Ye Mo walked a short distance and arrived at the battle skill tower.
He achieved his aim and attained the 8th layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, now even if he didn't take part in the coming competition, he would still be able to join the Raging Saber Sect.
Yet, as your cultivation grows, your battle skills must follow as well and Ye Mo intended to fight for the first place in this competition, ultimately putting his hands on a peak-tier Yellow Class battle skill.
His battle strength still had to rise quickly to have a chance in this endeavor.
"To increase the odds of my future plans, I shall gamble everything on the year-end competition to obtain a peak-tier Yellow Class battle skill, and to have a chance to come out on top in the year-end competition, I gambled all my wealth on a spiritual weapon. Gamble upon gamble, risks upon risks, but if I succeed, it will be all worth it. If I achieve my aim, my battle strength will largely increase in a short time and I will obtain everything I need to leave the Tiger Martial Institute with confidence."
Ye Mo calculated in his mind. In his current state, he had no chance to attain his objectives. The first step was to pick a new martial art.
The students lined up properly, faces flushed with excitement as they were about to pick a new battle skill.
After being permitted access to the tower, Ye Mo immediately climbed to the third floor.
The last time, he hesitated between a healing and a defensive battle skill before finally picking Endless Vitality, so now he sets his eyes on defense.
"Weaving Grass Cage Battle Skill."
"Qi Shield Battle Skill."
"Conquering Sand Armor Battle Skill."
"Hovering Water Spheres Battle Skill."
Ye Mo passed by rows of bookshelves, paying attention to the battle skills covering the defensive aspect of cultivators.
Some of them were large and thick, and even their introductory segment could take a dozen minutes to read, while others were slim and the entirety of the battle skill stood only in a few pages.
"I need a flexible battle skill that can be used to support my strength and sublimate my attack while still having a good defense." Ye Mo mumbled in his heart as he continued walking.
The best battle skill was not the strongest but the one that elevated the cultivator's qualities while reducing his weaknesses. The one that suits him the most, fitting perfectly into his battle style.
He strolled in circles on the third floor, taking note of the time passing as he examined many martial arts manuals in search of the desired one.
Minutes passed quickly and soon it was almost time to leave, only five minutes remaining before the one-hour stay expired.
At this time, Ye Mo came to a stop and rather than being disappointed, he laughed heartily, the tiny flicker of expectation in his heart dying down. "This is only a martial institute after all, not a sect. The first floor contains thousands of battle skills, but on the third floor, they are lowered to a few hundred already, and their quality is not the best. Obtaining such a defensive art is rather impossible."
Martial Institutions were the best place to cultivate and possessed the most resources to nurture disciples, but this was only in comparison to the rest of the forces of Azure Water City.
Each sect was a force renowned in tens of thousands of li, and most of them had the resources of a whole province at their disposition, while their martial arts easily exceeded those of martial institutes by a hundredfold.
The latter wasn't even qualified to become one of their small branches.
Ye Mo inspected many battle skills, but he didn't find one that met his demands. He could only pick a new battle skill under strict conditions so when he had the chance, it was with a precise idea of what he wanted.
His requirements this time were too high for the Tiger Martial Institute so without any choice, he quickly backtracked and picked the Buddha Golden Bell defensive battle skill.
Among all the battle skills Ye Mo has read, this one was easily number one in terms of defense.
However, it had one huge weakness, Buddha Golden Bell couldn't be used while in movement.
Once activated, if the user weren't immobile, then the defense of this battle skill would quickly dissipate as if all the qi of the cultivator was depleted. The user would need to spend another portion for the effects of this defensive technique to return, provided that he wouldn't make any movement this time.
Without talking about the obvious issues that such a weakness entailed, it was particularly dangerous for inexperienced cultivators who could flinch and make a movement during a decisive moment. While expecting to be protected by the skill, they would instead bear the full force of their opponent's attack with their bodies, often resulting in their death.
Due to the particularity of the battle skill, there weren't really various ways to depend on it as a cultivator so it was used solely as a defensive maneuver.
To Ye Mo, who couldn't find a martial art he yearned for, he gave up on many requirements and completely focused on the defense of the battle skill.
At least, this aspect of his combat system would be covered now.
Finally, he returned to the ground floor for the attendant to unseal the book before he left the tower.
After obtaining his new battle skill, Ye Mo had one last matter to deal with before returning to his stone house.
He finished reading the other end of the Buddha Golden Bell battle skill on his way before stepping out of the institute and walking in the streets of the city, heading towards the Ironheart Weaponsmiths' building.
The roads were bustling with people clamoring as they went on their way; among them were many new faces of strangers that stopped by for this particular date of the year.
"Will Shen Xue participate in the competition now that he is a Foundation Establishment cultivator? That would be bullying the weak, he would win without the shadow of a doubt against Qi Gathering Realm students."
"Not necessarily, don't forget there is this genius from the Golden Martial Institute. I can't wait for it to start, the final victor will surely be one of these two."
"I heard Jin Hao Tian isn't engaged yet, it would be so great if we could marry and he could take me back to his clan as their young mistress."
"Apparently, Zhang Xuanhan attempted to breakthrough the Foundation Establishment Realm as well not too long ago but failed the condensation. Fortunately, he quickly recovered his peak Qi Gathering Realm cultivation thanks to the Sky Martial Institute's dean supporting him."
"Lucky boy is the dean's grandson, he can enjoy all the resources he wants. My nephew failed two years ago and till this day, he still hasn't fully recovered his strength. Those silver spooned kids really have a knack for getting on my nerves."
The roads felt cramped with the waves of people moving left and right, countless of them enthusiastically gossiping about the coming year-end competition, confronting the three institutes and the most well-known juniors' recent news, while a few girls indulged in their own fantasies.
Ye Mo made his way through the waves of passersby and attained the Ironheart Weaponsmiths' entry hall after some time.
He looked at the attendants behind the counters but couldn't find the man from last time so he simply approached one held by a young woman and announced himself.
"My name is Ye Mo, I have come to retrieve my spiritual weapon."
"Ye Mo?" The woman looked through the pages of a notebook for a few seconds before her eyes widened.
"Yes, yes, please come with me sir, master Hei will arrive shortly." The woman turned even more courteous and subservient as she led him towards a room on the second floor.
He barely sat down when she returned with a cup of tea and biscuits as he waited. Apparently, Hei Qiong gave words about him since he was treated as an important customer.
Ye Mo didn't even touch anything served to him that the forgemaster already arrived in a hurry, quickly entering the room and closing the door behind him.
"8th layer already?" Hei Qiong paused for an instant and commented as he examined Ye Mo before smiling lightly, "Not bad, at least you won't ridicule yourself during the competition."
He sat down before retrieving something from the inner pockets of his robe and placed it down on the table in front of Ye Mo.
It was a small emerald-green crystal half the size of a hand's palm.
Ye Mo seized it in his hands and looked more closely, inside the crystal, he could perceive the vague dark shape of a bug lying dormant.
"With this fossilized crystal, the Blood Tracking Fly will be hibernating for two or three years so you won't need to feed or watch over it in the meantime or till you need its abilities and break the crystal beforehand." Hei Qiong informed him, completing his lesser task first.
Ye Mo nodded silently in approbation before he placed the fossilized crystal in Wei Leng's spatial pouch that was tied to his belt beside the sky blue one.
He sold the pouches of the Liu clan patriarch's offspring but kept this one in case he lacked enough space with only the pouch given by the Tiger Martial Institute.
Because the Blood Tracking Fly was not dead but only slumbering, it couldn't go in the spatial space, instead, it lay in the natural expanse of the pouch without triggering the formations.
"At last, here is what you have been waiting for." Hei Qiong placed his hand in his spatial pouch and brought out a small box of red wood the size of a small treasure chest.
The box was placed on the table separating them and after opening the lids, Hei Qiong raised the top.
On the soft cushion placed at the bottom of the box lay two night blue, almost black, iron wrist guards.
On their side was a thin blade curved upward like the arched fin of a shark.
This pair of wrist guards was the peak-tier spiritual weapon Ye Mo had envisioned.
"I followed your instructions and heavily emphasized on their durability during the confection, raising it to the limit. Let me show you." Hei Qiong left the wrist guards on the table as he returned the box to his pouch while quickly picking a sword out of it.
This sword was a mid-tier spiritual weapon he casually forged in the past.
Without hesitation, he suddenly cleaved down with the sword towards the wrist guards while using a battle skill.
The wind screamed, flying violently in the surroundings while the walls trembled from the might of the strike.
The intense pressure pushed against Ye Mo, who used a battle skill in turn to protect himself.
Light shone on his body and quickly turned into a huge golden bell that completely enveloped him.
The bell was hazy and illusory, unable to shape properly. But merely the light escaping from his being pushed against the pressure, offering a layer of protection.
This wasn't the mastered battle skill, but just Ye Mo's shallow comprehension of this defensive art after his reading not too long ago.
The defense was far from the maximum ability of the battle skill and he was still a novice in its use, being the first time he tried it. Nonetheless, it was enough to protect him from the energy generated by Hei Qiong's attack.
As the sword went down and clashed against the peak-tier spiritual weapon, the first immediately broke in two, the tip of the blade flying in the opposite direction in a flash before lodging itself on a wall near a shelf.
The wrist guards instead suffered no damage, not even a dent could be seen on their smooth surface.
"I doubt even Inner Core Realm experts could break them, not to flatter myself, but this is really some fine work I did here." Hei Qiong observed looking at Ye Mo, yet his eyes flashed with imperceptible disappointment.
To test the wristguards' durability, he retrieved a sword and struck down without a warning, using his own cultivation and battle skill to back his attack.
With Ye Mo being beside him, he should have been sent crashing against the wall just from the waves of qi emanating from his strike.
Hei Qiong's aim was to slightly injure him and embarrass Ye Mo, causing him to lose face, reminding him of this forgemaster's strength and status and forcing respect and humility out of this junior while feigning ignorance on the outside.
He still felt bitter about Ye Mo's overbearing behavior and this transaction he was in no position to refuse thus, he planned to make him suffer a bit to humble him. However, now the young cultivator seemed unscathed, and the repercussions of the strike had no effect on him.
"You did good, indeed, but we will see their true abilities during the year-end competition." Ye Mo commented as he wore the wrist guards, the spiritual weapon perfectly closing on the shape of his arms.
Ye Mo wasn't using an axe or a mace, nor was he a swordsman or a spear wielder, he used his fists and his own body along with his instincts to prevail.
In this case, this kind of spiritual weapon suited him much more.
Hei Qiong's gaze burrowed into Ye Mo's back, watching him leave the room and disappear behind the corridor, still unmoving.
"He's much stronger than I thought, with the addition of the wrist guards, he might truly do well in the competition. If I am lucky, maybe he could even reach the top five hundred." Hei Qiong thought, abashed and speechless.
He didn't pull back his strike, fully intending to shame Ye Mo, but to think this child would not even budge. Hei Qiong felt a tinge of embarrassment that he quickly shook off, replaced by excitement on prospects he didn't even dare envision.