Chapter 49

The meaning in Hu Qian's words was obvious; Elder Su couldn't say more, so he retreated with the people, making a large battlefield for Xiao Li and the veterans.

On the clearing, Xiao Li faced off against forty veterans, a bead of cold sweat on Lin Xiuya's forehead behind him; among those forty, at least half were Great Fighters.

Should we step in to help?

Lin Xiuya gritted his teeth, tormented inside, when suddenly an arm landed on his shoulder; his heart jumped, he turned and saw Liu Qingcai letting out a breath.

"Lin Xiuya, don't you see yet? If Xiao Li loses, we'll also be hunted by these people."

Lin Xiuya's heart stirred, "What do you mean..."

Liu Qingcai nodded, "Better to join forces with Xiao Li now and wipe out a batch than to be chased later."

Lin Xiuya nodded, looking at Yan Hao, Han Yue and others in the team; their cohort far surpasses the previous one, and if they act together they could at least ease a quarter of Xiao Li's pressure.

Seeing everyone nod, Lin Xiuya nodded too; those who can enter the inner court are no fools, certainly not cowards, and of course they won't misjudge the situation.

"Xiao Li, do you want our help?" Lin Xiuya shouted at the black-robed figure ahead.

Xiao Li startled, turned his head in surprise to see the freshmen staring at him with determination; he felt a headache, thinking, "You guys doing this, I can't later come collect protection fees from you."

"Thanks, but no need, I'm enough on my own." Xiao Li waved his hand.

In the team, Liu Qingcai frowned, "He's even more reckless than I am; I really don't know what he's thinking."

Lin Xiuya sighed, "You idiot, someone with such strength couldn't possibly be a fool."

Liu Qingcai blinked, "Well, maybe, but wait—who are you calling an idiot?"

Lin Xiuya curled his lip, too lazy to talk to this muscular guy, then turned his gaze to Xiao Li, muttering, "Xiao Li, just what is your strength, daring to fight forty alone."

Without exaggeration, these forty are absolutely stronger than the fifty freshmen of this cohort combined, and there are over a dozen Great Fighters among them.

Facing the opposing veterans, Xiao Li flourished his Thunder Scale Spear, drawing a blood-red flourish.

"Come on!"

As Xiao Li's words fell, the veterans who had been holding back surged forward all at once.

"Kid, you should be glad the rules spared your life!"

Xiao Li curled his lip in a cold smile, "Just a Fighter, and you dare spout nonsense!"

Blood-colored lightning burst from his body, the myriad Blood Fiend aura making even those below Great Fighter struggle to breathe.

Hu Qian's Dou Qi wings in the sky hesitated slightly, "This kid, what a strong Blood Fiend aura—could he have killed tens of thousands this year? Impossible; what did the Thousand Elders and Hundred Elders bring him out for?"

Not only Hu Qian, everyone present stared in shock; such Blood Fiend aura was nearly solid—just how many has Xiao Li slain!

Xiao Li moved, the Blood Fiend aura lingering where he stood, his blood-colored lightning like grasping tendrils seeking victims, making onlookers tremble with fear.

With a single strike, the three at the front were severely wounded and withdrew, their chests gouged by huge wounds from the Thunder Scale Spear, the Blood Fiend aura clinging, making the wounds hard to heal.

As soon as Xiao Li acted, Hu Qian immediately sensed the clue in the aura: "Three-star Spirit!"

Elder Su and the others exchanged glances, shock plain in their eyes: "No wonder the Grand Elder said he's a true dragon of the shallows—such talent is terrifying."

Meanwhile Elder Li's eyes flickered with worry: "Xiao Li's talent is indeed good, but to improve this much in a year, and his Blood Fiend aura so thick—could he have… practiced some evil art?"

Hu Qian shook his head decisively: "Impossible; though his body bears heavy Blood Fiend aura, he is upright and noble, not only lacking evil aura but rather exuding a sense of punishing sin."

Most importantly, Hu Qian knows who took Xiao Li out for training; if those two were present, Xiao Li could still be corrupted by evil, and that would be beyond their ability to resolve.

On the clearing, seeing everyone subdued by his strength, Xiao Li took the initiative, bloody afterimages flickering one after another; the explosive power and speed of his lightning made his speed, whether long or short range, exceed that of his peers by several notches.

Let alone these veterans who are at most mid-rank Great Fighters.

After eliminating several in succession, an attack finally landed on Xiao Li; the attacker's face lit up with joy, relying on his Great Fighter strength he felt somewhat confident.

His black clothing tore, revealing Xiao Li's sturdy muscles; the veterans' movements stalled, despair showing on their faces.

A Great Fighter–level strike left not a trace on Xiao Li's body.

The Profound Lightning Body is an extremely formidable physique even among Spirits; if all the veterans here combined forces they might manage to inflict light wounds on Xiao Li, but it's a pity—getting forty people to act in unison requires coordination far beyond what these hastily assembled veterans possess.

Their inability to breach his defense is Xiao Li's greatest confidence in this reckless act.

"Profound Lightning Thunder Flash!"

A blood-red lightning dragon rose; the fish motif on the Thunder Scale Spear shifted from blue to blood, its fierce horns no longer showing any trace of the fish, instead coiling like a flood dragon around the spear.

The lightning flood dragon raged, stirring wind and cloud, directly flinging over a dozen people out of the arena; Xiao Li showed no mercy, his body emanating a lustrous dark light, making any strike that lands on him hard to leave a mark.

Seeing the remaining dozen or so trembling, the Blood Fiend lightning on Xiao Li gradually subsided.

"Everyone, hand over your Fire Crystal Cards, or don't blame me for showing no mercy."

His cold words doused the veterans' last hope; they had thought this freshman Xiao Li didn't know the use of Fire Crystal Cards, never expecting him to grasp the rules so quickly.

With hearts like ashes they surrendered the Fire Crystal Cards; this trip could be said to have lost both wife and troops.

Xiao Li mercilessly erased all fire energy from their cards, leaving only the gray-white minimum of 7 points.

Xiao Li's own Fire Crystal Card jumped instantly from 5 points to 683 points.

Having stored the Fire Crystal Cards, Xiao Li turned to the dozen or so veterans still able to move and asked, "As I know, each cohort has a Black and White Double Evil squad; where are those two teams?"

The veterans stared at each other, apparently astonished.

"Xiao Li, we admit you're strong, but the Black and White Double Evil squads each have Spirit-level experts; going there would just waste the fire energy you just earned," a veteran snorted coldly.

Xiao Li narrowed his eyes, emitting a dangerous glint, "I'm asking you—where are they?"

The veterans were speechless, exchanged a glance, and said coldly, "The Black Evil squad is in the forest, the White Evil squad guards the finish of the hunt."

Xiao Li nodded and headed straight for the forest; Lin Xiuya and the others hesitated a moment, then chose to follow behind him.

Hu Qian chuckled, "Interesting, still as sharp‑edged as ever; even he couldn't deny that, with sufficient strength, this is the quickest and most effective way."

In the inner court, such decisive, lethal individuals can better find their footing.

Regarding whether the protagonist's power is too exaggerated—

First, the protagonist's actual strength is surely greater than what's shown on paper.

Second, the original novel mentions in chapter 421 that fifteen eight‑star Fighters (in poor condition) can barely match a five‑six star Great Fighter, showing that a protagonist who has trained body‑forging arts surely crushes Fighters, and the gap between Great Fighter and Spirit is only larger than that between Great Fighter and Fighter.

(End of chapter)