Suddenly Became a Hot Commodity

Watching Sa Ze's figure gradually fade from the challenge platform, Gu Ding finally felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

Medicine King Valley, like the Virtual Arena, consumed mental power. More than three hours of continuous high-intensity work had nearly drained Gu Ding's mental strength.

Before he even stepped off the challenge platform, Gu Ding had Sea Emperor disconnect his mental link to Medicine King Valley. Then, sitting in the cockpit, he immediately fell asleep.

Pa Ma had been waiting anxiously. She had sent Gu Ding messages a whole day ago, yet had received no reply. More than ten calls had gone straight to voicemail.

During that time, Ma Dike had also asked Pa Ma twice whether she had managed to contact Gu Ding.

"Could something have happened?" Pa Ma's worries were not unfounded. Interstellar travel was generally accompanied by all kinds of dangers.

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

Public videos in Medicine King Valley could be viewed even by people who were not temporary residents there. All they needed was the correct link.

Gu Ding's appearance was very clear in the video. However, his username was blank, and he had only a numerical ID. That number was automatically assigned by the system. Everyone received one upon entering Medicine King Valley for the first time, and each one was unique.

The video's popularity also caught the attention of the upper management of the Tianhe Star Region branch of the Medicine God Alliance.

The Tianhe Star Region branch had always ranked in the middle to lower tier within the Medicine God Alliance. Now that someone like Gu Ding had suddenly appeared, they vaguely began to look forward to the new rankings.

As one of the Tianhe Star Region branch's higher-ups, Ma Dike held an exalted position as an A-grade pharmacist, but he did not actually possess much real authority. He had merely been given the honorary chairman position, while the actual chairman was someone else.

Looking at Gu Ding's pitifully sparse registration information, An Dongni, the chairman of the Tianhe Star Region branch, frowned slightly. But he soon spotted a crucial line: "Joint recommenders: Ma Dike and Pa Ma."

He immediately dialed Ma Dike's number.

"Senior, do you know this Gu Ding? I saw that both you and Pa Ma are listed as recommenders on his profile."

Ma Dike was stunned for a moment. He immediately realized that An Dongni had probably watched Gu Ding's refining video as well. His eyes rolled as he said, "That kid is the disciple I've already picked out. What are you trying to do?"

"Already picked out? In other words, it hasn't been finalized yet?" An Dongni caught the key point, but he did not dare say it aloud. Ma Dike's temper and protectiveness were well known. Offending him would not be a wise move.

"Senior, please don't misunderstand. I wouldn't dare compete with you for a disciple. I just watched his refining video. A genius of that caliber is beyond my ability to teach. I only want to know whether he is from our Tianhe Star Region."

"You want him to participate in the Newcomer Ranking Competition?" The moment Ma Dike heard the question, he knew what An Dongni was calculating. The Medicine God Alliance had many branches throughout the Long Teng Universe Country, spread across nearly every star region. Every year, the various star regions held all kinds of contests and sparring matches, which were used to rank them. The higher a star region ranked, the more resources it received from the Medicine God Alliance.

However, those contests had a restriction: only pharmacists born and raised locally could represent their home region. That was why An Dongni had raised the question he cared about most.

"Gu Ding is from Deep Sea Star, so he qualifies to participate in the Newcomer Ranking Competition." Ma Dike had also learned quite a bit about Gu Ding from his disciple Pa Ma, including Gu Ding's background.

"Senior, could you help us contact him?" An Dongni continued. "Ever since he logged out on the challenge platform, he hasn't logged into Medicine King Valley again. We left him several messages, but none of them received a reply."

An Dongni was a decisive man. If something could be done immediately, he would never delay it. That was why, after watching Gu Ding's video, he had immediately gathered every piece of information he could find on Gu Ding to determine whether Gu Ding was suitable for the Newcomer Ranking Competition. It had been around midnight when he saw Gu Ding's video. By the time he finished watching it, it was past three in the morning. After reviewing Gu Ding's information, he sent him an invitation and waited until now without sleeping. Of course, he had not received the reply he wanted. His mild obsessive tendencies would not let him rest until he had contacted Gu Ding.

"I haven't been able to reach him for more than twenty hours either," Ma Dike answered honestly. "My guess is that he may have fallen into a deep sleep from excessive mental exhaustion. After all, he's only a First Order Gene Body, so his mental strength is limited."

"So that's what happened." Only after hearing Ma Dike's explanation did An Dongni understand. A lack of mental power could indeed cause someone to enter a state of deep sleep. It was only natural that his messages had received no response; Gu Ding had not seen them at all. "Senior, if you manage to contact him, please make sure he logs into Medicine King Valley as soon as possible."

"I'll pass it on. Don't worry," Ma Dike replied with a nod. "If he can achieve a good ranking, it will be an honor for our entire branch as well."

"Then I won't disturb you any further, Senior." An Dongni politely ended the call.

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

"You slept for twenty-three and a half hours this time. Your mental power has risen to 12 points." Seeing Gu Ding awake, Sea Emperor reminded him, "Besides that, quite a few people have been trying to contact you during this time."

"Probably just Pa Ma, right?" Based on Gu Ding's understanding of his friends, Pa Ma was likely the only one who would contact him. After all, it was only a matter of time before Pa Ma learned that he had refined medicine in Medicine King Valley. He simply had not expected her to find out so quickly.

When he opened his communicator, he found eleven voice messages from Pa Ma, along with eight text messages.

"What's so urgent?" Gu Ding opened the messages one by one.

After spending several minutes listening to them, Gu Ding finally learned that both of his refining sessions in Medicine King Valley had been secretly recorded. Pa Ma also mentioned in her messages that Master Ma Dike wanted to meet him and arrange a time to see him.

"Ma Dike probably wants to take you as his disciple. I just looked him up. He has a pretty good reputation, and his pharmaceutical skills are also quite impressive. He's considered among the best A-grade pharmacists. Whether you agree is up to you. I think having someone to back you up early on wouldn't be a bad thing." Sea Emperor shared the information he had found.

Gu Ding said nothing. He looked at Pa Ma's number, hesitated for a moment, then pressed the call button.