The tension in the air was so thick that one could cut through it with a knife.
"The intermediate Mortal Level"—these words were like a magic spell, causing the disciples' ears to
tingle and the hairs on their forearms to stand up. Only a moment ago, they had sneered at Ricky.
They came to venerate Andrew as a symbolic figure, someone who shared their jealousy of Ricky and
utterly denied his competence. However, rocks emerged when water subsided. The saber that Ricky
had cast served to counter their disdain, once and for all.
"How is it possible? How could he cast a weapon at the intermediate Mortal Level?" disciples
murmured, looking at Ricky with suspicious eyes.
"Could it be that he was previously a casting master at the intermediate stage of the Mortal Level? But
if so, why did he join the Casting Appraisal at the inferior stage? And he had to compete with Andrew
during this too! And Elder Alexander's favoring him, perhaps it was only a coincidence!
Had he really reached the intermediate stage within three days? It's impossible!"
...
"How could this ever happen? He really made it!" Kayla was certainly the most astonished. In those
three days, she had been observing quite closely how Ricky had done.
Bertha was, of course, surprised as well. But she again had to remind herself not to feel too surprised
when it came to Ricky, especially after what he had done in the Snow Sect.
"What the hell!? Damn it! There can be no one superior to me! How dare he challenge me!" Andrew
was outraged. "Die! He must die! Otherwise he will most definitely become an obstacle to my success!"
...
"Great!" The casting master who was examining Ricky's weapon nodded with satisfaction, rather
pleased.
With a cacophony of heated discussions, the appraisal finally came to an end. About four-fifths of the
participants passed, which meant that only about forty people were qualified to proceed to the next
round.
Now, many disciples began to change their attitude towards Ricky! Perhaps it was true that becoming
superior to those who were envious of you would turn their ill will into worship and respect!
"Congratulations! You have passed the Casting Appraisal of the intermediate stage of the Mortal Level.
Now you can proceed to the next round, where you will be competing for the Magic Spirit Stone! If you
are confident in your casting skills, welcome to the competition!" Elder Alexander said.
"Of course, if you fail this next round, it won't influence the result of your appraisal. It's only for winning
the Magic Spirit Stone!"
"If you want to participate in the competition, please come to the arena and draw lots. You will be
divided into five groups, competing within the groups to decide the victors. The five victors will then
battle it out in the next round!"
"Excuse me, Elder Alexander, how do we compete within the groups?" some disciples clarified.
"Your power will only be allowed to go up to the third grade of Skin Refinement. Then you can fight
against each other with the weapon you have casted. Victory is won with the most powerful weapon!"
answered Elder Alexander.
"A fair competition, I like it! After limiting all the warrior's power to the third grade of Skin Refinement,
our Light Apperception will be practically equal. The result of the competition relies only on the power of
weapon!" some disciples nodded with approval.
However, some of the disciples looked rather regretful, for which they hadn't cast their weapon
attentively. They had made it only with the purpose of passing the Casting Appraisal of the intermediate
Mortal Level and didn't make full use of their casting skills.
But now regrets were no use.
They were soon divided into five equal groups.
Beginning with the first group, disciples fought against each other in pairs. The victors were soon
determined.
The victor of the first group was Kayla. It was a pity that she had defeated Bertha, but it was to be
expected as Bertha's weapon was not of the highest callibre. The victor of the second group was Theo,
while the third victor was Ivan.
Then the battle of the fourth group began. Ricky and Andrew were in the same group, to the surprise of
many. Even they themselves didn't anticipate this. They finally faced each other sooner than expected.
'Heh! Enemies are truly destined to meet!' Ricky laughed to himself resignedly.
'Don't tell me that Elder Alex intentionally assigned me and Andrew in the same group!' the thought
came suddenly out of nowhere. Ricky turned around and looked at Elder Alexander, noticing that the
Elder was staring his way as well.
'It seems that Elder Alex did this intentionally. Perhaps he wants to know how far my casting skill has
truly reached, ' Ricky thought. 'Well, it's fine. I will have to fight against Andrew sooner or later anyway,
as my purpose is to win the Magic Spirit Stone.'
"Hey, brat! God must have blessed me to be in the same group with you! Oh, you'd better get down on
your knees and pray that you won't battle against me. Otherwise, your saber would be smashed into
tiny pieces by my meteor hammer!" Andrew whispered to Ricky before walking into the arena.
"Maybe it is an omen of your doom!" Ricky grinned, confidence shining in his eyes.
Now Ricky shrugged away Andrew's threats, and stepped onto the arena to compete. He mentally
prepared himself for this, which would definitely be a pivotal moment in his journey as a casting master.
One by one, the other disciples in their group fell, until the top two warriors of the fourth group
remained. As expected, it was Ricky and Andrew who would face off. Now they were standing on the
same arena, ready to fight against each other.
"Now it's gonna be a hell of a fight!"
"Let's see! I think Andrew will use his meteor hammer to smash up Ricky's poor little saber!" some
disciples jeered, still looking down on Ricky.
...
"Did you hear what they said?" Andrew sneered at Ricky, up on the arena.
"It's none of my business!" Ricky answered calmly, his eyes growing sharp in focus.
"Smash up your poor saber! That's what I'm gonna do!" Andrew exclaimed, nearly foaming at the
mouth to triumph over Ricky.
"Cut the crap, Andrew!"
Suddenly, Ricky and Andrew both felt an extrernal power take over their body. It was a kind of power
that was out of an ordinary warrior's control, which constrained their spiritual energy. Because of this,
they could only use their spiritual energy at the extent of the third grade of Skin Refinement.
Elder Alexander had limited their power, which meant that the battle would commence immediately.
Both warriors concentrated hard, stimulating their spiritual energy to the maximum. They both raised
the weapon they cast, swinging it at each other with full force. They spared no effort, since they both
wanted to smash the other to pieces.
Of course, they were not allowed to injure the other's bodies here on the arena. They could only vent
their anger through their weapons.
Clang! The sound of hammer colliding with saber resounded through the air. Sparks flew around their
weapons, shooting into to the surroundings like fireworks.
Because of Andrew's short stature, many sparks spattered onto his face, impeding his vision.
But Ricky didn't need to take advantage of this. He stepped back, waiting for Andrew to recover quickly,
and wielded his saber again.
Because of this, even more disciples changed their mind about Ricky, gaining a deeper respect for him.
Clang!
In a flash, the arena was once again filled with sparks from the collission of two well-made weapons.
Andrew's weapon was indeed extraordinary. His meteor hammer could be categorized in the secondary
place in the weapons of the intermediate Mortal Level. But Ricky's saber, which had been formed by
using Devouring Skill, was also quite impressive.
Ricky's saber and Andrew's meteor hammer were now neck and neck in the battle, the chance to claim
victory up in the air. It could go to any of them.
This made all the disciples even more surprised. They didn't expect Ricky's saber to be so powerful,
and certainly didn't ever think that it would hold up to Andrew's weapon. They leaned forward, anxious
not to miss a second of the thrilling battle.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda