Chapter 18 Relief

'This is not a time to be thinking twice', Ricky thought. In a single beat, he activated the spiritual energy transferred from the Spiritual Energy Nourishing Pills. He gathered the pills and poured them into his spiritual meridian. As an effect, the spiritual energy traveled into every cell of his body, inch by inch.

And in an instant, his body recuperated. He felt stronger, with the vigor in his body refueled.

The pills were very much effective, cleansing and nourishing every aspect of his being. It was not too long after that Ricky achieved the zenith of fifth grade of Skin Refinement.

"Ah! Three Spiritual Energy Nourishing Pills was all I needed. Remarkable!" Ricky said with such joy and excitement. He let out a turbid breath and said, "But afterwards, perhaps the Spiritual Energy Nourishing Pills won't have such a huge influence on me, even if I possess this new magical spiritual meridian!"

Everything was better taken in just the right amount. And when it came to medicine's side effects, one should be wary. Too little will garner you with no effect, and an overdose would leave you in a fatal position.

Nevertheless, Ricky was quite satisfied with these three Spiritual Energy Nourishing Pills. With the pills that he took, he saved almost twenty days of cultivation.

"I just reached the fifth grade of Skin Refinement. If I reach the sixth grade, the realm would most likely be unstable. So if I want to increase my power, I should turn to the Nonuple Flame Strike and the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula."

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth stimulated and honed the Nonuple Flame Strike. It condensed the flame elements, poured them onto the saber and wielded the blade of the flame.

The flame blade's power rested upon the amount of flame elements transferred from the spiritual energy of the heaven and earth--the more flame elements, the stronger and more powerful the blade would become.

Speed also played an essential role in the power of the flame blade. If you could wield the blade once per second while others could wield it three times, there was no doubt that you would be killed.

Surely, every disciple thought that a certain kind of spiritual meridian of different natures had their own suitable cultivation method. But unlike what these disciples said, Ricky was like a Jack-of-all-Trades--he could adapt to and make do of any kind of cultivation method, since his spiritual meridian seemed to have no special attribute.

Ricky's eyes sparkled, seemingly beaming with flames. He leaped out of the house excitedly and ran into the small yard with a saber in hand.

Whoosh!

Flames started to encapsulate his saber. Heat was rushing through his body. Suddenly, a flash of light almost blinded him as he held his arms high, flames wildly spurted around. Eureka! Every time he wielded the saber, flame danced fiercely on the blade.

Such cultivation was no easy task. It lasted for four hours and finally came to an end.

Not all cultivation was perfect, just like how Ricky was unsatisfied with his performance. Every flame blade he wielded only contained a portion, twenty percent, of flame elements. Moreover, he was unsatisfied with the fact that he was only able to wield the saber no more than one and a half times per second.

"Twenty days later, the flame blade I wield must contain fifty percent of flame elements, and I have to wield the saber three times per second, otherwise I'm no match to Wade," Ricky said with a serious tone.

Such stunt was very difficult to pull off, especially when someone had to do it in the next twenty days.

The Nine-degree Body Refining Formula normally followed the cultivation of the saber skills.

The Nine-degree Body Refining Formula was divided into nine degrees. This division was based on the strength of the body and the quantity of spiritual energy that was stored in the flesh and blood. And this made it even more difficult to perform.

When using this formula, the warrior's body would reflect nine colors--red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, gold, and violet-gold, from bottom to top. These colors corresponded to the nine levels of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.

In his mind, and with such difficult formula to absorb, Ricky told himself not to expect too much within the next twenty days of this cultivation journey. If only he could cultivate to even the first degree of body refinement and pair it with the Nonuple Flame Strike, he would certainly have a chance against Wade.

The essence of body refinement pertained to the refinement of body's endurance from blasts of powerful spiritual energy.

Ricky remembered that the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula strongly recommended the method of amalgamation of ice and flame during the refinement.

Of course, it would be better to take the supplements originating from nature to strengthen the body, yet there were not so many such supplements.

The so-called amalgamation of ice and flame was a way to refine and reinforce the body by using the frosty and infernal powe

r. In this alternation of ice and flame, the warrior's body would become the toughest.

But this method was not easy. Its power might lead to destruction of a warrior's body. If not done properly, he would face the risk of paralysis and muscle atrophy of the whole body.

Strong with his desire and will to succeed, this warning never stopped Ricky from cultivating the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.

The freezing ice land in the Snow Sect, together with the Nonuple Flame Strike, was exactly suitable for his cultivation of the Formula.

As the time was really pressing, Ricky started with no hesitation.

Ricky removed most of his clothing and left only his undergarments. He channeled all his strength in one area and punched a pile of snow to make an ice cave out of it. He put some ice crystal debris in it and stepped in. Sitting in the middle of the cave and meditating, he could immediately feel the spiritual meridian of rebirth being stimulated as soon as he started. Ricky was absorbing the frosty power of the cave and the ice crystals surrounding him, reinforcing his body.

Ricky felt like he was continuously falling down an endless bone-chilling glacial abyss. He could feel the incessant frosty power running through his body, fighting its way to the core of his being. Every inch of his flesh and all of his meridians were absorbing the tremendous power flowing through him.

The pain, not that obvious though, was excruciating--it felt like a thousand sharp shards of ice piercing through him down to the bone. The transfer of the frosty power to his physique was taking a toll on him and the freezing pain started to get him numb.

But Ricky must carry on….

The refinement lasted for about eight hours. Stepping out of the ice cave, Ricky felt like he was almost frozen to an ice sculpture.

But the training did not end here. After the frosty power, he should refine his body with infernal power next.

Employing the cultivation method of the Nonuple Flame Strike, Ricky turned the spiritual energy inside his body into a blazing flame, which permeated throughout his body to rejuvenate his flesh that was ruined by his arctic cultivation.

The trail of frosty power felt like an absolute torment. But this is nothing compared to what he was experiencing now--an outward but greatest burning pain. The agony felt from the icy cave was amplified as he felt his body imbibing the heat all throughout. He could feel all the meridians in his body responding as it convulsed aggressively inside of him.

Ricky thought he was burning in the flames of hell as he endured the severity of his refinement.

This rigorous cultivation went on for twenty more days. Grace didn't come back until the last day of this cultivation. It seemed that she knew Ricky was striving hard refining himself.

"It seems that you've grown a lot this month!" Grace nodded when she saw Ricky's more deeply-restrained breath.

"Heh, it's because you teach me well, Master," Ricky sheepishly grinned as he scratched the back of his head.

"Don't flatter me. All this hard work is yours," said Grace softly. "Tomorrow's battle will be a matter of life and death. Are you sure you can handle it? If not, I can try to postpone the battle to a different time."

"Master, don't you trust me?" Ricky questioned

"I'm just afraid that you would end up dead after the gruesome battle," Grace said nonchalantly

"By the way, Master, where have you been the whole month?" Ricky asked as he shrugged his Master's remarks

Ricky was very much concerned with the whereabouts of his master as she was one of the few people who truly cared about him.

"I went to relieve you of your worries, lest you be distracted in the decisive battle tomorrow," Grace answered simply.

"Relieve my worries?" Ricky was a little confused on hearing this.

'I've already had the battle to worry about. How could I have any other worries besides it?' Ricky thought.

"Master? Don't tell me you..." Ricky said with jubilant anticipation

"Yes," Grace interjected. "I have saved your father from the Nan Clan, so you don't have to worry about it being used by Wade against you tomorrow." She added, "Whatever happens between you and Wade tomorrow, I only want one result, and that is your success."

"Father! My father is all right!" Ricky was elated. He couldn't wipe off the wide grin on his face as he heard her say that his father was finally safe. He felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. All the pain from the rigorous training dissipated.

What his master said was true. Wade would have a huge edge against him if his father was still captive in their hands. Should he use this to coerce him to losing the battle, all this hard work would be for naught.

After all, no decent son would put the life of his father at risk. Ricky knew this well.

"Thank you so much, Master!" Ricky couldn't find the right words to express his eternal gratitude to his kind master. He wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes as he thanked Grace for saving his father.