Tonight, the moon was bright and stars were few.

The moon hung high above like a jade plate and the gentle darkness of the night was like a yarn, covering Azure Water city.

From time to time, owl hoots could be faintly heard from afar.

Ye Mo securely closed the door and windows. He stood inside his small house, his whole body naked.

Candles were lit in the room, hanging on the walls, illuminating the place while a glittering dagger laid on his desk.

Even the floor he was standing on was covered in a thick cloth.

Ye Mo picked the dagger as his cold expression was reflected on the blade.

The life of a cultivator was filled with obstacles.

Those who seek power have to pay a price.

Only children deceived by romanced stories would think otherwise.

Thinking of this, Ye Mo slightly moved his hand.

The dagger opened his palm and blood trickled down his hand before it fell on the ground.

Ye Mo circulated his Qi and the blood loss slowly reduced, after several minutes, the wound closed up and not even a scar remained as only the red spots on the floor testimonied of what just happened.

"I have to treasure every minute and every second, to cultivate! Increasing my strength as fast as possible!"

"I need gold coins, the battle against Liu Zhi is the best way to earn them. But if i lose, this is inevitable death! After that is the year-end competition, who knows what kind of danger i will face then, but i can't let go of a peak-tier battle skill!"

Ye Mo's eyes shined brightly.

After the small cut healed, he raised the dagger quickly, and with boths hands, stabbed himself in the stomach, the blade piercing the organ.

The next instant, he removed the dagger from his belly as blood burst out.

He first felt an intense burst of pain when the blade penetrated his flesh, but it reached it's peak when it tore the inside as he retracted the dagger.

Ye Mo gritted his teeth and sucked in a breath through his teeth. He resisted the pain and circulated his Qi once again.

This time the effects were seen immediately as in a matter of seconds, the opening of his stomach joined each other while blood stopped flowing out of the cut!

The tissues sectionned were healed as well and quickly enough, the wound closed up.

Ye Mo was as good as new if it wasn't for his deep frowning brows as he still felt lingering phantom pain.

Endless Vitality was a peculiar healing battle skill, the worse were your injuries, the most effective would be the healing.

For a deep stabbing wound, it healed in a short time however for just a small cut on his palm, it took the time for an incense stick to burn to close up and that's taking into account his body natural regenerative ability.

"This skill is the best for me considering it's characteristics." Ye Mo thought coldly, "My body is very resistant by itself so my opponents often go all out in their attacks to deal a lot of damage, but with this healing battle skill i can easily take care of serious wounds and continue battling."

"Even if i suffer some minor wounds, they are of no importance, i can deal with them with my cultivation of the Nine Revolutions Fiend body. I only need to be careful to not accumulate too much and lose a massive amount of blood."

This battle skill, it was the most suitable for extreme cultivators that would often land themselves in dangerous situations like lone cultivators who roams the wilderness or demonic cultivators.

Ye Mo picking this battle skill, he didn't only think of the present but also the future when he would travel across the central lands.

With a swift movement, the dagger was plunged in his shoulder, then with his hand still on the handle, Ye Mo ripped apart his flesh as he moved the blade down all the way to the waist before it was removed.

This time, the pain made him shudder and he couldn't help but fall on his knees, the dagger escaping his grasp and falling on the ground as a thick mattress of blood flowed out of his cut.

He began to feel cold, like all the warmth of his body was leaving him, then quickly, his eyelids grew heavy and intense dizziness assaulted him.

The metallic odor from the blood was nauseating and Ye Mo used his iron willpower to endure all of it and activate Endless Vitality battle skill.

As soon as his Qi was poured out, the bleeding stopped while the cut grew smaller until in just a breath of time, he was completely healed.

However even though he had no injuries anymore, his face was white like a sheet as he just lost so much blood and he could still feel his ruptured muscles and vessels in his body.

All battle skills were clearly classified in terms of use and none would be overly advantageous without having their pros and cons while even those who seemed the weakest would find their own utility in certain situations.

There was a need for every cultivators to learn and familiarize themselves with newly acquired battle skill to bring out their best in threatening situations.

This meant comprehending the extent of their abilities, shortcomings and the various ways to use them.

Such an understanding took time, generally for this kind of healing techniques, one would intentionally join missions and heal his comrades or enter battle against blood beasts to use it on himself when necessary, slowly gaining insights over the battle skill; However this could take weeks or months to completely grow accustomed to the technique.

Yet, Ye Mo have only seven days at disposition and this is precisely to go through this process that he gave this condition.

He couldn't take the conventional way.

He still had to find the secret cave of Pure Iridescent Iron and cultivate in the pagoda to breakthrough the 8th layer.

Time was lacking and to shorten the amount needed to grow experienced with the battle skill, he directly experimented on himself.

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For Ye Mo, time was always the ressource he lacked the most and he couldn't waste any, concurrently, the pressure of the one week delay would help him grow quickly without looking back.

It could take more or less time depending on the battle skill and the implication of the cultivator, usually they would stop at the basic aspect of the battle skill.

However some cultivators that were stuck with a battle skill or very fond of one could go even further and train with them for years to push their limits, increasing their comprehension and finding unique ways to use them like Liu Hong who could negate the weakness of his Skybound Leaping battle skill.

"Endless Vitality battle skill was named this way by its creator mentionning that this skill made the user an undying machine as long as they had enough Qi to use it."

"Of course, this is just a load of bullshit and he only bragged about it in an attempt to bolster his achievement or maybe simply his mad disilusion. If i get decapitated or have my heart destroyed i will still die, just targeting my dantian in a strike can end up in a life crippling injury. This is even more dangerous with ordinary cultivators who could get killed just by accumulating minor wounds, Endless Vitality being unable to heal them quickly. Only with my powerful body refining cultivation can i reduce this weakness."

"Cultivating is painful, body refining is painful, battling is painful, life is painful, accept it or give up! To reach the peak, i have to suffer first!"

Without hesitation, Ye Mo continued to slash his body, gaining many insights over the battle skill, as blood was sprayed all over the room.

After some time, his Qi was depleted and his body started to fail him, swaying uncontrollably.

Taking a basin of water and a towel out of his pouch, he laboriously cleaned the bloodstains all over his body. Because he was naked, they were cleaned easily but after being done, he was already at his limits.

Ye Mo had no choice but to stop for now and after placing the basin of bloodied water and the towel back in his pouch, he laid on his bed, falling in a deep sleep.

The next night, he would torment himself again, sometimes inflicting several minor wounds, other times he suffered many serious injuries and in between he would endure both deep and shallow cuts simultaneously, witnessing the healing effects of Endless Vitality battle skill.

The week passed in a flash for others but for Ye Mo, it was slow and excruciating, yet soon, it was the day arranged for the battle between he and Liu Zhi.

It was early in the morning when Ye Mo left his house and quietly walked towards the arena. On his way, many students were seen running or walking hurriedly in the same direction, throwing side glances to him or slight smiles before going ahead.

When he reached his destination, there were a lot of them sitting in the surroundings discussing or waiting for the show to start.

"Who do you think will win?"

"Hmm, Ye Mo is powerful but Liu Zhi is a 9th layer cultivator. Moreover he has been here for long and have acquired good battle skills over time, i don't see him losing."

"Who knows, Ye Mo has created surprises many times before."

"Hehe, i place twenty gold coins on Liu Zhi."

"Fifteen on Ye Mo!"

Many were discussing in expectations and placing bets on the fighters victory, though those were unofficial and the institute didn't care about them nor would they intervene.

Liu Zhi was a slightly famous old senior student who had been in the 9th layer for some time now while Ye Mo has been growing explosively and shocked them many times with his battle strength.

It was understandable such a fight would appeal many to watch it.

The Liu clan member was spotted sitting cross-legged, with eyes closed in the middle of the arena, patienting.

"Im already quite early, did he wait for me here the whole night?" Ye Mo thought as he jumped and directly landed in front of Liu Zhi.

When he sensed him, the senior student opened his eyes with a smirk, "So you came after all, i was wondering if you would get cold feet but at least you have courage, haha."

Liu Zhi laughed sarcastically at Ye Mo.

Beside them appeared Lan Xue, the beautiful female instructor.

Because it was an official challenge with a bet at the end of the fight, an instructor was sent to act as referee and ensure the smooth running of the event.

"Will you fight to the death or casual?" She asked unceremoniously.

"He will make the choice." Liu Zhi said with a movement of the head, pointing at Ye Mo.

He didn't mind killing him but even if it was a fight to the death he would still spare him if possible to bring him back to the clan and make him suffer.

As they both looked at him, Ye Mo smiled, "How will you pay me if you die?"

"Fine, then killing strikes are not allowed and both contestants can surrender when outmatched." Lan Xue withdrew from the arena with this sentence and watched over them from an elevated platform a few meters away, leaving both contestants alone.

"You're really arrogant, but this overconfidence is what will lead to your demise!" Liu Zhi stated, his mouth dropping as his expression turned serious.

This was the moment he brings justice to his clan, it was the day he would make their most hated enemy pay for all the harm he caused.

"Ancestor has promised me, if i can hand over Ye Mo and breakthrough the Foundation Establishment realm before i turn 30, he will vouch for me as a candidate to become the next patriarch in the future!" Liu Zhi's eyes blazed with resolve.

With Liu Huan dead, there were no heir anymore and the political state of the Liu clan was unstable. In the dark, many competed against each others to become the next in line, even elders and their grandchildren.

If Liu Zhi really beneficiated from Liu Dan support, becoming the new heir was completely possible.

Ye Mo looked at his opponent, his eyes deep and emotionless.

Bong!

The gong resonated and the atmosphere immediately grew tense.