Cultivating the Nine Revolutions Fiend Body with qi accelerated Ye Mo's healing process and the injuries could be seen slowly mending over time.
Outside Ye Mo's peaceful lair, rain poured heavily from above and snake-like lightning danced in the sky.
Sounds of thunder echoed constantly, burying the shouts of the participants and the sound of their footsteps in the rain.
Everywhere in the outer part of the Jade Forest, fierce battles broke out and people were killed, whether it was against a beast or from the hands of a fellow contestant, the death count increased every second.
Ye Mo was completely immersed in his recovery and didn't pay any attention to the exterior. Focused on his cultivation, he constantly absorbed qi from heaven and earth.
Time flies when cultivating and in the blink of an eye, two days passed.
On the third day, the sun's rays pierced through the clouds, casting light upon the earth and illuminating a young boy walking in the vicinity.
With each stride he made, he would look all around him and seemed very nervous. His name was Shao Yong, and he was the illegitimate child of a rich merchant with lots of relationships in the city. With his father's assets and inner circle, Shao Yong was able to get his hands on some martial arts, enabling him to enter the world of cultivation.
"Damn sword bastard, why did this have to happen to me?" Shao Yong clenched his fists as he mumbled to himself.
Being an illegitimate son, he couldn't inherit the family's business and was given the cold shoulder by his siblings. This unfair treatment made him desire power, as such, he begged his father day and night and finally obtained a low-tier Yellow Class battle skill and cultivation technique.
It was already the best his father could get his hands on, as this one was a mortal himself and gold coins alone couldn't give you everything.
This way Shao Yong embarked on a journey to pursue strength. He worked diligently and at sixteen he reached the 4th rank of the Qi Gathering Realm. He wanted to become a strong cultivator surpassing everyone's expectations and making his family recognize him so he decided to enroll in the Tiger Martial Institute before it was too late.
It was his last chance before he turned seventeen, thus he struck a friendship with some other teens his age and around the same cultivation level, building a solid team to face the dangers of the trial.
The first two days were going well, no one dared to attack them. They got a couple of tokens beating others and even some blood cores from beasts they killed relying on group tactics.
Then, on the night of the second day, a young man suddenly appeared. He had silvery white long hair a white robe, and a long curved, single-edged blade on the back. Without a word he attacked, hacking left and right without restraint.
His cultivation was profound and each hit was deadly, all his comrades were sliced apart in a single strike.
Shao Yong who had been sent to gather dry wood for the fire, witnessed the scene from afar. Frightened, he lay down on the ground among the thick grasses, ignoring the cries of distress from his comrades. If you didn't particularly look his way you wouldn't even notice him. He was so terrified that even when no sound could be heard anymore, he waited for hours before sticking his head out and taking a glance.
All that remained were the minced corpses of his teammates, the tokens and blood cores were taken by the assailant.
"I must be cursed to run into this kind of monster, it was supposed to be an easy test, but now that I am all alone with no tokens or blood cores how can I succeed? I would be lucky to survive this ordeal already." Every time Shao Yong thought of this scene and the stolen goods, anger rushed through his mind but even more than that, he was scared out of his wits.
Nonetheless, while he was walking in a relatively remote corner of the woods, the ground suddenly shuddered, then a hole exploded into being.
A young man leaped out of the hole, as agile as a cat. He appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years of age and was covered in dirt from head to toe.
"Hahaha, is this guy for real? Don't tell me he has been hiding in a hole the whole time." Shao Yong, has been fearful and anxious for hours now. He was distressed when he thought he wouldn't join the Tiger Martial Institute, he feared dying in this forest, and he feared returning to his father as a failure.
All this time, he was stressed to be ambushed at any moment and a heavy pressure weighed on him, so in front of this ridiculous situation couldn't help but laugh out loud, thinking this guy was so scared he shamelessly hid underground during the competition.
"The heavens really didn't forget me, sending this beggar on my path. He's alone and doesn't even have any cultivation, it really is a godsend opportunity. With his token I just need to go into hiding and stay concealed until the time allotted comes to an end to finally pass the first phase. I won't need to travel this forest fighting blood beasts or run into devils like this silver-haired guy."
Shao Yong was over the moon, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Venomous Spirit Claw!"
Without wasting any time, Shao Yong rushed at the young man, his right hand taking the form of a claw enshrouded in poisonous, dark green air.
He could already hear the youth's cries of pain as the claw puncture his body while the venom infiltrate his blood system, killing him.
But just before his strike reached him, Shao Yong suddenly felt the world spinning before he hit the ground. His shoulder was dislocated and he was dizzy.
His foe grabbed his arm at the last moment and using the force of Shao Yong's charge, he threw him the other way. His movements were so fast that he couldn't react in time.
The last thing he saw was a giant foot nearing his face before being sent on his way to the afterlife. The skull burst like a watermelon, soaking the lower body of his killer.
Crouching down, the youth searched through Shao Yong's clothes but couldn't find anything besides his token.
"Poor bastard." The boy kicked the corpse away before he started stretching.
The young man was Ye Mo, and after 2 days of cultivation in a cramped space, his limbs were sore.
Dusting himself revealed his muscular body. The vague shape of burn marks remained on his body, but looked more like old scars now. Only the injury on his right hand wasn't completely healed, the wound closed up but it was still fragile and he could feel it would open if he wasn't careful.
However, Ye Mo couldn't wait anymore when walking money bags were scattered across the Jade Forest.
Two days remained until the end of the first phase and as they kept dying, not much would be left for him.
Ye Mo set out looking for prey, but as he kept wandering, he couldn't find any.
"Looks like there are much more casualties than I thought." On his way, he only got two encounters.
One was a Green Maple Snake that sneak attacked him. The animal was a low-tier rank 1 blood beast. The color of its scales helped them camouflage in a lush environment, and their poison could kill a grown man in a few seconds.
Ye Mo, who was vigilant, caught him by the neck and ripped it apart, but as expected the snake didn't contain a blood core.
The second encounter was with a boy casually walking by himself in the woods. He had blazing red hair, wore dark clothes and a thick staff lay on his back, a light smile rested on his juvenile face. Ye Mo chose to leave while he wasn't noticed yet.
"Someone alone being that laid back in this kind of situation means nothing good. I had better find someone else instead of facing him."
Ye Mo quickly ascertained the situation and decided to find someone else. He would rather keep searching than waste his time taking useless risks.
What Ye Mo was after was blood cores, gold coins and anything that could help his cultivation, but he wouldn't fight to the death if it wasn't worth it. That's why he wouldn't confront those alone since it meant either they had the strength to protect themselves or they were trash that no one wanted so he wouldn't gain anything from them anyway.
This Forest was filled with dangers, who would casually walk by themselves with a smile on their face if they didn't have complete confidence in their abilities?
Some were alone because they are the sole survivor of their team but it was rather uncommon so Ye Mo didn't bother about it.
After another hour roaming, Ye Mo eventually found what he was looking for.
Behind the cover of bushes, he watched a group of seven people eating and drinking together. Three girls and four boys sat in circles on logs of wood as they joyously discussed.
"Brother Wei Leng your Ardent Flame Ring technique is really marvelous, without you, we wouldn't have been able to deal with this Violent Saber Bear." Complimented Ren Xue Tu.
"Haha, you praise me too much, senior brother Ren, you were the one to give the fatal hit, all the merit belongs to you." Exclaimed Wei Leng.
"You both did great, if I were alone, I don't know how I would never have been able to deal with such a beast. Two hands can't beat four fists, with numbers comes strength." One of the girls added happily.
The party members were in high spirits. On the first day, a huge fight erupted among the participants and in the chaos, they attacked a lot of commoners with no cultivation.
They were similar to lambs among tigers and lions, everyone pounced on them at once, some martial artists even fought against each other for the right to beat them and seize their tokens. In the end, the group obtained a good number of them and left before it became dangerous.
Later, relying on their numbers and great coordination, they were able to kill mid-tier beasts and even obtained some blood cores. With the tokens they had plus the blood cores, all of them could pass the test already and gain access to the second phase of the recruitment competition.
They just had to take it easy and wait for the remaining time to pass.
"Wait, senior brother Ren, someone is coming!" One of the boys who has been silent all this time suddenly alerted his friends.
Without delay, everyone grabbed their weapons or began circulating their qi. Their movements were smooth and natural, like a well-executed choreography. From this, it was clear they were experienced.
In the distance, the silhouette of a young man walking in their direction could be seen.