Gu Ding's Choice

When the old man asked Gu Ding what he wanted most, Gu Ding was stunned.

"Actually, what I want most right now is to enter the Universe Sea as soon as possible, but you asked about items, sir." Gu Ding scratched his head and grinned. "Hmm... as for items, let me think... actually, based on my current Merit Points, I can exchange for most things..."

"Gu Ding, let's get a spaceship!" The Sea Emperor's voice suddenly came through. "I just connected to the Merit Hall's Local Area Network and checked their items. I found that there are now spaceships. But because I don't have enough Merit Points, the highest-level spaceship I can see is Four-Star War God level. The quality of a Four-Star War God in the Near Ancient Era is roughly equivalent to a five-star War God spaceship now. However, I guess there should be five-star ones in the Merit Hall. If we exchange them with merit points, it's estimated to cost over 600 billion. If we can get one, we'll make a fortune."

"Moreover, the reverse passage from the Great Boundary River to the Universe Sea is called the Reverse Dragon River Channel. Spaceships below the War God rank will be crushed directly. We need a War God spaceship, and even the cheapest War God spaceship costs hundreds of millions of Universe Crystal. This money can be saved."

Gu Ding nodded. He really couldn't think of anything he wanted. After hearing what the Sea Emperor said, he thought that exchanging for a spaceship was a good idea. He immediately looked up and said, "Uncle, I want a spaceship!"

"You're quite the clever one, kid. Among items of the same rank, spaceships are almost always the most valuable, at least dozens of times, or even hundreds of times, more valuable than other items." The old man couldn't help but laugh. "Alright then, I'll give you a five-star warship as a reward."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, a palm-sized, silver-gray model ship fell from the sky and landed right in Gu Ding's hands. Gu Ding looked at the model ship in his hands with some suspicion, feeling as if he had been tricked.

But just then, the old man's voice came again, "This warship is a relic from the Near Ancient Era. I haven't touched any of the equipment inside; I've only cleaned out the original warehouse. You just need to perform a blood oath to restore it to its original state."

Somewhat skeptical, Gu Ding bit his finger, dripping blood onto it. Instantly, information about the warship appeared in his mind. With a thought, the silver-gray model ship automatically released from his hand. Floating in mid-air, it began to rapidly expand.

This spaceship is Titan Battleship from the Near Ancient Era. Unlike the Golden Eagle, it is a pure warship, existing solely for the purpose of war. It is 17,550 meters long and 3,580 meters high, with an overall silver-gray hull. The entire ship is armed with twenty-seven Titan Cannon, each capable of instantly reducing a planet to dust. Moreover, its defensive capabilities are terrifying enough to withstand a full-force attack from Peak-rank God without being destroyed.

Upon seeing this colossal ship, Gu Ding couldn't help but exclaim, "So cool!"

Gu Ding led everyone into the interior of the spaceship. The Main Cabin was more than ten times the size of the previous one, but it didn't feel empty. Various wooden tables, chairs, and benches, resembling works of art, were arranged with great care. Every few steps along the walls, a piece of calligraphy or painting hung. Just from the Main Cabin, it was easy to see that the spaceship's previous owner must have been a person of refined taste.

Once inside the cabin area, Gu Ding and his group inspected each room. Each room was over 300 square meters in size and was an independent structure. All kinds of facilities were complete, including a separate kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and even a meditation room specifically for cultivation, where gravity intensity could be adjusted to enhance the body.

This spaceship, besides the Main Cabin and passenger cabins, also has a conference room that can accommodate hundreds of people. Indoor artificial hot springs, swimming pools, gladiator arenas... it's like a high-end hotel, leaving Gu Ding and the others dumbfounded.

Gu Ding and his group had just finished exploring the spaceship and left when they heard the old man's voice coming from the sky again.

"The ranking of the top 100 in terms of accumulated merit points has been released, and everyone can check it through the Local Area Network of the Merit Hall. The rewards are distributed as follows: the first place will receive one five-star Four-Star Divine Object items, the fourth to tenth place will each receive one four -Four-Star Divine Object item, the tenth to twentieth place will receive three three-star Three-Star Divine Object, the twenty-first to fiftieth place will receive two Three-Star Divine Object, and the fifty-first to one hundredth place will receive one Three-Star Divine Object item. Rewards must be collected in person in the Small Black Room inside the Merit Hall."

After the old man finished speaking, Gu Ding immediately had the Sea Emperor project the rankings.

First place: Gu Ding, Merit Points: 96.8 billion

Second place: Liliath, Merit Points: 63.6 billion

Third place: Bigge, Merit Points 52.9 billion.

Fourth place: Elsa, Merit Points 51.2 billion

Fifth place: Sharp, with Merit Points 17.3 billion.

Sixth place: Tagore, Merit Points: 11.1 billion

Seventh place: Du Long, Merit Points: 6.1 billion

Eighth place, Stda, Merit Points 3.5 billion

Ninth place, Dokter, Merit Points 2.4 billion

10th place, Koller, Merit Points 2.1 billion

Seeing the top ten rankings, Gu Ding wasn't surprised by Sharp's high Merit Points, since Sharp was only a demigod. What surprised him was that the guy named Du Long was also on the list, and that Koller was also one of the top ten members. "Du Long and Koller are both Five-Star Low-rank God, right? How come their Merit Points are so high? Du Long's ranking is even ahead of Stda's?!"

"It must be Merit Points," Liliath said with some disdain.

"Those two have been stealing other people's Merit Points for the past three days. Koller is alright; he only steals 50% of other people's Merit Points and hasn't killed anyone. But this guy named Du Long always steals all of their Merit Points, and sixteen people have already died at his hands. It's all because those people resisted and refused to give him Merit Points, so he just killed them and stole their tokens." The Sea Emperor had witnessed everything that happened in the ruins, and this Interstellar Pirate named Du Long was indeed the most despicable one.

Gu Ding and his group frowned slightly upon hearing this, feeling somewhat disgusted with the guy named Du Long.

"Let's go back to the city to collect our rewards, and see if there's anything else we can exchange for with Merit Points." Gu Ding said, putting away the spaceship. The huge spaceship instantly transformed back into a palm-sized model and was stored in Gu Ding's Storage Space.

The group then headed towards the city.

Unbeknownst to Gu Ding, many people in the city were discussing the rankings after seeing them, mostly focusing on the names of Gu Ding and others.

"Gu Ding Team is amazing! There are only seven people on their team, and they have taken six of the top ten spots. Moreover, they have completely swept the top four."

"Yes, nearly a hundred billion merit points. One Merit Points is equivalent to one hundred Universe Crystal, which is ten trillion Universe Crystal. Even if converted into source stones, it's still a billion. Even if it enters the Universe Sea, this is definitely a huge fortune! Enough to support the Gu Ding Team in establishing their own power in the Universe Sea and dominating a region."

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't exchange it for money. In this ruin, 5 billion Merit Points can be exchanged for a five-star divine artifact. A five-star divine artifact is something that even Peak-rank God would fight over. If you put it in Auction House, the price would at least double, or even triple."

"I wonder if the Gu Ding Team is recruiting..."

Back in the city, Gu Ding noticed that many people were looking at his team with great enthusiasm. He didn't think too much about it and headed straight for the Merit Hall.

After entering the Merit Hall, Gu Ding went straight to the Small Black Room.

"Please show your token!" Gu Ding had just settled down when he heard a voice. The voice was very similar to the old man's voice from before, but it felt somewhat mechanical.

After he took out the token, a beam of light shot out and shone on it, scanning it. Then the voice sounded again.

"Token holder: Gu Ding. The token has accumulated 96.8 billion merit points, with 82.6 billion merit points remaining. Currently ranked first in accumulated Merit Points, and seventh in historical accumulated Merit Points..."

Just then, the mechanical voice was suddenly interrupted, and the old man's voice rang in Gu Ding's ears again.

"Young man, I overlooked something earlier. Actually, your accumulated Merit Points should be ranked first because you killed the Mother Queen. This is a reward of 100 billion Merit Points. However, since the Mother Queen you killed was not the one set by the system, the system did not record it accordingly. Therefore, you are missing some Merit Points, and there is no way to make Merit Points for this. So, I can only compensate you in another way. The reward for being first should originally be worth around 10 billion Merit Points. Now I will increase it to around 100 billion. Then you can choose one."

After the old man finished speaking, a list projection appeared in front of Gu Ding, containing a total of eight items. The most valuable item was worth 130 billion merit points, while the least valuable was Merit Points.

Before Gu Ding could even check, the Sea Emperor's voice rang in his ears, "Gu Ding, choose the eighth one!"

Gu Ding's finger, which had been pointing towards the top, suddenly moved down and clicked on the detailed description of the eighth item.

Item Name: Black Iron Dragon Blood Marrow

Item type: Beast Blood Marrow

Item Description: This is the complete blood marrow of a Black Iron Dragon. After consuming it, there is a 50% chance that one will obtain the bloodline and inheritance of the Black Iron Dragon.

The so-called blood marrow is the essence of blood extracted from the body of a mature demon beast. A mature Black Iron Dragon is no weaker than a human powerhouse at the Peak-rank God. It is hard for Gu Ding to imagine that such a powerful being had all its blood marrow extracted.

"Once you consume this blood marrow, there's a high chance your bloodline will evolve into a dragon bloodline. At that time, your cultivation of the 'Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body' will undergo new changes due to the transformation of your bloodline, becoming an even more powerful 'Dragon Elephant Emperor Body'," the Sea Emperor explained. "This blood marrow will bring you greater benefits than any other item!"

Following the Sea Emperor's advice, Gu Ding immediately declared, "I choose this blood marrow!"

~~~

(I borrowed some data from the Leviathan-class spaceship in EVE Online. Imagining the appearance and data of a spaceship out of thin air is just too difficult; I feel like my IQ isn't up to the task. I'll add the spaceship images to the work's related section when I have time. I learned a lesson today: I must disconnect from the internet while writing, otherwise I'll end up like today, writing a single chapter intermittently for over seven hours without writer's block. My typing speed is already terrible, and then I tried to chat like others—it was practically suicide! I'll make up for it on Tuesday...)