While Xiao Bai was refining pills...
On the first floor of the pavilion, Xun'er was sitting alone at the table, resting her chin on her hand while idly twirling a strand of hair that draped over her shoulder.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening rang out. Xu Su walked in with three people, one of whom was Tu Shan.
"Xun'er, they said they have something to discuss with Xiao Bai. I couldn't make the decision, so I brought them in. It's up to you now," Xu Su said with a gentle smile as she approached Xun'er.
"They're looking for Brother Xiao Bai?" Xun'er's eyes flickered with curiosity as she looked at Tu Shan. "What is it?"
Tu Shan let out a bitter smile, shook his head, and turned to the young man beside him. "Mu Chuan, you explain it."
Mu Chuan took a deep breath and spoke, "Miss Xun'er, this morning, a group of senior students came to our freshman area, demanding a so-called 'Freshman Tribute Fee'—two days' worth of Fire Energy per person. They claimed that this was an annual tradition for new students entering the Inner Academy."
"We had just arrived and, thinking it was a long-standing rule, didn't question it. We handed over the Fire Energy without complaint."
"But not long after the first group left, more and more senior students showed up, blocking the passage and forcing us to pay again. Including the first group, there have already been five waves! If this continues, all the Fire Energy we earned by following Boss Xiao will be completely drained by those seniors!"
Mu Chuan's eyes turned red with frustration, his fists clenched tightly as he gritted his teeth.
"Oh?" Xun'er's expression remained calm, but her eyes narrowing slightly as she spoke. "So, you came to Brother Xiao Bai hoping he would stand up for you?"
Mu Chuan let out a bitter sigh, shaking his head. "I asked around and found out that in previous years, freshmen only had to pay this so-called 'Freshman Tribute Fee' once. It was never like this, with wave after wave of seniors pouncing on us like hungry wolves!"
"According to my sources, the reason things are different this year is that Boss Xiao single-handedly crushed the senior students, allowing all freshmen to gain a large amount of Fire Energy. Many of the seniors felt resentful, but since they didn't dare to confront Boss Xiao directly, they decided to take their frustration out on us freshmen instead!"
"Are you saying this is my Brother Xiao Bai's fault?" Xun'er's gaze turned cold, a golden glow flickering in her eyes as her voice dropped in temperature.
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. Everyone felt the temperature rise sharply, as if an invisible force was pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe. Their eyes filled with shock as they looked at the serene, lotus-like girl before them.
All this time, Xiao Bai's brilliance at Jia Nan Academy had been so dazzling that they had almost overlooked the two girls by his side. Some had even assumed that their presence in the Inner Academy was merely due to Xiao Bai's influence.
But now, they realized their mistake. How could the girl who had captured the heart of a prodigy like Xiao Bai possibly be ordinary?
"That's not what I meant!" Mu Chuan quickly waved his hands in panic. "We would never blame Boss Xiao!"
Feeling the oppressive pressure slowly fade away, Mu Chuan let out a breath of relief and continued, "Boss Xiao single-handedly put the seniors in their place, allowing all freshmen to hold their heads high during the Hunting Competition. We respect him greatly—how could we possibly blame him?"
"We understand that in the Inner Academy, the weak will inevitably be bullied by the strong. We didn't come here asking Boss Xiao to intervene every time we're harassed."
"What we really want is for Boss Xiao's influence to help us put an end to this extortion. We just want to be treated the same as previous freshmen. If this continues, we won't even have enough Fire Energy to enter the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, let alone train in the Inner Academy!"
After finishing his plea, Mu Chuan nervously glanced at the blue-clad girl before him. Seeing that her expression remained unchanged, he gritted his teeth and added, "If worst comes to worst, we would rather hand over the 'Freshman Tribute Fee' to Boss Xiao himself than let those bastards take advantage of us!"
Xun'er tapped her fingers lightly against the table, pondering for a moment before speaking. "Keep your Fire Energy for yourselves. If Brother Xiao Bai were to accept it, wouldn't he be no different from those senior students?"
"As for your request, I will discuss it with him before making a decision."
Just as Xun'er finished speaking, a clear voice rang out in the room. "I've heard everything."
"Boss Xiao!" Mu Chuan immediately recognized the voice and was about to speak when the voice interrupted him again.
"No need to say more. Go back."
Mu Chuan was about to speak, but upon hearing those words, he swallowed his response. He was both shocked by this mysterious ability and deeply uneasy—what did it mean? Was this an agreement or a refusal?
Unable to help himself, he looked at Tu Shan. The latter merely shrugged, giving him a helpless expression—he had no idea either!
"Alright, no need to overthink it. If Brother Xiao Bai didn't intend to agree, he wouldn't have responded at all. Go back," Xun'er said with a gentle smile, noticing their subtle reactions.
"But—" Mu Chuan was both excited and hesitant. If Xiao Bai had agreed, shouldn't he at least explain how he would handle the situation?
"Let's go! Since Boss has accepted, he'll take care of it," Tu Shan patted Mu Chuan's shoulder and spoke in a low voice.
"Alright then," Mu Chuan let out a wry smile and shook his head. Stopping Tu Shan from pulling him away, he bowed and said, "Many thanks to Boss Xiao. From now on, if he ever needs anything, we freshmen will follow his orders without question!"
Not knowing where Xiao Bai was, he and the other freshman who had accompanied him clasped their fists and bowed toward the center of the hall. After waiting for a moment and hearing no response, they finally left with Tu Shan.
Watching them go, Xu Su let out a sigh. "I didn't expect the Inner Academy to be this ruthless. Those senior students are going too far!"
"That's just how the world works—the strong prey on the weak. The academy is simply preparing its students early" Xun'er glanced at her before asking curiously, "Didn't your brother tell you about this?"
"He did, but I thought since this is still an academy, everyone's fellow students—surely they wouldn't go *this* far..." Xu Su flushed under Xun'er's gaze.
Xun'er: "..."
----
Outside the pavilion, Tu Shan and the others found themselves exchanging uncertain glances.
"Brother Tu, Brother Mu, what do we do now? Those seniors are still blocking the passage!" the other freshman nearly cried. "Boss Xiao may have agreed, but if he doesn't show up, just our words won't be enough to scare off those bastards!"
"Sigh…" Mu Chuan let out a deep sigh, worry etched across his face. "Forget it. Let's head back and check on Gangzi and the others first. He's got a stubborn temper—if he clashes with those seniors, it'll be a disaster!"
"Let's go!" Tu Shan patted the shoulders of the two. "For all we know, Boss might already be there by now."
Hearing this, Mu Chuan and the other freshman felt a surge of hope. They exchanged glances, recalling Xiao Bai's incredible abilities—perhaps that really was a possibility! With a spark of anticipation in their hearts, they quickly headed toward the freshman area's passage.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the passage, only to find a large crowd gathered there in complete silence.
At the entrance, a dozen senior students, each wearing a tower-shaped emblem on their chest, blocked the passage. Behind them stood an even larger group of onlookers—senior students eager to watch the commotion.
The seniors watching had smirks on their faces, clearly entertained. This was a familiar sight to them—they had gone through the same ordeal when they were freshmen, though perhaps not to this extreme.
No one spoke, waiting for the outcome of the standoff. The result would determine the seniors' stance going forward.
Suddenly, among the group of seniors blocking the passage, one of them noticed Tu Shan and his companions returning. His gaze flickered with wariness as he scanned their surroundings, only to confirm that it was still just the same three of them—no sign of the black-clad, white-haired figure.
His smirk widened as he jeered, "Looks like when you called him your boss, you were just fooling yourselves. He doesn't even acknowledge you! You went to invite him, but in the end, you came slinking back alone."
Following his gaze, the others also turned to look at Tu Shan and his group. When they confirmed that Xiao Bai wasn't with them, the senior students erupted into mocking laughter, while the freshmen's expressions turned to disappointment.
"Alright then! You said you'd go get someone, and we agreed. Now that you've come back empty-handed, let's settle this. Two days' worth of Fire Energy per person, and we'll guarantee you peace in the Inner Academy. That's a pretty good deal, don't you think?"
The one speaking was a young man around twenty-three or twenty-four years old. His tone was calm, but his eyes held a condescending glint as he stared at Tu Shan and Mu Chuan.
"Hmph! Don't think that just because we're freshmen, we don't know the rules!" Mu Chuan scoffed, his face flushing with anger. "There is a tribute fee, yes, but in previous years, freshmen only had to pay to two factions at most. Any other groups wanting to collect had to negotiate with those two factions—it had nothing to do with the freshmen anymore!"
"But what about you? Since this morning, five different groups have come one after another! Where are we supposed to get that much Fire Energy to hand over to you?"
"I don't care who you've paid before!" A young man with a hooked nose stepped forward, ignoring the freshmen's fiery glares. He spoke slowly and deliberately, "But you must pay Mo Sect's tribute fee!"
"Mo Sect!!" Tu Shan exclaimed, his face filled with apprehension. "You're from Mo Sect?"
"Oh?" The hooked-nose young man smirked. "Not bad, you actually recognize our Mo Sect!"
"Mo Sect is currently the number one faction in the Inner Academy!" Seeing Mu Chuan and the others' confused expressions, Tu Shan explained grimly, "Their leader ranks second on the Strongest Ranking and is a Nine-Star Dou Ling!"
"Nine-Star Dou Ling!!" The freshmen exchanged astonished looks, momentarily shocked into silence by this revelation.
"Someone that powerful… does he really need our measly Fire Energy? Why would he bother robbing us of two days' worth?" one freshman muttered indignantly.
"Maybe it's his order, maybe it's just his subordinates acting on their own—who knows?" Tu Shan shook his head bitterly.
"So what do we do? Do we pay?" a freshman asked hesitantly, swallowing nervously.
"Pay? Pay what?!" Mu Chuan snapped. "Whether it's the strongest faction or the weakest one, does it make any difference to us?"
"We can't afford to offend any of them anyway, so we might as well stand our ground!" His sharp gaze swept across the group as he continued, "No one pays! If we keep giving in, they'll never stop until they've drained us dry! You guys don't want to have zero Fire Energy when the Heavenly Flame Training Tower opens, do you?"
"Then what do we do? Just let them block us here? We can't even leave!" another freshman asked.
"Wait," Tu Shan and Mu Chuan exchanged a look before answering in a firm tone.
On the other side, the hooked-nose young man initially enjoyed the fear that Mo Sect instilled in the freshmen. But as he listened to their decision, his face gradually darkened.
"Brats, this isn't the Outer Academy," he said coldly. "In the Inner Academy, aside from the Arena, most places don't allow lethal force… but sparring is very much allowed."
"If we don't guarantee your safety, well… I can't promise you won't suffer a bit of pain. Young ones, is it really worth acting tough over a little Fire Energy?"
"You—!" The freshmen were furious, their eyes blazing with anger. To hell with your so-called protection! We'd be safer without you!
Just then, a profound and ethereal aura slowly enveloped the area. Some of the more perceptive senior students instinctively looked up, sensing something unusual. But all they saw was a vast blue sky with drifting white clouds—nothing else. Scratching their heads in confusion, they couldn't help but feel a strange sense of unease.
"Protect their safety? I think you can't even protect yourself!"
A cold, detached voice echoed in everyone's ears, as if spoken from the heavens themselves.
"Who?!" The hooked-nose young man's expression shifted as he warily scanned his surroundings. The senior students behind him wore the same look of uncertainty.
"Boss!"
"Boss Xiao!"
Tu Shan and Mu Chuan's eyes lit up with joy. Though this voice was different from the gentle and clear one they had heard in the pavilion earlier—now cold, detached, and ethereal—there was no doubt. It was Xiao Bai.
"It really is Boss Xiao!" The freshmen, hearing their exclamations, also broke into delighted smiles. They had thought Tu Shan and Mu Chuan had failed to bring reinforcements, but now, an unexpected turn of events had unfolded.
"The Demon… Xiao Bai!"
Hearing the freshmen's cheers, the hooked-nose young man's pupils shrank sharply, his face filled with deep apprehension. He knew the strength of Liu Qing and Lin Yan—he could handle either one individually, but both together? Completely out of his league!
Scanning the area, he saw no sign of the voice's source, deepening his unease. Raising his voice, he shouted, "Xiao Bai! We never went to your pavilion to collect tribute fees. This has nothing to do with you! Stay out of it—unless you want to test the Mo Sect's strength!"
Silence.
No response came.
It was as if Xiao Bai had heard his words and backed down.
The hooked-nose young man exhaled in relief, though his mind was filled with contempt. Hah! And they call him a demon? He has less spine than these freshmen!
The senior students behind him shared the same thought. They had been eager to see this so-called "demon" of the freshmen in action, but it turned out he was just a coward who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
The freshmen's excitement faded, their expressions turning uncertain and doubtful.
Just as the hooked-nose young man was about to continue speaking, a chilling sensation swept over him. Every hair on his body stood on end, his instincts screamed in alarm, and an overwhelming sense of imminent doom washed over him.
This feeling… It was familiar. He remembered experiencing the exact same terror when he had first reached the Dou Ling realm and was being hunted by a Rank 5 Magical Beast during a mission in the Inner Academy's back mountains.
"I'm going to die!!"
There was no time to think. His Dou Qi surged instinctively, and an earth-yellow armor materialized around him, covering his entire body.
The senior students behind him looked at him in confusion, not understanding his sudden reaction. The freshmen, on the other hand, assumed he was preparing to attack and braced themselves warily.
Then, just as everyone wore different expressions, a deep rumbling sound filled the air, like muffled thunder rolling across the sky.
Suddenly, a blinding golden light erupted above them. Squinting against the glare, they saw it—
Lightning.
A bolt of golden lightning, as thick as a bowl, materialized above their heads. The sound of thunder grew sharper, clearer, shaking the air as if the heavens themselves were passing judgment.
Before their stunned eyes, the lightning struck down.
Its target—
The hooked-nose young man!
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