Inside the Spiritual Energy Gathering Array, thousands of strands of pure energy poured into Ricky's
and Edgar's body continuously. Both of their powers and cultivation levels were being improved sharply
with every passing second. Smoothly the strands sailed as they not only enhanced their strength, but
also healed them from their deficiencies.
They felt as if their bodies were burning with fire as the pure energy constantly circulated their vessels.
Sweat came out of their foreheads as the intense heat engulfed them. The change in Ricky was more
obvious, though, for he absorbed the spiritual energy way faster than Edgar.
On day six, Edgar's body shook all of a sudden. The aura of blood vitality around his body sprang up
with a loud crash. The blood in his body circulated so violently that people could even hear it loud and
clear.
Without a question, this incident was a clear sign indicating that Edgar had already successfully broken
through into the Blood Purification. He was now an official warrior of Blood Purification.
Edgar was at the ninth grade of Skin Refinement, the highest level of the method. It made sense for
him to achieve the next state faster than Ricky. After that, Edgar still did not come to his senses.
Instead, he continued to absorb the pure spiritual energy in the Spiritual Energy Gathering Array, so as
to consolidate his controlling ability over the power at the first grade of Blood Purification. Ricky, on the
other hand, kept working on his breaking-through process while perspiring heavily all throughout his
body.
But on the seventh day, he rose from his position and eagerly checked himself. To him, this was his big
day.
The last six days' cultivation had set the stage for him to the next step.
He activated the Devouring Skill, and enforced the Devourer Zone. Then he picked out a stand of
forceful spiritual energy and transferred it into the Zone. After the energy was strengthened in the zone,
he injected it into his spiritual meridian.
As the name suggested, Blood Purification was the process of absorption of the spiritual energy of
heaven and earth to refine the warrior's blood.
Blood carried the energy the body needed and circulated in the vessels to keep the flesh alive. The
more powerful the energy in the blood was, the stronger the body would be, and the more invincible a
warrior became. The warrior with this enormous energy would be able to perform at the peak of his
power for a long period of time.
Theoretically, he who reached the stage of Blood Purification would not need to sleep to recover
himself as long as he kept his blood vitality powerful. That was the significant difference between the
warrior of Skin Refinement and that of Blood Purification.
Ricky activated his spiritual meridian to break the pure spiritual energy into thousands of strands.
Immediately, those strands immersed into every vein. Then the energy started to eliminate the
impurities and purify his blood to cleanse him.
It was by no means a comfortable process. Ricky was in pain as his whole body trembled with burning
heat. He was engulfed with agony. Ricky proceeded with his refinement as he gritted his teeth to
endure it and kept in mind that if there was no pain, there was no gain.
Finally, blood vitality was released from his blood, which marked the end of this painful and almost
torture of a procedure. Alas, Ricky was born into the world of Blood Purification.
Every pore on his body slightly opened, and innumerable streams of blood vitality sprang up, and finally
met with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the Spiritual Energy Gathering Array.
The moment the two energies bumped into each other, the aura from Ricky changed accordingly. Apart
from his spiritual energy, blood vitality was mixed with it.
The fusion of the blood vitality and the spiritual energy would definitely cause a qualitative change to a
warrior. That was the reason why the warrior of Blood Purification had an absolute advantage over that
of Skin Refinement. Blood was in the innermost portion of the warrior while skin was superficial, hence
Blood Purification warriors were surely stronger than Skin Refinement ones.
There were also exceptions, of course. As a genius, Ricky was an excellent example of those who
challenged and defeated a warrior of Blood Refinement with a body of Skin Refinement. A legend in
that aspect, Ricky was hailed a fierce competitor in any kind of battle. Being lower and theoretically
weaker than Blood Refinement warriors, he was different in a good way.
Just like Edgar's situation, Ricky did not wake up immediately, either. He kept his eyes closed, and
assimilated the pure spiritual energy to solidify the power of the first grade of Blood Purification.
The power of the Spiritual Energy Gathering Array faded away gradually as the last three days flew by.
The snowy woods turned as peaceful in the outside world. Ricky and Edgar were not in touch with
whatever was happening outside their bodies for they gradually regained their strength in the process.
The moment they became sober, they felt powerful energy floating in their fleshes. They were
energized, refueled. They exchanged a look with each other and thrilled smiles formed on their faces.
Both of them realized that they already made it to the world of Blood Purification. They stepped into
another region of great power officially in the martial arts world now!
"Is this the Blood Purification? It feels so good! I made it!" Edgar stretched his body and had a big smile
on his excited face.
The next second, he shot his eyes at Ricky. He wanted to fight. He wanted to test his power. He
wanted to beat someone to prove his ability. So he suggested with a serious look, "Ricky, I think both of
us have already made it to the first stage of Blood Purification. How about a fight? Let's see if this really
works! "
"Anytime!" Ricky looked back at him bravely and replied with a smirk. He was thinking of the same idea
as well.
He also wanted to see how powerful of a Blood Purification warrior he would be. Fighting against Edgar
was the best way to check it out for the time being. Both being born into a new aspect of martial arts,
the two warriors were eager to see what their bodies could do after the process. Eagerness and
excitement echoed all throughout the atmosphere.
Both warriors prepared for their friendly battle. With blasts of energies from the two figures, their
powers bumped into each other forcefully. Their spiritual energies and blood vitalities were entangled
together, and attacked each other violently.
This was just a friendly match and they were not trying to kill each other. The longer they fought, the
better they would know about their abilities of Blood Purification. Hence, it took them almost one hour
before they ended the fight and assessed how better they became after the painful process.
"It feels so different in the world of Blood Purification! I can feel the blood vitality coming out of my body
at any time and keep myself in tip-top shape during the whole process of a fight! That is amazing!"
muttered Ricky with happiness and disbelief.
"Yeah! I felt the same! It feels so damn good to have the power of Blood Purification! " Edgar also
chimed in with him, nodding.
Then he asked with a serious look, "Hey, buddy! How much strength did you just employ when we
fought?"
"I am not sure exactly. Probably about sixty percent of all my strength, " Ricky replied with a smile,
fishing the same question with Edgar.
"Oh, got it! I guessed it right. I used about eighty percent of all my strength and we nearly ended in a
draw. You are more powerful than me. It seems that I would not be able to defeat you if we were truly in
a death fight though we are at the same grade of Blood Purification," Edgar groaned in disappointment
upon Ricky's honest words.
However, what Edgar did not know was that Ricky actually just exerted less than half of his strength.
Part of the power he showed just now came from the power of the devouring rune.
"What? Edgar. Are you going to admit that you are a loser so easily? I believe you're more than that,"
Ricky said in a low voice. He could not bear enjoy his new strength when he saw Edgar with low self-
esteem. He tried to inspire him with his words because he knew that Edgar was more than he thought.
As expected, the frustration on Edgar's face disappeared all of a sudden and was replaced with strong
self-confidence. Ricky's words worked like a charm, and encouraged his fellow into a positive light.
"I understand it, Ricky. Thank you for believing in me. Just get ready to take up my challenge when you
feel like it!" Edgar announced loud with a decisive and friendly look. Edgar was looking for a challenge,
to see how far his powers could go. And thankfully enough, Ricky's words brought out the fire in him to
be the best in his area of martial arts.
"Ha-ha! Like I said, anytime!" Ricky smiled and winked.
Although they just got along for a very short time, Ricky already got to know what kind of person Edgar
was. He could be a friend of his. But, befriending Edgar was the furthest Ricky could go for the time
being. It would take him a long time before he could trust Edgar, or anyone for that matter. It was
something not to be taken abruptly, for trust was a major factor when befriending a warrior, especially
when you had already fought him in numerous battles.
Ricky and Edgar were beyond thrilled for their newly found strengths. They fixed their things, tidied
themselves up, and left the snowy woods and headed back to where Zenith was.
Greeted by the two strong disciples who had already broken into the world of Blood Purification, Zenith
was more than cheerful. In his mind, he already considered Ricky and Edgar to be the future of the
Snow Sect. So, seeing them make great achievements was a great relief to him. As the chief of the
Snow Sect, he had to be extremely strict on choosing his successor.
Zenith gave them a lecture about his knowledge in the cultivation of Blood Purification. Ricky and
Edgar were thrilled by his effort to teach them. This kind of chance was rare, as being instructed by the
chief of the Snow Sect was deemed once in a blue moon and such an honor for anyone who would
benefit from it.
They listened carefully without distractions. To them, every second counted as they might not have a
second chance at it. All the suggestions and pointers Zenith talked about were so useful to them.
After Zenith was done with the talking, he sent Ricky away. "Alright, let's end up here. Both of you have
done an excellent job. I'm proud of you. You can go back now."
"Thank you, Chief Zenith," Ricky bade farewell to them before he left. But Zenith suddenly signaled him
to stay for a little while longer. On the other hand, Ricky had no idea what it was about.
"Ricky, you are smart. And I'd like to talk with you more about the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula,"
Zenith said in a peaceful tone. Zenith talked with him for about half an hour about his thoughts on the
Formula before he ended the conversation. He saw Ricky's eyes drop at some parts of the discussion
and that was when he thought it was enough for today's instruction for Ricky. After that, Ricky thanked
him with respect before he left the Zenith Mountain and went back to his place.
Grace and Heather already knew that Ricky had already broken into the Blood Purification. Both of
them were surprised a lot. Hearing rumors that the two warriors were given a chance to be instructed
by Zenith, Grace and Heather were curious about what kind of instructions Zenith had given Ricky
during the past ten days.
This fact of Ricky's improvement inspired Heather. She practiced even harder than usual. She did not
want to lag behind Ricky, as she wanted to be as strong and powerful as him.
Ricky gave the five Blood Purification Pills to Heather as gifts. Now that he had already been a warrior
of Blood Purification and owned the Devouring Skill, the Blood Purification Pills were no more useful for
him. So he made a kind offer to Heather, and expected her to make some progress.
During the next few days of Ricky's road to improvement, he started to comprehend the Five Beasts
Arts. He did whatever it took for him to become an exceptional warrior. Book after book he read, even
during afternoons he would practice his craft.
He planned to leave the Snow Sect to experience the world outside the Sect after he finished the
cultivation of the Five Beasts Arts. There might be dangers, but only through that could he become
stronger and tougher than he had always been.
There were many people who kept an eye on his every move; the Refinement Faction, the Casting
Faction, and Nate. Ricky was well aware of that. He had to grow stronger as soon as possible before
they had him disappear in the jungle.
He would not make any extravagant wish, for example, to defeat them. But at least, he needed to be
strong enough to protect himself from other warriors, bandits, or from any natural disaster that might
come his way.
Another reason would be that he wanted freedom away from rules that could prevent him from even
killing a fellow sect member even if they tried to prey on him for his powers. He did not feel safe in the
Snow Sect even though there was someone protecting him, like Grace, or something protecting him,
like one of the rules which stated that fellow disciples of the Snow Sect were forbidden to kill each
other. Those people would definitely have a plan on him when they figured out he was too powerful and
he would threaten their positions. They would kill him when the chance came. Ricky was certain about
that.
Hence, leaving the Sect to experience and toughen himself would be the best choice.
As long as he left this place, he could go anywhere he liked. By that time, the search for him would be
like searching for a needle in a haystack for those men.
...
It did not take long before he got an initial comprehension of the Five Beasts Arts. After that, Ricky was
mentally and physically ready to bid goodbye to Grace and leave. However, someone dropped in in the
dead of night before he even had the chance to do anything. He glanced at the door and to his
surprise, it was Agnes.
Ricky felt rather puzzled at her showing up. He and Agnes barely knew each other and they were not
close at all.
But why did she pay him a midnight visit? Was there anything important to talk about in the middle of
the night? Ricky thought of all explanations as to why Agnes would go to him, out of all people.
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