Suddenly Became a Hot Commodity

Watching Sa Ze's figure gradually fade on the challenge stage, Gu Ding finally felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.

Just like the Virtual Arena, Medicine King Valley consumed a person's mental energy. More than three hours of continuous high-intensity operation had almost depleted Gu Ding's mental strength.

Without even getting off the challenge stage, Gu Ding directly had Sea Emperor disconnect his mental link to Medicine King Valley. He immediately fell into a deep sleep in the pilot's seat of the cockpit.

Pa Ma was getting a little anxious. She had sent a message to Gu Ding a day ago and hadn't received any reply. More than ten calls had gone straight to voicemail.

During this time, Ma Dike also asked Pa Ma twice if she had gotten in touch with Gu Ding.

"Could something have happened?" Pa Ma's worry wasn't unfounded; interstellar travel was usually accompanied by various dangers.

Meanwhile, in Medicine King Valley, while Gu Ding was asleep, quite a few people had seen videos of him. In particular, the video of Gu Ding and Sa Ze refining the Swift Wing Enhancer had garnered over twenty million views in a single day.

The public videos in Medicine King Valley could be viewed even by those who weren't temporary residents. As long as they had the correct link, they could click in.

Gu Ding's appearance was very clear in the video. However, the character nickname on the video was blank, and Gu Ding only had a numerical code on him. That code was automatically assigned by the system; everyone was assigned one when they first entered Medicine King Valley, and it was unique.

The popularity of the video also attracted the attention of the higher-ups of the Medicine God Alliance's Tianhe Star Region branch.

The Tianhe Star Region branch had always been in the middle to lower ranks within the Medicine God Alliance. Now, with the sudden appearance of Gu Ding, they had a faint expectation for the new ranking.

As a member of the Tianhe Star Region branch's higher-ups, Ma Dike, despite his esteemed status as an A-Rank Pharmacist, didn't actually hold much real power. He had only been given an honorary president position; the actual president was someone else.

Looking at Gu Ding's pitifully sparse registration information, An Dongni, the president of the Tianhe Star Region branch, frowned slightly, but he quickly saw a line of keywords: "Joint Recommenders: Ma Dike and Pa Ma."

He couldn't wait to call Ma Dike's number.

"Senior, is that Gu Ding someone you know? I saw your and Pa Ma's names as recommenders on his profile."

Ma Dike was taken aback for a moment. He immediately knew that An Dongni must have also seen Gu Ding's refining video. His eyes darted around. "That kid is my designated disciple. What do you want?"

"Designated? So it's not finalized yet?" An Dongni grasped the key point, but he didn't dare say it out loud. Ma Dike's fiery temper and protectiveness were well-known, and offending him was not a wise move.

"Senior, please don't be anxious. I wouldn't dare to snatch your disciple. I just watched his refining video, and a genius of that level is beyond my ability to teach. I just want to know if he is from our Tianhe Star Region."

"You want him to participate in the Newcomer Ranking Competition?" As soon as Ma Dike heard this question, he knew what An Dongni was calculating. The Medicine God Alliance had many branches in the Long Teng Universe Country, almost covering every star region. And between the various star regions, there were various sparring competitions every year to rank the corresponding star regions. The higher the ranking of a star region, the more resources it received from the Medicine God Alliance.

However, there was a restriction on these sparrings: only pharmacists who were born and raised locally could represent the local area in battle. That's why An Dongni asked the question he cared about most.

"Gu Ding is from Deep Sea Star, and he is qualified to participate in the Newcomer Ranking Competition." Ma Dike had also learned a lot about Gu Ding from his disciple Pa Ma and had some understanding of Gu Ding's background.

"I wonder if Senior could help me get in touch with him?" An Dongni continued to ask. "He hasn't logged into Medicine King Valley since he went offline from the challenge stage. We've left him several messages, but haven't received any reply."

An Dongni was a decisive person. He never procrastinated on anything he could finish immediately. This was why, after watching Gu Ding's video, he immediately collected all the information he could about Gu Ding to analyze whether the other party was suitable to participate in the Newcomer Ranking Competition. He saw Gu Ding's video around midnight, finished watching it around 3 AM, and after reading Gu Ding's profile, he sent Gu Ding an invitation message and hadn't slept since. Of course, he hadn't received the reply he wanted either. His slight obsessive-compulsive disorder made him determined to contact Gu Ding before he could rest assured.

"I haven't been able to contact him for over twenty hours either," Ma Dike said truthfully. "Based on my estimation, he might have fallen into a deep sleep during this period due to excessive mental energy consumption. After all, he is only a First Order Gene Body, and his mental strength is limited."

"So that's how it is," An Dongni suddenly understood after hearing Ma Dike's explanation. Insufficient mental energy could indeed cause a person to enter a state of deep sleep. Then it was normal that the messages he sent received no reply; the other party simply hadn't seen them. "If Senior gets in touch with him, please be sure to ask him to log into Medicine King Valley as soon as possible."

"I will pass it on, don't worry," Ma Dike nodded and replied. "If he can get a good ranking, it will also be an honor for our entire branch."

"Then I won't disturb Senior any further." An Dongni politely hung up the call.

After sleeping for over twenty hours, Gu Ding finally woke up.

"You slept for twenty-three and a half hours this time. Your mental strength has increased to 12 points," Sea Emperor reminded him when Gu Ding woke up. "In addition, many people have been trying to contact you during this time."

"It should only be Pa Ma, right?" Based on Gu Ding's understanding of his friends, he estimated that only Pa Ma would contact him. After all, Pa Ma would know about him refining potions in Medicine King Valley sooner or later; he just didn't know that Pa Ma would find out so quickly.

Opening his communicator, Gu Ding saw that Pa Ma had left eleven voice messages and sent eight text messages.

"Why is she looking for me so urgently?" Gu Ding opened the messages one by one.

After spending a few minutes listening, Gu Ding finally understood that his two refining processes in the Medicine King Valley had been secretly recorded. Pa Ma also mentioned in her messages that Master Ma Dike wanted to meet him and wanted to schedule a time.

"Ma Dike probably wants to take you as a disciple. I just checked, and his reputation is quite good. His refining skills are also decent, considered top-tier among A-Rank Pharmacists. Whether you agree or not is up to you. I think having someone backing you in the early stages of development isn't a bad idea," Sea Emperor shared the information he had found.

Gu Ding didn't say anything, looking at Pa Ma's number. After hesitating for a moment, he still pressed the dial button.