An Ambush in the Reverse Dragon River Channel

The Reverse Dragon River Channel is like a long corridor leading from the Great Boundary River to the Universe Sea.

In this region, space is extremely unstable, with frequent Interstellar Storm. Therefore, the planets that can exist are all of immense mass and density. These planets typically possess terrifyingly high gravity, making them completely unsuitable for life. Furthermore, due to this extreme gravity, many spaceships, once docked, cannot escape its gravitational pull. Thus, in the Reverse Dragon River Channel, spaceships have nowhere to land and can only continue sailing.

Furthermore, due to the instability of space, using space jumps or Space Shuttle would greatly increase the chance of being caught in Space Turbulence. Therefore, in the Reverse Dragon River Channel, all spaceships could only use normal navigation mode. The Reverse Dragon River Channel was not long, but even traveling in normal mode at the speed of the Titan Battleship would take about twenty-eight days. For Gu Ding and his companions, this was undoubtedly a long journey.

Unbeknownst to Gu Ding, while he and Fa Te were leaving Restdat Star, their spaceship had already been targeted by some individuals.

The spaceship traveled through the Reverse Dragon River Channel for three days. Gu Ding continued to study Martial Dao Intent in Robert's domain. He asked the Sea Emperor to transfer the video materials on Martial Dao Intent to Bigge and the others, so that they could study them when they had time. Although they might not be able to figure anything out, it wouldn't hurt to take a look.

The Sea Emperor's authority is still somewhat limited; the highest level of Martial Dao Intent he can summon is only the perfected Spiritual Affinity Realm. In fact, from Ancient Era to the present, the highest level of Martial Dao Intent that the vast Peak-rank God have been able to comprehend is only the Spiritual Affinity Realm, the second major realm. Those who have reached the third major realm, the Enlightenment Realm, are extremely rare.

With Bigge swordsmanship at the Great Perfection of the Spiritual Affinity Realm, Big is not far from the Perfection Realm, so these videos are also beneficial to him. He also cultivates in Robert's domain with Gu Ding, but the videos he studies are all about the realms of the Spiritual Affinity Realm and above.

Elsa was also in seclusion with the two of them. The moment she received the video, she immediately began watching the 128 videos on the Micro Realm recommended by the Sea Emperor, and quickly grasped the feeling. It seemed that after her bloodline transformation, not only was her body strengthened, but her comprehension had also been greatly enhanced.

Seeing Elsa meditating not far away, Gu Ding knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Elsa would eventually comprehend the Martial Dao Intent; it was only a matter of time.

As for Dokter and Liliath, their aptitude for martial arts is ultimately lacking; they watched the videos many times but still couldn't grasp the essence.

Three days passed, Elsa remained in meditation, while Gu Ding's Martial Dao Intent had finally reached the minor completion stage of the Entrance to the Microscopic Realm. His strength had improved once again. Bigge, after all, had started too high and didn't gain much, but he had a good attitude. He spent most of his time looking at recipes, and only used his spare time to repeatedly watch videos and nurture the fire within his body.

The fire within Bigge's body is called Blade Fire. This flame differs from the divine fire within Gu Ding's body; it arises from the intent of the Blade Dao. It can only exist within the body of a Blade Dao master and cannot be materialized for combat. To be precise, Blade Fire is not a type of divine fire, but rather a blade aura generated by the intent of the Blade Dao. However, like divine fire, it possesses the effect of automatically tempering the physical body, and its form resembles a white flame, hence the name Blade Fire. Currently, over 95% of Bigge's physical body has been transformed into divine source. He is not far from complete transformation.

After breaking through his Martial Dao Intent, Gu Ding knew that he needed more resources to further improve his strength. He had already used up most of the resources he had obtained from the Oul Star Region. What remained were resources of too high a quality for him to use. Therefore, he had no choice but to end his seclusion and withdraw from Robert's domain.

Fa Te didn't find it boring these past few days. Of the Gu Ding Team, only Gu Ding and Elsa were still present, and Robert hadn't shown up for three days. Liliath and Dokter had plenty of free time besides their regular training, and the three of them often hung out together.

Bigge, on the other hand, cooked three meals a day and spent the rest of his time practicing and looking at recipes.

As for Tagore, he spent his days eating and sleeping, always aloof and indifferent to everyone. In the past few days, to please him, Fa Te had fed him quite a few two-star demon Beast Crystal. Two-star demon beasts were comparable to Mid-rank God, and a single Beast Crystal accounted for at least 70% of the beast's value. Even the cheapest two-star demon Beast Crystal cost over a hundred million Universe Crystal —something Gu Ding couldn't afford. But in the past three days, Fa Te had already fed Tagore ten. However, being wealthy, he didn't care about the money; he was more concerned about Tagore's breed. After three days of observation, he couldn't determine Tagore's breed at all; he looked like an ordinary tabby cat.

Liliath also noticed that Fa Te was feeding Tagore two-star Beast Crystal, and she became curious about Fa Te's identity. Fa Te only a demigod, and even Low-rank God might not be able to save enough in a year to buy a single two-star Beast Crystal. So, the moment Gu Ding, she went over to him, "Gu Ding, is this chubby little guy Fa Te Fat from a particularly wealthy family? I saw him feeding Tagore Beast Crystal; he's already fed him a billion Universe Crystal in the past three days, and he doesn't seem to care at all. A billion Universe Crystal is enough to buy one or two Three-Star Divine Object artifacts of cultivation resources."

When Gu Ding saw that Liliath had asked, he decided not to hide it any longer. "He is a member of the Gates Family."

"Which Gates Family?" Liliath was taken aback at first, and after asking the question, she suddenly remembered, "You mean the Gates Family of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate?"

Gu Ding nodded silently.

"A branch family?" Liliath asked next.

"His father's name is Stephen." Gu Ding knew that Liliath must have heard of this name.

"Stephen Gates?!" Liliath's eyes widened. "The head of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate?!"

Gu Ding nodded and didn't say anything more.

"But I remember that the Gates Family only has one son in this generation, and his name has not been revealed to the outside world. There is almost no information about him on the SkyNet. How did you find out his identity?" Liliath was still a little skeptical.

"Sea Emperor hacked his Smart Watch."

Gu Ding's answer stopped Liliath from pressing further, because she knew that the Sea Emperor's findings would not be wrong.

Seeing Liliath's signature mischievous grin, it meant Liliath had already come up with some quirky and clever idea.

"What are you thinking about?" Gu Ding looked at her with a slightly wary expression.

"It's nothing, I just want to extort a membership card from him that offers discounts from the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate. If he can't give me a 30% discount, a 50% discount will do..." Liliath looked up at the ceiling, as if she could see herself getting the membership card and enjoying the discounts.

"Let's forget it. He thought I didn't know his identity when he boarded our ship. If you ask him for his membership card, he might think we had ulterior motives from the beginning." Gu Ding felt that this wasn't a good idea.

"He wouldn't be after a membership card. If he really wanted to do something, he'd tie him up first, strip him naked, loot everything, and then kick the spaceship off near the Black Hole ..." Liliath said with great seriousness. Seeing that Gu Ding was just silently watching her, she asked somewhat unwillingly, "If we don't ask him for one, how about we steal one? While he's sleeping at night. We can get the Sea Emperor to help us, and no one will know."

"He's a guest on our spaceship now. There's no reason for him to steal from a guest." Gu Ding shook his head and rejected Liliath's bad advice.

"Alright..." Liliath said dejectedly after hearing what Gu Ding said.

Upon entering the living room, Fa Te was watching the news. Seeing Gu Ding, he greeted him with a smile. "It's been several days. You guys are really diligent in your cultivation. I've seen Lily and the others haven't missed a single day. The day before yesterday, I couldn't resist challenging Dokter to a duel. Although I'm a demigod, I couldn't even withstand a single move from Dokter. He even told me that he's the weakest member of your team."

"That's how it is to be Interstellar Pirate. You might be ambushed by an opponent every day. If you don't get stronger, you'll be killed sooner or later. So you absolutely can't neglect your training." The law of the jungle is even more brutal in the world of Interstellar Pirate. Gu Ding learned this principle not long after he left Deep Sea Star.

"I'm watching the news. Your team is really popular. You've been gone from Restdat Star for three days, and the media is still reporting on your entry into the Reverse Dragon River Channel," Fa Te couldn't help but exclaim. What he found even stranger was that he had researched a lot about the Gu Ding Team these past few days, but there was very little negative information, even on the SkyNet. On the SkyNet, mentions of the Gu Ding Team were mostly filled with envy, and they had a large following. Moreover, among these fans, besides many young people, there were also many middle-aged women with children.

Fa Te's interactions over the past few days have greatly changed his impression of the profession of Interstellar Pirate. He had originally thought that Interstellar Pirate were just a group of unruly criminals who plundered, killed, and burned in the vastness of space, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake. But on Gu Ding's ship, everyone was like family, with a warm and friendly atmosphere. Although there were occasional bickerings, they were just playful banter. Everyone took good care of each other, and the food was exceptionally delicious every day, making it feel like a group of friends on vacation together.

Fa Te didn't have many friends growing up because his family was so wealthy. To ensure his safety, he was privately tutored from a young age and never attended school or made friends with other children his age. He entered the financial industry at the age of twelve. In the past four years, besides working on several projects for his Old Dad's conglomerate each year, he also spent his spare time investing, amassing an astronomical fortune.

Every year, the Universe Sea publishes a rich Ranking List individuals based on their private wealth, listing three thousand people each time. Fa Te had seen last year's Ranking List; his own bank deposits alone would have placed him 368th. Now, more than half a Ranking List later, he should be ranking even higher, and breaking into the top three hundred isn't impossible. However, the bank where Fa Te deposits is owned by his family, and the account is kept secret from the public. Furthermore, his investments are all made in the family's name, not his own, which is why he's not ranked.

Fa Te was slightly distracted when he saw Gu Ding's expression suddenly change.

"Several spaceships are approaching; they probably don't have any good intentions..." Gu Ding frowned slightly. He had heard what the Sea Emperor said; these spaceships had actually been following them from a distance for three days. (To be continued...)