When Xiao Yan emerged from his room at dawn, he saw two figures darting and crossing in the main hall of the pavilion. A robust fighting aura surged from their bodies, rippling through the hall. On a chair in the hall, Xuner was smiling as she watched the two figures. Hearing footsteps, she suddenly turned her head and saw Xiao Yan walking down the stairs. She hurried to greet him, smiling softly, “Brother Xiao Yan, you’re up?”
“Ah.” Xiao Yan nodded with a smile, then asked, looking at the two in the hall, “What are these two up to now?”
“Perhaps it’s because of the ‘Hunting Competition’—last night during their training, Wu Hao and Jia Ji both advanced to the Seven Star Great Fighter level one after another. This morning, they wanted to spar, so this is what happened,” Xuner giggled, covering her mouth.
“Oh? They advanced?” Xiao Yan’s eyebrows raised, then he shook his head in amazement. These two were indeed the best of the best in the Canan Outer Academy. Their talent far surpassed that of ordinary people, and in terms of cultivation talent alone, they could match Xiao Yan.
“And how about Xuner? What’s your current level?” Turning to her, Xiao Yan smiled.
This little lass had always shown an extraordinary cultivation talent. When he left Wutan City, Xuner was just a fighter, but now, in just over two years, she had reached the Great Fighter level. Such speed, if not for the help of Elder Pharmacist, would be hard to catch up to. Moreover, Xuner was even younger than Xiao Yan.
“Me? I’m also at the Seven Star Great Fighter level. But after this ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition,’ I have a feeling that I’m about to advance. I think I should be able to smoothly advance to the Eight Star Great Fighter level in three or four days,” Xuner took a sip of tea from the cup beside her and smiled at Xiao Yan.
“Tsk tsk, each one of them…” Xiao Yan couldn’t help but make a sound. In this small team of four, none of them seemed to be ordinary. Each one not only had astounding talent and great potential, but Xiao Yan dared to say that all three of them had their own trump cards. If they encountered a crisis, the power they might unleash could be quite surprising.
For this, he didn’t doubt much. After all, Jia Ji’s grandfather was the vice-dean of the Outer Academy, with a strength close to the peak of Battle Emperor. For his only granddaughter, he would naturally impart everything he knew. And the person behind Wu Hao, according to Tutor Ru Lin, seemed to be the leader of the Enforcement Team, which was almost the armed force of the Canan Academy, handling those extremely vicious and evil bandits from the Black Corner Region. To become the leader of such a team, his strength couldn’t be much weaker than that of the vice-dean.
As for Xuner, Xiao Yan still couldn’t figure out the vast power behind her. Of course, from the slightly wary tone of Elder Pharmacist, he could vaguely sense the enormity of it. With the background of the three, the trump cards they possessed, Xiao Yan believed, wouldn’t be less than his. Since he could use secret methods to defeat a Dou Ling, they could too, right?
*Bang, bang!*
Just as Xiao Yan was secretly marveling at the strength of his small team, a rapid knocking on the door sounded, interrupting his thoughts. Raising his head in confusion, Xiao Yan looked toward the door. Xuner got up obediently and walked quickly to the door. Upon hearing the knocking, Wu Hao and Jia Ji also stopped their sparring, grabbed a cloth to wipe off their sweat, and came to Xiao Yan’s side, gulping down the tea on the table.
“What’s going on?” Wu Hao asked muffledly, while drinking water.
“Let’s see.” Xiao Yan smiled, looking up to see Xuner, who had opened the door, talking to someone outside and then walking back quickly.
“What’s wrong, Xuner?” Jia Ji tied a purple sash around her waist, making her slender waist even more alluring, and asked Xuner with a smile.
“There are a dozen or so new students outside, saying they want to see Brother Xiao Yan,” Xuner said, frowning slightly.
“New students? Is there something going on? Well, let them in,” Xiao Yan said, slightly surprised.
“Mm.” Xuner nodded and waved to the door, and instantly, a dozen figures rushed in, surrounding Xiao Yan and the others. Their faces were red, though it was unclear why.
“Senior Xiao Yan, as fellow new students, you must help us. The old students of the Inner Academy are just too bullying!” A young man’s face was flushed with excitement. Xiao Yan vaguely remembered that during the ‘Hunting Competition’ when facing the ‘Black Evil Squad,’ he was one of the last three new students standing. His name was probably Tai.
“What’s going on? Explain clearly,” Xiao Yan frowned and said.
“Since this morning, some groups of old students have been entering our new student area, demanding a so-called ‘new student tribute fee’ of two days’ worth of Fire Energy. We know we shouldn’t be too sharp when we first come, so we endured and didn’t say anything, giving them the Fire Energy. But after that group left, even more groups of old students kept coming, blocking the entrance and demanding more. There have already been three groups, and if this continues, the Fire Energy we worked so hard to get will be taken away completely!”
The young man named Tai clenched his teeth, visibly angry.
“These guys are really going too far,” Jia Ji’s pretty face darkened, and she slammed her hand on the armrest of the chair.
Xiao Yan held the teacup in both hands, eyes half-closed, but didn’t say anything.
“Senior Xiao Yan, we didn’t come to ask you to shield us from the harassment. We understand that as new students of the Inner Academy, being bullied by old students is inevitable. I asked a friend, and while new students in previous years also paid some sort of ‘tribute fee,’ it wasn’t like this, with one group after another. My friend said that this year, the reason is that our performance in the ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition’ made some old students unhappy, so this situation arose.”
Tai sighed bitterly.
“I’m not blaming Senior Xiao Yan. You helped us avoid the oppression of the old students in the ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition,’ and in the hearts of the new students entering the Inner Academy this year, your reputation is the highest. So, when we encounter such trouble, we can only turn to you, hoping that you can stop us from being exploited further. Otherwise, we won’t even have enough Fire Energy to enter the ‘Heavenly Flame Tower’ for training, let alone cultivate in the Inner Academy.”
Tai stared intently at Xiao Yan, “If it really can’t be done, the new students would rather give the so-called ‘tribute fee’ to Senior Xiao Yan than to those scoundrels!”
“Give me the ‘tribute fee’? Wouldn’t that make me no different from those old students?” Xiao Yan smiled faintly, tapping lightly on the teacup, making a crisp sound. After a moment of contemplation, he looked up and smiled at Tai, “Since the old students are blocking the exit to collect the tribute, we won’t be left out either. Gather the new students, and we’ll join you right away.”
“Thank you, Senior Xiao Yan. If there’s ever anything else, the new students this year will follow you!” Hearing this, Tai and the dozen or so new students who came with him were overjoyed. They bowed to Xiao Yan and quickly left the hall.
Looking at the retreating new students, Xiao Yan turned to the other three, asking, “What do you think about this?”
“You’re the captain, you decide. We can’t just be lambs to be slaughtered, right?” Jia Ji frowned, “And if you don’t do anything, the reputation you’ve built among the new students might collapse, and you’ll lose their trust.”
“Elder Su said yesterday that there are many factions in the Inner Academy, and we’ll be here for a long time. With just the four of us, we might be a bit weak, but now it’s a good opportunity to gather support. With your reputation among the new students, if you lead and take the risk of being oppressed, most of the new students will follow.”
Xuner pondered.
“You want us to form our own faction?” Xiao Yan said, slightly surprised.
“Better than joining others… As you said, we’ll likely have to pay that so-called ‘tribute fee.’ If so, we might as well unite everyone. Although the new students are a bit weak now, with dozens of people, at least smaller groups won’t dare to harass us. No matter what, it’s a lot less trouble,” Xuner shrugged, smiling.
“What Xuner says makes sense. It’s better to gather the new students together and use them than to let them be absorbed by other factions,” Wu Hao nodded slightly.
Xiao Yan frowned, rubbing his hands on the teacup. Seeing his contemplative look, Xuner and the others didn’t interrupt, waiting quietly for his decision.
After a few minutes of silence, Xiao Yan finally took a deep breath, stood up, and said, “Alright, I’ll go with your suggestion. Now is the best time to gather the new students. If we miss this, it will be ten times harder to do so later!”
“Let’s go!” With that, Xiao Yan waved his hand and strode out the door. Behind him, Xuner and the others exchanged glances, smiled, and quickly followed.
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