Chapter 37 Lewis' Crisis

There were only three people who remained in the forest. There was Ricky, who was using the infernal power to refine his body in the Sacred Blood Pond. The other two were Heather and Grace, patiently waiting beside him.

The process of body refinement took an entire day and night, sometimes even longer.

Of course, Agnes Shui had already left.

Ricky was currently focusing all his attention on battling with the searing, intense burning pain.

Through his new spiritual meridian, Ricky absorbed that strong infernal power in the Sacred Blood Pond, letting it flow within his meridians and blood circulation. He then channeled it into refining his flesh and bones by making them even more reinforced.

These minutes seemed like an unbearable eternity. Ricky's consciousness trembled in the blinding blurriness of the world. The burning pain had penetrated deep into his bones, now dully numbing them.

The expression on his face was one of pure exertion. The fingernails on his fingers had sunk deep into the flesh of his palms. Blood was oozing out from the wounds as streams of perspiration ran in rivers down his arms, dripping rapidly into the pond water.

The excruciating pain could make Ricky fail any minute and lose control.

But he had to persevere. He had to endure this suffering, because this was an opportunity to breakthrough into the Second Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.

The infernal power in the Sacred Blood Pond was inherently perfect for the refinement of the Second Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.

....

Under the ceaseless blaze of the infernal fire, after an entire day and night had passed, Ricky finally regained consciousness. Slowly, he opened his tightly shut eyes.

He looked down at himself. A layer of black mucous surfaced, coating his skin. They were the impurities expelled from his system during the refinement process. The skin underneath the black mucous had turned clearer, almost glowing.

"Using the infernal blaze to refine is indeed amazing. This time around, not only have I opened the door towards breaking through the Second Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refinement Formula, I've fixed the defects caused from using the Blood Zone to a very large extent!" Upon realizing the changes that had taken place with his body, Ricky exclaimed with satisfaction.

"Ricky, you rascal, you've finally completed the refinement process!" Heather said begrudgingly, yet with shining admiration in her eyes.

"Ha-ha, sorry to have kept you waiting!" Clutching his Sacred Blood Crystal, Ricky laughe

very far before a pretty girl stopped him in his tracks. She was the beautiful Vivian who had previously invited him to hunt for beasts in the snowy mountain.

But she looked very different now. Shaken, she was bathed in tears, her hair a mess.

"Vivian! What has happened to you?" Ricky asked, alarmed at the sight of her.

"Oh Ricky, please ask your master to save Lewis! He's in grave danger! Dustin's people kidnapped him! They said... they said he'll be fed to the wolves!" Vivian began sobbing.

"What?! Where are they now?" Ricky cast aside the beasts' body parts, grabbing Vivian's shoulders and asked anxiously.

Vivian and Lewis were probably the only people in the Snow Sect Ricky could call his friends. They didn't despise or mock him because he was called "the waste of blood without a spiritual meridian". They treated Ricky sincerely and they surely meant a great deal to him.

"I don't know... I don't know Ricky! I only know they took Lewis into the snowy mountains!" Vivian wept, helpless.

"There's no time to waste! We need to hurry! I hope we can track them by following their footprints!" Ricky hastened his steps, rushing to the snowy mountains with Vivian.

...

In a small valley in the snowy mountains, Lewis could hardly breathe. All of his limbs were fractured and he lay in the snow like a corpse.

He looked at the sky. He had no desire left to fight. He gasped for air, craving death.

"Oh Ricky, Vivian, I hope my death is enough for Dustin to stop hounding you!" Lewis thought to himself in utter despair.

"Growl! Howl!"

At the edges of the trees, several humongous Snow Wolves appeared. They circled around him cautiously, lured by the smell of Lewis' fresh blood.