Hunters and Prey

Amid the dense woods lay a clearing.

Ten figures darted and clashed, attacking one another. Every so often, a young man would be beaten until he coughed up blood and fainted, collapsing unconscious onto the ground. In barely seven or eight minutes, five obvious freshmen had been knocked down and lay sprawled on the ground. Around them, the other five casually searched their clothes and pulled out the dark crystal cards the freshmen had hidden away.

"Hehe, juniors, wouldn't it have been better to hand over your Fire Energy Cards obediently? Did you really have to take a beating first to feel satisfied?"

In the clearing, a black-clad young man looked at the three extra points of Fire Energy on his crystal card and smiled at those on the ground.

"Don't look at us like that. We were robbed by older students last year too, so this year, we came specifically to rob you. Hahaha! If you want revenge someday, we'll be waiting for your challenge anytime—but only if you have enough Fire Energy."

Seeing their unconvinced expressions, the black-clad young man waved the crystal card in his hand and laughed.

"Let's go, Lin Qi. Why waste words on these freshmen? We still need to find other targets."

Seeing Lin Qi still mocking the freshmen, the other older students spoke with some displeasure. They could only participate in the Fire Energy Hunting Competition under certain conditions. If they did not seize this chance to rob more Fire Energy from the freshmen, they would have to work off their debts after returning to the Inner Academy.

"No need to look, seniors. We're right here."

A calm voice sounded from the branches overhead. The older students, who had been preparing to leave, hurriedly looked up. They saw a child standing on a tree branch, smiling down at them. On the branches around the clearing, one person stood on each tree. Five people in total formed a pentagon, completely surrounding them.

"Their strength averages around two-star Da Dou Shi. The four of you, pick one opponent each. End this quickly and avoid alerting other teams." Xiao Yun merely swept his Soul Power over them and sensed the older students' cultivation levels before giving Fang Wen and the others their orders.

Lin Qi and the others were horrified. It was already abnormal enough for freshmen, who should have been hiding like rats from them, to swagger right into view. Now one of them, a child no less, had accurately stated their cultivation levels. Did that not plainly mean he was far stronger than them?

"Understood, Captain." The four nodded slightly and exchanged glances. Powerful auras suddenly erupted from them, and four differently colored suits of Dou Qi armor covered their bodies. Then they moved, appearing in the clearing like lightning as each selected an opponent to fight.

"Damn it, how are these freshmen so strong? Every one of their auras is nearly on par with mine, and the most terrifying one hasn't even made a move yet." Watching Fang Wen and the others engage his companions, Lin Qi, who had mocked the freshmen earlier, swallowed hard. He hastily formed a suit of Dou Qi armor while gathering Dou Qi in his palm, clearly preparing some deadly move.

"Oh? You don't intend to hand over your Fire Energy Card? Then I'll make my move." Xiao Yun did not take out a weapon. He merely watched the tense Lin Qi below as Dou Qi began circulating within him, his aura abruptly rising.

Whoosh!!

"Go die!" Seeing Xiao Yun's aura surge, Lin Qi finally could not hold back any longer and launched the first attack.

A cyan sphere of light condensed in Lin Qi's palm before shooting explosively toward Xiao Yun above. The sphere passed straight through Xiao Yun's body without losing any force, piercing through all the branches above before exploding in midair and sending rings of energy rippling outward.

"Th-this... is he dead?" A large hole had appeared in Xiao Yun's chest. Through it, Lin Qi could even see the azure sky behind him.

"What are you talking about, Senior? Aren't I perfectly fine?" A small black shadow suddenly appeared before him as if by magic. Lin Qi's pupils shrank as he watched a fist containing powerful Dou Qi drive straight at his chest. The fierce force within it produced a sharp sonic boom through the air.

"What tremendous strength." Feeling the force and speed behind that shadow's punch, Lin Qi was alarmed and could only hope the Dou Qi armor covering his body would block it.

The instant the fist struck his Dou Qi armor, Lin Qi finally experienced firsthand just how terrifying the power behind Xiao Yun's fist was. The immense force made his heart seem to stop. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body shot backward, smashing heavily into a tree trunk.

Lin Qi felt dizzy and disoriented, as though his head would explode beneath that tremendous force. Looking down, he discovered in horror that the Dou Qi armor he had just summoned had completely shattered from that single blow.

His body curled up like a shrimp. Before he could raise his head to check on his other companions, he heard several muffled thuds, like heavy objects hitting the ground.

Then Lin Qi's four companions crawled over to his side, their faces covered in blood, and curled up with him beneath the tree trunk.

"Seniors, don't curl up like that. Hurry and hand over your Fire Energy Cards obediently." Xiao Yun slowly walked up to them and said with a smile.

At those words, the older students trembled all over. Then they hurriedly raised their heads with slight trembling, looking at Xiao Yun and the four behind him with fear in their eyes. "What do you want Fire Energy Cards for?"

"Of course, to do the same thing you were doing earlier. What? Do you want me to take them myself?" He raised an arm, and a completely crimson spear stabbed into the ground beside Lin Qi's head. The sharp force carried by the spear's descent scraped painfully across Lin Qi's face.

Staring at the spear so close to him, Lin Qi swallowed with difficulty. Very obediently, his trembling hand took a light-blue crystal card from his Storage Ring and handed it to Xiao Yun.

Xiao Yun accepted the light-blue Fire Crystal Card with a smile. When he saw that the number on it was as high as fifty, the smile on his face deepened.

"Tsk, tsk. You robbed quite a few people, didn't you, Senior? What a pity. Now I, the prey, have taken it back!" Xiao Yun said softly. Hearing him, Lin Qi's face, already pale from his injuries, turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Boss, we hit the jackpot this time! These older students have more than ten days' worth of Fire Energy more than the last group!" Following Fang Wen's example, the others each snatched a Fire Crystal Card from one of the remaining four people and transferred the Fire Energy on them to their own cards, shouting in delight.

At the other end of the clearing, the five bruised and swollen freshmen lay on the ground, staring wide-eyed at Xiao Yun and the others. Only now did they understand that Xiao Yun had robbed the older students.

"Good robbery!" Watching the older students who had just robbed them get cleanly defeated by Xiao Yun's group of five and then have their Fire Energy taken away, the freshmen no longer felt that their earlier beating hurt. Their moods even brightened.

People were like that. They would be upset when misfortune struck them, but upon discovering that others had it even worse, they felt much more balanced inside.

"You five, your injuries aren't serious, are they?"

Xiao Yun walked over to the five freshmen and asked.

"We're fine, we're fine. Those older students still showed some restraint. They're only superficial wounds."

"That's good. Next, we'll be searching for and defeating other older-student teams. Since you've already been robbed once, you can safely head for the end of the forest now."

"But let me remind you: don't think reaching the end of the forest means you've passed. There's still a strongest team guarding that place, and they won't let us pass easily. So I hope you can meet up at the end. Once we defeat the other older-student teams, we'll clear the stage together."

After leaving behind several bottles of healing pills and explaining the situation to the five on the ground, Xiao Yun departed with Fang Wen and the others. As for whether those five would listen to him, that was not something he needed to worry about.

He had already said what needed to be said. Whatever the outcome, Xiao Yun could accept it.