Chapter 60: Every Man for Himself
Ye Mo went inside the pagoda.
The interior was a wide round hall filled with countless stone doors all around. Against the walls was a circular flight of stairs that rised up like a snake all the way towards the second floor.
Most of the doors were closed, signifying a student was cultivating inside but some of them remained open.
A lot of people were gathered in the hall and many of them fought in front of the open stone doors for an opportunity to cultivate inside, their battle skills sending flashing lights and loud noises disorderly while a few of them stood motionless in a corner, waiting for another door to open to try their chance.
Ye Mo discovered there wasn't one of them with a weaker cultivation than him gathered here.
Walking around, he took place near a closed stone door and sat down in meditation.
There were too many people fighting near the available rooms currently as it looked more like a brawl. Ye mo prefered to wait for another one to open.
After two hours, a loud rumbling sound was heard as one of the stone door detached itself from the wall and slide on one side, leaving the room open.
Inside, a youth in clean white robes left with a bright smile on his face, seemingly satisfied. In the past he fought hard, barely getting himself a spot inside a room after a fierce struggle but now he strolled calmly, brimming with confidence, as he left the pagoda.
When the door opened many students suddenly tensed up, those sitting rising, as they observed each other.
No one attacked the youth in white robe, being able to enter a room was a testimony of his abilities and now that he had a round of cultivation inside, he would be even stronger than before. Most of all what they wanted was his room, now that he was leaving there was no reason to attack him.
After a moment of deep tension where students targeting the room sized each other up, suddenly they all rushed towards the room at the same time, attacking everyone on the way, the fight escalating in a slugfest with every man for himself.
One of them standing in the back suddenly rushed towards the room with great agility, avoiding the fights on his path.
Obviously he had a good movement battle skill and with his 6th layer of the Qi Gathering realm, he was very fast.
When he was close to the door, some students saw this scene and shouted in indignation but reacted too late to intervene.
The student rushing instead had his face lit up in surprise and unexpected success as he neared the cultivation room without any trouble.
At this moment a presence abruptly appeared at his side and a powerful leg crashed on his waist sending him flying.
The crack of broken bones resounded as the student was sent straight out of the equation.
Ye Mo involved himself in this course for the cultivation room!
He didn't plan to wait the whole day for a door with less people around to open. Primarily because there would always be many students waiting around every door.
Now he directly stepped in!
The kick right now was just pure raw strength and Ye Mo didn't use an ounce of qi in this attack as one was immediately defeated.
"This room is mine!" After the danger of the youth rushing up was cast away, another one immediately throwed himself at Ye Mo to prevent him to get any closer to the door.
Mid-tier Yellow class battle skill - Rock Crushing Fist!
The opponent's fist was covered in solid deep brown rocks and enlarged to three times its original size as it neared towards Ye Mo.
The latter didn't back down as he threw a stone breaking punch with a face that didn't betray any emotion.
As both fists connected, the rocks on his opponent hand shattered, the bones of his arm broke at various points and his shoulder was dislocated as the impact deflected the arm back forcefully.
The student himself was sent flying across the hall, knocking two other disciples fighting on the way.
They grunted in pain in an effort to stand back up but the one who bore the brunt of the attack was the most injured, remaining motionless on the ground.
Quickly two attendants came and carried him out of the pagoda.
However Ye Mo didn't have any free time, as soon as he got rid of this student, another appeared behind him brandishing a large dagger enveloped in a sinister qi.
"I remember you fag, cowering in front of Li Qiang. This pagoda is not a place for people like you!" The youth shouted in contempt as he attacked him.
At first he wasn't sure because of the irregular scars crisscrossing his face but now that he was closer he could identify Ye Mo.
The dagger was fast and sharp, quickly approaching his back. If he was hit, Ye Mo would be incapacitated for sure.
Surrounded by wind currents, he took a side step avoiding the blade at the crucial moment.
His opponent snorted as he slashed horizontally with his dagger.
Ye Mo broke into a cold smirk and grabbed his wrist, blocking the blade midway.
Placing one hand on the teen's shoulder, he pulled the wrist with the other, exerting his strength.
Riiiip!
The flesh was torn as the whole arm was ripped out of the student's body and tossed on the ground.
"AHHHH!"
He laid on the ground, screaming in fear and pain. His left arm was like an eagle claw gripping his right shoulder. His right limb spewed bright red blood non stop, quickly dyeing the floor red.
The commotion gradually attracted the attention of other disciples in the hall. Some heard the cry and looked in their direction while others directly witnessed the scene in shock.
Such a brutal performance wasn't seen often.
There was no doubt in their mind that the student prostrated on the ground will never completely recover from this blow. Even if he was to be treated by the healers of the institute, they could only heal injuries but were incapable of growing a whole limb out of nothing.
He will have to start back from zero, learning to fight with only his left arm alone but it will never be comparable to having a complete body available.
Those that wanted to attack Ye Mo stopped right on their tracks in trepidation as they witnessed this gruesome outcome.
He was ruthless as he defeated three opponents consecutively, displaying his merciless nature as he handicapped the last one for life.
Of course he didn't have to go this far to defeat him but this was done purposefully. It would serve as a warning for those who wanted to block his way, that it wasn't a decision to take lightly.
Fighting a body cultivator like Ye Mo in close combat without a profound battle strength or deep cultivation was simply a death wish.
In the crowd, a lot of people recognized him. He abandoned against Li Qiang in the first round of the competition in front of every disciples of the institute, even the dean was present. Only a few instructors had their own duties to deal with and couldn't witness it personally.
This act cemented his reputation as a coward and a weakling who could be trifled with. Beside overconfidence, that's also why Ye Mo's last opponent dared attacking him at such close range without any worry even though he displayed a body cultivation in the recruitment competition.
Currently, he was also the closest from the stone door and as he looked at the other contestants, none of them moved.
"What the hell, if he was this strong all this time then why did he surrend in front of Li Qiang from the start." Someone said in confusion.
"Maybe he wasn't and he was so ashamed of himself he cultivated like crazy in the meantime. Im sure i would have beaten him like a dog if i was at the place of this loser." One of them bragged shamelessly, mocking the defeated opponent.
"Come on guys, are we really gonna let him take this room? Im sure if we all attack together, he will have no chance."
"Sure, then go on and we will be right behind you."
As soon as the proposition flew it was immediately discarded by others. The crux of the situation was that they didn't trust each other.
The first one to attack would bear all the pressure from Ye Mo being in great danger himself. Even if he came out fine in the end he could still be backstabbed by another student who wanted the room for himself.
Being on guard against each other they would not be able to display their true battle strength and would impede themselves instead.
Without true unity, this plan wasn't practicable.
In the crowd there were also several 7th layer cultivators however seeing how Ye Mo defeated three opponents in an instant, the last one being a peak 6th layer cultivator, it was clear for them he could easily fight against them as well.
Ye Mo gazed at the crowd and although some still wanted to fight for the room, eventually no one moved.
Most of them were intelligent persons after all. It was just a room, there were several others they could fight for and more that would open for the future.
There wasn't any need to go this far just for one stone door, as long as they were alive and healthy, there would be more opportunities.
Finally Ye Mo turned around and walked in the room's direction.
Yet right at this moment, clapping sounds could be heard behind him.
A young man separated himself from the crowd and advanced towards him!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone