Autumn wind blew in the air and the wild grass was dried yellow.
At this moment, the Tiger Martial Institute was in turmoil.
Today was the half-year assesment and everyone could be seen moving in a hurry towards the arena.
As Ye Mo left his house, he could see the faces of many students moving in packs around him.
Some were excited, some showed worry, some were in doubt and others expressed calm and serenity that could only stem from pure confidence.
"I reached the 5th layer of the Qi Gathering realm and i even filled my dantian up to 80%. Too bad i didn't have enough time to breakthrough the 6th layer, i would feel much more at ease."
Ye Mo thought to himself as he moved with the rest of the students.
He wasn't scared or worrying about anything nor particularly self-assured either but when he plans, he liked that everything went smoothly, and the best way for it to happen is to have the strenght to deal with problems that may arise.
For two months he cultivated every day only stopping to eat and settle his bowels. Every few days, when his body reached his limits he would rest and fall asleep for some time and restart all over again.
It was very intense and Ye Mo could hold out only thanks to the medicinal baths and his resilient body.
When compared to the surrounding students he seemed especially collected, moving at a pace neither too slow nor too fast.
The constant chatting between the students plunged the institute in an unceasing cacophony.
However once they reached the arena everyone quieted down.
On the elevated platform stood Hong Li accompagnied by Han Zhen Jun as usual.
At the first row of the bleachers sat the instructors while the thousands of students stood on the ground below the battle stages.
This time it was a private event of the Tiger Martial Institute and only their members participated hence no outsiders were present.
On the central battle stage, an instructor calmly patiented, his hands folded at his back.
After a few minutes, when all the students were present he introduced himself.
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"My name is Han Shan, some of you might already know me, i will be supervising this mid-year examination."
With a clear voice Han Shan explained how the competition will unfold.
It was seperated in two parts.
One for junior students below sixteen and the other for seniors above sixteen.
The senior students for the majority weren't able to reach the 8th layer of the Qi Gathering realm before sixteen but decided to stay as members of the institute nonetheless.
There were also a small part of them who reached the 8th layer and were sent to the Raging Saber Sect but once in place they showcased very poor results and couldn't adapt to the intense competition, unable to match the other disciples.
In shame and disappointment, they were sent back to the Tiger Martial Institute.
In both cases they could stay at the institute but the higher ups didn't have any expectations for them anymore so beside their cultivation they also had to work and complete missions like standing on guard at the gates or cleaning the training areas after other disciples passage.
If at some point they were able to breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment realm they would be eligible to become instructors.
They could either accept the post or leave the institute.
Now many senior students were above twenty years old, they have been cultivating for years and had much more time to learn martial arts and enjoy the institute ressources, how could they be allowed to fight juniors?
Institutions were primarily known to enforce fairness.
Only through fairness could you differentiate the good from the bad, the strong and the weak, the worthy and the waste.
Hence juniors and seniors would fight separately.
The juniors would battle from dawn to the afternoon and the seniors from the afternoon up to dusk.
Apart that, the rules weren't any different from the last time.
Junior students drew lots one by one, Ye Mo picked the number 33.
Soon students rose on the stages and battled each other.
Ye Mo watched quietly among the crowd, overall the fights were of much better quality compared to the recruitment competition however he couldn't recognize anyone.
Fan Yuxiang picked the lot number 14 and fought before Ye Mo. He was the only one he was susceptible to know as they enrolled the same year and he reached the 8th place but Ye Mo was unconscious at that time and didn't have any impression of him.
In the end he lost miserably against a girl who enrolled in previous years.
"Number 33, come onto the stage."
With the referee's signal, it was Ye Mo's turn.
He leisurely walked the stairs and went on the battle stage.
On the other side stood a black robed cultivator with a pale face, shoulder lenght black hair and a sword hanging at his waist.
Around him, an air of arrogance mixed with subtle killing intent could be felt.
"It's Li Qiang!"
"It's already his turn? Let me see!"
"I wonder how the Li clan young master will fare this time. Hey, don't push!"
"He must have been pretty pissed off to have been eliminated at the 5th place last time, he's gonna go all out in this tournament."
Once his name was heard in the arena, many students that were resting and looking somewhere else immediately reacted.
Some pushed each other, trying to walk to the front and have a good view of the fight while some stood on tiptoes, raising their head to have a look at the scene.
Obviously they were very excited to see his prowess. Even instructors payed attention, wanting to evaluate his abilities.
"Who is he facing though?"
"I don't know, i never saw this face before."
"Didn't the referee say his name is Ye Mo?"
"Ye Mo... It is the first time i hear it."
Among the thousands of students, barely anyone knew Ye Mo.
To start only a small part of them were interested enough to watch the newcomers recruitement tournament, the majority would rather cultivate or deal with other matters. Most of them came only to watch the four young masters and Ma Shinfei.
His fight with Ha Jun caught people off guard and at start it was discussed sometimes among the students but even that quickly faded.
Adding the person concerned holed himself at home the whole time and almost never interacted with someone else in six months and inevitably quasi no one remembered him.
As for Li Qiang, he couldn't help but smirk as he recognized his opponent.
"Li Cheng being defeated by you is his own weakness."
"But that you thought you could shame the Li clan and leave scot free was your own mistake."
"Today, i will teach you there's forces you should never offend."
Li Qiang slowly drew his sword as he stated with malicious intent.
Li Cheng's defeat was felt as an humiliation for the Li clan and Li Qiang who witnessed everything was left in anger and frustration which he all reported to Ye Mo.
Now he finally had the chance to settle the score!
𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘨!
The bells rang and the fight officially started!
Ye Mo stood unmoving with a cold expression.
Li Qiang instead took position as he held his sword above his head.
Just when he was about to close the distance...
"I give up."
At this moment, a soft breeze blew on the Tiger Martial Institute disciples as the arena entered a deep stillness.