The Demonic Cult had the six clans, three guardians, and hundreds of small clans and groups. The Demonic Academy was opened once every ten years to train a new elite individual. This current one had candidates that were the heirs to the Lord, so everyone labeled the academy as an Heirship competition. And this was a wonderful opportunity for many small clans to side with the future heir to the Lord.
Thousands of boys and girls all gathered to join the academy. The Great Training Ground located right past the entrance of the academy was large enough to fit all the students inside. All of them looked excited and nervous about what's to come. It was because this was a chance to see the Lord himself who would join the opening ceremony.
"Look! It's the Left Guardian!"
"If he's here, the Lord will be here soon."
"I'll get to see his face for the first time in my life!"
There was a middle-aged man with long red hair walking out from the left side of the giant stage, scoffing at children down at the ground.
'Fools. We only have fools this time. Or it may be the last time.'
The middle-aged man was the Left Guardian, Fire King Lee Hameng, or the closest advisor to the Lord. The Lord had three guardians with him. The Great Guardian, Left Guardian, and Right Guardian only acted on the Lord's orders. They ranked within the top ten of fighting prowess within the Demonic Cult.
'Hmm. Are those the heirs from the six clans?'
Hameng glanced at the boys standing in front of all children. All students who entered the academy were given a round name tag with numbers. They were given the numbers based on the order they entered, but these princes were exceptions.
'They are quite something as kids.'
The other children were all lined up neatly, but these six princes arrogantly stood at the front as if they were telling everyone that they were on top of them all. Unlike others who had a white tag with black numbers on them, these princes had black tags with red numbers according to their rank to the succession.
1. Wise Clan – Chun Muyeon.
2. Sword Clan – Chun Kungwun.
3. Loyal Clan – Chun Mukeum.
4. Poison Clan – Chun Jongsum.
5. Blade Clan – Chun Yuchan.
6. Lust Clan – Chun Wonryou.
They only had numbers on their tags, but Hameng knew their names. There were two girl candidates last time, and although there was only one girl this time around from the Lust Clan, he didn't really care.
'Everyone else is here, but I don't see him.'
Hameng swept his glance across everyone, but he couldn't find the one he was looking for. There was one boy who was getting all the attention from the higher ranks of the Demonic Cult.
'Oh, there he is.'
Hameng finally found the boy. He would not have found him if he didn't have a black tag. At the entrance, at the very end of the line, Chun Yeowun stood there alone.
'The heir candidate not from the six clans.'
He was still a son of the Lord, but he couldn't come up to the front. And it also seemed like the other kids around him were shunning him. Therefore, he stood there alone.
'He's receiving attention in an interesting way.'
That was the end of the interest. Hameng knew that the boy did not train in martial arts, so he was going to fail the entrance test.
'There are so many.'
Chun Yeowun was able to see the thousand children standing in front of him. He wasn't late, but he was told that his tag was missing and had to wait until the end. So even with the black tag, he couldn't go up to the front. It was certain that it was the work of someone from the six clans, but it didn't matter to him.
'It's best I avoid trouble with them from the beginning anyway.'
Chun Yeowun liked that. They wanted to kill him even before joining academy, so it was better to not see them at all.
The horn sound blared across the field, and people began to mumble. It was due to the person who had just entered. Thousand boys and girls began to chant with shouts. A man with the character 'Sky' on his black silk clothes got up and sat down on the throne up on the stage. It was the Lord, and one of the Five Strongs of Wulin, Chun Yujong. Even without his title, his presence was overwhelming even in front of a thousand people.
"I can't even look at him directly."
The boys had lost the courage to even look up to him. Next to the Lord was the lead guardian, Great Guardian King Marakim. He had a special mask on his face so that no one knew what he really looked like.
"Oops."
And to the right of the throne was a ragged clothed man who seemed to be having a hard time standing up as if he were drunk. He was the Right Guardian, Submeng, the Crazy Blade. He acted silly, but he was still ranked within the top ten strong men in the Demonic Cult.
"Hah."
"What're you lookin' at?"
Submeng spat at Hameng who looked at him with a disgusted look and took a sip from his bottle of liquor. Marakim then walked onto the stage and shouted,
"SILENCE!"
It was a voice laced with internal energy that spread through to ever