There were only three people who remained in the forest. There was Ricky, who was using the infernal
power to refine his body in the Sacred Blood Pond. The other two were Heather and Grace, patiently
waiting beside him.
The process of body refinement took an entire day and night, sometimes even longer.
Of course, Agnes Shui had already left.
Ricky was currently focusing all his attention on battling with the searing, intense burning pain.
Through his new spiritual meridian, Ricky absorbed that strong infernal power in the Sacred Blood
Pond, letting it flow within his meridians and blood circulation. He then channeled it into refining his
flesh and bones by making them even more reinforced.
These minutes seemed like an unbearable eternity. Ricky's consciousness trembled in the blinding
blurriness of the world. The burning pain had penetrated deep into his bones, now dully numbing them.
The expression on his face was one of pure exertion. The fingernails on his fingers had sunk deep into
the flesh of his palms. Blood was oozing out from the wounds as streams of perspiration ran in rivers
down his arms, dripping rapidly into the pond water.
The excruciating pain could make Ricky fail any minute and lose control.
But he had to persevere. He had to endure this suffering, because this was an opportunity to
breakthrough into the Second Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.
The infernal power in the Sacred Blood Pond was inherently perfect for the refinement of the Second
Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.
....
Under the ceaseless blaze of the infernal fire, after an entire day and night had passed, Ricky finally
regained consciousness. Slowly, he opened his tightly shut eyes.
He looked down at himself. A layer of black mucous surfaced, coating his skin. They were the
impurities expelled from his system during the refinement process. The skin underneath the black
mucous had turned clearer, almost glowing.
"Using the infernal blaze to refine is indeed amazing. This time around, not only have I opened the door
towards breaking through the Second Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refinement Formula, I've fixed
the defects caused from using the Blood Zone to a very large extent!" Upon realizing the changes that
had taken place with his body, Ricky exclaimed with satisfaction.
"Ricky, you rascal, you've finally completed the refinement process!" Heather said begrudgingly, yet
with shining admiration in her eyes.
"Ha-ha, sorry to have kept you waiting!" Clutching his Sacred Blood Crystal, Ricky laughed as he
leaped triumphantly out of the pond.
"So it seems that with the success of the body refinement using the infernal power, you can almost
make it to the Second Grade of the Nine-degree Body Refinement Formula!" Grace said with
satisfaction, seeing the renewed strength in Ricky's body become exceedingly apparent.
"Master, as long as I'm able to withstand the refinement process using the frosty power, I feel confident
that I'll really manage to conquer the Second Grade of the Nine-degree Body Refinement Formula,"
Ricky said, the excitement clear in his voice.
"But of course! I advise you to assimilate the Sacred Blood Crystal you created only when you're ready
to enter the Second Grade of the Nine-degree Body Refinement Formula!" Grace reminded him,
heaving a sigh of relief.
"Master, I know!" Ricky nodded.
"Since you've already made a breakthrough, there's no need to stay here any longer. Let's go back to
the Snow Sect now. You know, it's also time to prepare for the Outer Competition," Grace said.
Grace put her whistle to her lips and blew, the pure high note summoning the Snow Vulture, who came
swooping down from the sky.
"Heather... I must say goodbye. But only for now," Ricky said quietly, turning towards Heather. His eyes
were brimming with tears, reluctant to part ways with her.
"Oh Ricky, it's still too early to say goodbye! From now on, you have to address me as senior!" Heather
smiled enigmatically and clambered onto the Snow Vulture in a flash.
Grace did not object and leapt onto the Snow Vulture as well.
"Huh? What's going on?" Ricky was perplexed. "Are... Are you also coming to the Snow Sect? With
us?"
"Why, of course! Why wouldn't I? Master Grace has already formally received me as her formal
disciple." Heather said, mischievously pouting her lips. She held Grace's arm and winked at the shock
Ricky. "That is to say, as a nominal disciple, you have to call me senior. Otherwise you'd be
disrespecting your master!"
"Master, is this really true?" Ricky asked Grace.
"Hmm, I promised her grandfather," Grace said, with a slightly nod of her head.
"It suits me just fine. It looks like I have another junior!" Accepting this new development, Ricky hung
his head dejectedly.
"Hey! I'm your senior!" Heather said, a hint of annoyance on her furrowed brow.
...
At their return to the Snow Sect, the entire atmosphere of the community had changed dramatically.
Due to the impending Outer Competition, all of the disciples were riled up. They strove to deliver their
very best during training, wanting to stand out in the Outer Competition.
Some disciples worked for the sect's rewards, some wanted to prove themselves in front of girls they
were wooing. Others hoped to defeat their long-standing rivals. No matter the reason, everything had
taken on an atmosphere of thick tension.
"I'm going to make the Outer Competition my stage!" Ricky vowed firmly to himself, feeling the intensity
of the surrounding atmosphere.
In the eighth grade of Skin Refinement, he had already mustered enough confidence to call out to any
outer disciple, even the top ten outer disciples. After all, he had already killed one of them.
"So this is the Snow Sect..." Heather mused aloud, landing into the courtyard from the back of the
Snow Vulture.
"Come, I'll show you the other parts of the Snow Sect right now!" Grace said, seeing the curiosity on
Heather's face. She led Heather away after bidding Ricky to practice.
"There's really a stark contrast between how she deals with a male and a female disciple!" Ricky curled
his lips and said as he watched their figures walk away.
He briskly took out the corpses of the beasts in the advanced stage of Skin Refinement from the Blood
Zone, went to the courtyard and chose another inferior grade long saber in the Mortal Level. He cut the
beasts' corpses into many pieces, planning to exchange them for silver coins.
But Ricky also meant to enjoy the spoils of his efforts. He would feast on these beasts. It made his
mouth water just thinking about it.
After barbecuing the flesh and having a fine time enjoying the beast's flesh, Ricky picked up the pieces
of the corpses that he had butchered earlier, and brought them to the market, hoping to sell them.
But he had not gone very far before a pretty girl stopped him in his tracks. She was the beautiful Vivian
who had previously invited him to hunt for beasts in the snowy mountain.
But she looked very different now. Shaken, she was bathed in tears, her hair a mess.
"Vivian! What has happened to you?" Ricky asked, alarmed at the sight of her.
"Oh Ricky, please ask your master to save Lewis! He's in grave danger! Dustin's people kidnapped
him! They said... they said he'll be fed to the wolves!" Vivian began sobbing.
"What?! Where are they now?" Ricky cast aside the beasts' body parts, grabbing Vivian's shoulders
and asked anxiously.
Vivian and Lewis were probably the only people in the Snow Sect Ricky could call his friends. They
didn't despise or mock him because he was called "the waste of blood without a spiritual meridian".
They treated Ricky sincerely and they surely meant a great deal to him.
"I don't know... I don't know Ricky! I only know they took Lewis into the snowy mountains!" Vivian wept,
helpless.
"There's no time to waste! We need to hurry! I hope we can track them by following their footprints!"
Ricky hastened his steps, rushing to the snowy mountains with Vivian.
...
In a small valley in the snowy mountains, Lewis could hardly breathe. All of his limbs were fractured
and he lay in the snow like a corpse.
He looked at the sky. He had no desire left to fight. He gasped for air, craving death.
"Oh Ricky, Vivian, I hope my death is enough for Dustin to stop hounding you!" Lewis thought to himself
in utter despair.
"Growl! Howl!"
At the edges of the trees, several humongous Snow Wolves appeared. They circled around him
cautiously, lured by the smell of Lewis' fresh blood.
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