When Ricky heard this, the thrill he had felt earlier turned into helplessness. He didn't know how to
explain. If he dared to open his mouth, the situation would go downhill.
Meanwhile, the two girls were elated, and they couldn't help the shy smile that pulled at the corners of
their slightly upturned lips.
But the peace didn't last long. Two days later, everyone in the Misty South Palace had heard that
Wayne volunteered to become Ricky's disciple. And because of this, the people erupted into heated
discussion once again.
"No way! That's impossible! No matter how talented Ricky is in casting, I don't think he can surpass the
Sage Level casting masters from the Short Human tribe. This must be a trick..." One person voiced his
doubts out loud.
"I've never heard of the Short Human tribe's members taking casting masters from other forces as their
teachers. Isn't the opposite true? We all know that it's the creatures from other races that desperately
want to become disciples of the Short Human tribe's casting masters."
"It's scandalous! I wonder what the senior members of the Short Human tribe think about this. They
must be blowing off a gasket right now."
While the ordinary disciples gossiped with each other, the numerous creatures of the Short Human
tribe currently residing in the Misty South Palace had gathered in the palace. Two middle-aged men
stood in their midst, and they were in charge.
These two middle-aged men were Sage Level casting masters.
Everyone in the room had a morose expression on their faces, which made it evident that they had also
heard about Wayne's decision.
"Hasn't Wayne come back yet?" one of the two middle-aged men asked with a frown.
"No, sir. We tried looking for him, but Ricky's friend told us that Ricky and Wayne had already begun
their cultivation in seclusion. Thus, we can't do anything more. Even though we are distinguished
guests of the Misty South Palace, we can't disturb their disciples who are in the middle of their
cultivation," one disciple reluctantly reported, knowing that he wasn't carrying good tidings.
"He is cultivating, huh? That's a bald-faced lie! Wayne doesn't want to come back because he is
scared. He disgraced our tribe, and because of him, we have become the laughingstock of the town.
We have so many casting masters in our tribe, but he took some other casting master as his teacher.
Such a thing has never happened since our tribe existed.
From now on, he will no longer be the young master, and you are prohibited from addressing him like
that," the other middle-aged leader declared defiantly.
"Dude, I don't think that's a good idea. Wayne's grandfather is one of the ten elders in our Helian Clan.
We should report this to our chief first so that they could decide on what to do," protested the other
middle-aged man.
Just as the ordinary disciples suspected, the news that Wayne took Ricky as his master made huge
waves within the Short Human tribe. Most of its members considered Wayne a disgrace to their tribe.
After all, he was famous in their tribe.
Meanwhile, Ricky and Wayne were already cultivating in the Chaotic Fire Zone.
They didn't seem to care that their relationship had caused such a stir, or maybe they didn't expect
such a reaction from the majority.
Ricky didn't hesitate when he revealed the Chaotic Fire Zone to Wayne since the other man had
already made a Martial Arts Oath that ensured absolute loyalty towards him.
In the Chaotic Fire Zone, Ricky tirelessly made weapons as he shared to Wayne his insights on
casting. He even included all the things he had learned from the Chaos Manual.
Of course, the exchange of wisdom wasn't a one-way street. Wayne also relayed to Ricky everything
he had picked up from the Short Human tribe's casting masters.
The pair worked tirelessly without rest, not even a wink of sleep. Despite that, it still took them almost a
month to finish casting one hundred Demi-sage Level weapons.
During that time, the pair made weapons with their hands, while their mouths and brains shared and
absorbed as much knowledge as they could. Ricky learned many of the Short Human tribe's methods
of weapon casting while Wayne watched Ricky closely in an effort to duplicate his work. Both men
made great progress in weapon casting.
But to his disappointment, Ricky realized that he still had a long way to go before he became a Sage
Level casting master.
'It's not easy to become a Sage Level casting master, but I guess that makes sense. Otherwise, there
would be more of them running around...' Ricky silently reflected.
After that, he traded the casting materials he had earned for cultivation resources. Then he intended to
head for those special places in the Misty South Palace where he and his companions could cultivate.
Of course, by this time, his companions had also heard that Wayne had become Ricky's disciple.
"Maybe you shouldn't have taken me as your teacher," Ricky murmured softly.
"No, Master. That is one decision that I'll never regret," Wayne reassured him. "Don't worry, Master. I'll
take care of this. I won't get you in trouble."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ricky inquired.
"For now, I can handle it myself. I'll have to return to my clan first, though," responded Wayne grimly.
"Okay. I'm sure you can handle it. But if you need any help, don't hesitate to tell me. After all, you're not
just my casting disciple, but also my friend," instructed Ricky with concern.
After this conversation, Wayne proceeded to the Helian Clan. He knew that most members took
offense to him taking Ricky as his teacher, so he intended to explain himself to his superiors and
submit to whatever decision they made.
Ricky wasn't all that worried about the situation. He was ready to assist Wayne at a moment's notice,
but he thought that the man could take care of himself. If worse came to worse, he could cut ties with
Wayne, but that would be their last resort.
Hence, he decided to focus on improving his strength.
The Gravity Palace, Intent Palace, Power Palace, and Battle Palace were the four major training places
in the Misty South Palace.
The Gravity Palace was most suitable for disciples who wanted to refine their bodies, as it employed
various kinds of gravity. The Intent Palace, on the other hand, was similar to the Emperor Intent Tomb,
and most warriors cultivated their Intent Apperception there. It wasn't as impressive as the Emperor
Intent Tomb, but it could hasten the cultivation speed of Emperor Level disciples by as much as ten
times. Of course, the more talented the warriors were, the more their cultivation speed increased.
Those who were eager to advance in level preferred the Power Palace. It held every power that existed
in the world except for the chaotic power and the primitive power. It was a perfect place for warriors to
cultivate too.
If a warrior wanted to find training partners, he would likely head to the Battle Palace, where warriors
hang out to look for training partners. Many of the people there had countless mutants of different
strengths, created by numerous saints.
Spiritual emperors or demi-saints could hunt down and fight with those mutants, and that would also
add to their combat experience.
As soon as Ricky arrived, he distributed the cultivation resources he had earned to Mordechai and the
two women. He then proceeded to the Power Palace for training.
He was exceedingly eager to improve his cultivation level.
Only seven more months and the casting competition hosted by the Helian Clan would begin. He
intended to increase his cultivation level as much as he could for the next few months.
If he couldn't level up fast enough, the pact he made with his enemy would be a joke, and he would
end up dead in twenty years.
Before long, he entered the Power Palace and began his cultivation with a variety of powers that had
different attributes surrounding him.
This wasn't the norm because most creatures couldn't improve their cultivation level this way, or they
would risk harming themselves instead.
But Ricky was an exception since he had already comprehended the bright ancestral spirit.
The bright ancestral spirit and his seven zones allowed him to transform every kind of Light
Apperception he absorbed, turning it into the pure energy he needed to advance in his realm.
And with the help of the Chaos Manual and the Ancestral Intent Formula, Ricky could comprehend all
kinds of Light Apperception.
Everything went according to his plan, and he leveled up quite fast.
It was through this method that he had become a two-star middle spiritual emperor at peak state in just
two months.
He continued in this way, and before he knew it, another month had passed. He made a breakthrough
in that time, and he was now a three-star middle spiritual emperor.
It only took him six months of this routine before he managed to become a middle spiritual emperor at
peak state.
Of course, after that much cultivation, he also had to stop and rest. He focused on training other
aspects of his strength instead.
Ricky initially planned to cultivate in the Battle Palace, but he had to change his plan on the fly when he
ran out of cultivation resources.
'I guess I'll just cultivate in the Battle Palace next time when I have more cultivation resources.' Ricky
shrugged nonchalantly.
Next, he decided to challenge the talented disciples on the Ranking List.
"My fighting skills must be rusty after six months of seclusion. It's time to get back in the ring," Ricky
muttered lowly to himself as his gaze swept intently over the Ranking List.
With narrowed eyes, he scanned it for a suitable opponent.
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