Stda of the Freedom Alliance
The Freedom Alliance is the largest neutral organization in the human Universe Sea. They possess a considerable number of powerful individuals, but they typically do not participate in internal Human Race conflicts. Instead, they primarily focus on protecting powerful individuals without affiliation, thus strengthening the entire Human Race.
In fact, the Freedom Alliance played a significant role in promoting the Federal Government's tolerant and permissive attitude towards Interstellar Pirate during this era.
Of course, Gu Ding's reason for letting the Sharp-Mouthed Youth go wasn't entirely out of respect for the Freedom Alliance. From the beginning, he only intended to establish his authority, not to kill anyone. He knew many people were secretly observing him, and if he didn't take drastic measures to intimidate them, others would think he was an easy target and would all rush to bully him. The appearance of this young man from the Freedom Alliance was, in fact, perfectly timed.
After Gu Ding released the person, he sized up the boy.
The boy looked to be about the same age as Gu Ding, and he looked like a student. His clothes were rather conservative, and although they weren't school uniforms, they looked just like school uniforms on him.
Seeing Gu Ding looking him over, he smiled a little embarrassedly, "I'm Stda from the Freedom Alliance. I was in a bit of a hurry just now. I didn't mean to be so loud. Please don't take offense."
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure rapidly approached and stood beside Stda.
Gu Ding looked up and saw that it was his old acquaintance Sharp. He had a long sword at his waist and exuded a powerful aura.
"Gu Ding?" Sharp was taken aback when he saw Gu Ding. "I didn't expect you to be here too."
"Long time no see." Now that he and Sharp were no longer enemies, Gu Ding was in a good mood to see an acquaintance and grinned. "We knew you were here. Bigge said he definitely wanted to fight you sometime."
"If it's a friendly spar, I'd be happy to oblige." Sharp maintained his perpetually poker face, nodding expressionlessly. "We have some things to attend to, so we'll be leaving now."
After saying that, he quickly left with Stda.
Gu Ding could clearly sense that Sharp gave him a feeling no less intense Bigge; if the two were to fight, it would likely be a closely contested battle. But what puzzled Gu Ding even more was the dangerous aura emanating from the boy, Stda, who was about his age. He couldn't help but ask the Sea Emperor, "What's the background of that boy?"
"He was one of the former regular members of Top 0, and once ranked seventh in Top 0, Five-Star Prodigy. Top 0 is full of demigods. Because it is very difficult for demigods to advance to gods, the competition in Top 0 is far more intense than in Top 1. The total number of members in Top 0 is more than 12,000, while the total number of members in Top 1 has never exceeded 500, and the number of members in Top 2 is even smaller."
"This guy named Stda caused quite a stir a few months ago. He left Top 0 and joined the Freedom Alliance, which made him a target of the regular Top 0 members. He actually defeated the third and second members of the regulars, and even managed to retreat from the strong attack of the first member. Later, it was the higher-ups of the Freedom Alliance who intervened and communicated with the Federal Government to have his Bounty Order removed. He is now Two-Star Low-rank God, with actual Combat Strength comparable to Two-Star Mid-rank God, a whole major rank higher. But such monstrous beings usually have other Trump Card. So his true strength should be even greater."
"The Freedom Alliance only sent seven people this time, but each of them is no weaker than the top one," Sea Emperor added.
"It seems there are quite a few experts this time." Gu Ding became increasingly excited. The stronger the opponent, the more it ignited his fighting spirit.
Just then, a sound suddenly came from above the sky, instantly sweeping across every corner of the entire planet.
"Hello everyone, this is Gatins from the Federal Government Headquarters. I'm in charge of matters related to this entry into the ruins..."
Gu Ding looked up at the sky. They had stayed near the port for the past few days since disembarking and hadn't gone far. Meanwhile, the powerful man Gatins was hovering high above the port, shouting to the group.
"Gatins, Lieutenant General of the Federal Government Headquarters. Five-Star Mid-rank God, one of the powerful guardians of this Great Boundary River," the Sea Emperor said in Gu Ding's ear. "He comes from the Elite Legion, and his combat strength is comparable to One-Star High-rank God. He is very powerful."
"Many people probably know that the maximum number of people that the Oul Ruins can accommodate each time is 10,000. But every time, the number of people who come exceeds this number. This time, on the Ju Fu Star, the number of god-level experts has exceeded 11,000, and there are also some demigods and Prodigy Experts are not at the Demigod Realm who want to enter. Therefore, in order to eliminate the number of people and allow the experts to enter, as in previous years, a round of assessment will be conducted."
"This year's assessment is particularly simple; it only tests attack power. Any type of weapon can be used, and each person has only one chance to unleash their strongest attack. Regardless of cultivation level, the top 10,000 in attack power will qualify for the next round," Gatins explained the assessment rules.
"Now, everyone can head to the port and line up for testing. We have prepared a total of one hundred testing devices this time. There is no need to worry about destroying the testing devices. The highest attack intensity that these testing devices can withstand is the limit of Mid-rank God. As long as it is not up to the attack power of High-rank God, it can withstand it."
After listening to the explanation, Gu Ding immediately asked the Sea Emperor to contact Liliath and the others to gather.
In less than five minutes, Liliath and the others arrived, and the six of them and the cat chose a line to wait. They were probably around ninety in line, so they had no choice but to wait.
For this test, Gu Ding was most worried about Dokter and Elsa, while Liliath was less of a concern. This was because Liliath's weapon had been modified by Robert, and given enough energy, it could unleash an attack exceeding the power of Five-Star Low-rank God. Liliath was currently feeding Originium into her weapon one by one to replenish its energy.
"Elsa, Dokter, what level of attack power can the two of you reach at your strongest?" Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.
"Through this period of actual combat, my Combat Strength has increased several times over, and my strongest Combat Strength can surpass that of Three-Star Low-rank God." Elsa did not hide her strength from Gu Ding.
"Under normal circumstances, using the divine throwing knife, my Combat Strength is that of Two-Star Low-rank God. If I use the secret technique to unleash my power, I can reach three stars." The secret technique that Dokter mentioned was the one he used when fighting Medea before.
"Three-star Combat Strength should be enough..." Gu Ding nodded. "However, to avoid being eliminated, you should all go all out and there's no need to hold back. As for the others, hold back a little for now, don't exceed the Combat Strength of Five-Star Low-rank God, so we can keep some Trump Card."
The test began quickly, and Sea Emperor was also watching the situation at the test site, looking for any particularly amazing things to happen.
A hundred split-screen live streams were projected above everyone's heads, just to provide some entertainment for those waiting in line.
Gu Ding and his group waited while looking up.
Soon, it was the turn of one of the top 1 members at testing device number 43. The top 1 group had stayed near the port the whole time and hadn't gone far, so it was easy for them to get to the front of the line. However, the nine of them were placed in nine different queues.
The monitor displayed the young man's name— Odin Gatuso. On the screen was a handsome blond youth who, before the test, tossed his blond hair at the monitor, drawing angry shouts of "narcissist!" But the commotion quickly died down. Although a longsword hung at his waist, he didn't use it; with a casual punch, the number of stars on the testing device rapidly increased—a full eight and a half. This scene left everyone speechless.
This testing device only lights up one star if the attack power reaches the level of One-Star Low-rank God, two stars if it reaches two stars, and so on. Eight stars indicate an attack power comparable to One-Star Mid-rank God. This young man, who looks to be only about twenty years old, casually threw a punch that already lit up eight and a half stars, meaning that although his attack power did not reach the Two-Star Mid-rank God, it had already surpassed that of One-Star Mid-rank God.
Even Gu Ding couldn't help but sigh upon seeing this, "That's really strong!"
Soon, it was the turn of the other members of the top 1 team.
The Combat Strength of the nine people was displayed one by one, all of them were at the level of eight stars or above, and the highest one even reached Nine-and-a-Half Star.
Many in the military knew that these nine were members of the top team, so they weren't too shocked; instead, they felt envy and admiration. Even Gatins in the air had a look of appreciation in his eyes.
After the nine individuals' stunning performance, no similar displays emerged for a long time, with the highest reaching only five stars. However, soon, Gu Ding spotted Sharp and his team—the first testing instrument.
Sharp and Stda stood in the same line, and the five people behind them seemed to be from the Freedom Alliance, just like them. They were probably in that position because they had wasted some time waiting for everyone to gather together.
Stda was at the front of the seven people. When it was his turn, he simply paused briefly, then pressed down with his palm. The number of stars on the testing device rapidly increased, instantly soaring to nine stars. His performance sent chills down the spines of many. He looked like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, with delicate features and an entirely harmless appearance.
Upon seeing this, the group at the top all exchanged unfriendly glances. Although the top leaders of the Federal Government and the Freedom Alliance had reached a consensus, those at the top all harbored strong opinions against Stda.
After Stda, it's Sharp.
Sharp hadn't originally planned to use too much force, but seeing Stda's performance, his fighting spirit was instantly ignited. He gripped his sword with both hands, gathered his strength, and slashed down with all his might. The number of stars surged again, quickly reaching eight stars.
The sudden appearance of two powerful figures immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd... (To be continued...)