Gatekeeper Iboson was far stronger than Gu Ding had imagined.
Like Gu Ding, he was a True Saint King, and his cultivation was one minor realm higher than Gu Ding's—he was a Two-Star Lord.
The two exchanged hundreds of moves in succession, and Gu Ding gradually showed signs of being suppressed.
Although Iboson held the advantage, it was still difficult for him to defeat Gu Ding completely. He had even transformed two Order God Chains into Order God Weapons and clashed them against Gu Ding's Order God Weapon, yet he had failed to widen his advantage.
He quickly realized that continuing like this would only waste time.
With a slash, he forced Gu Ding back. A dragon mark suddenly lit up on the back of Iboson's hand—a golden dragon mark. As it lit up, his aura began to surge.
"Although relying on external power isn't exactly honorable, my duty is to guard this place. You can still retreat now!"
Gu Ding was slightly surprised when he saw the dragon mark on his opponent's hand, because such things should only belong to trial participants. However, he had no time to think further. He activated the Purple-Gold Dragon Mark on the back of his left hand as well, and his aura began to soar.
According to the rules, once one reached 10 million Merit Points, the dragon mark would turn gold and grant an increase of five minor realms.
As for what changes would occur once one reached 100 million Merit Points, the previous rules had not mentioned it. Only Gu Ding himself knew that once a Purple-Gold dragon mark was activated, it could provide an increase of up to ten minor realms, provided the physical body could withstand it.
If the Lord realm was divided in detail, each star actually had