Chapter 48: When the Fire Energy Hunting Competition Sees the Arrival of a Max-Level Carry

All the way flying here, various kinds of fierce magical beasts surged forward one after another, yet not a single magical beast could break through the blockade of Hu Qian and his four companions.

After this nearly barbaric collision continued for just over an hour, the griffin beast squadron's flight speed finally gradually slowed. Feeling the decrease in speed, Xiao Li swept his gaze ahead, only to discover, aside from a bottomless ravine beneath his feet, the surroundings remained an endless expanse of green shade—not to mention the inner court, there wasn't even a person in sight.

Hu Qian gave a faint smile, then, under everyone's gaze, he slowly walked forward about ten steps, stopped, waved his palm, and a burst of energy shot out from his hand, finally shooting toward the space before him.

Immediately, a strange scene appeared: as that energy shot through a certain empty space, it stirred up ripples like water waves; the ripples fluctuated rapidly, and finally a huge pale silver gate seven or eight zhang tall materialized out of thin air.

What a strange method—this scene made Xiao Li sigh and shake his head. Recalling the spatial wrinkles before the library, he suddenly realized a bit: these experts' methods are indeed beyond his current level to comprehend; reading about them and witnessing them are two entirely different experiences.

After marveling in his heart for a while, Xiao Li then stepped forward to follow the team, and after passing through the silver gate, he likewise vanished from sight.

After everyone, including the ten griffin beasts, entered the silver gate, the gate slowly closed; a final ring of silver energy ripples spread outward, the silver gate gradually dissipated and vanished completely. At this moment, the area transformed back into an extremely ordinary forest entrance.

Upon stepping through the silver gate, Xiao Li only felt his mind blur for a moment, his feet landing on solid ground. Sweeping his gaze forward, he was shocked to find the scene before him still the same as the previous forest, except at the forest entrance two elders and several middle-aged sturdy men had appeared at some point, and behind them stood nearly twenty young people.

Xiao Li's gaze swept over them, discovering that each wore a badge engraved with a tower-like pattern on their chests.

"Hehe, Old Hu, you're always this punctual; letting you escort the newcomers puts my mind at ease. How are this year's newcomers?" At that moment, one of the two elders, seeing the large crowd that had entered, smiled and said to the leading Hu Qian.

Hu Qian glanced at Xiao Li out of the corner of his eye, his gaze gaining a hint of amusement: "This year's batch is superior in overall quality to last year's, but do you still remember last year's Xiao Li?"

The elders exchanged glances: "That monster, a fifteen‑year‑two‑star Grand Fighter? Wasn't he away on business for a year?"

Hu Qian laughed heartily: "He came along as well; this year there'll be a good show to watch."

The elders suddenly understood and hurriedly searched the crowd.

Xiao Li was easy to spot; naturally, the one with the most concealed yet weighty aura was him.

The elders looked at the people beside them, the gravity in their eyes conveying a clear meaning.

Unfathomable—this venerable Fighting King actually couldn't see through Xiao Li's strength; no matter the reason, it signified that Xiao Li possessed something surpassing the Fighting King level.

"All right, Elder Su, hurry up and start—I can't wait any longer." Hu Qian could hardly wait to see Xiao Li's current strength; this would perfectly verify whether his earlier investment had been correct.

"Fine, no more nonsense. Although you've passed the selection exam and earned the right to enter the inner court, it's not over yet…" Elder Su smiled, raised his hand, and a handful of black crystals appeared in his palm; he casually threw them, the crystals shot out and, as if grown eyes, hovered before everyone.

Xiao Li reached out and grabbed one; upon holding it, he instantly felt a strange heat seeping out. Lowering his head to examine it closely, he saw that the crystal bore a transparent mirror‑like surface, on which a large red number five was printed.

"Because some things are troublesome to explain, you'll understand later, but for now you only need to know one thing: treat the crystal in your hand as if it were your life and guard it well. Once you enter the inner court, you'll realize its importance! Of course, you might get a clue by looking at the eyes of these fellows." Saying this, Elder Su pointed at the group of young people and laughed.

Xiao Li crossed his arms, stored the fire crystal card in his spatial ring—this is the inner court's greatest capital, so naturally the more the better.

Lin Xiuya instinctively glanced at Xiao Li; seeing the greed in his eyes, he felt unaccustomed and shuddered. Though Xiao Li hadn't been friendly all along, he had never shown such a fierce expression.

"Indeed, you know something, huh? Looks like I need to take this more seriously." Lin Xiuya clenched his fire crystal card, pondering silently.

"Next, you need to enter the forest and successfully reach the inner court at its end." Elder Su kept his finger pointed at the group of youngsters and said lightly: "While you travel through this forest, be careful of them; according to the inner court's rules, inside this forest they may act at will—that is, they can attack you."

"Remember, the number on your crystal holds tremendous allure for them, so besides killing people, they will use every means to obtain the 'fire energy' on your crystal—a term you'll later find very familiar and cute. For now, you must evade or defeat them; as long as you aren't captured and reach the inner court smoothly, you'll receive the final reward: the earlier you arrive, the richer the prize."

Elder Su suddenly pointed his finger toward the dark forest behind him: "As for this forest scramble, our inner court calls it the Fire Energy Hunting Competition!"

"Now I announce that this year's 'Fire Energy Hunting Competition' officially begins. Fellow students, start fleeing!"

The newcomers' faces tightened; they were about to scatter when Xiao Li's calm words rang out, causing everyone's expressions to flicker with astonishment.

"Elder, don't waste time—I want to challenge all the senior students present right now. Is that okay?"

The students behind Elder Su froze, then their faces flushed with anger.

"Xiao Li, I've heard of you; even if you're a genius, isn't this too arrogant?"

"A mere newcomer dares to spout big words—you'd better pray you don't run into me in the Hunting Competition!"

Elder Su, hearing such a request for the first time, looked toward Hu Qian with some difficulty.

Hu Qian gave a light smile: "Elder Su, hasn't the Fire Energy Hunting Competition already begun?"

Hey hey hey, the expert carry service has arrived.

(End of chapter)