chapter 229: chapter 229: declaration of war

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    word count: 3,507 words

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    xiao yan was not someone who would get up early without a benefit. while he had strength, he wasn''t an indiscriminate do-gooder who would roar at every injustice he saw.

    the freshmen weren''t surprised when they heard his words. after all, they had witnessed xiao yan''s ''utilitarianism'' in the forest-he recognized benefits, not people. he even robbed fellow freshmen. if the elders hadn''t offered him rewards, he might have tried to rob them too.

    "big brother xiao yan, we came to find you not because we expect you to exempt us from this harassment. we understand that, as newcomers to the inner academy, being bullied by senior students is inevitable. i''ve asked around through friends, and while in previous years freshmen also had to pay this so-called ''freshmen tribute fee,'' it was never as much as what they''re demanding from us. according to my friend, this year''s situation is like this because we freshmen passed the ''fire energy hunting competition'' and received a twenty-day fire energy reward. this has made some senior students who were previously robbed during their hunting competitions feel disgruntled, leading to this situation." ah tai sighed bitterly.

    people were always like this. it was not about having little, but about inequality; not about being poor, but about unfairness.

    learning that the freshmen not only weren''t robbed by the senior students but also passed the fire energy hunting competition and received substantial fire energy rewards made many people feel unbalanced.

    "we''re not blaming you, big brother xiao yan. you helped us freshmen obtain the twenty- day fire energy reward. among this year''s freshmen entering the inner academy, senior xiao yan''s prestige is the highest. so when we encountered such troublesome matters, we could only come to ask you to step forward, hoping you could help us freshmen avoid this endless exploitation. otherwise, we won''t even have enough to pay for cultivating in the ''blazing sky qi refining tower,'' and might even be harassed while trying to cultivate there. how can we talk about improving in the inner academy under such circumstances?" ah tai stared intently at xiao yan and continued, "we heard from big sister xun er yesterday that big brother xiao yan plans to establish a faction. we''re willing to pay you protection fees; we just hope that big brother xiao yan can lend a hand to help us."

    "oh? now that you put it that way, i''m actually quite interested." xiao yan smiled faintly and rubbed the storage ring on his finger. after pondering for a while, he grinned at ah tai and said, "since there''s business to be done, i''ll naturally take it."

    "here''s the deal. i''ve just established my own faction, and i need manpower for daily maintenance, guard duty, intelligence gathering, and so on. i won''t take advantage of you guys either. if you''re willing to join my xiao hall, then i, xiao yan, will provide you with protection. you''ll pay ten days'' worth of fire energy every month as your contribution, and you can earn additional fire energy by completing tasks assigned by the xiao hall."

    ah tai and the others exchanged glances upon hearing these words; it was evident that xiao yan wanted to recruit them.

    they were actually quite tempted. after all, his strength was evident for all to see; he had easily defeated both luo hou and bai feng.

    although xiao yan had just established his faction, its potential was imaginable.

    the dozen or so freshmen nodded. ah tai said, "alright, big brother xiao yan. besides us, there are about a dozen others who have also suffered bullying. i''ll go gather them now."

    "go ahead. once you''ve gathered them, wait at the entrance of the freshmen dormitory area." xun er and the others heard what happened at the door. after learning that xiao yan wanted to take all the freshmen under his wing, they discussed it and agreed with his approach. "let''s go welcome our new members at the entrance. i want to see who''s so bold as to bully members of my xiao hall." xiao yan waved his hand and strode out the door. behind him, xun er and the others exchanged glances, smiled, and quickly followed.

    outside the building was a tree-lined avenue. on both sides were the residences of the other freshmen. compared to the small building that xiao yan''s group of nine occupied, their accommodations were slightly more humble. it seemed this kind of treatment wasn''t something everyone enjoyed.

    as for bai shan, he had left the freshman dormitory early and run off to reside at the white gang''s base.

    when xiao yan and the others appeared at the dormitory entrance, the freshmen who had already gathered let out cheers and hurriedly made way for them.

    at the avenue''s exit, eight senior students wearing tower-shaped badges were blocking the way. behind them was a large crowd of senior students watching the show. clearly, they were happy to see the freshmen being put in their place, as many of them had gone through the same thing in their year.

    facing those eight senior students was ah tai, who had come to seek xiao yan''s help. at this moment, he was leading the freshmen, their faces grim as they confronted the seniors.

    "there''s no need for more words, kid. the freshmen tribute fee has been an unwritten rule in the inner academy for years. we haven''t been harsh on you, so hand it over obediently. spend money to avoid disaster, don''t you even understand that?" a young man who looked to be around twenty-five smiled as he looked at the scowling ah tai and the others.

    "hmph! don''t think we freshmen don''t know the rules. freshmen indeed have to pay a ''tribute fee'' to senior students, but the inner academy also has an unwritten rule that freshmen only need to pay up to two factions. after paying those two factions, if other factions still want to collect, they have to discuss it with those two factions. it has nothing to do with us anymore," ah tai retorted coldly.

    "heh, that''s under normal circumstances. but aren''t you freshmen quite strong this year? in all these years, we''ve never heard of a freshmen team counter-robbing senior student groups in the ''fire energy hunting competition.'' since you''re so unconventional, naturally, the rules for dealing with you have to be a bit special too," that young man grinned.

    at this moment, xiao yan''s lazy voice came from afar, "since you know about senior students being counter-robbed, yet still dare to come and collect fire energy, are you treating me, xiao yan, as if i''m dead?"

    "big brother xiao yan!" when ah tai saw xiao yan''s group approaching, it was as if he''d seen a savior.

    with xiao yan''s appearance, the surrounding freshmen erupted in cheers. through the ''fire energy hunting competition,'' xiao yan''s prestige among the freshmen had soared.

    now he was practically their idol!

    the faces of those few senior students sank upon hearing this name. they had inquired about xiao yan and knew that his strength was formidable. he was a 2-star dou spirit who had defeated luo hou and bai feng in a two-on-one fight.

    and bai feng had even entered the top hundred of the strong ranking before, albeit only for a few days before being knocked off. still, it proved he had some strength.no?v(el)b\\jnn

    therefore, some of the senior students in the inner academy were somewhat wary of xiao

    yan.

    "xiao yan, this is an established rule of the inner academy. we''ve already given you face by not provoking you; don''t bring trouble upon yourself. although you defeated luo hou and bai feng, you should know that in this inner academy, there are many stronger than them! some people you can''t afford to offend!" the young man was unwilling to lose face in public and could only stiffen his neck and snort coldly.

    xiao yan laughed as if he had heard a hilarious joke. "haha! of course, there are people i can''t afford to offend. but if you''re talking about those cats and dogs on the inner academy''s strong ranking, those peak dou spirits and whatnot, forget it."

    not just the tough-talking young man, but even those watching from behind had their expressions change dramatically when they heard his arrogant words.

    his words were practically challenging all the factions in the inner academy!

    he had insulted all the monstrous geniuses on the strong ranking in one sweep!

    "you... you''re not only offending my green gang but also challenging everyone in the inner

    academy!"

    xiao yan remained completely unafraid of this person''s attempt to escalate the situation and said with a cold smile, "since i, xiao yan, have established the xiao hall, and these freshmen are willing to join us, then whoever dares to bully members of my xiao hall—even if it''s the entire inner academy-i, xiao yan, will fight my way through!"

    that senior student''s throat tightened when he saw the cold glint in his eyes, and a bead of cold sweat dripped from his forehead. he could feel a genuine, chilling killing intent in the words of this youth who was much younger than himself.

    with a whoosh, xiao yan instantly appeared behind the green gang student who had been clamoring. his dou qi condensed into a rope and instantly bound this foolish fellow who was merely a 3-star dou grandmaster.

    feeling the sudden increase in temperature, xiao yan''s pupils suddenly contracted, and his palms clenched tightly at this moment. what he longed for was inside.

    "enter the tower!"

    "let''s go in as well."

    suppressing the yearning in his heart, xiao yan waved his hand at wu hao and took the lead in striding toward the mysterious black tower that was deeply buried underground.

    as they drew closer, xiao yan truly sensed the immense size of this black tower. this was only

    the floor exposed above ground, yet it was equivalent to a two- or three-story building. if the tip of the iceberg was already like this, it was hard to imagine how vast the tower body hidden

    underground was. the moment xiao yan stepped into the blazing sky qi refining tower, a wisp of invisible

    heart flame appeared within his body. instantly, white smoke began to sizzle from his body.

    beside xiao yan, wu hao, who had entered the tower at the same time, now had a flushed face. white mist was also emerging from his body in the same manner. "heh heh, every year there are reckless freshmen who can''t wait to enter the blazing sky qi

    refining

    tower. they deserve this suffering." laughter filled with schadenfreude erupted from the crowd.

    "truly two little fellows who don''t know the immensity of heaven and earth. entering the blazing sky qi refining tower for the first time without reporting in advance-they''re really getting a taste of unnecessary hardship." elder liu on this floor shook his head when he saw xiao yan and wu hao standing still with white smoke rising from their bodies. generally, when freshmen enter, they need to report in advance and even learn how to handle

    the heart flame and how to cultivate inside the blazing sky qi refining tower. only someone as impatient as xiao yan would rush in like this, and he even led wu hao astray.

    xiao yan merely smiled faintly when he noticed the appearance of the heart flame. with a "poof," a wisp of black flame emerged and devoured the invisible heart flame. "eh?" elder liu, who was watching from the side, was stunned for a moment. he had been prepared to take action. after all, freshmen entering the blazing sky qi refining tower for the first time lacked experience and didn''t know how to handle the heart flame, so they needed

    the elders'' assistance.

    but in just a moment, xiao yan had already recovered! this was completely unlike a freshman.

    xiao yan shook his head and lightly placed his left hand on wu hao''s shoulder. a wisp of black flame drilled into wu hao''s body and devoured the heart flame.

    "ha!!" wu hao came to his senses and frantically gulped air. he looked at xiao yan with some

    fear and said, "what was that just now? i felt like i was being burned alive." "what the fuck?!" elder liu and some of the gloating spectators were dumbfounded upon

    seeing wu hao also recover. was this still a freshman?

    xiao yan said to the heavily panting wu hao, "wu hao, you should go to the elder over there

    to learn the cultivation method."

    "what about you?"

    "me? this is only the first floor. how could i possibly stay on the first floor? i''m going to take

    a look below."

    with that, xiao yan followed a person with dou spirit strength and went deeper into the blazing sky qi refining tower.

    wu hao was speechless and muttered, "this guy is truly a freak."

    as xiao yan followed along, he observed his surroundings. inside the blazing sky qi refining

    tower were numerous cultivation rooms. they were divided into three types: the outermost

    rooms were low-grade, the middle ones were middle-grade, and the innermost were high- grade. outside the high-grade cultivation rooms hung plaques bearing the emblems of various factions, likely indicating that they were occupied by those factions. "why are you following me?" a cold, clear voice suddenly sounded.

    xiao yan looked toward the source of the voice. it came from a young lady with snow-white

    hair, the dou spirit he had been following.

    "um..." xiao yan felt a bit embarrassed, as he had indeed been following her. rubbing his nose, he said, "well, i want to go further down, but i don''t know the way." the beautiful young lady''s delicate brows knitted slightly. guessing that xiao yan was a

    freshman, she shook her head and said, "freshmen, regardless of their strength, need to cultivate on the first floor for a full week before they can enter the next floor."

    "ah? but the first floor has no effect on me. i think i need to reach the fifth floor for it to be somewhat useful."

    when the beautiful young lady heard xiao yan''s presumptuous statement, she no longer wanted to continue the conversation and simply said, "to enter the fifth floor, you need a

    green fire crystal card."

    xiao yan smiled faintly, took out a fire crystal card from his storage ring, and said, "i wonder

    if this

    will do."

    "a red fire crystal card!! how is this possible?!" han yue''s beautiful eyes widened. in the entire inner academy, those who possessed a red fire crystal card could be counted on one''s

    fingers, and among them, there was definitely no xiao yan!