Seeing the five human figures that appeared on the tree, the faces of everyone on the empty ground suddenly contorted.

The five people standing on the tree were clad entirely in fancily designed black clothing. If one looked at them from a distance, they appeared to be five ink black shadows. The moment the five of them appeared, a ferocious Qi, that was not the slightest bit hidden, seeped out from their bodies. A force, that caused the expressions of Xiao Yan and the others to appear pressured, covered the entire clearing. It caused them to feel an uncomfortable feeling as though they were being stared at by a wild beast within the forest.

“Sha Tie? You actually followed us here?!” After the five figures appeared, the expression of Leng Bai, who had his back leaning against a tree trunk to catch his breath, morphed. This was especially so after his gaze swept across the the man in the middle, whose body was as large as a gorilla’s. He could not help but cry out involuntarily.

“We met a couple of new students on the way and also received the information.” That man among the five, whose figure was tall and large to the point that it caused others to feel pressure, replied indifferently. Immediately, his eyes glanced at the injured Su Xiao and the two others before he smiled and said, “Tsk tsk. It’s very unexpected that even the three of you were defeated by these new students. I really don’t know how you trained within the Inner Academy.”

These words, from the man addressed as Sha Tie by Leng Bai, caused the faces of Leng Bai and the two others to become tinged with red. A moment later, he snorted and said, “The new students this year cannot be compared to the past. What is so strange about being defeated?”

“Forget it. I shall not waste my breath with you. I will settle the rest of the matter next. However, you can forget about me returning the ‘Fire Energy’ to you after this whole fiasco is over. This is due to all of you not having the ability to protect your own belongings, so you can’t blame others.” Sha Tie waved his hand as he turned his gaze. It finally landed on Xiao Yan, who was holding his heavy ruler. Surprise flashed across his eyes as he asked, “You’re Xiao Yan? Being able to defeat Su Xiao and the others at such an age. No wonder you were able to gather all the new students together.”

Sha Tie’s voice was filled with strength. As he spoke, it directly shook some of the new students until they covered their ears.

“You should be the Black Demon of the so-called ‘Black White Evil Stopper’?” Xiao Yan exchanged gazes with Sha Tie as he replied in a deep voice. When he spoke, his gaze slowly swept across the five black shadows. His heart gradually sunk. He realized that each of them basically had strengths similar to Leng Bai’s. The man called Tie Sha was even more frightening. If Xiao Yan had probed correctly, that fellow was likely to be a strong person at the peak of the Da Dou Shi class!

“You can call us the ‘Black Demon’ Group. I am the group leader, Tie Sha.” Tie Sha parted his mouth and smiled. His white teeth emitted the dense coldness of a wild beast baring its fangs. He looked directly at Xiao Yan and said, “Let me tell you all some good news. The matter of new students robbing the older students of their ‘Fire Energy’ these few days has already been transmitted to the Inner Academy. Currently, you, Xiao Yan, already have quite the reputation within the Inner Academy before you have even entered it. There are already an unknown number of Inner Academy students who ran over here, waiting for you all to leave. If you all really walk out of the forest while carrying so much ‘Fire Energy,’ you and this batch of new students, would really become infamous within the Inner Academy.”

Xiao Yan remained silent and did not respond to Tie Sha’s words.

“Of course, as one of the last two groups in this year’s ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition,’ our duty is to strike down all the thorn-like new students who appear. Hence, if you want to smoothly walk out, it is still possible. Hand over your Fire Crystal Cards and I assure you that I will not be forceful. What do you say?” Tie Sha smiled as he spoke to Xiao Yan.

“There are no other choices?” Xiao Yan slowly sighed as he asked indifferently.

“Yes, this is the only one.” Sha Tie shook his head with a smile. His gaze swept one round over the new students below and said, “If you are still able to gather forty new students with their full combat strength, just our Black Demon Group alone would really have difficulty swallowing all of you. Unfortunately, however, after the exhaustion from combating Su Xiao and the rest earlier, it is basically a given that this new student group of yours doesn’t pose any threat to us. As long as I defeat the few of you, a full period can be placed on this year’s ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition.’”

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes. The hand, which he used to hold the Heavy Xuan Ruler, slowly tightened. By his side, Xun Er, Hu Jia, and Wu Hao took a step forward. Following closely behind Xiao Yan, those ten plus scattered new students whose breathing was a little weak, clenched their teeth and swarmed toward Xiao Yan after a brief moment of hesitation. This moment did not allow them to withdraw. After all, they would not think that this Sha Tie, whose appearance was not that of the kind type, would let them off with the ‘Fire Energy’ in their hands if Xiao Yan and the others were defeated.

Since they could not avoid the hassle, then they might as well go all out!

“Why? Do you want to fight to your deaths just to retaliate?” Tie Sha lifted his eyebrows upon seeing their actions. A dense cold smile surfaced on his rough face, “Looks like you are all still holding some hope in your strength. Hee hee, just as well. We have not attacked anyone for nearly three days within this damn forest. Our bones have started to become itchy.”

“Wait!”

Just as Sha Tie was twisting his fist, a cry suddenly sounded. The former’s eyebrows knit slightly together as his gaze followed the voice and looked over, only to find a handsome young man wearing white clothes. His gaze swept over the face of the young man and felt that it was a little familiar.

“Big Brother Sha Tie. Do you still remember me? We met last time when you came out on leave with my older cousin Bai Feng.” Bai Shan held the long lance in his hand as he cupped his hands toward Tie Shan and spoke with a smile.

“Bai Feng? You... are Bai Shan?” Sha Tie was startled when he heard Bai Feng’s name. Fear flashed across his eyes. Immediately, his gaze paused on Bai Shan’s face as he finally remembered before speaking in the manner of someone just having come to realize something.

“Haha, that’s right.” Bai Shan smiled as he replied. He finally sighed in relief when he heard Sha Tie speak his name.

“You are also part of this batch of new students?” Sha Tie glanced at Bai Shan’s position. He appeared to have understood something as he spoke with deeper meaning.

“Yes.” Bai Shan smiled awkwardly and nodded. He rotated his eyeballs and said, “Big Brother Tie Shan, I wonder if on the account of my elder cousin brother you can...”

“On account of Bai Feng’s face, I can naturally let you leave. I do have some relations with him. Naturally, I will not attack you.” Sha Tie waved his hand and smiled as he replied before Bai Shan finished his sentence.

“Uh...” Bai Shan was somewhat dull when he was interrupted by Tie Sha. He could not help but feel a little hesitant after hearing the words that the latter spoke. The corner of his gaze drifted over to Xiao Yan and the rest. He was just thinking of saying something when he coincidentally saw a little coldness in Sha Tie’s brows. His heart immediately became afraid.

“Bai Shan, you just need to take care of yourself no matter what happens. Although I am the group leader of the Black Demon Group, I must also be responsible for my companions. I have already given Bai Feng enough face by letting you go. You must also take a step back.” Sha Tie slowly said. The warning tone in his voice was extremely obvious.

Bai Shan’s expression changed slightly when he heard this. He immediately recovered swiftly and nodded.

“Alright, you should quickly leave this place. You need not bother about any other matters.” Tie Sha waved his hands toward Bai Shan and commanded.

Bai Shan hesitated a little when he heard this.

“Bai Shan, you want to be a deserter and flee?” Hu Jia, who had been watching coldly on the sidelines, immediately frowned deeply as she coldly shouted when she saw Bai Shan’s hesitation.

“I am considered a deserter just because I do not fight the enemy with all of you? Do you really think that we are a group? Between us was just a mutual interaction where we would receive what we needed. Moreover, the greatest victor of this transaction is still Xiao Yan. The few of us fought to the death and became so exhausted, but he has taken all the good things.” Bai Shan immediately became furious when he heard Hu Jia cold cry. He could no longer resist the jealously and unwillingness within his heart.

“You...” Hu Jia also became furious at Bai Shan’s retort. “Without Xiao Yan’s leadership, could you have reached this point? With just you alone, you would be defeated by any older student group that you met. Would you have been able to stand where you are now with nearly a hundred ‘Fire Energy’ without his leadership?”

“There is no need to say any more. Since he wants to go, just let him go. From the start, this group of ours was temporarily formed. There is no binding strength. Everyone is free to leave. We may not lose even without him.” Xiao Yan, who was beside Hu Jia, pulled her back and spoke faintly. He had already known that Bai Shan was extremely dissatisfied with him. He would sooner or later be a scourge if he was forced to stay in the group. Now that he wanted to leave by himself, it would eliminate the trouble for Xiao Yan to be on guard against him.

“Hmph.” Hu Jia snorted. She coldly eyed Bai Shan and could not help but feel some disgust in her heart. Why did she not see that this fellow as such a person in the past? The type of people she despised the most were the kind of people who would flee at the last moment and abandon their companions due to fear whenever a strong enemy approached. Compared to Bai Shan, Hu Jia suddenly felt that Xiao Yan was a lot more pleasing to the eye. At the very least, the latter would not abandon his companions in a crisis.

Wu Hao raised his head slightly. There was some disdain contained within those eyes that he used to look at Bai Shan.

“Alright, you can all follow him. This young master shall not accompany you.” The eyes of those new students similarly shot out a look of disdain. It caused Bai Shan’s face to twitch slightly. He stared ruthlessly at Xiao Yan before waving his hand. His body leaped and flashed onto a tree branch before finally entering the forest and disappearing.

Xiao Yan indifferently raised his head as he eyed the forest where Bai Shan had disappeared into. His gaze looked directly at Tie Sha. Although Bai Shan leaving did cause their fighting strength to be severely impacted, it was still impossible for him to simply hand over the ‘Fire Energy.’

“I have already said earlier that that companion of yours cannot make it.” Bai Leng’s voice which contained some disdain slowly sounded from the side.

Xiao Yan shrugged his shoulders but did not express any opinions.

“Just admit defeat. Tie Shan’s group is not something that we can compare with. Moreover, your companion has already left. The originally low chances of victory suffered a huge loss.” Leng Bai sighed.

Although Xiao Yan knew that Leng Bai’s words were the true, he did not ease up even a little. He smiled as his gaze looked directly at Tie Shan. A long while later, a calm voice caused the somewhat cold hearts of the new students present, from the result of a strong enemy appearing, to once again become filled with a fire and fighting intent.

“Since I have already gathered everyone together, we should naturally bring them to successfully charge out. No matter how strong the opponent is, I, Xiao Yan, will not take a step back. Therefore...”

“Let’s Fight!”