Chapter 308 Meeting Jerry

Most of the disciples from the Aeolus Palace had gone to hunt down Tyson. This meant that only a few of them remained in the Dark Fog Woods. By now, it was apparent that all the warriors at the eighth and ninth grade of Bone Reinforcement had already met their defeat at the hands of Soar. By the time Ricky arrived, the enemies in the forest were almost completely obliterated. So hiding in his two zones, he reached the heart of the Dark Fog Woods without so much as delivering a blow.

At this point, Ricky discovered that Soar, the leader of the Aeolus Palace, and the guarding devil beast of the Celestial Flower were all nowhere to be found. He could only distinguish their voices and sounds of their combat somewhere in the distance.

Seeing no one else around, Ricky turned to investigate his surroundings. Deep in this woods, he saw a huge black lake. Instead of reflecting any light, the lake seemed to be absorbing it like a black hole. What it released from its bottom was the eerie dark fog that filled the whole forest. Ricky's eyes were soon drawn to the huge white flower right in its center.

It was as white as snow and nearly two meters wide. Once Ricky came nearer to see it more clearly, he discovered that it was actually floating above the water like a small boat. The contrast between the white flower and the black lake was quite stark.

Ricky could feel the power unleashed by the flower even though he was a great distance away from the lake. Like its fragrance, its power was pure yet strong. Deep within it, he could even sense a combined power of pure frozen ice and burning fire, two opposing forces which had somehow been made to be compatible.

At the same time, Ricky sensed that all the power of pure frozen ice and burning fire in the air around was rushing to the flower like crazy. Like a swarm of bees drawn to flowers, the two separate kinds of energy rapidly streamed into the white petals of the flower, traversing all the way down into its heart.

"Is this a sign that the flower will bloom soon?" Ricky murmured excitedly at this wonderful sight.

He speculated that he had arrived at the right timing, compared with others who had coveted this precious flower.

Looking around in his excitement, he had noticed that there were several dead bodies floating on the black water as well. It was obvious that they were the warriors of the eighth and ninth grade of Bone Reinforcement who had met their doom from Soar.

"Looks like that the legendary flower is now mine for the taking!" he said in his excitement. No more strong warriors would present competition for this treasure!

But he still had to wait until the flower had bloomed thoroughly before attempting to pick it.

While he was waiting, he took time to inspect the magic flower. As the pure and high quality energy flooded into it, its nine petals were glowing and blooming, like a moon that gave out bright and clear light. Of course, Ricky should have seen ten beautiful petals, had Tyson not torn down one of them.

As he examined it more intently, he found that a bloody red and a snowy white lights were alternately changing on the petals, and the speed of their changing accelerated. Within less than a minute, however, the colors of the lights had deepened, until both of them were shining steadily on each of the nine petals, split into the two co

s of wind that were sharp enough to shred the whole place to pieces. The fist was striking at him. If Ricky didn't act quickly, the fist would certainly obliterate his face!

But Ricky was not one to go down without a fight. Murderous intent shone in his eyes. Right before the fist reached his nose, he crossed his arms in front of his face, and met the powerful fist. The two forces clashed, the collision sending out mighty blasts.

The deafening sound of explosion was suddenly muffled by the water.

When Ricky opened his eyes, he found that both he and the fire surrounding him were drowned in the black water. He didn't know when, but he was sure that Jerry had somehow dragged him into the lake and slammed him down to the bottom of it. The explosion from their collision continued down there, making black surges shoot out to the water's surface.

Before Ricky could readjust himself, Jerry's silhouette appeared against the dim light right in front of him.

He swam at a fast speed to Ricky, and when he got nearer and nearer, Ricky saw that his mouth had curled into a sneer. It was an ugly sneer full of contempt.

"Boom!" The scornful smile on Jerry's face froze when Ricky suddenly disappeared. The next thing he knew, Ricky had shot out of the water, covered in a purple light strong enough to shine through the black lake.

Jerry followed him up. The moment he emerged, he discovered that the whole place was shaking. He turned his head just in time to see a fist shining with a blinding purple light coming right at him.

"It's impolite not to return your kindness. An eye for an eye and a fist for a fist!" Ricky roared with glee.

In his astonishment, Jerry too had raised his arm to fend off the angry fist. Immediately he was forced into a defensive fetal position.

"Bang!" The attack produced a loud thud this time, and Jerry was knocked back by the strong energy. Managing to maintain his balance, he didn't fall into the lake, instead he had skidded over the surface for a long distance.

"This is impossible!" Jerry exclaimed. For the first time, the confident light had disappeared completely from his eyes. He felt Ricky's forceful strength through his arms and his face grew somber like never before.