashes were reduced to a tolerable level, and everyone could breathe again. Conflicts still happened in the dark, but this was common in the underworld. The unaffected civilians and officials steered clear of those conflicts.

At the beginning of this time of relative peace, another underworld organization rose to prominence. No one noticed this organization until they took over a couple of districts. They had worked under the radar while everyone’s attention was on the conflict between the Sewer Snakes and the Street Aristocrats.

The districts they conquered were located South of the Sewer Snake’s territory. These districts used to belong to several small underworld groups. This new organization defeated those groups and absorbed the members into their fold, much like what the Sewer Snakes did in the past.

Before long, this new underworld organization was considered the fourth overlord of Qishurg City’s underworld. Interestingly, this fourth overlord went into an alliance with the Sewer Snakes as soon as it rose to fame. With the two working together, neither the Alley Advocates nor the Street Advocates could do much to trouble them.

This new underworld organization was called the Demon Gang.

*

After establishing the Demon Gang, Amon focused on his cultivation and study. He set the rules and system for his organization and let his underlings run it. The same went for his faction inside the academy. Xin Wuming acted as the overseer for both groups. He checked in occasionally and interfered when there was a big problem.

There were problems, but rarely big. Amon mostly let his people settle the matters themselves. The way he saw it, if they could not deal with small issues, they were not worth keeping.

As many expected, the prestige of the Vicious faction rose after the duels with the Nobles faction. Because of that, the pressure from the other factions increased, including the pressure from the Junior and senior classes. Of course, the pressure they could exert was limited. Junior and Senior students were prohibited from wandering into the residential section of the Freshman students. While in the public section, many tutors wander about. They couldn’t freely bully the freshman students.

Hence, most physical clashes came from among the same class of students. The Vicious members were not afraid if the opponents were of the same class. After their rise to fame, many students joined their faction. By the end of the first year, their faction ended up becoming the biggest among the freshman class. Their number reached almost three hundred, which comprised around thirty percent of the total number of freshman students.

None of the other five factions had even half their number. The Vicious ended up being the overlord of the freshman class. The territory they held grew to be the largest. Their members could now enjoy cultivating at gardens and parks with good aether distribution when they couldn’t use the cultivation pagoda.

Aside from enjoying better cultivation space and more cultivation time, members of Vicious were also provided with cultivation pills. With the fortune Amon acquired from selling the Thousand Dream Powder, Amon could purchase common cultivation pills from the market or buy the common ingredients to produce the pills.

Amon refurbished the entire first floor of his residence into a fully functioning alchemical lab. He brought members with alchemical talent and let them produce both the cultivation pills and the Thousand Dream Powder. Ah Bin served as their supervisor.

Amon used these cultivation pills as rewards for successful tasks performed by his faction members. Due to these cultivation pills, the Vicious members enjoyed faster cultivation growth compared to the other students. This further bolstered the faction’s prestige and drew more students to join. Even one of the top ten from the entrance exam, Wu Lang, joined Vicious.

When Wu Lang joined, Xin Wuming was suspicious. This was because the Wu clan traditionally joined the Nobles faction. Wu Lang explained that he was not a true descendant of the Wu clan. He was adopted. He was sent here to accompany Wu Yang, the Wu Clan’s young master who clashed with Amon when they first arrived in Qishurg City. He said he had harbored a dislike for Wu Yang for quite a while. He saw the Vicious as a way out of the Wu Clan’s influence.

Amon told Xin Wuming to let Wu Lang stay. They were a fledgling faction. They couldn’t afford to turn people away just due to suspicion. He was willing to give Wu Lang the benefit of the doubt, but he asked Xin Wuming to keep an eye on Wu Lang.

Even though they gained one of the top ten as a member, Amon was actually more interested in another person. This person, unfortunately, never showed interest in joining any faction. Amon ended up taking the initiative.

This was one and a half years after they entered the academy. Amon was with Xin Wuming in the practice buildings. They had just completed their quarter-year sparring sessions. Amon took Xin Wuming to see this person, who was practicing by herself in the corner.

"What do you want?" Yang Li said without turning to them. She continued practicing.

"I am here to ask you again regarding the offer I made to you during the White Cloud Tournament," Amon answered.

Yang Li stopped practicing but still didn’t turn to them. "Not interested," she said.

Amon smiled. He didn’t feel offended. "In that case, how about another offer? A spar."

This time, Yang Li turned to them and said, "That is acceptable. Let me see how good the first ranker of the entrance exam is."

"You have misunderstood. I said a spar, but not with me. He will spar with you," Amon pointed at Xin Wuming.

Yang Li creased her forehead. Xin Wuming’s duel with Gao Dou one year ago caused his name to rise in fame. She was also among the crowd who watched the match. Even so, she didn’t think of him as anyone special. The one she was interested in sparring with was Amon.