The Fourth Level of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body

In this world, there seems to be no distinction between day and night.

The previous small swarm of 32 insect beasts earned Gu Ding 1.6 million points.

For another eighteen hours, Gu Ding slaughtered twenty-six small insect swarms, and his points skyrocketed to 43.98 million.

However, the amplification factor of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body only barely reached 999 times. Gu Ding looked at this amplification factor and was somewhat speechless. "The amplification factor becomes more and more difficult to increase as you progress. When we reached the twenty-fifth swarm, the amplification factor was 998. After devouring the thirty-six insect beasts of the twenty-sixth swarm, the amplification factor only increased to 999..."

"The first three levels of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body are called the Giant Strength Realm, which is the foundation of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body. The fourth to sixth levels are called the Devil Elephant Realm. Demonic elephants were the most powerful beings in Ancient Era, far surpassing any other life form. Their physical strength ranked among the top three in the entire Ancient Era. In Ancient Era, an adult demonic elephant was tens of thousands of miles long, its size comparable to a small planet. To reach the Devil Elephant Realm, one needs a large amount of blood and energy to support it. You are currently Devouring Worm beasts, which makes your blood and energy much stronger than that of an ordinary person, but it is still far inferior to that of a true demonic elephant."

The Sea Emperor's explanation gave Gu Ding a way out. He had originally thought there was something wrong with his cultivation, but after hearing what the Sea Emperor said, he suddenly understood.

"So, I need to absorb even more blood and qi?" Gu Ding's eyes lit up.

"That's right!" the Sea Emperor said with certainty. "The Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body is an extremely powerful divine ability. Just the first level, the Giant Strength Realm, allows one to instantly unleash a thousand times more Combat Strength. After reaching the second Devil Elephant Realm, with each advancement in level, your physical body will be strengthened tenfold. This enhancement is permanent. The Devil Elephant Realm has three levels in total, meaning that if you cultivate it to its peak, your physical body will be permanently strengthened by three minor ranks. Normally, physical strength can only be further improved by advancing in rank. However, advancement in the Devil Elephant Realm does not conflict with advancement in rank. This means that if you cultivate the Devil Elephant Realm to its peak, at the same cultivation level, your physical strength can be three minor ranks higher than others."

"Permanent enhancement of the physical body..." Gu Ding's anticipation for the second realm of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body grew even stronger. "This time, we're going to a medium-sized insect swarm!"

Gu Ding's decision wasn't rash. His Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body had already increased in power by 999 times, bringing his Combat Strength to the five-star level. The increase wasn't just in attack power, but also in speed and defense. The medium-sized swarm consisted of about two hundred insects, six or seven times the number of the small swarm, but Gu Ding he could handle it. Moreover, the boost from the small swarm had almost plateaued. He needed more vital energy.

Sea Emperor also roughly assessed Gu Ding's Combat Strength and felt that he should be able to handle a medium-sized swarm of insects. Even if he couldn't, Gu Ding still had the Devouring Fire and the Domain as trump Trump Card, so he was definitely not in mortal danger.

Gu Ding ran deep into the desert, his route leading directly to a medium-sized swarm of insects.

This swarm of insects belonged to the Sawtooth Clan. Not only were their mouthparts two nearly meter-long serrated scissors, but their four pairs of long legs were also covered in sharp black serrations. Furthermore, they were about half the size of the insects Gu Ding had encountered before, possessing a lithe and agile form. They had two pairs of sharp wings on their backs, making them extremely swift in their movements. Even though they were smaller, this was only relative; these insects still stood nearly two meters tall. This lithe body structure, combined with their serrated features, perfectly complemented each other, enhancing the cutting effect of their attacks.

Moreover, these insectoids are highly aggressive. Upon seeing Gu Ding from afar, they all flap their wings and swarm towards him.

Gu Ding barely managed to dodge, but before he could even retaliate, a large gash was torn open in his body. The serrated edge was indeed terrifying; with just a slight touch, it ripped a chunk of flesh from Gu Ding's arm, leaving it instantly covered in blood.

Fortunately, Gu Ding has strong regenerative abilities, and his injuries were fully recovered in just a short time.

However, this also alerted Gu Ding. The reason he was caught off guard was not only because of the sheer number of insects, but also because these insects had serrated edges on all four pairs of long legs, and they were not only fast in flight but also able to turn very nimbly. Gu Ding was not hit by the forelegs, but by the hind legs of an insect as it turned. He hadn't even noticed that the insect's hind legs also had serrated edges that could be used for attack.

With a sense of vigilance, Gu Ding quickly got into action, taking down the first saw-tooth beetle with four consecutive attacks. Then came the second, the third...

After nearly an hour and a half of fierce fighting, all 218 insect beasts had been completely wiped out by Gu Ding. His body was covered in blood, but thanks to his High-Speed Regeneration ability, his physical condition was not greatly affected. The black Devouring Flame erupted again, instantly covering the more than 200 beast corpses and completely annihilating them in less than ten seconds.

Powerful streams of blood and qi energy were continuously fed back by the Devouring Flame, surging into Gu Ding's body and joining the operation of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body.

Gu Ding could clearly feel every cell in his body brimming with power, but the amplification effect of the Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body remained unchanged. "Still not enough. It seems I need to devour more insect beasts."

Gu Ding immediately rushed towards the second medium-sized swarm of insects...

Meanwhile, the other members of the Gu Ding Team were also fighting hard in their own way.

Bigge was closest to Gu Ding, but still nearly a thousand Gu Ding away. Covered in foul-smelling insect blood, he emerged from a large swarm of insects. "Large swarms are no longer a challenge... I wonder if a special type of swarm can help me break through to demigod status."

Tagore emerged from the belly of an insectoid beast, an Insect Core in his mouth, and swallowed it with a swift motion. He then brought up the map projection again, his gaze falling on a large insect swarm Gathering Place. He had already easily wiped out three medium-sized insect swarms, which were no longer a challenge.

Liliath and her three companions had just entered a medium-sized swarm of Two-Star Soldier Rank insectoids. Robert simply observed from the outside and did not participate in the battle, while the other three quickly cleared out the swarm.

Elsa appeared incredibly fierce; wherever her giant axe passed, not a single living creature remained. Dokter unleashed twelve throwing knives simultaneously. Although a single strike couldn't kill all the insects, two or three strikes in quick succession took one down, demonstrating considerable speed. Most peculiar was Liliath, who didn't use firearms, but rather Pupil Technique. Her eyes glowed with Golden Light, instantly throwing any insect that met her gaze into a state of chaos, causing them to frantically attack the others.

Apart from the Gu Ding Team, after nearly a day and a night of fighting, everyone had adapted to the rhythm here, and their combat status had stabilized.

The top nine also ventured deep into a Gathering Place of five-star insectoid beasts, a canyon outside the city. After entering the canyon, they dispersed and headed directly for the Elite Bug swarm.

The seven members of the Freedom Alliance entered another Gathering Place five-star insectoid beasts—a vast stone forest. Upon entering, they dispersed, with the exception of Sharp, all heading directly for the Elite Bug swarm.

Meanwhile, the three hundred men from the military's Elite Legion entered the same area as Gu Ding's group, but they operated in small teams of ten, venturing deep into the desert and crushing towards the Gathering Place the special insectoid race.

Sea Emperor also noticed that these guys all had maps. He thought about it and wasn't surprised, since the military and the Freedom Alliance had sent new recruits here many times before. It was normal for those who had come before to leave maps.

However, the Sea Emperor wasn't worried at all, because the Federal Government had previously revealed that the development of this ruin was currently only 5%. In other words, the Federal Government only had a maximum of 5% of the map, while he could see 100% of the complete map. He also discovered that the ruin was indeed quite large. It was half the size of the Tianhe Star Region, and while Gu Ding's home Tianhe Star Region was considered a medium-to-large-diameter star region in the Long Teng Universe Country, and although it was only considered average in the Fei Me Universe Country, it was still quite large.

He had, of course, noticed that the Federal Government's Elite Legion and Gu Ding were entering the same desert. But this desert was twice the surface area of the entire planet Deep Sea Star, so encountering it wouldn't be easy. Currently, Gu Ding was the closest to the Elite Legion squad, at a distance of over 800 kilometers.

The Sea Emperor was practically omniscient in this area. He knew the exact location of everyone and recorded the number of kills each person had achieved, making it easy for him to calculate everyone's Merit Points. He also knew that while Gu Ding's 40 million Merit Points seemed impressive, there were actually four people with over 100 million Merit Points each.

The one with the highest Merit Points is Stda from the Freedom Alliance. He has been mingling in various large five-star Elite Bug swarms. With his cultivation level, he earns 80,000 merit points for killing a five-star Elite Bug beast and more than 70 million merit points for destroying an insect swarm. He has destroyed six insect swarms by himself, with Merit Points exceeding 400 million, which is ten times that of Gu Ding.

The second-ranked person in terms of Merit Points is Bigge. He has been mingling in the five-star ordinary soldier-level beast packs. Like Gu Ding, he only gets 50,000 merit points for killing one beast. The number of beasts he killed was not much less than that of Stda, but his Merit Points were much less, only more than 240 million.

Ranked third is Sharp from the Freedom Alliance. Unlike the others in the Freedom Alliance, he initially chose to fight a five-star ordinary soldier-level insect beast. After warming up for nearly three hours and getting used to the battle rhythm, he moved on to the area of special insect beasts. His cultivation level was only demigod, so his Merit Points increased very quickly, reaching over 210 million points.

Fourth on the list was an Interstellar Pirate Lyon, with a bounty of over 30 million and only the cultivation level of One-Star Low-rank God. His performance during the assessment wasn't particularly impressive; his attack power was only five stars at the time. However, after entering the ruins, he went straight into the depths of the desert, using a powerful swarm-killing technique to annihilate a large number of Five-Star Soldier Rank ordinary Zerg. He could wipe out an entire large Zerg swarm in less than five minutes, more than ten times faster Bigge and his group. Moreover, he also had a map, although it seemed to lack detail; he only knew where the Zerg swarm was, but not its size. Most of his time was spent traveling, so his Merit Points increased more slowly, only reaching a little over 180 million.

The fifth-ranked player has less than 100 million points, while Gu Ding has over 40 million, currently ranking seventh.

Although the top guys in the Federal Government all seem very strong, they are all Five-Star Low-rank God. Although they have killed a lot of Zerg, their highest Merit Points are only a little over two million, ranking them outside the top twentieth.

After Gu Ding arrived at the location of the second medium-sized insect swarm, his Merit Points surged again... (To be continued...)