Ricky's eyes swept over the Ranking List quickly, but he didn't find his name anywhere in the top forty
thousand.
As he scanned through the other names, the person in the thirty-thousandth place caught his attention.
A smirk flashed on his lips.
He activated his identity card, moved his name upwards, and covered the thirty-thousandth place. The
action made excitement bubble up inside him.
"Ricky, are you out of your mind?! That guy in the thirty-thousandth place is Fernando Xiao, one of the
strongest geniuses on the list. He is only slightly weaker than an upper spiritual emperor," Claire told
him in a strangled voice. She had been standing beside him and was utterly shocked when he
challenged Fernando Xiao.
"Don't worry. I haven't gone crazy. If you'll recall, I spent six months cultivating. I'm sure my efforts will
not be in vain," Ricky reassured her with a confident smile.
As he said so, the Ranking List gave off a beam of light. Meanwhile, Fernando Xiao was in the middle
of his seclusion, but something disturbed him. He opened his eyes curiously, his eyes landing on his
glowing identity card. 'Did someone challenge me?' he wondered to himself.
He was right, of course, and Ricky was already waiting for him on the platform.
Surrounding Ricky were countless disciples, evidently eager to see the upcoming battle.
Their chatter filled the air, and each one had their own opinion they wanted to share. "Ricky is
incredible! He didn't challenge anyone in the past few months. But here he comes, challenging
someone who is in the top forty thousand, someone leagues ahead of him in rank!"
Although Ricky's actions were astonishing, they had come to expect the unexpected when it came to
Ricky. Thus, they were more curious than shocked this time.
"Fernando should be almost as strong as an upper spiritual emperor. But when Ricky fought six months
ago, he was weaker than an upper spiritual emperor, wasn't he? How is he going to survive this?"
"That's true, but I heard he had spent the last six months cultivating in the Power Palace."
"Fernando is coming!"
someone excitedly shouted, and a hush settled over the place. A figure flying at high speeds was
approaching.
Once he was close enough, Ricky took note that it was a good-looking young man. His white clothes
clung tightly to his well-sculpted body, and a white jade crown sat neatly over his head.
It must be no other than Fernando Xiao. At his current strength, he was probably the strongest in the
younger generation, next to the upper spiritual emperor.
As soon as Fernando Xiao saw Ricky standing on the platform, his face clouded over like a brewing
storm. "Ricky is my challenger, huh? I guess I'm out of luck," he murmured with a small frown.
He considered Ricky way out of his league six months ago, but that didn't mean he would look down on
the other man. After all, he had heard a lot of incredible things about Ricky, and he didn't think the
achievements he garnered came from his ego alone. With all the waves his name made, he must be
dangerously talented.
Soon, Fernando Xiao alighted upon the platform. "I'm sorry, Fernando. I hope you won't be offended
that I called you out here," said Ricky politely, as he cupped his hands towards his opponent.
"It doesn't matter. Since my name is on the list, I'm ready to be challenged anytime. It's just that I feel
unlucky that you challenged me, but I also feel fortunate because, out of everyone, you are the one
who challenged me.
It will be an honor to go a few rounds with someone good at both martial arts and weapon casting,"
explained Fernando Xiao.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As soon as the words fell from his lips, Fernando Xiao unleashed the power of a middle spiritual
emperor at peak state.
Rumor had it that he had the Orb Water Mutant, which might be accurate, seeing as he had focused on
cultivating the water power.
The next instant, Ricky felt like he was in the middle of an endless sea, and the surging waves buffeted
him in all directions. For a moment, he felt an infinite pressure settle over him.
Ricky responded by simultaneously releasing seven kinds of runes that rushed out into the air like
blood-thirsty dragons.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before their bodies met in a violent dance, the momentums of both sides collided first, and it caused
the entire space to explode.
'I don't think I can challenge those who are stronger than me right now. I can feel this runic power must
be the one holding me back.
But that doesn't matter. I believe in myself! I can become a Sage Level casting master," thought Ricky
to himself, hyping himself up.
The moment the space exploded around them, Ricky and Fernando Xiao gave a shout at the same
time. "Let's get started!" In between one breath and the next, they sprang from stillness to movement
as they dashed forward and clashed with each other. Ricky enclosed his fists with seven mutant
powers. With it, he threw hundreds of punches in an instant.
Fernando Xiao opened his palms, and water power gushed out like a broken dam. He then gathered
this power and transformed it into a ball.
The water ball rapidly expanded, easily catching all the punches Ricky threw his way.
When the ball shrank again, all the force of Ricky's punches bounced back!
When he saw this, Ricky's eyes almost bulged out in astonishment. 'He is using the water power's
flexibility to rebound my attacks. I knew there's a reason he is on the Misty South Palace's Ranking
List, ' he mused with no small amount of awe.
But even though the attack surprised him, Ricky still reacted quickly and defended himself. He knew
above all people how potent Fernando Xiao's attack was, so he wouldn't dare slack off.
"Ancestral Thunder Net!" Ricky shouted.
The next second, Ricky released the ancestral thunder power, which instantly expanded and formed a
purple net. The fist shadows he created earlier got tangled into it, and not one got through to him. Once
the fist shadows were trapped inside the net, he summoned the Thunder Light Blade and used it to
break apart all his shadows with one smack.
"That was awesome! You took advantage of the water power to deflect my attacks," Ricky praised
Fernando Xiao sincerely.
"Well, if this isn't the time to show my trump cards then I don't know when I should. With a genius of
your caliber, it's better to be safe than sorry. Otherwise, I'd lose before I even knew what happened,"
replied Fernando Xiao.
The surrounding warriors watching the battle were beside themselves with excitement when they saw
how well-matched Ricky and Fernando Xiao were. "I knew he made great progress in the past six
months. He wouldn't have challenged Fernando otherwise!"
"You're right. Six months is just a blink of an eye for us."
"But still, I can't believe Ricky progressed so much in such a short time."
"The crux of the matter is that he is also incredible in weapon casting!"
"Maybe this is why he received Master Paul's inheritance. He truly is deserving!"
The warriors abruptly fell silent when Fernando Xiao's water power swelled and surged. Amid the
watery figure, everyone could see countless mysterious patterns.
It seemed that Fernando Xiao had finally unleashed the incredible supreme water power. Ricky had a
bad feeling about this.
"Fernando is finally using his supreme water power! He must be getting serious," one of the
surrounding disciples remarked, seemingly entranced by the ongoing fight.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Seeing this, Ricky increased his strength in response. He surrounded himself with
seven kinds of runes, which made it seem like he was the God of War.
"Why don't you burst out your chaotic power and mutant power too?" asked Fernando Xiao with an
eyebrow raised critically.
"You probably don't know this yet, but my cultivation level is not inferior to yours now. So I don't need to
break out my extra powers," Ricky answered with a grin.
His response infuriated Fernando Xiao at first, but the latter didn't let his anger win and soon regained
his senses. 'Ricky is right. His cultivation level must be on par with mine.
When there is a gap between two warriors' cultivation levels, the one with a lower level would have to
use other powers to make up for the gap. But if they are on par with each other, there would be no
need for that. After all, his mutant would be one of their most powerful trump cards. Since even I
haven't activated my mutant, Ricky has no reason to use his as well, ' he pondered in silence.
"Supreme water power—Water Orb Blast!" Fernando Xiao shouted.
The moment he activated his Omnipotent Skill, an enormous amount of supreme water power
appeared, and it took on the form of a water orb that occupied almost the entire area.
From absolute stillness, it abruptly burst into motion and flew towards Ricky.
Fernando Xiao sped close after the enormous water orb.
As this was happening, fire suddenly ignited over Ricky and spread wildly everywhere. It condensed
into a seal similar to the Time Seal. Then, the seal expanded to the same size as the water orb.
With a flick of Ricky's palm, several kinds of sacred fire appeared, which he threw into the seal.
He intended to use the power of these sacred fires to go head-to-head with the water orb.
'This is exhilarating! Fighting someone at my level sure is entertaining!' Ricky thought delightedly.
Whenever he confronted someone else in the past, he couldn't help being frustrated if they were at a
higher level than him. But this time, he didn't have that problem anymore.
Fighting spirit burned in his eyes as Ricky merged into the flaming Time Seal, intending to collide with
the water orb.
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