His wound wasn't completely healed yet, that Ye Mo already moved forward, approaching an opened door leading to a cultivation room.
Soon enough, another student noticed him approaching and attacked.
Seeing in which state Ye Mo's last opponent ended, the student immediately used an amplification battle skill, going all out as he engaged him in close combat.
His body turned bright red, and fumes escaped from his skin and his mouth while his abilities were raised severalfold.
The man punched, but Ye Mo blocked the fist with his elbow.
The elbow was one of the hardest parts of the human body, being a great weapon in both offense and defense, it effectively protected him from the opponent's strike as he countered with a Stone Breaking Punch himself.
The student he faced didn't stop after his strike and followed with another punch without bothering about protecting himself.
The punches connected neatly, Ye Mo being struck in the belly while his opponent was hit in the chest.
Ye Mo took three steps back and bent down, spitting a mouthful of blood at his feet before using Endless Vitality as his organs were greatly damaged.
His opponent instead looked in much better shape.
Although he was sent retreating several more steps than Ye Mo, he only stood slightly crouching as he placed his hand over his chest, but no injuries were seen on the outside.
Ye Mo's eyes flashed as he looked at him, "He used a defensive battle skill."
The student retracted his hand and from his chest, multiple hard pieces of skin detached themselves and fell on the ground, turning into dull grey-white fragments.
His opponent was using the high-tier Platinum Body defensive battle skill which would give the user's skin the aspect and the properties of platine, becoming a barrier that covered the cultivator's body entirely.
This was a very good battle skill for martial artists proficient in close combat.
However, this student didn't stop there and was combining Platinum Body with an amplification battle skill that turned his skin bright red, completely hiding the activation of the defensive battle skill as he looked like a pyre was burning inside his body.
This was a good strategy, as often, people would think they dealt the decisive blow and won just to find out the student was unscathed before being knocked out.
Sometimes they might even injure themselves hitting the defense of this cultivator.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Ye Mo and his physical abilities were nothing ordinary.
Not only was his strength great enough to go through his defense and deal minor injuries, but his resilience was high enough for him to strike without suffering any wounds.
The student thought Ye Mo would be in a really bad state taking his punch head-on, but he became distressed seeing how fast he was recovering from his wound as he watched him stand back up as if his injuries were nothing worth consideration. The student quickly charged ahead to prevent Ye Mo from healing any further and take advantage of his injured state to definitely put him down.
The man punched while Ye Mo ignored his half-healed wound, catching the fist with his hand. The student didn't back down and punched again with his free hand, which Ye Mo also caught.
Finally, the student used his knee, but Ye Mo also raised his, blocking the strike as it turned into a short confrontation of brute force.
In their stalemate, Ye Mo grabbed the wrists of the student and lowered his arms while simultaneously moving his head back, gaining momentum, before violently smashing it into the man's forehead.
The student couldn't block the strike with both his hands grabbed and his knee blocked, after taking the hit, he was released as he wobbled back disoriented.
Although the surface of his skin didn't take much damage from the headbutt thanks to the Platinum Body battle skill, his whole body received the shock from the strike and his brain was greatly shaken.
Even Ye Mo himself felt dizzy while a part of his own forehead swelled up, turning red and showing how much strength he used in this attack, striking without any reservation.
After taking a couple steps, the student uncontrollably fell on the ground, confused, losing the command of his legs.
He tried to stand back up, to move, to fight! But his brain was not responding.
Ye Mo quickly approached and raised the man's legs before spreading them apart and harshly stomping down, viciously ending his bloodline with this generation.
He didn't have the time to rest when a woman stepped up and attacked.
Spectral Hands battle skill.
Several light purple hands shot out from her back and grabbed Ye Mo's arms and legs, immobilizing him.
The hands had a fuzzy aspect and Ye Mo quickly realized after being seized that this technique didn't only serve to tie him down, but it was actually draining his qi as well.
While he was held by the spectral hands, the girl sent five throwing knives toward him.
Ye Mo tried his best to get away, but the hold was firm, and he didn't have enough time.
One knife pierced his left thigh, another went into his right arm, a third was planted on his right shoulder and the fourth hit his waist.
The last one was targeting his chest and would have made the biggest damage if Ye Mo hadn't lowered his head at the last moment and improvised on the go, blocking the blade between his teeth.
In reality, the woman could have threatened his life if she threw all the knives towards vital spots like the head, the chest or the neck, but it was without taking into account that killing wasn't allowed.
Battles in the pagoda were often a fine balance between defeating your opponents and making sure they wouldn't succumb to their injuries, having complete mastery over your abilities as the strength employed had to be only enough to get rid of them.
Many times in the pagoda, when two students had near equal strength and couldn't beat the opponent without guaranteeing his life, they would postpone their fight and wait near the door for another person to come and the situation to develop.
That's why even though the girl facing Ye Mo had an opportunity, she couldn't use her full strength and risk to kill him, however, in battles, restraining yourself and limiting your abilities were also putting yourself at risk.
Any mistake would come back to bite you at some point, a miscalculation and your enemy will make sure to repay you tenfold.
Although Ye Mo was hit by four knives, they were only flesh wounds. The natural resistance of his body was astonishing, and while the blades went in, they couldn't go deep enough to harm the bones, at worst, they stopped when coming into contact with them.
It was both good and bad news, because his bones were intact, he could keep moving and fighting without too much trouble, but at the same time, these injuries will take more time to heal with Endless Vitality.
Exerting all his strength, Ye Mo forced his way out of the spectral hands, tearing them away as he charged at the girl.
At this point, his wisps of qi filled only 56% of his dantian, more than 20% was swallowed by the girl's battle skill alone.
The girl used another battle skill and eight slender spider legs ten feet long emerged from her back as she used them to take off the ground and approach Ye Mo threateningly.
When they met, he first used the speed of Cyclone Kick to ward off the spider legs she used to attack him in addition to her arms and legs, but with this many limbs at disposition for his opponent, it wasn't enough.
The spider legs were also thin, sharp, and particularly resistant, he couldn't easily break them even with the Stone Breaking Punch.
He was quickly getting overwhelmed and accumulating injuries.
Finally, while both retreating and defending from her strikes, Ye Mo suddenly stepped forward, sending one of the legs grazing his shoulder when another cut his thigh, nearly planting itself deep inside the muscle had Ye Mo not stepped aside at the last moment. He arrived beside the girl and grabbed a third spider leg that shot out at him, then without warning, he directly ripped it off from the base of her back
The spider legs were firm and very durable, he couldn't break them with his strikes, but they were rooted in the girl's back where the flesh was no different than any ordinary human. He could tear them off without any difficulty.
Flesh was torn and blood burst out in a gory spectacle.
It seemed that the spider legs were a limb extension no different than her arms or legs as she wailed loudly in pain, falling on one knee when Ye Mo took one off.
The spider legs were directly connected to her brain so she had great control over them, this way, she could immediately become proficient with them without having to train the battle skill for too long.
However, they were also connected to her pain sensors and the blood leaking out from her back was genuine.
She began using a healing battle skill as she attempted to stand up, but it was too late.
Showing one moment of weakness, Ye Mo immediately tore another spider leg from her back, making another high-pitched cry resound, which quickly came to a stop when he punched her in the face, breaking her nose and the front row of her teeth.
The woman lost consciousness on the spot, but Ye Mo wasn't done as he grabbed one of her arms and pulled out, tearing the flesh and breaking the bone as her limb was separated from the rest of her body.
This one, she couldn't grow or retract with her battle skill.
"This guy is a lunatic!"
"Why such cruelty, doing these horrible things when you have already won."
"He's not letting anyone leave on their own two legs!"
"Is that not enough for you to hit girls in the face anymore? You need to cripple them as well now?"
Many students exclaimed in the surroundings in shock and indignation.
Yet, it didn't provoke any reaction on Ye Mo who just looked coldly at his defeated opponent before he crouched down.
Ye Mo held his strength so he wouldn't bash the girl's skull open with his punch yet he still wasn't assured she would live after everything she went through if she didn't receive immediate treatment so he placed a hand on her shoulder and expended a bit of his qi, using Endless Vitality inside her body for an instant, just enough to stop the blood loss and make sure she wouldn't die right away.
When he was done, he rose up and continued on his way, grabbing and tossing the knives that were embedded on his body one after the other.
This time, it was deadly silent around him and no one blocked his way as he approached the door.
The reason why he made such horrible injuries to his opponents, even when they were already defeated, wasn't because he enjoyed hurting them or because the thirst for blood turned him mad nor anything similar.
It just served as a deterrence for the other cultivators that might think of stopping him.
It was easy to attack someone when they thought it was just a game, no more than a sparring, a contest to see who was superior. But when there were real consequences, when their livelihood was directly threatened, when they thought they could leave this place on a stretcher, never the same again, everyone thought long and hard before daring to cross his path.
He was instilling fear and apprehension in their heart.
Before attacking, they would have the images of his previous opponents prostrated on the ground half-dead, in their minds. When planning to stand in his way, they would ask themselves if they were ready to lose an arm or a leg.
Most of all, this fear of engaging that he was spreading was effective mainly because it was based on his abilities.
Fighting three opponents in a row and defeating them in a short time showed that he had more than enough strength to gain a room on this floor, even without the deterrence, few would still be willing to attack him, even more now thinking of the consequences.
Those that thought of taking advantage of his injuries were quickly disappointed seeing the wound he sustained from the punch of his second opponent was already nowhere to be found while he suffered mostly minor injuries against the third one.
Overall, he seemed fine to go for another round.
At last, he reached the room and placed three hundred gold coins. He went inside and the door closed behind him without any further complications, as the students chose to focus on another one.
...
Not far from the pagoda, in the Tiger Martial Institute's dean pavilion.
Three instructors stood in front of Hong Li, reclining on his chair behind his desk.
"Dean, our teams completed their investigation on Ye Mo." One of them informed in a clear voice.