Rise of The Demon General
Chapter 208. The Relationship Between the Three Organizations

Chapter 208: Chapter 208. The Relationship Between the Three Organizations

"The third one is called the Sewer Snakes," Tuang Yin said. "Compared to other underworld organizations, they can be considered newcomers. Their fame shot in a short time of ten years. They defeated many other small underworld groups and integrated those groups into their folds, becoming larger in the process, large enough to contest against the two veteran groups like the Alley Advocates and the Street Aristocrats."

"That is impressive. Which clan is their backer?" Amon asked.

"No one knows," Tuang Yin answered, which raised Amon’s eyebrows.

"No way they grew that fast without having a backer," Xin Wuming said. "They surely have someone supplying resources and influence."

"They should, but I can’t find any information about that," Tuang Yin said.

"What is their source of income?" Amon asked.

"Aside from protection rackets in their territory, which is the Northern section of this city, they also ran an underground arena."

"I’ve heard about it," Xin Wuming said. "It is rather famous. Some students from this academy often went there to watch the match. Sometimes, they even participated in the matches. They can pay to fight a chosen spirit beast. If they are willing to pay more aer stones, they can choose the type of spirit beast to fight. With the right price, they can also book to have a spirit beast caught if the type they want is unavailable."

"They only have one chance to fight the spirit beast they booked," Tuang Yin added. "If they lose, the underground arena keeps the beast, with no refund for the paid booking. Others can then fight the beast. Even so, many used this booking service. The highlight of the arena is gaining experience fighting spirit beasts in a controlled environment. There is a referee who swoops in to save the participant in case the fight becomes dangerous. So, if people can select a rare spirit beast to fight, they are willing to pay the price."

"There is also a rumor about the underground arena hosting death matches between cultivators."

"Any of you ever visit that underground arena?" Amon asked.

The two shook their heads.

"How is the relationship between those three underworld organizations?" Amon asked a different question.

"They are always at odds with each other," Tuang Yin reported. "Considering they were vying for territories in this city, it is not weird. The Alley Advocates and Street Aristocrats sort of have cold peace at the moment. They stay out of each other’s territories and avoid causing troubles that might spark a conflict. It doesn’t mean they are buddy-buddy, though. Any of them will jump at an opportunity to backstab the others.

"As for the Sewer Snakes, they have frequent scuffles with the Street Aristocrats. Probably because the Sewer Snakes occupy some territories that used to belong to the Street Aristocrats. The Sewer Snakes have the smallest territory among the three groups but are the most aggressive. They consistently expand their territory. This causes them to always be at odds with another group."

"The Alley Advocates don’t do anything while their two rivals clash?" Amon asked.

"They just watch from the sideline," Tuang Yin answered. "Though the Sewer Snakes grows fast, they never truly consider the Sewer Snakes their rival. The way they see it, they are grateful the Sewer Snakes cause trouble for the Street Aristocrats. That way, they can grow in peace while the other two are busy killing one another."

"The authorities just left these three groups alone?" Amon asked.

"They have their backers’ influence and regularly bribe the authorities. Plus, their scuffles mostly happened in the dark and without causing trouble to civilians, so the authorities don’t want to bother."

Amon nodded. "Do you know about their leaders and their power level?"

"I’ve only heard about them. The head of the Alley Advocates is Hu Ti. His cultivation is at the Intermediate Mystic Stage of the Martial Realm. Street Aristocrats is led by a man named Lu Zu. He has the same cultivation level as Hu Ti. As for the Sewer Snakes, they answer to someone called Dao Se. He is said to have the cultivation at the Beginning Mystic Stage of the Martial Realm."

"So, the leader of Sewer Snakes has the lowest cultivation among the leaders," Xin Wuming remarked.

"That might be the case, but rumor says there was once a big scuffle between the Sewer Snakes and the Street Aristocrats," Tuang Yin said. "In this scuffle, Lu Zu and Dao Se fought one another. Even though Dao Se had lower cultivation, Lu Zu couldn’t defeat him. In the end, they had to end their fight because their brawl went on for so long that the authorities couldn’t afford to look away anymore. After that incident, Dao Se’s prestige soared. This impressed many independent cultivators, which swayed them to join the ranks of the Sewer Snakes."

Amon didn’t speak after that. He just pondered the information.

After a while, he asked Tuang Yin, "Do you have any more information regarding the underworld organizations?"

"That is as much as I can find out," Tuang Yin replied. "Do you want me to dig deeper?"

"No need. That’s enough. Thanks for your work," Amon offered her some aer stones.

Tuang Yin didn’t take those stones. "Come on, man. I will get angry if you keep doing that. What do you think I’m doing this for?"

"Very well," Amon stored the aer stones back.

"What is our next move, brother?" Xin Wuming asked.

"Nothing. We will wait and see. Stop all our activity in the city until further notice," Amon replied.

*

After the match, the name of the Vicious faction rose again. The duel between Xin Wuming and Gao Dou and the duel between Amon and Gao Sou were the talk of the academy. This drew many factionless students to join Vicious. Amon, of course, rejected the ones who once deserted their faction. This taught their members to think twice before they thought about quitting.

Amon spent one day resting after the match. Thanks to his Nine Moon Restorative Mantra, he could already perform normally the next day.

He might have told Xin Wuming to wait and see, but that didn’t mean it was the same for him. Aside from attending the academy’s lectures, most of his time was spent in the city. He roamed the streets under disguise. What he did was check out the places where the three underworld organizations ruled.

He did this for three weeks before he made his move.