Chapter 58: Elder Lin: I Had No Idea He Would Do Such a Thing

As Luo Fei and Ke Yu were successively beaten to the ground by Hun Cang, the others all lowered their heads in submission, no longer daring to provoke him.

Seeing this, Hun Cang clapped his hands, had Luo Fei pulled up, and brought Ke Yu along with him to stand before him.

"Well? Still want to teach me a lesson?" Hun Cang sat atop a boulder, asking indifferently.

Before him, Luo Fei and Ke Yu knelt side by side.

"Hun Cang, don't get cocky. Once you enter the Inner Academy, our Yuluo Gate will show you what's coming!" Luo Fei was extremely resentful, lingering anger hidden deep within his eyes.

Considering he was someone of some standing within the Inner Academy, being defeated by an Outer Academy student meant he had lost every shred of face. Naturally, he refused to accept this in his heart.

"Shall we exchange a few more blows then?" Hun Cang shifted his posture and crooked a finger.

Luo Fei averted his gaze to the side. He was not a fool; even Ke Yu was no match for Hun Cang. If he went up again, he would at best serve as a punching bag for someone else.

Back when he was first trampled into the dirt, Luo Fei had been utterly unwilling to believe it, attributing the defeat entirely to his own carelessness, which allowed Hun Cang to knock him down.

Only when he managed to claw his way out of the earth and witnessed Ke Yu's miserable state did sudden realization dawn on him.

Ah, so he really was just that weak...

Beside him, Ke Yu wore a painful expression and stubbornly retorted, "You've offended the Yuluo Gate and you've offended me. Once you enter the Inner Academy alone, you'll live to regret this."

"I know you have a team, a faction." Hun Cang smiled faintly. "I don't care. Whatever tricks you have, bring them on; I'll take them all."

Although he had yet to enter the Inner Academy, Hun Cang was well aware of the need for Fire Energy within the Burning Qi Refining Tower.

Rather than wasting time doing missions to earn Fire Energy, it was far better to sit at home and wait for others to deliver Fire Energy to his doorstep.

After all, since the Inner Academy tacitly permitted the extraction of newcomers' Fire Energy as a protection fee, there was certainly nothing wrong with him seizing it himself.

What was more, these people had delivered it right to his doorstep voluntarily.

With this thought, Hun Cang cast a sidelong glance at the two of them and said, "Speaking of which, you two came looking for trouble with me, but now that your skills are inferior, shouldn't you offer some compensation?"

Luo Fei and Ke Yu exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Hun Cang in utter astonishment. Are you even speaking human words?

It's true that we initiated the trouble, but the question is, were you even injured at all?

Ignoring them, Hun Cang continued unhurriedly, "The trial ends tomorrow, and I'll soon become a student of the Inner Academy. As it happens, I don't have much Fire Energy on hand. Since you two belong to the Inner Academy, you must have plenty of it, right?"

Instinctively, the two men wanted to back away, but unfortunately, someone was pressing down on their backs, rendering them completely immobile no matter how they struggled.

Fire Energy was a rare and precious commodity; entering the Burning Qi Refining Tower to cultivate with it could significantly accelerate one's training speed.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Luo Fei, and he sneered, "Hun Cang, even if we wanted to give it to you, you couldn't take it. Until you officially become an Inner Academy disciple, you don't even have the vessel to record Fire Energy. But if you really want it, come find us at the Yuluo Gate later—of course, provided you have the guts!"

Hearing this, Ke Yu's eyes lit up, and he chimed in, "That's right! Every cadet has their own exclusive token. Even if you snatch ours, you won't be able to use it."

If Hun Cang actually dared to step onto their turf later, no matter how formidable he was alone, could he possibly stand against so many of them? When that time came, they would surely reclaim every bit of face they had lost today!

"Is this what you're talking about?" As the two of them indulged in their grand plans, the corners of Hun Cang's lips curled upward slightly. With a flick of his finger against his storage ring, a small, black, seal-like object materialized in his palm.

This small object was pitch black in appearance, marked with a striking red number thirty.

"What? How do you have that? You aren't even an Inner Academy student yet!" Luo Fei cried out in shock.

Ke Yu was likewise incredulous. "Where did you pick that up from?"

Hun Cang offered no explanation. "Hand over your Fire Energy. If you refuse, feel free to try me. There's still a full day left before the trial ends, and I have plenty of time to play with you."

Naturally, Luo Fei and Ke Yu's first reaction was refusal. It was already humiliating enough to initiate trouble with an Outer Academy student and fail, and losing their Fire Energy on top of that would be catastrophic.

If that happened, how could they ever show their faces in the Inner Academy again?

Seeing this, Hun Cang did not hesitate. The Soul Clan had never lacked methods for inflicting torment, especially targeting the soul. That kind of agony was entirely beyond anything physical pain could ever replicate.

When he applied these methods to the two men, in less than a quarter of an hour, Luo Fei and Ke Yu looked as though they had just been fished out of water. Soaked in sweat, they weakly produced their respective Fire Energy tokens.

Witnessing this spectacle, another person spoke up, "Classmate Hun Cang, do you suppose we can leave now?"

Hun Cang glanced at him. "What? Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Huh?" That person froze.

Hun Cang pointed at the Fire Energy tally device in his palm, the numbers on it still surging upwards, and said, "I was talking about all of you. Do you get my meaning? All of you?"

"Isn't this going too far, Classmate Hun Cang?"

"That's right! We didn't cause any trouble for you, what right do you have to snatch our Fire Energy?"

"Exactly! There are so many of us, don't think we're actually afraid of you. If we all team up, you'll regret this!"

Realizing Hun Cang's ultimate intention, the others present were first shocked by his audacity, but quickly banded together, deciding to resist collectively.

Hun Cang shook his head, wearing an expression of faint helplessness. Without wasting words, he chose to take action directly.

In less than a minute.

Hun Cang was once again seated atop the same boulder. Before him stood a neatly arranged queue, every single person bearing an expression of heartbreak and resentment as they handed over their Fire Energy.

Among them, several female students burst into tears on the spot.

Helping the academy test the Outer Academy students was supposed to be a way to earn a bit of Fire Energy.

Instead, after working bitterly hard for all these days, not only had they failed to earn any Fire Energy, but they had even squandered their own in the process.

"Such paupers. You only have three days' worth of Fire Energy—how do you even have the face to call yourselves Inner Academy students?" Collecting yet another senior student's Fire Energy, Hun Cang muttered in mild dissatisfaction.

That person covered their face and fled. In the flickering firelight, crystalline droplets could faintly be seen flying from their cheeks.

Before long, everyone present had handed over their Fire Energy.

"Can we leave now?" someone asked again.

Hun Cang raised a single finger and shook it.

"What on earth do you want? We've given you all our Fire Energy, what more do you want?" Someone grew anxious, their mental state completely collapsing.

Hun Cang smiled faintly. "It seems the people participating in this trial aren't just limited to you lot... Contact the rest of them. I hope to see every single trial participant... before the trial concludes!"

...

Outside.

Elder Su, Dean Hu Gan, and Elder Lin looked at each other in dismay, falling into a heavy silence.

After a long while.

Hu Gan puzzled aloud, "Whose Fire Energy is that in Hun Cang's hands? He hasn't even been in the Outer Academy for three full months, how could he possibly have such a thing?"

Elder Su nodded. "Having overseen trials for so many years, this is the first time I've ever seen a single person rob so many senior students of their Fire Energy."

And the root cause of all this stemmed entirely from the Fire Energy counter currently in Hun Cang's possession.

Amidst the gloomy atmosphere, Elder Lin offered an awkward smile. "I gave it to him."

Hu Gan and Elder Su instantly whipped their heads around to fixate on him, their gazes laden with heavy interrogation.

"What's with those looks?" Elder Lin glared back at them. "Look, back when Hun Cang took the entrance exam, someone cheated. I didn't want to expose it outright, so I added a rule: whoever could hold out the longest would be rewarded with thirty days of Fire Energy."

As he spoke, his voice tapered off into a much quieter, somewhat bewildered tone, "I honestly had no idea he would take advantage of the opportunity to pull something like this."