Ye Mo crawled on the ground like a starving man, taking hold of Bing Jia's token before quicky turning towards the woods at the edge of the plain and moving away.
He didn't even look at the amount of points he obtained, attempting to leave this place in precipitation.
He tried to stand, but he quickly fell back down, his legs unbable to support his body any longer.
Previously, with the adrenaline reaching a peak and pouring every last forces he had on this final strike, Ye Mo was barely able to approach his opponent on his own two legs.
Now that the fight ended and the tension wore off, he couldn't even stand up anymore.
"I must quickly leave the plain and hide somewhere, this guy battle skill was like fireworks in the deepest of darkness. The other contestants in the vicinity will be drawn to this place like insects faced with a source of light, if I can't escape before they arrive, I am done for!" Ye Mo thought in distress, frantically crawling on the grasses, leaving a trail of blood on his way, yet he progressed slowly.
Although he defeated Bing Jia and transferred his points, his situation was still far from optimistic. It wasn't a tournament where participants would fight one on one, in this forest, everyone lurked around and devoured each other without any mercy at the slightest reveal of weaknesses.
In his state, anyone passing by would make quick work out of Ye Mo, confrontation was out of question, he must escape!
No matter how strong he willed for or how much pain he could endure, at this moment, his legs were no more than useless, burdening pieces of flesh attached to his body, utterly unresponsive.
Without any choice, Ye Mo put into action the only thing he could think of and suddenly planted his hands on the ground while contracting his arm muscles, raising his lower body upwards.
Over his whole body, his arms were among the parts who suffered the less from Starfall battle skill, being directly in contact with the wrist guards and could still exert strength or move according to his wishes.
With his body upside down, Ye Mo moved in equilibrium along the plain, progressing much faster than when he was crawling, comparable to someone trotting with his legs.
Sometimes, he even pushed the ground with his hands, lightly leaping forward, suddenly accelerating for an instant before returning on land.
If someone was to observe this scene from afar, they would find it very comical, like a circus monkey making a show for the spectators.
With his body in this position, Ye Mo just had to straighten his neck to have a view behind him. He could see Bing Jia's bow a short distance away from his headless body.
Among spiritual weapons, there were those who had no abilities but greatly increased attributes like being extremely tough or possessing uncomparable sharpness, however, there were still a lot of them who could trigger some effects when you pour Qi inside, like Ye Mo's Qi blades.
He speculated that Bing Jia's bow was at least a high, most probably a peak-tier spiritual weapon, and that its ability was to create these arrows when you infuse Qi into the weapon.
This bow was a treasure that could be turned into vast riches, it would be enough to negate the Liu clan's financial difficulties and get them out of poverty.
Yet, after a glimpse, Ye Mo crooked his neck to stare at the path ahead and didn't look back.
Time was of essence here, at any moment, another student could appear and attack him. Every second was of importance, he couldn't retrace his steps and risk it all just to take the bow.
Even the divine hammer of a deity was useless to a corpse.
"My life is the most important, as long as I live, there will be other chances." Ye Mo didn't hesitate a single instant and distanced himself further, nearing the woods.
No matter the amount of riches, it can always be gained back later on, but life, once its lost this is the end of the path.
Even if he decided to take the bow from the start before running away, he would still waste time moving to its position and taking hold of it, a time that he didn't have.
Every second spent on this plain was a second that brought him closer to death.
While he moved using his hands to support his body, the blood that coursed out of his wounds flowed down continuously. the massive stream quickly reached his head, impeded his respiration and blocked his vision.
In these circumstances, if he kept going, he would run straight into every obstacle in his way.
Before his vision was obstructed, he saw the towering trees and the profound darkness of the forest right ahead of himself and with a last jump, at the strength of his arms, he blindly engulfed himself in the woods, falling down and rolling multiple times before coming to a stop.
Ye Mo, prostrated on the ground, wiped the blood out of his face as he took a look at himself, noticing the flow of blood escaping his wounds had clearly reduced.
Endless Vitality didn't let him down.
New flesh was growing over his stark naked ribs and several injuries were closing down. The one with the less noticeable difference was the gaping hole on his left leg, releasing a steady stream of blood, yet, it was the one that recovered the most.
Because the leg was fractured, Endless Vitality focused mainly on the bone so the flesh wound healed slowly, but now the bone was almost restored and Ye Mo gradually recovered sensations in his legs.
"When they are healed enough for me to stand up again, I will be able to use my movement battle skills to get out of here." Ye Mo thought, slightly eager, returning to crawling on the ground.
He knew he was still far from safe, although he left the open view of the plain, he was still in the vicinity of the battle site. At any moment, he could come face to face with another student going the other way, attracted by the visual appeal of Starfall battle skill.
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Ye Mo moved silently among the bushes, barely perceptible, trying to make the less noises possible and directing all his attention to his hearing to detect anyone approaching as he remains hidden.
He progressed unhurriedly, like a worm on the ground, he felt he could stand up by now and the blood loss had ceased yet he remained crawling, his injuries were not healed completely and he wasn't in the best conditions to sustain another fight, he prefered remaining as inconspicuous as he could for now.
After a moment, he heard some noise and as he turned to look under the cover of the vegetation, he saw the figure of a student landing on the ground not far from him.
It was too dark to make out any more than the shape of his build and from it, one could conclude it was a boy.
The student walked slowly, wary of his surroundings.
He was attracted by the lights he saw in the sky from afar and sought to find an opportunity in the plain, but he was aware many others would be drawn to this place so the further he walked, the slower he advanced and the more careful he became.
Internally, he circulated his Qi over his body, ready to enter battle at any instant.
Ye Mo, concealed in a corner, only hoped this student didn't have an investigative battle skill or that at least, he wouldn't use it at this moment.
He stopped all movements and breathed slowly, becoming one with nature, no different than a rock, trying to avoid being noticed while waiting for the boy to go away.
After what seemed like an eternity, the student finally disappeared in the darkness further away then followed by another long delay to make sure he truly left, Ye Mo finally continued on his way.
A short time later, he rose up and fused with the dim environment, leaving the vicinity of the plain once and for all.
On the plain, several shadows repeatedly jumped, dashed, or zigzagged, approaching from all directions before stopping around Bing Jia's corpse and his bow while many others snooped around at the edge of the plain, spectating the development of the situation.
After a short respite, numerous flashes of light suddenly pervaded the area as several battle skills were unleashed, the plain turning into another battlefield.
Among the shadows, one of them was particularly dominant, effectively protecting himself before counter attacking.
As he unfurled a powerful palm strike that sent his opponent flying, it shot a peek at the corpse not far from its position.
"This head on the ground, isn't it Bing Jia? He was the best expert of the Sky Martial Institute a few years ago, who did that to him..."
His flesh already lost all its warmth while his neck was linked to a pool of blood.
Gao Lixin was dumbfounded, seeing the remains of this once acclaimed student. After all, he was well aware of Bing Jia's abilities, this guy was not inferior to him in any way.
Even though no one talked much about him recently, many still had in mind his battle strength and the young masters, constantly seeking to improve themselves, were among them.
With time, it was common for cultivators to grow stronger and Gao Lixin knew that in his reclusion, Bing Jia's battle strength must have increased much.
"People who can defeat him are few and to kill him, even less. The wound is neat, like some kind of sword beheaded him, could it be Yan Mei or Li Qiang?"
"No, both Bing Jia and these two are aware of each other's strength and wouldn't fight to the death, if it was nearing the end of the competition, maybe, but the first night? Even Li Qiang wouldn't be so stupid to assault him if he wasn't offended."
"Then it must be... Shen Xue! Yes, he wield a sword as well and with his strength and his personality, slaughtering everything on his way indiscriminately, he's the only one who could have done that."
In an instant, Gao Lixin analyzed the scene and "deduced" what happened in this plain.
Shen Xue's figure in his mind grew even more fearsome and bloodthirsty.
However, returning to his current situation, it didn't look good.
Although he started off domineering and assertive, the other participants were not stupid and quickly began to band together to target him.
Faced with a greater threat, weaker parties would momentarily ally to overcome this predicament, this was often seen in the animal kingdom or among humans.
Gao Lixin was gradually forced in a passive stance before sent retreating in the distance until he left the area, however the contestants didn't have the strength to kill him so they didn't chase anymore and remained on the plain, fighting for the loot on Bing Jia's corpse.
Amidst these participants, two figures noticed a trail of blood on the ground and followed it, surreptitiously returning in the woods while others kept fighting each other.
However, in the dead of the night and with such a large area of dense vegetation, it was nearly impossible to pick up someone's passage and even after using their investigative battle skills, they couldn't find anything.
Ye Mo had already escaped.
Far away from this place, this one sat on the branch of a tree with closed eyes and revolved his Black Vortex cultivation technique, replenishing his wisps of Qi quickly.
On his body, no remnants of the struggle against Bing Jia could be found anymore.
After the time to drink a cup of tea, Ye Mo descended on the ground and returned to his killing spree, assassinating students left and right in the forest.
After a few deployment of Shadow Walk, he would always take the time to recover his Qi for a short time before setting off again.
That's why when he fought against Bing Jia, even though he had already killed multiple cultivators using his battle skill, he still had all his Qi at disposition as he recovered it completely prior to the attack.
Soon, the sun rose up and the second day of the competition began, leaving behind this grim night accompanied with the demise of many participants.