Chapter 43 The Rankings
Everyone present was utterly shocked at the bloody scene that had unfolded on the stage. A stunned
stillness settled over the room.
The disciples were only just beginning to take it in what had happened when Elder Abbott pronounced
that Ricky was the winner of the battle.
Dustin, who was at the ninth grade of Skin Refinement, ranked fifth among the top ten outer disciples.
He had a three-star top spiritual meridian, and a skillful talent for swordsmanship. Even thoughing
into the battle, he had the absolute advantage. However, Ricky eventually beat him. Now Dustin was
dead.
If Ricky had been one of the top ten outer disciples, this deed might have been more eptable.
But Ricky had only been training in the Snow Sect for less than three months. However, it was no doubt
that he had already be one of the best disciples of them all.
To top it all off, when he joined the Snow Sect, he was only at the third grade of Skin Refinement
without a spiritual meridian. Back then, he had been the bottom of the ranks of all the disciples.
''Ricky has be one of our best outer disciples already, '' some of the other disciples thought. Slowly,
they began to ept this fact.
The times when they had called him a loser were long gone, forgotten. Now Ricky was definitely in the
top tier, at least among the outer disciples.
The outer disciples admired Ricky a lot. But unlike them, the inner disciples envied him a great deal.
Most of them spected that the reason Ricky had turned the tables during the battle was that he had
a special kind of cultivation method.
''It seems that he wasn''t showing me all his cards, '' Grace thought to herself as she calmed down.
Grace knew some things about the Nine-degree Body Refining Form. Even if Ricky had reached the
form''s second level, he still wouldn''t have been able to block Dustin''s sword-light.
Elder Abbott departed after he announced the result of the battle.
But before he left, he stared meaningfully at Ricky. He was shocked at the fact that Ricky had already
mastered Nine-degree Body Refining Form, even just the first degree. And yet, he was also a little
amazed at the strength and power that the once-underdog warrior had.
Leaning on Heather and Vivian, Ricky slowly returned to Grace''s yard, while controlling his breath to
alleviate his aches.
*
The battle between Ricky and Dustin had been settled once and for all. But for the disciples, the impact
of its result still continued.
Most of these ordinary disciples began to view Ricky as their role model.
They swore to themselves that one day, they would also challenge the top ten outer disciples and
seed at winning over them, like Ricky had.
Ricky''s name was on the lips of almost every outer disciple, and even most of the inner ones. He
became the talk of themunity overnight.
Some spected that Ricky had now taken Dustin''s ce and that he ranked the fifth among the top
ten outer disciples now.
Still others thought that Ricky could be in the top three already.
On one of the small snowy hills, there stood a grand mansion. A young man dressed in ck robes sat
on a brocade cushion in silence. From the rhythm of his breathing, it was apparent that he was learning
how to master some strong cultivation methods.
At the edge of the room stood Rod and Greg, reporting on the recent news about Ricky.
The young man had stayed silent for several minutes after the two had finished reporting. "Well,
gentlemen... He didn''t appreciate the kindness we showed him. I give you my blessing to go and steal
the special cultivation method from him, by fair means or foul. We, the Refinement Faction, must obtain
that cultivation method!" ordered the young man in ck.
"Spread this among the faction. Let it be known! The one who manages to get Ricky''s special
cultivation method will get an award of a great amount of silver coins!" he added.
"But never forget! You can''t do so under Grace''s watch. She''s one of the core disciples. Her identity is
special," he continued.
"Yes, understood!" Rod and Greg answered.
*
While this was happening, a simr order had been given out in the Casting Faction.
"Get everyone to try and snatch his special cultivation method. You can even go ahead and kill him for
it!"
The award at stake for this mission was even bigger than that of the Refinement Faction. The one who
killed Ricky would be awarded ten thousand silver coins and a weapon at the Mortal Level.
Over in the Amber Faction, many disciples were also gathering, talking about Ricky and his special
cultivation method as well.
"Sisters, we have seen the full extent of warrior Ricky''s capabilities. He is an exceptionally talented
warrior. You know that the best move would be to take him in. If we do, once he bes an inner
disciple, he will be of great assistance to us when the dayes that we have to face the other two
factions," Amelia said persuasively.
"And aside from that, we absolutely cannot let the other two factions steal Ricky''s special cultivation
method!" she emphasized vehemently.
"Twenty thousand silver coins! That''s how much I''m willing to give to the one who can persuade Ricky
to join our faction!" she continued.
"Wow! Twenty thousand coins! Amelia, could you have fallen in love with Ricky already?" a disciple
said teasingly.
Most of the Amber Faction wanted to have a go at persuading Ricky into joining their faction when they
heard Amelia''s offer. Twenty thousand silver coins! Wow!
"Oh, there''s no use teasing me, is there? You should be focusing instead on thinking up ways to get
him join our faction. I will stay true to my word about the reward," Amelia said.
After all the disciples had dispersed, Amelia looked expectantly at the sky.
"Ricky, I really hope that you''re the one for whom I''ve been looking for so long. You don''t have a
spiritual meridian, and you really could be the right one..." she muttered to herself.
*
At the peak of a beautiful snowy hill which looked like a ce out of a fantasy world, there stood
proudly a glorious pce. A disciple of Blood Purification was reporting everything he knew to a young
man in white.
"Oh, my. I can''t believe it! Ricky killed Dustin even without a spiritual meridian," the young man said
slowly, a faint smile on his lips. In the glint of his eyes, a murderous intent appeared.
"Sire, should we..." asked the disciple, trailing off to slide his finger across his throat.
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"Oh no, not yet at least. Wouldn''t it be much better if we kill him once he gets even stronger?" the
young man in white said pointedly, his malicious smile growing even wider.
"Yes, Sire."
*
Having just won a battle, Ricky wasn''t thinking of these plots against him that were brewing up in the
various factions in thend.
He had been concentrating on cultivating in solitude in order to heal himself.
He had finally expelled Dustin''s sword-light out of his system upon taking the Spiritual Energy
Nourishing Pill Grace had given him.
Ricky began to realize the true extent of the sword-light''s power.
Jim''s sword-light was much smaller than Dustin''s.
''I should really try to cultivate the Light Apperception!'' Ricky thought decisively.
Once he had healed his wounds, Ricky was in no haste to end his cultivation. He instead turned his
mind on concentrating on the mysterious runes in the Blood Zone.
When he had been battling Dustin, these mysterious scarlet runes had suddenly and voluntarily
connected to his mind. They had asked him to use their power. It meant that he was now even more fit
to understand these runes more.
''There is definitely a connection between the runes and the Chaos Manual!'' Ricky thought.
He closed his eyes, trying to connect to those mysterious runes deep in his mind.
This time, the runes didn''t deflect his connection. They willingly and easily allowed him to connect to
them.
All of a sudden, Ricky felt as though he could control with ease these mysterious runes and even the
scarlet mes.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, these mysterious runes gathered together, and in a sh of light, integrated themselves into
Ricky''s mind.
Ricky saw what appeared to be a sea of blood, all around, undted waves of red light.
''The Chaos Manual—Devouring Skill!''
These five words appeared out of nothingness in his mind.