Chapter 497 The Calm Before The Storm


    Having decided that they should recover and improve before the enemies came, the four of them as


    well as Soar started to look for the most concealed corner in that Small World to hide themselves. By


    then, it seemed like the more time they could buy for themselves, the more likely that they would have


    a chance of winning. All of them knew that it would alle down to expediency. No matter how much


    they wanted to get more enlightening marks, they were well aware that Pearl and her men would find


    them almost instantly once they showed themselves.


    So they thought that they might as well recharge their energies before they encountered the pursuing


    troops. On their way, Ricky introduced Yedda and Ynda to Soar and Madeline. In fact, Soar had


    already heard about the two sisters before. He knew a little bit about their background so he got a little


    curious and confused as to how they ended up traveling with Ricky.


    Right away, he asked Ricky about it. Ricky didn''t think much about the question and promptly answered


    it.


    However, the moment Soar found out about the whole story, he candidly began to tease Ricky about


    making the two beautiful girls as his women. Of course, Soar knew what he was doing. He could tell


    that Ricky had already gotten over Grace, and a topic like this wouldn''t grate on his nerves.


    After all, he and Ricky were like brothers after everything they had been through, so even if Ricky


    wouldn''t ever bring up the topic, Soar could somehow sense how Ricky was feeling by mere intuition.


    As expected, Ricky had taken the joke quite well. He simply denied it while he was torn between


    It was another good thing that the two sisters and Madeline were getting along quite well. For a while,


    everyone felt truly rxed in their journey.


    Soon enough, they found a safe and secluded ce to settle down. Both Soar and Madeline found a


    quiet cave where they could both retreat into cultivation. Every single second mattered right then, and


    they could not lose any time that they had. For the faster they could acquire the equivalent power of a


    first-ss lower spiritual king, the more secure they would be when the enemies came.


    When he saw that Soar and Madeline had proceeded to cultivating in seclusion, Ricky began to


    prepare himself as well.


    But he knew that before anything, safety ought toe as their first priority. So the first thing Ricky did


    was ask Yedda and Ynda to secure the perimeters of their location. Before they could leave,


    however, he equipped them with runic power. He did this so that he would be able to sense if there was


    danger, even if they couldn''t wake him up in time.


    Having aplished all the necessary tasks to secure the ce, Ricky found himself a cave and


    prepared for the practice as well.


    Overall, he had three goals in this round of cultivation.


    First, he should improve and obtain the equivalent power of a second-ss lower spiritual king. He truly


    believed that he could make it. It was already a given that he was a confident and ambitious young


    man. Moreover, he had vowed to be an ace genius of this time.


    Ricky thought that if he couldn''t have the equivalent power of a second-ss lower spiritual king as a


    demi-immortal, growing into an ace genius was out of the question.


    Second, he would like topletely integrate the Gale Zone into his body. He also wanted to make


    sure that this zone would work as one with him, just like the other three zones that he already had. If he


    could build his body up with the gale power, he could master the Gale Zone much better.


    To make further progress, his third goal was to master the gale rune as best as he could and develop


    the Omnipotent Skill of this kind of rune in his Gale Zone.


    When he had reached these three goals, he was confident that he could apply the power of the four


    zones and four kinds of runes, in addition to the power of the sacred fire and peculiar fire. With all of


    these, Ricky knew that he would be confident and ready, not just to fight but defeat even a first-ss


    lower spiritual king.


    With these particr goals set and his mind cleared, Ricky became immersed in his practice.


    Improving his fighting ability was a good way to strengthen his enlightening power. But to better


    understand and master the enlightening power, it was time for Ricky to try and forge his own soul.


    In essence, the reason why an innate spiritual warrior was stronger than a warrior at the level of Bone


    Reinforcement or a demi-immortal was that an innate spiritual warrior had a stronger soul.


    For any reason, only through his soul could a creature—man or beast alike—have the ability to


    understand and control all the power in heaven and earth, and further master the supreme


    enlightenment of the world. So it could be said that the soul would be the ultimate foundation to one''s


    journey into the world of stronger martial arts.


    As to what exactly was a soul and how to forge one''s own, Ricky already had the rtive knowledge


    thanks to the inheritance that he got from the Ruin Demi-spiritual Emperor.


    What Ricky knew was that to forge a good soul, it was rather important that he could use the powers of


    his zones well and fuse them into his soul so that he could make aplete soul that was easy


    enough to control. That was because his body had already been merged together with his regained


    spiritual meridian and all of the zones that he had. If he wanted his soul to be part of him, he


    would have to do the same to it.


    With all of these goals in his mind, Ricky had already cultivated in seclusion for a fleeting time of two


    months.


    During that amount of time, a lot of things had happened on the battleground in this Small World. In the


    end, all the warriors and creatures had either surrendered to Pearl or had been banished out of the


    Small World by her after she had snatched their enlightening marks. Under Pearl''s tyranny, there was


    no middle ground.


    Of course, for Pearl, the more warriors and creatures she could banish from this world and the more


    enlightening marks she could obtain, the better. But she knew that the Oriental College would not allow


    it. So when the number of warriors and creatures had roughly matched the amount that the Oriental


    College nned to enroll, she stopped what she had been doing.


    Under such circumstances, the Oriental College was able to finish its selection of warriors in advance.


    However, the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor refused to call an end to it. All the disciples of the


    Oriental College clearly knew what was on his mind—he wanted to see with his own eyes who on earth


    would win in the end, Pearl or Ricky.


    However, what alluded to everyone''s consciousness was that the emperor had his own biases, like any


    other regr gambler. In his heart, he had great confidence and faith in Ricky. That was why he wanted


    to stay and watch how things were going to unfold.


    "Sir, as I see it, Pearl is now getting the upper hand since she has gathered almost all the qualified


    warriors under hermand. Meanwhile, Ricky...well, he only obtained a few brave souls and a beast.


    I don''t think he would stand a chance even if some of them might make one or two breakthroughs.


    Shall we just conclude this trial now?" the Skyward Sword Spiritual King discreetly suggested to the


    Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor through his internal power of telepathy.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    He then quickly added, "Besides, this wouldn''t be against the selection rules of our college. The one


    from the Luxurious Chamber of Commerce wouldn''t have any grounds of objecting to it, right?"


    "I understand that you have misgivings. Believe me, I really do. But If I''m not too old to make


    judgments, I, in fact, believe in these guys—Ricky, and hispanions. I can tell that Ricky is a


    peerless genius at the second level, and a rare kind. He is the kind of warrior where there''s more to


    him than meets the eye. I''ve been closely observing him these past few days, and I have a feeling that


    this young man still has a lot of things up in his sleeve," the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor


    softly responded.


    "So, I think it would be a very good opportunity to test his potentials through a battle with Pearl.


    If he fails, our dean will take action and discreetly bring him back to the college. After all, the selection


    has already ended."


    "What? Do you mean to say that the dean is also involved in this thing?" the two spiritual kings asked


    with utter surprise when they heard what the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor had just said.


    "Indeed. From the very beginning, the dean is involved in this selection. Remember what he did when


    Jasper was making progress? He won''t just sit back and watch when a peerless genius at the second


    level like Ricky shows up, you all know that," the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor exined with


    a smile.


    Meanwhile, Pearl didn''t stop searching for Ricky and hispanions. After she had gathered all the


    powerful warriors and spiritual king beasts to help her, finding a few people and a beast was like a


    piece of cake for her.


    So it only took her about ten more days to find where Ricky and hispanions were hiding and


    cultivating. Without a second of dy, sheunched an attack.


    At the dested corner of the Small World, a swarm of warriors and spiritual king beasts were quickly


    enclosing the hide-out of Ricky and hispanions. By seconds, they had managed to encircle the


    ce with ease, leaving not a single space for Ricky and hispanions to escape.


    A momentter, the main force arrived as well. The four warriors who were leading the army were none


    other than Pearl, Bernard from the Ruin Leopard tribe, Louie from the Bing n, and Hardy from the


    Jiang n.


    "I''ve been looking for you for nearly two months, Ricky. Don''t you think you shoulde out and have


    a nice chat with us? We all want to see what a peerless genius is capable of," Pearl called out with a


    smile of triumph on her face. Wearing a blue battle suit, Pearl showed a heroic spirit that was rarely


    seen in a woman. She looked intimidating and confident, which could also be felt from her clear and


    loud voice. With that formidable army behind her, she had every reason to believe that the odds were


    for her and against Ricky.


    "Wow, if it isn''t our future top bird of the Oriental Realm! What an honor!" It was Soar who answered


    Pearl. "Seems like you''re in hot pursuit of Ricky. Couldn''t wait to bring him back to your ce and


    produce some handsome little babies with him, huh?" Soar gave a bigugh, apparently having a little


    fun as he faced Ricky''s enemies.


    "Well, I understand that a beauty like you really wants to make full use of your gic gifts, yet I''m so


    sorry that you might not be my buddy''s type. But the good thing is, I like you very much. How about


    taking me back instead and letting me help you produce some heirs for the Luxurious Chamber of


    Commerce?"


    Soar continued to tease Pearl while he along with Madeline, Yedda and Ynda walked out of their


    caves altogether.


    All of them were wearing a smile, but in reality, they came out with a heavy heart. They knew what was


    waiting for them—Pearl and all of the most powerful warriors and spiritual king beasts in this Small


    World. This was clearly bound be to a fierce battle.


    "How dare you offend Pearl like this! Watch your tongue or you will have to pay for it!"