Battle Through the Heavens: Harmony of Flame and Shadow

The Great Elder smiled, raised his hand, and took out a handful of pitch-black chips from his storage ring. 

With a casual throw, the chips transformed into streaks of light, flying out and landing in front of everyone. 

However, there was none in front of Zi Yan! 

"Hey, Old Su, why don't I have one?" 

Feeling 'unfairly' treated once again, Zi Yan erupted. She put her hands on her hips and stared indignantly at the Great Elder. 

Everyone present was stunned, especially the older students who followed the Great Elder. This was the Great Elder of the Inner Academy! 

Zi Yan dared to question him? Were all the new students this brash nowadays? 

But soon, something happened that made their jaws drop. The Great Elder didn't punish Zi Yan; instead, he revealed a helpless expression. 

This made a few of them feel a chill in their hearts. Could this seemingly harmless little girl have an extraordinary identity? Or was she a relative of the Great Elder? 

Su Qian was also helpless when dealing with Zi Yan. Why did he bring her back in a moment of weakness? 

In the past few years, the Outer Academy's medicinal herb storage had almost been emptied by her, and she frequently caused trouble in the Magical Beast Forest, making it chaotic. 

The Great Elder had no choice but to assign more people to monitor the Magical Beast Forest, fearing that some reckless magical beasts might attack the academy and injure the students. 

"Here you go!" Looking at Zi Yan's determined stance, Su Qian tossed her a green card. 

Zi Yan immediately accepted it with a wide grin. The card felt cool to the touch, and a strange warmth penetrated from it. She carefully examined the transparent surface of the chip, on which was printed a large red number: "500!" 

Zi Yan was puzzled. Her card was clearly different from the others. She grabbed the card in Jiang Yun's hand, which was black and had a number five written on it. 

"Alright, you can research the cards later. For now, you need to enter the forest and successfully reach the Inner Academy at the end of the forest." 

Seeing Zi Yan's confusion, Su Qian spoke slowly instead of explaining, and then pointed to a group of young people nearby. "While crossing the forest, be wary of them. According to the Inner Academy's rules, they can snatch your chips. In this forest, they can strike at will. In other words, they are your last obstacle in entering the Inner Academy." 

"Do not underestimate the importance of the cards in your hand. When you enter the Inner Academy, you will understand how essential they are! So, in this final stage, unleash your full potential!" 

After speaking, Su Qian's gaze fell on Jiang Yun. Jiang Yun's eyes flickered, knowing that Su Qian's words were meant for him. 

This time, though there were only two Dou Spirits among the older students, both of them were five-star Dou Spirits, making them experts ranked in the Inner Academy's strength chart. Clearly, they were prepared for him. 

However, these few were still not enough! 

"Now, I announce the official start of this year's 'Fire Energy Hunt.' Students, begin your escape!" 

As Su Qian finished explaining the Inner Academy's traditional team-building activity, the Fire Energy Capture Competition began. 

Once the Great Elder announced the start of the 'Fire Energy Hunt', the older students behind him let out a series of excited cackles. Some even made provocative gestures at Jiang Yun and the others, making many new students glare at them. 

"We'll be waiting for you in the forest!" one of the older students said. The voice came from a leader among the older students, a man of great authority. After speaking, he turned and headed into the forest, followed by the rest of the older students. 

Seeing this, the new students grouped up with familiar faces and headed into the forest in groups of three or five. 

"You and the Great Elder wait for me at the end!" Jiang Yun said, letting go of Zi Yan's hand with a smile. With a flash of light, the card in his hand disappeared into his storage ring. 

"Zi Yan..." 

Watching Jiang Yun enter the forest, Su Qian spoke to Zi Yan, but she ignored him and flew towards the opposite side of the forest, her purple battle energy wings spread wide. 

"This, this..." 

"Great Elder, she, she is a Dou King?" 

The sight of Zi Yan's battle energy wings left the elders stunned, their eyes wide as if they had seen a ghost. 

At this moment, they began to doubt their own senses. A Dou King? A new student? 

"You will understand once you get to know her," said the Great Elder with a bit of pride, his previous frustration gone. Although Zi Yan was quite troublesome, they had formed a deep bond over the years; otherwise, she wouldn't act so 'willful'. 

"No wonder you prohibited Zi Yan from participating in the Fire Energy Capture Competition!" said Elder Qing from the Inner Academy, shaking his head with a bitter smile. 

"The older students in the Inner Academy are in for a tough time!" Elder Qing's eyes gleamed mischievously. 

Once the conversation ended, the older students and elders vanished, and the forest returned to its usual tranquility. 

"Bang!" 

With a palm strike, Jiang Yun created a white flame imprint, sending two figures flying. 

These were two seven-star Great Fighters. If they had faced other new student teams, it would have gone differently, but unfortunately, they encountered Jiang Yun. With just a slight effort, Jiang Yun defeated them. 

"Do you hand it over yourself, or do I have to do it?" Jiang Yun asked, conjuring a flaming longsword in his palm and pointing it at the two figures. The white flames on the sword exuded a scorching aura. 

The two of them had no doubt that if the sword fell, they would be incapacitated for at least a fortnight. 

"Brother, can you leave us some?" The two older students, trembling, handed over a blue fire crystal card, smiling fawningly. 

"I'll leave you five days' worth," Jiang Yun said, glancing at them and taking all but five days' worth of fire energy, earning fifty-five days' worth of fire energy in one go. 

As he headed towards the forest's end, he had encountered several waves of interception, and now his fire energy card had more than two hundred days' worth—quite profitable. 

At this moment, except for Zi Yan, he was likely the richest among them. 

"If you're still dissatisfied, feel free to gather helpers and come at me again!" Having dropped their fire crystal cards, Jiang Yun continued calmly towards his destination, soon vanishing from sight. 

"Damn it, how are there so many fierce ones among the new students this year?" 

"Yeah, first there's that girl who dared to shout at the Great Elder, and now there's this freak. Are new students all this strong now?" 

"What's his level exactly? We didn't stand a chance against him!" 

The two older students lamented, exchanging a bitter glance. Jiang Yun's strength was terrifying enough that they suspected even the top-ranked Inner Academy students might not fare any better against him. 

They had thought this year's Fire Energy Capture Competition would be a flock of sheep, but it turned out there was a genuine ferocious tiger among them. 

"You mean..." 

"Exactly. We'll spread the word that this guy holds a large amount of fire energy. Whether he wins and enters the Inner Academy, making him a fat target for all the factions, or he loses and learns his place—either way, trouble will find him." 

The older student's eyes filled with malice, making his companion shiver. 

"Alright, let's do it." Though he felt it was somewhat underhanded to target a new student this way, he gritted his teeth at the sight of the 'five' on his fire energy card. 

Once they made their pact, the news of Jiang Yun possessing a large amount of fire energy quickly spread among the older students in the Inner Academy. 

"Did you hear? This year's Fire Energy Hunt has a real big shot. He single-handedly defeated a team of older students and took their fire energy." 

"Hmph—genius?" 

"In the Inner Academy, 'genius' is the least impressive title. He can't possibly handle everything alone. Those older students must be useless to be robbed by this guy—what a shame for our Inner Academy." 

"That's right. Even if he's a genius, he must follow the Inner Academy's rules once he gets in." 

"Let's go, let's see how weighty this number one genius from the Outer Academy really is." 

After that, Jiang Yun encountered many older students who had come for him. 

Upon seeing Jiang Yun, the older students looked excited and eager, eyeing him like a plump sheep ready to be pounced on. 

Unfortunately for them, they faced Jiang Yun. Whether they were eight-star Great Fighters or nine-star Great Fighters, Jiang Yun easily dealt with them. 

Afterward, the older students all looked despondent at their black cards, which now only contained 'five' days' worth of fire energy, shedding their 'excited' tears. 

"I've gathered 671 days' worth of fire energy. It's time to check out the Black Fiend and White Fiend squads." Jiang Yun, looking at the number on his black card, quietly headed towards his ultimate goal. 

"Even Zhao Ji lost. He was defeated by that Outer Academy top genius Jiang Yun in just three moves." 

In another part of the forest, ten people sat together discussing Jiang Yun's feats. The two apparent leaders had auras that clearly distinguished them from the rest. 

"What—" 

"Three moves? Zhao Ji already has one foot in the realm of Dou Spirit, and he lost that easily? Could that guy be stronger than Brother Sun?" 

One of them exclaimed, glancing surreptitiously at the man sitting off to the side. 

This man was handsome, dressed in white robes, with a constant smile that easily engendered goodwill, exuding a calm and convincing aura. 

"Hmph—believing hearsay. I don't think any newcomer could reach such a level." 

At this moment, another person intervened impatiently. He was burly and wielded a massive black sword. His thick eyebrows resembled swords, and his stern face exuded an inherent dominance. 

"Indeed, I remember only beating a few teams before slipping past the Black Fiend and White Fiend squads by sneaking through. That guy seems to be coming straight at us, doesn't he know his limits?" 

These words brought cold smiles from the group. Who wouldn't be displeased to be viewed as easy targets, especially among the Inner Academy's older students? 

"I truly don't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth. Well, how about showing me?" 

An indifferent voice suddenly intervened, and everyone's caution spiked. Some even broke into a cold sweat; none had sensed someone approaching. 

At this point, they were on high alert; those who previously dismissed the threat were now as watchful as hawks. This stealth alone demonstrated the newcomer's extraordinary skills. 

Under their scrutiny, a lone, slender figure emerged from the dense forest. 

Seeing Jiang Yun in person, even though they had heard of him, the fact that he was so young made them suck in a breath of cold air. 

He was too young. At his age, they were still struggling with Dou Qi and Dou Zhe stages, while he had made them wary. 

Such a terrifying talent! 

"I didn't expect someone like you to appear in this year's batch!" 

Members of the Black Fiend and White Fiend squads looked grim. Nobody wanted to offend such a monstrously talented individual, knowing that after entering the Inner Academy, it wouldn't take long for him to surpass them all. 

"Finally, the show begins!" At the edge of the forest, a few elders discussed with excitement. Jiang Yun had previously won so decisively that Su Qian even suspected a setup. 

Now, they would finally see the true extent of Jiang Yun's abilities! 

"So, you're the final obstacle?" Jiang Yun surveyed them calmly, his gaze piercing their souls and exerting immense pressure on the older students. 

"White Fiend Squad Leader, Sun Hai!" 

"Black Fiend Squad Leader, Wu Qiu!" 

The respective leaders of the Black Fiend and White Fiend squads introduced themselves, their eyes never leaving Jiang Yun from the moment he appeared. Jiang Yun's aura was as deep as an abyss, shrouded in mystery, applying immense pressure on them. 

"Jiang Yun!" Reporting his name, Jiang Yun then unleashed a long howl, "Let's do this!" 

"Blazing Cloud Palm!" Jiang Yun stepped forward, his overwhelming aura fully unleashed. The fire element in the air surged and coalesced into a massive flaming hand, which bore down on the Black and White Fiend squads. 

In this moment, his true strength was displayed before everyone for the first time. 

"An eight-star Great Fighter?" 

"A tier earth Dou Technique?" 

Someone exclaimed in disbelief. Jiang Yun's true strength was beyond their expectations, having thought he might be a Dou Spirit, not 'merely' an eight-star Great Fighter. 

Moreover, he wielded an earth-tier Dou Technique? 

The end.