"No, no, no, we'll pay."
The moment the other older students heard that, they hurriedly pulled out their light-blue crystal cards, moving like they were terrified of getting beaten again if they were even a second too slow.
"I like sensible people like you the most."
Xiao Tian took the crystal cards from them without ceremony and checked the balances. The five cards together actually held a total of eighty-two Fire Energy.
He pulled out his own crystal card and swiped it across each of theirs in turn. The number on Xiao Tian's card kept climbing until it stopped at fifty-two. He tossed the cards back, one by one. When the older students saw the lonely "seven" left on their cards, their faces instantly turned ash-gray, as if they'd just lost their fathers.
"Hm? Not happy?"
Seeing their expressions, Xiao Tian raised an eyebrow and asked teasingly.
"No."
The five men quickly pulled themselves together, enduring the pain in their faces and their hearts, and forced out what they imagined were brilliant smiles. Yet no matter how you looked at them, those smiles were uglier than crying.
"That's right. This way, no one can say I'm a bully. I'm so kind, how could I ever do such a thing? Alright, you can scram now."
Hearing Xiao Tian's words, the five older students seemed to be injected with stimulants all at once. They scrambled up from the ground, ignoring their injuries, their legs spinning like they were fire wheels.
"Brother Tian, you're too mischievous. They're almost frightened to pieces by you. In the future, they'll probably run the moment they see you inside the Inner Academy."
Xun'er covered her mouth, chuckling as she watched the five fleeing figures.
"Haha, take out your crystal card."
Xiao Tian gently ruffled Xun'er's hair and said to her warmly.
Xun'er didn't hesitate and promptly took out her crystal card. She knew what Xiao Tian meant, and she also knew that refusing would be pointless.
After transferring half of the Fire Energy onto Xun'er's card, Xiao Tian waved a hand toward the new students.
"You lot, come over here."
"Senior Xiao Tian, do you have instructions for us?"
Among the new students, one who seemed sharper than the others spoke up and asked.
"Take out your crystal cards."
Hearing Xiao Tian's words, the five new students' faces immediately turned very ugly. They exchanged glances but in the end obediently produced their cards, each showing only the number two. Xiao Tian stepped forward and swiped his card over each of theirs.
The numbers on their crystal cards instantly jumped from two to five.
"Be more careful from now on. You won't always have someone coming to your rescue."
With that, Xiao Tian took Xun'er and left.
"Senior Xiao Tian… this, this… we were wrong."
The five new students had initially thought Xiao Tian was going to rob them of their Fire Energy. They never imagined he would give them some instead. Thinking about their earlier suspicions, they immediately wanted to slap themselves several times. Their own narrow-mindedness had made them misunderstand Xiao Tian. Watching his retreating figure, their eyes were filled with guilt and remorse.
"Brother Tian, it seems you have a plan."
Walking beside Xiao Tian, Xun'er looked at him, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
Xiao Tian paused. "Oh? Why do you say that?"
"Because with Brother Tian's personality, if you didn't have some hidden motive, you wouldn't hand out benefits to strangers."
Xun'er was Xiao Tian's childhood sweetheart and understood his personality very well. If it were someone he knew well, Xiao Tian being so generous would be normal. But those new students just now weren't familiar with him in the slightest.
"It seems Xun'er knows me best. I gave them Fire Energy to win people's hearts for when I establish my own faction later."
His reason for handing over Fire Energy was to make those new students feel both guilt and gratitude. It was only a few points of Fire Energy, and he'd gotten it from them in the first place, after all. Spending a little Fire Energy to buy goodwill was quite a bargain. If you wanted to live comfortably in the Inner Academy, you needed influence. The simplest way was through earning Fire Energy — only difficult at the start, after which it would become a continuous supply with no further effort required.
Xiao Tian briefly explained the matter of Inner Academy factions to Xun'er.
"It's good that Brother Tian has a plan. Xun'er will always support you. If you need any help, you must tell Xun'er."
Xun'er moved in front of Xiao Tian, leaning forward slightly with her eyes curved into a smile.
Xiao Tian touched her face. "Alright, when I need you, I'll definitely come find you, Lady Palace Master."
Hearing that, Xun'er smiled even more happily and began skipping forward.
Seeing her so happy, Xiao Tian couldn't help but be infected by her mood.
...
"You two, this is a competition, not a place for you to flirt."
A faint laugh sounded from behind Xiao Tian and Xun'er. On a large tree behind them stood five people exuding a fierce, aggressive aura. Xiao Tian had noticed these five long before they appeared; he'd simply been waiting for them to fall into his trap.
"Sha Tie of the Black Fiends Team?"
Xiao Tian and Xun'er slowly turned around and glanced at the brawny, rough-looking man leading the group.
"Didn't expect you to know us. Seems you know quite a lot of things," Sha Tie said, baring his teeth in a beast-like grin. "Since you know who we are, you should obediently hand over your Fire Energy. Otherwise, with those thin arms and legs of yours—"
Before Sha Tie could finish speaking, he felt a violent aura appear right at the back of his neck. His teammates, as if they'd seen a ghost, stood frozen in a daze, then toppled straight to the ground, their bodies still twitching.
Slowly turning his head, Sha Tie found himself face-to-face with a countenance like that of an exiled immortal, adorned with a gentle smile. To Sha Tie, however, that smile looked exactly like a devil's grin.
"What's wrong with me?"
From a distance, the two looked like good friends having a chat, but in reality, Sha Tie's back was already soaked with cold sweat. He felt the violent aura radiating from Xiao Tian and knew that a slight movement of that hand could beat him straight into incapacitation.
"I was just saying you're very handsome, and it's dangerous walking through the forest. Would you like us to escort you?" Xiao Tian said. "I think you know what to do now, right?"
Sha Tie looked confused at first, then saw Xiao Tian rub his thumb and forefinger together, and instantly understood.
"I understand, I understand."
"Then go on. And don't even think about running away."
Xiao Tian withdrew his hand and, with a flash, returned to Xun'er's side. Seeing that elusive movement technique, Sha Tie immediately abandoned whatever escape plan he had in mind.
He walked over to his teammates, shook them awake, said a few words, and then took their crystal cards from their hands. Under the pained gazes of his teammates, Sha Tie brought the crystal cards over to Xiao Tian, who simply took all five.
As expected of one of the two strongest teams — the five cards together held three hundred Fire Energy.
Xiao Tian took out his own card and swiped it across theirs a few times. The numbers on the five light-blue cards kept changing. After tossing the cards back to Sha Tie, Xiao Tian left the scene with a faint smile.
Sha Tie stared at Xiao Tian's retreating figure and called out, "Who exactly are you?"
"Xiao Tian."
"Xiao Tian… the number one new student?"
Sha Tie looked at the five cards in his hand, his face livid. Four of them showed only a glaring seven, while one held twenty. That twenty-point card was Sha Tie's; Xiao Tian was still rather benevolent to leave him a bit extra.
"Captain…"
A member of the Black Fiends Team came up behind Sha Tie and called out softly. He knew they had failed this time. He never expected a new student to be so absurdly strong. A few of them had been taken down without any chance to resist, not even knowing how the other party had made their move. This new student was unbelievably absurd — as if absurdity itself had opened the door for even more absurdity. Utterly ridiculous.
"Damn it, we really lost our shirts this time. Sigh!"
Sha Tie looked at his current savings and let out a long sigh. Once they got back, he'd have to bust his hump working the Arena again.
"Captain, we can just go rob other new students. It's impossible there'll be another one like him," one teammate said through gritted teeth, his expression full of frustration.
"For now, that's all we can do. After this, we just need to steer clear of him. Also, since he's the top new student this year, the others won't be nearly as terrifying."
Sha Tie gazed toward other parts of the forest, a burning light in his eyes. He'd heard earlier that somewhere inside, another team was putting up resistance against the older students, and there were even two older student teams that had been robbed in return.
"You all keep fighting. Once you've robbed enough, that's when we'll make our move. Then we can recover all our losses in one go."