The legendary warrior

A deep rumble echoed throughout the area once again as the iron pagoda's announcement bellowed, "This is the end of the test for this round. Next, you are going to enter a passage for the succeeding challenge. The one who survives this will be the champion; however, if you all were to die here, it will merely be considered as your fated end.

There will no longer be any room left for regret as you go further along, so do your best to pass this test! I wish all of you good luck on your journey."

At the last word marking the start of another trial, the environment drastically changed around Ricky, his body shaking in time with the tremors of the earth relocating him to another space. Bright light cast on his figure as he arrived. He appraised the space filled with suffocating, scalding flames, and had come to a conclusion that it was the same as the former contest. The only difference spotted within its perimeters was the mentioned huge passage in the middle of the arena.

Ricky gazed deep into the abyss of the crossing. Even with the great distance between him and its entrance, he felt the aggressiveness of the burning fire originating from its inside.

"So, this is the last test?" murmured Ricky, looking around in curiosity.

A sudden surge of foreign feelings permeated his heart and made him lose his focus on the task ahead of him. Befuddled, he pondered over the strangeness he sensed in his gut. He had felt that the pagoda behaved weirdly, and sent off signals that intentionally guided them to pass the test deliberately.

He cocked an eyebrow in contemplation; there seemed to be some hidden trick behind its directing.

'Did I become paranoid because of what Andrew had done to me?'

The thought sprang up in passing as he analyzed his current circumstances. He had no idea why his instincts rang warning bells in his head, leading him to think that the iron pagoda may be conspiring something with their ploy of letting them clear the obstacle.

It did not help that what Andrew had done before instilled him with fear and alarm. After all, he was also a mortal who was also afraid of facing death.

Nonetheless, he overlooked his speculations, knowing that there was nothing he could even possibly do to verify any elaborate traps the pagoda might have set up.

"What should I do now... Is there any way out?" he muttered in a low voice, eyes narrowing in regard to the dangers waiting ahead of him.

After a minute of harsh deliberation, he shook his head in frustration. "Well, forget it! I'll just concentrate on passing!" he exclaimed. Gathering his bearings, he closed his eyes to adjust his breathing before taking action. A squinted gaze matched the cautious footsteps he took towards the massive transit. He did not let his worries hinder the bravery and courage he wielded like a weapon, because at the end of the day, he was still a man who refused to remain idle in the face of crisis, no matter what sort of predicament he was forced in. Especially now, when he was left with no choice but to follow through the examination. There was no way he would give up so easily during such a crucial period. He came here to win the Beast Fire, and so he had to have the steel strength of determination to stand victorious at the end, just as what he had only always settled for.

Ricky did not catch any glimpses of what lay beneath the path until he had reached the entryway. He gaped in awe at the marvelous nine stairs in front of him that reached to unforeseeable heights.

Flames licked at each step, casting an eerie, orange glow around the space. Somehow, he felt that the energy of these blazes increased the further one trekked upwards. He would undoubtedly endure great pain brought by the scorching flares as he continued his travel to the top.

"Walk up the steps to refine your body with the fire. If you succeed, you will be declared the winner!"

the pagoda resonated in Ricky's ears once more.

stairs, right?"

resuming his calm and calculating demeanor. He could feel the underlying threat from the merciless, dancing flames, and believed that if he were to veer his attention away for even a second, he would end up being burnt to

more akin to the representation of glowing energy, so even if he

there was no backing out now.

off his clothes and put it in his storage bag before clenching his teeth around the sack's rope. He stood there,

dressed, it would have been incinerated into nothing. The scenario would likely leave him bare once he had conquered the stairs, and the sight would certainly cause extreme awkwardness for both him and the others who would see him in such a state.

landing on the blistering heat just

relentless attacks on every pore of his skin. He gritted his teeth, the rope muffling his grunts

searing pain. He

By now, he had activated the peak status of the Fourth Degree. A great and enormous feat, that did not come without consequences. He lurched, hands gripping his knees when he was

three stairs

in a deep breath to stabilize himself, he advanced to the next. He howled, clenching his fists in agony at the fierceness of the torment he was in. What had previously only struck his flesh, now seeped into the marrows of his bones. It devoured every inch of him, birthing him anew from the torture it enforced on his

Body Refining Formula in order to

body still took on the force of the ruthless energy. It was borderline nauseating how it appeared to rack his being with endless tremors of pain, but he had long recognized that it was a common requirement during refinement. He should know best, seeing as

my body based on the Fifth Degree using the

Ricky mused.

Cliff, he had not encountered any chances for body refinement. That was why he had disappointingly remained stagnant in the Fifth Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula. However, the severe conditions of this trial granted him an excellent opportunity to strengthen his skill, and even

Devouring Skill and the Chaotic Fire Skill at once to absorb the flame energy engulfing him. At the same time, he extracted the

hard work had paid off successfully; he had improved much at the

examining the last two

him to shift to the

with shock was his immediate response to the extremities of the energy surrounding him. He collapsed to a knee, his skin and hair flaking away at the violent inferno encompassing him. Even with the Fifth Degree of the Nine-degree Body Refining Formula, he had no alternatives left but to succumb to the sheer might of

The ninth! I will take the torture brought by your energies and reach the Sixth Degree of the Formula!" Roaring, he bared his teeth in a display of his unyielding will.

the severity of the unforgiving atmosphere and stubbornly held

hours had eventually enabled him to move freely; the roughness of the assaulting fires no longer bothering him. By now, his cultivation of the Fifth Degree

all I have left is the last stair!"

unable to keep the excitement out from the frenzied look in his eyes.