The Gryphon team landed, and all the students leaped off their backs, surveying the mountain stream that, aside from being somewhat secluded, had no other distinguishing features.
"Where is this? Is the Inner Courtyard nearby?"
"Don't be silly, didn't the Vice Dean say he would take us to a place, and then someone would come to greet us and take us into the Inner Courtyard? This is clearly the handover point."
The students whispered amongst themselves.
Hu Qian, who had descended from the sky, glanced at the impatient group of students, a slightly strange smile on his face.
Without saying more, under everyone's gaze, Hu Qian stepped forward about ten paces, then stopped. With a wave of his hand, a powerful energy suddenly shot out from it, striking the space in front of him.
Under the impact of this energy, the space, which had been as calm as water, suddenly rippled.
These ripples surged rapidly, and finally, a silver gate, seven or eight zhang tall, appeared out of thin air!
Seeing this, many students were startled, not expecting such a seemingly ordinary place to hide such a secret.
The silver gate slowly opened with a crisp sound. The scene behind the gate was the same dense forest as before, seemingly no different from the dense forest they had seen on the way.
"You three Elders have worked hard along the way. You can take the Gryphons back to the Outer Courtyard first. All students, follow me."
After instructing the three escorting Elders, Hu Qian waved his hand and was the first to walk into the silver gate.
Dozens of students followed closely behind.
If they had discovered such a spatial portal alone outside, they might have been cautious, but here, with the Vice Dean leading the way, no one felt there was any danger.
Passing through the silver gate, everyone felt their vision blur slightly before their feet were firmly on the ground.
Looking ahead, at the entrance of the forest in front of the students, two old men and several middle-aged men had appeared at some point.
In addition, behind them stood nearly twenty Inner Courtyard seniors. On the chests of all the seniors, they wore a badge engraved with a tower-like pattern, making their identity easily distinguishable.
"Heh heh, Old Man Hu, you're still so punctual. It's so much easier having you escort the new students. This year's new students... huh, why is there one more?"
One of the two old men, seeing the large group of people entering, smiled and greeted Hu Qian. His sharp gaze swept over the crowd, and after noticing the incorrect number, he was slightly surprised.
Normally, each Inner Courtyard Selection Tournament only had fifty spots.
Of course, this didn't mean that the Inner Courtyard only had fifty new students each year.
In addition to the Outer Courtyard selection, there were other channels to enter the Inner Courtyard.
For example, the alchemy department of the Outer Courtyard.
The requirements for those students to enter the Inner Courtyard were different from those for regular students.
"Haha, plans can't keep up with changes. When the new students enrolled this year, there was a special case. It would be too wasteful to let him waste his time in the Outer Courtyard, so I made an exception and let him participate in the selection tournament. At the same time, I also added a spot."
Hearing the other party mention this, the smile on Hu Qian's face became even brighter.
Saying this, Hu Qian turned around and beckoned to Chen Xiao and the other four. After they came to his side, he pointed to the two old men and introduced them.
"This is Grand Elder Su Qian, and this is Elder Qin. They are both important figures in the Inner Courtyard. If you have anything in the Inner Courtyard in the future, just find them, and it's guaranteed to work. These five little guys are the top five in this year's selection tournament. Their strength is decent."
The last sentence was clearly directed at the two Elders, Su and Qin.
Hu Qian spoke quite modestly, but the smile on his face was incredibly smug.
As the Vice Dean of the Outer Courtyard, the students he brought out were dazzling, and he naturally felt honored.
Especially showing off in front of these familiar old guys made him even happier.
Hearing this, the two Elders became slightly more serious and carefully examined the top five of the selection tournament.
When their eyes fell on Chen Xiao, a hint of undisguised surprise flashed in their eyes.
"He's not yet thirteen this year."
Hu Qian continued to add fuel to the fire.
Su Qian and Elder Qin gasped slightly, their shock increasing.
A four-star Dou Ling at just over twelve years old was something they had never seen before, even with their experience!
As for Zi Yan...
The Inner Courtyard Elders all knew that her true form was a Magical Beast, they just didn't know exactly what kind of Magical Beast.
"It really is quite astonishing, Old Man Hu, your decision was right. It would be purely misleading such a genius to keep him in the Outer Courtyard." Grand Elder Su Qian nodded and praised.
Hu Qian smiled smugly, then belatedly restrained himself.
"What does the old guy mean? Is my Outer Courtyard not worthy of teaching a few geniuses?"
"I didn't say that, it's just the situation inside the Inner Courtyard, you know."
Hearing this, Hu Qian slightly pouted and stopped arguing.
He naturally knew how important that thing in the Inner Courtyard was.
Jia Nan Academy could become a famous academy on the continent, and even young men and women from the Central State often came to study.
That thing accounted for at least forty percent of the credit for being able to develop to its current level!
"Alright, I'll take it from here."
After saying this to Hu Qian, Grand Elder Su Qian faced the new students.
"Although you have all passed the selection tournament and obtained the qualification to enter the Inner Courtyard, entering the Inner Courtyard is not the end of it."
Su Qian smiled, raised his hand, and a large handful of dark chips appeared in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, the chips shot out and, under his subtle Dou Qi control, hovered in front of everyone, including Chen Xiao.
The students all took hold of the chips and immediately felt a strange heat permeate from them. Looking down, they saw a transparent mirror on the chip, on which was printed a large red number.
"Five!"
Looking at this red number, dozens of students' eyes flashed with confusion, not understanding its meaning.
Chen Xiao, however, knew its use.
Fire Energy Points, these were the hard currency in the Inner Courtyard!
He looked up into the distance and could see the group of older students, their eyes currently burning as they looked at the chips in their hands, their covetousness undisguised.
"Some things are hard to explain in a few words. You'll understand once you've seen it and used it. You don't need to ask anything now, just remember one thing."
"That is to guard the chips in your hands as if they were your life. When you enter the Inner Courtyard, you will understand their importance! If you don't believe me, just look at the eyes of the group behind you, and you'll get a sense of it."
Grand Elder Su Qian chuckled.
Hearing this, the students immediately put away their chips.
They could feel that Su Qian wasn't joking.
"Next, what you need to do is enter the forest, then pass through it and reach the end of the forest. The Inner Courtyard you yearn for is there!"
Grand Elder Su Qian pointed to the group of older students behind him and continued, "As you traverse this forest, remember to be extremely careful of them, because according to the rules of the Inner Courtyard, in this forest, they can attack you freely. That is to say, they can attack you, using all means except killing, to plunder the Fire Energy on your chips."
"And what you need to do is find every possible way to avoid them or defeat them. As long as you are not caught by them and successfully reach the Inner Courtyard, you will receive a final reward. The earlier you arrive, the richer the reward."
"Oh, and there are some other teams of older students like this in the forest."
After this final reminder, Grand Elder Su Qian's finger suddenly moved towards the dark forest behind him.
"Regarding this forest snatch, our Inner Courtyard calls it the 'Fire Energy Hunting Competition'!"
"Now, I announce..."
"This year's Fire Energy Hunting Competition officially begins! Little ones, start your escape!"
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