Rise of The Demon General

Lin Xiaoying's body lowered due to his one leg being down. He then felt another jolt at the back of his neck. He started to feel dizzy, but he forced himself to strike back. He swiped at his back using his claw, which was stopped again when he felt another hit on his attacking wrist. He then felt several rapid punches on his back. Each punch was followed by a loud cracking sound that signified Amon's signature art.

Lin Xiaoying gritted his teeth. Despite being of higher cultivation stage, despite being of higher born, how come he got played like this? How come he got beaten up helplessly? He could not accept it. He would not accept it! He roared as he endured the pain and forced himself to stand up. He turned back and swiped his claw with all his strength, determined to rip apart this kid's face.

But his monstrous hand clawed empty air. Before he knew it, he felt his throat getting another punch. He choked. His thick hard skin produced by his defensive art was still protecting him. Yet, the cumulative injury was gaining on him, not to mention most of the punches hit his weak points.

While he was paralyzed by the choke punch, he heard another of that cracking sound. Then he felt a strong pressure on his lower jaw. He was forced to look up as he felt his body getting lifted from the ground.

Amon had used his fist art in an uppercut. Without stopping, he executed, again and again, the Bone Shattering Shadow Fist. Again in the throat, then the chest, the solar plexus, the stomach, then the groin. He felt his supply of aether depleted. He had been continuously using Bone Shattering Shadow Fist non-stop. Using the art in real combat was considerately different than in practice. He had less time to prepare and had to adjust continuously, thus the energy consumption also increased.

Lin Xiaoying fell to his knees. Amon raised his fist. He deduced he only had enough energy for one more execution of the Bone Shattering Shadow Fist. But looking at his opponent's empty gaze, one more punch should be enough. He brought the fist down to his opponent's forehead.

A loud crack was heard when Amon's fist hit a hard surface. However, it was not Lin Xiaoying's forehead. It was a palm. Amon's strongest punch had been stopped by the open palm of Lin Xiaolong.

Lin Xiaolong glanced at his brother, who seemed to have lost consciousness and fell on his back to the floor. His gaze returned to Amon, whose mouth when seeing Lin Xiaoying had fallen, was grinning again.

"You bastard!" Lin Xiaolong scolded. Amon then felt a strong impact on his face. His body made a backflip due to the force.

When Amon landed on the ground, he saw from a glance another two came to his side, Lin Bahu and Lin Rong. The three of them sent punches and kicks his way. Amon had run out of energy already. Even if he still did, he doubted he would be able to do anything against this combined assault. He wrapped his arms around his head and endured the beating as best he could.

The three continued to beat him up relentlessly while Amon gritted his teeth and took all those beatings. Still, his gritting mouth was curved upward in a smile. First, because of his victory over Lin Xiaoying. Second, because he could taste the heat of battle again. Third, it had been a long time since he received a beating, including the time in his past life. He savored the pain even when he felt some of his bones were starting to crack.

"Stop! Stop! I said stop!"

A strong pressure came upon all of them accompanying the shout. Forcing the three heated Lin children to a halt. The three looked back at Lin Dong.

Lin Dong had released his aura to intimidate them. He was a Transformation stage cultivator. The pressure he released could not be overlooked by these children who were all still at the Mortal stage.

Amon who was half-conscious could also feel the weight of this pressure. He surmised that if he had to fight someone of that level, he wouldn't even be able to move under such pressure. Even technique and determination were useless against such a gap in strength. He put a conviction to increase the pace of his cultivation.

"This is enough," Lin Dong uttered. He felt perturbed. He simply brought Amon here to teach the kid a lesson about who was boss. He had been irritated by Madam Lin's action of adopting a child behind his back. She had always done whatever she liked and yes, he was only one of her husbands, but he was the most senior. She used to consult with him about most things. So, he had felt offended for not being asked about his opinion when Amon was adopted.

He had picked these bunch as he knew these five are the bullies amongst Lin's young cadets. But now, one was seriously wounded, while another had been beaten into unconsciousness. The parents of these two would certainly be furious. Although Amon would most likely be the target of their blame, a responsibility would also be demanded of him. After all, these five were under his charge at the moment.

He looked at Amon with hidden anger. He wished he could beat the kid into a cripple himself, but if so, Madam Lin would be the one that came to demand responsibility. And that would be even worse.

"He had been beaten enough, take these two to the infirmary," Lin Dong told the three.

Lin Xiaolong looked at Amon again, he bent down and forcefully ripped Amon's space ring from his finger. With his stronger cultivation, he broke into the space inside the Space Ring and inspect its content.

"Asshole!" He cursed. A few books and weapons were extracted from inside the Space Ring and clattered on the floor, while ten aer stones were held in his hand. "You went against us for these pathetic junks?"

He made another kick at Amon as he threw the Space Ring back at him.

"Xiaolong, I said enough!" Lin Dong yelled.

"Hmph!" Lin Xiaolong harrumphed and said to the other two. "You two bring them!"

Lin Bahu went and picked Lin Xiaoying up while Lin Rong helped Lin Wuli to walk. Lin Dong watched them leave with a complicated feeling. When he turned his attention to Amon, Amon was lying on his back looking up at him. Blood was seen from his mouth and nose, yet the kid was still smiling. The crazy kid was smiling while staring at him.

For some reason, it made Lin Dong shiver. He dismissed the feeling and said, "You go back yourself." Then walked out of the hall.

Amon watched Lin Dong's back until he was gone from view. He then looked at the ceiling. Not long after, he laughed.

*

He started walking back after a few minutes of rest. He picked up all the weapons and books which had been called junks by Lin Xiaolong and returned them to the Space Ring that was now back on his finger again. He touched the Black Space Ring hidden behind his shirt on his chest. The one on his finger was only a distraction. If someone thought they already knew where he stored his treasures, it was unlikely for them to further search his body.

Some gazes were on him when they saw him walking by with a limp and a torn shirt with blood all over his face. Most were unsettled when they saw such a kid could still grin.

When he arrived back at his housing complex. He went up to his bedroom. He took out a recovery medicine from his Black Space Ring. It was one of the medicines from Hei Pho's collection. He drank the medicine and then applied another recovery ointment on his many wounds. He then sat cross-legged and cultivated to allow the aether to replenish his energy core and accelerate his recovery progress.

*

He continued to rest and cultivate until he heard a ringing sound from his bell. He opened his eyes upon the intrusion and got up.

He felt pain all over his body from this action. It seemed that his body was still far from full recovery.

He heard some footsteps coming up the stairs. It was light and steady. He recognized these footsteps. He relaxed and sat back down.

Madam Lin's figure soon appeared in his bedroom.

"I heard you get into a bit of argument with the other children," Madam Lin said as she looked at Amon's condition. Amon had wiped the blood on his face and changed into a clean cloth, but the wounds from the beatings were still apparent.

"I see that you took quite a beating," She said and took a seat in a chair opposite Amon.

"You should see the other guy. The other two guys to be precise," Amon replied.

"Oh, I do. In fact, I got a visit from their parents," Madam Lin said.