"Captain! It's so great to be with you!"
Amidst the extremely resentful gazes of the senior students, Xiao Ping and the others were left with only the bare minimum of seven points of fire energy after their fire energy was completely depleted.
Glancing at the crystal card in Xiao Ping's hand, Liang Zihua couldn't help but swallow hard. "Captain, do you think these senior students will try to trip us up once we enter the inner courtyard?"
Who knows?
Xiao Ping shrugged, shook his head and laughed, "Anyway, if one comes, I'll snatch it; if two come, I'll snatch both! What's there to be afraid of!"
Just as Xiao Ping finished speaking, a faint, unfamiliar laugh suddenly rang out from the dense forest without warning, echoing slowly in the clearing, causing everyone to freeze in place.
"Tsk, this year's freshmen are indeed extraordinary, managing to defeat all eight other senior teams. But that's fine, we'll take all the fire energy you've acquired."
His smiling face blossomed even more brightly. Xiao Ping half-closed his eyes, slowly raised his head, and cast his gaze upon a dense forest. There, the leaves suddenly trembled, and then five figures, exuding a fierce aura, appeared on the tree trunks like five humanoid demonic beasts, looking down at the crowd.
"Hehe! Another prey has come knocking!"
The five figures on the tree trunk were all dressed in tight-fitting black outfits. From a distance, they looked like five shadows as black as ink. The moment they appeared, a fierce aura emanated from them without any concealment. An oppressive aura, which made Liang Zihua and the others slightly change color, enveloped the entire clearing, giving people an uncomfortable feeling as if they were being stared at by wild beasts in the forest.
"It's all up to you, Captain!"
Upon seeing the newcomers, Liang Zihua quickly retreated a few steps, and the other three followed suit, retreating to the side of the tree trunk. After all, they could sense that each of these five individuals possessed cultivation comparable to the leaders of the three teams, and the young man in the lead had an extremely profound cultivation that was impossible to fathom. Therefore, they could only place their hopes on Xiao Ping.
"Boss! Give them a good beating!"
"Shatie? You guys actually followed us here too!"
After the five figures appeared, the pale-faced man who had been leaning against the tree trunk recovering his breath changed slightly, especially after his gaze swept over the enormous, gorilla-like man in the center of the group. He couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
"I bumped into a few new students on the street, and that's how I got the news."
Among the five figures, the tall, imposing man spoke calmly, then glanced at the injured Su Xiao and the other two, and chuckled, "Tsk tsk, I didn't expect even the three of you to be defeated by these freshmen. I really don't know how you managed to cultivate in the inner courtyard."
The words of the man whom Leng Bai called Sha Tie caused Leng Bai and the other two to blush slightly. After a moment, the latter snorted coldly and said, "This year's freshmen are not comparable to those of the past. What's so surprising about their defeat?"
"Alright, I'm not going to waste my breath on you. I'll handle the rest. But don't even think that I'll return the 'Fire Energy' to you afterwards. You couldn't protect it yourselves, so don't blame anyone else."
With a wave of his hand, Sha Tie shifted his gaze, finally settling on Xiao Ping, who stood in the arena with his arms crossed. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes as he said, "You're Xiao Ping? To be able to defeat Su Xiao and the others at such a young age, you truly deserve to be this year's Rookie King!"
"You must be the Black Fiends of the so-called Black and White Fiends, right?"
Xiao Yan met Sha Tie's gaze and said in a deep voice, his eyes slowly sweeping over the five black figures as he spoke, but he was only interested in the crystal cards in their hands. "If you know what's good for you, hand over the fire crystal cards quickly, otherwise, you'll end up like them!"
As he spoke, Xiao Ping also stretched out his hand and pointed to the senior students of the inner courtyard who were still desperately swallowing pills to heal their injuries.
"That's quite arrogant, but before that, let me introduce myself. You can call us the Black Fiend Team. I'm the captain, Sha Tie, and these are my teammates."
Sha Tie grinned, his white teeth revealing a chilling, beast-like glint in his eyes. He stared directly at Xiao Yan and said, "Let me tell you some good news first. The incident of freshmen snatching upperclassmen in the forest these past few days has already spread to the inner academy. You, Xiao Ping, haven't even entered the inner academy yet, but you already have quite a reputation there. Right now, countless inner academy students are already waiting for you to leave the forest. If you can truly emerge from this forest with abundant 'fire energy,' then your freshmen will truly be famous in the inner academy."
"It wasn't enough to begin with, but if we add your share, I think..."
Xiao Ping, arms crossed and shoulders shrug, glanced at his four teammates behind him and chuckled, "That should be about enough! Hehe, what, did you guys come all this way just to give us gifts?"
Upon hearing Xiao Ping's words, the man called Sha Tie's face darkened, but he quickly recovered. However, Liang Zihua and the others couldn't help but laugh out loud. Even they never expected that their captain's verbal skills were no less impressive than his fighting spirit!
"Of course, as the last two teams in this year's 'Fire Energy Hunting Competition,' our mission is to defeat all the troublesome freshmen. So, if you want to leave peacefully, you can hand over your Fire Crystal Cards, and I guarantee I won't resort to violence."
After a moment of silence, Sha Tie also smiled at Xiao Ping and asked, "How is it?"
"Sure!"
In response to Sha Tie's guarantee, Xiao Ping extended his right palm and smiled, "If you can defeat me, all eight hundred or so fire energies I have are yours. If you can't, you can leave your fire energies behind!"
"Hehe! The captain's about to unleash his invincible trump card again!"
Upon seeing Xiao Ping's outstretched palm, Liang Zihua and the others' eyes lit up. They had experienced the immense power of Xiao Ping's "Absorbing Palm" and "Blowing Fire Palm" countless times. At this moment, the four of them couldn't help but feel a little excited. As one of the Black and White Fiends, the Black Fiend must possess a great deal of fire energy!
"What? Planning a desperate counterattack?"
Seeing the newcomers' actions, Sha Tie raised an eyebrow, a cold smile creeping across his rugged face: "Looks like you still have some expectations of your own strength. Heh heh, good. We haven't fought in this ghost forest for almost three days, and our bones are starting to itch."
"I've heard from the senior students that among your entire team, your methods are the most unpredictable! However, I'm not like those useless guys; your methods are useless against me!"
Being so harshly belittled by Sha Tie, the senior students present couldn't help but grit their teeth, but they were powerless to do anything about it. Sha Tie possessed formidable cultivation, having reached the peak of the Dou Shi realm, just one step away from the Great Dou Shi realm. They, the so-called inner court senior students who hadn't even reached the Seven-Star Dou Shi level, were utterly insignificant in his presence.
"Hehe, whether it works or not, why don't you come down and try it and see?"
Xiao Ping remained noncommittal to Sha Tie's words, simply waving his right hand and saying with a smile, "Let's see how long you can last?"
"Hmph! It seems you've had it too easy!"
Seeing Xiao Ping's nonchalant expression, Sha Tie sneered, "Let me, your senior brother from the inner court, teach you a lesson. There are countless geniuses in the inner court. Being too arrogant won't allow you to survive there!"
After speaking, Sha Tie waved to the other four, but instead of drawing his weapon, he jumped straight down from the tree branch. Clearly, he wanted to spar one-on-one with Xiao Ping, the renowned newcomer king.
"I hope your abilities match your reputation!"
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