In the entire Five-element Region,
the Nether Water Saint was regarded as one of the strongest saints in their records.
Moreover, he was also tasked as the vice leader of the Five-element Sect's water branch. The Five-
element Sect had no leader for a long time, and this was one of the main reasons why the sect had
been divided into various branches. Due to them being leaderless, the leaders of the sect's branches
took the initiative and all appointed themselves as the vice leaders of their respective branches.
Meanwhile, upon seeing the Nether Water Saint, everyone in the surroundings stood up straight and
bowed. Lining up in straight rows, they greeted respectfully, "Greetings, sir!"
It was said that no matter how powerful a spiritual emperor was, he was obliged to lower his head in
front of a saint because clearly, he didn't have the strength to provoke him.
"Master!" Raylan greeted with utmost respect.
"Nice to see you, sir!" Ashley said. The Nether Water Saint was, in fact, as old as Wood Saint.
Therefore, Ashley found it deemed necessary to return the respect.
On the other hand, Ricky also bowed and greeted the saint, showing nothing but admiration and
respect. It did not matter to him if a saint held a different stance from him in terms of martial arts, for he
revered and honored every saint.
"Hmm." The Nether Water Saint nodded as a reply to the warriors around him. He might be very
powerful, but he was never arrogant to anyone.
Not long after, he ordered the warriors around him in a very soft voice, "Everyone, this is the internal
affairs of the Five-element Sect. Please give us a moment of privacy."
"Yes, of course, sir!" Without wasting any time, everyone left no matter how curious they were about
what would happen next.
"Sir,
your presence is unexpected," Ashley said to the Nether Water Saint as soon as the warriors left.
"Stop fooling around, Ashley. You very well know why I am here. A genius like this young man who was
once an incredible demi-spiritual emperor deserves my attention and I'll try my best to keep him in our
branch." The Nether Water Saint cast a humble smile in front of Ashley.
"Ricky, do you understand what I mean?" he then asked Ricky.
"Certainly!" Ricky nodded as a reply.
"Since you are very certain about this, you can go back to the water branch with me. You will be the
holy son of our branch, and you have the right to use all the cultivation resources of the branch," said
the Nether Water Saint in an assertive tone.
"Now, if you really like Ashley, you may propose as soon as I take you to the wood branch. It won't
matter if her master, Lloyd, disagrees with your proposal. I will help you take her away."
Ricky could not help but get surprised when he heard this. The same was true for Ashley. Raylan, on
the other hand, thought that he was just dreaming to hear those unbelievable words from his master.
He could not help but wonder, 'What's going on? Why do I feel like Master already considers Ricky as
his disciple? This is just absurd!'
"Ha ha, good. That's good news. All along, I thought that the Nether Water Saint was an enemy, but I
didn't expect him to be so generous and straightforward," the Dragon Intent Grass said gladly. "Boy, I
think you should change your mind and just join the water branch.
However, only you have such talent to make those renowned warriors like saints cherish you so much.
You were once the only powerful incredible demi-spiritual emperor in this era, after all. People would
surely try to woo you as long as they don't have any animosity towards you."
"So my talent really helps a lot," Ricky remarked.
"Of course, it does. This is the rule of the martial world. Talent and strength are the deciding factors for
your status. And besides, your real status would still depend on your own strength," the grass
commented.
"Okay, I think I got it!" Ricky said firmly. "However, I am not a person who refutes myself. I have already
promised Ashley that I would be joining the wood branch; therefore, I will keep my word."
Having made up his mind, Ricky turned to the Nether Water Saint and said,
"Sir, I appreciate your kindness. But I have already promised Ashley, so I apologize. I'm sorry that I
can't join the water branch."
"You don't need to apologize for this. As a warrior, you have the right to refuse everything when you
think you have to," replied the Nether Water Saint.
"Haha, look! He is not even mad at your refusal," the Dragon Intent Grass remarked with laughter.
Just then, another voice echoed, and an old man in cyan stepped out from nowhere.
"Wells, it's not right to poach my people especially right now!" This was an old man with messy white
hair.
He was very thin and weak as if he were a piece of dead wood.
In contrast to his seemingly weak body, his power said otherwise. Perhaps, only a saint could truly feel
the immense energy that was inside the old man's body.
"I guess that this old man is probably much stronger than the Nether Water Saint. I'm guessing, he is
close to a medium saint," observed the Dragon Intent Grass.
"How many levels are there among the saints?" Ricky inquired.
"There are the saint, medium saint, great saint, and demi-spiritual potentate, the peak of them all! Now,
each of the four levels has three grades: the first, second, and of course, the third grade.
Judging from this man's aura, he should be a medium saint who has reached the third grade. The
Nether Water Saint, on the other hand, must have reached the second grade at his peak state.
But of course, I am not really certain for these are just rough estimates. I only based my judgment on
their auras. I drew this conclusion by comparing their auras to the auras of the Great Dragons who
have become saints that I have met before,"
the Dragon Intent Grass explained.
"Master!" Ashley exclaimed with excitement after seeing the old man.
"Nice to see you, sir!" Raylan greeted respectfully.
'Hmm... I guess that this old man is the deputy leader of the wood branch,' Ricky wondered. Seeing
that the others had paid their respects, of course, Ricky also did the same and bowed his head slightly.
"That's a wise choice. The younger generation will surpass the older. Choosing the wood branch will
prove to be a smart choice," the old man, Lloyd, said with a smile as he looked at Ricky.
...
"Shame on you, Lloyd! Take that back! This guy has a unique talent. If he joined your wood branch,
then I'm sure that after two years, he would remain stagnant. You should know what will happen after
one and a half years after, and two years after that,"
the Nether Water Saint claimed coldly.
"Wells, are you belittling me?" Lloyd taunted. It turned out that the Nether Water Saint's name was
Wells.
"Then let's settle this. Let's go into battle and prove it!" the Nether Water Saint, Wells, said coldly and
disappeared as soon as he finished his words.
Frustrated, Lloyd shook his head and vanished as well.
Soon after, Ricky and the others suddenly felt the strong invisible vibration coming from the sky. But
somehow, this was quite normal to happen in a battle between two saints.
After all, it was something that the lower spiritual emperors would never be able to see with naked
eyes.
Ricky turned to look at Raylan and Ashley and asked. "Hey, guys! Now that I will be a member of the
Five-element Sect, mind if you introduce the sect a little bit?"
Even though the two saints were not from the same branch, Ricky didn't assume that they were
enemies.
However, Ricky kind of knew the reason behind it. In fact, they all hoped that the Five-element Sect
could be united again, but despite this wonderful aspiration, none of them obeyed to the others. As a
result, they didn't have a real leader.
That was why, at that moment, he made sure to use the right words so as not to offend Raylan and
Ashley in any manner.
"Humph!" Ashley just snorted.
At that moment, Ricky did not only win the favor of her master, but also the favor of the Nether Water
Saint. Without a doubt, the two saints had been fighting over Ricky's membership to their respective
branches.
Ashley really did not know why the saints valued Ricky so much, despite the fact that he was once an
incredible demi-spiritual emperor.
Somehow, she felt a bit jealous of Ricky.
On the other hand, Raylan also ignored Ricky. Frankly, all that ran through his mind at that moment
was the image of him killing Ricky. Raylan was relieved that Ricky did not join the water branch.
Otherwise, his position in the water branch would be challenged once he witnessed how Ricky was
valued by his master.
At that moment, Ricky could not help but feel helpless when he felt that the two turned their cold
shoulders to him.
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