Everyone looked at Xiao Jietian with reverence. He had completely defeated the three strongest students and their team, and his terrifying strength deeply convinced everyone.
Many people from the Outer Academy were also watching. Entering the Inner Academy was the dream of every Outer Academy student. Among the crowd were Instructor Ruo Lin, as well as Xiao Ning and Xiao Mei.
The study door slowly opened, and Hu Gan walked out. He quickly scanned the area and delivered a long, motivating speech.
Hearing his words, most students looked excited. Their excitement might not have been at the level of "Do you know how much a bun costs?", but it was still intense.
"The Inner Academy's location is extremely confidential," Hu Gan said. "Even most instructors don't know where it is. So this time, someone special will lead you there."
As soon as he finished speaking, ten enormous dark figures flew in from the distance and stopped above Xiao Jietian and the others.
"Five people per group," Hu Gan continued. "Choose which gryphon you want to ride."
The moment Hu Gan finished, several impatient students leapt onto the gryphons. But because they weren't strong enough, they slid on the smooth feathers, then awkwardly climbed into the fixed seats on the gryphons' backs.
On a gryphon's back, only a Da Dou Shi could stand steadily.
Xiao Jietian and his three companions chose a gryphon immediately. Aside from Xiao Yu—who wobbled slightly at first—Xiao Jietian and the other two stood firm.
With the Mysterious Spirit Pill and the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill Xiao Jietian had given her, plus the change in her cultivation technique, Xiao Yu broke through from a five-star Dou Shi to a one-star Da Dou Shi in just two days.
Hu Jia also jumped onto the same gryphon as Xiao Jietian. Xiao Jietian and the others only glanced at her and didn't pay her much attention.
At Hu Gan's command, the gryphon riders began controlling the mounts to rise slowly into the air.
Hu Gan and three Dou Huang-level elders summoned their Dou Qi wings and flew up as well, guarding the group from four directions.
Xiao Jietian hugged Xun'er from behind, forming a Dou Qi barrier to block the wind.
"The Inner Academy isn't even inside the academy grounds… truly mysterious," Xiao Yan said, watching as they flew toward the back mountain, curiosity in his eyes.
"The Inner Academy has always been mysterious," Hu Jia said, nodding. "Even most Inner Academy disciples can't find their way without a gryphon leading them."
After that, Xiao Yan tried to casually fish for information from Hu Jia, but got nothing—because she didn't know much either. Her grandfather had never told her.
"Xiao Jietian," Hu Jia asked, staring at Xiao Jietian and Xun'er clinging to each other like glue, "aren't you curious about the Inner Academy at all?"
Inside, she cursed nonstop: What a shameless couple—showing off everywhere, and with the Xun'er I've always dreamed of, too!
"Not curious," Xiao Jietian replied. "We'll know once we get there. The Vice Dean already said it: fists are the truth. If a path is blocked, use your fists to open it."
Xiao Jietian already knew what the Inner Academy was like. With his current strength, he wasn't worried about anything.
Xiao Yan heard Xiao Jietian's confidence. Still, this Fire Energy Hunting Competition was a perfect chance to get rich—at least for a while, he wouldn't have to slowly earn Fire Energy himself.
The gryphons flew over a vast primeval forest. Many magical beasts rushed out to intercept them, but they all died under Hu Gan and the three elders.
These were low-tier magical beasts. Only tier 5 magical beasts possessed intelligence comparable to humans.
After an hour of flight, they arrived at a mountain gorge where the gryphons landed. Under Hu Gan's instructions, everyone jumped down.
Under the crowd's puzzled gazes, Hu Gan released a surge of Dou Qi toward the space in front of them.
The air rippled like water, and a silver gate—seven to eight zhang tall—slowly appeared.
"Follow me," Hu Gan said. "The Inner Academy is inside."
The silver gate opened. Hu Gan waved his hand and walked in, and the students eagerly followed.
After passing through, the scenery didn't change much—except two old men and about ten young people were waiting for them.
They wore badges shaped like a spire. Xiao Jietian looked at the two old men and guessed they were Elder Su and Elder Qing.
After Hu Gan introduced them, Xiao Jietian thought to himself, As expected. That meant the Fire Energy Hunting Competition was about to begin.
After Hu Gan exchanged pleasantries with the two elders, Elder Su stepped forward and shouted to the newcomers:
"Students, congratulations on passing the selection and successfully entering the Inner Academy!"
"Do you see the people behind me?" Elder Su continued. "They're students who entered last year. Back then, they were only mid-to-low ranked. But after just one year in the Inner Academy, they now have this level of strength."
Hearing this, the new students looked fired up. For cultivators, rapid growth was an irresistible temptation, and the aura of those older students was indeed powerful.
Seeing their emotions rise, Elder Su smiled meaningfully and continued:
"However, passing the selection is not the end."
He waved his hand, and fifty black streaks shot out, stopping in front of Xiao Jietian and the others.
Xiao Jietian reached out and caught the dark crystal card floating before him. On it was a transparent mirror-like surface, displaying a large red number: 5.
"Some of you may be wondering what this crystal card is," Elder Su said. "But we don't have time to explain."
"You only need to remember this: the number on this card is extremely important to you. You must protect it as if it were your life."
Once the newcomers stored their cards, Elder Su pointed at the forest behind him.
"Your task is to cross this forest and reach the end," Elder Su said.
"During this time, the people behind me—aside from killing—will use every method to obstruct you and steal your crystal cards, because the number inside is an enormous temptation."
"This competition is called the Fire Energy Hunting Competition," Elder Su continued. "The number on your card is called Fire Energy."
"There are rewards for reaching the end. The sooner you arrive, the better the rewards."
"Now I announce: the competition begins!" Elder Su shouted. "New students—start your great escape!"
…
Inside the dense forest, seven people stood beneath a tree.
As the view moved closer, it revealed Xiao Jietian's four-person group, along with the former strongest three-person group from the Outer Academy.
Before meeting here, they had already seen a team of new students get their Fire Energy stolen by older students.
Now they had gathered to discuss what to do next.
"This hunting competition is a contest between new students and older students," Xiao Jietian said. "More precisely, it's arranged by the Inner Academy to suppress new students' arrogance and temper them."
"From Elder Su's words—and from the greed in those older students' eyes—we can tell that Fire Energy is extremely important in the Inner Academy. It's likely a rare cultivation resource."
The other six nodded—even Bai Shan, who held hostility toward Xiao Jietian.
"Then we can also guess," Xiao Jietian continued, his tone carrying temptation, "that those older students may be carrying even more Fire Energy."
Xiao Jietian naturally knew they did. Some older students even paid Fire Energy just to earn the right to participate in the competition.
"Tian Ge… are you saying we should steal it back from them?" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up as he licked his lips. It felt like the Black-Corner Region again—except killing wasn't allowed.
"No."