When Ye Mo opened his eyes he saw a white roof. He was laying on a bed, a blanket covering his body and a small window was just beside him, on the wall of the room.
The light of the sun illuminated the center of the room through the window.
Ye Mo rose up and glanced at his right arm. It looked intact, the same aspect as his left one.
He could think his fight with Ha Jun was a dream if it wasn't for the itchy feeling he felt when he clenched his fist.
"I can't collapse this way again, who knows what else they did with my body when i was unconscious..." Thought Ye Mo frustrated.
He didn't trust anyone and leaving himself at others mercy was simply unacceptable.
He was still in thought when the door suddenly opened.
"How do you feel?" Wang Fei entered smiling, showing his white teeth. When he smiled his eyes turned into two thin slits and people were unable to know what he was thinking.
Ye Mo shrugged "Im fine, what happened?"
"Your right arm was in so bad shape the healing instructor took 3 hours draining his Qi to restore it. He said if it wasn't a request of the dean he would have made you pay for the pills he consumed during your treatment to maintain his healing ability. Unfortunately you couldn't take part in the rest of the competition."
"But since you were able to defeat Ha Jun you're still ranked at the 10th place which i must say is pretty impressive considering your background and talking about it..." With a wave of the hand Wang Fei transferred in Ye Mo's pouch 1500 gold coins, a bottle of pills, a small wooden box and an iron black token with "Cultivation Tower" and "3rd" written on the front and back of it.
"Then what about the rest of the tournament." Ye Mo asked what was on his mind. There were many strong participants and he was curious to find how it unfolded.
"Well, there were many spectacular fights, like the one opposing Gao Lixin to Li Qiang. Theses two always hated each other since young." Wang Fei fervently explained the largest events of the tournament.
Both Gao Lixin and Li Qiang fought like madman on the stage, unleashing one battle skill after another. The arena shook perpetually and when no trace of Qi remained in their body anymore they started to beat each other bare handed until they could barely move. In the end, an instructor had to stop the fight as one of them was bound to die if it kept going.
The fight was counted as a draw, a rare occurance in the history of the Tiger Martial Institute. In general they only accept a victor and a loser even if death must occur but due to their status and special circumstances they took the 5th place even though they wanted to keep fighting.
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Then there was the fight of Yan Mei against Jin Hao Tian. Apparently it all ended in a flash. As soon as the bells rang they rushed at each other and in an instant Jin Hao Tian had a large cut going through his left shoulder to his right thigh while Yan Mei had a big hole between her right shoulder and her chest.
They both suffered life-threathening injuries and several healing instructors hurriedly treated them.
One of them said Yan Mei was lucky, she would have died like Gao Liehu had the hole been a bit more to her left. Both contestants collapsed but since Jin Hao Tian was the last one standing he was counted as the victor.
The last show was the final between Ma Shinfei and Shen Xue. Both their staff and sword mastery were formidable and the battle stage soon became a land of ice and fire however in the end Shen Xue left victorious albeit suffering from burns while Ma Shinfei was badly wounded and has been carried out by the healer.
At last, the rankings of the competition showcased by the institute were as such:
1st: Shen Xue
2nd: Ma Shinfei
3rd: Jin Hao Tian
4th: Yan Mei
5th: Li Qiang - Gao Lixin
7th: Shen Ji Yao
8th: Fan Yuxiang
9th: Wu Bai
10th: Ye Mo
...
"You have been sleeping for a day and a night, the others have already invested their living quarters. I will wait at the entrance of the structure, join me when you're done clearing your mind." Saying so Wang Fei left the room.
Once he closed the door his face immediately darkened, "I inspected his body when he was asleep but there was no trace of a treasure or an artefact inside, is his strenght really the result of a body refining technique?" Wang Fei pondered as he strolled through the corridor.
"Well, i can still tell the dean i didn't find anything suspicious. It would relieve him since he seems to pay some attention to Ye Mo and foster his impression of me, strenghtening my position in the institute." His face soon took his natural smiling aspect as he left the structure.
Ye Mo shortly joined him as he was led by Wang Fei towards a building.
"This is the Disciple Hall. Since you became a member of the institute this is where you will receive your items as a disciple." Wang Fei entered the hall followed by Ye Mo.
Under Wang Fei's instructions one of the teachers behind the counter handed a spatial pouch, a token and a set of clothes to Ye Mo.
The pouch was sky blue in color with cloud patterns all around. He was shocked to discover it possesed 13 cubic meters! Prior to this, Liu Huan's one was the best he had and it contained only 8 cubic meters.
The token was made of a grey metal, on the back was his name inscribed while on the front was the institute's name.
His disciple robe was a dark brown sleeveless martial suit. It was neat and simple.
Ye Mo put both in his new pouch then left.
He was led by Wang Fei to the disciples disctrict.
"This is where disciples live. There's all kinds of habitations from magnificent courtyards to more modest dwellings. You can choose whichever you want as long as it's empty." Wang Fei explained lightly.
Ye Mo strolled a bit until he chose a small stone house mostly because it was relatively isolated from the other residences.
"This is a surprising and expected choice at the same time. I will give you 2 hours, clean yourself and change your clothes then join me at the center of the institute." Wang Fei left with theses words.
He seemed to walk leisurely but his speed was as fast as someone sprinting with all his might.
Ye Mo nodded. The center of the institute was a vast plaza, in the middle was a huge fontain pouring crystal clear water.
Anyone who's been in the institute once would pass by and Ye Mo knew it's location as well.
He opened the door and entered the stone house. Inside was a stone bed, an oil lamp, a stone table and a stone stool. On a side of the room was a red mat on the floor.
In reality Ye Mo had enough gold coins currently to buy back the house of his parents. When they were killed, it was taken by the authorities and sold to another family.
Ye Mo had no way to retrieve it in the past but now he was a member of the Tiger Martial Institute. Even without money, just his position alone would be enough for him to become it's new owner since the current residents were just mortals.
However he didn't do so. Ye Mo wasn't a sentimentalist, this house was just pieces of wood assembled together and didn't hold anything valuable or precious to him. Currently he lived in the institute grounds so he had no use for it hence he let it be.
"He's probably gonna initiate me in Qi cultivation. I must be the only one in the institute that didn't start yet." Ye Mo took his disciple suit out of his pouch and changed himself then jumped on the bed when his stomach rumbled in hunger.
Ye Mo sat up and retrieved some meat from Liu Huan's pouch. A part were already inside when he took it while another was added from the beasts he killed in the Jade Forest.
He quickly ate them then after some time left for the plaza.