Xiao Yan’s calm voice reverberated slightly within the forest clearing but it managed to cause the heated blood of the new students standing behind him to boil. Their fighting intent surged out into their chests. Regardless of whether they succeeded or failed, as long as they went all out and tried, they would at least have a clear conscience. They did not have much ‘Fire Energy’ in their hands and it was nothing even if it was snatched away. Moreover, one could not kill in this Hunting Competition. At the very worst, they would be thrashed into the ground, meaning they would not suffer much.

As they thought in this manner within their hearts, the fifteen new students, whose breaths were heavy also raised their heads. They fiercely stared at Sha Tie and the other four people on top of the trees, no longer having even the slightest hints of fear in their hearts.

“Hee hee, you’ve got backbone. Since this is the case, let my Black Demon Group try and see just which part of this new student group of yours, which has shaken the entire Inner Academy, is extraordinary!” Surprise flashed across Sha Tie’s eyes as he eyed Xiao Yan, who actually did not have the slightest bit of fear when facing a strong group and even managed to muster up the courage in other people’s heart. He nodded slightly. Although Xiao Yan’s resistance would bring some him trouble, he, who had muddled in the Inner Academy Fighting Arena all year long, felt admiration for these kinds of headstrong people deep in his heart. At the very least, the act of Bai Shan abandoning his companion and leaving earlier disgusted him. Of course, he would only store these words within his heart and would not speak them aloud.

As Sha Tie’s words sounded. Five powerful forces erupted out of the bodies of the five people and shrouded the area. The intense pressure caused the hearts of the new students, which was just filled with fighting intent, to sink slightly.

Xiao Yan exhaled a deep breath of air as he sensed the force that had crashed down. He turned his head and said in a deep voice to everyone, “All of you be careful. I will handle Sha Tie.”

“Xiao Yan ge-ge, I’m afraid that that Tie Sha already has one foot in the Dou Ling class. The chances of victory in a normal fight are not very great. However, if you want to raise your strength forcefully just like you did in the Qualifying Competition, the damage to your body would really be a little too great.” Xun Er’s eyebrows were nearly vertical as she spoke in a worried manner. She clearly understood just how serious the injury that Xiao Yan received to his body after he had raised his strength to the point where he could contend with a strong Dou Ling. If he had not luckily and coincidentally raised his strength that day, it was likely that he would need around half a month’s time to return to peak condition.

“Ke ke, no problem. I will try my best not to forcefully raise my strength. I am still able to fight him by relying on other things.” Xiao Yan waved his hand. He also clearly understood that while the ‘Sky Fire Three Mysterious Change’ may be able to let him raise his strength to the point where he could contend with a strong Dou Ling for a short period of time, the instantaneous wild energy that erupted from the ‘Heavenly Flame’ did indeed cause quite a great amount of damage to the interior of his body. Therefore, he would naturally not touch it if he didn’t need to use it. Moreover, even if he did not use the ‘Sky Fire Three Mysterious Change,’ he believed that he would not be defeated by Sha Tie hands within a few exchanges.

“In any case, you should still be a little more careful.” Xun Er could only nod her head when she saw Xiao Yan’s insistence. Her gaze turned toward the five people on the tree and said softly, “Hu Jia and Wu Hao are already weakened from the previous fight. I’m afraid that they can only merely handle one person each. Moreover, it is difficult to say just who will win. I am also able to block one person. However, the other party still has one person.”

Hu Jia and Wu Hao could only helplessly nod their heads when they heard Xun Er’s words. After all, what she said was the truth.

“I’m a little better, but it is likely that Wu Hao does not have much Dou Qi left after undergoing the head on fight with Xiu Yan earlier. Although Xiao Yan’s medicinal pill did provide some assistance, it is definitely impossible to completely recover within this short amount of time. Moreover, our few opponents this time around are not weaker than Xiu Yan.” Hu Jia sighed.

“You should not be too worried. He will not be able to defeat me for at least ten minutes.” Wu Hao said in a low voice “Instead, it looks like we can only first let the new students block the last person of the other group.”

“You can be rest assured. Although there isn’t much Dou Qi left within us, we do have quite a number of people. That fellow won’t be able to finish us off within a short period of time. As long as Senior Xiao Yan or any of you finish off your opponent, we would be able to gain the advantage in this battle,” One of the new students laughed and took the lead to open his mouth to speak when he heard the conversation of Xun Er’s group.

“That’s right. We can temporarily block him. However, the decisive factor of the final victory of the fight lies in Senior Xiao Yan’s and your hands. With our current conditions, I’m afraid that we will really have difficulty beating a five or six star Da Dou Shi. After all, our strengths are merely around eight or nine star Dou Shis.” Some of the new students also laughed and went along with what was being said.

“Yes.” Xiao Yan nodded slight. He continued with a smile, “Since that is the case, I will have to ask you all. As long as you can block the extra person of the other party, we will do our best to defeat our opponent and extend our hand to help you out.”

“Yes!” The fifteen new students on the empty ground cried out in unison. Fifteen forces belonging to eight or nine star Dou Shis spread out from within their bodies and created a considerable force.

“Do your best! Senior Xiao Yan, defeat them!” Quite a number of new students on both sides, who had lost the fighting strength, also supported their bodies with great difficulty as they got up and cried out loud, cheering on Xiao Yan’s group.

A smile was lifted on Xiao Yan face when he saw that their morale was high. He held the Heavy Xuan Ruler with his hand and exchanged glances with Xun Er and the other two. Immediately, four human figures abruptly shot out in four different directions.

“I will handle Xiao Yan. Each of you will face one of the remaining three. The extra one will finish off those new students. After that swiftly change targets to assist the others.” Sha Tie waved his hand and shouted in a low voice as the four people spread out and pulled back.

“Yes!” Four low and deep voices sounded out in an orderly manner. As the voices sounded, five human figures pressed gently off of the tree branches and immediately turned into black shadows. They descended like bats who were hunting for their prey in the dark night and within two breaths, appeared in front of Xiao Yan and the three others who had spread out and pulled back. The additional person was like a meteorite as he directly charged toward the fifteen man new student group. Powerful Dou Qi immediately exploded out in all directions.

Xiao Yan’s feet stomped heavily against the ground. His body, which was charging forward suddenly halted. His gaze narrowed as he eyed Sha Tie, who had appeared in front of him. The faint domineering aura that was emitted from the other party’s tall, strong and somewhat different body stature caused Xiao Yan’s brows to frown tightly. This fellow was indeed a strong opponent.

“The fight is about to begin. I will not look down on you regardless of any reasons. This is because once one possesses this kind of mentality, one would usually be unable to earn any ‘Fire Energy’ within the Inner Academy Fighting Arena.” Sha Tie twisted his neck slightly. A somewhat dark-golden-colored Dou Qi slowly seeped out from within his body. Finally, it surrounded him until he appeared like he was sculpted from metal, causing his appearance to appear extremely domineering.

“Gold Dou Qi? This fellow actually practices a Dou Qi of this affinity?” Xiao Yan’s eyebrows twitched when he saw the dark-golden Dou Qi on the surface of Sha Tie’s body. This kind of Dou Qi was extremely rare. However, its attacking and defensive strength was extremely strong. If it were not for people who practiced this Dou Qi to have such slow reaction times, it was likely that he would really be an opponent that would cause people an extremely great headache.

Sha Tie’s hand did not hold any weapons. Clearly, he was a strong person who belonged to the kind that used close ranged combat.

Xiao Yan’s expression became slightly more relaxed after identifying his opponent’s attacking method. Coincidentally, he also belonged to this style. If they were to fight in this manner, it would allow all him to unleash the fighting techniques that he specialized in to their maximum potentials.

Xiao Yan inserted the Heavy Xuan Ruler in his hand into the ground and sensed that after the heavy ruler had left his hand, powerful Dou Qi surged and flowed turbulently in his body. He slowly let out a long breath as green-colored Dou Qi rose from within his body. When the Dou Qi occasionally writhed, a faint fire seeding would flash and appear. However, after the fire seedling appeared, it disappeared with a flash. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to discover it under the cover of the green-colored Dou Qi.

“Six star Da Dou Shi? No wonder you could best Su Xiao. With this kind of strength, you are comparable to the older students who have been in the Inner Academy for a year.” As he felt the force emitted from within Xiao Yan’s body, Sha Tie suddenly came to a realization and immediately spoke.

“However, with just this level, there would still be quite some difficulty if you wanted to defeat me.” Sha Tie parted his mouth and smiled toward Xiao Yan. His hands gently collided together and actually emitted the clear sound of metal striking metal.

“We won’t know until we try, will we?” Xiao Yan smiled indifferently. His feet slowly rubbed against the ground while his body was slightly quiet. Immediately, he became like a taut bow as his body suddenly tensed up. Following this movement, his feet slammed against the ground and a green-colored Dou Qi surged out from his feet. As a clear energy explosion sounded, Xiao Yan’s body turned into a blurry black shadow. In an instant, he closed in on Sha Tie.

Seeing that Xiao Yan actually adopted a close range hand to hand combat, a cold smile was lifted onto Sha Tie’s face. His large fist tightened as he drew his hand back and threw his elbow out. Dark-golden-colored Dou Qi swiftly agglomerated. Finally, it violently smashed down against the black shadow, which had already appeared beside him in a lightning-like manner. The wind that his elbow carried directly cut through the air. A shapeless force shook and caused two deep scars that were two inches deep on a ground a couple of feet away.

Xiao Yan’s face did not change as he sensed the sharp rushing wind sound transmitted from above his head. His hand suddenly rose and a green-colored energy layer was swiftly converged to cover his fist. Finally, he collided head on with Sha Tie’s elbow.

“Bang!”

A low and deep muffled sound rang out from the epicenter of the contact. The powerful force that swarmed down from his fist pressed Xiao Yan down a little. However, his expression still remained indifferent. His left hand was extended out in a lightning-like manner and suddenly stopped when it was about a foot from Sha Tie’s chest. Immediately, a shapeless force gushed out in all directions.

Fire Palm!

This was a Dou Technique which Xiao Yan had learned a couple of years ago. With his current strength, the force that gushed out when he used this ‘Fire Palm’ was already sufficient to jolt a Da Dou Shi until the latter was injured. It was unlike the past where he could only blow a person until they staggered.

The shapeless force exploded into Sha Tie’s chest. Immediately, the latter swayed his body a little, and he actually took two steps back from the force of the explosion.

“All sorts of bizarre Dou Techniques emerging endlessly. Xiao Yan, you really cause me to feel greater anticipation. However, all of these unorthodox attacks do not have much actual use against me. Hence, you should reveal your true ability.” Sha Tie patted his chest and a clanging sound was emitted while he laughed coldly.

Xiao Yan slowly sighed as he eyed Sha Tie, who appeared as though nothing had happened. His expression gradually became serious as his hands rotated slightly. A moment later, a noble green-colored flame soared...

The moment the green-colored flames rose from Xiao Yan’s palm, the eyes of the two old men in the vast sea of trees, who appeared to be watching a show, were opened. In their shock, they cried out involuntarily, “Heavenly Flame?”