Born Almighty Warrior
Chapter 176 The Counterstrike

All the disciples, both the outer and inner ones were shocked by the news.

Those who had wanted to join the Misty South Faction decided not to proceed with their plans tobecome a member of it for the time being. Those who had already joined the faction began to feelhesitant about whether they should stay there or quit the faction. But they did not make a move,instead waiting to see what would happen in the next. Although Caleb and Elvis were defeated, theywere curious whether Autelan and Bertha would stand up and fight.

Ricky, Autelan and other core members of the faction were already gathered in a room. They werediscussing about what action they should take to prevent further deterioration and restore thereputation of the Misty South Faction.

"I'm sure Caleb and Elvis lost their fights on purpose! I watched them very closely when they fought.And my conclusion is that they did not try their best at all!" Edgar said angrily as he hit the tablewith his fist and stood up.

"What's more, we gave them the Beast Fire. They had three days to refine the Beast Fire and theyshould have succeeded it! But they didn't use it at all!”

"I know! I know! How could they have really wanted to help and fight for the Misty South Faction!?"Autelan exclaimed angrily. "They probably offered to join and help us earlier because they wantedto improve the faction's strength. That way, they could lose the fight deliberately when they went upagainst others as the disciples of our faction. How cunning they are!"

"They are quite smart, aren't they? At least, their trick worked. I have planned to take advantage ofthem. But unexpectedly, they played tricks on us!" Ricky also echoed with a dark look coming overhis face. Deep inside his heart, Caleb and Elvis were now among the list of his enemies. He wouldhunt them down until the last days of their lives.

They played nasty tricks on him, and he would make them pay for their behavior. Sooner or later, hewould show them just what the consequences were for what they had done to him and the MistySouth Faction.

"Ricky, I feel so sorry for your loss. I mean, the Beast Fires you gave them!" Edgar said in angeragain. They had played a bit of a gamble and wasted the precious Beast Fires. It was a big shame toall of them, who dearly loved the Misty South Faction.

"Yes, you should feel sorry. Giving Caleb and Elvis the Beast Fires was a wrong decision. You shouldhave given those fires to me and Agnes!" The moment Edgar finished his words, another familiarvoice spoke out complainingly.

Everyone turned around and saw Bertha and Agnes walk in.

"Bertha, Agnes! I'm so glad to see both of you! You finished your cultivation and here you are!"Heather stood up and greeted them with a radiant smile. Apparently, the three women had alreadygotten to know each other and seemed to get along well while Ricky was away.

"Yes, here we are! But it seems that somebody has already forgotten us. He shared his precious firewith other people but not us!" Bertha pouted with a fierce expression as she glared at Ricky with herbeautiful eyes.

Immediately, Ricky realized what Bertha was referring to.

"Hi, Bertha. It's been a long time! There's no way I would forget you. I promise!” Ricky respondedwith a grin. Then, he took out a flame of Beast Fire and gave it to Bertha. Bertha changed herexpression, seeing that Ricky was earnest about this.

"Not bad! That's a good boy!" She took the Beast Fire from his hand, grinning.

"Don't worry, Agnes. I've also saved a flame for you. But your strength is not strong enough to takeit and it will be overwhelming for you to refine the Beast Fire. So I'll keep it for you for the timebeing. I'll talk to Elder Samuel to see if he can help you to refine the fire!" Ricky turned to Agnes andsaid sincerely.

"Thank you so much, Ricky!" Agnes said excitedly.

"Give me the share you prepared for Agnes! I'll bring it to our master and talk about it with him!"Bertha said.

"Okay, no problem. Thank you for your help!" Ricky was glad to hear Bertha volunteer to do this.This way, he would not have to go and talk to Elder Samuel and could focus more intently on thematter at hand. He took out another flame of Beast Fire and passed it the Bertha.

Bertha was a casting master, as well as a warrior at the peak of the ninth grade of Blood Purification.So she was able to handle two flames of Beast Fire quite easily. That was also why Ricky was soconfident that the fires would not harm her.

"Agnes, let's leave now. We should go to Master Samuel's place. He will help us refine the BeastFire!" Bertha suggested to Agnes, beaming.

"Leave? Now? At this crucial time?" Ricky blurted out in surprise upon hearing Bertha's words. Howcould she be so unsympathetic to leave now? The Misty South Faction was in a dangerous situationat the time!

"Yes, we are leaving now. What? Are you planning to make the girls fight in the arena for you?”Bertha rolled her eyes at Ricky before she dragged Agnes and Heather away.

Watching the three ladies disappear into the distance, Ricky could do nothing but shake his headhelplessly.

"Ha-ha! Ricky, it seems that among all the inner disciples, there is always someone who can win overyou, like Bertha!" Autelan burst into laughter, so did Edgar.

Ricky shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, as you can see, she always knows how to leave mespeechless.” The light atmosphere permeated for a little while. But then they settled down andbegan to discuss about the matters at hand.

"Ricky, to tell the truth, I'm afraid it's time for you to do something. If we send Bertha to fight, I thinkit would be a shame on all of us. We have so many men here, yet we send a woman to fight! Whatcould other people think of our faction? They would laugh at us and spread out the rumor that themen of the Misty South Faction are cowards!" Autelan said with a serious look, clearing his throat.Then he continued, "You can't send me to fight because I'm not an inner disciple, though manydon't know about this fact!"

At this time, both Autelan and Edgar were quite confident about Ricky. They were certain that Rickywould have the ability to defeat anyone from the other two factions. After all, even Gennadi, the topranking inner disciple, was unable to defeat Caleb and Elvis with only two punches!

"Yes, you are right, Autelan! Even if you didn't say that, I know I have to do something. I will makeother people know that the Misty South Faction is not powerful because of Caleb and Elvis!" Rickysaid, his voice turning cold and determined.

He rested his chin on his hand, his willful eyes growing darker. He felt an urge to kill those from theCasting Faction and the Refinement Faction who had always found fault with them, as well as Caleband Elvis.

"Ha-ha, Ricky! I'm glad to hear that. I have a feeling that you are going to be the number oneamong the inner disciples this time!" Autelan laughed and said happily. He knew how Ricky thought,and could tell that he wanted to kill their enemies. He also knew that Ricky would again surprise theSnow Sect and prove himself.

He added, "Remember, feel free to do whatever you want! And when it comes to the core disciplesof the Casting Faction and the Refinement Faction, I will deal with them! I have friends who are coredisciples! They are going to help me!"

"Thank you, Autelan, for handling the core disciples! I will also talk to Master Grace. She will helpme!" Ricky said.

That day, another piece of shocking news spread throughout the Snow Sect. Ricky, the leader of theMisty South Faction, declared that he was challenging Hector from the Refinement Faction, the sixthranking inner disciple!

Hector, on the other hand, responded quickly. He accepted Ricky's challenge!

It was foreseeable that there was going to be an exciting fight between the two!

In the afternoon of the same day, a large number of disciples had already amassed in the square ofthe Snow Sect. Two figures were standing face to face in the center of the arena, ready to square off.They were, of course, Ricky and Hector!

"Ri... Ricky wants to fight against Hector himself! How dare he do that! There is no way he candefeat Hector! He is by no mean a match for him!" a disciple gossiped with his friends.

"Maybe he is the only one left who can fight in the South Misty Faction. After Caleb and Elvis weredefeated, there are only Autelan and Bertha who can fight in the Misty South Faction. It's likely thatAutelan will fight against Gennadi and Wyn. So that's probably why he can't deal with Hector. Andthey can't just send Bertha, a woman, to fight against Hector to protect those men in Misty SouthFaction, can they? Everyone would laugh at them if they sent her!" another man explained accordingto his own reasoning.

"Oh, I understand now. That's why Ricky has to do it himself!"

"But, their powers are nowhere near the same level! Hector is much powerful than Ricky! Goodness,I can already tell that Ricky is doomed to lose the fight!"

"Well, he doesn't have another choice. Being defeated is better than being a coward, at least!"Whispers continued to circulate among the throng.

"How dare Ricky challenge Hector! He is biting off more than he can chew! But I have to admit thatit's a brave move. He will for sure be defeated by Hector, yet he chose to fight against him!" adisciple from either the Casting Faction or the Refinement Faction laughed sarcastically.

"He has always been an arrogant man. Everyone knows it! I know there are many people who hateto see that arrogance and pride on his face! This is an excellent chance to teach him a lesson. Hectorwill punch his stupid idea of establishing his ridiculous Misty South Faction right out of his head!""Let's just wait and see! I can't wait to see his miserable failure. How do you think he will get off thearena?"

"Ha-ha! He will either crawl off it or have to be carried off!"

The two nameless disciples exchanged looks with each other before they burst into loud guffaws.Obviously, they were eager to see Ricky become a pathetic loser.

"Ricky, I have to admit that you are very brave to challenge me!" Hector was the first to speak.

'lt seems that Caleb and Elvis didn't tell them my real strength. Who do they really work for?" Rickythought. He could hear the whispers in the crowd and could tell that his real strength was stillunknown to the others judging from their assumptions and Hector's arrogant tone.

"Thank you for your praise! But you can save it for now, because you will soon know how brave Ireally am later when we fight!" Ricky replied with a confident smile.