"Die!" A stout student of the Golden Martial Institute howled ferociously as he cleaved down with a greatsword.
Ye Mo didn't move, observing the blade nearing his face.
Wind bursted forth as the sword grew closer, pushing his hair back.
When the blade was so close that one had to be cross-eyed to look at it, a bright golden light emerged from Ye Mo's body, taking the form of a bell covering him while immediately blocking the strike, stopping any further advancement of the sword in an instant.
"Impossible, how could my Arcing Slash get blocked so easily?" The man was befuddled, but didn't have the time to think about it.
After blocking the sword, the light from the Buddha Golden Bell battle skill dissipated while Ye Mo suddenly raised his leg and kicked him dozens of times in a flash, sending the man rolling in the ground with blood escaping from his mouth.
Ye Mo's opponent couldn't even see his feets moving as he was hit several times without understanding what was happening.
He was struck so much in this short time that his organs were crushed by Cyclone Kick and blood rose up in his body. Using his last forces, he attempted to swallow an healing pill and scavenge his life, but Ye Mo quickly caught up and stomped his head under his foot, spreading its content on the earth before he squatted down and took hold of the man's token.
"Only 200 points... I am unlucky, I was his first opponent." Ye Mo thought, discontented.
If the deceased student could hear him, he would bawl his heart out at how he was the unlucky one to face him first thing in the competition.
Ye Mo at this point, just reached 900 points.
He already had 600 points after killing the two contestants who attacked him when he entered the Jade Forest and on his way, he also eliminated two mid-tier blood beast before encountering this student from the Golden Martial Institute.
When he saw Ye Mo, he immediately attacked him yet the situation didn't develop as he hoped.
"I should go deeper in the outer edge of the Jade Forest, that's where most of the contestants went. Wether this is blood beasts or students, I will have greater chances to meet them there and gain more points."
The students all rushed in a straight line towards the forest depths, the deeper he would go, the more of them he would face.
Picking up his pace, Ye Mo engulfed himself further in the woods.
In the meantime, far inside the Jade Forest, a deep explosion rumbled as trees fell in the surroundings.
A cloud of smoke rose in the site concealing the culprits of this phenomenon.
After a short time, the smoke slowly subsided revealing first a young man with shoulder-lenght black hair holding a sword in his hand looking towards the center of the blast.
Soon another youth appeared as the remnants of the smoke drifted away with the wind currents.
He wore a long pure white robe and possessed clear gentle eyes that could soothe anyone looking at him. His long golden hair draped on his back combined harmoniously with the bright golden light exuded from his body.
Although the surroundings were a scene of devastation, he stood in the middle without a single injury and his robe was intact.
The most eye-catching was this golden light taking the form of a huge bell enveloping his body and protecting him from the exterior.
Yes, it was the Buddha Golden Bell battle skill.
Putting aside its obvious weakness, this battle skill offered the best defense among high-tier Yellow Class arts in the Tiger Martial Institute to the point few techniques of the same level would be able to break it.
It wasn't surprising for another student than Ye Mo to pick it as well.
"Still alive huh, but for how long?" Li Qiang snorted coldly seeing his opponent unscathed.
Gao Lixin's expression was serene, staring at him too.
"Let's stop here, there would be no point in continuing this little scuffle at this time."
These two were actually battling each other in the beginning of the competition.
At first, Gao Lixin was accompanied by 8 members of his clan as they intended to use their collective strength to defeat everything that stands on their way and gather many points, however when they encountered Li Qiang, the Gao clan young master made them leave and wait for him nine hundred steps away from this position.
Against an opponent like Li Qiang, he couldn't distract himself and protect them so if they were caught up in their battle, he wouldn't be able to ensure their well being.
Actually, it was possible for Li Qiang to purposefuly attack them first and use them to find a flaw in Gao Lixin's defense. Even a momentary lapse was often enough to let him emerge victorious.
On the other hand, Li Qiang engaged in this competition by himself. He planned to go all out this time and strive for the first place, with Li clan members by his side, he would need to accompany and defend them all the time, being more of an hindrance than support for him.
For this reason, he particularly forbade his cousin to take part in the competition even though she attained the 7th layer. He would never be at ease with her presence in this forest and would absolutely stick with her until the end of the competition to ensure nothing happens to her. How could he fight for the top spot in these conditions? That's why even if she held it against him in the future, he didn't relent as she wasn't allowed to take part in the competition this time.
She was young and could still participate next year when she was stronger and had greater chances to win while the average level of contestants would also drop, but this year was too dangerous and it was Li Qiang's only chance before he would leave to enroll in a sect so he couldn't make any mistake.
"Why, are you scared?" Li Qiang tried to taunt his lifelong rival and find a weakness in his reaction yet he was bound to be disappointed.
Gao Lixin didn't show a shred of fear as he persisted, "You know well what will be the result of this confrontation, the competition will last a week, if you still wish to fight after that, let's meet here the last day and finish it all."
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Li Qiang frowned as he looked in thought.
When they were young and fought, sometimes he would win and other times it was Gao Lixin's victory, but as they grew, they also developed their own specialty.
Gao Lixin was a master of defense and palm strikes while Li Qiang used his speed and sword mastery to cut everything in his path.
One could efficiently protect himself, but was unable to catch the other while Li Qiang could avoid most strikes and deal powerful attacks yet couldn't break his opponent's shell.
Unpenetrable defense vs unstoppable offense.
Both had equal strength and canceled each other, their fights mostly resulting in a draw lately.
They also are both experts and regulated their Qi consumption during their battle to sustain their expenditure, their fight ending a few times with both of them possessing a dantian devoid of a single wisp of Qi.
However, they were currently in the middle of a major competition with many experts wandering in the forest at the search of a prey, in these circumstances how could they allow themselves to empty their reserves and let a third party benefit from it.
If they lost all their Qi, they would be only slightly superior than a mortal, anyone passing by could bully them and take their points at will.
Li Qiang and Gao Lixin were no idiots, how could they allow themselves to land in such a pitiful situation.
Thinking this far, Li Qiang finally agreed, conscious that Gao Lixin wouldn't run away, "Fine, let's kill the most participants and take their points during this time then the last day, we shall have our final battle. The winner takes it all and will obtain the first place."
Gao Lixin's expression stiffened as he said coldly, "I am not killing anyone, only taking their points. You should be careful all these grudges you create don't come back to repay you in the future."
Gao Lixin has always refused to kill anyone as long as it wasn't necessary. In his perspective, the best way to protect oneself and his clan is to not give anyone a reason to hurt him in the first place.
A cycle of hate was easy to take form, but by showing leniency and treating people amicably along his amiable disposition, he forged himself a solid reputation as a benevolent young master and most people were inclined to willingly side with him rather than bow their head face to face while plotting and harboring dark feelings in secret.
"You're pathetic, let's see how much points you can gather with such a weak mindset and these little chickens you carry with you everywhere." Li Qiang said in a voice filled with disdain as he departed.
Gao Lixin didn't take it to heart as he soon left to reunite with his comrades.
Far from everyone's prying eyes, a secret arrangement was made between the two young masters.
On the rallying stone plateau, the instructors ate and drank sitting around wooden square tables as they discussed about the competition.
It looked like a small party among friends enjoying each other company and letting off some steam from their daily obligations.
In fact, most of them were shooting gazes at a large red banner that was erected beside the tent on the center of the rallying stone plateau.
On this banner was written names and numbers; it was ever-changing.
This banner held the rankings and points accumulated by every participants of the competition.
Low-tier Yellow Class Painting Ink battle skill, under the manipulation of an instructor, can freely convert the contents of the writing on the banner.
With the information of any student's token at disposition, he could give everyone present access to the progression of the competition on live.
The three deans stood in front, observing the changes with attention.
Such a banner was also placed beside the entrance of each institute, giving the inhabitants of Azure Water City and the travelers passing by, the ability to directly follow the competition as well.
"As expected, #1 is Shen Xue, closely followed by Qiong Lieyu." Some stared at the rankings without any surprise
"Ma Shinfei and Jin Hao Tian are respectively #6 and #7, I heard they are teaming up so they will be tough to defeat together, but at the same time, they have to share the points so it's not surprising that they are not in the top five." A cultivator said.
"This good for nothing of a son is only ranked #1827, he better be placed under #1500 before the end of the competition or I am disinheriting him." One father angrily scolded.
This time, someone suddenly said, "Look, Zhang Xuanhan just surpassed Yan Mei and took the #3 place!"
On the banner's ranking, Zhang Xuanhan's name slowly crept upward, replacing Yan Mei who was pushed down one place.
This change immediately attracted the attention of the spectators, people with ties to the Sky Martial Institute raising a thumbs up and praising Zhang Xuanhan nonstop.
"Well done, Lord Zhang Xuanhan, I believe in you!"
"Lord Zhang Xuanhan, don't stop here, I am certain you can surpass even Shen Xue and Qiong Lieyu."
On the banner, many names also suddenly disappeared from the rankings, their fate clear to all.
With blood beasts and other participants, deaths were plenty in this kind of competition.
Once from time to time, one spectator would fall on his knees in tears, realizing the loss of a loved one, but it couldn't replace the atmosphere of indifference given by the rest of the crowd.
Soon, the first day of the competition came to an end as the moon replaced the sun and lanterns lit up the streets.
"Here comes the night." Ye Mo smiled lightly in the depths of the Jade Forest outer edge.
Looking around, he could see nothing beyond his hand's reach, as the forest was plunged in the realm of darkness.