Ye Mo went inside the pagoda.
The interior was a wide round hall filled with countless stone doors all around. Against the walls was a circular flight of stairs that rose up like a snake all the way towards the second floor.
Most of the doors were closed, signifying a student was cultivating inside, but some of them remained open.
A lot of people were gathered in the hall, and many of them fought in front of the open stone doors for an opportunity to cultivate inside, their battle skills sending flashing lights and loud noises disorderly. A few of them stood motionless in a corner, waiting for another door to open to try their chance.
Ye Mo discovered there wasn't one of them with a weaker cultivation than him gathered here.
Walking around, he stopped near a closed stone door and sat down in meditation.
There were too many people fighting near the available rooms currently as it looked more like a brawl. Ye Mo preferred to wait for another one to open.
After two hours, a loud rumbling sound was heard as one of the stone doors detached itself from the wall and slid on one side, leaving the room open.
Inside, a youth in clean white robes left with a bright smile on his face, seemingly satisfied. In the past he fought hard, barely getting himself a spot inside a room after a fierce struggle, but now he strolled calmly, brimming with confidence, as he left the pagoda.
When the door opened, many students suddenly tensed up, those sitting rising, as they observed each other.
No one attacked the youth in white robes, being able to enter a room was a testimony of his abilities and now that he had a round of cultivation inside, he would be even stronger than before. Most of all, what they wanted was his room, now that he was leaving there was no reason to attack him.
After a moment of deep tension where students targeting the room sized each other up, they suddenly all rushed towards the room at the same time, attacking everyone on the way, the fight escalating in a slugfest with every man for himself.
One of them standing in the back suddenly rushed towards the room with great agility, avoiding the fights on his path.
Obviously he had a good movement battle skill and with his cultivation of the 6th layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, he was very fast.
When he was close to the door, some students saw this scene and shouted in indignation but reacted too late to intervene.
The student rushing instead had his face lit up in surprise and unexpected success as he neared the cultivation room without any trouble.
At this moment, a presence abruptly appeared at his side and a powerful leg crashed on his waist, sending him flying.
The crack of broken bones resounded as the student was sent straight out of the equation.
Ye Mo involved himself in this course for the cultivation room!
He didn't plan to wait the whole day for a door with fewer people around to open. Primarily because there would always be many students waiting around every door.
Now he directly stepped in!
The kick right now was just pure raw strength as Ye Mo didn't use an ounce of qi in this attack, yet one was immediately defeated.
After the danger of the youth rushing up was cast away, another one immediately threw himself at Ye Mo to prevent him from getting any closer to the door, "This room is mine!"
Mid-tier Yellow Class battle skill - Rock Crushing Fist!
The opponent's fist was covered in solid, deep brown rocks and enlarged to three times its original size as it closed the distance with Ye Mo.
The latter didn't back down as he threw a Stone Breaking Punch with a face that didn't betray any emotion.
When both fists connected, the rocks on his opponent's hand shattered, the bones of his arm broke at various points, and his shoulder was dislocated as the impact deflected the arm back forcefully.
The student himself was sent flying across the hall, knocking two other disciples fighting in the way.
They grunted in pain in an effort to stand back up, but the one who bore the brunt of Ye Mo's punch was the most injured, remaining motionless on the ground.
Quickly two attendants came and carried him out of the pagoda.
However, Ye Mo didn't have any respite. As soon as he got rid of this student, another appeared behind him brandishing a large dagger enveloped in a sinister qi.
"I remember you fag, cowering in front of Li Qiang. This pagoda is not a place for people like you!" The youth shouted in contempt as he attacked him.
At first he wasn't sure because of the irregular scars crisscrossing his face, but now that he was closer, he could identify Ye Mo and immediately felt disdain for him.
The dagger was fast and sharp, quickly approaching his back. If he were hit, Ye Mo would be incapacitated for sure.
Surrounded by wind currents, Ye Mo took a side step, avoiding the blade at the crucial moment.
His opponent snorted as he followed with another attack, slashing horizontally with his dagger.
Ye Mo broke into a cold smirk and grabbed the wrist of his opponent, blocking the blade midway.
Placing one hand on the teen's shoulder, he pulled the wrist with the other, exerting his strength.
Riiiip!
With a violent wrench, he tore the arm free as a burst of dark blood sprayed outward in a savage arc. Flesh split, tendons snapped, and what had been whole an instant before was ripped apart, the severed limb dangling in his grasp, slick and heavy, while the rest of the body recoiled, thrown off balance by the brutal force of it.
"AHHHH!"
Ye Mo's opponent lay on the ground, screaming in fear and pain. His left arm was like an eagle's claw gripping his right shoulder. His right limb spewed bright red blood nonstop, quickly dyeing the floor red.
The commotion gradually attracted the attention of other disciples in the hall. Some heard the cry and looked in their direction while others directly witnessed the scene in shock.
Such a brutal performance wasn't seen often.
There was no doubt in their mind that the student prostrated on the ground would never completely recover from this blow. Even if he were to be treated by the healers of the institute, they could only heal injuries or grow back small body parts like fingers but were incapable of growing a whole limb out of nothing.
He will have to start back from zero, learning to fight with only his left arm alone, but it will never be comparable to having a complete body available.
Ye Mo tossed the arm on the side as he glared around him with detached indifference.
Those that wanted to attack him stopped right in their tracks in trepidation as they witnessed this gruesome outcome.
He was ruthless as he defeated three opponents consecutively, displaying his merciless nature as he handicapped the last one for life.
Of course, he didn't have to go this far to defeat him, but this was done purposefully. It would serve as a warning for those who wanted to block his way that it wasn't a decision to take lightly.
Fighting a body cultivator like Ye Mo in close combat without a profound battle strength or deep cultivation was simply a death wish.
In the crowd, a lot of people recognized him. He abandoned the fight against Li Qiang in the first round of the competition in front of every disciple of the institute, even the dean was present. Only a few instructors had their own duties to deal with and couldn't witness it personally.
This act cemented his reputation as a coward and a weakling who could be trifled with. Besides overconfidence, that's also why Ye Mo's last opponent dared to attack him at such a close range without any worry even though his body refining cultivation was no secret.
Currently, Ye Mo was also standing the closest to the stone door, and as he looked at the other contestants, none of them moved.
"What the hell, if he was this strong all this time, then why did he surrender in front of Li Qiang from the start?" Someone said in confusion.
Even cultivators with below-average battle strength would still try to display a few of their techniques in a competition despite having no chance to win. Ye Mo clearly didn't have to be shy towards his combat abilities, yet he didn't even try to fight.
This was something that went against their logic, and they couldn't help but raise questions about it.
"Maybe he wasn't actually that strong, and he was so ashamed of himself he cultivated like crazy in the meantime. I'm sure I would have beaten him like a dog if I were at the place of this loser." One of them bragged shamelessly, mocking the defeated opponent that lost his arm.
"Come on, guys, are we really going to let him take this room? I'm sure if we all attack together, he will have no chance."
"Sure, then go on and we will be right behind you."
As soon as the proposition flew, it was immediately discarded by others. The crux of the situation was that they didn't trust each other.
The first one to attack would bear all the pressure from Ye Mo, being in great danger himself. Even if he came out fine in the end, he could still be backstabbed by another student who wanted the room for himself.
Being on guard against each other, they would not be able to display their true battle strength and would impede themselves instead.
Without true unity, this plan wasn't practicable.
In the crowd, there were also several 7th layer cultivators, but seeing how Ye Mo defeated three opponents in an instant, the last one being a peak 6th layer cultivator, it was clear to them he could easily fight against them as well.
Ye Mo gazed at the crowd, and although some still wanted to fight for the room, eventually no one moved.
Most of them were intelligent persons after all. It was just a room, there were several others they could fight for and more that would open in the future.
There wasn't any need to go this far for just one stone door, as long as they were alive and healthy, there would be more opportunities.
Finally, Ye Mo turned around and walked in the room's direction.
Yet right at this moment, clapping sounds could be heard behind him.
A young man separated himself from the crowd and stepped towards him!