I Have a Reason I Must Kill You

(Third update delivered~)

Although Gu Ding hadn't ascended to godhood, he already possessed god-like Combat Strength, so the Sea Emperor usually didn't hide anything about gods. Gu Ding was also aware that each advancement in godhood would trigger Heavenly Tribulation.

Each level of deity has five cultivation stars, and each advancement in rank involves a minor Heavenly Tribulation. Each advancement to a major rank involves a major Heavenly Tribulation.

When a demigod advances to Low-rank God, there is a major heavenly Heavenly Tribulation. Then, when One-Star Low-rank God advances to Five-Star Low-rank God, there is a minor Heavenly Tribulation for each advancement. When Low-rank God advances to Mid-rank God, there is a major Heavenly Tribulation, and so on.

Seeing the dense black clouds in the sky, Gu Ding finally understood why the Three-Headed Demon Dragon hadn't reacted for over forty minutes after receiving news of its subordinates' deaths. It was because it was at a crucial juncture in its attempt to break through to the fourth -Four-Star Mid-rank God, and simply couldn't react. Now, the rumbling thunder in the sky was the minor heavenly Heavenly Tribulation it had to undergo to advance to the fourth star. Only by cleansing and strengthening its divine body through the tribulation lightning could the Three-Headed Demon Dragon truly ascend to the Four-Star Mid-rank God.

Heavenly Tribulation is not actually lightning, but rather a divine attack manifested in the form of lightning. If it were real lightning, it would have no effect on gods.

Gu Ding watched as the tribulation clouds rapidly coalesced and covered the entire sea, clearly somewhat frustrated. "Once he survives the Heavenly Tribulation, his strength will increase again..."

"Gu Ding, his tribulation is not bad news for us, but good news!" Gu Ding was a little confused by the Sea Emperor's words.

"How could this be good news? It's unlikely that Mutated Demon Beast like him would perish during his tribulation, right?"

"Under normal circumstances, the possibility of him perishing is indeed not high. But as long as you enter the range affected by the Heavenly Tribulation, the chance of his demise can reach almost one hundred percent." The Sea Emperor's tone sounded very confident.

"Can outsiders enter the area affected by the Heavenly Tribulation?" Gu Ding asked with some curiosity.

"Of course you can go in. But if you want to come out, you have to wait for the Heavenly Tribulation to end. The reason I say this is because when there are multiple people in the area covered by the Heavenly Tribulation, the power and duration of the Heavenly Tribulation are multiplied according to the number of people," the Sea Emperor explained. "Moreover, if there is a group of people, the Heavenly Tribulation will automatically choose the person with the highest cultivation level to receive the tribulation. Then the effect and duration will be multiplied according to the number of people."

"The duration of the Heavenly Tribulation has been extended. But it's not a simple extension," the Sea Emperor continued to explain. "Because each tribulation lightning bolt is stronger than the last, if the duration is extended, the power of the tribulation lightning will only continue to increase during that extended period."

"For example: if ten Low-rank God and one High-rank God stand together to undergo tribulation, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation will automatically become eleven times the effect of the Heavenly Tribulation corresponding to the strength of the High-rank God. Moreover, the duration of the Heavenly Tribulation will be extended eleven times. If there were originally ten tribulation lightning bolts, it will become one hundred and ten tribulation lightning bolts. The power of the last one hundred tribulation lightning bolts will be stronger than the last one."

After explaining, the Sea Emperor revealed his idea. "My thought is that you sneak into the range of the tribulation lightning and activate your Indestructible Golden Body. That way, you probably won't even need to make a move; by the time the tribulation lightning ends, that Three-Headed Demon Dragon will be either dead or crippled. In your current flame form, your Combat Strength is comparable to the peak of Seven-Star Low-rank God. With the blessing of the Indestructible Golden Body, your defense will directly rise a whole level, becoming comparable to the peak of a Mid-rank God. Being able to withstand a full-force attack from a seven-star powerhouse should be enough to withstand thousands of full-force attacks from Four-Star Mid-rank God. Of course, this idea is somewhat risky."

"Sounds pretty good!" Gu Ding's eyes lit up after hearing this. He used to occasionally play pranks at the Rose Tavern, though this prank was now potentially fatal. Even if the opponent didn't die, he himself was in danger. Three-Star Mid-rank God was already difficult enough to deal with; if the opponent successfully advanced to four stars, his already slim chances of winning would become even more negligible. Gu Ding didn't want that to happen.

The tribulation clouds blotted out the sky and shrouded the entire Mist Sea, but the actual area where the Heavenly Tribulation occurred was only the central point. It was not that the area covered by the tribulation clouds was the same area where the tribulation lightning would strike.

The creatures in the sea, sensing the aura of the tribulation clouds in the sky and the oppressive power of the Three-Headed Demon Dragon, all fled from the surrounding area.

As the tribulation clouds formed in the sky, with lightning flashing within them, a beam of light poured down from the sky, enveloping an area of the sea.

When that beam of light shone down, Gu Ding felt as if the entire Mist Sea was trembling. This was the majesty of Heaven, an absolute will that could not be defied by anyone, anything, at any time, or in any space.

Beneath Gu Ding's feet, the slight tremor quickly transformed into rolling waves, the waves growing larger and larger. The sound of the water being torn apart, like the roar of a giant beast, grew ever closer. Watching the dark shadow rapidly rising from beneath the water's surface, Gu Ding knew that the Three-Headed Demon Dragon had finally been forced out of the sea by the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Three-Headed Demon Dragon had most of its body above the water's surface. Even with only a rough estimate, Gu Ding knew its length far exceeded ten thousand meters. He then examined it closely. This behemoth was entirely bluish-black, and aside from this color differing slightly from the jet-black of a normal Three-Headed Demon Dragon, it seemed otherwise identical. It also had three enormous heads, without an extra eye or anything like that. This was only the second time Gu Ding had seen a virus-parasitic beast that hadn't mutated; the first was Kepu, which had completely retained its pre-parasitic form.

While Gu Ding was observing the Three-Headed Demon Dragon, the demonic dragon was also observing him, and its eyes clearly held murderous intent.

On the entire sea surface, besides the Three-Headed Demon Dragon itself, there was only one human and one Mechanical Race. The human's aura was clearly no weaker than that of its eighteen subordinates, who had already been killed. With this human present, he was the prime suspect.

"Robert, go find Lily and the others first." Gu Ding took a tiny, almost imperceptible step forward, drawing the gaze of the Three-Headed Demon Dragon, which was scrutinizing him and Robert, to his side. He knew that under these circumstances, the Three-Headed Demon Dragon was unlikely to attack. Wherever he appeared, the Heavenly Tribulation would follow until Heavenly Tribulation was complete. If it attacked him now, it would drag him into the Heavenly Tribulation's area, significantly increasing the difficulty of the Heavenly Tribulation.

Robert didn't say much, and disappeared from the spot in a few big strides.

Gu Ding looked up at the heavenly lightning about to descend, then gave the Three-Headed Demon Dragon a meaningful smile. Before it could react, he flashed to the outer edge of the light circle illuminating the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Three-Headed Demon Dragon was startled. "What do you want to do?"

"This is the first time I've seen someone undergo Heavenly Tribulation. Although it's just a minor Heavenly Tribulation," Gu Ding grinned.

"Don't come any closer!" The Three-Headed Demon Dragon not only refrained from attacking, but also slightly retracted its body, fearing that it might accidentally pull Gu Ding into the range of the Heavenly Tribulation. Although Gu Ding was nothing more than an ant in its eyes in terms of size, it was unwilling to lose its life for an ant.

"You look like you really need help. Should I come in and help you?" Gu Ding said "helpfully."

"Get out! Don't you know that you killed all eighteen of my men?" The Three-Headed Demon Dragon directly tore off its mask.

"Unfortunately, what you don't know is that I not only want to kill them, but also you!" Gu Ding stood confidently on the water not far in front of the Three-Headed Demon Dragon.

"You? Dream on!" The Three-Headed Demon Dragon almost simultaneously sneered. But he still dared not attack Gu Ding.

"Really? What if I step on it?" Gu Ding said, raising his left foot. He only needed to take half a step forward to enter the range of the Heavenly Tribulation.

"Are you threatening me?" The Three-Headed Demon Dragon naturally knew that once Gu Ding stepped on it, it would either die or be severely injured.

"You can think that way." Gu Ding showed no fear in the face of the enraged Three-Headed Demon Dragon.

"Speak, what do you want?" Although the Three-Headed Demon Dragon was furious, he had no choice but to back down at this point.

"I want your three heads. And all the treasures in the God Relic." Gu Ding grinned, revealing his white teeth, as if this request was a matter of course.

"You're courting death!" The Three-Headed Demon Dragon was utterly enraged. But it dared not spare too much attention to deal with Gu Ding, much less make a move.

"If you won't give it to me, then I'll have to take it myself." Gu Ding said, preparing to step down, but was stopped again by the Three-Headed Demon Dragon.

"Human, do you know the consequences of taking this step?" The Three-Headed Demon Dragon suppressed its temper and tried to dissuade it again. "While I will certainly be implicated and my chances of Heavenly Tribulation are slim, with the heavenly lightning that can even kill me, do you think you can survive? Even if you possess terrifying supernatural powers that grant immunity to heavenly lightning, when I am exhausted, I will surely be able to kill you and take you with me. Have you thought carefully about your choice? Will you step into the range of the Heavenly Tribulation, or will you leave quickly? My Heavenly Tribulation will definitely not be completed anytime soon. If you retreat, I will not hold you responsible for killing my subordinates..."

"I made my choice long ago." As Gu Ding finished speaking, he took a step forward and landed firmly within the range of the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Three-Headed Demon Dragon was momentarily stunned. After a long while, its three enormous heads roared simultaneously, "Are you insane?! I already said I wouldn't hunt you down, why are you still doing this?!"

The three heads of the demonic dragon swung wildly in the air, emitting angry roars. Gu Ding's actions were driving him almost to madness.

"I'm not crazy, I just have a reason to kill you." Gu Ding's Indestructible Golden Body technique was finally activated...

~~~

(Let me explain. I saw some friends asking about the existence of six-star and seven-star levels. Each cultivation level only has five stars, but there's a 1000-fold Combat Strength difference between Five-Star Low-rank God and One-Star Mid-rank God. Therefore, Five-Star Low-rank God vary in strength. When I say Combat Strength comparable to a six-star, I actually mean ten times the Combat Strength of a regular five-star, and comparable to a seven-star, I mean one hundred times. In reality, there are no six-star or seven-star Combat Strength levels; there are only one to five stars. Using six-star and seven-star is just a more direct and concise way to represent Combat Strength; it has nothing to do with cultivation level.) (To be continued...)