Chapter 77 Ricky’s Self-doubt


    "Hahaha…"


    Fred couldn''t help but burst intoughter after hearing what Ricky had just said. From his perspective,


    Ricky would not stand a chance against him. Fredughed so hard that he almost rolled on the ground.


    "You are just a waste with no spiritual meridian. Even if you are the first among the top ten outer


    disciples now, your powers are still nothingpared to mine. In my eyes, you are just a little better


    than a tiny little ant! You are worth nothing." Fred pointed at Ricky''s nose and sneered, andughed so


    hard that his eyes watered.


    Agnes'' face turned sour as she stood beside Ricky. She knew the huge difference between the power


    of Blood Purification and Skin Refinement, and she was certain that Fred wasn''t bluffing at all, not this


    time. Fred might be right after all.


    "Am I a small ant? Fine! You can think I am as small and as useless as you can, but I don''t give a


    damn. I''ve got other things to think about. Now you''re saying that you are going to expose my


    whereabouts to the Refinement Faction and the Casting Faction? They had always wanted to kill me.


    That''s what I have to care about! That''s bigger than this. Even if we both are fellow disciples from the


    same sect, I have to kill you today!" Ricky shouted at the top of his lungs, while he gritted his teeth.


    "Wow, you are just a trashy warrior with a bitchy mouth, huh? I wasn''t intending to end your life by


    myself, but you really make me angry right now. You''re releasing the beast in me. Rest at ease! It won''t


    take too long before I turn you into a corpse." Fred stopped mocking. As his face turned fierce, his


    killing intent surged and filled the atmosphere in an instant. His face became red out of anger, and his


    fist was sped into a ball ready to punch Ricky in the gut.


    In a sh, his feet aggressively mmed the ground, and he formed his fists by sping five fingers of


    each hand. Next moment, his straight punch, containing great strength, almostnded on Ricky''s head.


    But Ricky was no ordinary warrior for he possessed an insurmountable amount of strength.


    In the face of Fred''s aggressive attack, Ricky stayed calm and confident, with no fear inside his heart.


    All he showed was a poker face that no one could ever guess what was on his mind. ''To figure out how


    much more progress I''ve gained in these days, I''ve been upsettely to find someone to fight me. This


    guy is justing in time!'' Ricky thought to himself. Just before Fred''s fist reached him, the static blood


    vitality in Ricky''s body abruptly sped up with great power, causing a stir around his surroundings. With


    the blood vitality running through his hands like electricity, Ricky could feel both his palms were full of


    power and strength. Immediately, Ricky closed his right hand into a tight fist, and met Fred''s fist with


    such an enormous strength.


    ''What? Did he already break through Skin Refinement? How overwhelming his spiritual energy is! Is


    that Blood Purification?'' Agnes couldn''t even believe her own spections. Right now, she could feel


    nothing but shock.


    ''It seems that I have to admit that Ricky''s talent is great, maybe better than mine. I must ept the fact


    that he has surely reached Blood Purification. But how could he possibly make it? No matter how


    talented he is, the cultivation up to Blood Purification from Skin Refinement never cost only a couple of


    days, not this easily. To my knowledge, his achievement on cultivation is unprecedented!''


    Clearly, Ricky seemed to have reached Blood Purification. And to Agnes'' amazement, she found no


    reason on how could Ricky make it in just a few days. "Did he get the Treasures from Heaven and


    Earth when he entered Treasure Towerst time? Maybe that''s why he has broken through Skin


    Refinement! " That reason was as far as what Agnes could think of.


    Not only had Ricky''s spiritual energy overwhelmed Agnes, but Fred also got startled and found it


    unbelievable. In Fred''s perspective, Ricky was just an outer disciple whose Skin Refinement grade


    would be no more than the ninth level. Like Agnes, he never thought that Ricky would be able to


    improve himself and achieve Blood Purification within ten days only.


    But to Fred, Ricky was still not so much of a warrior. His surprise and amusement towards Ricky''s


    strength didn''tst for far too long.


    He thought with pride, ''Blood Purification? Ha ha. Would that scare me? I have already reached the


    peak of the first grade of Blood Purification, and he is just finding his way to it. Will it be possible for him


    to wield the power of Blood Purification even better than I can?''


    Fred narrowed his evil eyes and added more power to his fists. He was enraged about the fact that


    Ricky might be more powerful than he thought. With this in mind, he made himself ready to try his best


    to defeat Ricky.


    But, to Ricky, Fred was not strong enough to make him trante his strength and anger into a fight.


    Ricky didn''t even take it into ount whether he should exert the Second Degree of Nine-degree Body


    Refining Form for this battle.


    Boom! Next moment, two fists from two warriors collided again and again, and a series of thunderous


    noise were heard, causing sts of air mixed with blood vitality. Both of Ricky and Fred were wrapped


    inside a powerful energy-field, and anyone at the moment who dared to step in between them would


    definitely face their ending. No one could dare stop the fight.


    The two warriors treated each other like punching bags as punches were continuously thrown after the


    other. Fred ran out of his powers and was thrown out of the energy-field by Ricky''sst punch.


    "You might have forgotten how small and tiny this ant is. Huh, is that the best you''ve got? I didn''t even


    try my best, but you have already been defeated! YOU are the small ant!" Ricky rxed his muscles,


    released his fists, stomped on Fred''s head and snorted in disgust. He spat on his face and watched as


    blood came out of Fred''s nose because of the damage brought by Ricky.


    "How...? No...No it''s impossible!" Fred yelled, in a hoarse voice. Gargling some words as he was not


    able to pronounce properly with Ricky''s foot on his head. ''It''s impossible! He is just a neer to


    Blood Purification. Even though I do have the odds to lose this battle, how could he possibly take me


    down so easily?'' Fred thought to himself in frustration and disgrace.


    "Haven''t you ever heard that a genius warrior could challenge someone better than him? Only a foolish


    one wouldn''t know about that," Ricky stated in a mocking voice, as if he already had read Fred''s mind.


    With a cold mock, Ricky stomped his foot harder on Fred, with the intention of killing him. Despite the


    begging and pleading for his life, Fred still didn''t escape from his fate of death. Ricky put so much force


    on Fred''s head that Agnes could clearly hear his skull crack. His eyes turned upward and he spat huge


    amounts of blood which rendered him lifeless. Ricky was definitely a force to be reckoned with.


    "Ricky! Did you really have to kill him? Why did you not spare his life?" Agnes got astounded at Ricky''s


    act. A wave of fear crawled up her spine as she could not believe that there was a body, a lifeless body


    in front of her.


    What Ricky had done to Fred was too ruthless. To Agnes, despite his right choice, Ricky was supposed


    to give it a second thought. Ricky should have known better when to stop with his revenge.


    "If I spared his life, there would be too much trouble getting in our way. To be honest, I would not spare


    anyone who gets in my way. Not now, not ever. I am not scare and won''t be scared anymore. But most


    of all, I don''t want you to be in trouble," Ricky exined, with a forthright look in his clear eyes. He kept


    gazing at Agnes, without blinking, and continued, "Look! I have to warn you that I have many enemies


    because I always offend people. But it''s just me and that''s the way I am. Just like Fred knew and said,


    the Refinement Faction and the Casting Faction were just two out of my many enemies. If you find it


    too risky to have me in your team, just tell me. I will leave as soon as I can so you can find my


    recement. I won''t me you if you do."


    "No, I''m not scared, and you won''t go anywhere. Stay and help me as you promised," exined Agnes


    to Ricky, with an appreciative look. She didn''t get cold feet to have Ricky by her side despite knowing


    that Ricky''spany might drag her into his own personal trouble. Instead, she felt more willing to


    have Ricky with her on ount of his honesty. She''d rather have him ruthless than to lose her partner.


    After Ricky''s battle with Fred, one thing was for certain--they would watch each other''s backs. They


    shook hands to seal their new pact, and they went to continue their journey.


    Hours passed and they had sessfully arrived at the foot of snow mountains. They stopped by an


    inn, where they grabbed lunch and purchased two strong ming Horses. ming Horses were not


    like normal horse species for they belonged to the hybrid offspring to one type of fierce beasts deep in


    the mountain ranges—ming Tiger. ming Horses were animals that could run a thousand


    kilometers without slowing down. They would just swiftly run like the wind effortlessly. Unlike the regr


    horses, ming Horses were much more suitable for long travels.


    Both of them riding on their own ming Horses, they continued to carry on theirmon journey.


    Ricky and Agnes traveled far and wide to get to their goal. Side by side they rode their horses from


    morning until sundown. They looked just like a warrior couple who were ready to search around all


    corners of the martial world.


    Billow City was located far from the Snow Sect which was at the westernmost tip of the Snow Land.


    Considering that the road might be rocky and arduous, they hurried on day and night and marched


    toward their destination. The horses ran as fast as they could without any stopovers. Even a single


    minute could postpone their journey to Billow City for they''d intended to make it to their destination in


    eight days.


    Therefore, they couldn''t afford to waste even a second of time to take an unnecessary break; nor did


    they care about whatever interesting or fascinating things they''d encountered on the road. Distraction


    was never to be included in their vocabry during this journey.


    However, when they passed by a small mountain range, a bloody and egregious scene unfolded before


    their eyes. On a narrow mountain road, dozens of vigers who were unarmed and defenseless cried


    in despair and yelled for help while they escaped. They saw a bunch of fierce-looking guys who


    followed right after the folks, some with swords on their hands, some holding machetes. The weapons


    were covered with blood, dripping like sauce on the ground. They might be rebels, bandits. As they


    swung their weapons to the escaping people, blood sshed all over the road and heads fell to the


    ground. Innocent lives were taken one by one with no mercy!


    Exclusive ? material by N?(/v)elDrama.Org.


    Horrible screams filled the air. Blood that flowed from the dead bodies began to meet and gather into a


    small stream on the road. The air smelled like death. Children, parents, elders -- no one was spared


    from the wrath of the bandits.


    Agnes got shocked at the sight, and her face turned pale. At once, anger surged from the bottom of her


    heart. Ricky also felt infuriated at what he saw. The rage inside his heart promptly erupted like a


    volcano.


    Not acting on impulse, both of them silently observed the situation in caution and sanity. They watched


    from afar, and thought of how they could help the other living folks. But the scene was too much for


    them and they''d had enough. Anger trumped their calmness and the fire in their hearts only raged to


    protect the remaining citizens. Though they didn''t know any of the folks, both of their consciences told


    them to do something about the situation. A ze of anger started to fill their bodies. Their eyes burned


    with desire to make the bandits responsible for what they did. It was too ruthless of a show! How could


    they possibly destroy and kill an entire vige? In their minds, if they would not do something about it,


    then a vige might be reduced to rubble.


    From Ricky''s view, if it was a battle between two groups of warriors, he wouldn''t interfere, considering


    his interference would influence the battle. However, if the battle happening before him was between a


    bunch of warriors and ordinary people, he could not help but be against the warrior group. He could not


    let this war take lives of innocent people. This waspletely outrageous.


    "Look! Boss! The girl standing there looks so sexy and charming! I want to take this one home! Come


    to papa!" A guy on a horseback noticed Agnes''s presence. With one eye blind, this bad warrior pointed


    at her, and eximed. His lustful eyes lingered on Agnes''s delicate face and saliva dribbled from his


    mouth to the back of his horse, like a salivating beast. He was hungry for Agnes, like a predator.


    "Listen, my brothers. Whoever brings that woman to me will be rewarded handsomely!" A coarse and


    bossy voice from a tough man was heard. The head among the evil warriors also couldn''t help but


    drool, as he caught his first glimpse at Agnes. It was like these men had not seen a woman like Agnes


    for years! All their eyes were stered on their prize--a beautiful and sexy warrior, and Agnes must fear


    for her life!


    Crack! Crack!


    Before the warriors could have done anything, Agnes rushed into the crowd with her horse, with a white


    long whip unfolding on her right slender hand. After every strike of her whip, a pervert''s head was


    instantly sliced away from his body. Every head fell to the ground with a loud thud.


    Following Agnes''s act, Ricky drew out his saber that hung up on his back, charged into the robbers,


    and started to kill them one by one without mercy. One after another Ricky pierced their bodies so hard


    that his saber was crimson red. Ricky would not let Agnes down, nor would he ever destroy their pact.


    He did whatever it took to protect Agnes from the beasts.


    In the face of warriors as powerful as Ricky and Agnes, the pack had no chance to fight back. Grieving


    and shrill cries filled the atmosphere. One by one they targeted the bandits, and head by head they


    were dead. Not for too long, all of the robbers had been taken down.


    "Oh, guys! God sent His men to save us! Let''s all kneel down to show gratitude for God''s assistance!"


    Seeing Ricky and Agnes had killed all of the bad guys and saved their lives, the survivors among the


    vigers all eximed with great respect and appreciation. The survivors went down on their knees in


    gratification of their rescue.


    Given Ricky and Agnes were still in a hurry to continue their journey, they didn''t pay much attention to


    vigers'' sincere acknowledgements. As all the folks bowed down to them and gave many thanks to


    them with excitement, they just stood still in silence. Both of them just nodded their heads toward the


    innocent people, mounted their horses and marched out of the ce.


    This event affected Ricky deeply and made him sink into deep thoughts.


    ''Thew of this world is just as cruel as thew of the jungle, and so is the martial world. The weak fall


    prey to the strong, because it is the strong who rule the world and everything in it.


    The destinies that the weak are left with are to be treated like animals.''


    ''Is this the rule of the real world? To hunt or to be hunted?'' A shadow of doubt shed across Ricky''s


    mind as it became clearer to him. Ricky found it very hard to shake it out of his mind.


    Before this day, the meaning of his living was for himself and the people he loved. His only purpose to


    improve himself was to be strong enough to protect himself and his family.


    But after what happened, inside his heart, he found something else for his purpose of improvement-- to


    uphold justice, to protect the innocent weak from the violence of the strong.


    If it weren''t for the sense of justice deep inside his heart, Ricky wouldn''t have taken the trouble to save


    all those vigers. He did not have to do that; he just wanted to.


    However, he thought of what his father had told him many years ago, "There is no justice in this world.


    We are either hunters or survivors. Don''t trust justice. The so-called justice will only get you killed if you


    are stupid enough to be fooled by it."


    ''Why did my father once teach me that way? Should I listen to his words and abandon the shadow of


    justice that is just formed inside my heart? Though it will be good for me, for I can save all my precious


    time to focus on cultivating and then grow strong enough to protect my beloved ones, would it make me


    have less regard for others and ignore justice?'' Ricky couldn''t be more confused right now as his heart


    and mind battled for the right answer. It was as if he was searching for an answer to an unsolved riddle.


    Suddenly, Grace shed into his mind, and Ricky immediately seized the thought, ''Wasn''t Master


    Grace out of justice to help me? Will Master Grace agree with my father''s opinion?''


    The more he thought about it, the more torn he felt. He could not just disregard his father''s opinion. It


    bore heavy in his heart.


    At a loss for a solution, Ricky turned to ask Agnes and asked for a solution. He walked up to her and


    put his hand on her shoulder so as not startle her. Then, he asked, "Agnes, why did you offer to help


    and save those vigers? It was none of your business, right?"