Female Protagonist Assistance System

Chapter 69 : . Inner Court

After Gu Xun'er defeated the White Sha team leader, the remaining White Sha team members automatically conceded defeat.

Seemingly unable to believe they had actually defeated the White Sha team, the new students were stunned for a while before finally cheering.

Xiao Han exhaled. She hadn't been completely idle during this match; otherwise, how could these Dou Master and early-stage Dou Great Master level new students have defeated the White Sha team, whose members averaged seven to eight-star Dou Great Master?

The White Sha team leader silently got up from the ground. He looked deeply at Xiao Han and Gu Xun'er, his voice heavy: "You... are very strong."

Gu Xun'er smiled slightly, accepting the White Sha team leader's praise.

"Little ones, the new students have won this year's Fire Energy Hunt Competition."

Just then, a cheerful laugh came from behind. Xiao Han turned to see a familiar middle-aged man walking out.

"Elder Su."

Seeing the man, everyone stood up and respectfully called out.

Su Qian nodded, looking at the expressionless Xiao Han, and remarked with some emotion: "I never expected you, little one, to be hiding such depth. A high-level Dou Spirit at twenty..."

Xiao Han cupped her hands and said softly: "Just luck."

Su Qian waved his hand and said: "Sometimes, good luck is also a manifestation of strength."

Xiao Han smiled but didn't speak.

Glancing at the White Sha team behind him, Su Qian turned his gaze back to Xiao Han and the others, saying: "As the winners of this Fire Energy Hunt Competition, all new students present can each receive twenty days of fire energy. As for Xiao Han, Gu Xun'er, Hu Jia, Wu Hao, and Xiao Mei, you five will receive an additional reward of a Green Fire Crystal Card, plus thirty days of fire energy."

"Green Fire Crystal Card?"

Hearing these four words, all members of the White Sha team looked up in shock, staring at Su Qian in disbelief.

"Green Fire Crystal Card? What's that?"

Except for Xiao Han, the other four were somewhat confused about this so-called Green Fire Crystal Card. They exchanged glances, all looking puzzled.

"In the Inner Court, fire crystal cards are divided into five colors from low to high: black, blue, green, red, and purple. The black crystal card in your hands is the lowest level card, allowing its holder to cultivate only on the first and second floors of the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower. The blue card is for the third and fourth floors, and so on."

"To upgrade a crystal card in the Inner Court, you need to pay fire energy. Generally, upgrading from a black crystal card to a blue one requires one hundred days of fire energy, and from blue to green requires two hundred days... Now that you've been awarded the Green Fire Crystal Card, it's equivalent to saving three hundred days of fire energy. That's no small amount." Su Qian explained.

Three hundred days? The new students were stunned. No wonder the seniors had such expressions.

After finishing his explanation, Su Qian waved his hand, and five green crystal cards appeared. He flicked his fingers, and the cards shot towards Xiao Han's group, finally hovering before them.

"The rewards are already inside. Transfer the fire energy from your black crystal cards to these, then return the black crystal cards to me."

Taking back the black fire crystal cards, Su Qian nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Alright, since you've all passed the Fire Energy Hunt Competition, follow me into the Inner Court." With that, he turned and led the way up a stone staircase on the hillside.

"Quite generous," Xiao Han snorted lightly, tossing the fire crystal card in her hand into her system space before taking Gu Xun'er's hand and following Su Qian first.

Seeing Xiao Han and Gu Xun'er, who had subtly become the center of the new students, following Su Qian first, the others followed without hesitation.

The stone staircase wasn't particularly high. In just a minute or two, Xiao Han and the others reached the top.

Xiao Han looked up to see an enormous sunken basin beyond the hillside. The shape of this basin was as if a giant meteorite had fallen from the sky and forcibly carved it out.

Within the basin, tall buildings stood. Looking down from above, one could see countless black shadows, like fleas, constantly flashing and jumping between the buildings. As the gaze extended forward, the area of this basin was surprisingly large. Even at the limit of vision, one could still only see towering buildings and lush greenery.

It was hard to imagine that such an extraordinary place was hidden in the endless mountains behind Jia Nan Academy.

"Is this the Inner Court..." Many new students looked shocked.

"Little ones, welcome to the core of Jia Nan Academy: the Inner Court!" Elder Su smiled, clapping his hands as he watched the shock on the new students' faces.

Xiao Han withdrew her gaze and looked around, noticing that the group of new students led by Bai Shan and Xiao Yan were standing nearby. They seemed to have arrived here earlier.

Xiao Yan's face was somewhat gloomy. He glanced at Xiao Han, his eyes revealing some jealousy and hatred, but he seemed to be suppressing his emotions, not coming forward to provoke Xiao Han.

Xiao Han was somewhat surprised. In the past, Xiao Yan would have rushed to confront her. If not for the fact that he still couldn't hide the expression on his face, she might have thought she had encountered the deep-thinking Xiao Yan from the original story.

The other three new students also looked at them hesitantly. The news of the new students, led by Xiao Han's group, counter-robbing the seniors and even defeating the Black and White Guan Sha had already reached their ears. After hearing these rumors, they somewhat regretted following Xiao Yan and Bai Shan.

Although Bai Shan's brother was the leader of the White Gang in the Inner Court, their strength was really just average among the new students. The White Gang might not necessarily value them.

"Alright, now that the hunt competition is over, all new students follow me back to the Inner Court. We'll get you settled first, and then you'll officially become members of the Inner Court. Believe me, as long as you can persevere here, when you leave, you'll feel that everything was worth it for your progress," Elder Su said slowly, his gaze lingering on Xiao Han and the others.

All the new students nodded slightly. From those seniors, they could already see what enormous benefits cultivation in this Inner Court would bring!

"Let's go! Everyone keep up!"

With a wave of his hand, Elder Su's figure blurred into a shadow, swiftly moving towards the huge basin. Behind him, all the new students immediately set their bodies in motion, swooping down from the hillside like a swarm of locusts.

Instantly, a chorus of excited shouts echoed in the sky, lingering for a long time.

Xiao Han looked up at the lush valley, slightly pursing her lips.

For some reason, upon seeing this Inner Court, a faint unease arose in her heart. As if... something not so good might happen.

Looking at Gu Xun'er beside her, she shook her head, pushing these vague thoughts to the back of her mind.

She hoped she was just being overly cautious.

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"Creak."

A wooden door was slowly pushed open, a ray of sunlight extending through the crack, finally forming a thin line of light on the ground.

As the wooden door fully opened, the light rapidly expanded, and several shadows of varying lengths cast by the sunlight walked in. The leading elder's gaze swept across the spacious small building, and he said with a smile: "Xiao Han, this will be the residence for you five from now on."

Hu Jia sighed in relief and said: "It's good that four of us are girls."

Hearing this, Su Qian laughed and said: "Little Hu Jia, it wouldn't matter if you lived with boys either. It's not like there's only one room and one bed."

After a pause, he pondered for a moment and said: "From now on, you five belong to the Inner Court. Let me remind you, in this Inner Court, unless your strength is extremely formidable, it's not easy to get by alone... Due to the environment, those senior students in the Inner Court have also divided into factions with their own territories. You'll likely encounter these things soon enough."

"There are such things in the Inner Court? Don't the instructors prohibit this?" Xiao Mei asked with a slightly furrowed brow.

"Why should we prohibit it? This kind of competitive spirit is exactly what our Inner Court needs. If you don't want to be bullied, then you can only work hard to improve your own strength. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss... The strong rule supreme, this is always the main theme of this world. We don't want the Inner Court to become a carefree ivory tower, because such an environment cannot produce truly strong individuals," Su Qian said indifferently.

Hearing Su Qian's explanation, Xiao Mei could only purse her lips. Gu Xun'er and Wu Hao nodded in agreement; they had experienced real trials and were very clear about what kind of environment could give birth to truly strong individuals.

As for Xiao Han... she didn't care what kind of environment she was in. For her, as long as she was strong enough, any environment was fine.

"So, having you live together is actually to help you form a team. In the hunt competition, you must have understood how strong the fighting power of a team can be, right?" Su Qian smiled and said: "From today on, I hope you five will be a team that faces all difficulties together and never abandons each other. If you can do this, life in this Inner Court will be much easier. No matter what, the power of one person can never compare to that of a team, right?"

Gu Xun'er instinctively looked at Xiao Han. In her mind, Xiao Han had always been a believer in the lone wolf philosophy. For her, a team might only be a burden.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Han was the first to nod, seeming quite agreeable.

Xiao Han believed in the lone wolf philosophy only because there weren't many people in this world she could trust. When she first came to this world, she was an outsider coldly observing this world. It could even be said that before truly being with Gu Xun'er, she would subconsciously feel that this was a world in a book, a false world, and that once she completed her task, she could return to her original, real world.

But in fact, in the 21st century, she was also a direct disciple of a sect, the senior sister who could shoulder the important tasks of the sect in the eyes of many disciples. She wasn't someone who believed in the lone wolf philosophy from birth.

"I don't mind. I have no objections to Xiao Han's strength," Wu Hao hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly and said calmly.

Gu Xun'er laughed lightly. Being able to be with Xiao Han, she naturally wouldn't have any objections.

"Sigh, alright, being with Xiao Han, although I don't want to admit it, does give a bit more sense of security," Hu Jia spread her hands and nodded helplessly.

Xiao Mei naturally wouldn't have any objections either.

"It's best if you can be like this," Su Qian nodded with satisfaction upon seeing the five seamlessly form a team. He waved his hand and said: "Alright, it's getting late. Sort out your rooms yourselves and then rest for the night. Starting tomorrow, you can look around the Inner Court as you wish. I'm sure this place won't disappoint you."

"Are there no cultivation courses?" Hearing this, Hu Jia quickly asked.

"The Inner Court doesn't need such things. As long as you have enough fire energy, you can enter the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower. Cultivating there is more effective than any course. Oh, right, I almost forgot, the academy organizes a collective entry into the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower once a week for students. If you want to call it a course, that should count."

Su Qian chuckled and said: "Additionally, there are places like the Battle Skill Hall and Cultivation Technique Pavilion in the Inner Court. If you want to obtain cultivation techniques or battle skills, you can go there to take a look. Of course, this is also under the premise of having enough fire energy to exchange. Compared to the Outer Court, the Inner Court is actually more free."

"If you feel you don't have enough fire energy and are itching for action, you can go to the arena to earn fire energy. Of course, the premise is that you must have sufficient strength, otherwise you'll just lose everything."

Xiao Han's group nodded slightly, indicating they understood.

"If there are no problems, you should rest now. If you have any issues, you can come find me." Waving to the five, Su Qian turned and walked out the door, finally disappearing from Xiao Han and the others' sight.

Watching Su Qian leave, Xiao Han clapped her hands and said softly to Gu Xun'er and the others: "Let's tidy up the rooms."

"Mm." Gu Xun'er and the others nodded with a smile, then dispersed to find their rooms.

Xiao Han naturally stayed with Gu Xun'er. The building had two floors, with no rooms on the first floor, only a large hall. All the rooms were on the second floor.

After choosing their preferred rooms, everyone exchanged greetings and returned to rest. Having just finished the Fire Energy Hunt Competition today and experienced several fierce battles, Hu Jia and the others were physically and mentally exhausted. They just wanted to sleep well and didn't plan to cultivate.

Gu Xun'er was also a bit tired. After returning to their room, they chatted for a while before going to bed.

The night passed uneventfully.