Chapter 442: Cangyue Academy.

"Children, we’ve arrived at our destination, the Sacas Dynasty."

A horse-drawn carriage suddenly emerged from a spatial tunnel. As it gradually came to a stop, the first to disembark was an excited, black-robed elder. Following him was a group of handsome young men and women dressed in black Institute Uniforms. On their cuffs, an obscure character for ’Xuan’ shimmered with a faint glow, while a blood-red demon emblem was emblazoned on their collars. They were none other than the Demon Squad, who had traveled all the way from the Xuanling Empire.

"Whoa! Did we finally make it to the competition? This place is huge! And so pretty! And there’s so much good food!!"

The moment he stepped out of the carriage, Little Tiger was stunned by the sight before him. Although he knew nothing of architectural aesthetics, he could feel a completely different atmosphere from the magnificent, castle-like buildings compared to the Xuanling Empire. Of course, in his eyes, the most important things were naturally the foods being sold on the streets, none of which he had ever seen before.

Qing Lei gave a helpless smile and ruffled Little Tiger’s hair. "Can you think about something else for a change? It’s like nothing interests you except for food."

"Something else?" Little Tiger scratched the back of his head. "I like fighting, too. Especially contests of strength."

Hearing this, Qing Lei, Mu Bingling, and the others could only feel exasperated. Little Tiger’s mind was too simple; it couldn’t hold many thoughts at once.

"What a cabbage-head." A detached voice came from behind.

Qing Lei frowned and turned to see that the speaker was wearing the same style of Institute Uniform as him, only theirs was white. And on their collars was a winged, sacred symbol. Qing Lei recognized this person: it was the captain of the Holy Hall Squad, Imro.

"Cabbage-head? Is that a dish? Is it tasty? What’s it made with?"

Before Qing Lei could react, Little Tiger suddenly turned around, full of interest, and fired off several questions. His queries not only stunned Qing Lei but also left the speaker, Imro, frozen in place.

"This dark-skinned kid doesn’t even know what ’cabbage-head’ means. He’s asking what it’s made of, haha..."

The other Holy Hall Squad members burst out laughing. However, among them, a red-haired woman didn’t laugh as openly. In her eyes, Little Tiger actually seemed rather cute.

Hearing the laughter, Little Tiger looked displeased. He frowned and said, "If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t. What’s so funny? You guys are weird."

Hearing Little Tiger’s words, the Holy Hall Students burst out laughing again. One of them, a black-haired youth with a build similar to Imro’s, clapped Imro on the shoulder and said, "Captain, is this guy an idiot? I can’t believe it. Are there really no decent students from the outer circle? To think they’d send a moron like this to compete. No wonder our Xuanling Empire is always at the bottom. It must be because of guys like him holding us back." As he spoke, the youth’s expression suddenly darkened, and he stared at Little Tiger with an extremely cold gaze.

Little Tiger was baffled by the stare. Although he didn’t care much about the other words, he could still recognize insults like "moron" and "idiot." He said in all seriousness, "Brother Mu Chen and Brother Qing Lei both said that insulting people is a bad habit. If you insult me again, I’m going to have to beat you up."

With a snort, Little Tiger turned away and stared intently at the roasted chickens by the roadside. At the same time, the vendor selling the chickens happened to see Little Tiger’s eager expression and shouted from a distance, "Hey, young man! Come get one! Fresh out of the oven!"

Little Tiger was overjoyed. "Okay, okay! I’ll take ten!"

"Huh?" The vendor, holding a roasted chicken, asked dazedly, "T-ten? Young man, could you say that again?"

Little Tiger grunted in affirmation. "I want ten. Here’s your money." He then took a Purple Elemental Crystal directly from his Storage Ring. For roasted chickens, one Purple Elemental Crystal was enough to buy a hundred of them, but Little Tiger simply tossed it to the vendor. He then proceeded to take ten roasted chickens from the grill and place them in his Storage Ring, leaving only one in his hand to devour ravenously. As he ate, his eyes kept darting to the other food stalls, as if to say, ’They’re all mine, all mine.’

The Holy Hall Students exchanged glances at this scene. Imro chuckled. "What a pig. I really don’t know how the academy chose someone like him. It’s a disgrace to wear the same Institute Uniform as them."

Qing Lei’s brow furrowed once more. This Imro had mocked and humiliated Little Tiger time and again, clearly showing no regard for them.

"You’re Imro, right?" Qing Lei said coolly.

Imro saw Qing Lei’s indifferent expression, as if he were looking down on a being of Lower Rank. This feeling greatly displeased Imro, who was used to being admired by other students. He retorted coldly, "And who are you? What right do you have to look at me like that?"

Qing Lei paused, then his expression relaxed and he shook his head. "You’re right, I shouldn’t be looking at you. Because you truly aren’t worthy of my attention. Kid, let me give you a piece of advice: there’s no harm in being more low-key. Otherwise, you’ll be the one to suffer in the end. Shuangshuang, my two sisters-in-law, let’s go."

Although he usually called Mu Chen by his name, in his heart, he respected him as an older brother. That was why he always addressed Mo Qing and Mu Bingling as "sisters-in-law."

Mu Bingling and Mo Qing nodded lightly and set off toward their destination with brisk steps, leaving the sullen-faced Holy Hall Squad with nothing but their indifferent departing figures.

"Ye Hui, who was that guy? He seemed pretty arrogant," one of the Holy Hall members said disdainfully.

The man named Ye Hui gave a sinister smile. "Who cares who he is. To be that arrogant, you need the capital to back it up. I’d like to see just how these guys from the outer circle end up getting eliminated."

Imro snorted coldly and strode forward, his eyes glinting with a terrifying chill. In the Xuanling Empire, he, Imro, had never been treated with such a look or such words. In his mind, he had already marked Qing Lei for ruin. This was the competition period; once it was over, he would definitely find a chance to utterly humiliate him in front of the entire academy.

Di Cang, Lingyun, and Qin Garden walked slowly behind them. Qin Garden sighed, "Di Cang, I don’t know if I did the right thing."

Di Cang smiled upon hearing this. "What do you mean?"

Qin Garden said, "I didn’t tell them about Mu Chen and the Demon Castle, so as not to burden them. You have to understand, the gap between them and someone like Mu Chen is just too vast. I was afraid that if the blow was too great, they would lose their drive and never reach their current level."

Di Cang shook his head. "You did the right thing. No matter what, they’re still just kids. A bit of pride is inevitable. And they are indeed several times stronger than previous Holy Hall Students. Without Mu Chen, our ranking could probably rise to the lower-middle tier."

"’Without Mu Chen’?" Qin Garden’s voice grew heavy. "What do you mean by that?"

Di Cang replied, "I’m just worried Mu Chen won’t make it back in time to participate in the competition."

Stroking his beard, Di Cang gazed into the distance and continued, "If he can make it, our Xuanling Empire might even reach the upper-middle tier."

Qin Garden said helplessly, "Let’s hope he can make it. Honestly, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that kid. I really don’t know if he’s grown stronger or regressed."

Di Cang shook his head, not wanting to discuss the topic further. He picked up his pace and said, "The children have all gone ahead. Let’s get going too. We need to register first."

The group walked side by side and soon disappeared down the street...

"Seriously, Little Tiger, didn’t you eat dinner?" Ye Shuangshuang glanced at Little Tiger, who was constantly stuffing his face, and said in exasperation.

With his cheeks puffed out, Little Tiger mumbled, "I did eat, but I still want more."

Qing Lei teased, "You really have a great constitution. But if you keep eating like this, you’re going to eat us all into poverty."

Hearing the word "poverty," Little Tiger abruptly swallowed the food in his mouth. He looked at the chicken leg in his hand, then put it directly into his Storage Ring. He rubbed his stomach reluctantly and said, "Then I’d better eat a little less."

Little did he know, his expression absolutely delighted everyone. Even the usually stoic Mu Bingling revealed a faint smile. Qing Lei chuckled, rubbing his nose, and chided, "You, my friend, are a real character. I was just teasing you. Don’t worry, even if you ate every food on the entire Extreme Martial Continent, it wouldn’t cost that much."

Little Tiger was overjoyed to hear this. With a flick of his wrist, a roasted chicken appeared in his hand. He tore off a leg, stuffed it in his mouth, and laughed, "That’s great! If I don’t eat my fill, I won’t have the strength to fight."

"Haha..."

Little Tiger’s simple-minded look once again had everyone roaring with laughter. Amidst this cheerful atmosphere, the group finally stopped in front of a massive, resplendent hotel. At the entrance, three large words forged from pure gold and inlaid with Spirit Crystals glittered with a dazzling light.

"Sacas Dynasty Hotel!" Little Tiger read aloud while still eating.

Qing Lei shrugged and said with a wry smile, "There’s really no comparison. This hotel alone feels like it takes up a third of our Imperial Capital."

"Heh... Of course. You should look at where you are. A small, backwater country like yours would probably never get the chance to come here in your entire lifetime if it weren’t for the Empire’s competition."

An arrogant, unfamiliar female voice came from the right. Qing Lei’s face darkened as he turned to look in that direction, the source of the voice.

Following Qing Lei’s gaze, he saw a squad dressed in clothes woven from silk with gold trim. The squad had six members in total—five men and one woman. A faint air of arrogance hung on each of their faces, and the one who had just spoken was the only woman in the group. Qing Lei had seen this kind of look many times before, but when he saw the academy emblem on their cuffs, he couldn’t help but freeze.

"The character ’Xuan’... The Xuanling Empire? Haha, the eternal deadweight of our Flame Dragon Dynasty," the woman added, a contemptuous smile spreading across her face.

"Feiyan, let’s go. There’s nothing to say to trash from a Low-class Empire like that. They aren’t even worthy of speaking to us."

A tall young man who bore a seventy-percent resemblance to the woman stepped out from the group. Without even glancing at Qing Lei’s party, he walked up the steps and into the hotel.

The others chuckled and followed him into the hotel. The woman named Feiyan sneered, "Brother is right. Let’s go. Hey, Ta Shan, you’re in my way! Get behind me, you oaf!"

"Oh, sorry, Miss." A three-meter-tall giant stepped back from the front. Only after Feiyan and the other four had gone up did he scratch the back of his head and follow them.

"Who are they?" Little Tiger suddenly stopped chewing. A sharp, indescribable glint flashed in his pure eyes.

Qing Lei’s expression was grave as he said grimly, "The Flame Dragon Dynasty, from the Cangyue Empire... Cangyue Academy!"