Chapter 30 Time To Look For Jim


    Ricky immediately jumped down from the huge tree and swung his arms before sidling up to Heather.


    He looked into her eyes which were wide open in shock and said smugly, "Hey, cutie, how do you like


    me now? I must be the man of your dreams."


    "Dream on!" Heather said disdainfully after hearing what Ricky had said.


    Despite her retort, the shock wouldn''t vanish from her heart in a short time. He was right that she was


    bing more attracted to him, but she wasn''t about to let him know that.


    She knew that Ricky had been at the seventh grade of Skin Refinement. She wondered about how he


    broke through the seventh and reached the eighth grade of Skin Refinement in only a few hours. Even


    the most talented genius couldn''t do that.


    ''Maybe he hid his strength before. Father once told me that some special medicine could hide the true


    ability of a warrior, '' Heather guessed.


    Then they left the swamp with Ricky still building himself up and Heather responding coldly from time to


    time.


    Ricky didn''t talk about parting with Heather, and neither did Heather. They sparred, training for the Iron


    Blood Trial together. And they got closer while doing so.


    Ricky had killed the Anaconda-tailed Tiger and taken the ck dots from Finn and Waylon, so he had


    nearly seven hundred ck dots on his ironwood. There was no point in continuing to hunt down fierce


    animals.


    But once he found out about the secret of his Blood Zone, Ricky started hunting fierce beasts again.


    Before they finally left the mountains, Ricky had killed five more ferocious beasts—all of them at the


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    eighth grade of Skin Refinement.


    Each time, Ricky snuck into the ce where he killed the beasts and dragged the corpses into the


    Blood Zone. He didn''t let Heather know about this.


    Ricky''s strength reached the peak of the eighth grade after he refined three beasts at the eighth grade


    of Skin Refinement.


    And Ricky figured that he could make breakthroughs by refining a certain number of ferocious beasts


    using the Blood Zone.


    But Ricky decided to hold off on that for a while. Instead, he focused on honing his technique. Using


    the Blood Zone, he didn''t need the Body Refining Pill to eliminate the impurities inside his body. But


    there was a price.


    ''So using the Blood Zone isn''t foolproof. It doesn''t provide a solid foundation for improving my strength.


    That will be a problemter on, '' thought Ricky.


    ''But if I take some time and spar more, then maybe I can get past that.


    So I can use the Blood Zone to make breakthroughs and then eliminate this defect with fights and


    time.''


    Eventually, time marched on, and the end of the Iron Blood Trial was less than four days away.


    That was when Ricky decided to look for Jim.


    He was always hiding from Jim because he knew he was no match for the warrior. But things were


    different now. He was at the peak of the eighth grade of Skin Refinement. He should be able to go toe-


    to-toe with ninth graders.


    Ricky had guessed correctly. Apparently Jim had summoned several disciples from the Snow Sect,


    intending to hunt Ricky down. Many warriors who attended the trial knew his name, if nothing else.


    ......


    And that made it easy to find Jim.


    Ricky ambushed some of the contestants in the trial, but he didn''t take their ironwood nor kill them. He


    just told them to let everyone know where Ricky could be found. He believed he could make Jime


    to him.


    "Heather, you probably need to get out of here before long," Ricky told Heather in the forest.


    "Hey, do I look like the kind of girl who would leave a friend in the lurch?" Heather responded


    discontentedly.


    "You don''t get it. This is a personal beef between the disciples of the Snow Sect. You shouldn''t get


    involved. What if you being here causes them to go after Lion King Castle?" Ricky exined.


    Hearing that, Heather went silent.


    Ricky was right. She knew that Lion King Castle was nowhere near a match for the Snow Sect. What if


    they were destroyed in the conflict?


    "No, I won''t let you face this alone!" Heather made up her mind and took a strong stand atst.


    "So you say things like that and still deny you''re in love with me." Ricky made a joke after hearing what


    Heather said.


    But his heart was softened. Aside from his father and his mentor Grace, no one else had cared about


    him like that.


    "What are you talking about?! I''m just concerned about you as a friend!" Heather said shyly, her cheeks


    a bright red.


    "Ha ha!"


    Seeing how bashful Heather was, Ricky chuckled.


    ......


    Heather ended up staying, despite Ricky''s protests. But she also remained hidden, so she could help if


    needed. She''d only show herself if necessary.


    ......


    The next day, as Ricky had expected, Jim showed up with threepanions. One of them was a


    nominal disciple of Connie and was a contestant in Iron Blood Trial. The other two were either from the


    Casting Faction or they had a good rtionship with Jim.


    "You little bastard! I finally found you!" Jim said maliciously, ring at Ricky. Anyone could tell that he


    wanted to kill the young warrior.


    "So what are you waiting for?" Ricky responded with a smile.


    "Nothing. You''re going to pay." Jim sneered.


    "Jim, let me kill him. I want to see if he''s still wearing that stupid grin after I cut off his head." It was


    Connie''s disciple who said that.


    "All right. Connie is your master. It would be fitting if you killed him," Jim consented with a nod.


    Then Jim and the other two teens moved aside, arms folded across their chests. They wanted to watch


    Ricky die.


    Subsequently this nominal disciple of Connie walked towards Ricky, his eyes shining with viciousness.


    "I''m Leo. Tell ''em who killed you when you get to Hell!"


    With a sneer, Leo darted forward, strong spiritual energy drawn from nature wreathed his arms. He


    condensed that energy into an icy fog and balled his fist before throwing the frozen magic right at


    Ricky''s head.


    "The power of frozen ice! Frozen Ice Fist!"


    "Tell them yourself. Name''s Ricky, by the way!" Ricky narrowed his eyes and responded to Leo in the


    same tone.


    In a moment, the roar of a tiger filled the air. Ricky smashed his fist of frozen ice with the strength of a


    tiger.


    Crack!


    The frozen ice on Leo''s arm shattered. His arm had been fractured in the fight, and he fell on the


    ground with a scream of pain before rolling to a halt.


    This scene was no surprise to Heather, but shocked Jim and his two otherpanions.


    They thought Ricky was still at the sixth grade of Skin Refinement. How in the world did he beat Leo?


    Leo was at the eighth grade. This was not the way things should have gone. Ricky should have been


    the one who fell on the ground, screaming in pain.


    "Hum! You''re too proud of yourself, and too weak to challenge me," Ricky said disdainfully, looking


    down at Leo who was still groaning in pain.


    Then Ricky looked to Jim and his other two friends and said in a provocative tone, "You three,e


    here!"


    "I don''t believe it! How did you do it?! You''re at the eighth grade of Skin Refinement?" Jim growled


    angrily. He knew it now. Those waves of spiritual energy were too strong to be denied.