Tod and the other spirit manipulators lay sprawled on the ground in a state of bewilderment. They could clearly see who had snuck up on the voracious Centipede-snake, but thought, 'How on earth could it be him?' Tod's sentiment was the same as the rest of the group: Rocky had seemed to be just a low grade spirit manipulator. He had no power or presence. He merely followed along.
Just then, Rocky turned to Tod and said, "First, help them get all those poisonous stings out."
Rocky, who had appeared so weak just moments before, was now decisive and direct. A powerful charisma emanated from his body. He had been fearless in the face of the massive Centipede-snake, which was easily ten meters high.
This night-and-day personality change took them all by surprise.
Rocky turned and noticed that the Centipede-snake was again about to reap chaos. He knew that he had critically struck it already - he had even put the Centipede-snake's venom on his Frozen Wind Dagger, hoping that it was not immune, fighting fire with fire. He had been partly successful. It had not lost its power of action, but the toxic reaction had reduced its strength.
Spiritual light suddenly appeared around Rocky's body. In a flash, his power climbed to the first grade of the Earthly Stage. Why did he just not show his full strength - the third grade of the Earthly Stage? Because he wanted to keep his real power hidden, as a secret weapon, just in case. It seemed the only viable plan to acquire the rare treasures without in-fighting amongst the other spirit manipulators.
When Tod and the other spirit manipulators felt Rocky's power manifest, their faces appeared dazed and they rubbed their eyes in shock. They were almost in a stupor in how Rocky had suddenly changed from a loser to a master in a blink of their eyes.
"It turns out he was a hidden master!" Tod remarked to the others. He had only brought Rocky along with the group through pity, yet by doing so the decision had saved all of their lives. Else, they would be as dead as the previous group of spirit manipulators.
Rocky rushed forward armed with his Frozen Wind Dagger and activated his Vast Nebula Skill, bringing even more spiritual power into play. This created a star aura of power swirling around him. His figure was hard to follow as it was quick as a dancing flame and in the blink of an eye he was in front of the enraged Centipede-snake.
It responded by standing straight up and shooting out its poisonous stings li
and the other spirit manipulators go on their way, continuing in the direction that the light had shone.
After Rocky saw the rest of the group leave, he cast a glance at the Centipede-snake and whispered with a chilling smile on his face, "Let the games begin." Abruptly, he turned and suddenly rushed in the same direction.
Seeing Rocky's attempt to escape, the Centipede-snake gave a shriek. It shook out its long and thick body and rushed right after him. Everything in its path was knocked down, as if a heavy tank had steamrolled right through.
Simultaneously, where the light shone, in the center of the Spiritual Fairyland, there were already seven or eight teams of spirit manipulators gathering. Among them, there were two that had been sent by the Crimson Dragon Group. Obviously, they were a step above the strength of the other teams.
Apart from them, the cultivation of the strongest person in all of the other teams was at the first grade of the Earthly Stage. He had red hair - and Rocky would recognize him, especially since he had framed him when the red haired man had snuck up on the northeast military camp outpost with a team of mercenaries.
At this very moment, at the top of the cliff in front of every spirit manipulator's eyes, there was something special. It sprayed colored light. In size, it was half the length of a man's arm. What was more amazing, was that it was shaped like a lotus flower and was layered. This rare treasure was like a pool of beautiful flowers in a fountain. However, the most attractive thing was not the colored light, nor the amazing shape, but the strong spiritual power which emanated from it.