The leaves in the quiet, dense forest suddenly moved a little. A few human figures flashed out from the tree branches. Their bodies were like agile monkeys as they pressed against the tree trunks, and shot forward once again. After a few leaps like this, they swiftly disappeared from the edge of the branches.

“Stop!” As the human figure flashed, the human figure leading the group suddenly raised his hand vertically. The four human shadows behind him immediately landed on the branches in an extremely agile manner. After which, they turned their doubtful gazes towards the black-robed young man.

“What is it?” Hu Jia’s gaze swept around in all directions, but did not discover any movement. She could not help but whisper in a somewhat doubtful manner.

“There is someone coming. Let’s hide first.” Xiao Yan’s gaze stared intently to his left. His extraordinary Spiritual Perception had gifted him with the outstanding ability to survive in the jungles. He was able to sense movement that others were not able to sense, one step ahead of them. On this point, it was basically very difficult for him to be involuntarily attacked in this hunting competition.

With the exception of Xun Er, Hu Jia and the others were a little stunned when they heard Xiao Yan’s words. They did not sense any presences approaching. However, when they eyed Xiao Yan’s expression and recalled his current status as the group leader, the three of them could only nod slightly. Immediately, the five human figures flashed simultaneously and swiftly fled into a dense thicket below.

Around five minutes after Xiao Yan and the others had hidden themselves, there was suddenly a slight sound of rushing wind being transmitted from the dense forest not far away. Immediately, five figures gradually appeared and stopped in the air, a spot not far away from where Xiao Yan and the others were hiding. Their sharp gazes slowly swept across this stretch of quiet thicket.

The gazes of Xiao Yan and the four others passed through the gaps of the thicket and stared intently at the five older students of the Inner Academy, who stood not far from them. Judging from the Qis that were seeping out from their bodies, it appeared that these people were actually all around the one star Da Dou Shi level or so.

The strength of these people may not be weak but when compared to Xiao Yan’s five man group, there was still some gap between them. Adding to this, Xiao Yan and the others were not novices who failed in terms of mentality. Therefore, they would naturally not make any unnecessary coughing or other noises at this moment. Therefore, the five older students above them could only helplessly leave after quickly scanning the area once.

After their group left, Bai Shan’s body moved slightly, wanting to stand up. However, Xiao Yan’s expression changed slightly as he softly said: “Don’t move”

“What are you so anxious for? They’ve already left.” Bai Shan was extremely unhappy with Xiao Yan’s scolding and could not resist biting back. Although his mouth said this, his body still obeyed and did not dare to make too large of a movement.

Xiao Yan ignored him. He only turned his gaze towards the position where the five people had vanished. Upon seeing this action of his, Bai Shan and the others were startled and could only continue to move along with his gaze.

The silent atmosphere shrouded the forest in such a manner for around three to four minutes before the tree branches, which the gazes of Xiao Yan and the others, suddenly shook. Immediately, a few human figures landed on them and appeared. From their appearance, it was shockingly the same group of people who should have left earlier. Immediately, Bai Shan’s expression changed slightly and he felt a little bitter.

“There is no one. Liu Mu, you really are paranoid. We cannot exhaust our time in this manner.” The people on the tree branches shook their heads when they saw that there was still no movement. They then turned their bodies to face the skinny, green-clothed, young man and said.

The young man, who was called Liu Mu, helplessly nodded. He hesitatingly said: “I practice Wood affinity Dou Qi, therefore my senses are much sharper than ordinary people in this forest. Earlier... perhaps it is really was me sensing wrong. Let’s go.” Even though he said this, he was still a little uncertain. He could only wave over that feeling. After which, he turned around and rushed towards another part of the dense forest. Four other human figures followed closely behind him.

“The people in this Inner Academy are indeed not people of ordinary caliber...” Xiao Yan eyed the group, which was becoming distant. Only then did he slowly stand up from the bushes and let out a sigh. If it was not because of his use of Spiritual Perception to survey their surroundings, he might really be caught by those fellows who appeared to have left but were actually hiding in the corner, peeping back.

Hu Jia and the others also crawled out from the bushes and stood up. Their gazes shifted from the spot where that group of people earlier had left from and turned towards Xiao Yan. The gazes of Hu Jia, Wu Hao, and even Bai Shan more or less had a trace of being convinced. At the very least, when they had not discovered the other party’s trace, Xiao Yan had the ability to sense it first and brought them to avoid the original situation, where they would get caught. Just on this point, Xiao Yan was successful in being this group leader.

“Let’s go. It is just that instead of scurrying around wildly like we had been before, we no longer know what position we are in right now, so if we just randomly charge around...” Xiao Yan frowned a little as he slowly said.

“I feel that... should we think of ways to obtain some information regarding this forest? The exact number of older students who are participating in this hunting competition and their level of strength? Otherwise, if we just go rampaging around all the way, we will end up falling into a situation of being surrounded due to the lack of information about our opponents. Perhaps we might be able to obtain victory when we face one group of older students. However, if we end up attracting the other groups of older students during the fight, I think that we are unlikely to be able to defeat all of them, right? For some unknown reason, these students of the Inner Academy seem to be very experienced in fighting...” Xun Er hesitated a little before suddenly opening her mouth to speak.

Xiao Yan and the others were startled when they heard this. They immediately mused for a while and nodded. What Xun Er said was true. In this place where they were unfamiliar with the terrain and people, they would sooner or later meet some older students who were stronger than themselves if they were to randomly run everywhere and their speed would slow.

“In this place, the people who have the information we seek seems to be only those Inner Academy’s students, right? Don’t tell me that we should get the information from their hands?” Bai Shan knit his eyebrows together and said.

Xiao Yan’s hand fondled his chin. A long while later, he voiced his thoughts: “Let’s walk for a bit and take a look around. If there is a chance for us to act, we can perhaps choose a group of older students to strike. We are not like those ordinary groups. As long as we are more careful and don’t attract the other groups of older students over. I think that we should be able to eat one of them.”

“Uh?” The expressions on Hu Jia and the others faces were stunned when they heard Xiao Yan’s words. Other new students were thinking of methods to avoid the groups of seniors, however, Xiao Yan was actually now trying to attack an older students’ group?

“This is too risky.” Bai Shan shook his head in disagreement.

“Everyone, sharpening the axe will not interfere with chopping the wood. If we were to stroll in this vast forest by ourselves, how long would it take? Moreover, you should also have seen just how much those older students seem to covet this so called ‘Fire Energy’. I think that this should be an extremely important aspect in the Inner Academy. Since they are able to snatch our ‘Fire Energy’, why can’t we snatch theirs? In order for us not to regret our decisions in the future, we would not lose out by taking such risks.” Xiao Yan waved the black crystal sheet in his hand and said smilingly.

A glint flashed across Hu Jia’s and Wu Hao’s eyes as they felt some motivation. They mused for a while before the two of them nodded their heads heavily: “We can try.”

Xiao Yan sighed in relief when he saw that the two of them did not disagree. He turned his head, threw his gaze towards Bai Shan, asked with a smiled: “What about you?”

Bai Shan’s expression repeatedly changed in front of the gazes of Xiao Yan and the three others. It was a long while later before he clenched his teeth hard and said: “Alright. Let’s try. However, I will say this beforehand. If any accidents are to happen, you, the group leader, will be held responsible for dealing with it.”

Xiao Yan smilingly nodded. He simply acted as though he had not heard the last sentence as he waved his hand and said: “Since everyone shares the same opinion, let’s go. Instead of being robbed by others, why don’t we go and snatch what belongs to them?”

Once he said this, Xiao Yan took the lead to move his body, turning into a black shadow that flashed into the dense thicket. Xun Er and the others followed closely behind.

After deciding to accept the strategy, Xiao Yan and the others began to place their attention on those groups of older students that they occasionally found. Nearly two hours later, they had met a total of three groups but they could not help but give up the opportunity to attack as the three groups were fighting far too close to one another.

Xiao Yan and the other four people once again watched a group of older students flash past them, above their heads, from within the dense bushes. They helplessly shook their heads. Xiao Yan could sense that there was another group, which had stopped around one hundred meters north of their location. The fighting noise here would definitely be transmitted over. Hence, for their own safety, they could only continue to give up this opportunity to attack.

Xiao Yan gestured to the few people behind him. Therefore, the four of them, whose Dou Qi had already began to circulate, could only once again calm down.

Not long after that group of older students passed them, Xiao Yan was about to stand up and lead them away when his footsteps paused. He tilted his head and threw his gaze towards the north. He sensed that the group there had suddenly stopped.

“Go.” Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment. He waved his hand and immediately lead the four others as they moved like moles, passing through the dense thicket and quickly headed north.

After around five minutes, the bodies of Xiao Yan and the others suddenly paused. Their gazes passed through the gaps between the dense leaves, and eyed the empty ground outside. At this moment, there were ten human figures interweaving and flashing. Every once in awhile, a young person who would vomit blood and faint. This pattern continued for two or three minutes before the five young people, who were clearly new students, were completely defeated. Their group was then surrounded in the middle of the empty ground. Around them were five older students who were standing around them lazily. Faint Dou Qi extended and appeared on their fists.

Xun Er, Hu Jia, and the other two turned their gazes towards Xiao Yan after watching the scene on the empty ground. Clearly, they were waiting for his decision.

Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed. His Spiritual Perception was spread out to its limits at this moment. His eyes slowly opened as he nodded slightly.

“Tsk tsk, we are really lucky today, having already met two groups of new students. Ha ha, our acquisition is not bad.” A blue-clothed young man on the open ground eyed his card having gained 3 more ‘Fire Energy’. He could not help but lick his lips as he said this with a smile.

“Hey juniors, thank you very much. If you are dissatisfied, you can come to the Inner Academy to look for us in the future. We await your challenge any time. Of course, the precondition is that you must have sufficient ‘Fire Energy’.” The blue-clothed young man waved the Crystal Card in his hand at the green-faced new students as he gloatingly said.

“Let’s go and look for the next target.” Once he said these words, the blue-clothed young man waved his hand. His four companions turned around and immediately rushed off in another direction.

“There is no need to look. We are here.”

Just as the blue-clothed young man’s five man group was about to turn around, a faint laughter suddenly sounded from the tree branches. The former hurriedly lifted their heads only to see that there were three men and two women who had appeared on the surrounding tree branches at an unknown time and had already surrounded them.

The blue-clothed young man’s group was surprised by the five new students who has just appeared. They could not really recover. Weren’t all the new students supposed to be fleeing like some mice? Why did these few fellows actually dare to openly appear in front of them?

“Oh, what beautiful girls. Everyone, be a little gentler when you attack later. Otherwise, if we are to leave a bad impression, there would no longer be a chance in the future.” A moment later, the blue-clothed young man’s five man group finally recovered. Their gazes swept across the few people on the branches before their gazes brightened greatly as they stopped on the two young ladies. Immediately, their teasing laughter sounded.

“What about those three fellows?” One of his companion asked smilingly.

The blue-robed young man smiled when he heard this. A fierce aura flashed across their eyes as they spread their hands and said helplessly: “Since these new students are so arrogant, we as their seniors, should naturally properly teach them how they should survive in the Inner Academy, right? Therefore, let them see some blood first. This kind of method is the most effective one in letting them understand just what kind of attitudes they should maintain within the Inner Academy.”

“Haha.” When they heard his words, the four older students by his side laughed. They immediately raised their heads, and their gazes were filled with ill-intent as they stared at the three young men on the tree branches.

“Their strength is barely around that of a two star Da Dou Shi. Each of us can take care of one. Do not drag it out. Finish the battles quickly. Remember, we cannot let any of them flee!” Xiao Yan eyed the five older students on the empty ground below indifferently. He turned his head to look as Xun Er, Bai Shan, Wu Hao, and Hu Jia as he reminded.

“Yes.” The four of them nodded slightly. They exchanged glances with one another as their bodies shook slightly. Powerful Dou Qi suddenly surged out of their bodies. They immediately moved and appeared on the empty ground as fast as lightning!

At the moment Xun Er’s powerful Dou Qi and the others’ Dou Qi surged out, the expressions of the blue clothed man’s group of five finally changed drastically. Looking just at these Qis of theirs, these five new students were actually all much stronger than them!

“We have kicked an iron plate this time! Why are these new students so strong?” A thought that was anything but assuring swiftly flashed across the blue-clothed young man’s heart. He waved his hand. However, before he could even utter the words to shout at his companions to hurriedly retreat, a black shadow suddenly and strangely appeared in front of him. The eyes of the former shrunk. His fist, which contained powerful Dou Qi, did not hesitate even a little as it was ferociously swung at the black shadow’s head.

At the instant that the blue-clothed young man threw his punch, the black shadow moved. A sharp force actually caused the air to emit a muffled sonic boom as a punch came in a lightning-like manner. Regardless of speed or strength, it far surpassed the attack of the blue-clothed young man!

“This time around, our boat is about to sink in the Gutters.” A horrorstruck feeling surfaced within the blue-clothed young man’s heart, as he sensed the strength and speed in which the black shadow unleashed that punch. He lifted his gaze and saw a delicate and handsome face that carried some coldness along with a pair of dark, ink-black eyes.

TL: boat is about to sink in the Gutters - meaning something totally unexpected or should not happen happened.