Clang!
In the jungle the air was heavy and moist. Sunlight shimmered through the vast canopy of leaves. All
around were trees tall enough to dwarf the highest building. Vines and underbrush made footing
unsteady. From every direction, one could hear the hums and chirps of insects, the songs of birds and
the myriad sounds of mammals. And, of course, the sounds of battle. Ricky and Jim were fighting, one
would strike or feint, then move quickly to try and gain or regain the advantage. The impact between
knife and sword sent sparks flying as if they were trying to shape iron... or gold.
Hiss!
Suddenly, the earth trembled, and a huge crack opened in the ground. Ricky's saber met Jim's sword
again. And they both were thrown back by the force.
The onlookers could see that both of their arms were trembling due to their exertions.
"If that's all you got, Jim, maybe you should throw in the towel! Give up your status in the Snow Sect,
and I might not kill you," Ricky sneered, looking at Jim's gloomy face.
As for the two young men standing on the sidelines, they were dumbfounded. Connie's disciples were
no less stunned.
Among outer disciples in the Snow Sect, only those who were in the top ten would have been able to
fight with Jim for so long. And it shouldn't be possible even for those who attained the ninth grade of
Skin Refinement to beat Jim.
And now, Ricky did it at eighth.
Hearing Ricky's taunt, Jim said nothing. His credibility was already in doubt. He boasted that he could
take Ricky down with a single blow. Well, they'd traded multiple strikes back and forth.
Now, the only way he could redeem himself was to kill Ricky.
Clank!
Jim flew into a rage. And the sword in his hand began to make a huge thumping sound.
When the sword was making the sound a white light formed and enveloped the sword.
That light was definitely not the gathering of spiritual energy. It was another kind of power. The light
was emitting strong power and seemed to be drawn to Ricky. That fact made him shiver.
'That light—what is it?' Ricky shifted his focus from combat and stared at the light coming from Jim's
sword.
"Is that the sword-light ?"
Ricky said suddenly, with a suspicious doubt yet mixed with admiration in his eyes.
When a warrior started training, he would take the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth to gain
supreme power. If he combined the energy with his weapon, he'd have a better connection with his
weapon, be able to use it more effectively.
And the combination of warrior and weapon was governed by three other forces.
Those three forces were the Light Apperception in the first level, the Intent Apperception in the second
level and the Soul Apperception in the top level.
When a warrior had reached a certain level of comprehension and feeling about the weapons they
used, the connection between the warrior and the weapon was called Light Apperception, which was
the very first and shallow level.
If the weapon a warrior used was a sword, then the force would be shown as the sword-light. If it was a
knife, then it would be the knife-light.
Light Apperception had ten grades. After completing all ten grades, warriors would reach the Intent
Apperception. By then the force would show itself as the sword-intent. After another ten grades of the
Intent Apperception, it would be the Soul Apperception. When a warrior reached the top of these three
levels, the warrior and his weapon would finally act in one.
Those who could gain Light Apperception were gifted. Those who mastered the Intent Apperception
were someone of greater comprehension. Those who could reach the Soul Apperception were among
the world's greatest geniuses.
As for the true unison after the completion of the Soul Apperception, no one in the Misty South had
ever reached that level.
"The energy of the sword-light!" When Ricky figured it out, he sighed again with seriousness.
Though he had never seen the energy of the sword-light, he had heard of its power, power enough to
fight against a superior warrior.
'But there's not much sword-light in that sword right now. I can feel that much.' "So it's not invincible,"
whispered Ricky.
"Three Swords of the Wind! Go to hell!"
Once again, Jim had chosen to try and marshal his power against Ricky. He leaped and cut at Ricky,
long sword crackling with sword-light. All of a sudden, it seemed that three swords were coming
straight at Ricky.
Ricky had no time to hesitate. He immediately gathered his spiritual energy and turned it into flames
that ran up and down his saber. Then he tried to parry Jim's strike.
Bang, Bang! The gold and iron clinked. The long sword collided with Ricky's long saber.
This time, they didn't meet and stop halfway. Ricky's saber was no match for the sword, and broken
into three pieces, and fell to the ground. Only the hilt was still in his hand.
"How?! Is this the power of the sword-light?" Ricky said, stunned by what had just happened.
"Ha! The power is beyond the comprehension of a loser like you. A worthless piece of crap with no
spiritual meridian!" Seemingly gaining the upper hand, Jim mocked, finally returning to his lofty
disdainful look.
"Bastard! Go to hell! It's worthy of you, forcing me to use the energy of the sword-light!" Jim growled
and swung his long sword to gather the sword-light of it, then he swung the blade toward Ricky's face.
Ho!
Staring at the sword-light coming toward him, Ricky calmed himself. He took a deep breath, then
turned his whole body red. This time, the color was deep red with a hint of orange.
After a month of fighting with the ferocious beasts, Ricky not only made progress in his cultivation
method, but also trained the First Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula to the final level.
The superb level.
His eyes flashed with a bright light. Ricky came out bare-handed and grabbed the blade of the sword.
Hiss!
The next moment, there came the sound of metal shattering. The three blades of the wind sword were
broken by Ricky's bare hand, his arms crossed to force back Jim's long sword.
Only some faint cutting marks were left in Ricky red arms and hands.
"Ricky is fine!" Seeing this, Heather couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. She was worried for him the
whole time she remained hidden.
Immediately, she noticed Ricky's cultivation method that he trained in.
......
"This... is his method of Refinement!" Seeing this, everyone was shocked. Their eyes couldn't help but
fill with greed.
Once again, Jim's eyes became gloomy, but soon they were darkened by deep greed.
According to the analysis of the people from Casting Faction, Ricky's method of Refinement was at
least the cultivation method at the intermediate stage of Black Level. How could they not be lured?
If there was a cultivation method at the advanced stage of Yellow Level, all the disciples would fight for
it; not to mention the cultivation method at the advanced stage of Black Level.
"Hand over the cultivation method! I'll give you a quick death," Jim said eagerly.
"What? Hand over my method? Fine! But that depends on which one is better. Your sword-light or my
Body Refining Formula?" Ricky laughed.
"I'm not done yet. This time I'll take you out with my bare hands."
"Since you won't hand it over, then I'll take it—from your corpse!" Jim said seriously.
The next moment, they were moving again.
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