By the side, Xia Jiaojiao's jealousy reared its ugly head, and she grabbed onto Chen Ran's other arm to whine, "Big Brother Chen, you can't side Ling'er. I want it too..." She leaned her entire body on him, almost falling into his arms.
On the other side, the young girl named Ling'er also threw herself at Chen Ran, exuding an aura to rival Xia Jiaojiao as if it was a competition.
Sandwiched between the affection of the two girls, Chen Ran felt proud. A smile flitted across his handsome face as he said, "Well, well, well, we all discovered this spiritual medicine together, so everyone has a share in it. Dong Hao, Nangong Ye, you don't have any comments, do you?"
As though the spiritual medicine belonged to them, they completely ignored Ji Mo.
"Of course." Dong Hao nodded with a smile. Then, he turned to Ji Mo, his eyes focused on the spiritual medicine in Ji Mo's hands. "Speaking of which, you're really lucky to find a fifth-tier spiritual medicine in a place like this, but so what? You can't have what isn't yours."
"Do you mean this?" Ji Mo shook the golden lotus root in his hand. Then, he chuckled while cradling it. "The spiritual medicine is now in my hands, so it'll have my last name on it. What makes you think you can change its ownership?"
Ji Mo glanced at all of them. Each of them was not weak in any way as they were the best in Tianyuan Academy and could be described as a team of geniuses. Anyone else who saw a group of people like them gathering together would not just obediently surrender the spiritual medicine but would also flatter them.
However, Ji Mo would never do such a thing.
"What makes us think we can? You'll find out soon," Chen Ran taunted, the arrogance in his expression apparent. He marched forward with the powerful energy in his body erupting in between strides. When the power was released from his body, it materialized into the head of a Jiaolong in front of him, and the muffled roar of a dragon came from within his body.
Jiaolong Tempering Art!
This was an advanced-level body tempering art, which was not below Nan Hao's Dragon-Elephant Tempering Art, though each had its own strengths. When one had completed the cultivation of the Jiaolong Tempering Art, one would have the full display of a dragon's power. Although overturning mountains and filling the oceans would still be impossible, one would be able to create and destroy rolling waves. A single punch could even make crashing waves retreat.
Chen Ran's cultivation base was on the seventh-tier tempered body, so he could fully unleash the effects of the Jiaolong Tempering Art. If he completed the cultivation, he would possess the power of a Jiaolong.
"Elder Brother Chen Ran, come on! Beat that scrawny sprout into the ground!" The girl whose name was Ling'er waved her little fists to cheer for Chen Ran.
Xia Jiaojiao turned to Dong Hao and said, "Are you going to let Elder Brother Chen Ran deal with Ji Mo by himself? Aren't you going to help?"
Dong Hao smiled lightly and said, "Relax. Chen Ran is the strongest among his peers in the academy. Besides, he's talented and intelligent. He's also recognized as a genius, not to mention the fact that he cultivates Jiaolong Tempering Art. Let's just enjoy the show."
Chen Ran walked forward breezily while facing Ji Mo with a smile full of cynicism. "Don't give me so much trouble. Just pass the spiritual medicine to me, then kowtow to apologize for your mistakes. As for the arrogance you showed outside Mount Luofu, I won't blame you."
Ji Mo narrowed his eyes at Chen Ran who was a publicly recognized genius in Tianyuan Academy. Indeed, Chen Ran had the aura of a genius. He was arrogant, frivolous, and conceited. Ji Mo only replied to him with a single word, "Fool!"
Hiss!
Chen Ran inhaled deeply as the murderous intent in his eyes surfaced. "Do you know who you are speaking to? I have a thousand ways to make you suffer a terrible death!"
Not far away, Ling'er smirked. "Little brother, you'd better hand over the spiritual medicine. Otherwise, Elder Brother Chen Ran is going to lose his temper and that won't be good…"
Hearing that, Chen Ran smiled at Ji Mo. "Did you hear that? Making me angry isn't good…"
Whoosh!
However, before Chen Ran could even finish speaking, Ji Mo's figure suddenly flickered as he rushed at the latter at a shocking speed and arrived before him in the blink of an eye. Without saying anything, he activated the Celestial Devil Power and drove his fist towards Chen Ran's chest.
"Hmm…"
Chen Ran could not respond in time. By the time he realized it, he saw Ji Mo's fist coming at him with a powerful ball of energy surrounding it. The power seemed to be full of rage like the Celestial Devil charging out of hell. Under the attack of this aura, Chen Ran discovered he could not move at all as it had suppressed him.
Bang!
The heavy blow abruptly struck his chest and immediately sent his whole body flying backward in the air like a deflated ball.
At that point, Ji Mo attacked even faster. He stepped in front to brutally grab Chen Ran's bare feet. Filled with Celestial Devil Power, there was a faint red hellish glow under Ji Mo's skin. He picked Chen Ran's body up fiercely, then smashed it onto the ground with a loud, dull noise. Then, he lifted him up to smash him down again repeatedly.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Huge pits were formed in the ground as dust flew everywhere. Ji Mo was like a crazed demon. He lifted Chen Ran up like the latter was a little chick and kept smashing him to the ground like he was using a meteor hammer. The scene was extremely shocking. Chen Ran, who had been so arrogant just a moment ago, was helplessly shrieking in Ji Mo's grip.
Bang!
Ji Mo's final blow sent Chen Ran hard to the ground, creating a human-shaped crater. Chen Ran was already covered in blood, and his head was pulverized. Barely able to stand up, he panted hard.
Fortunately, Chen Ran's cultivation of the Jiaolong Tempering Art aided his body to become stronger and tougher. Otherwise, with the way Ji Mo was attacking him, who could have withstood it? Even the powerful Chen Ran could not stand up anymore.
Ji Mo walked up to step on Chen Ran's chest and laugh. "Are you angry now? Why are you still so weak?"
Not far away, Dong Hao, Nangong Ye, and the others were dumbfounded. Everything had happened so quickly. Earlier, the haughty Chen Ran's aura had completely suppressed Ji Mo, but in a matter of seconds, he was quickly defeated and had certainly lost. Dong Hao and the others were simply unable to accept this reality.
Chen Ran was a genius. A genius! How could he have lost?
"Elder Brother Chen Ran, how could ..." Ling'er was pale as she shook all over. Chen Ran could be defeated, what more so easily. This was something she could not imagine.
Xia Jiaojiao's face was also full of horror and disbelief. She shared the same frame of mind as Ling'er.
"Impossible! Chen Ran has been defeated. Did Ji Mo really become that strong?" Nangong Ye was even more terrified. He had seen Ji Mo in action twice, and both times, Ji Mo surprised him. This was definitely not a coincidence.
At that point, Chen Ran, who was sprawled on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood. No one knew if he was hurt or provoked by Ji Mo's mockery.
The dark glow in Ji Mo's eyes flickered as his Celestial Devil Power was in full view. He said, "I admit that you are indeed a genius because you have a thousand ways to make me die a torturous death, and I only have one way of crippling you, so...I'm not as good as you!"
"You...What do you want to do?" Chen Ran looked horrified. At such a close distance, he could fully feel the immense Celestial Devil Power aura radiating from Ji Mo's body.
Crack!
Ji Mo stepped on Chen Ran's knee and added his entire bodyweight until Chen Ran's entire leg was deformed as he broke the bones and crushed them into pieces.