I give up…..

Theses words echoed in the surroundings.

The crowd was dumbfounded and a deep silence seated in the arena.

Han Shan beside the battle stage suddenly recovered his spirit and asked, "What did you just say?".

"I said i admit defeat." Ye Mo repeated emotionless.

"You do know you will get eliminated from the competition if you surrender right." Han Shan asked, incredulous.

Ye Mo nodded.

"Well then... Li Qiang wins."

After the initial shock, the numerous students present reacted loudly.

"Hey, how could you give up like that without even trying, if you're a real man then fight!"

"Haha, admitting defeat at his first fight before it event started, this guy is born before the concept of shame."

"If i was his parents, i would kill him then kill myself out of embarassement."

"You have no guts, even if it's Li Qiang you should at least exchange a few blows before abandoning!"

In the bleachers, the instructors turned their gaze away from this upsetting spectacle.

Was this really a student of our grand Tiger Martial Institute?!

This was a devastating blow towards one's reputation.

In the eyes of the spectators Ye Mo wasn't seen as a human being anymore.

Their expressions turned from shock to contempt, disdain and ridicule

On the platform Han Zhen Jun frowned while Hong Li shook his head in silence.

Since Ye Mo joined the institute he has been repeatedly disappointed in him and every time he thought it couldn't go further Ye Mo would manage to surprise him.

The sunlight shone down on his body, sending a lonely black shadow onto the stage.

His expression was cold as he quietly walked the stairs but his heart was still like a lake.

These people were just slaves that followed a strict set of mental rules. Why would he care about their opinion?

Honor, dignity or integrity, all these chains that blocked their hearing, clouded their vision, in the end they were only deaf, blind puppet manipulated by the righteous path under the guise of so-called 'moral values'.

Seeing someone unrestrained like Ye Mo, inside they would envy, jealous but they would never accept it. So instead they admonish his conduct, critiscize or mock him.

Not only these notions made them brainwashed slaves of the righteous path, most of all they were slaves to themselves.

Loyalty, justice, honesty, all these were shackles humans would willingly bind themselves with.

Restricted in their actions they became leashed to their own sentiments.

In the end you yourself are your greatest obstacle.

Others fancied an heroic reputation but what does that have to do with him?

People yearned for these ideals but Ye Mo sneered at this kind of life.

These vague concepts were only tools he could use or discard as easily as drinking water.

However he was still among the righteous path.

The crowd on his way quickly distanced themselves like they would get infected by his cowardice, opening a path for him.

Denying their moral values was the same as denying them of course there has to be consequences.

Through this act he became the black sheep of the pack and would meet with the scorn and the rejection of others.

Faced with this kind of retribution, ordinary persons would be devastated.

Spending the rest of their life trying to accomplish heroic deeds to wash their name and erase this dark moment of their past from everyone's memory.

However Ye Mo relished in solitude, how could this affect him. Not only would he abhor being friends with these people but in his heart he has always been by himself.

The path he chose was one of loneliness, he could only walk by himself, there was no place for someone else.

In the crowd, Ma Shinfei looked at Ye Mo in doubt.

"I talked with him before, he didn't look like someone who would fear Li Qiang."

"Why did he admit defeat?"

Ye Mo gradually left the arena, the noise from the fights and the cackling of spectators growing faint.

"Now that i am eliminated, i can leave without attending the rest of the event." Ye Mo immediately went to his house.

He was a sensible man, he wouldn't have acted this way without any reason.

He never planned to participate in this competition in the first place. His goal was the cave of Pure Iridescent Iron from Wei Leng's map.

Secondly, he felt the rewards from the assessment were truly lacking especially towards his needs. Beside the gold coins and ordinary pills, the only interesting bit was the entry to the third floor of one of the three tower for the first place.

But fighting just for this meant passing on the occasion to investigate the cave while people's attention is diverted. Even if he did so and goes all out for merely one battle skill he had very low chances to obtain the first place.

It must be known that among the junior students stood Shen Xue. Even before joining the institute, he went undefeated and reached the first place. Now that he digested all his gains, crippled Lao Ting and cultivated inside the pagoda even powerful senior students felt helpless againt him.

His presence was even considered as a cheat as everyone felt the first place for the junior assessment would go to him without a doubt.

Thirdly, he would have to reveal his abilities. After the lenght he went through to hide his progress, displaying everything at this time would truly be an irrational move.

Moreover, Cyclone Kick still had room for improvement and with Shadow Walk in hand, Ye Mo had enough to work with for some time already without adding a high-tier battle skill.

Eating too fast would only lead to indigestion.

"The competition will last seven days. The best would be for me to find the cave and retrieve all the iron in this lenght of time."

Ye Mo put on a broad cloak with a hood bearing a dark earthly tone. The cloak was long reaching his ankles and concealing his body features while when placing the hood on his head, only the lower part of his face was visible.

When he left through the southern gate, the guards didn't pay any attention to him.

If he's leaving from inside then he's obviously a member of the Tiger Martial Institute, no intruders would be able to escape the senses of the experts inside.

Thinking such, the guards would always keep watch over outsiders who tries to enter instead.

On the roof of buildings near the entrance stood a team of five, three men and two women.

They all looked in their early twenties beside one man who seemed a bit older.

He looked over with a portrait on hand depicting a muscular youth with short spiky hair, pitch-black eyes and a cold expression plastered on his face.

Above the drawing was written the name and the age of the youth.

Another yawned loudly laying on his back beside him.

"It's been 6 months already, we have been posted at this place looking at the faces of everyone going in and out of the institute for nothing."

"How long do we have to keep going like this, im bored to death here and i haven't even seen my girl all this time."

"Shut up Zhan Lie, you have been doing nothing but laying back and complain! She's not even your girl but just a brothel's prostitute!"

The girl at his side erupted furiously. Apparently it wasn't the first time Liu Zhan Lie has been getting on her nerves grumbling and she had enough.

They were a team of cultivators sent by the Liu clan to watch over the Tiger Martial Institute gates. By now they had seen the portrait so much his face was etched on their mind and they would dream of it at night.

"But he has a point." The second girl behind them seemed in thought as she frowned, "During this time we have seen enough students that we could recognize most of them with a glance but there has been no traces of this Ye Mo."

"I don't believe such a young kid has been cultivating non-stop the whole time. Could he have died or injured himself?"

"There's no need for such questions." The man with the portrait said seriously, still looking at the people wandering below," Our mission is clear. This kid harmed our clan greatly, we must stay here until we spot him or there's clear news of his death no matter if it last months or years."

"Other teams have been posted at the other entrances, if he leaves he will definitely be seen and reported back to the clan."

"Wait boss, there's someone leaving under a hood i can't see his face. I can't sense his Qi either so it's probably not him..." The third boy looking at people along the man holding the portrait suddenly called out.

"No exceptions allowed. Zhan Lie since you're bored get down and go look at his face."

Liu Zhan Lie sighed before standing up and jumping down as he mumbled disgruntledly.

He looked around and saw in the crowd of passers-by a cloaked man suddenly turning on his right and going in a narrow path between two buildings.

Zhan Lie quickly ran behind him but once he entered the path he saw the tip of the cloack turning on the left in the distance.

"Hey, wait!" Liu Zhan Lie shout out as he hurriedly followed but once he turned left there was only a wall standing a couple meters further and nothing else.

It was a dead end.

"Huh? Where did he go?" That's all Zhan Lie could think of as a hand suddenly perforated his back and left through his chest.

Ye Mo renewed with this familiar and entrancing feeling as he turned Liu Zhan Lie into a mummified corpse.

"It has been such a long time since i used the Nine Revolutions Fiend technique." Ye Mo clenched his fist as he felt power coursing through his veins, a faint smile on his face.

After an instant, Ye Mo left while nothing remained in the alley.