Chương 104: The Basis of Collaboration
Bam!
A student was solidly hit on the chest by Ye Mo's fist, vomiting blood before dropping dead on the ground.
The one taking his life picked the token hanging on his waist and transferred his points.
Zhao Da Xiong snickered as he approached Ye Mo, "Looks more like you're the only one benefiting from our cooperation."
It was the fifth student they encountered and killed and also the fifth man. The female participants amounted to less than a quarter of the students, it wasn't strange to encounter mostly men in the forest.
Yet, with each one they met, Zhao Da Xiong's frustration grew a bit more, how was he supposed to share all his passion for women if there wasn't any.
The condition to help Ye Mo was to get all the girls while he obtain the students points, if he couldn't find one then he was just a free worker following him everywhere.
"Cooperation? You only sit there on the back watching me do all the work, I could as well be by myself, there wouldn't be much of a difference." Ye Mo snorted, displeased.
Since they set out together, in every fight they engaged, Zhao Da Xiong would step back and watch from afar or hide in a corner to not be targeted, leaving everything to Ye Mo.
The student of the Golden Martial Institute barely did anything the whole time, he could just lay back and wait for it to end with Ye Mo's victory then he would come out and complain about the opponent being a male.
"You can't say that, without my investigative battle skill, you wouldn't even know where to go to find them. Moreover, I already told you my battle strength is weak against men, I can help you a bit in times of need, but against these small fry, you can manage on your own. Involving myself is not necessary." Zhao Da Xiong, argued.
It's true that his investigative battle skill was profitable and they could discover and defeat students quickly with its help, however, Zhao Da Xiong didn't consume that much Qi using it once in a while and with Ye Mo fighting every battles by himself, taking all the risks, the first contribution couldn't be said to be much.
Most of all, these "times of need" he talked about would never come because Ye Mo didn't trust him and if he fought against a powerful foe, he wouldn't leave his life and the victory or defeat of the battle in his hands.
At worst, he would just escape or forcefully drag Zhao Da Xiong in the fight with him.
In the end Ye Mo didn't pay any attention to his words as he was already walking away at the search of another participant.
His points increased quickly as he defeated one student after another, the sky slowly got dark after one day of hunt and battles.
They found only one girl in this time, Zhao Da Xiong didn't miss the opportunity to play with her while Ye Mo went inspecting the surroundings, but seeing him taking his time and trying to do it multiple times after he returned, Ye Mo cut his fun short and forcefully brought him away.
At first, Zhao Da Xiong resisted fiercely, feeling it was his right to enjoy this girl as much as he likes, but seeing Ye Mo's grim look and the air shifting, he quickly calmed down and decided against antagonizing him.
They have been together for half a day now and Zhao Da Xiong saw him fight and kill other participants several times, each time, his battle strength surpassing the previous impression he formed about him.
Zhao Da Xiong was secretly in awe in front of this spectacle, but also felt deep uneasiness and apprehension.
Cooperation was always created on the basis of equal strength or status, for mutual benefits. A general wouldn't ally with a peasent and a king wouldn't cooperate with a servant.
Without this foundation, the weight of the collaboration would quickly balance in favor of the bigger party, leaving the other one as a helpless free laborer.
This is under this standard that Zhao Da Xiong asked Ye Mo to join him, as they were both at the 8th layer of the Qi Gathering realm or else why wouldn't he directly seek the help of a powerful 9th layer participant.
With the same cultivation, there shouldn't be that big of a gap in their battle strength and they could work together to overcome the obstacles of the competition, however, it became clear that Ye Mo's abilities were strong enough for him to even surpass most 9th layer cultivators while Zhao Da Xiong was below the average student of the 8th layer when facing men.
With such a big difference, this partnership could very well turn into a leader and lackey relationship.
Ye Mo returned alone to the girl, Zhao Da Xiong patienting a bit further, and eliminated her so there would not be any witnesses to his association with him.
People learning afterwards that he collaborated with a student of another institute, particularly this degenerate, could be detrimental to him.
Overall, he wished to leave as few traces as possible of his activities in the Jade Forest.
Seeing the luminosity decrease and the sun setting in the west, Zhao Da Xiong advised, "We did well and you obtained a lot of points, we should call it a day and find a place to pass the night. There is still a lot of time before the end of the competition, we will go after students tomorrow."
Ye mo shook his head, immediately discarding his opinion, "We will keep going throughout the night and rest only at the first signs of dawn."
This sentence sealed the conversation as he engulfed himself in bushes without waiting for any refusal.
Zhao Da Xiong followed forth, secretly frowning as he looked at his back.
He has been rejected far too bluntly and Ye Mo didn't even take into account anything he might say, taking the decision of their next actions by himself.
"It's okay, my investigative battle skill is far too valuable for him, I am too important for he to try anything against me, I will use it as a leverage to pull my weight in conversations next time. This is still only the second night, there is several days left, I should use them to think of a way to get rid of him or escape before the end of the competition, lest he do it with me at the last moment."
Zhao Da Xiong plotted behind the scene, he knew Ye Mo was merciless towards his opponents and to accept his proposition and allow him to rape women, he was also unscrupulous. It was clear to him that at the time he lose his value, Ye Mo could very well turn against him, especially near the end of the competition.
Yet, he was confident in his ability to protect himself and escape, his battle skills when not fighting women, were all oriented towards this aspect or he wouldn't have been able to survive the first day so easily.
"As long as I plan everything first, he won't see anything coming, I will just use him to get as much girl as I want in the meantime."
The forest grew darker and while they traveled through the woods, Zhao Da Xiong heard someone not far from them and notified Ye Mo.
However, contrary to the day, Ye Mo didn't allow him to follow and told him to stay put and wait for his return.
"In this darkness, I can't assure your protection, there's too many variables and cultivators might escape your senses and lurk in the surroundings, just hide here and wait for me, if I am not returned in a hour, do whatever you want."
Without wasting an instant, Ye Mo left towards the student, leaving Zhao Da Xiong behind.
The latter didn't believe his words and took this as a pretext for him to not follow so although he stayed put, he kept using Silent Sentry to monitor the situation from the distance.
He could sense the cultivator walking cautiously and Ye Mo slowly approaching, but suddenly, Ye Mo's soundsteps and breathing vanished!
He completely left Zhao Da Xiong's detection like he disappeared all of a sudden.
It didn't last though as shortly after, he could hear him again, but this time right beside the student's postition, Ye Mo made a grand movement that pushed the wind, creating whistling gales while the target screamed and all kinds of sounds intermingled, but in a split-second, it came to an end.
He could hear something dropping on the ground, but was unable to detect the participant's breathing anymore. He also discerned Ye Mo's footsteps approaching to his position instead.
"Hehe, this guy is full of surprises, yes, keep fighting and show me everything you got. The better I know you, the best I can plan for the time I make a fool out of you." Zhao Da Xiong smiled maliciously.
He knew Ye Mo hadn't revealed everything yet, the more he discover and the less surprises he would have when he betray him. Though, he was still wondering how exactly Ye Mo escaped his hearing.
This one arrived at this moment with his hand covered in blood and the same droplets on his face.
"Was it a girl?" Zhao Da Xiong asked.
Ye Mo shook his head before they moved away.
Was it the truth and did he believe him? In any case, Zhao Da Xiong didn't ask any more questions, as soon as they found another student, this schema restarted and Ye Mo escaped his senses before eliminating the participant in an instant, much to his partner's confusion.
When came the first rays of the sun, Ye Mo already possessed over fifteen thousand points and stood at the 269th place, many names withdrawing from the leaderboard.
The two companions were lying down at the foot of a tree, one sound asleep, but Ye Mo still awake, stood guard as he listened to the chants of the cicada and looked over the small bits of the sky the vegetation accepted to reveal.
In his mind, many thoughts churned, but he was silent on the outside.
The fact that Zhao Da Xiong didn't insist to follow him and use his battle skill on any potential girl he might have detected during the night alerted him.
He was aware this one was up to something, but he didn't speak about it, nothing was out of his previsions till now.
"It will be time to get rid of him soon." Ye Mo glanced at him for an instant.
The darkness of his eyes shrouded the evil intentions he harbored.
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