Fire Energy Hunting Competition

After nearly half an hour of such overbearing flight, the Griffon Beast formation finally began to slow. Sensing the flying magical beasts decelerate, Xiao Yun glanced down and saw nothing beneath him but a valley and endless greenery, without a single person in sight.

Is the Fire Energy Hunting Competition about to begin? Xiao Yun wondered silently.

"Land!"

The formidable aura that had previously risen from Hu Gan quietly withdrew back into his body. Hu Gan smiled and waved his hand, and the ten Griffon Beasts flapped their wings as they slowly descended toward an open patch of ground in the valley below.

Trailing shadows and fierce winds, the Griffon Beasts landed steadily in the clearing. Seeing Hu Gan's gesture, Xiao Yun and the others rose from their seats and jumped to the ground. However, most of the students wore bewildered expressions as they stared blankly at the deserted valley before them.

"Where is this? Could the Inner Academy be here?" Unable to suppress the doubts in his heart, one student spoke up from the crowd.

Hearing this, most of the students turned their gazes toward Hu Gan ahead of them. Clearly, they too wanted to know the answer.

"The Inner Academy isn't so easy to enter." Hu Gan chuckled. Then, beneath everyone's watchful eyes, he walked forward a dozen paces before stopping. With a sweep of his hand, he sent a stream of energy shooting straight toward the space before him.

A strange sight immediately appeared. When that energy passed through a certain patch of empty air, it stirred ripples like those on water. The ripples fluctuated rapidly, and at last, a silver gate seven or eight zhang tall appeared out of thin air.

Under everyone's gaze, the silver gate slowly opened with a clear sound. Beyond it lay the same dense forest as before, seemingly unchanged.

"Follow me in." Hu Gan waved his sleeve and took the lead through the silver gate. After entering, he vanished out of thin air as though he had stepped into another space.

After marveling for a moment, everyone hurried after him, passing through the silver gate and disappearing from the valley.

Only after everyone and the Griffon Beasts had passed through the silver gate did it slowly close. A final ring of energy ripples spread outward, and the silver gate vanished, leaving the area transformed once more into an ordinary forest.

As Xiao Yun stepped through the silver gate, his mind briefly swam before his feet touched solid ground. Looking ahead, he found that the scene before him was not much different from before, except for two old men and several middle-aged men. Behind them stood many young people around the same age as Xiao Yun and the others.

Xiao Yun swept his gaze over them and noticed that every one of those young people wore a small tower-shaped badge on their chest.

"Old Hu, you're always so punctual. Having you escort the new students is truly reassuring. How are this year's freshmen?"

At that moment, one of the two old men smiled at Hu Gan after seeing the large group emerge from the silver gate.

"It's my duty. Don't worry, they're definitely much stronger than last year's." Hu Gan walked over to the two old men and replied with a smile. "So it's you two old fellows this year. Looks like you'll have plenty to do."

"Can't be helped..." Both old men shook their heads helplessly.

"You five, come here." Hu Gan turned and beckoned to Xiao Yun's group of five. Once they had come to his side, he pointed at the two old men and said, "These two are both elders of the Inner Academy. This is Elder Su, and the other is Elder Liu. If you have any problems in the Inner Academy in the future, you can seek them out. These five little fellows are the top five from this year's selection competition. The youngest one is not only this year's first place, but also Old Fire's disciple."

With that final sentence, Hu Gan pointed at Xiao Yun as he spoke to the two elders.

"Oh?" The two elders swept their surprised gazes over the five of them before finally settling on Xiao Yun. They nodded slightly and said, "To take first place at such an age, Old Fire has truly gained an excellent disciple."

"This junior, Xiao Yun, greets the two seniors." Seeing the two elders staring at him and unable to pretend he had not noticed, Xiao Yun could only step forward and offer his respects.

"Not bad, not bad. You're Xiao Yun, right? Back when you enrolled, your strength as a seven-year-old Dou Zhe was famous throughout Jia Nan. Even a few old men like us had wanted to take you as a disciple. Who would have thought Old Fire would beat us to it?" Elder Liu stroked his gray-white beard and laughed.

"Alright, enough nonsense. Although you have passed the selection competition and obtained the qualifications to enter the Inner Academy, it isn't over yet..."

Elder Su smiled and raised a hand. A large handful of black crystal cards appeared in his palm, and with a casual toss, they shot outward. As if they had eyes, they accurately hovered before everyone. Xiao Yun and the others reached out and caught them.

The moment the crystal card entered his hand, Xiao Yun immediately felt a strange warmth seep from it. Lowering his head for a closer look, he discovered a transparent lens on the crystal card, upon which a large number was imprinted: "Five!"

"So this is a Fire Energy Crystal Card?" Xiao Yun's eyes burned with excitement. This would be one of his major resources for cultivating in the Inner Academy.

"Some things are difficult for me to explain to you, and you will naturally understand them in the future. But before that, you only need to remember one thing: keep the crystal cards in your hands safe, as if they were your lives. Once you enter the Inner Academy, you will understand just how important they are to you! For now, perhaps one look at the eyes of the young people behind me will tell you enough." Elder Su pointed at the Inner Academy students behind him and smiled.

At that moment, the Inner Academy students were staring intensely at the black crystal cards in Xiao Yun's group's hands, their eyes filled with undisguised greed.

"Next, you must enter this forest. The Inner Academy lies at the far end of the forest. As long as you can pass through it, you will have succeeded." Elder Su pointed at the Inner Academy students behind him and continued, "While crossing this forest, you must be careful of them. According to the rules of the Inner Academy, they may attack you freely within this forest."

"Remember, the numbers on your crystal cards hold immense temptation for them. Therefore, aside from killing, they will use every possible means to obtain the numbers on your crystal cards. That is also called Fire Energy!"

"As long as you avoid being captured by them and reach the Inner Academy safely, you will receive additional rewards. The earlier you arrive, the more generous your rewards will be."

Elder Su suddenly pointed at the pitch-black forest behind him. "This stage is called the Fire Energy Hunting Competition in our Inner Academy! Now, I announce that this year's Fire Energy Hunting Competition has officially begun. Students, begin your escape!"