Chapter 77 Ricky’s Self-doubt

"Hahaha…"

Fred couldn't help but burst into laughter after hearing what Ricky had just said. From his perspective, Ricky would not stand a chance against him. Fred laughed so hard that he almost rolled on the ground.

"You are just a waste with no spiritual meridian. Even if you are the first among the top ten outer disciples now, your powers are still nothing compared to mine. In my eyes, you are just a little better than a tiny little ant! You are worth nothing." Fred pointed at Ricky's nose and sneered, and laughed so hard that his eyes watered.

Agnes' face turned sour as she stood beside Ricky. She knew the huge difference between the power of Blood Purification and Skin Refinement, and she was certain that Fred wasn't bluffing at all, not this time. Fred might be right after all.

"Am I a small ant? Fine! You can think I am as small and as useless as you can, but I don't give a damn. I've got other things to think about. Now you're saying that you are going to expose my whereabouts to the Refinement Faction and the Casting Faction? They had always wanted to kill me. That's what I have to care about! That's bigger than this. Even if we both are fellow disciples from the same sect, I have to kill you today!" Ricky shouted at the top of his lungs, while he gritted his teeth.

"Wow, you are just a trashy warrior with a bitchy mouth, huh? I wasn't intending to end your life by myself, but you really make me angry right now. You're releasing the beast in me. Rest at ease! It won't take too long before I turn you into a corpse." Fred stopped mocking. As his face turned fierce, his killing intent surged and filled the atmosphere in an instant. His face became red out of anger, and his fist was clasped into a ball ready to punch Ricky in the gut.

In a flash, his feet aggressively slammed the ground, and he formed his fists by clasping five fingers of each hand. Next moment, his straight punch, containing great strength, almost landed on Ricky's head. But Ricky was no ordinary warrior for he possessed an insurmountable amount of strength.

In the face of Fred's aggressive attack, Ricky stayed calm and confident, with no fear inside his heart. All he showed was a poker face that no one could ever guess what was on his mind. 'To figure out how much more progress I've gained in these days, I've been upset lately to find someone to fight me. This guy is just coming in time!' Ricky thought to himself. Just before Fred's fist reached him, the static blood vitality in Ricky's body abruptly sped up with great power, causing a stir around his surroundings. With the blood vitality running through his hands like electricity, Ricky could feel both his palms were full of power and strength. Immediately, Ricky closed his right hand into a tight fist, and met Fred's fist with such an enormous strength.

'What? Did he already break through Skin Refinement? How overwhelming his spiritual energy is! Is that Blood Purification?' Agnes couldn't even believe her own speculations. Right now, she could feel nothing but shock.

'It seems that I have to admit that Ricky's talent is great, maybe better than mine. I must accept the fact that he has surely reached Blood Purification. But how could he possibly make it? No matter how talented he is, the cultivation up to Blood Purification from Skin Refinement never cost only a couple of days, not this easily. To my knowledge, his achievement on cultivation is unprecedented!'

Clearly, Ricky seemed to have reached Blood Purification. And to Agnes' amazement, she found no reason on how could Ricky make it in just a few days. "Did he get the Treasures from Heaven and Earth when he entered Treasure Tower last time? Maybe that's why he has broken through Skin Refinement! " That reason was as far as what Agnes could think of.

Not only had Ricky's spiritual energy overwhelmed Agnes, but Fred also got startled and found it unbelievable. In Fred's perspective, Ricky was just an outer disciple whose Skin Refinement grade would be no more than the ninth level. Like Agnes, he never thought that Ricky would be able to improve himself and achieve Blood Purification within ten days only.

But to Fred, Ricky was still not so much of a warrior. His surprise and amusement towards Ricky's strength didn't last for far too long.

He thought with pride, 'Blood Purification? Ha ha. Would that scare me? I have already reached the peak of the first grade of Blood Purification, and he is just finding his way to it. Will it be possible for him to wield the power of Blood Purification even better than I can?'

Fred narrowed his evil eyes and added more power to his fists. He was enraged about the fact that Ricky might be more powerful than he thought. With this in mind, he made himself ready to try his best to defeat Ricky.

But, to Ricky, Fred was not strong enough to make him translate his strength and anger into a fight. Ricky didn't even take it into account whether he should exert the Second Degree of Nine-degree Body Refining Formula for this battle.

Boom! Next moment, two fists from two warriors collided again and again, and a series of thunderous noise were heard, causing blasts of air mixed with blood vitality. Both of Ricky and Fred were wrapped ins

y their pact. He did whatever it took to protect Agnes from the beasts.

In the face of warriors as powerful as Ricky and Agnes, the pack had no chance to fight back. Grieving and shrill cries filled the atmosphere. One by one they targeted the bandits, and head by head they were dead. Not for too long, all of the robbers had been taken down.

"Oh, guys! God sent His men to save us! Let's all kneel down to show gratitude for God's assistance!" Seeing Ricky and Agnes had killed all of the bad guys and saved their lives, the survivors among the villagers all exclaimed with great respect and appreciation. The survivors went down on their knees in gratification of their rescue.

Given Ricky and Agnes were still in a hurry to continue their journey, they didn't pay much attention to villagers' sincere acknowledgements. As all the folks bowed down to them and gave many thanks to them with excitement, they just stood still in silence. Both of them just nodded their heads toward the innocent people, mounted their horses and marched out of the place.

This event affected Ricky deeply and made him sink into deep thoughts.

'The law of this world is just as cruel as the law of the jungle, and so is the martial world. The weak fall prey to the strong, because it is the strong who rule the world and everything in it.

The destinies that the weak are left with are to be treated like animals.'

'Is this the rule of the real world? To hunt or to be hunted?' A shadow of doubt flashed across Ricky's mind as it became clearer to him. Ricky found it very hard to shake it out of his mind.

Before this day, the meaning of his living was for himself and the people he loved. His only purpose to improve himself was to be strong enough to protect himself and his family.

But after what happened, inside his heart, he found something else for his purpose of improvement-- to uphold justice, to protect the innocent weak from the violence of the strong.

If it weren't for the sense of justice deep inside his heart, Ricky wouldn't have taken the trouble to save all those villagers. He did not have to do that; he just wanted to.

However, he thought of what his father had told him many years ago, "There is no justice in this world. We are either hunters or survivors. Don't trust justice. The so-called justice will only get you killed if you are stupid enough to be fooled by it."

'Why did my father once teach me that way? Should I listen to his words and abandon the shadow of justice that is just formed inside my heart? Though it will be good for me, for I can save all my precious time to focus on cultivating and then grow strong enough to protect my beloved ones, would it make me have less regard for others and ignore justice?' Ricky couldn't be more confused right now as his heart and mind battled for the right answer. It was as if he was searching for an answer to an unsolved riddle.

Suddenly, Grace flashed into his mind, and Ricky immediately seized the thought, 'Wasn't Master Grace out of justice to help me? Will Master Grace agree with my father's opinion?'

The more he thought about it, the more torn he felt. He could not just disregard his father's opinion. It bore heavy in his heart.

At a loss for a solution, Ricky turned to ask Agnes and asked for a solution. He walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder so as not startle her. Then, he asked, "Agnes, why did you offer to help and save those villagers? It was none of your business, right?"