Chapter 440: The Switch Between The Hunter And The Hunted

The five new students, whose entire bodies were covered in bruises and had traces of blood on the corner of their mouths eyed Xiao Yan’s group with stunned expressions. Only at this moment did they realize what had happened in this sudden turn of events. These fellows were actually snatching the ‘Fire Energy’ from the older students?

The corner of their mouths twitched a couple of times. These five unlucky new students, who were robbed by the blue-clothed young man’s group earlier, saw that Xiao Yan’s group actually rudely knocked out the five Inner Academy older students after snatching their ‘Fire Energy.’ Their expressions were extremely brilliant. Not that long ago, they exchanged blows with this group of older students. However, after merely just a few exchanges, they were completely defeated by these strong older students who had a wealth of battle experience. However, now... The group of older students, who had been swaggering triumphantly after their previous victory, had ended up in a miserable state, similar to their own, within just two to three minutes of fighting with Xiao Yan’s group. This huge gap really caused these students to feel a little dull.

“They are indeed worthy of being the top five ranked people of the Qualifying Competition. Their strength is actually this great.” As the new students being hunted this time around, they naturally knew Xiao Yan’s five man group. However, they still did not expect that when these five people gathered together, they were actually able to defeat the older students within the Inner Academy. This group was really strong.

“Tsk tsk, it is really expected that the Inner Academy is actually this unique. It really did not betray my expectations.”

Hu Jia played with the Fire Crystal Card in her hand, and glanced at the five Inner Academy students, who had been forcefully beaten until they fainted, and tied to a tree trunk by Xiao Yan. She laughed in a lovely voice. Earlier, she had obtained eighteen days worth of ‘Fire Energy’ from the older student she had just interrogated. Therefore, the number on her Fire Crystal Card had already turned from five to twenty-three.

“How unfortunate. We are actually unable to snatch away all the ‘Fire Energy’ in their hands and must leave a seven day minimum of ‘Fire Energy’.” Hu Jia was a little regretful as she looked at the crystal card in her hand and muttered.

“Looks like the ‘Sky Flame Qi Training Tower’ in the Inner Academy should be the reason why the students of the Inner Academy are able to train this quickly. It is really astonishing.” Xun Er gently smiled and said.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“It is indeed beyond my expectations.” Wu Hao slowly nodded and continued, “However, if we were to compare, I am more interested in that so-called ‘Strong Ranking.’ I will find an opportunity to challenge them after we enter the Inner Academy.”

Xiao Yan helplessly shook his head when he heard the heated fighting spirit hidden in Wu Hao’s words. This person was too crazy about fighting.

“What should we do next?” Bai Shan’s usually ice-cold expression also had a rare smile at this moment. The reason was something that everyone naturally understood; the twenty days of ‘Fire Energy’ that he had plundered from the unfortunate fellow’s hands.

Xiao Yan’s gaze swept over the faces of the five older students, who had been knocked out. After ensuring that they did not have any reaction, he raised his head and took out the extremely crude route map from his storage ring. After looking at it for a long while, he finally pointed at a certain spot with some hesitation and said, “The size of this forest is extremely large. Our current position should be around here. If we continue walking along this path, we might be able to walk out of this forest within a day’s time.”

“Let’s hurry. Don’t waste any more time.” Bai Shan hurriedly urged when he heard this.

Xiao Yan looked at him, but did not move. The dark, black, crystal sheet was swiftly rotated between his fingers. His black eyes flashed slightly. A moment later, he moved his finger and clipped the crystal card precisely between his fingers. With a smile, he said, “Everyone, since you all already know about the importance of ‘Fire Energy’ within the Inner Accademy, do all of you want to take this chance to obtain a little more?”

“Who doesn’t want more? I earnestly wish to be able to obtain enough ‘Fire Energy’ to be able to train in the ‘Sky Flame Qi Training Tower’ for a whole year.” Hu Jia curled her lip and replied. The others also nodded a little. From the mouths of the few older students, they had also clearly understood just how important and necessary the ‘Fire Energy’ was for those within the Inner Academy.

“In that case, are you all willing to take a risk for the possibility to obtain more ‘Fire Energy?’” Xiao Yan smiled as he spoke.

“What do you mean?” Bai Shan frowned slightly. His eyebrows twitched as he said in surprise, “Don’t tell me that you are targeting other groups of older student?”

“Since they can snatch ours, why can’t we snatch theirs?” Xiao Yan smiled faintly and continued, “Moreover, if we were to look at it in terms of strength, with the exception of the two so-called ‘Black White Evil Stopper’ groups, any of the individual remaining groups would be unable to contend with us so long as we don’t let them join forces and attack us. This is our opportunity! What do you say? Do you dare to give it a try?”

Hu Jia, Wu Hao, and Bai Shan fell into silence when they heard these words from Xiao Yan. Xun Er gently laughed and still stood by Xiao Yan’s side, using her actions to express her choice.

The silence continued for a moment. Wu Hao was the first to nod his head as he replied in a deep voice, “There is only reward if there is risk. As long as you dare to do it, I will not cower even a little.”

“Ah, crazy fellow. Alright, alright, who asked me to also greatly lust for ‘Fire Energy.’” Hu Jia spread her hands and spoke helplessly.

“Alright, I have no objections either.” Seeing that everyone had agreed, Bai Shan glanced at the Crystal Card in his hand once again before clenching his teeth and saying, “I’ll go all out.”

“Alright, since everyone has agreed, then this will be our course of direction for now.” Xiao Yan clapped his hands and smiled. He immediately hesitated a little before saying in a deep voice, “However, before we begin, I will say this first. Should we not first decide how we should distribute the ‘Fire Energy’ should we once again successfully obtain it from another group? I don’t want a situation where the group breaks apart as a result of unequal distribution.”

Bai Shan and the others were startled when they heard this. They immediately nodded. If this problem was not properly resolved, it might really result in the group breaking apart. Should the group break apart in this kind of place, any single person among them would unlikely be able to rely on his own strength to successfully walk out of the forest. What one needed in this forest was teamwork and not the courage of one person!

“Distribute it equally. If there is an instance where there is an unequal distribution, we will compensate him first the next time. What do all of you say?” Xun Er mused for a moment before opening her mouth to speak.

“I have no objections.” Hu Jia and Wu Hao nodded their heads. Soon after, Bai Shan also nodded in agreement.

“Since this is the case, then let’s act according to this distribution pattern.” Xiao Yan sighed in relief within his heart. He saw that their most realistic problem, which was also the one that was the easiest to break apart the group, had been settled so easily. He turned his body around to glance at the five new students, whose faces were covered in bruises, not far away. He waved his hand and threw over a few jade bottles. “These are healing medicine. They will help reduce your external wounds.”

The new students scrambled to catch the healing medicine that Xiao Yan had thrown over. They were stunned. A warm feeling flowed through their hearts as they nodded heavily toward Xiao Yan. Their eyes were filled with a kind of gratitude.

Sending charcoal in the snow is forever an action that would easily capture people’s hearts.

TL; Sending charcoal in the snow - Giving people what they need the most when they are in trouble

Xiao Yan randomly waved his hand and called toward Hu Jia and the other three. Immediately, five human figures dashed into the thicket, and swiftly disappeared.

Now, the hunted began to look for the hunters to attack!

There were two old men seated cross-legged on top of a huge tree within the forest. Their bodies did not move even a little. The gentle breeze blew over them, but the clothes on their bodies were like steel and did not even shift, appearing extremely strange.

At a certain moment, the two old men, who had their eyes shut, suddenly opened their eyes. They looked at each other and saw a hint of shock and laughter within each other’s eyes.

“Hee hee, good, good.... the new students this year are much more interesting than those of the previous years.” A gray-robed old man was the first to open his mouth as he spoke with a smile.

“Those five little fellows should be the top five ranked of this year’s Qualifying Competition, right? Their strengths are all quite good and their potentials are extraordinary. No wonder they are able to even beat senior student groups from the Inner Academy.” The other blue-robed old man nodded and praised.

“That little fellow leading them seems to be called Xiao Yan, right? He is quite bold. I like him.” The gray-robed old man fondled his beard as he spoke with a smile. Hearing the conversation, it appeared as though they had witnessed all of the actions of Xiao Yan’s group.

“Ke ke, he is indeed quite good. Originally, that group was not harmonious but this little fellow integrated them together. The top five students in the Qualifying Competition of the previous years were all filled with haughtiness and none of them would submit to each other. Finally, they were separated and defeated by the older student groups from the Inner Academy. This time though, this group just might be able to exceed people’s expectations.” The blue-robed old man laughed as he replied.

“However, we are also unable to conclude results now. The ‘Black White Evil Stopper’ this year is a group of fellows that has come running out from the battle arena. Their strength is not something that an ordinary group can compare with. If that group of Xiao Yan’s were to meet them, it is difficult to say just who would win and who would lose.” The gray-robed old man said with interest.

“Yes, all of those fellows have experienced hundreds of battles. They are extremely rich in battle experience and the teamwork and cooperation that exists between them is at a very high level. If Xiao Yan’s group were to meet them, it is likely they will have a tough battle. However, I really like the exchanges between the strong.” The blue-robed old man let loose a soft laugh, which actually contained some anticipation within it.

“It seems that we are not going to be so bored in the near future. Let’s wait to see a good show.” The two old men faced each other and laughed softly. Immediately, they once again slowly shut their eyes.

.........

Five human figures slowly walked over a pile of withered leaves within the dense forest. As their feet stepped on the withered leaves, they emitted a soft ‘sha sha’ sound. All of these five people wore a tower-shaped badge on their chest.

“Aren’t we too unlucky? Since we entered the forest, we haven’t met a single group of new students? If this continues, we won’t even be able to recoup the capital we used to participate in the Hunting Competition!” A young man, among the five people, suddenly could not resist cursing.

“Don’t create so much noise. Let’s continue looking. There are a total of fifty new students, why are you so anxious?” That man, who was leading the group, frowned as he scolded the young man.

“You five, are you looking for us?”

When the man leading the group was scolding, a soft laughter suddenly sounded not far in front of them. The five older students from the Inner Academy were surprised. They hurriedly raised their heads, and were stunned to discover that not far away from them, a group, consisting of three males and two females, were smiling as they watched them.

“Capture them!”

The shock on the face of the man leading the group was gradually replaced with a wild joy. He let out a hurried cry and the five men suddenly went over and surrounded the newcomers.

“The old rules. One on one. We will collectively distribute the gains once we get our hands on the Crystal Cards.” Seeing that the five people had actually taken the initiative to charge forward, the smile on the black-robed young man’s face grew much richer. He turned his head to the four people behind him and smiled as he spoke.

“Yes.”

“Since we are clear, then... let’s attack. For our ‘Fire Energy!’”

The black-robed young man smiled. Immediately, five powerful auras of Dou Qi suddenly erupted from within the dense forest.