A Bold Invitation

One advantage of being an energy being is that as long as the energy isn't depleted, they won't die, and their injuries will continue to heal. This is unlike most of the opponents Gu Ding had encountered before.

In his battle with Boti, Gu Ding annihilated demigods within his domain, primarily relying on the power of the divine axe he wielded. Any demigod struck by it was instantly disintegrated and beyond repair. But now, Gu Ding is using his own fists. He can harm demigods because he possesses a black divine source within him.

However, Gu Ding also discovered that his divine source actually had a special attribute, which seemed to be able to devour the energy of his opponents to strengthen himself.

Qiao Di and the other three did indeed discover the special attributes of Gu Ding's divine source. It took them several times Gu Ding own divine source to dispel it. What was originally just a minor injury—the loss of an arm—recovered with an energy consumption no less than that required to restore half of their body. Gu Ding was not only stronger than the four of them, but even the attributes of his divine source subtly had a restraining effect on them.

"Sea Emperor, lock their Smart Watch to prevent them from taking recovery potions or Originium from their Storage Space to heal." Gu Ding effectively blocked the four's escape route. He couldn't ignore Elizabeth's request; if he killed them, Elizabeth might turn against him and refuse to treat Bigge. However, if they were only severely injured, they could recover quickly with enough energy. Therefore, Gu Ding had Sea Emperor lock their Smart Watch, preventing them from accessing their Storage Space for energy replenishment.

Gu Ding dared not use his damage-stacking ability. His current attack power was comparable to that of One-Star Low-rank God. If he left the four with a damage-stacking curse, the high-level damage stacking wouldn't stop until the effect reached ten stacks. Gu Ding anticipated that he might accidentally kill them all on the third attack. Therefore, he could only rely on normal attacks to exhaust their energy and completely defeat them.

Seeing the four people get up, Gu Ding darted out again, showing no mercy, and launched a series of attacks on them.

With their Combat Strength reduced by Gu Ding's domain, Qiao Di and his three companions were no match for Gu Ding. They were all blasted away like sandbags with just one strike.

But Gu Ding did not give up, because he saw that the four people's injuries were still slowly recovering. He took another step and flashed to appear next to Qiao Di had not yet regained his footing.

Qiao Di panicked. He knew his body could only withstand two more attacks of this magnitude. If it exceeded that, his body would completely disintegrate, and he would perish. He watched dejectedly as Gu Ding clenched his fists into hammers, the terrifying Black God Source emanating from his body and violently slamming into his chest.

"One last blow... Am I destined to die after all?" Seeing that Gu Ding had not left, Qiao Di closed his eyes helplessly. He knew that it was no use resisting now. The opponent's defense was stronger than his attack power. He was probably no Combat Strength for a two-star god.

The other three also looked in horror in the direction of Qiao Di. Their situation was similar to Qiao Di's; they could withstand at most two more attacks. The fact that the enemy was staying in Qiao Di's location meant that Qiao Di was not far from his demise.

"Gu Ding, judging from his current recovery speed, if you make another move, he will die." The Sea Emperor's voice entered Gu Ding's ears.

Hearing what the Sea Emperor said, Gu Ding also realized his mistake. His fist, which had been raised again, suddenly turned into a claw, grabbed Qiao Di's arms, and with a sudden force, tore Qiao Di's hands off.

Qiao Di felt a sharp pain in his arms and couldn't help but open his eyes, only to see his arms rapidly disintegrating under the Black God Source emanating from Gu Ding's hands.

Gu Ding, however, vanished from his sight in a flash.

Qiao Di's body had just finished repairing, but with his arms torn off by Gu Ding, he lacked sufficient energy, causing the repair process to stall, leaving him armless. The Smart Watch he wore on his left wrist was also taken by his opponent, leaving him without a power source to replenish his energy. Trapped within his opponent's domain—essentially a Small World —he was also unable to draw energy from the outside.

He could only watch helplessly as the other three were half-dead by Gu Ding using the same method, then had their arms broken and their Smart Watch taken away.

"I'm sorry, I promised Elizabeth I wouldn't kill you, so I have no choice but to send you to fight. If I don't do this, you'll eventually break through my domain and inform the others." After saying this, Gu Ding left the four behind, activated his domain, and stepped out.

Gu Ding and the four people disappeared in less than three minutes.

Elizabeth hadn't expected that Gu Ding possessed a domain, as she knew very well that Gu Ding's current genetic level was far from reaching the Demigod Realm. A month ago, during the battle on Red Shield Star, Elizabeth had judged from the video that Gu Ding's genetic level was only seventh rank. Now, a month later, although she hadn't seen Gu Ding make a move, she'd be lucky to have advanced to ninth rank. In reality, Gu Ding was currently only Eighth Order Gene Body.

To Elizabeth's surprise, Gu Ding emerged from his domain in less than three minutes. This meant that Gu Ding had dispatched his four peak demigod bodyguards in under three minutes, prompting her to reassess his Combat Strength. She knew the bodyguards' strength well; they were close to one-star gods, indicating Gu Ding's Combat Strength was at least above two-star gods. What she didn't know was that the main reason for their defeat was the powerful suppression effect of Gu Ding 'Gu Ding domain on his enemies' Combat Strength; the four bodyguards had only managed to unleash less than ten percent of their power.

"I didn't kill them. I'll go pay the bill first, and then we'll go to the port." Gu Ding turned and walked towards Elizabeth.

"No need, this hotel is under my name, we can leave now." Elizabeth said, grabbing Gu Ding's wrist, opening the window next to the small table, and pulling Gu Ding down with her.

This scene terrified the other diners in the hotel.

In particular, a little boy at a table not far away was pointing in this direction, unable to say a word for a long time.

"What's wrong with you now?" A young father sitting opposite him turned his head in surprise, but saw nothing.

"Dad, two people just jumped down!" The little boy's eyes sparkled.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Your dad is Thirteenth-Order Gene Body. Even if I jumped from that height, I would definitely die. You should focus on your cultivation every day and stop thinking about those ridiculous things," the young father said, taking the opportunity to lecture him.

"I really saw two people jump down!" the little boy argued.

The young father was about to say something when he heard someone at the next table interrupt, "Two people did jump just now, a man and a woman, both quite young. I don't know why they were so distraught. These days, I don't know what's wrong with these young people; they're ready to kill themselves at the slightest setback. I, an old man, never did that even after over three hundred breakups..."

The hotel was immediately abuzz with discussion.

Meanwhile, Gu Ding was being glided through the air by Elizabeth's wrist.

"Taking the elevator is too slow, this will save time!" Elizabeth seemed very happy.

This wasn't the first time Gu Ding had experienced this kind of high-altitude fall; in fact, every time the spaceship landed, there was a period of descent. However, the feeling of falling without the spaceship's protection was far more thrilling. He hadn't expected Elizabeth to be so reckless, and he wasn't worried about her letting go. One reason was that he knew Elizabeth wouldn't let go, and another was that even if she did, his Storage Space contained a large number of Insect Robot left behind by Robert, enough to ensure a safe landing.

"I heard you're going to resign as king?" Gu Ding hesitated for a moment before asking the question. Logically, this was a confidential matter, and he shouldn't have asked, but Gu Ding couldn't resist his curiosity.

"You already know." Elizabeth wasn't surprised. Although she didn't know that Gu Ding was by Sea Emperor's side, she knew that Gu Ding was a very skilled hacker with a strong ability to gather information.

"I've heard about it." Gu Ding nodded.

"Yes, once Parliament has confirmed the candidate for the throne, the information should be released soon." Elizabeth did not hide anything.

"So what are your plans?" Gu Ding then asked.

"I will leave the Fei Me Universe Country and go to the outer realms..." Elizabeth was about to say more, but seemed to have thought of something and stopped herself.

"Outer Realms?" This was the first time Gu Ding had ever heard this term.

"The so-called outer realm is the region outside the human race's Universe Sea," the Sea Emperor explained. "You must understand that the Universe Sea you currently wish to reach is only the area occupied by the human race. Compared to the true Universe Sea, the area occupied by the human race is merely a small pond. Entering the outer realm is what it means to enter the true Universe Sea, where you will see all kinds of races besides humans. And the competition there will be much fiercer. The conflicts between the various races will almost always end in a fight to the death."

"In the outer realms, there are also special battlefields, located at the intersection of the Universe Sea of several races. Fighting there earns you points awarded by the Federal Government, which can be exchanged for various abundant resources. Elizabeth probably wants to go to the battlefield as well. Because once she steps down from her position as ruler, she will have to rely on herself to obtain resources."

Hearing the Sea Emperor's explanation, Gu Ding immediately realized that Elizabeth wasn't as happy as he had imagined. He had assumed that as the ruler of a kingdom, she would naturally have everything she wanted. A thought struck him, "Elizabeth, why don't you join our team? We'll go to the outer realms someday too." (To be continued.)