"What? Why did that guy stop? Did he sense me?" Seeing that Thomas had stopped, Ricky was very
curious as to why.
While Ricky was watching him closely in curiosity, Thomas took out a white jade tablet from his bag.
"It's over now, and the Bronze Key should be presented to the Shadow King," Thomas said, while
looking at the white jade tablet. Then, it was apparent that he intended to crush the white jade tablet
within his hand.
However, at that moment, a blade made of flame suddenly sprang up through the air, and suddenly
slashed at Thomas's wrist.
If Thomas was to react a little slowly to the attack, his hand would inevitably be cut off. Nevertheless,
Thomas's reaction was quite rapid. It could be said that he was always alert and on guard, so he
sensed it the moment the blade of flame appeared out of thin air.
Thomas dropped the white jade tablet before he could manage to crush it.
In the instant the white jade tablet was dropped, Ricky appeared. He caught the white jade tablet and
directly put it into the Chaotic Fire Zone.
"Hey, it's not over yet. Isn't it a bit rash for you to think you're ready to finish up all your plans?" Ricky
said a little lazily as he put his arms up to stretch luxuriously.
Compared to Ricky's lackadaisical demeanor, Thomas looked a lot more serious. He was immediately
shocked, and could not believe he had been followed by someone.
Ricky's appearance was very sudden and unexpected. It was like an innate spiritual king that could tear
up the space showing up. Thomas could still feel that Ricky's realm seemed to be lower than his own.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Thomas asked coldly. Although he was shocked, Thomas had not
lost his cool completely. He decided he should figure out what was happening first.
From that point of view, it could be observed that Thomas was able and crafty, so Ricky could not help
but treat him seriously. Ricky never dared to underestimate or had contempt for such a strong and wary
adversary.
"It doesn't matter who I am. It's important that I also want that Bronze Key and the eight storage bags
that you have looted. Will you give them to me?" Ricky smiled gently.
"Ha-ha!" After hearing Ricky's words, Thomas couldn't help but burst into loud and body wracking
laughter that echoed over the area they stood in.
"So, you think my request is funny?" Ricky asked flatly.
"Don't you think it's funny? How can you think that you could ever match up to me in battle? Is it just
because you can suddenly appear from nowhere? That only means that you have a strong stealth
ability, or that you have magic tools with you. In terms of strength, you're very ordinary judging from that
strike just now," Thomas retorted with a chuckle.
"Ha-ha! You have made a thorough analysis of me, but you can't really know whether you are right or
wrong," Ricky said.
At the same time, Ricky had some speculation about his true identity. Could Thomas be a member of
the Endless Shadow? Firstly, he was calm and indifferent; secondly, he liked to cut throats when he
killed someone. All those characters were quite in line with the profession of a hired killer.
"Well, right or wrong can't be judged verbally. Now, I'm also interested in your impressive ability with
stealth. Either way, we're at odds, so let's just let our actions speak for us!" Thomas sneered.
Immediately, Thomas's momentum, that was from his cultivation at the fifth grade of Bone
Reinforcement, powered up. As soon as he had gathered his energy, he lunged straight for Ricky.
"Before we fight, I'd like to know if you're one of the Endless Shadow members?" Ricky asked with a
smile on his face.
"Huh? Why do you ask that?" Thomas was a little surprised to hear what Ricky had asked him. The
surprised look on his face had easily proven that Ricky had guessed correctly.
Thomas apparently did not intend to hide his true identity though. The reason he didn't hide who he
was, was because Ricky was already a dead man in his eyes.
"It seems that you shadows can appear anywhere. Where ever we go, there are you guys." Ricky
sighed slightly. He had become more alert to the Endless Shadows over time because there used to be
killers of the Endless Shadow in the Snow Sect.
Of course, Ricky was still uncertain about whether there were traitors and moles in the Snow Sect
anymore or not.
"It's none of my business. My responsibility is just to cover the area of the Chaotic Region!" Thomas
said and laughed.
In the next moment, Thomas moved so quickly that Ricky could only see the dust that rose under his
feet before he appeared in front of Ricky a split-second later.
Then, a black palm shot fiercely at Ricky's face.
Fortunately, Ricky's reaction was not too slow. His Flame Fist came up and collided with the black palm
before it could strike his face.
At the moment that Ricky hit Thomas, he immediately realized Ricky's true power—he was at the
second grade of Bone Reinforcement.
"You want to die? A second grade of Bone Reinforcement ranking cultivator is really daring to
challenge me! Is this world no longer able to obey the law of the jungle?" Thomas immediately
expressed his disdain toward Ricky.
However, a moment later, Thomas's disdain totally disappeared. After the clash between his palm and
Ricky's fist, he just felt a strong force, which was no less than his, penetrated into his arms through his
palm. The force was so strong that he had to resist it with all his power.
After the collision, they both retreated and did not attack again immediately. It was a tentative
confrontation, and no one was sure who had the upper hand at that point.
"How can it be possible? How can you have such a powerful force when you're only at the second
grade of Bone Reinforcement?" Thomas asked in a cold voice. For the first time since Ricky had laid
eyes on him, the calm in his eyes had disappeared and was replaced by a wariness toward Ricky.
"It's just because I used some pills to hide my real realm of cultivation base before," Ricky answered
softly. He didn't want too many people to know that he had the ability to challenge someone who was
three levels higher than him, even though Thomas was already dead in his eyes.
"Really?" Thomas asked doubtfully.
In the next moment, Thomas became more serious and drew the saber from on his back to launch an
attack again.
Now that he believed that Ricky truly had some considerable strength, there was no need for any
further testing.
"Go to hell!"
When Thomas made a leap high into the air, the black spiritual energy swept him over in an instant.
Then, Thomas's long saber slashed out toward Ricky.
"You're using a saber; do you look down on me?" Seeing that Thomas had unexpectedly drawn a
saber, Ricky was a little uncomfortable. He also pulled out his Iron Destroyer from on his back and
waved it to block the hit.
Ricky used most of his strength to block the attack.
A crisp sound suddenly rang out.
Then, the collision of two sabers made fierce sparks. It was dazzling enough to hurt their eyes.
Crack! At the same time, there was the sound of metal fragmenting. Thomas's long saber was directly
fragmented in the strike. When he realized that, he quickly retreated. His weapon was broken, and he
had lost an opportunity to attack, after all.
Nevertheless, Ricky did not want to let Thomas retreat like that, so he suddenly set foot on the ground
and lunched an attack with his weapon toward Thomas again. He wanted to force Thomas to use his
full power.
Sure enough, under Ricky's fierce attack in succession, Thomas's eyes turned serious. He sped up to
retreat again. At the same time, Thomas's palm turned around at his waist, and then he pulled out a
soft-iron sword.
Whoosh! The delicate soft-iron sword was stretched out, resisting Ricky's second strike. Then, the two
were separated again, both glaring at each other with a solemn look in their eyes.
"Humph! So, you are finally willing to pull out your soft-iron sword?" Ricky asked him gently with half
lidded eyes.
"It seems that you already know that my real weapon is not a saber, but a sword instead," Thomas
replied in a deep and pensive voice.
"I already know your true identity after all—an assassin from the Endless Shadow. The real weapon the
assassins of the Endless Shadow wield are all soft-iron swords!" Ricky accused.
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