Chapter 25 The Chaos Manual

After unanimously agreeing on the rules, the disciples headed into the Lion King Mountains one by one. Ricky was among them and entered the mountains secretly. After all, he was no match for Jim now. It would not be good were they to cross paths.

Once under the cover of the mountain's foothills, the disciples dispersed immediately and looked for their own prey. They didn't trust each other. Moreover, this place was dangerous. It would be better to hunt alone.

The first fierce beast Ricky encountered was a lowly boa at the sixth grade of Skin Refinement.

Ricky had made great progress in just a few days. It was now a piece of cake for him to slay beasts of such a low grade.

After killing the boa, which didn't stand a chance, Ricky let its blood drip onto his ironwood, but there were no black dots that appeared.

"It seems that what Benson said is true. Only the blood of beasts of advanced stage of Skin Refinement can leave a mark on the ironwood," Ricky murmured to himself, somewhat disappointed.

The ironwood was very peculiar. Its trunk was extremely hard, an impenetrable fortress against any powerful attack. Even if it was cut with a high grade tool, there would be no hint of a scratch. But the ironwood was especially fond of the blood of the fierce beasts.

The ironwood of different ages could absorb the blood of beasts of different grades. Black dots would emerge on the bark when the blood met the trunk.

Ricky's particular ironwood was over a century old. It could absorb the blood of beasts at advanced stage of Skin Refinement.

Therefore, it was useless for these disciples to kill the beasts at a low grade of Skin Refinement. Instead, they had to focus their skills on beasts at a high grade.

"Well then, my next target should be the beasts at the seventh grade of Skin Refinement, and I need to practice my cultivation methods, especially the Nonuple Flame Strike and Nine-degree Body Refining Formula," decided Ricky.

He knew he had to get moving. Actions spoke louder than words. Ricky began looked for a beast at the seventh grade of Skin Refinement.

Within ten days, Ricky had killed in total forty beasts at the seventh grade of Skin Refinement. He had also defeated some of the disciples who tried to steal his fruits. In the end, Ricky had accumulated more than seventy black dots on the ironwood.

However, for Ricky, the greatest achievement was that he had improved the two cultivation methods and reached the highest peak of the sixth grade of Skin Refinement.

'It appears that actual combat is the fastest and the most efficient way to improve my skills, ' Ricky thought, the realization dawning over him.

Of course, the most important contributor to his progress was his powerful spiritual meridian, although he ignored this.

As he had now reached the peak of the sixth grade of the Skin Refinement, he decided to break through the sixth grade and reach the seventh.

If he was successful, two problems would be solved.

First, he could hunt more fierce beasts of the higher levels and further improve his ranking. Secondly, even if he met a cultivator of the ninth grade of the Skin Refinement, he stood a better chance at protecting himself.

Now he needed to find out a safe place to finish the breakthrough. He searched for two days and finally found a secret hideaway. It was downstream a stinking river, which was filled with the stench of decomposing beasts' bodies.

Other warriors and beasts hardly ever ventured here.

Ricky found a cave and began to cultivate in seclusion.

This time, he prepared one hundred and twenty Body Refining Pills just in case.

Because when he previously broke through the fifth grade and reached the sixth, he consumed seventy-five Body Refining Pills—thirty pills more than the breakthrough before that, when he broke through the fourth grade and reached the fifth.

Ricky then started the breakthrough, activating his spiritual meridian and swallowing the Body Refining Pills.

As he had hoped, he finally successfully broke through the sixth grade. Despite the large cost of one hundred and ten pills, Ricky knew it would be worthwhile if he could reach the seventh grade of Skin Refinement.

However, something peculiar happened to his spiritual meridian when he broke through the sixth grade of Skin Refinement.

His spiritual meridian was

once like a blood-red slender serpent floating in his mind. However, the moment he broke through the sixth grade of Skin Refinement, his spiritual meridian wriggled. Suddenly, eight golden lines burst through its surface, dividing the spiritual meridian into nine parts. Now it seemed like a slender serpent whose body was divided into nine segments.

Without his noticing, his mind integrated into the first segment of the spiritual meridian.

He saw a tremendous blood-red vastness here, which was as wide as the whole world, and there were red flames floating in every direction he looked.

These red flames did not seem to be attacking him, and he couldn't even feel any heat, as if they didn't exist at all.

"What is this? Why there is a vast zone hidden here in the spiritual meridian? And what are those red flames?" For a moment, Ricky was perplexed, yet he remained calm. He was not terribly shocked.

He had been greatly surprised when he regained his spiritual meridian, so now he had become immune to these and was not easily startled anymore.

Soon, Ricky saw many scarlet runes floating in the vastness. They appeared one after another, like countless stars, beaming brightly in Ricky's mind.

Suddenly, something unexpected came into sight. There were three conspicuous words floating among the runes. It read, "The Chaos Manual".

"The Chaos Manual? What the hell is that?" Ricky pondered, thoroughly confused.

"Wait! The manual… I must be dreaming! Could it really be the manual?" coming upon this revelation, he couldn't help but exclaim.

As a cultivator, of course he knew about the manuals and their importance.

They were important tools for the casting masters. In order to become a good warrior, one had to continue practicing the methods. And in order to be a good casting master, one had to hone their skills by practicing the manuals.

Moreover, the warriors and the casting masters had a close relationship. A warrior should not only be equipped with skills and cultivation methods, but also a compatible and sharp weapon. In other words, a weapon was as important as a warrior's life, and these valuable weapons were forged precisely by those casting masters.

The casting masters were divided into varying levels, including the Mortal Level, the Spirit Level, and the Sage Level. Further, each level was classified into inferior, intermediate and advanced stages.

It was the dream of every warrior to be a casting master, but it was a daunting task. To be a casting master, they needed to have a spiritual meridian which would not only enhance their spiritual power but also help them practice the manuals.

However, very few warriors existed who could possess the kind of spiritual meridian that combined the two functions. They were one in a million.

That was why very few warriors could become a casting master, but should they succeed, they would have an extremely high status.

Moreover, all the weapons of the warriors were forged by the casting masters, which further enhanced and strengthened their status.

To these respectable casting masters, the manuals held the same value as cultivation methods did to the warriors.

But the number of the manuals was far less than the cultivation methods, and even less than the number of the casting masters. That was why these manuals were so valuable.

At the sight of the Chaos Manual, Ricky became thrilled, because even the manuals of the lowest class were of high value, maybe tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand.

"Well, the Chaos Manual… The name is exciting. I'm guessing it must be worth a great deal." Knowing that the manual was an important tool for the casting masters, Ricky immediately began to think about how to sell it and make a killing.

However, he soon changed his mind. There was something he had forgotten to consider.

"Wait, the manual is hidden in my spiritual meridian. Does that mean that my spiritual meridian could help practice the manuals, improve my spiritual power and even forge the weapons?

If that's true, could it be? Perhaps, it could mean that I am actually qualified and have the potential to be a casting master?

Goodness! A casting master!? What if I actually, really succeed?"

Envisioning the future, where he would be known for his superb forging skills and became famous, Ricky was wholly ecstatic.