Rushing through the land, Ye Mo arrived in front of a large tree and then buried himself in a big hole that could be seen on the trunk. It was originally the home of squirrels, but he took time enlarging it enough to easily contain a grown man after dealing with the small animals.
He was aware that the Jade Forest was very perilous, even for cultivators, so he prepared it ahead of time as a contingency plan in case he was in danger and had to hide. Sitting inside the tree, Ye Mo revolved the energy and dispersed it throughout his whole body. Soon, this familiar feeling of power filled him. His muscles bulged over his skin and his flesh was continuously strengthened, but after some time, large red veins appeared on the entirety of his body.
Ye Mo suddenly opened his eyes, they were completely bloodshot.
His skin was ripping bit by bit, his muscles twisted left and right until they tore and his bones shattered one by one. Under the torment, Ye Mo lost his posture and was left struggling on the base of his nest, his head hitting against a side of the tree as the interior wasn't large enough for him to lay down completely.
Only one thing was on his mind, pain, Pain, PAIN! At some point, his organs began shattering continually before quickly remodeling themselves. It was like every cell composing his body was getting obliterated and reconstructed again and again.
This process carried on for a long time before Ye Mo started to lose blood from every orifice.
He was on the verge of passing out, and at the same time, the pain would keep him awake. He couldn't even escape this by losing consciousness.
He didn't know how much time had passed. One minute? One hour? Or one day? He couldn't move, he couldn't scream, he couldn't even blink, everything was painful. In this hellish torture, he asked himself many questions.
Why do I have to go through this? Why do I need to get stronger? Why did my parents have to die? Why can't I just live a peaceful life?
He found the same answer for all those questions.
Power.
The power to crush everything, to bend the world to his will, an unstoppable existence. He wished to move unhindered throughout the lands, doing as he pleased. His parents died because they didn't have any power, it was their own mistake! Being weak in this world, you can only blame yourself for your sufferings. Because they were contented with a plain life at the mercy of cultivators, they met a horrible end at their hands, utterly defenseless, and their son wandered between life and death all this time.
However, Ye Mo wouldn't reproduce their mistake. For a long time, he desired power and during this time, he went close to his last breath many times, but so what? Death would only be a liberation at this point, although he never had the chance to approach this dream of his all these years, he never gave up nor was he resigned to his fate. Now that the means to accomplish his aim was finally in his hands, even if hope was small, success far, the future bleak, and riddled with suffering, he would ceaselessly push forward, because it would always be better than accepting the life of a slave.
Agonizing, Ye Mo thought he was dying when the pain slowly receded until at some point, he slowly stood up. Ye Mo broke through the hole as he jumped out and directly landed on the ground.
Looking at the sky, he watched the sunrise. Unknowingly, he has been through this torment the whole night.
Ye Mo never thought of himself as particularly smart nor talented in any way, but he knew one thing, his will was unbreakable. His path was set, he would succeed or try again until death.
"I finally attained the first level of the Nine Revolutions Fiend Body, I should test my abilities before anything." Ye Mo thought, stretching.
Abruptly, he tapped on the ground and jumped into the air, reaching a height of four meters. When he tried a second time, he attained five meters without momentum. From those results, he knew he wasn't in the realm of mortals anymore.
Sprinting, he ran faster than a horse, leaving deep footprints on the ground. While he ran, he suddenly stopped before a tree, large enough for two men to hold hands around it, and punched with all his strength. Barks flew as his fist went deep inside the trunk, cracks spreading from the point of impact while the tree eventually tumbled down the other side from the force of the strike.
When he looked at his hand, the skin was red, but the damage was minimal.
Ye Mo stopped here, being very satisfied with his abilities, he didn't endure all this pain for nothing. People had the misconception that body refining arts were only good to gain strength or grow more resilient, but it was only so for inefficient and second-rate techniques.
True body refining techniques would not only make you tougher and stronger, but also faster, more agile, and with better stamina. All your physical capabilities would increase exponentially.
However, the event that moved Ye Mo the most wasn't the strength of his body, but that his meridians were finally healed. He was now eligible to cultivate qi and become a true cultivator.
"Now, all the conditions have been met for me to participate in the competition." Ye Mo muttered, a cold smile on his face and after he took care of erasing his traces from this place, he left the scene.