As soon as the bells rang, Ye Mo darted towards Ha Jun and with a light leap, aimed his left fist at him.
"What are you doing, pointing your fist at me?" Ha Jun didn't take Ye Mo's strike seriously.
He was already at the third stage of the Iron Skin technique and his body was tough like a monolith. Although he knew Ye Mo was a body refiner as well, how far could this young lad have gone in such a difficult and lengthy art?
Maybe he had a body refining technique of a higher level to compensate for the lack of time, but Ha Jun didn't really believe it. Even if it were the case, with better quality came harsher requirements in the body refining technique, and then, Ye Mo would have even less progress.
All in all, Ha Jun didn't take Ye Mo for a threat in close combat. He calmly raised his hand to catch Ye Mo's fist and mostly stood on guard against a feint from his opponent.
But the feint never came, instead, the fist connected with the palm as Ha Jun felt a crushing strength crash against his hand. His arm was deflected through this powerful blow, and Ye Mo's right fist immediately followed, striking his face.
Ha Jun recoiled from the punch. He held his face with one hand while instinctively punching in front of him with the other to protect himself.
Ye Mo wanted to pursue him and make use of this advantage, but seeing Ha Jun's fist coming his way, he unhesitatingly leaped backwards and went out of range.
Ye Mo's fist was slightly numb, and he felt like he had just hit a steel plate.
"Normal attacks won't be sufficient against him, I need to go all out if I want to win." Ye Mo's eyes shone brightly.
Ha Jun took three steps back before he stabilized himself, and removed his hand from his face as two trails of blood escaped his nostrils.
"I will take this fight seriously from now on." Ha Jun looked solemnly at Ye Mo as he swept the blood from his face while no hints of contempt could be felt from him anymore, but inside he was ashamed and angry at himself.
He remembered his master at the gates of the city telling him to never drop his guard, yet he was caught careless, and this was the result.
Ye Mo, instead, was amazed. He had put enough strength in his fist to crush the bones of an ordinary man and put his life in danger, yet beside a nosebleed, Ha Jun didn't seem to have suffered more damage. But Ye Mo wasn't surprised as he knew himself the qualities of a body refining cultivator.
If it weren't this much, Ha Jun wouldn't have reached the top 20 of the competition.
Both contestants looked at each other for an instant before charging.
Tum tum tum.
Every time Ha Jun's feet stepped on the ground, they produced a loud and deep sound as the stone tiles cracked under his feet.
They met in the middle of the stage, where they engaged in close combat.
Ha Jun's fists and feet were big, his skin was durable, and he had a better reach than Ye Mo.
Nonetheless, Ye Mo showed no emotion as he readily exchanged blows with his opponent.
The wind screamed during their attacks, but Ye Mo soon took the advantage.
He quickly realized that Ha Jun's body refining technique mostly increased his defense and slightly his strength. His skin was like a sturdy armor protecting him, and he was much more resistant than Ye Mo. But his strength, even with his size and the increase of his qi cultivation and body refining technique, wasn't on par with Ye Mo.
As for other physical capabilities like speed or agility, there wasn't even any comparison to make, Ye Mo easily outclassed him in every point.
Here showed the difference between a simple mid-tier Yellow Class body refining art and a Star Class high-tier one. It must also be taken into account that Ye Mo was barely in the first revolution of the fiend body, while Ha Jun already reached the third of the five stages of his Iron Skin body.
But the reason for Ye Mo's advantage was not only due to his physical attributes but also to his superior close combat skills.
Ye Mo's thirst for power bloomed a long time ago. Although his past condition didn't let him take part in any confrontation, he frequently asked himself, what was the best way to fight? What was the most effective fighting style to vanquish the enemy? How should he deal with an opponent to quickly eliminate him if he ever was assaulted?
Living in the slums at this time, Ye Mo was a witness of multiple brawls, mugging, murders and gang wars as he roamed the streets looking for a way to fill his stomach.
He watched many fights, saw various techniques, reflected on the loser's defects, the winner's capabilities, the reason for the win and the loss, and theorized much on his side.
That's all he could do at this time, in prevision for a future where he hopefully could improve his situation and fight for himself!
Through various observations, conjectures and his own experience, he came to a conclusion.
Your body must become a weapon!
Feet, knees, fists, elbows, and even the head! Everything should be used in order to destroy all opposition.
Practice makes perfect, and after this battle style took form in his mind a few years back, he used the Tiger Martial Institute's first phase of the recruitment competition to temper himself. He fought again and again for the last two days, constantly refining his techniques and improving himself.
Now his body moved exactly how he envisioned it, and his strikes were fast and precise. Every part of his body became the embodiment of destruction under Ye Mo's fine control.
A flurry of fists shadows constantly harassed Ha Jun, and when he tried to grab Ye Mo's arms, a series of kicks repelled him.
When he wanted to tackle, a flying knee was sent to his chin.
When he closed the distance to block the strikes, razor-like elbows split the wind, cutting his flesh and pouring blood on the arena.
When Ha Jun endured all these to hug Ye Mo, immobilizing his body, the latter's head smashed his nose and his teeth tore a piece of Ha Jun's ear, only hanging by a thread of skin.
In a fight, there is no rule, there is only victory and defeat, who falls and who remains standing at the end, who lives and who dies! Bite, claw, tear, pull the hair, strike the back of his head and gouge out his eyes! Struggle your hardest, battle your way out for a chance at life!
Ha Jun grunted under the waves of pain he felt from his bitten ear.
"This is the first time I see mortal martial arts in such a grand competition."
"This kid is really a commoner, such a shame he got to join the Tiger Martial Institute."
"This boy is so wicked, why does he go so far to injure Ha Jun? Even since the start of the tournament, this scum did nothing but take advantage of his opponents. I didn't know I could hate someone this much just by looking at a competition from the spectating seats."
"His life will completely change for sure if he can do all that with brute force alone, I am curious to see what he will achieve with qi and battle skills."
"He is only twelve, but his close combat skills easily surpass the other contestants, I wonder how he would fare against the young masters in a hand-to-hand fight."
"He already pushed mortal prowess to the limits, but I'm afraid it won't be enough..."
The onlookers were divided towards this scene, some praising him while others only felt contempt and disgust towards such inferior fighting way.
Most of them were cultivators from organizations, sects or rich families.
They were protected since young and when they came of age, they would start cultivating qi and train in battle skills so they never had to learn the rudiments of ordinary martial arts, which was mainly deemed for mortals.
Sometimes, big clans would train their juniors in mortal combat when they aren't of age yet to start cultivating, it would give them a head start and serve as an advantage if they lost all their qi in a fight. But the combat skills taught would always be very orthodox and traditional, there was none of the ruthlessness and brutality Ye Mo displayed currently.
It consisted mostly of throwing your hands and feet in a precise way at your opponent and at certain times, they would teach them throws and holds, but that's it.
They didn't need any more since they would quickly start cultivating and by this time, most of their battles would be decided by their qi and battle skills. Even if it wasn't the case, clan and sect members usually fight in friendly matches carried in a supervised environment, so they didn't need to battle so desperately.
In addition, there were fights realized under the view of a crowd like this one, using such cruel attacks in front of everyone if there wasn't anything at stake would look improper and petty, as if this person absolutely sought to cripple his opponent, while someone who seized his hand and avoided injuring his opponent more than necessary would be seen as magnanimous and honorable. The cultivator using those unforgiving techniques would earn a bad image, and his clan's prestige would lower as well. The clans didn't want to see that, so they wouldn't teach more than the orthodox fighting style so they were sure their status would not be harmed by intrepid juniors.
It must also be taken into account that a lot of these youths were still thirteen or fourteen years old and were far from hardened veterans. Many of them wouldn't even think of fighting this way, and would be repulsed just imagining ripping chunks of flesh out with their own teeth.
But Ye Mo came from the slums where every fight was a matter of life and death, and people mercilessly killed each other for breadcrumbs, he didn't give a shit about his image or killing anyone that stood in his way. Ha Jun could have this so-called good reputation while he would take the victory and the rewards that come along.
Did this meant elders, patriarchs and instructors couldn't fight well without qi? Of course not, most of them would be as vicious as Ye Mo in a hand to hand fight, but with ten times the experience.
However, all of them lived for decades and went through many battles, refining their skills and gaining the ruthlessness to overcome their predicaments over time. They were already completely different from the juniors they have been in the past. This is precisely because there were many powerful cultivators with in-depth close combat experience around the arena that they could appraise Ye Mo's skills and a part of them approved it.
His battle style was frighteningly effective and clearly a notch above the other participants. As he keeps fighting in the future, he will continually improve it until he would have an answer for any of the movements his opponent could make.
Ha Jun kept retreating, his sweat poured out like a river as he was pressed hard by Ye Mo until he reached the edge of the stage.
"I'm not done yet!" But in the end, Ha Jun was still a qi cultivator.
Ha Jun roared loudly as his body visibly expanded, and his size grew by a fold. His shirt was torn under the growing mass of muscles. His eyes turned red, and the pilosity of his chest, arms and legs increased.
Great Bull Berserk Incarnation!
Ha Jun punched towards Ye Mo, his arm thick like the trunk of a tree.
"Looks like an amplification battle skill." Ye Mo thought fast.
The speed of Ha Jun increased, and Ye Mo could feel the enormous wind pressure behind the strike.
He quickly raised his leg in front of him. The fist connected with the sole of his foot when Ye Mo pushed with his leg as he was sent flying.
He did his best to maintain his balance in midair; he twisted his waist and landed on the ground on his feet more than twenty steps away.
The moment he landed, he tried to move and felt the articulations of his knee and hip hurting.
"His strength increased as well, even when drawing back, I was still injured." Ye Mo narrowed his eyes, his gaze deep like an ancient pool.
He didn't put the pain of his leg in mind as he rushed at Ha Jun without any fear.
The muscles in Ha Jun's body tightened and his brows knitted when he saw Ye Mo come at him once again. He still dares rush back straight at him?!
Ha Jun's disposition turned cold as both contestants ran against each other.
Boom boom boom!
Loud impact sounds echoed throughout the arena as Ye Mo unleashed all his brutality, taking turns attacking and defending.
However, this time it was Ha Jun who gradually suppressed Ye Mo. His increased speed enabled him to parry Ye Mo's strikes with less difficulty, and as time passed he slowly adapted to Ye Mo's fighting style.
His strength was now on par with Ye Mo, and his skin defense much better, but Ye Mo didn't restrain himself anymore.
At times he used fingers to poke at the eyes, sometimes he hit the Adam's apple with his knuckles, kicked the crotch, targeted the opponent's articulations or struck the ears with the palm of his hands.
Each strike was sent with killing intent, and even though Ha Jun had the upper hand, he stood mostly on guard, pressured by the potentially fatal injuries he could incur if one of Ye Mo's blows landed.
This way, the match fell in a stalemate where both contestants neutralized each other for several breaths of time, when Ha Jun tried to kick Ye Mo.
Ye Mo squatted down, dodging the kick, then fiercely hugged Ha Jun's waist using his strength to push him down, causing Ha Jun to fall to the ground. Then he rode on his waist and quickly punched Ha Jun's head.
"Against a bigger and stronger opponent, the best way to defeat him is to take the fight to the ground where he can't use his advantages properly." Ye Mo smiled coldly as he made blows rain on Ha Jun.
Without battle skills or trump cards like his opponents but just his body alone, all Ye Mo could use was his knowledge and instincts to triumph over his adversaries!