“Hei, I heard that there is a group of new students in the forest that hunt the older students instead!”

“Ah? That can’t be right? Which group is strong enough to do so? They were actually able to defeat those fellows?”

“Ha ha, who else? Of course it’s the strongest group of incoming students.”

“Xiao Yan’s group?”

“They have guts! During these two days, we, the new students, were bullied by those bastards in all sorts of ways. Now, it’s their turn to taste what it is like to be robbed and beaten. Very good! It really relieves my anger!”

“Ha ha, let’s hurry. If we are lucky, we might even be able to meet Xiao Yan’s group in the forest. As long as we follow behind them, we need not worry about those older students from the Inner Academy!”

Various different kinds of rumors began to spread throughout the forest. By this time, the matter regarding Xiao Yan’s group hunting down older students had almost spread throughout the entire forest. Regardless of whether it was the older students or the new student groups, they were all stunned by this shocking news.

Not long after this rumor began to spread, just when these people had maintained a doubtful attitude, four frighteningly gloomy-faced older student groups from the Inner Academy were filled with melancholy and anger as they directly headed to the edge of the forest without hearing or bothering to look around them. Even though they occasionally met some new student groups along the way, they did not attack them. They simply left the forest with dark and solemn faces. The new students may have had some doubts with regards to their actions but the older student groups understood it very clearly. According to the rules, if the older student groups in the forest were to lose any of their ‘Fire Energy’ until they had less than ten ‘Fire Energy,’ they would have lost the qualifications to continue staying within the forest to participate in the Hunting Competition. Moreover, they needed to leave the vicinity immediately.

Clearly, these four groups were leaving this place, which caused them great embarrassment, in an extremely unwilling manner because the number of their ‘Fire Energy’ had fallen below ten.

Numerous gazes within the forest sent off the four groups. Immediately, the place became somewhat quieter. It was only a long while later that the doubt still present in some of the gazes finally and completely disappeared. Replacing it was a seriousness and faint anger.

The occurrence of new students robbing the older students instead had basically never happened during these past few years. As the older student groups within the Inner Academy, the current sudden occurrence of such an event happening within this forest was like a slap being ruthlessly thrown onto the faces by the younger classmen. Moreover, this slap was actually loud and clear.

“New students who are acting in an uppity manner? They will pay the price because of their own arrogance...” The gazes of all the older students withdrew from the edge of the forest as they spoke viciously. Immediately, one human figure after another suddenly flashed out from within the forest. Some groups, who thought highly of themselves, began to be unable to endure it any longer as they took the initiative to begin searching for Xiao Yan’s group. Each year, the new students were suppressed by the older students. This was basically a tradition at this point. Therefore, they really did not want any new students to break this cycle that they had once undergone. Hence, they currently needed to completely kill off the arrogance of that group of new students!

Due to this, the few groups of older students began to rifle through the entire forest. However, after searching for an entire day, they did not find the slightest traces of Xiao Yan’s group. Just as they thought that Xiao Yan’s five men group had begun fleeing far away out of fear, this arrogant new student group once again appeared against everyone’s expectations.

.....

In an empty clearing within the forest, withered, yellow leaves were spread all over the ground, forming a thick layer that looked like a yellow-colored carpet.

At this moment, there were five new students, whose faces were covered with dirt and dust on this open ground. They had their backs facing each other as they formed a small circle. Their gazes were filled with anger as they eyed the five young men who had surrounded them. Each of these five young men wore a tower-shaped badge on their chest.

“Hand over the ‘Fire Energy’ and you will avoid a ruthless beating, what do you say?” A young man, who was clearly an older student within the Inner Academy, lifted his eyes. His hair was gathered at his shoulders. At one glance, he had a feminine aura. At this moment, this long-haired young man was eyeing the five new students putting up a resistance as he said with a faint smile.

“Hand over my ass. If you want, you can directly come and snatch it. I, your father, will go all out and bite you once even if I have to endure a hard beating.” The five new students, who were surrounded, had a tough character and plenty of attitude. They carelessly wiped the traces of blood from the corner of their mouths and one of them immediately spat out blood as he cursed furiously.

TL: Your father - This is a chinese way of cursing where one refers to himself as the other party’s father

“Ke ke, what a hard bone.” The long-haired young man clapped his hands and laughed softly, “Alright. Since you all won’t cooperate, we can only knock you down first and take it for ourselves.”

“Bah! What is there to be arrogant about? Don’t think that you can walk horizontally without fear just because you are older students! When you all meet Senior Xiao Yan and the others, you can only obediently hand over your ‘Fire Energy.’ Ha ha, who says that us new students don’t have the ability to resist?” A new student laughed out loud. The laughter contained a ridicule that was difficult to hide.

“Xiao Yan?” The eyebrows of the long-haired young man jumped a little when he heard this name. The smile on his face gradually paled as he coldly laughed, “It seems that all of you have placed your hopes on them. Unfortunately, that group has disappeared during these past two days. Who knows where they have gone to hide themselves? The next time that they appear, their ending will not be much better than yours. Hence, stop having such daydreams. Obediently hand over your ‘Fire Energy’ and you can avoid a harsh beating.”

Once he said that, the long-haired young man waved his hand. His four companions, who had surrounded the new students, slowly took a step forward. Powerful Dou Qi rose from within their bodies. As the Dou Qi flowed, many of the the withered yellow leaves began to flutter around.

“Ke ke, this senior, are you referring to us?” Just as that group of older students was preparing to defeat the audacious group in one go, a soft laughter suddenly sounded out, ringing throughout the empty clearing.

The sudden voice that had sounded caused the flowing Dou Qi in this place to become a little dull. All gazes suddenly followed the direction where the voice had come from, where it was thrown over. Finally, they stopped on a tree branch outside the open area. At that spot, three males and two females had unknowingly appeared. They were smiling as they stood there. The black-robed young man leading them had a large, black ruler strapped to his back, revealing their identities.

“Senior Xiao Yan!”

The group of new students, who were surrounded, paused their stunned gazes on the black-robed young man before a wild joy immediately swarmed onto their faces. An excited voice was involuntarily shouted out. In this forest, where the new students could only be bullied, Xiao Yan’s group was undoubtedly the life-saving last straw within the hearts of all the new students. This was because this was the only group who had successfully defeated the older students.

“You are Xiao Yan? In that case, you must be that group who is running around hunting down the older students for their ‘Fire Energy,’ right?” When he heard the young man’s shout, the expression of that long-haired youth changed slightly. His gaze stared intently at Xiao Yan’s five man group as he laughed coldly.

“Very good, it is really unexpected that you all actually have the guts to appear.” Seeing Xiao Yan nodding his head, that long-haired young man slowly took a step forward. Powerful Dou Qi surged out from within his body. With a wave of his hand, four human figures flashed over from behind him. They immediately landed around this long-haired young man in an orderly manner. It may appear that they were randomly standing around, but it was quite ingenious. This formation would allow them to react to any attack from any direction at anytime.

“Hand over the ‘Fire Energy’? Or shall we take it by ourselves?” When the five man formation was formed, the long-haired youth’s confidence greatly soared. He lifted his head and slowly spoke to Xiao Yan.

“These words... can you let me say them?” Xiao Yan laughed softly. He eyed the dark and solemn expression that was instantly formed on the long-haired young man’s face and a coldness flashed across his dark eyes. His body shook a little and appeared at a spot two meters in front of the long-haired young man in a lightning-like manner. He tightened his fist and a green-colored Dou Qi swiftly surfaced. Finally, it solidified into a green-colored layer with spikes protruding from his fist. Following its appearance, the strength on Xiao Yan’s fist suddenly soared greatly.

“Presumptuous fellow!”

The long-haired young man laughed as he coldly eyed Xiao Yan, who was attacking by himself. Before he even spoke, his four other companions flashed out at the same time. The short few steps that distanced them was instantly covered, and four pairs of fists and legs, each carrying a low sonic boom from cutting through the air, violently smashed toward Xiao Yan at the same time. They wanted to rely on their great cooperation and teamwork, using four people’s strength to injure Xiao Yan with one blow!

Four older students, who were not much weaker than Xiao Yan, attacked at the same time. That force was something that even Xiao Yan would have difficulty receiving directly. However, he simply ignored the attack of these four people. His eyes stared intently at that long-haired young man behind the shadows of the fists. The green-colored Dou Qi became increasingly concentrated on his fist.

Just as the fists and legs, containing ferocious force, were about to reach Xiao Yan’s body, the sharp sound of rushing wind suddenly tore through the air. Human figures flashed past like light. Immediately, everyone was dazzled for a moment, only to see four black shadows descending from the sky like a metal tower and landed exactly around Xiao Yan. An attack which had already been brewed to perfection was suddenly emitted. In an instant, under repeated low explosive sounds, they heavily collided with the four older students. Energy ripples spread out from the points of collision. The thick, withered carpet of leaves on the ground took flight with a ‘shua’ sound, turning the leaves into a rain that fluttered through the air.

“Glug!”

The fists and legs of the four older students were blocked by Xun Er, Bai Shan, Wu Hao, and Hu Jia, who had suddenly appeared. The powerful force caused the former’s bodies to tremble slightly. An instant later, they finally could no longer withstand the powerful force that was swiftly being transmitted over. Their faces turned red. Mouthfuls of fresh blood were spat out wildly while their bodies shot backward like falling leaves in the autumn wind. Finally they sat down on a pile of withered leaves. Their faces were filled with shock.

The moment when the bodies of the four older students fell back, a black shadow immediately followed up. With a flash, he appeared like a ghost in front of the long-haired young man, whose expression had changed drastically. He smiled at the latter as his hand shook. The fist, that was wrapped in a layer of green energy that contained spikes, smashed through defense of his crossed arms that the latter had placed in front of his head and heavily smashed into his shoulders. A force immediately exploded out and one could hear a clear ‘crack’ sound. The long-haired young man’s body fell and shot back. His feet dragged against the ground, leaving a long scar. Finally, he collided with a tree trunk. A muffled sound appeared and fresh blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. The long-haired young man rubbed away the blood trace with his hand and he lowered his pale-white face, which was filled with disbelief. Didn’t people say that this group of new students had strong individual strength but the coordination between them was extremely appalling? Why was it that... in just two short days, the cooperation that they displayed was already strong to such an extent?

The five new students, who stood in the middle of the empty ground, were stunned as they saw that the victor among the two groups was decided in a mere exchange. They then looked at the black-robed young man, who was twisting his fist while standing tall as well as the four others beside him. It was a long while later before they inhaled a deep breath of cool air. After these five people formed a group, their combat strength had actually become this strong.