I give up….
These words echoed in the surroundings.
The crowd was dumbfounded, and a deep silence settled in the arena.
Han Shan, beside the battle stage, suddenly recovered his spirit and asked, "What did you just say?"
"I said I admit defeat." Ye Mo repeated emotionlessly.
"You do know you will get eliminated from the competition if you surrender right." Han Shan inquired, incredulous.
Ye Mo nodded.
"Well then... Li Qiang wins."
After their initial shock, the numerous students present reacted loudly.
"Hey, how could you give up like that without even trying? If you're a real man, then fight!"
"Haha, admitting defeat at his first fight before it even started, this guy was born before the concept of shame."
"If I were his parents, I would kill him then kill myself out of embarrassment."
"You have no guts, even if it's Li Qiang, you should at least exchange a few blows before quitting!"
In the bleachers, the instructors turned their gaze away from this upsetting spectacle.
Was this really a student of our grand Tiger Martial Institute?!
This was a devastating blow towards one's reputation.
In the eyes of the spectators Ye Mo wasn't seen as a human being anymore.
Their expressions turned from shock to contempt, disdain and ridicule
On the platform Han Zhen Jun frowned while Hong Li shook his head in silence.
Since Ye Mo joined the institute, he has been repeatedly disappointed in him, and every time he thought it couldn't go further, Ye Mo would manage to surprise him.
The sunlight shone down on his body, sending a lonely black shadow onto the stage.
His expression was cold as he quietly walked down the stairs, but his heart was still like a lake.
These people were just slaves that followed a strict set of mental rules. Why would he care about their opinion?
Honor, dignity or integrity—all these chains blocked their hearing and clouded their vision. In the end they were only deaf, blind puppets manipulated by the righteous path under the guise of so-called 'moral values'.
Even when seeing no favorable outcome in sight, they would risk their lives to please and entertain their masters, screaming like monkeys at those who didn't prostrate themselves and follow their way.
Seeing someone unrestrained like Ye Mo, inside they would envy, jealous but they would never accept it. So instead they admonish his conduct, criticize, or mock him.
Not only did these notions made them brainwashed slaves of the righteous path, most of all, they were slaves to themselves.
Loyalty, justice, honesty, all these were shackles humans would willingly bind themselves with.
Restricted in their actions, they became leashed to their own sentiments.
Ultimately, you yourself are your greatest obstacle.
Others fancied a heroic reputation, but what does that have to do with him?
People yearned for these ideals, but Ye Mo sneered at this kind of life.
These vague concepts were only tools he could use or discard as easily as drinking water.
However, he was still among the righteous path.
The crowd on his way quickly distanced themselves like they would get infected by his cowardice, opening a path for him.
Denying their moral values was the same as denying them, of course there have to be consequences.
Through this act he became the black sheep of the pack and would meet with the scorn and the rejection of others.
Faced with this kind of retribution, ordinary persons would be devastated.
Spending the rest of their life trying to accomplish heroic deeds to wash their name and erase this dark moment of their past from everyone's memory.
However Ye Mo relished in solitude, how could this affect him? Not only would he abhor being friends with these people, but in his heart he has always been by himself.
The path he chose was one of loneliness; he could only walk by himself, there was no place for someone else.
In the crowd, Ma Shinfei looked at Ye Mo in doubt.
"I talked with him before, he didn't look like someone who would fear Li Qiang."
"Why did he admit defeat?"
Ye Mo gradually distanced himself from the arena, the noise from the fights and the cackling of spectators growing faint.
"Now that I am eliminated, I can leave without attending the rest of the event." Ye Mo immediately went to his house.
He was a sensible man, he wouldn't have acted this way without any reason.
He never planned to participate in this competition in the first place. His goal was the cave of Pure Iridescent Iron from Wei Leng's map.
Secondly, he felt the rewards from the assessment were truly lacking, especially towards his needs. Beside the gold coins and ordinary pills, the only interesting bit was the entry to the third floor of one of the three towers for the one who placed first in the competition.
But fighting just for this meant passing on the occasion to investigate the cave while people's attention was diverted. Even if he did so and went all out for merely one battle skill, he had very low chances to obtain the first place.
It must be known that among the junior students stood Shen Xue. Even before joining the institute, he went undefeated and reached first place of the recruitment tournament. Now that he digested all his gains, crippled Lao Ting and cultivated inside the pagoda, even powerful senior students felt helpless against him.
His presence was even considered a cheat, as everyone felt the first place for the junior assessment would go to him without anyone being able to stop him.
Thirdly, he would have to reveal his abilities. After the length he went through to hide his progress, displaying everything at this time would truly be an irrational move.
Moreover, Cyclone Kick still had room for improvement, and with Shadow Walk in hand, Ye Mo had enough to work with for some time already without adding a high-tier battle skill.
Eating too fast would only lead to indigestion. A new battle skill would be welcomed, but it was not the priority currently.
"The competition will last seven days. The best would be for me to find the cave and retrieve all the iron in this length of time."
Ye Mo put on a broad cloak with a hood bearing a dark, earthly tone. The cloak was long, reaching his ankles and concealing his body's features, while when placing the hood on his head, only the lower part of his face was visible.
When he left through the southern gate, the guards didn't pay any attention to him.
If he's leaving from inside, then he's obviously a member of the Tiger Martial Institute, no intruders would be able to escape the senses of the experts inside.
Thinking such, the guards would always keep watch over outsiders who try to penetrate inside.
On the roof of a building near the entrance stood a team of five, three men and two women.
They all looked in their early twenties beside one man who seemed a bit older.
He looked over with a portrait on hand depicting a muscular youth with short spiky hair, pitch-black eyes, and a cold expression plastered on his face.
Above the drawing was written the name and the age of the youth.
Another man lying on his back beside him yawned loudly.
"It's been six months already, we have been posted at this place looking at the faces of everyone going in and out of the institute for nothing."
"How long do we have to keep going like this, I'm bored to death here, and I haven't even seen my girl all this time." Liu Zhan Lie grumbled dissatisfiedly.
"Shut up Zhan Lie, you have been doing nothing but lying back and complaining! She's not even your girl but just a brothel's prostitute!"
The girl at his side erupted furiously. Apparently it wasn't the first time Liu Zhan Lie had been getting on her nerves grumbling, and she had had enough.
They were a team of cultivators sent by the Liu clan to watch over the Tiger Martial Institute's gates. By now they had seen the portrait so much his face was etched on their minds, and they would dream of it at night.
"But he has a point." The second girl behind them seemed in thought as she frowned, "During this time we have seen enough students that we could recognize most of them with a glance, but there have been no traces of this Ye Mo."
"I don't believe such a young kid has been cultivating non-stop the whole time. Could he have died or injured himself in there?"
After all this time spent waiting for him in vain, she was starting to seriously doubt whether this boy even existed in the first place.
"There's no need for such questions." The man with the portrait said seriously, still looking at the people wandering below, "Our mission is clear. This kid harmed our clan greatly, we must stay here until we spot him or there's clear news of his death, no matter if it lasts months or years."
"The other teams have been posted at different entrances, as long as he takes no more than a step outside, he will definitely be seen and reported back to the clan." The team leader reassured everyone.
He was rather experienced, and despite the boredom, he could see the good sides of this task as well. At least they were safe, and there was no risk of death. Whether they liked it or not, the members knew they could not refuse this mission anyway.
"Wait boss, there's someone leaving under a hood, I can't see his face. I can't sense his qi either, so it's probably not him..." The third boy, looking at people along with the man holding the portrait suddenly called out.
Ye Mo should have been in the institute for half a year and inevitably would have started cultivating his qi. If it was him leaving, there would definitely be clear qi fluctuations around him.
"No exceptions allowed. Zhan Lie, since you're bored, get down and go look at his face."
Liu Zhan Lie sighed before standing up and jumping down as he mumbled disgruntledly.
He looked around and saw in the crowd of passers-by a cloaked man suddenly turning to his right and going in a narrow path between two buildings.
Zhan Lie quickly ran behind him, but once he entered the path, he saw the tip of the cloak turning on the left in the distance.
"Hey, wait!" Liu Zhan Lie shouted as he hurriedly followed, but once he turned left, there was only a wall standing a couple meters further and nothing else.
It was a dead end.
"Huh? Where did he go?" That's all Zhan Lie could think of as a hand suddenly perforated his back and left through his chest.
Ye Mo renewed with this familiar and entrancing feeling as he turned Liu Zhan Lie into a mummified corpse.
"It has been such a long time since I used the Nine Revolutions Fiend Body technique." Ye Mo clenched his fist as he felt power coursing through his veins, a faint smile on his face.
After an instant, Ye Mo left while nothing remained in the alley.