While people were teaming up with each other, Wang Fei clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention once again.
"I want to remind you guys that despite the fact that we got rid of the strongest beasts, the risk of death remains. If you want to give up, there is still time, however once it starts, it will be too late to regret."
After this speech some youths couldn't bear the pressure and left, afraid, but they were a grain of rice in the crowd of participants, the rest didn't budge.
"Good, then let's go." From the south side of the plaza, a path was opened up through the crowd of people. Wang Fei, the teachers, and the participants departed for the Jade Forest.
The sun was at its zenith when they reached the place. Standing before the deadly woods, Wang Fei gave instructions one last time.
"You can begin going in, after the time for an incense stick to burn your tokens will glow a pale blue light for a moment. It means the test officially started."
With these words spoken, a vast number of people flocked in like a herd of boar. Ye Mo was one of the latest to engulf himself in the jade forest.
In an instant, no one remained beside the teachers.
Speeding through the land, Ye Mo frowned deeply. When entering the Jade Forest, he felt someone watching him. After all this time in the slums making sure he remained as inconspicuous as possible, ensuring that no one took notice of him was a second nature.
The Jade Forest was very dense and you could easily lose yourself if you didn't pay attention. Ye Mo purposefully drifted away from the flow of participants and took a path devoid of people. Soon, he could sense a presence following him.
"As I guessed, I am being tailed." Ye Mo was calm, he was prepared for this kind of occurrence.
The pursuer was staying a distance away from him as if he tried to stay out of Ye Mo's perception, but he underestimated his senses. Ye Mo kept playing dumb and trotting through the bushes until his token began emitting a pale blue light.
Quickly, he stopped in an empty area and called out, "You have been following me for long enough now, come out."
High up on a tree, a boy stood up and revealed himself. Jumping down, he landed in front of Ye Mo.
He was a fair-skinned youth around fourteen years old. He wore a light green martial suit with a complex design, it was clear the silk fabric it was made from was of first-rate quality. His long, dark blond hair was tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. Overall, he was very good-looking. On his waist, a blade resided in its scabbard.
"How did you notice me?" The youth asked, a doubtful expression on his face. He seemed surprised to have been found.
"Does it matter?" Ye Mo answered nonchalantly.
"You're right, my name is Liu Huan from the Liu clan. My sister Liu Hualing disappeared in these woods 2 weeks ago, while some bystanders saw you going there during the same period and coming back one day after she stopped all communications." At the end of his sentence, Liu Huan was giving off killing intent as Ye Mo could feel the pressure weigh upon him.
"Tell me everything you know and I will spare your life, but if I sense something is off an instant, I will kill you right away. If you have something to do with my sister's disappearance and admit it honestly, I will give you a clean death and you won't have to suffer. You know that we will find out at some point no matter what, right?" Through all the hardships his clan was enduring Liu Huan matured quickly. No traces of a reckless 14-year-old could be found on him. His tone was firm and he didn't give Ye Mo any leeway.
"What if I refuse?" Ye Mo was unimpressed.
Immediately pulling his sword out of its scabbard, Liu Huan made his way towards Ye Mo, the pressure increasing on the latter's shoulders. "I don't remember asking your opinion nor would I tolerate any resistance."
He was ready to immediately kill Ye Mo and go on with the competition if he didn't cooperate.
"Fine, I will tell you what I know, no need to go through this." Ye Mo raised his hands and coaxed Liu Huan to stop, visibly conceding.
Lowering his sword, Liu Huan listened attentively.
"This day, I went to the Jade Forest to hunt some animals, but then..." Halfway through his sentence, Ye Mo suddenly mustered all the strength he could and rushed at Liu Huan like a beast. The ground cracked under his foot as he moved at an inconceivable speed, sneak-attacking in a flash!
Liu Huan didn't lower his guard and kept his sword in hand even against what seemed like an ordinary commoner, but he could never have imagined this. In an instant, Ye Mo stood before him. He barely had the time to raise his sword as protection before he could feel an immense force crash against his sword and send him flying.
"How is this possible, isn't he just an ordinary kid from the slums? He can't be this strong to go against me like that. I'm already a 6th stage Qi Gathering Realm cultivator at fourteen, father said I am a genius. Even against my peers from the other clans, not many are my match so how could I be thrown around by this guy?" Many thoughts went through Liu Huan's mind before he crashed against a tree, breaking it apart.
He went through the trunk and kept stumbling on the ground multiple times before stopping himself in a cloud of dust.
When he got up, the handsome young man was no more, in his place was a beggar in ragged clothes with a dislocated shoulder and a thin trail of blood seeping out of his mouth. His sword-wielding arm angled backward, his blade was of no use to him anymore.
"What you used... It is the Wind Flow technique of my Liu clan. So you did kill my big sister..." Liu Huan said quietly, but his bloodshot eyes and the bulging veins on his forehead betrayed his fiery emotions.
It might not be evident for someone else, but Liu Huan was perceptive and as a Liu clan member, he could see there was no wind resistance in Ye Mo's movements.
"Nothing personal. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time." Ye Mo uttered, indifferent, which enraged Liu Huan even more.
"But it doesn't seem like you mastered our martial art completely, and since the start, I didn't feel any qi from you, so I think you actually don't have any cultivation which is why you can't complete the Wind Flow battle skill."
Ye Mo didn't react, but Liu Huan wasn't done.
"Since you have no cultivation but are still this fast and strong it means you cultivate a body refining technique. But from the informations I got, you're just a homeless kid with no relatives and I know that you were still starving on the streets not too long ago so my guess is, either you have a hidden master that imparted you some martial art recently which is highly improbable since there is no reason anyone would care about you, in addition, if it was the case, this master would have taught you qi cultivation before anything else, not body refining cultivation. The most likely is for you to have lucked out an amazing body refining technique not long ago." In one go, Liu Huan spilled most of Ye Mo's secrets out.
He was only handed a few clues here and there, but surprisingly was able to uncover the truth in a second. This youth couldn't be underestimated.
But all this gave them another reason to kill each other.
"A demon like you can't be left alive. I will show you the real Wind Flow battle skill." As soon as he said that, Liu Huan vanished like a gust of wind.
Ye Mo just felt wind blowing on his body when Liu Huan was already behind him.
Mid-tier Yellow Class - Scorching Palm!
Liu Huan attacked, his hand turning a deep, fuming red.
Ye Mo could barely follow his movements, he had just turned around when he could see a blazing red palm heading towards him. He raised his guard as the palm struck his arm, burning his skin and marking his flesh, yet he didn't flinch and counterattacked with an uppercut in a split second.
Exchanging blow for blow, both seemed evenly matched. One was a hurricane darting all around attacking from every angle, the other was a charging colossus never retreating one step. Wherever they went, destruction followed as the area soon became a battlefield.
Despite that, Ye Mo was slowly taking the advantage. As a body refining cultivator, his body was tougher and he took less damage than Liu Huan. He also had better stamina, could keep up longer and heal faster. Also Liu Huan was fighting with one hand so he kept in motion at all times to avoid being grabbed which was very taxing to the mind.
With Ye Mo' strength, if Liu Huan landed in his hands, he would be butchered.
Another point was that Ye Mo didn't have any qi, he was fighting solely with his body. As long as he didn't take too much damage, he could keep going for hours without tiring, but Liu Huan lost qi with every strike, once his reserves were emptied, he would barely be better than a mortal before a tiger.
"I can't keep this, he doesn't give me any time to use a healing or qi rejuvenating pill. I need to end this now or flee and get the board of elders to kill him." After a couple more rounds, Liu Huan started to feel in danger and already had thoughts of retreat.
"Here, an opening!"
Just when he was planning to escape, he saw a hole in Ye Mo's guard.
Liu Huan roared madly as he attacked with all his might. The temperature of the area increased exponentially as the burning palm launched forward and buried itself on the chest of his foe. However, before it could reach the vital organs, his opponent grabbed the wrist of his hand embedded in Ye Mo's torso.
"Shit, it was a trap!" Liu Huan panicked as he realized the ploy.
He could feel the embrace of death closing on himself.
The sizzling skin of Ye Mo's chest released the smell of burned meat, but without waiting he withstood the pain and followed with a roundhouse kick.
This one struck Liu Huan's stomach and sent him flying like a rag doll before crashing against another tree.
Ye Mo walked towards the crash site, the palm print on his torso releasing smoke. A jagged burn stretched across his chest like a smear of fire frozen in flesh. The skin was charred in places — black and cracked — while other areas glistened raw and red, stripped of their outer layers like scorched bark peeled from a tree. Angry blisters had begun to rise around the wound's edges, swelling and twitching with every breath he took.
A trace of white from the ribs could be seen on one side of the burn, revealing a part of his rib.
"As they say, give them your flesh and take their bones. Compared to the first revolution of the fiend body, this kind of pain is nothing."
Ye Mo approached casually, the severity of the burn and the pain he was enduring were visible to all, but he was expressionless to the point that one would wonder if he even realized he was injured.