"It's not us. It's you guys."
Xiao Tian shook his head.
Xiao Yan and the others looked confused.
"The five of you will form a team," Xiao Tian said, glancing at them. "I won't be joining you. Xun'er and I will move as a separate team. As long as the five of you cooperate well, there shouldn't be any major problems. You'll be able to handle most of the older students in here."
"Xiao Tian, do you know something?"
Hu Jia frowned. Her female intuition told her Xiao Tian definitely had inside information.
"I do know a bit. There are ten teams of older students inside, five people each, mostly at the Great Dou Master level. Those older students have a lot of Fire Energy. It's vital for your cultivation here — without it, you'll find it impossible to get anywhere in the Inner Academy. As for everything else, you'll have to pry it out of their mouths yourselves."
After saying that, Xiao Tian pulled Xun'er along and activated the Void Piercer Art. In a few flickers, the two of them had vanished from sight.
The five stared wide-eyed at the direction Xiao Tian had disappeared.
After some "friendly" discussion, the five of them eventually decided to make Xiao Yan the captain. Upon hearing that he had secured the captain's position, Xiao Yan dispersed the imitation Fire Lotus he had been spinning in his hand. He popped a few Qi Recovery Pills, then smiled and said, "From the information Brother Tian gave us, we can guess that there might be Battle Spirit level existences among the older students. But I don't think their level would be very high."
The others recalled Xiao Tian's words and nodded in agreement.
"Xiao Tian knows there are Dou Ling in here, yet he's still moving alone with only Xun'er. Just what is his cultivation?" Wu Hao noticed a crucial point. He raised his head and fixed his stare on Xiao Yan.
"I'm not sure about Brother Tian's cultivation. Probably only Xun'er really knows. But I do know that Brother Tian is at least a Dou Ling."
Xiao Yan had actually already guessed that Xiao Tian might have reached the Dou Wang level. That was because he had known for a long time that Xiao Tian was a Dou ling.
"Dou Ling?!"
The other four were instantly stunned. Hu Jia and the other two suddenly recalled how Xiao Tian had taken them down in an instant — something that really would be difficult to do without being a Dou Ling — and they immediately felt dejected.
…
After leaving the five, Xiao Tian and Xun'er leaped continuously between the trees.
"Senior Xiao Tian, what are we going to do?"
Xun'er studied Xiao Tian beside her, her eyes full of curiosity.
"I'm taking you to rob the older students. This Fire Energy will be our future cultivation resource. Whether it's for special cultivation environments or exchanging for all kinds of resources, everything needs Fire Energy, and it gets burned up very quickly. I have to work hard to earn enough Fire Energy so I can support you."
Xun'er was initially surprised by his words — it seemed her Senior Xiao Tian already knew a great deal about the Inner Academy. But upon hearing that last part, her small face instantly turned tomato red and her steps faltered. She missed a branch and began to fall.
Before she could even start to drop, a pair of strong hands caught her.
"Xun'er, we're practically an old married couple already. Why are you still so shy?"
Holding her as he dashed through the forest, Xiao Tian's voice brimmed with amusement, and his eyes were full of doting affection.
"Wh-who's an old married couple with you…" Xun'er's ears had gone completely red, and she looked like a cooked shrimp.
"There's a fight up ahead. Let's go join the fun and see what we can earn."
Xiao Tian paused on a tree trunk, sat Xun'er down gently, and then looked toward the woods on the left.
"Hand over your Fire Energy, or you'll have to suffer a bit more physically."
Five older students with badges on their chests spoke indifferently to the injured new students leaning against a tree, supporting each other. As the new students tried to cooperate, the five older students used their fists to snatch the crystal cards from their hands.
One older student took out his own crystal card and, with a swipe, immediately reduced the new students' black cards from five to two.
"What an irritating rule — having to leave the new students two days' worth of Fire Energy."
The leader of the older students looked at the crystal card in his hand with a regretful expression, then casually tossed it back to the new students.
"I know you might not like it, but these are the rules of the Inner Academy. This competition is our way, as older students, of putting you arrogant new students in your place. No matter how impressive you were back in the Outer Academy, let me tell you a truth right now: you can't be too arrogant. Once you enter the Inner Academy, if you're a dragon, you coil; if you're a tiger, you crouch. This is not a place for you to run wild."
One of the older students squatted down and gently patted a new student's face. "Did you hear what Senior Cheng said clearly? Be more sensible from now on. If you don't want to be beaten, hand over your Fire Energy obediently."
Right at that moment, a playful laugh echoed through the air. "Seniors, I'm also rather curious. In the Inner Academy, should I be coiling or crouching?"
The five older students were startled by the sudden voice. Cold sweat instantly broke out on their foreheads. Less than three meters behind them stood a man and a woman. How could these two appear without them sensing a single thing? No warning at all.
"Who are you?"
The man called Cheng's expression darkened. He looked at Xiao Tian and Xun'er with an unfriendly gaze.
"Us? We're the new students you were just talking about."
Xiao Tian stood with his arms crossed and looked at the five older students with a detached expression. All five were at the Two-Star Great Dou Master level — it seemed this was the weakest of the ten teams.
"It's Senior Xiao Tian!" The new students exclaimed the moment they saw him.
"Xiao Tian? You're this year's top new student? We haven't had a chance to teach the top new student a lesson yet. After I teach you a lesson, I think I'll really make a name for myself in the academy."
The man called Cheng grinned, a lewd smile spreading across his face, as if he were already imagining the adoring gazes of junior and senior female students in the academy.
The other four older students started laughing too, as if Xiao Tian, in their eyes, was just as easily bullied as any other new student.
Xiao Tian looked at the five, a dangerous smile curving at the corner of his lips. His eyes instantly turned cold.
In a flash, Xiao Tian appeared right in front of one of the older students and punched him directly in the face. That student went flying, tracing a beautiful parabola through the air, a few teeth soaring alongside him. He crashed heavily to the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then passed out cold.
"How dare you launch a sneak attack!"
The man named Cheng had barely finished speaking when Xiao Tian's body flickered a few more times. The other three older students also collapsed, knocked out just like the first one. You really have to say, being young is great — they don't even mind the cold ground; they just pass out and fall right asleep.
"Gulp."
Seeing his teammates instantly knocked unconscious, the man named Cheng swallowed hard. His eyes gradually filled with terror. He knew he had kicked an iron plate this time — a very, very solid one.
"Didn't you say you wanted to teach me a lesson? Why are you trembling? Are you just too excited?"
Xiao Tian appeared right in front of him and lifted him by the collar. He looked at the man's terror-filled eyes and trembling body, and asked with a smile. Though Xiao Tian was smiling, his voice was like a demon's whisper. The man called Cheng could taste death in that hand gripping him.
Xiao Tian slammed him straight onto the ground. The man spat out blood, already feeling that his internal organs had shifted. Xiao Tian then kicked him over to a tree and piled the other four unconscious older students right next to him.
"Senior Xiao Tian is incredible! These older students are like toys in front of him."
"Yeah, terrifyingly strong."
The new students, seeing Xiao Tian knock out the previously arrogant older students in an instant, praised him one after another.
Xiao Tian paid no attention to those new students. He kicked each of the older students awake.
Xun'er came to his side and quietly looked at the older students before them. There was a cold glint in her eyes as well. These five people had just spoken disrespectfully to her Senior Xiao Tian. That made them her enemies.
"Are you really a new student?"
The man called Cheng was kicked awake. Feeling the pain wracking his body, his voice now carried obvious fear and trembling.
"Genuine, no doubt. Are you going to hand over your Fire Energy obediently, or do you want me to beat you up again before you hand it over?"