Under the shadow of trees, Ye Mo was seen walking step by step towards the group.
At some point the party could clearly see him.
"Look at his body, he must have suffered a lot."
"But why is he coming here, does he think we will protect him if he begs us?"
"No matter what, we can't take a deadweight in the team, even more so if it's a stranger."
"Maybe he wants to ask if we have an extra token to give him."
Seeing his sorry figure, the group members relaxed and started chatting with each other.
Only Ren Xue Tu felt something was amiss.
"Guys, let's get in formation." Ren Xue Tu commanded, holding up the greatsword that was planted on the ground next to him.
His companions had a total trust in him. They acknowledged the instruction and immediately executed themselves, surrounding Ye Mo as they drew closer to him.
As they approached, Ren Xue Tu gave instructions to Wei Leng, "Brother Wei use your Ardent Flame Ring technique once again."
Wei Leng looked at Ren Xue Tu in surprise.
"Are you sure, I don't think he poses much of a threat." Wei Leng didn't understand why go this far for a single man.
They killed powerful mid-tier rank 1 blood beasts the past days and even scared off other groups of cultivators, why would they fear a lone and injured kid with no cultivation?
Wei Leng could not understand, even if he was alone, he knew he was persuaded he could easily deal with someone like him.
"It's just in case, trust me." Ren Xue Tu reassured.
He wasn't clear either, it was just a hunch he had, but it didn't cost anything to be cautious, and his mentors from his family taught him to never underestimate anyone.
"Alright, senior brother Ren, you never disappointed me so far!" Wei Leng had faith in Ren Xue Tu's abilities and quickly accepted his request.
His hands started giving off an orange fire glow as they approached the intruder.
When they arrived in front of Ye Mo they immediately surrounded him while Wei Leng used his Ardent Flame Ring technique.
He raised his hands up on both sides as a giant wall of flame took form on the ground, expanding continuously until it encircled everyone.
Ye Mo stood in the center of the flame ring, impassive, as his dark eyes assessed his opponents.
As the leader, Ren Xue Tu spoke first.
"I don't know what your intentions are, but now you're trapped. Don't even think about escaping, those flames can scorch even a mid-tier blood beast alive. If you leave your spatial pouch on the ground and break one of your leg, we will let you go."
Ren Xue Tu coldly stated his terms. His words were harsh, far from having any intention to help him, he wanted to rob Ye Mo and injure him to make sure he wouldn't pose them any problem for the rest of the competition.
Ye Mo squinted his eyes.
Those people didn't know he was a body refining cultivator, in their eyes he was only an ordinary mortal. With a broken leg, he wouldn't even be able to walk anymore, if he really broke his leg in the middle of the Jade Forest, it would be no less than suicide for any mortal.
In fact, even if he did break his leg in front of them, would they really let him go? With such an injury, Ye Mo would be in an all-time state of weakness, those people could easily go back on their words and use this opportunity to attack him together, who would blame them? The dead can't talk.
In this scenario, he wouldn't even be able to put up a fight, they didn't need to fear anything.
"So what you mean is that I am confined together with you?" Ye Mo asked, his dark eyes fixed on them.
"That's right, no one can leave if I don't cancel my technique." Wei Leng explained with a smug smile. He was proud of this technique he bitterly cultivated.
Ye Mo grinned, revealing evil intent.
His leg muscles contracted while he gathered all his strength in his lower body to the limit.
Whoosh!
He released it all in an instant as he jumped forward, causing Ye Mo to shoot out like a meteor.
His speed was so fast Ren Xue Tu's iris shrank as he felt a chill run down his spine.
At the crucial moment, his instincts kicked in, and he shrieked as he blindly swung his sword in front of him with the strongest attack he could muster.
The shadow of a ten-foot-long blade took form as it encompassed his sword.
But before it could fully materialize, Ye Mo had already reached him.
Ren Xue Tu felt a strong force assault him as he was hit on the chest by Ye Mo's fist.
The sword shadow scattered immediately as Ren Xue Tu was sent flying, his body went through the fire wall, and disappeared from their sight.
Wei Leng and his companions stared with wide-open eyes as they didn't anticipate this turn of events.
A second before, their leader was standing before them, his valiant aura lifting their spirit as he handled this stranger, but the next second, he was nowhere to be seen.
Quickly, cries of pain could be heard in the surroundings. Wei Leng was the first to react and hurriedly canceled his Ardent Flame Ring technique, the fire receding in a short time.
The flames dissipated while on the other side, a raging ball of fire could be seen walking step by step as its shouts of agony echoed in the forest.
With every passing breath of time, the screams intensified, Ren Xue Tu's expression was contorted inside the flames in utter pain.
After three breaths of time, Ren Xue Tu collapsed as he was turned into ashes.
One of the girls screamed, terrified by the scene, jolting the others back to their senses but Ye Mo was already charging towards Wei Leng.
"Water Shield!" Another girl with dark blue hair shouted as a sphere of water enveloped Wei Leng like a bubble that couldn't be breached, but just when he was going to get hit, Ye Mo bypassed him and rushed at the water using girl.
Ye Mo saw that she was surrounded by her friends as if they wanted to protect her, so she became his second target after Ren Xue Tu. Rushing at Wei Leng was just a feint.
Surprised, she didn't have time to dispel her water sphere and call forth another one, but a girl beside her shot multiple arrows at Ye Mo while a boy faced him, fur and claws growing on his hands as his arms doubled in size.
Ye Mo easily deflected the arrows with his hands and caught one that he threw back, penetrating the archer's throat. The boy tried to claw him but was instantly kicked away, landing on a rock further, no longer showing any signs of life.
The others didn't have the time to mobilize themselves as Ye Mo was already in front of the young girl. He raised his fist as he bashed her skull, breaking her spine in the process.
Crack!
Blood and brain matter covered the place as her body plopped down.
Ye Mo's strength was no joke, he could already smash down trees with his bare hands, an ordinary human body that wasn't protected by a defensive battle skill was simply too fragile in front of his fists.
One girl was horrified by the whole sequence, from the way Ye Mo killed their archer to how he kicked away the boy who earned great merits with his powerful claws in previous fights or the brutality he showed to murder the girl.
She immediately lost all will to fight and tried to flee the scene, but Ye Mo saw her run away and gave chase, easily catching up.
He grabbed her leg and raised her up, then smashed her body on the ground.
Once, twice, thrice!
His movements were brutal and he completely used the strength of his fiend body.
In the end, her body turned into meat paste as only her leg remained in Ye Mo's hand.
His dark hair raised towards the heavens, his body covered in blood, he looked like a devil ascending from hell, leaving mountains of corpses on his way.
Wei Leng didn't dare look at him anymore as he lay half kneeling on a patch of grass, his eyes livid.
Ye Mo turned around and saw the last boy sprinting away with great speed. He obviously had a movement-type battle skill.
Ye Mo caught Ren Xue Tu's greatsword left on the ground and exerted his muscles, throwing the sword in the boy's direction with all his might.
When the boy heard the wind whistle, his body was already cleaved in two as each side kept moving for a couple of steps before falling down.
The sword first went through his head before it embedded in the earth, but as the boy moved with the greatest speed he could muster, the momentum made his body carry forward and completely get cut down in two.
Finally, Ye Mo quietly walked towards Wei Leng.
"Please, don't kill me I will do whatever you want." Wei Leng bowed down hitting his head on the ground as he begged Ye Mo to spare his life.
However, Ye Mo was unmoved and kept advancing.
"Wait, I have money, that's what you want right, here." Wei Leng took out thirty gold coins from his spatial pouch and frantically tossed them towards Ye Mo, but the latter didn't pay them any attention as he got closer.
When only three steps of distance remained, Wei Leng reluctantly used his last card. Taking out a map in one hand, he gathered fire in the other, just a few inches away from burning the piece of paper.
"Don't move, this map carries the location of an ancient cave containing pure iridescent iron. If you get any closer I will burn it to the ground, or do you think your whole body moves faster than my fingers?"
At this time, Ye Mo finally stopped, but far from being enticed, he asked.
"What's pure iridescent iron?"
He was perplexed, he knew very little about the world of cultivators and had never heard of pure iridescent iron before.
"Huh, how can you not know that?" Wei Leng was shocked, but under Ye Mo's cold gaze, he quickly regained his wits.
"Pure iridescent iron is one of the most durable materials used to make spiritual weapons, it's called this way because only in its purest state does it gain its iridescent surface. It's very expensive and has a high demand for a low supply. Even if you have the money, it doesn't necessarily mean you will be able to get some."
Wei Leng quickly explained in one go, catching his breath when he was done.
"You say that, but how can I believe this cave you talk about is true?" Ye Mo wasn't dumb, he wouldn't blindly believe him just because he said so.
"It's easy. Besides Ren Xue Tu, who comes from an aristocratic family with multiple cultivators, the others had more or less of an ordinary background. But while the others could use their parents' money to get some weak low-level martial arts, I'm actually the worst one, only the son of an ordinary hunter and we didn't have a single penny to spend on this."
"Even then I still acquired the mid-tier Tellow Class Ardent Flame Ring martial art, became the second strongest of the group and had an impact on every battle we fought. Why do you think that?"
"The pure iridescent iron." Answered Ye Mo indifferently, it was evident where Wei Leng was trying to get.
"Right, when I was laying rabbit traps, I found this cave deep in the mountains. I discovered rocks of pure iridescent iron inside and took a bit of it, exchanging them for the Ardent Flame Ring technique. I can give you the map if you want, but you must take an oath upon the heavens that you won't kill me."