A shocking swell of greenery filled the landscape, its overgrown weeds curling around tall and broad shafts of cone-bearing trees that significantly made up most of the topography. It was a stark contrast to the lifeless cold that pervaded the rest of the Blizzard Cliff; snow and ice showed no signs of accumulating and destroying the growing foliage with their heavy debris.
Ricky almost collapsed in relief upon arriving at the revitalizing view.
He was understandably ragged. His clothes were torn and barely hanging on as cover to his almost naked self. It failed its purpose as a meager attempt to fill him with warmth against the harshness of the perpetual winter. The force of roaring flame inside his body became the driving source in keeping his temperature within normal levels.
He had spent three whole days in the Blizzard Cliff, and in that short span of time, all he could do was run for his life.
Perseverance and stubbornness were the traits that saved him countless of occasions in the face of the never-ending dangers he had to go through.
The fierce predators lurking the unmanned grounds possessed a potency that were unmatched by most. They would have certainly been Boris' first suspects if Ricky were to disappear without a trace after his two-month excursion.
Fortunately for Ricky, he had survived and was now about to enter the Land of Opportunity Zenith had advised him to seek with haste.
He rushed to cross the threshold, fully aware that he could not stand another minute idling in the Blizzard Cliff any longer.
"There are so many coniferous trees and weeds! This must be the place where Chief Zenith called the Land of Opportunity!" Ricky muttered as he looked around in awe.
He twirled in a slow, full circle, quietly observing the scene before him until his eyes caught sight of a stone tablet nearly obscured by its surrounding shrubs. He approached it and bended a knee to read the inscribed text: The Dwelling of Fire and Ice.
A tiny narrow hole was situated on the right side of the plague, seemingly able to accommodate the size of only one individual.
"That's right. I've come to the right location!" Ricky beamed, unable to contain his excitement.
Zenith had told Ricky that the Dwelling of Ice and Fire was the birthplace of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula.
Legend had told time and time again, that a strong warrior without the spiritual meridian had once wandered in the Dwelling of Fire and Ice and honed his skills to an extent that led him to create the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula. Ricky stumbling upon the origins of the famous tale paved a great opportunity for him to grasp. As long as he had great comprehension skills, he would definitely evolve his Nine-degree Body Refining Formula by leaps and bounds inside this Dwelling of Fire and Ice.
Ricky exhaled as he steadied himself in preparation to walk in the narrow passageway.
The entrance was restricting, and so Ricky had not expected that the tunnel would eventually grow wider in size as he moved along. Its surprisingly well-lit
space was covered in sleet. An analogy that confused Ricky, given the increasing warmth emanating deep inside the grotto that soon permitted him to diffuse the force of roaring flame keeping him from the shivering cold outside.
"How is it so warm here?"
he mused.
"It's called the Dwelling of Fire and Ice... Maybe there's fire inside?"
he treaded further until he noticed in passing that the burrow had started to move downwards. A change in the atmosphere was also felt as the humidity rose higher the more he traveled to its core.
After six hours, he had finally arrived at the end of the tunnel.
The extensive flat ground had an approximate range of one hundred meters. It was divided into sections where two opposing elements engulfed their own regions.
On his right, lay blocks of glittering and translucent Magic Ice. Its age was unfathomable to mere scrutiny, but the aura it exhibited spoke volumes of its ancient history encompassing at least the past ten thousands of years.
Parallel to it was the sporadic, crimson magma that churned and boiled with the threat of its intensity having the ability to vaporize Ricky in a flash.
He would have been pronounced dead from the scalding incandescence of the lava or the gripping gelidity of the Magic Ice if he were only exposed to one of the constituents. It was a blessing for him, that their drastic differences created a neutralized and habitable environment.
"Incessant Crimson Magma and Myriad Magic Ice! This is exactly the place where cultivation method like the Nice-degree Body Refining Formula can be created. The Dwelling of Fire and Ice truly lives up to its reputation.
Together with the help of the Devouring Skill, this kind of setting would surely allow me to refine my Nine-degree Body Refining Formula to the Fifth Degree within two months," Ricky feverishly ranted to himself in delight. He could see that his goal was now attainable and was overjoyed at the fact.
"That kind of power would be enough for me to reign over warriors of all grades in the Blood Purification. I would have no more qualms in facing combatants of the low-stage Bone Reinforcement either,"
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