Chapter 37：Closed-Door Cultivation Breakthrough

"Argh!" Chen Ran's cries rang in everyone's ears. His features crumpled as the immense pain twisted his initially handsome face to become hideous.

"Ji Mo, stop!" The expression on the faces of Dong Hao and the others changed, and they rushed forward.

However, Ji Mo had no intention of ceasing the attack. He lifted his leg again. This time, he viciously stepped between Chen Ran's legs with a really heavy blow, causing the agonized man to let out a far more woeful scream before he passed out. Ji Mo trampled his family jewels into a pulp, so he was unable to use them for the rest of his life.

Dong Hao, Nangong Ye, Xia Jiaojiao, and Ling'er, who were about to dash forward, all stood petrified on their spot. Ji Mo's ruthless ways shocked them to their core. Even if they were the best in Tianyuan Academy, they were still young boys and girls who were 16 to 17 years old after all, and they had never seen someone acting so viciously.

The Celestial Devil Tempering Art had seriously changed Ji Mo's aura. Usually, his reserve aura was warm and even goofy sometimes, but once the Celestial Devil's aura was released, he immediately turned into a merciless Celestial Devil.

"You...Ji Mo, do you know what you have done?! How dare you do this to Chen Ran?! I'll report all these to the academy. You'd better watch out," Dong Hao said, gritting his teeth.

"Do you think you'd have the chance to do so?" Ji Mo chuckled.

"W-what do you mean?"

Whoosh!

The next moment, as Ji Mo's figure moved to the front of Dong Hao, the Celestial Devil Power condensed on his palms, slapping down hard. 

Pop! 

Dong Hao did not even had the chance to retaliate because his entire skull caved into his chest cavity as a result of Ji Mo's smack, and he dropped dead to the ground.

"Argh!" Xia Jiaojiao and Ling'er screamed at the top of their lungs. The two girls collapsed to the ground, shuddering uncontrollably. The gory scene would remain their eternal nightmare.

Nangong Ye was still standing except for the fact that his pants were warm and wet. He was as pale as a ghost and his lips moved incoherently as he was unable to speak.

"You have to die even if you don't speak," Ji Mo said blandly.

"Wait! I'll s-speak...Don't kill me…" Nangong Ye mumbled.

Puff!

Immediately after that, Ji Mo pointed his finger between Nangong Ye's eyebrows, and a powerful energy penetrated Nangong Ye's brain, killing him. "You'll still die talking nonsense."

Nangong Ye's body also collapsed to the ground. His face still had an expression of reluctance, probably distressed by the thought that he should not have messed with someone like Ji Mo. If he had not formed an ally with Ji Shan at the beginning, there would not have been so many incidents like this. He would not have also fallen into Ji Mo's hands. Otherwise, with that talent that Nangong Ye had, he definitely had the qualifications to be an inner disciple of the Tianshan Sword Sect.

His life would have been…

Ji Mo's cold gaze turned to Xia Jiaojiao and Ling'er again. The two girls had already lost all color on their faces with tears rushing down their cheeks. 

"Junior brother, d-don't kill us. We know what we've done wrong now." Xia Jiaojiao was in great distress. The Ji Mo she was facing now and the wimpy young master she knew back then were totally two different people.

Ji Mo laughed coldly. "Although I don't mind killing women, there are some women that I won't kill." Having said that, Ji Mo immediately extended his arms and picked Xia Jiaojiao and Ling'er up. Then, he sped into the forest and disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

Not long after that, Ji Mo carried the two girls through the dense forest and found a brutal demonic beast. Once the demonic beasts saw him and the two girls, its eyes instantly flashed with brutality. It opened its mouth as saliva dripped from it, rushing towards them.

Ji Mo smirked. He tapped on some points on Xia Jiaojiao's and Ling'er's body to seal off a few of their major acupuncture points, causing the energy in their bodies to stop functioning. The two girls understood his plans at once, and immediately their blood ran cold. Ling'er even cried out loud, begging him for mercy. 

However, how could Ji Mo give them a chance? His ruthlessness was not because of anything else but because Xia Jiaojiao and Ling'er had witnessed him killing Dong Hao and Chen Ran, so he could not let them live. Otherwise, if this incident reached the academy's senior management, it would be very troublesome because he had killed the best in Tianyuan Academy.

Roar!

At that moment, Ji Mo hurled Xia Jiaojiao and Ling'er, whose powers had been sealed by him, toward the demonic beast and ran away without even looking back. After he ran more than a few hundred meters away, only then did he hear the demonic beast's frenzied roar of excitement that shook the forest.

Ji Mo smiled slightly and the dark glow in his eyes faded. The hellish red glow under his skin also vanished, making him revert once again to his gentle and weak appearance that looked harmless to humans and animals alike. No one would have been able to tell that this person was the brutal Ji Mo just a moment ago. 

After more than 10 minutes, Ji Mo went back to the lakeside. He had to dispose of Dong Hao and the others' bodies. Otherwise, it would be unimaginable if somebody found them. When Ji Mo reappeared at the lakeside, he was stunned by what he saw. The traces of the fight were still there and so were the bloodstains, but the bodies of Dong Hao and the others were nowhere to be seen. Even the badly injured Chen Ran was missing.

'It's impossible. Could someone have moved their bodies away? Or were they taken away by demonic beasts? Hopefully, it's the latter. I didn't kill Chen Ran. If he makes it back to Tianyuan Academy alive, then I'll be in trouble,' thought Ji Mo as he turned around to look for Lan Qingcheng.

When he reached the place where he was separated from Lan Qingcheng, he realized that she was missing, and only a piece of jade was left behind.

Ji Mo picked up the jade and let his consciousness penetrate it. He heard Lan Qingcheng's voice saying in his mind, 'Little Brother Ji Mo, my clan sent news to request for my return. Therefore, I won't be able to accompany you to the Hunting Competition. Due to the urgency, I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. Don't miss me…"

"I'm not missing you! She makes it sound as if we're lovers," Ji Mo said with a snicker as he kept the jade and quickly left.

Since Lan Qingchen had left, he would have to rely on himself for the rest of the Hunting Competition.

However, Ji Mo had a more important task in hand, which was to find a quiet place for his closed-door cultivation to break through the seventh-tier tempered body. Since there was still time before the end of the Hunting Competition and he had consumed a huge amount of demonic cores, the Celestial Devil Power turned the demonic Qi in the demonic cores into spiritual energy to nourish the body. Furthermore, Ji Mo's body had stashed away massive amounts of spiritual energy and he also found a maturing fifth-tier spiritual medicine.

With these as a guarantee, a seventh-tier tempered body breakthrough would just be child's play.