Dappled sunlight streamed through the dense jungle canopy, painting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the forest floor.
"Are you guys planning to stick with me, or do you want to go solo?"
Perched casually atop a large boulder, Xiao Yun looked down at the group of four below him—led by Fang Wen—and posed the question.
Once the Fire Energy Hunting Tournament had officially begun, the top five ranked participants were automatically grouped into a team. As the undisputed strongest among them, Xiao Yun was naturally appointed team leader. Still, he wasn't the domineering sort who insisted others blindly follow his orders. So, after entering the jungle, he gave his teammates the courtesy of a choice.
"Boss Xiao Yun, I'm obviously sticking with you," Fang Wen said without hesitation. He was all too familiar with Xiao Yun's strength—he'd been flattened by him twice, both times with a single move. With power like that, not clinging to this golden thigh would be downright foolish.
"We'll follow you too, Captain," the other three exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
"Good," Xiao Yun said, standing up and hopping down from the rock. "But let me say this upfront: since you've chosen to follow me, I expect no backtalk or behind-the-back scheming. If anyone disobeys and causes problems for the team, don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll personally strip them of their fire energy chips."
Though he could handle most upperclassmen teams solo, it wasn't as if Xiao Yun was charging in blindly. Unlike others, he had intel.
He knew the Fire Energy Hunting Tournament featured ten upperclassmen teams in total. Nine of them were composed entirely of Senior Battle Masters, tasked with ambushing freshmen throughout the forest. Any lucky—or just absurdly strong—freshman who managed to break through those nine teams would face a final challenge at the edge of the forest: the White Fiend Team, led by a genuine Dou Spirit level powerhouse.
When that time came, Xiao Yun would need his teammates to buy him time—stalling the rest of the White Fiend Team—so he could go mano a mano with the Dou Spirit leader in a real fight between men.
"Hey there, juniors! What's the little pow-wow about?"
A drawling voice interrupted the conversation. Xiao Yun and the others turned to see five young men standing atop nearby branches, spread out with deliberate ease. Each one wore a small, tower-shaped emblem on their chest—the same emblem Xiao Yun had seen before, marking them as inner academy seniors.
At the moment, the five seniors were looking down at the freshmen like a pack of cats eyeing unsuspecting mice, amusement written all over their faces.
"Look at this—there's even a kid among them. Must be one of those so-called 'geniuses,' huh?" sneered one young man in a blue robe, pointing mockingly at Xiao Yun.
"Haha! Genius? Please. Even if he's a prodigy, how powerful could a kid like that be? Besides, do you think talent alone is enough to catch up with the cultivation pace we've had in the inner academy?"
"Be good little juniors and hand over your fire energy chips," another said with a cruel grin. "Otherwise, we'll have to give you a proper senior-style lesson."
The way they spoke made it seem like Xiao Yun and his team were already meat on the chopping block.
"Oh? The seniors are feeling confident, I see." Xiao Yun chuckled coldly as he pulled out his Crimsonblood Spear from his storage ring. In the next instant, the aura of a Seven-Star Dou Grandmaster exploded from his body.
Fang Wen and the others drew their weapons as well. Though not quite on Xiao Yun's level, each of them released an aura consistent with the Dou Master rank. The jungle air grew heavy with pressure.
"Wait... this strength… don't tell me—you're the top five from this year's inner court selection?" The blue-robed senior's smirk froze on his face, replaced by disbelief as he sensed their power.
Xiao Yun didn't bother answering. His figure blurred, transforming into a deep crimson streak as he shot toward the group like a bolt of lightning.
The blue-robed senior barely had time to activate his Dou qi. A faint yellow armor of earthen energy wrapped around him.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact echoed through the forest as Xiao Yun's spear slammed into the man's chest. The earthen armor shattered like paper, and the spear's devastating force launched the senior like a ragdoll. He crashed into a towering tree and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"Rogo…" gasped the remaining seniors. Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads. None of them had expected this unassuming "kid" to be such a monster. Rogo had been their team's captain—and a Five-Star Dou Grandmaster! Yet he'd been knocked out with one strike before he could even mount a proper defense.
And if that was his strength, how terrifying was this kid's actual power?
"Run!!"
The four remaining seniors snapped out of their shock and scattered in all directions. With battle qi flaring beneath their feet, they bounded through the trees like startled deer, vanishing into the canopy.
"Ha! Trying to run now? Don't you think it's a little late for that?" Fang Wen and the others had been on guard. In a few quick flashes, they cut off all the seniors' escape routes.
"W-Wait! Don't come any closer!" one senior stammered. "Have some respect for your elders, okay? I'm your senior, you can't just—"
WHAM!
"Talk too much," Xiao Yun muttered as he slammed his spear down again. The unfortunate chatterbox was sent straight to dreamland, joining his unconscious captain on the forest floor.
Fang Wen landed beside the man and began rifling through his clothes with practiced ease. After a few moments, he triumphantly pulled out a light blue crystal card.
"Boss, here you go," Fang Wen said, respectfully handing the chip to Xiao Yun.
"No need," Xiao Yun waved him off. "We're teammates. I won't hog the loot. Each senior team has five members. For every one we defeat, you can each pick one fire energy chip as your reward. But I'm saying this now: it's all up to luck. No take-backs if you get a bad one."
"Thanks, Boss!" Fang Wen beamed, immediately pulling out his own black crystal card. He rubbed the two cards together, and the numbers began to change. The light blue card dropped from 27 to 7, while his black card jumped from 5 to 25.
"Ooh, twenty days' worth of fire energy. Not bad at all! Thanks for your donation, dear senior!" Fang Wen grinned cheekily at the unconscious senior, who—if awake—would likely have passed out again from sheer rage.