Intimidation

Ye Mo was sitting on the ground, his back leaning against a shelf as he was reading a book about the topography of the land.

Azure Water City was one of the strongest city of the Cloud region. However, the Cloud region like the Floating Carp region were just one part of the Mountain Breeze province. All theses took place in the Blazing Sun continent, a gigantic piece of land surrounded by water.

The Mountain Breeze province was situated on the central land, beside the Water Scale Province that was bordering the eastern coast.

Ye Mo was still reading when two boys passed by then backtracked to look at him.

"Hey, look at this kid, he's only a first layer Qi Gathering realm?" One of the boy said lowly without bothering if Ye Mo heard him or not.

"How could his cultivation be this low? Oh wait he must be one of the newcomers, i heard there was one with no cultivation that reached the top ten with just his body." The one following him heard rumours about the tournament and shared them with his friend.

"Top ten? i guess the level must have been pretty low this time, even i ranked at the 18th place last year but you tell me this fool that focused only on body cultivation got the rewards from top ten. Hey, it hasn't been this long since the tournament ended, maybe he hasn't consumed his rewards yet hehehe..." The boys smiled as they approached Ye Mo with malicious intent.

"Hello little brother, my name is Fang Jishen and this is my friend Wang Yue."

Ye Mo raised his head for a second before he stared at the pages again. Now he understood what the man at the counter felt when he saluted him, "just ants". Ye Mo was already irritated by their whispers but now they directly interrupted his reading.

"How dare you ignore me..." Fang Jishen gritted his teeth but contained himself as he continued "Then i will get straight to the point. The Tiger Martial Institute is a dangerous place, there's many competition among the disciples here and with your measly cultivation you will quickly become a target. We can protect you in exchange for compensation, 200 golds per month should suffice or you can just directly give me your meridian purifying pill and no one will bother you for a year, what do you say, it's not a bad offer right?"

Ye Mo understood they won't let him read in peace anymore so he closed the book and asked, "what if i refuse?"

"If you refuse i will personally assure myself to make your stay at the institute hell on earth." Fang Jishen looked at Ye Mo menacingly while Wang Yue giggled beside him.

Fang Jishen and Wang Yue both passed the recruitment test last year and joined the Tiger Martial Institute at 15. After one year, Fang Jishen broke through the 6th layer while Wang Yue was at the border of breaking through. These results weren't satisfactory for the teachers and they slowly lagged behind their peers which enrolled at the same time.

To pass their frustation they harassed the weakest but with time there were less and less of them so they took the habit to brutalise and extort newcomers.

"Okay, follow me, i left the meridian purifying pill at my house." Ye Mo stood up and walked out of the library.

"You made the right decision." Fang Jishen nodded as they both followed him calmly but their eyes shined brightly and the corner of their mouths kept trembling. Their greed couldn't be hidden.

They walked until they reached Ye Mo's stone shelter.

"You can come in while i take it." Ye Mo said as he opened the door.

"What a simple little house, it suits you." Spoke Fang Jishen as he saw everything with one step inside. Although the house was pretty far from the others, Wang Yue was mindful of people and closed the door behind him so no one could see the transaction.

Ye Mo took out the green spatial pouch from Liu Hualing that he left at home and seemed to take something from inside when suddenly wind gathered around his body.

Fang Jishen that wasn't on guard just saw him disappear when he felt something hitting the side of his head and himself falling on the ground.

"Bastard!" Wang Yue bellowed as he punched towards Ye Mo. His fist glowed bright red inside the stone house but Ye Mo caught it with one hand and with the other punched Wang Yue's stomach.

Wang Yue's upper body bented frontwards and his mouth opened wide, sending saliva on the floor.

Wang Yue lost consciousness when he felt an elbow crushing his back.

In an instant, both Fang Jishen and Wang Yue were neutralized.

When Fang Jishen came back to himself he realized he couldn't use an ounce of Qi. It was like it was unable to circulate anymore.

"It's no use, i pressured your meridians when you were asleep, now tell me where do you live?" The books Ye Mo has been reading weren't for nothing. Fang Jishen won't be able to use any battle skills for some time. When he saw he was awake Ye Mo grabbed him by the neck and lifted his body.

Fang Jishen looked at the ground and saw Wang Yue lying near the door on his own blood.

He tried to scream but he immediately felt the pressure on his neck tighten and no sound came out of his mouth. At the same time Ye Mo's fingers slipped in the cavity between Fang Jishen's ribs and ruthlessly pulled away.

His flesh tore open and blood flew on the ground as one rib was left hanging open on the outside.

Fang Jishen's eyes were bulging and intense pain flared from his chest, he tried to pry Ye Mo's hand away but his grasp was strong like iron and without Qi he was no different than a lamb in front of a tiger.

"Where do you live?" Ye Mo asked again and Fang Jishen felt the pressure on his neck lower.

"What do you want, money? My Fang family is wealthy, please let me go and i won't say anything about thi..." Fang Jishen didn't have the time to finish his sentence, in an instant another rib was popped outside.

Fang Jishen was in so much pain his eyes became red and his body started trembling but only small gasps could be heard from him.

Fang Jishen felt he had an emotionless devil in front of him.

"Where do you live?" Ye Mo asked coldly another time.

"I have a residence... near the small stream... at the north-east of the disciples district. Outside i have a room... at my Fang family... in the south of the city close to the Yan clan." Each sentences was laced with growls of pain and small gasps as he explained to Ye Mo where he resided with difficulty.

Ye Mo lowered his arm bringing Fang Jishen to his level as he stared at his eyes, radiating deep killing intent "If i ever hear about this affair again, i know where to find you."

His tone was flat as he said calmly but it increased the terror Fang Jishen felt looking at this young man.

Fang Jishen subconsciously tried to nod but his head couldn't move. His eyes were wide open.

He was scared!

He felt fear deep in his soul towards Ye Mo.

His acts weren't those of a kid.

He felt like his words were heavens edicts.

If i speak he will definitely come for me.

This devil will kill me!

Suddenly Ye Mo's hold on Fang Jishen's neck grew much stronger. Fang Jishen couldn't breath anymore. His hands clawed at Ye Mo's forearms and his body flailed around as he really was going to suffocate, all in vain.

In the end he lost consciousness due to the lack of oxygen, Ye Mo grabbed both Wang Yue and Fang Jishen and tossed them behind his house.

"It should be enough, he won't say anything." Ye Mo wasn't a master of manipulation but he knew well the wicked mind of humans.

Fighting was forbidden in the Tiger Martial institute. If one broke the rule, depending on the extent of the damages he could be punished before being expelled.

If they talked, considering their injuries, Ye Mo would be sure to suffer the harshest of punishment but he was sure they wouldn't do so. First because the institute would perform an investigation before sentencing the students, by this time it would be easily revealed Fang Jishen and Wang Yue were the one to opress Ye Mo initially comdemning them to the same fate.

But most of all because if they talked and people learned they were defeated by a newcomer that they harassed first not only they would be expelled as well but they would also lose their reputation, their status as students and their prospects at cultivation since their was no better place to do so than the institute.

It was akin to ruining your own life with a single word.

Moreover Ye Mo was serious about what he said to Fang Jishen.

"Theses guys, if they didn't bother me there wouldn't be any problem." Ye Mo shook his head. He was already a bit of a maniac with time. Each seconds had to be optimized to the fullest towards his growth, he had no time for this kind of play. He was already delaying his cultivation by going to the library everyday and although everything he was learning would prove worth in the long run, he couldn't waste an instant.

Nonetheless for those that block his path or slow him down, he would thoroughly crush them and make things clear from the start.

After he was done washing the blood, Ye Mo applied some medicinal paste on his right hand and returned to the library. His hand was aching after blocking Wang Yue's fist.

Fang Jishen would wake up the next day on the grasses and after hurriedly eating an healing pill he would scurry off to his residence.

The servants there were scared seeing in which state he was but none said a word afraid to be killed. They knew well what kind of temperament had their master.

He would learn later that Wang Yue wasn't dead or crippled but had just gone through the same round of interrogation than him.