Then, both Ricky and Terrence joined Soar, helping him and his allies slaughter the remaining ghosts.
The death of the two ghost leaders had already filled the remaining ghosts with a sense of dread. The terrible fear they felt did help disrupt their formation and depress their morale. Within an hour, they had been slaughtered and were reduced to nothing but Souls of Ghost.
In spite of the fact that the ghosts had once been living creatures, Ricky didn't regret slaughtering them at all. He didn't show any mercy to them either. Showing mercy to an enemy would do nothing but possibly hurt him, or even send him to hell sooner than he expected to die.
Although those ghosts also had their rights to live, they were obstacles to Ricky. Thus, they had to be removed. Ricky knew the difference between what was right and wrong. He also understood what was good for him and what he had to do to keep his friends safe.
Since he was weak, he had to put his interest and safety before true justice and the greater good.
When he was strong enough that he didn't have to fear anything, he would help others and do justice in the world.
"Ghosts, you did nothing wrong, but you were obstacles to my further cultivation. I must do what will further my own goals. You can take your revenge when I join you in hell someday," Ricky muttered to himself after the slaughter was over.
...
"Samson, I'll leave those Souls of Ghosts at your disposal." Then, Ricky handed all of them to Samson.
"Half of those Souls of Ghosts can be used to help us locate the whereabouts of other strong ghosts. The rest of them should be absorbed by the Enlightening Tree to facilitate its growth," Samson proposed carefully.
Then, they went to the Enlightening Tree and looked up for the Enlightening Fruits. To their great disappointment, they only found three fruits, which were fewer than they had expected.
"This is all we have to show for such an intense fight? That's almost nothing good," Soar cursed, having lost his temper.
"Haha. Don't be mad. We all know that the Enlightening Fruit is a rarely-seen and precious Treasure from Heaven and Earth. We have enough luck to get these three Enlightening Fruits to begin with," Terrence said, putting on a thin smile and trying weakly to comfort Soar.
"We can divide
ward Jin. With every step he took, the enlightening power built up a bit.
Edward Jin's body started to tremble. When he tried to resist Ricky's overwhelming enlightening power, he found himself to be as powerless and weak as an ant trying to defend itself against an elephant.
"Are you so sure that I won't kill you here and now?"
Before his sentence trailed off, Ricky moved and appeared right in front of Edward Jin before he could even figure out what was happening. Ricky's right hand grabbed his neck tightly, and Edward Jin found it hard to breath anymore.
Something cracked under Ricky's hand. Bones splintered.
"Ricky, what are you doing? If you dare to hurt me, my young master won't spare your life," Edward Jin threatened. At that very moment, his confidence dissipated quickly and completely. He could, at such a close range, see the murderous intent deep in Ricky's eyes.
"I will tell you something before you die. I'm not just some good warrior. Whoever provokes me is bound to come to a bad end." Ricky smirked, and the expression sent chills down Edward Jin's spine.
"But today is your lucky day. I'm gonna give you a second chance. Tell me the truth, and I may spare your life," Ricky said with a smirk.
"I...I..." Edward stammered. Ricky's threats worked like a charm on him.
Ricky pressed harder on Edward's throat as he stammered. More bones cracked.
"Don't! Please show mercy. I will tell you everything," Edward Jin begged desperately after he heard the cracking sound coming from his own throat.