The Fire Energy Hunting Competition… was finally over.
Just as Xiao Yun had decisively defeated Xu Feng, the captain of the Whiteshade Team, and was about to rush over to help Fang Wen and the others, Elder Su, who had been spectating from the nearby hillside, hurriedly intervened to stop any further fighting.
"All right, little ones, that's enough. This year's Fire Energy Hunt ends with your victory—no need for any more brawling."
Elder Su's slightly hoarse voice echoed through the rocky field, and as his words fell, all ongoing battles came to a complete halt.
The remaining members of the Whiteshade Team opened their mouths as if to argue, but when they saw Xiao Yun standing calmly with his spear in hand, they thought better of it and stayed silent.
Elder Su swept his gaze over the gathered students and announced in a firm tone, "As the winners of this Fire Energy Hunt, all new students will receive ten days' worth of fire energy. As for the five of you—Xiao Yun, Wang Hongjing, Gongsun Sibao, Ye Zhengfan, and Fang Wen—you'll be given an additional thirty days of fire energy, plus a Green Fire Crystal Card as a bonus!"
"Green Fire Crystal Card?!"
Gasps of awe spread across the hillside. Dozens of envious eyes turned toward the five standing at the center of it all.
"In the Inner Court," Elder Su began, smiling as he explained, "Fire Crystal Cards come in five ranks, from lowest to highest: black, blue, green, red, and purple.
A black card only allows access to the first and second floors of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. Blue gets you access to the third and fourth floors, and so on up the ranks."
He continued, "To upgrade your card, you have to trade in fire energy. It takes 100 days of fire energy to go from black to blue, and 200 more to reach green. That's 300 days in total. But now, you've all just saved yourselves that cost—quite the hefty sum, wouldn't you say?"
Seeing the confusion on the faces of Fang Wen and the others, Elder Su chuckled as he clarified.
With a flick of his wrist, five green crystal cards appeared in his palm. He gave a light flick of his fingers, and the cards flew toward the five students, hovering in front of them.
"The rewards are already preloaded. Transfer the fire energy from your black cards into the green ones, then hand the black ones back to me."
Without delay, the five did as instructed. Moments later, they each returned their now-empty black cards to Elder Su.
"Good. You five stay here and wait for a bit. The rest of you," Elder Su turned to the older students, "head into the forest and bring all the new students back."
With a casual wave of his hand, the older students immediately dashed off into the dense forest like a pack of trained hounds.
"It's all thanks to our captain that we earned such rewards and got into the Inner Court," Fang Wen said as he and the others gathered around Xiao Yun, grinning from ear to ear.
"We earned it together," Xiao Yun replied with a wave of his hand. "I wouldn't have beaten the Whiteshade Team alone."
He then found a large rock and sat down cross-legged to recover his energy.
Because Xiao Yun's team had managed to eliminate all the veteran students, the rest of the new students had an easy time. Aside from a few unfortunate ones, most of them made it to the finish line without losing any fire energy.
Before long, the older students returned with all the new students in tow, reuniting on the rocky slope.
Once everyone was accounted for, Elder Su gave a brief speech and then led the group up a worn stone staircase toward the top of the slope.
The climb wasn't long—barely a couple of minutes—and when they reached the summit, the view that greeted them made every new student draw in a sharp breath.
"So… this is the Inner Court?" someone whispered, eyes wide in disbelief.
Beyond the slope lay a vast, sunken basin, like a massive crater carved into the earth by a falling meteor.
Within the basin, towering buildings rose in clusters, and from their elevated position, the students could see figures darting between structures like fleas—nimble and fast. The basin stretched so far that even straining their eyes, they could only see tall buildings and dense green forests.
It was hard to believe that in the vast back mountains of Jia Nan Academy, a place like this had been hidden all along.
"Welcome to the heart of Jia Nan Academy—your new home, the Inner Court!" Elder Su clapped his hands, beaming at the awestruck students.
"Since you've passed the Fire Energy Hunt, it's time to officially settle in. From now on, you are true members of the Inner Court!"
With that, his figure blurred and vanished, zipping down into the basin like a streak of light. The rest of the students followed suit, leaping down from the slope in waves.
Creak…
A wooden door swung open slowly. Sunlight streamed inside, illuminating motes of dust floating in the air.
A moment later, six figures entered one by one. Elder Su, leading the way, swept his gaze across the small wooden building before him and said with a smile, "This will be your residence from now on. Feel free to personalize it however you like."
He turned serious for a moment. "A word of advice—unless you're absurdly strong, it's not easy surviving solo in the Inner Court. Here, power rules. The older students have long divided into various factions, each claiming their own territory. You'll learn all about that soon enough."
"That's why we arranged for you five to live together—as a team. You've already seen how powerful teamwork can be. In this place, strength in numbers often beats going solo."
"Of course," Elder Su added, "if you'd rather not share your living space, you're welcome to join an established faction. They often rent better accommodations using fire energy, and I'm sure, with your talents, several factions will be fighting over you."
After chatting a while longer about the Inner Court, Elder Su eventually took his leave, giving the five some privacy.
"Tsk, the vice-dean wasn't kidding," one of them muttered after he left. "To survive in here, you either need a strong faction… or strong fists."
"Survival of the fittest, plain and simple," another added. "This kind of atmosphere is probably meant to get us used to the real world. Only through struggle do true experts emerge."
"Boss, you thinking about starting your own faction?" Fang Wen asked suddenly. "If you do, I'm your first recruit!"
"Start a faction?" Xiao Yun rubbed his chin. "No rush. I'll think about it after I break through to the Dou Spirit level. Right now, I'm just a Dou Grandmaster—too weak."
"...Boss, you're killing us."
The room fell awkwardly silent.
The highest cultivation level among them was only a five-star Dou Grandmaster, yet here was Xiao Yun—who was younger than all of them—calling his Dou Grandmaster level too low. It was like someone casually tossing a bomb into their living room.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Xiao Yun asked, puzzled by their silence.
"That might be true… for a monster like you," Fang Wen replied bitterly. The others nodded in agreement, each feeling a little crushed.
"Fine, fine," Xiao Yun chuckled, scratching his head awkwardly. "I'm going to check out the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. Anyone want to come with?"
"I'll pass, Boss. I need to tidy up my room."
"Yeah, same here. You go on ahead."
The four disappeared into the building without a second glance. Their pride had taken enough hits for one day.
Xiao Yun shrugged, pushed open the wooden door, and headed out alone—toward the tower that had been on his mind for ages.
The Inner Court was far larger than Xiao Yun had anticipated. He sprinted at full speed for nearly half an hour and still hadn't reached the outer boundary. Along the way, he passed by multiple duel circles where students were engaged in intense battles.
"Seems like things are pretty wild around here," he mused. "People throw hands at the drop of a hat. But that's perfect for me!"
The battles during the Fire Energy Hunt had already refined his Dou Qi, and his cultivation had improved significantly. If he could regularly spar with opponents of equal strength here, he was confident he'd soon reach the Dou Spirit level.
Suddenly, Xiao Yun noticed that more and more people were gathering on the road ahead, all picking up speed. Shadows flitted between the trees and rooftops, accompanied by the whistling sound of wind being torn apart.
"Looks like I'm almost there," he thought. "In the Inner Court, the only thing that could attract this many people… is probably the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower."
Infusing Dou Qi into his legs, Xiao Yun turned into a blazing streak of red, racing toward the destination. Before long, he reached the end of the crowd and stopped.
With a leap, he landed on a tree branch and looked down at the scene below. A sea of people stretched out in front of him, and at the far end of the crowd lay a massive, sunken area. There, half-buried in the earth, stood a colossal black tower. Only the tip and the first layer were visible aboveground.
"So that's the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower… and it's protected by a space seal," Xiao Yun murmured. "Must be to suppress the aura of the Fallen Heart Flame."
Indeed, without the space seal, the aura of that heavenly flame would've been detected by Han Feng, who was also in the Black-Corner Region. Not to mention, the seal helped keep the flame from bursting out of the tower and causing chaos.
Xiao Yun watched as more students arrived, and some of the stronger ones ignored the line entirely, cutting straight to the front.