As the fire-hunting competition progressed, the entire forest fell silent. However, the slightly oppressive, somber atmosphere hinted at the impending storm.
However, while every freshman team was constantly dodging the "hunting" of the senior students, Xiao Ping and his five friends were sitting under a big tree, chatting and laughing, as if they were on a picnic.
"Captain! How much fire energy did you generate in total?"
Sitting next to Xiao Ping, Liang Zihua looked at the number "twenty-five" on the crystal card in his hand and couldn't help but ask Xiao Ping curiously.
"Not much, only a little over five hundred fire energy, far from enough."
Hearing Liang Zihua's question, Xiao Ping, his leg shaking, replied nonchalantly, "These senior students have too little fire energy, otherwise we could have snatched more!"
"puff..."
As soon as Xiao Ping finished speaking, Liang Zihua and the other three spat out a mouthful of saliva in unison. Five hundred fire energy, and that's considered low? Then what about their twenty-five fire energy?
"Oh, right, Captain..."
With a wry smile, Liang Zihua glanced at the fire crystal card in Xiao Ping's hand and awkwardly chuckled, "I've inquired; it seems this fire energy is used to pay for training grounds."
As soon as Liang Zihua spoke, the other three quickly wiped the drool from the corners of their mouths and pricked up their ears to listen carefully.
"The training grounds in the inner courtyard seem to be able to increase the speed of cultivation. Different levels of training grounds have different speeds of increase, and of course, the amount of fire energy required also varies."
At this point, Liang Zihua swallowed hard before continuing, "In other words, once we reach the inner courtyard, the more fire energy we have, the faster our cultivation speed will be, and the gap between us will gradually widen!"
"So, isn't it good that you're following me?"
Xiao Ping glanced at Liang Zihua, waved the crystal card in his hand, and laughed, "You've all seen the situation of the other freshman groups. Their fire energy has been plundered by the senior students time and time again. But if you follow me, not only will you be fine, but you can also earn fire energy for free. When we get to the inner courtyard, the cultivation levels of the five of us will skyrocket, while the others will only be able to crawl slowly on the ground!"
"boom!"
Just as Xiao Ping and his group of five were chatting and laughing, the distant woods suddenly rippled, and then more than a dozen figures flashed out from within, their feet slamming heavily onto the ground almost simultaneously. Instantly, a powerful aura, like a tidal wave, swept directly towards Xiao Ping and his group of five who were sitting cross-legged on the ground.
"What a powerful aura!"
Faced with this immense aura, Liang Zihua and the other three were forced to support themselves with their hands on the ground. Their once rosy faces instantly turned deathly pale.
"Bang!"
Just as Liang Zihua and his companions were about to give up, Xiao Ping slammed his hand on the ground. Instantly, an even more powerful force surged forth, directly dispersing the opponent's aura.
"They really do have some skills."
Seeing that his imposing aura had no effect whatsoever, a smiling young man's eyes flashed with surprise, and he said with a faint smile, "No wonder you're so arrogant!"
Xiao Ping slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so youths on the open space opposite. He counted them carefully; there were exactly fifteen. That meant that, apart from the so-called Black and White Fiends, all three teams participating in the hunting competition had arrived.
"very good"
Xiao Ping nodded slightly, his voice, tinged with a hint of amusement, echoing in the open space: "Finally, everyone's here."
"Your arrogance ends here. Hand over the Fire Crystal Card."
A young man with slightly graying hair, perhaps due to some reason, glanced at Xiao Yan and his group of five and said coldly.
"Don't think you can break the rules just because you have some strength. Over the years, the rules of the 'Fire Energy Hunting Competition' have been designed to let the senior students give you proud new students a taste of their own medicine in the forest. This will benefit you in your future life in the inner courtyard. This rule has been in place for so many years and no one has been able to break it. If you want to be the first to try this, you'd better be prepared to pay the price."
Xiao Ping smiled and slowly raised his right hand. "Don't talk to me about these outdated rules. If you can seize the 'Fire Energy' from us, why can't we? With enough strength, the roles of prey and hunter can be reversed at any time, and right now, you are our prey."
"Very arrogant, but I've seen quite a few people like that before, and they never really did well in the inner court."
A tall, imposing young man sneered. Judging from his position, he seemed to be the leader of a group. His skin was an eerie grayish-white, appearing almost like rock, and his arms, which were a size larger than average, exuded a powerful and imposing aura. Clearly, this young man was of an extremely strong type.
"I admit you guys are indeed quite strong, but to save face for the seniors, we don't intend to have a fair fight this time."
The young man, who always wore a smile, shrugged at Xiao Ping, then smiled at the two young men who had spoken earlier, saying, "Leng Bai, Xiu Yan, let's make a move together. Although their auras are generally not strong, their methods are said to be exceptionally strange. If you don't want to follow in the footsteps of the other senior teams, you should join forces."
"Um"
The two youths, whom he called Lengbai and Xiuyan, hesitated slightly before nodding. Even if it meant being labeled as bullying the weak, they had to suppress these arrogant freshmen. Otherwise, if word got back to the inner academy that these freshmen were stealing from the seniors, the seniors participating in this year's "Fire Energy Hunting Competition" would lose face. Besides, these freshmen possessed a considerable amount of fire energy; even if the fifteen of them shared it equally, it would still be a substantial fortune.
As the two nodded, fifteen powerful auras suddenly surged forth in the arena, the energy fluctuations they generated sending the dry leaves on the ground flying everywhere.
Why bother?
Sensing this powerful aura, Xiao Ping shook his head and laughed, "Even if you join forces, you'll still have to hand over the fire energy..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Ping's right hand, raised above his head, slammed down. Instantly, an extremely powerful suction force, like a roaring tiger, shattered the combined aura of the fifteen people. Before they could even react, they were already being pulled in by the immense suction force.
"Damn it! Break it!"
Faced with this sudden and powerful suction force, the three leading youths couldn't help but change their expressions. They forcefully circulated their internal battle qi in mid-air, transforming it into dazzling battle techniques that attacked Xiao Ping.
"Fire-blowing Palm!"
Seeing the three attacking him, Xiao Ping merely shook his head and smiled. He swiftly raised his right hand and pressed it down again right under their noses. This time, unlike the previous suction force, a completely opposite, enormous pushing force crashed down on them.
"Bang bang bang..."
Two diametrically opposed forces, one inhaling and one pushing, acted on these people almost simultaneously. Each of them felt a muffled groan involuntarily escaping their chest, followed by the fifteen senior students spitting out blood and being sent flying backward, finally crashing into tree trunks in the distance, their fate unknown.
"Brothers, let's clean up the battlefield!"
Withdrawing his power, Xiao Ping clapped his hands and smiled at the other four, "Same as always, each of you can get five days' worth of fire energy from each team, and the rest is all mine!"
Although it seemed like Xiao Ping was asking for too much, in reality, he had defeated all these senior students by himself. If it weren't for Xiao Ping, they wouldn't have been able to get a share of the fire energy; they would have been ruthlessly slaughtered long ago!
Therefore, as soon as Xiao Ping finished speaking, Liang Zihua and the other three obediently began cleaning up the battlefield. After taking their share of fire energy, Xiao Ping transferred the rest of the fire energy to his crystal card.
At this point, apart from the Black and White Fiends, all the veteran students' teams had been thoroughly robbed by Xiao Ping, and his fire energy had skyrocketed to nearly 900 points.
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