When Ye Mo opened his eyes he saw a white ceiling. He was lying on a bed, a blanket covering his body, and a small window was just beside him, lighting the room with sunshine.
Ye Mo rose up and glanced at his right arm. It was intact, the same aspect as his left one.
He did several tests, flexing it, clenching his fists, and rotating his shoulder, evaluating his condition.
He might have thought his fight with Ha Jun was a dream if it weren't for the itchy feeling he felt when he clenched his fist.
Overall, he had a slight sensation of weakness in his arm, but nothing severe. This sensation would disappear as well with time.
"I can't collapse this way again; they may have healed me, but who knows what else they did with my body while I was unconscious..." Ye Mo thought, frustrated with himself.
He didn't trust anyone, and leaving himself at others' mercy was simply unacceptable.
He was still in thought when the door was suddenly opened.
"How do you feel?" Wang Fei entered with a smile, showing his white teeth. When he smiled, his eyes turned into two thin slits, making people unable to know what he was thinking.
Ye Mo shrugged. "I am fine, what happened?"
"Your right arm was in so bad shape the healing instructor took 3 hours draining his qi to restore it. He said if it wasn't a request of the dean, he would have made you pay for the pills he consumed during your treatment to maintain his healing ability. Unfortunately, you couldn't take part in the rest of the competition."
"But since you were able to defeat Ha Jun you're still ranked at the 10th place. I must say it is quite an impressive feat considering your background and talking about it..." With a wave of the hand Wang Fei transferred into Ye Mo's pouch 1500 gold coins, a bottle of pills, a small wooden box and an iron black token with "Cultivation Tower" written on the front and "3rd" on the back of it.
"Then what about the rest of the tournament?" Ye Mo asked what was on his mind. There were many strong participants that were involved in this year's recruitment and he was curious to find how it unfolded after he lost consciousness.
"Well, there were many spectacular fights, like the one opposing Gao Lixin to Li Qiang. These two have always hated each other since they were young and at the times when they were gathered together, you could often see them argue and bicker, sometimes escalating into a brawl." Wang Fei started fervently describing the largest events of the tournament.
Both Gao Lixin and Li Qiang fought like madmen on stage, unleashing one battle skill after another. The arena shook perpetually, and when no trace of qi remained in their bodies anymore, they started to beat each other bare-handed until they could barely move. In the end, an instructor had to stop the fight as one of them was bound to die if it kept going.
The fight was counted as a draw, a rare occurrence in the history of the Tiger Martial Institute. Usually, they would only accept a victor and a loser even if death must occur, but due to their status and special circumstances, the Tiger Martial Institute could not allow any of them to lose their lives. Eventually, they took the 5th place of the competition despite the young masters still wishing to fight and settle the matter on the battle stage.
Then there was the fight of Yan Mei against Jin Hao Tian. Apparently it all ended in a flash. As soon as the bells rang, they rushed at each other and in an instant Jin Hao Tian had a large cut going through his left shoulder to his right thigh, while Yan Mei had a big hole between her right shoulder and her chest.
They both suffered life-threatening injuries, and several healing instructors hurriedly treated them.
One of them said Yan Mei was very lucky. She would have died like Gao Liehu had the hole been a bit more to her left. Both contestants collapsed but since Jin Hao Tian was the last one standing he was counted as the victor.
The last show was the final between Ma Shinfei and Shen Xue. Both their staff and sword mastery were formidable, and the battle stage soon became a land of ice and fire. In the end Shen Xue left victorious, albeit suffering from burns while Ma Shinfei was badly wounded and has been carried out by the healer.
At last, the rankings of the competition showcased by the institute were as such:
1st: Shen Xue
2nd: Ma Shinfei
3rd: Jin Hao Tian
4th: Yan Mei
5th: Li Qiang - Gao Lixin
7th: Yan Ji Yao
8th: Fan Yuxiang
9th: Wu Bai
10th: Ye Mo
...
"You have been sleeping for a day and a night, the others have already invested their living quarters. I will wait at the entrance of the building, join me when you're done clearing your mind." Saying so, Wang Fei left the room.
Once he closed the door, his face immediately darkened.
"I inspected his body when he was asleep but there was no trace of a treasure or an artifact inside. Is his strength really the result of a body refining technique?" Wang Fei pondered as he strolled through the corridor.
"Well, I can still tell the dean I didn't find anything suspicious. He seems to pay special attention to Ye Mo, bringing the good news would relieve him and foster his impression of me, strengthening my position in the institute." His face soon took its natural smiling aspect as he left the structure satisfied.
Ye Mo shortly joined him as he was led by Wang Fei towards a pavilion where several instructors managed the administration of the institute and attended to the various disciples' requests.
"This is the Disciple Hall. Since you became a member of the institute, this is where you will receive your stuff as a disciple." Wang Fei entered the hall, followed by Ye Mo.
Under Wang Fei's instructions, one of the instructors behind a counter handed him a spatial pouch, a token, and a set of clothes to Ye Mo.
The pouch was sky blue in color with cloud patterns all around. He was shocked to discover it possessed thirteen cubic meters! Prior to this, Liu Huan's spatial pouch was the best he had obtained, and it contained only eight cubic meters of space.
The token was made of a grey metal; on the back was his name inscribed, while on the front was the institute's name.
His disciple's robe was a dark brown sleeveless martial suit. It was neat and simple.
Ye Mo put both in his new pouch and left.
He was led by Wang Fei to the disciples' district.
"This is where disciples live. There are all kinds of habitations, from magnificent courtyards to more modest dwellings. You can choose whichever you want as long as it's empty." Wang Fei explained lightly.
There was enough structure in the disciples' district for students to choose where to live themselves. If there was activity inside then obviously, it was already taken by a student. Only those empty were available for selection.
Ye Mo strolled a bit until he chose a small stone house, mostly because it was relatively isolated from the other residences.
"This is a surprising and expected choice at the same time. I will give you two hours, clean yourself and change your clothes. When you're done join me at the center of the institute." Wang Fei left with these words.
He seemed to walk leisurely but his speed was as fast as someone sprinting with all his might. In a few seconds, he was out of view from Ye Mo.
This one thought for a bit then remembered. The center of the institute was a vast plaza, in the middle was a huge fountain pouring crystal clear water.
Anyone who's been in the institute once would pass by and Ye Mo knew of its location as well.
He opened the door and entered his stone house. Inside was a stone bed placed in the corner. On the other side of the room was a stone table, and upon it lay an oil lamp. A stone stool stood before the table, and on the side entrance was placed a red mat on the floor against the stone wall.
In truth, Ye Mo had enough gold coins currently to buy back the house of his parents. When they were killed, it was taken by the authorities and sold to another family.
Ye Mo had no way to retrieve it in the past, but now he was a member of the Tiger Martial Institute. Even without money, his position alone would be enough for him to become its new owner since the current residents were just mortals.
This kind of small house was nothing for someone of his status. Even if a hundred mortals lived inside, he was guaranteed to retrieve it as long as he wished to. Mortals were mere dogs, he didn't even need to make a demand, he could kill them all or throw them out to die of cold and no one would bat an eye.
However, he didn't do so. Ye Mo was not a sentimentalist, this house was only pieces of wood assembled together and didn't hold anything valuable or meaningful to him. Currently he just installed himself in the institute's grounds so he had no use for it, hence he let it be.
"He's probably going to initiate me to qi cultivation. I must be the only one in the institute that hasn't started yet." Ye Mo didn't need to question Wang Fei's objective as it became pretty apparent to him. For an elite instructor like Wang Fei to act on such short notice, it could only be to introduce him to qi cultivation and set him out on his journey in the Tiger Martial Institute.
Ye Mo took his disciple suit out of his pouch and changed himself, then jumped on the bed to lay down for a moment. At this moment, his stomach rumbled in hunger.
He exerted himself intensively during the tournament, and then he spent several hours unconscious. Only now that he was not dragged around by Wang Fei and could settle down for a moment did he feel the pangs of hunger assault him.
Ye Mo sat up and retrieved some jerked meat from Liu Huan's pouch. A part was already inside when he took it while another was added from the beasts he killed in the Jade Forest.
He quickly ate them until he was satisfied, and after some time, he left for the plaza his heart brimming with anticipation.