At Medicine King Valley, Gu Ding's negotiations with An Dongni went smoothly.
An Dongni's requirements were simple. The Newcomer Ranking Competition would begin in three months. Gu Ding only needed to place within the top fifty, and the Tianhe branch of the Medicine God Alliance would award him a reward worth one hundred million Star Coins. If he made the top ten, the Tianhe branch's reward would rise to one billion Star Coins.
Gu Ding naturally had no reason to refuse such a win-win arrangement. Even if he failed to make the top fifty, he would lose nothing. All he had to do was register under the name of the Tianhe Star Region when entering the competition. He had planned to participate anyway. Thus, the two sides quickly reached an agreement.
After settling the relevant matters with An Dongni, Gu Ding took a brief stroll around Medicine King Valley, only to unexpectedly draw plenty of attention along the way. His appearance had spread everywhere because of that video. The video had been played in public areas, so not only did the pharmacists and temporary residents of Medicine King Valley know about him, but even many people who had never entered Medicine King Valley had heard of him.
Left with no choice, Gu Ding could only log out of the system.
Sitting in the cockpit seat, Gu Ding stared blankly at the endless black starry sky beyond the window for a while before asking, "Sea Emperor, was there any news today?"
"Nothing major," Sea Emperor replied, seeming somewhat bored as well. "I only heard that Kane has also turned toward the New Trade Route. This time, he wants to return to the Universe Sea. And Koude Bulade's Judicator Pirate Crew is supposedly heading for the New Trade Route too. The opening of this New Trade Route has excited all the Interstellar Pirates of the Long Teng Universe Country. Quite a few who had already gone to other Universe Countries have changed course and are preparing to take the New Trade Route."
"It suddenly got lively. I think that's great." Gu Ding grinned. He was the sort of person who liked excitement and always went wherever things were happening. Over the years, he had enjoyed working at the Rose Tavern, and one important reason was that he could meet all sorts of people there and hear all kinds of stories. It was those people and stories that had inspired him to become an Interstellar Pirate.
Thinking of Kane and Koude Bulade, Gu Ding felt even more strongly that those people with bounties exceeding one hundred million Star Coins were all outrageously powerful. He had seen Kane make a move before. Kane's movements had been so fast that the eye could not catch them at all. Koude Bulade's bounty was roughly the same as Kane's, so his strength had to be comparable as well.
"You really need to improve your strength quickly. If you enter the New Trade Route at your current level, you'll be devoured without even your bones left behind." Sea Emperor voiced his thoughts without reservation.
"I understand. There should be quite a few powerhouses on the New Trade Route with strength comparable to Uncle Kane's. There may even be stronger ones." Gu Ding nodded. Choosing the New Trade Route did not mean he was naive or knew nothing. In fact, he had never overestimated his own strength. He knew very clearly what he could and could not do.
"Connect me to the Virtual Arena! I'll first practice every move I can learn with a Cell Comprehensive Index of 100 in the Virtual Arena. Then, once my physical strength reaches the required level, I'll only need to familiarize myself with the moves a little before I can use them directly. That'll save a lot of time spent practicing the moves." Gu Ding planned to continue cultivating the Limitless Body Technique in the Virtual Arena.
"That treats the symptoms, not the root cause, but this is all we can do for now." Sea Emperor was also rather helpless about Gu Ding's constitution and immediately connected him to the arena.
Only after entering the arena did Gu Ding see his latest profile:
Name: This Killer Isn't Afraid of the Cold Gender: Male Age: 15 Challenges: 10 Victories: 10 Defeats: 0 Draws: 0 Win Rate: 100% Points: 55 Honor: Ten Consecutive Victories Honor Description: Win ten consecutive matches in the arena to accumulate points. The first match awards 1 point, the second awards 2 points, the third awards 3 points... the tenth awards 10 points.
"Can these points be exchanged for items?" Gu Ding seemed to recall seeing an explanation somewhere.
"Yes. In the beginner arena, the purchasing power of 1 point is equivalent to one hundred Star Coins. That's why many people from less wealthy families come here to compete, then sell their points or directly use them to purchase items." Sea Emperor added, "Of course, some wealthy people accumulate points simply to show off how strong they are, so they often buy points from people with high point totals."
"Points can be traded directly?" Gu Ding raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't the system forbid that?"
"No. The system tacitly allows it, because it charges a 5% transaction fee on every trade," Sea Emperor explained.
"Points can be transferred from one person to another?" Gu Ding had only visited the arena once, so there were still many things he did not understand.
"They can be transferred. Otherwise, how would people trade them?"
"Then what's the point? Can't other people still see their number of battles and win rate?" Gu Ding felt that merely accumulating points was meaningless.
"You can spend money to set permissions that prevent ordinary people from looking those up, leaving only the point total visible." Sea Emperor laughed. "And as far as I know, wealthy people can also bribe opponents to farm points and win rates. As long as they pay enough, they can make the other side surrender. There are plenty of people in the arena who are short on money. They compete for the money."
"Looks like unspoken rules exist everywhere." Gu Ding shook his head and sighed.
"Many things can't be completely eradicated. They can only be regulated and controlled. Overall, the arena system is actually quite well designed. The market as a whole is still very orderly, and the overall order has barely been affected." Sea Emperor offered his opinion.
"As long as nobody brings that sort of thing to me, it's fine. I can earn some pocket money while cultivating the Limitless Body Technique. That's the arena's greatest use to me." Gu Ding also knew such things could not be eradicated.
"Don't underestimate any opponent in the arena. Even in the beginner arena, there are experts. I just checked the battle video records. If you encounter anyone in the top hundred right now, you have absolutely no chance of winning. And that's only the Tianhe Star Region division's arena." Sea Emperor warned him.
"It's fine. There's nothing shameful about losing to a truly strong opponent." Gu Ding grinned and pressed the random battle matching button.
"Young Miss, that kid from last time has come again." In the system control room, a staff member saw Gu Ding's matching information and dialed a number.
"Got it. I'll be right over. Match him with someone around rank ten thousand first." A female voice came from the communicator. It was the very woman who had been eating a lollipop in the control room last time.
"They assigned you an opponent ranked around ten thousand. At that rank, they're basically all powerhouses who have already awakened their abilities. Be careful." Before the result was even announced, Sea Emperor had already revealed the match information to Gu Ding.
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