CHAPTER 479 THE POSSIBILITY OF REFINING THE MARKS

"Okay," Ricky briefly replied while he nodded his head a few times.

He knew that no matter what the consequence was, he would never give the enlightening mark back to

York just because the later claimed to be his friend. Ricky was not that foolish to trust someone whom

he barely knew. As a matter of fact, he had been having a difficult time trusting anyone easily after

everything that he had gone through. Besides, there was no denying that Ricky was not a very merciful

man. And most importantly, he was in dire need of that mark.

After the conversation between them had ended, a mysterious power circled around York and soon

enough, he vanished out of that space.

"The very first enlightening mark! Yes! I finally got it!" Ricky exclaimed in excitement while he stared at

the enlightening mark which was lying silently on his palm. The longer he looked at it, the brighter his

eyes became. Somehow, Ricky felt that each time he successfully refined one enlightening mark, his

power would improve to a larger extent with the help of his three miracle zones.

"It's time to search for the next mark!" he said to himself while he squinted his eyes in the distance.

Determined, he chose a direction that he thought would be the easiest way out. Then, he set off and

before long, he was nowhere to be seen.

Outside of the battlefield where Ricky and the others were, a lot of spectators bared witness to what

happened.

"My intuition is telling me that this young man is going to make tremendous progress within half a year

from now." The Skyward Sword Spiritual King shared his point of view through telepathy. He then

added, "His capabilities are still quite limited despite the fact that he is a peerless genius.

So, he still has to improve his powers with each fight so that he can grow stronger if he wants to pass

the test and be admitted into our college."

Hearing his thoughts, the Array-shattering Spiritual King commented, "That's probably the real reason

why he came to attend our recruitment competition. From what I could see, it would be easy to guess

that his purpose is not limited to being a member of the college. No, he wants more than that. It's also

his way of enhancing his strength."

"I still remember that Jasper successfully defeated a third-class lower spiritual king who was at his

peak condition at that time. I'm actually very curious as to how far this young man could go," the

Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor said with utmost interest.

The Skyward Sword Spiritual King and the Array-shattering Spiritual King both giggled a little in

amusement before responding, "They are both peerless geniuses. I'm sure he will also surprise us with

his potential."

"But we never know what could happen. Differences also exist between peerless geniuses. And those

differences could be much further apart with those between the first-class geniuses. Above the

peerless geniuses, there are ace geniuses. They are the highest level a genius could reach," the

Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor expounded on his point.

He then added, "However, it has been hundreds of years since an ace genius appeared in the Middle

Land. That's why we rarely heard of such titles."

"Geniuses even stronger than the peerless geniuses? That's almost unbelievable," the two spiritual

kings both exclaimed with astonishment upon hearing what their senior had just said. They thought that

for a powerful genius like that to exist, one would have to be terribly skilled and capable.

Once a peerless genius grew strong, he would become the most powerful warrior on that continent.

"So, what you're saying is that there are different levels of peerless geniuses. May we know just how

many are there exactly?" the Skyward Sword Spiritual King asked.

"There are three levels. The first one is the peerless genius at the first level. Evidently, this is the

lowermost level. But a person at this level would be able to challenge a third-class lower spiritual king.

Jasper is a good example of a warrior at this level. Next, a peerless genius at the second level is able

to challenge a second-class lower spiritual king. To some degree, this is actually the highest level. You

may feel that it's strange as to why the second level is deemed to be the highest one, right?"

the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor said. Then he paused for a few seconds before he

continued, "Let me explain. A peerless genius at the third level is able to challenge a first-class lower

spiritual king. As a matter of fact, he is very close to being an ace genius. That is why people prefer to

consider the second level as the highest. It all comes down to the fact that a peerless genius at the

third level is almost considered to be an ace genius already.

Any demi-immortal who could successfully challenge a first-class lower spiritual king definitely has the

potential to be an ace genius."

"Oh, we perfectly understand now! That's quite surprising to us. We never expected that there would be Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

different levels of peerless geniuses," the Skyward Sword Spiritual King and the Array-shattering

Spiritual King responded as they nodded their heads.

"That's quite a huge amount of information, right?" the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor said

before chuckling a little. Then, he continued, "In fact, there is very little chance in our Eastern Land to

have a peerless genius. So it was rare for anyone to talk about this information. It's not strange if you

didn't heard of such information."

"You are absolutely right. There is still half a year before the competition comes to an end. For now,

why don't you leave and have a good rest? We will take care of everything here," the Skyward Sword

Spiritual Emperor suggested.

"Thank you for your kind offer. But I think it would be best if I just stay here. I'm too old now and I won't

probably make any further breakthrough. So taking a rest is useless to me. Personally, I prefer to stay

here to kill time. This young man is interesting, isn't he? I'm sure it will be very enjoyable in here," the

Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor said with a smile.

Then, he hunkered down on the airship. Apparently, he was planning to stay here for the next half year

so he could watch Ricky closely.

Seeing the resolve in the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor's eyes, the Skyward Sword Spiritual

King and the Array-shattering Spiritual King both decided that convincing him would be useless at that

point. So instead, they also hunkered down.

As for the disciples of the Oriental College, it was proven to all of them that Ricky was indeed a

peerless genius. A little while later, a lot of them left and went back. They would not, of course, spend

the next half year there. It would only be a waste of time. They preferred to go back and continue with

their cultivation.

Meanwhile, at the center of it all, Ricky was in deep contemplation.

He had already set his goal to challenge the third-class lower spiritual king for the time being. He knew

that at that moment, his combat power was not strong enough to challenge any creature stronger than

a third-class lower spiritual king. If necessary, he was even planning to run away if he ever met a third-

class lower spiritual king who was at the peak condition.

During the next five months, he successfully harvested five enlightening marks. Although it was

impressive enough, this was not an ideal result. Ricky thought that he should have gained more.

But still, a part of him was very satisfied with that result. Having five marks was better than having

none.

However, the process of attaining those marks had not been that easy. Something dangerous

happened to him during one of those times. What happened was that he had unfortunately met a

second-class lower spiritual king. He had exerted all of his strength to survive the said lower spiritual

king's strike. He had even employed the first level of Ultimate Golden Body. Luckily, he had

successfully escaped from that powerful opponent.

After that fierce fight, it took ten whole days for his body to recover in its best condition.

'It seems like this Small World is not that small after all. I haven't seen Madeline or Soar for the past

months! And where are the other twenty men that Scar sent to help and protect me? There is not a

single sign of them at all, ' Ricky thought as he wrinkled his eyebrows.

'There is only one month left! Well, I think most third-class lower spiritual kings, whether they are

human beings or beasts, must have already been kicked out of this world. All of the remaining

creatures must be powerful ones. I'd better lay low, find myself a secret place, and try not to encounter

the others. Instead, I can improve my abilities by refining the five enlightening marks!'

Ricky thought deeply to himself. He found his idea feasible and brilliant. Then, he searched for an

extremely remote and hidden place in that Small World and created a covert cave. He was then ready

to refine and comprehend the five marks that he acquired.

In order to prevent something unexpected from happening, Ricky released his runic power and formed

an enchantment outside the cave. This made his hiding place more difficult to be discovered. What was

more, he would be able to feel anything unusual that would happen around the cave. He would be able

to wake up from his seclusion at the very first second should an event like that happen.

After everything was done, he hunkered down on the ground inside the cave. Then, he took out all of

the enlightening marks that he had taken from others.

"I'm going to refine all of these! I'm looking forward to the result so much. Just show me how strong I

will become!" Ricky murmured to himself expectantly. Besides, embedded inside those enlightening

marks was the enlightening power from the spiritual emperor! How could he refrain himself from being

too agitated?

Spiritual emperors did not use the enlightening power when they became spiritual emperors. However,

they had much deeper comprehension with regard to the enlightening power. So they would be much

more experienced than the completed spiritual kings and the demi-spiritual emperors.

Outside of that Small World, there were still a few disciples who were eagerly watching what was

happening inside.

"What is he up to?" someone asked or a better term would be "screamed." All of the spectators were

confused upon seeing Ricky's behavior.

"Is he trying to refine those enlightening marks?" a voice exclaimed in disbelief.

"No way! That's impossible! Although he is a peerless genius, he's still just a demi-immortal. It is

impossible for someone in his status to refine the enlightening power. Only an innate warrior can do

that!" another one from the crowd expounded.

Meanwhile, their seniors were closely watching Ricky's movements as well.

"Is he really going to..." the Skyward Sword Spiritual King and the Array-shattering Spiritual King asked

their senior through telepathy. Both of them were astonished as well.

"To be honest, I'm just the same with all of you. I too, am surprised to see what he's about to do," the

Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor responded. Then, he looked at Ricky one more time and

continued, "But we could clearly see that he does intend to refine those enlightening marks."

"Doesn't he know that only an innate spiritual king can refine the enlightening mark containing the

enlightening power?" the Skyward Sword Spiritual King asked again. Doubt and confusion were

evident in his voice.

While everyone outside of that Small World was confused, Ricky started his refinement progress. He

had no idea about everyone's reaction with what he was doing.

As a matter of fact, Ricky had heard the rumor that only a real innate spiritual king could refine the

enlightening power from those marks. However, he did not take it seriously. He was confident that with

his regained spiritual meridian and the three powerful zones, he would be able to successfully do it!

To be more precise, it was his regained spiritual meridian and his three zones that could refine the

enlightening marks. They were more powerful and they could take control of everything.

The problem was that they had already become a part of Ricky. So the moment that they successfully

refined the marks, it would mean that Ricky successfully refined them. That was the secret that Ricky

would never share with another soul that easily.