When Ricky reached the famous Palace of Gravity, he had yet again caught the attention of many other disciples, as always. Of course, he could feel the glare of all of them on him. He could feel that some of them were looking at him with admiration and friendliness, yet he could perceive that others stared at him with contempt.
However, he simply dismissed these perceptions of his, ignored all of these stares and went into the palace straight away.
The watchman of the Palace of Gravity was a grey-haired old man, who seemed to be highly respected as all the disciples who went in and out of the palace were extremely deferential to him, having their heads bowed while facing him. Whether they truly respected him or not, at least all of them called him "sir" most reverently.
While contemplating and interrogating with his powers of the four zones, Ricky got to know that the old man was a strong completed spiritual king, and a veteran among all his peers here. It was no wonder that he enjoyed a high prestige.
"Hello, sir! My name is Ricky Nan, and I would like to learn more techniques, cultivate myself fully and practice in this amazing Palace of Gravity for a month. I have heard so many good things about this place," Ricky stated with the same reverence that other disciples showed the old man, and presented his well-earned jade tablet proudly to him at once.
There were restrictions to the Palace of Gravity. Since only the disciples of the Oriental College were allowed to step into the Palace of Gravity, it was required that the jade tablet should be the only passport for registration. Ricky had learned the rules of the college by heart, so he was ready beforehand and proudly showed his identity even before the old man asked him to.
"Ricky Nan? So you must be the ace genius they've been talking about these days, aren't you?" asked the old man, looking up and scrutinizing Ricky, focusing on his reaction once he heard his name. There was sparkling sharpness in his pair of old eyes. Ricky couldn't help but sense the disdain in his tone quite clearly.
Ricky was in utter confusion. 'If I'm not mistaken, this old guy is a spiritual king beast. If I should ever offend a spiritual king beast, he should either come from the Ruin Leopard tribe or the Golden Rhino tribe. Have I missed anyone who isn't from these two tribes?' Ricky thought quickly.
"This is really interesting. I heard that the Bing Clan has been very kind to Earle. Let's see how he will seize the opportunity and avenge his benefactor." Ricky heard some of the disciples present whisper with amusement, and this answered the many questions he had been toying with in his mind.
'Ah, so, all of this is for the Bing Clan, and this old guy's name is Earle, ' Ricky thought and smiled, especially since he knew what he would be dealing with.
"Pity. Now only the rooms on the ground floor are available. Will that be okay with you?" asked Earle with a sneer, clearly with no good intentions. He was no longer looking at Ricky, as if he wouldn't care about this so-called ace genius.
"But I've just left the second floor and there are still many empty rooms up there! How strange!" blurted one of the disciples who were near them when he heard Earle's words. Whether he meant to nail Earle's lie to the counter, or he was simply puzzled, he looked really confused and asked the question without thinking. However, one thing was for sure, that he had embarrassed Earle.
Therefore, as soon as he was done speaking, Earle stared at him in a stern manner, full of evil intent, which scared that young man into leaving the place at once.
The types of rooms on each floor of the Palace of Gravity varied. The higher the floor, the stronger the gravity pull in the rooms would be. For innate spirits, only gravity that was twenty or even thirty times stronger could awake their potential, while the ten-fold one would prove too weak for their cultivation.
For this reason, all the disciples who came to this Palace of Gravity to practice would choose rooms on the second or the third floor, where the gravity was enhanced twenty or thirty times. There had been no exception.
As for rooms on the first floor, they were with ten times stronger gravity pull, and were built mainly for demi-immortals.
So it couldn't be more obvious that Earle was doing it on purpose. He was spiting Ricky by not allowing him to enter the rooms that matched his level.
Out of spite, he might have thought that it was a good idea to make Ricky feel small, but in fact, the rooms on the first floor were just what Ricky needed at the moment. Ricky planned to practice the Scud Movement Skill today, so the ten-fold gravity room was the perfect space for him. After all, he didn't need to awake his potential this time.
'I knew you were playing tricks on me, old dog. Unfortunately, you have mistakenly given me what I need, ' Ricky thought gloatingly. 'Alright then, I'll face the challenge and prove that I am the bigger person today, and I shall finish this show with you, as you wish.'
Most evidently, Ricky would continue to keep what happened today in his memory. He was not a vengeful man, but this Earle had worked on his nerves by abusing the power in his possession.
"Err…sir, but that warrior has just said…" Ricky stammered, pretending to be a bit surprised and annoyed.
"Keep quiet. I'm in charge here. I know better than him or you, understand?" Without hesitation, Earle interrupted Ricky sharply before Ricky could finish his words. "It will be the rooms on the first floor or nothing. You can just go if you have better options elsewhere. Give the resources to those who really need them,"
Earle then said with a smirk, his tongue in his cheek.
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