Battle Through the Heavens: Top Talent

Chapter 25 The Black Fiend Team Attacks

Time passed slowly, and the sun that had been hanging in the sky gradually set.

Under a large tree, Xiao Yun sat on a rock, took out his black crystal card from his storage ring, and looked at it. The number five on it had changed to two hundred and one. He smiled with satisfaction. This amount of fire energy was enough for him to cultivate to the Dou Ling realm in the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower.

Fifty senior students from the inner courtyard participated in the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, divided into ten teams. Now, apart from the White Fiend Team and the Black Fiend Team, all the other ordinary senior student teams have been robbed by Xiao Yun and his group of five.

According to the previously established rules, Xiao Yun always took the senior student captain's fire energy crystal card, so he got the most fire energy. Although the other four were not as good as Xiao Yun, their black crystal cards now had nearly two hundred fire energy, which was dozens of times more than when they first entered the inner courtyard.

Just as everyone sat cross-legged, recovering the fighting spirit depleted from the many battles of the day, Xiao Yun suddenly opened his eyes.

"Someone's coming. They're very imposing. It must be the Black Fiend Team." Xiao Yun stood up and looked towards the dense forest ahead. Under his soul perception, he sensed several unfamiliar auras rapidly approaching.

Upon hearing Xiao Yun's words, Fang Wen and the others immediately ended their cultivation, stood up, and looked ahead with serious expressions.

Currently, among all the veteran teams, only the White Demon Team and the Black Demon Team remain uneliminated. The former needs to hold the final checkpoint, so only the Black Demon Team can come here.

According to information obtained from other senior students, all members of the Black Fiend Team possess ice-attribute battle qi, and the captain is a peak nine-star Grand Battle Master. With the five of them working together, even a Battle Spirit expert would not be able to gain any advantage.

Whoosh!

A few breaths later, the leaves suddenly trembled, and then five figures with a powerful aura appeared on the tree trunk, looking down at Xiao Yun and the others.

The five people on the tree trunk were dressed in tight-fitting black outfits. Their fierce aura emanated from them without any attempt to conceal it, enveloping Xiao Yun and the others below, making them feel as if they were being watched by wild beasts in the forest.

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect this year's freshmen to be so strong. They actually managed to defeat all eight of the senior teams and seize the fire energy." Among the five figures, a tall man who looked like a monster in human form spoke in a calm voice that echoed through the forest.

"How did you know we stole the fire energy from the other seniors?" Fang Wen couldn't help but ask after hearing the man's words.

"Hahaha, it's because those good-for-nothings told us that we came out specifically to find you. And here's some good news: those seniors you stole from have already spread the word throughout the inner academy. Right now, there are countless inner academy students waiting for you to come out of the forest. If you can really bring these fire spirits out of this forest, countless challenges await you."

The man grinned, his white teeth revealing a chilling, beast-like aura. He stared at Xiao Yun and said, "You can call us the Black Fiend Team. I'm the captain, Lin Dong. If you want to leave here peacefully, you'd better hand over the Fire Energy Card obediently. That way, we won't have to take action, and you won't suffer any physical pain."

"Oh? Another confident senior. Although your surname is Lin, your name isn't Lin Dong!" Xiao Yun exhaled slowly and said calmly.

With a flash of light from the storage ring, the Crimson Blood Spear appeared in Xiao Yun's hand. Deep red battle aura swirled around the spear, and his aura continued to rise, suppressing the five members of the Black Fiend Team.

"Who is Lin Dong? Is he strong? Judging from your expression, you're planning to spar?" Lin Dong's face showed a hint of doubt, but after seeing Xiao Yun's actions, he raised an eyebrow, a cold smile appearing on his rugged face. "Since you're going to fight, then wait until I defeat you, and then find out who Lin Dong is!"

"One person at a time. I'll deal with the Black Fiend Team captain. As for the rest, you just need to hold them off!" With a slam of his foot on the ground, Xiao Yun's figure flashed through the air. He pointed his spear tip at the Black Fiend Team members, and deep red battle qi burst out from it.

"Crimson Flame Palm!" A giant flaming palm was unleashed by Xiao Yun using the Crimson Blood Spear, striking the tree trunk where the Black Fiend Team was standing and breaking their formation.

Then, Xiao Yun, like a meteorite, crashed straight into Lin Dong, who had dodged to the ground, unleashing a torrent of fierce fighting spirit.

"With the cultivation of a Seven-Star Grand Dou Master, no wonder you were able to defeat the other senior students' teams. This level of strength is already comparable to that of senior students who have been cultivating in the inner courtyard for two years."

With his rich combat experience and skillful movement, Lin Dong dodged Xiao Yun's two attacks in succession and flashed to an open space not far away. His blue-green battle aura rose from his body, and a blue-green battle aura armor appeared on his body.

"The battle is about to begin! Junior, don't let me beat you into tears." Lin Dong waved his hands, and the water vapor in the air quickly crystallized, and countless ice spikes attacked Xiao Yun like a blizzard.

A glint flashed in Xiao Yun's eyes, and he swept his spear with both hands, unleashing flames that erupted like a dazzling sun. The flames collided with the towering ice spikes in mid-air, producing a deafening roar.

"Mystic Ice Sword!" Seeing that his attack had been blocked, Lin Dong did not hesitate. His ice-attribute battle qi spread around him, condensing into longswords of ice, and he once again thrust them toward Xiao Yun.

"So it's a ranged mage?" After discerning the opponent's attack pattern, Xiao Yun breathed a sigh of relief and began to change his battle strategy, no longer engaging in ranged attacks.

With a flash, his entire body transformed into a fiery red streak of light, leaping back and forth among the tree branches to dodge the icy longswords thrusting at him. In an instant, Xiao Yun directly closed in.

Seeing that Xiao Yun had actually adopted a close-quarters combat style, Lin Dong's face showed a cold smile. Ice wrapped around his arms, his fists the size of sandbags were clenched tightly, ice attribute battle qi was condensed, and he slammed it down hard at Xiao Yun, who had appeared in front of him like lightning.

Feeling the sharp sound of wind breaking from above, Xiao Yun was somewhat surprised and quickly raised his spear to block Lin Dong's fists.

At this moment, the two men, one tall and one short, pressed their icy fists tightly against the gun barrel, seemingly trying to crush the person below.

"Didn't expect that, did you? I'm a top fighter in the inner court arena. How could I let you see my weakness so easily?"

Lin Dong grinned maliciously, increasing the pressure with both hands as he frantically held down Xiao Yun's body, preventing him from getting up and escaping.

Feeling the force transmitted from the gun, Xiao Yun's expression remained unchanged. His right leg shot out like lightning, purple flames wrapped around his toes, and he kicked hard at Lin Dong's shin.

"Ah..." Purple flames instantly ignited on Lin Dong's calves, even burning a hole in the battle qi armor attached to them. In pain, he forcefully pushed Xiao Yun away with both hands and quickly wrapped the purple flames with icy battle qi.

The chill rushed out, but as soon as it appeared, it was burned by the purple flames with a sizzling sound, causing a white mist to swirl around Lin Dong. In the end, it took him a lot of his battle qi to extinguish the purple flames.

"What kind of flames are these?!" Lin Dong asked Xiao Yun loudly, his eyes filled with terror.

"It's just ordinary beast fire, senior, you'd better be careful!"

Xiao Yun smiled faintly. This purple fire was of course not an ordinary beast fire, but a sixth-order beast fire—the Purple Crystal Lion Fire—that Elder Huo rewarded him with when he was promoted to a third-grade alchemist!

Hey!

With a slam of his foot on the ground, a crisp, muffled sound rang out, and Xiao Yun's figure transformed once again into a fiery red streak of light, carrying intense heat as he charged straight toward Lin Dong.

"Damn it! This time we're probably going to be caught off guard and lose our way." Lin Dong frowned. Although Xiao Yun himself said that the purple flame was just ordinary beast fire, he didn't believe it for a second. Whose ordinary beast fire could burn a hole in the ice-attribute battle qi armor of a nine-star peak Great Dou Master?

Battle aura attributes are mutually exclusive; ice can extinguish flames, but fire can melt solid ice.

Feeling the intense heat coming his way, Lin Dong did not choose to dodge. He could tell that Xiao Yun had mastered a set of magical combat techniques and was much faster than him. Even if he wanted to dodge, he would not be able to escape Xiao Yun's attack. It was better not to do anything useless and expose his own weaknesses.

No sooner said than done, in the blink of an eye, Lin Dong made his decision.

His body stood upright like an iron tower, with icy battle qi surging out from Lin Dong's body and condensing in front of him to form a thick ice wall. The icy battle qi armor on his body was also constantly reinforced, enveloping Lin Dong's body. From a distance, he looked like an ice man formed of ice.

A long sword, entirely ice-blue in color, appeared in his hand, its surface wreathed in icy aura. Lin Dong was poised to strike, awaiting Xiao Yun's attack.

boom!

The spear tip, wreathed in purple flames, struck the ice wall first, piercing it effortlessly like a hot knife through butter. The collision of ice and fire created puffs of white mist.

Lin Dong thrust his longsword forward, colliding with the spear that had pierced the ice wall. Energy ripples scattered and rustled the dense foliage around them. Amidst the swirling white mist, the two clashed once more.

This time, however, Lin Dong was no longer as relaxed as before. The purple flames on Xiao Yun's spear were fierce, forcing Lin Dong to expend a lot of his energy to focus on Xiao Yun's attack. If he accidentally got his hands on the purple flames, he would have to expend a lot of his battle qi to extinguish them.

"Bang!"

After exchanging dozens of blows, Lin Dong was too exhausted and momentarily lost focus. Xiao Yun seized the opportunity, unleashing a burst of purple flames from his spear and sweeping Lin Dong away.

At the junction of the gun and the battle qi armor, a large ball of purple flame instantly swept over Lin Dong's body, and immediately, a piercing sizzling sound continuously came from Lin Dong's battle qi armor.

Seeing the purple flames engulfing his body, Lin Dong, who had been swept into the air, changed his expression drastically. The extremely high temperature continuously seeped into his armor, even burning his skin red.

Its body flew backward rapidly, and everything it collided with was instantly incinerated by the purple flames before crashing heavily against the tree trunk.

Xiao Yun lunged forward, controlling the flames to burn only on Lin Dong's battle qi armor. The tip of his spear, carrying a sharp force, pierced down and finally stopped in front of Lin Dong.

"Are you giving up, senior?"

A faint voice reached Lin Dong's ears. He looked up at the boy in front of him, who was not even half his height, feeling frustrated. Just as he was about to speak, he discovered that his battle qi armor was about to be burned through by the purple flames.

"I surrender, I surrender. Quickly put out this damn flame."

Upon hearing Lin Dong's words, Xiao Yun waved his hand, and the purple flames that were originally attached to his body immediately stopped and were all absorbed into his palm.

"If it weren't for that strange purple flame, the outcome would be uncertain! Wow!"

After saying that, Lin Dong lay down on the ground and vomited a mouthful of blood.

"What are you saying? It's like you were the one who took that shot." Xiao Yun raised an eyebrow, tossed down a healing pill, took out a fire energy card from his pocket, swiped Lin Dong's fire energy, and immediately rushed off to help the others.

With Xiao Yun's help, Fang Wen and his three companions, who were already close to the Black Fiend Team veterans, quickly defeated them.

……

"Now, we've defeated all the veteran teams except for the White Fiend Team. Once you've recovered, head straight to the finish line, have a match with the White Fiend Team, and that's it."

Beside the campfire, Xiao Yun leisurely roasted some wild game he had hunted from who-knows-where, and talked with Fang Wen and the other three.

Starting a fire in the forest was normally a major taboo, but he wasn't afraid of being confronted now. The White Fiend Team was definitely going to hold the finish line, and all the other veterans had been eliminated, leaving only the freshmen teams. If anyone thought they could be the one to pounce on him, he wouldn't mind fighting another round.

"You guys should focus on recovering your fighting spirit first. You'll take turns keeping watch tonight, I'll be on the first shift."

The four responded in unison, and then each found a place to sit cross-legged, leaving only Xiao Yun sitting in front of the fire.

……

(End of this chapter)