This Is What It Means to Act on Impulse!

Night fell, the silver moon hung high, and its pale light spilled down from the sky, enveloping the entire vast basin in its glow.

In a quiet house, Xiao Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, his hands forming cultivation mudras. With each breath, visible strands of energy emanated from the space, eventually flowing into his body with each breath. Beside Xiao Yuan, a small, seven-colored snake coiled in mid-air, its tiny body twisting slightly in a strange rhythm. As it twisted, the surrounding space rippled, and streams of energy, more than ten times larger than Xiao Yuan's, surged out and poured into the snake's body. Strangely, despite absorbing such a massive amount of energy, the small snake made no sound whatsoever, as if a few pebbles had been thrown into a bottomless pit, leaving no ripple.

The cultivation lasted for about an hour before the free energy gradually slowed down. Xiao Yuan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and after a moment, he opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

"Nine-Star Great Dou Master, huh? It seems the battles of the past few days have brought considerable benefits." Xiao Yuan murmured to himself, his eyes glowing in the darkness, as if enveloped in a layer of warm jade, quite peculiar.

Not long after Xiao Yuan finished his cultivation, the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python also finished its nightly cultivation. It hissed at Xiao Yuan, flicking its tongue. Seeing this, the latter shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to take out a bottle of Amethyst Accompanying Source from his Storage Ring, flick a few drops into its mouth, and then it leisurely wagged its tail and darted into Xiao Yuan's sleeve.

"This greedy little guy." Xiao Yuan shook his head and muttered to himself, stroking the Heaven Swallowing Python coiled around his arm.

Since Medusa successfully evolved into the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, she has not been dragged out to fight by Xiao Yuan, so her emotions have been quite stable and there is nothing unusual at present.

It's just too greedy! This little thing has already eaten more than half of the Amethyst Accompanying Source! If this continues, the Amethyst Accompanying Source will be in dire need in at most six months.

We need to find some other resources to feed the Heaven Swallowing Python.

As for when Medusa will appear, Xiao Yuan couldn't say for sure.

Even with his powerful perception, he couldn't discern the true nature of the dormant soul within the Heaven Swallowing Python's body.

Besides that, the next step is to break through to the Dou Ling level and start learning alchemy.

However, to break through to the Dou Ling rank, one needs at least a fourth-grade metal-attribute Medicinal Herbs and a fourth-order metal-attribute Magic Core.

However, with Xiao Yan, a genius alchemist, and Yao Lao, Alchemic Grandmaster, Xiao Yuan had no need to resort to such a desperate measure.

With their alchemy skills, it would be incredibly easy for them to refine a pill rich in metallic properties.

Looking at the gradually brightening sky outside, Xiao Yuan stretched, got out of bed, washed up, and walked out of the room. He saw two figures flashing and clashing in the hall, with powerful Dou Qi surging from their bodies and rippling in the hall.

On a chair in the hall, Xun'er and Xiao Yan were smiling as they watched two figures. Hearing footsteps, they suddenly turned around and saw Xiao Yuan coming down the stairs. They hurriedly came to greet him. Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Brother, you're up?"

"Hmm." Xiao Yuan nodded with a smile, then asked the two people in the hall, "What are these two up to?"

"Perhaps it's because of this 'hunting competition.' Last night, during their cultivation, Wu Hao and Senior Sister Hu Jia both advanced to the Seven Star Great Fighter level. This morning, they wanted to spar, so..."

Xiao Yan laughed and said, "Oh, you've advanced."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan nodded. These two were, after all, among the best in the Canaan Outer Academy. Their talent far surpassed that of ordinary people. The battles these past few days were indeed the best way to improve their strength.

"Brother, this is a fourth-grade Golden Punishment Pill. Normally, it is used to accelerate the cultivation of metal-attribute Dou Ling experts, but it is sufficient for you to use this pill to advance."

As he spoke, Xiao Yan handed a jade bottle to Xiao Yuan and transmitted his voice.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan put away the jade bottle and nodded slightly.

Where is Xiao Yu?

Xiao Yuan looked around, puzzled.

"Dinner's ready!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Xiao Yu's voice rang out.

???

"Xiao Yu can cook? How come I didn't know that?"

Xiao Yuan said subconsciously.

"Xiao! Yuan!"

Xiao Yu's angry voice rang out, tinged with a hint of irritation.

She learned to cook specifically for Xiao Yuan!

That wretched guy! "Hey, Xiao Yu, I'm here!"

Xiao Yuan swept away the doubt on his face, put on a smiling face, turned around and went downstairs towards Xiao Yu.

In the attic dining room, six people were having a meal when suddenly a rapid, untimely knocking sounded on the door.

Looking up in confusion, Xiao Yuan and the other six glanced at the gate.

"I'll go open the door."

Xiao Yu instinctively tried to get up, but Xiao Yuan pressed her down.

"No need for that trouble."

As Xiao Yuan spoke, he waved his hand, and a burst of Dou Qi flew out, knocking the door open.

"Come in, everyone."

Xiao Yuan spoke to himself, but his voice miraculously echoed outside the house.

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen figures rushed in and surrounded Xiao Yuan and the others, their faces flushed red for some reason.

"Senior Xiao Yuan, we are both freshmen, you must help us! These senior students in the Inner Academy are really going too far."

A young man's face was flushed with excitement. Xiao Yuan vaguely remembered that after he kicked this young man out of the Selection Competition, he had privately come to him and introduced himself. His name seemed to be A Tai.

"What's wrong, A Tai?"

Xiao Yuan ate his meal with a normal expression, but Xiao Yu could clearly sense that the air pressure around Xiao Yuan seemed to have dropped considerably.

"Starting this morning, some senior student groups entered our New Student Zone, clamoring to collect some kind of Tribute Fee from freshmen. We knew that since we were newcomers, we didn't need to be too aggressive and just tolerated it, so we Fire Energy our ' Fire Energy ' to them. But after we got rid of that group, even more senior student groups kept barging into our New Student Zone, blocking the exit and demanding that we pay again. So far, three groups have come. The third group beat us up because some of us only had Heavenly Fire Energy left in our cards."

The young man named A Tai gritted his teeth and said indignantly.

"These guys are going too far."

Upon hearing this, Hu Jia's pretty face darkened slightly, and she slammed her slender hand heavily on the armrest of the chair.

Xiao Yuan glanced at the freshman's flushed cheeks, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Senior Xiao Yuan, we came to you not to ask you to spare us from that kind of harassment. We understand that as freshmen in the Inner Academy, it's inevitable to be bullied by upperclassmen. I also asked a friend about it. In previous years, although freshmen also had to pay some so-called freshman Tribute Fee, there weren't as many batches of them as we are now. According to my friend, the reason for this year's situation is that our performance in the Fire Energy Hunting Competition has made some upperclassmen unhappy, which is why this situation has arisen."

A Tai sighed with a wry smile.

"We're not saying this to criticize Senior Xiao Yuan. You, as a freshman, defeated those seniors, making you a legendary figure in the eyes of this year's freshmen. It's just that our strength is too weak. After thinking it over, the only way to resolve this matter is to trouble you, Senior! We hope that we freshmen can stop being exploited by these layers of exploitation. Otherwise, we won't even have enough money for the cultivation fee to enter the Heavenly Flame Training Pagoda, let alone cultivate in the Inner Academy!" A Tai stared intently at Xiao Yuan and said, "If it really doesn't work, we freshmen would rather give the so-called freshman Tribute Fee to Senior Xiao Yuan than to those bastards!"

"Pay me a Tribute Fee?" Xiao Yuan smiled faintly, shook his head and said, "Don't mention this kind of thing again. Since those senior students are blocking the exit to collect Tribute Fee, then I suppose we won't be left behind. Here's what we'll do: you go and gather the new students first, and we'll be there right away."

"In that case, thank you very much, Senior Xiao Yuan. If anything happens in the future, we freshmen will follow Senior Xiao Yuan!" Upon hearing this, A Tai and the dozen or so freshmen who came with him were overjoyed. They hurriedly bowed to Xiao Yuan and then quickly left the pavilion hall as instructed.

What do you guys think?

Xiao Yuan turned to look at the other five people and asked.

"You're in charge, so you should make the decision. But you can't just be a lamb without resistance and let them bully you, can you?" Hu Jia frowned and said, "Besides, if you don't do anything, your standing in the eyes of these freshmen will probably plummet immediately, and some of them might even hold a grudge against you because of it."

"Elder Su said yesterday that there are many forces in the Inner Academy. We will be staying here for a long time. With just the six of us, we may be a bit weak. Now is a good opportunity to win people over."

Xun'er pondered for a moment.

"Yes, Xun'er and Hu Jia are right. Creating your own faction is always better than joining someone else and encountering many more constraints!"

Xiao Yu echoed this.

"Indeed, rather than letting the new students be assimilated by other forces, it is better to gather them all together and use them for our own purposes."

Wu Hao nodded slightly in agreement.

"Yes, brother, this is indeed a perfect opportunity."

Xiao Yan nodded as well.

"Well, since everyone agrees, let's go see just how intimidating this senior student's show of force really is!"

Xiao Yuan smiled and nodded upon hearing this, then waved his hand and led the five people out.

Stepping out of the pavilion, one finds a tree-lined avenue, with the residences of the other freshmen on both sides. Of course, compared to the small pavilion of Xiao Yuan and his group of six, their residences are somewhat simple. Clearly, the treatment Xiao Yuan and his companions received is not something everyone enjoys.

There wasn't a single new student on the road at this moment, presumably they had all gathered at the exit. Xiao Yuan and his group of six didn't linger, lightly touching the ground with their toes and rushing towards the end of the road.

Nearly four or five minutes later, Xiao Yuan and his six companions, who had been moving at high speed, slowed down and looked up at the end of the road. Sure enough, they saw a large crowd of people gathered there, with shouts and curses filling the air.

With a slight wave of his hand, Xiao Yuan led the five people through the crowd. Some of the freshmen who were gathered there were overjoyed when they saw Xiao Yuan and his group of six. They were about to cheer, but Xiao Yuan's gesture interrupted them, and they quickly shut up.

After greeting the new students with a cupped-hand salute, Xiao Yuan and his group of six squeezed into the crowd, their eyes peering through the gaps towards the exit.

At this moment, the exit of the main road was blocked by seven or eight senior students wearing tower-shaped badges on their chests. Behind them, there was a large group of senior students watching the show. Obviously, they were happy to see the freshmen suffer a setback, because many of them had gone through this hurdle back then.

Opposite the eight senior students was A Tai, who had just come to Xiao Yuan for help. At this moment, he was leading a group of freshmen, his face ashen as he confronted the senior students.

"Enough with the nonsense, kid. The new student Tribute Fee has been a long-standing rule in the Inner Academy. We haven't been harsh on you, so just hand it over obediently. Paying to avoid trouble, don't you understand?" A young man who looked to be around twenty-five years old smiled as he looked at A Tai and the others, whose faces were ashen. "Two days' worth of Fire Energy each will ensure you stay safe and sound in the Inner Academy. This is a very worthwhile deal."

"Hmph, don't think we're ignorant of the rules just because we're freshmen. Freshmen are indeed supposed to pay Tribute Fee to the upperclassmen, but there's an unwritten rule in the Inner Academy: freshmen can only pay to two factions at most. And if other factions want to collect more, they have to go talk to those two factions. It's none of our business." A Tai sneered and said angrily, "But today, there have been no fewer than five groups of factions coming here. What Fire Energy you?"

"Hehe, that's the usual situation, but aren't you freshmen supposed to be very strong? In all these years, I've never heard of a freshman team stealing ' Fire Energy ' from an older team in the ' Fire Energy Hunting Competition.' Since you're so unconventional, the rules for you should naturally be a little special as well," the young man grinned.

"Get out! We've said we won't give you another Fire Energy. Whether we have Fire Energy or not, don't even think about it!" A Tai roared angrily, his face ashen. Behind him, many freshmen also looked furious. The senior students' repeated exploitation had thoroughly enraged them.

"Heh, good, very good. You're a tough bunch indeed." Upon hearing this, the senior student couldn't help but sneer, and said in a sinister tone, "Boys, don't forget, this isn't the Outer Academy. In the Inner Academy, apart from the arena, while other places can't kill, there's always some pain during sparring, isn't there?"

"If you really don't pay today, then I can't be sure if you will be treated unfairly after you leave here. Young people, don't act impulsively."

Seeing the sinister smile on the young man's face, the freshmen felt a renewed surge of anger, their eyes practically spitting fire.

"You don't even need to leave here. I'll show you right now what it means to act impulsively."

The moment the faint laughter rang out, a white figure appeared like a ghost, unleashing a surge of fighting Dou Qi. With a single kick, the senior student was sent flying backward, spitting out an arc of blood before crashing heavily to the ground.

The room fell silent as people looked at the handsome man in white standing with his legs drawn up.

I'm heartbroken, so sad T^T, it hurts so much!!! Oh, wash the seaweed, wash the seaweed. I'm going to crack down hard on the illegal protection money collection in the Inner Academy, a heavy blow! Sigh! Sigh! Waa...