Meeting Karrot Again

As the first day was about to end, Gu Ding finally managed to step onto the Third Level of the Five-Star Peak-rank God Region steps. Without using special means, he was unable to kill the three Luo Yu Beasts by force alone.

The Sea Emperor, however, hadn't yet completed his analysis of the world's structure, and naturally couldn't break the True God's restriction. But Gu Ding wasn't in a hurry. After all, this virtual world game had five rounds in total, and this was only the first. In the second round, he would inevitably be teleported to the Flame Zone again, and there would be a third, fourth, and fifth round after that. As long as the Sea Emperor could break the restriction before he was teleported here for the fifth time, he could obtain the True God's inheritance. During this period, the Sea Emperor had nineteen days to complete this task.

Gu Ding's score was only a little over 180,000, causing him to drop to 28th place on the Ranking List. Fu Tu also dropped to 25th place with a score of just over 190,000.

Liliath's score is at the top of the leaderboard, having reached over 680,000. Second place remains with Karrot, whose score has just reached 400,000. Dokter and Elsa have surpassed Scarlet, with all three following closely behind Karrot at 370,000, 360,000, and 340,000 respectively. This rapid increase is understandable given that Dokter and Elsa possess the virtual biome distribution map provided by the Sea Emperor. Those ranked sixth and below all have less than 300,000 points.

Fa Te and Miko have both reached over 30,000 points, ranking 811th and 812th on the Ranking List respectively.

As the day was drawing to a close, an alarm siren suddenly sounded in the sky, and the same female voice rang out again.

"Congratulations on passing the first day of the trial. There are three minutes left until the end of the first day, so please disengage from combat as soon as possible to avoid being attacked by virtual creatures during teleportation. In three minutes, everyone will be randomly teleported to one of the remaining four areas. After arriving in the new area, please adapt to the environment as soon as possible, and we wish you all a pleasant experience."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ding immediately unleashed his Heaven-Burning Technique, killing the three Luo Yu Beasts on the Third Level Steps and retreating back down the steps. He patiently waited for the teleportation to begin.

In the Boulder Zone, Fa Te and Miko also disengaged from the battle.

"Miko, once we're in a new area, get familiar with the environment as quickly as possible. Don't worry about killing virtual creatures for points yet; find a safe hiding place first." Fa Te was quite worried about Miko, since he couldn't see anything. Although he cultivated a soul-based technique that allowed him to sense the outside world with his soul, this ability was limited by the area.

"Okay, I understand." Miko has always had a strong desire to explore new things, so he didn't want to be eliminated too soon. He didn't expect to stay within the top 1000, but he hoped to at least experience the environments of all five different regions of this world. That way, even if he were eliminated, he wouldn't have any regrets. But Miko didn't want Gu Ding others to be distracted by him, because this virtual world was clearly a challenge for all of Gu Ding, but also an opportunity to make Gu Ding stronger.

Fa Te also hoped that he could hold on for longer, because he didn't want to be the one who dragged everyone down. After all, Miko was just a child, while he had already passed his Coming-of-age ceremony and couldn't be compared to Miko.

"Regardless of whether we're eliminated or not, we don't need anyone else's help!" This was something he had told Gu Ding and the others before entering the virtual world. Gu Ding and the others agreed to Fa Te's decision. After all, this was just a virtual world, and Gu Ding had only agreed to Fa Te and Miko come to train them. If they were protected, their training wouldn't be as effective.

"Teleportation countdown begins, 10, 9, 8, 7..." A voice echoed in the sky once more, stirring the emotions of everyone in this world, including Gu Ding, who felt a faint sense of anticipation.

The countdown ended quickly, and Gu Ding felt a blur before his eyes, finding himself in a completely new environment.

Gu Ding felt his body become heavy.

"This is the Boulder Zone?!"

Because Gu Ding had heard from the Sea Emperor that Fa Te and Miko had entered the Boulder Zone at the beginning, and that the two of them couldn't even move their feet at first.

"No wonder Fa Te and the others couldn't even move when they came in. This level of gravity requires a physical body to reach the level of One-Star Mid-rank God to truly resist. Otherwise, they can only slowly get used to this suppression, and even if they can move, their strength will be suppressed to a certain extent." Gu Ding quickly sensed the special nature of this area, but for him, this gravity did not cause any trouble.

In the sky, a huge rock suddenly fell from an unknown place. Its falling speed was comparable to the attack speed of a one- One-Star High-rank God. Moreover, Gu Ding estimated that the attack intensity generated by the rock falling to the ground would definitely not be weaker than a full-force attack from a One-Star High-rank God.

He glanced at the horrified looks on the faces of the crowd not far away, shook his head helplessly, and pointed a finger, sending a Black Radiance shooting out. Almost simultaneously, a silver energy vortex also spiraled out from another direction not far away, blasting towards the boulder.

Gu Ding looked up, and the person who launched the attack also looked in Gu Ding's direction.

"Karrot?!"

"Gu Ding?!"

Almost at the same time the two recognized each other, Gu Ding's attack made contact with the boulder first, instantly blasting the more than ten-meter-wide boulder into dust, while Karrot's attack directly pierced through the dust and shot into the air.

Karrot looked at Gu Ding with a hint of apprehension, while Gu Ding walked towards him with a smile on his face.

With a loud bang of shattered rocks in the sky, the surrounding crowd snapped out of their shock, but they soon spotted Gu Ding and Karrot.

Everyone can see the information of the thousand people on the Ranking List, including their appearance. As for Gu Ding, the strongest, his appearance is already etched in the memories of countless people in the virtual world. As for Karrot, everyone is familiar with him, given that he's second on the Ranking List.

"Karrot, long time no see." Gu Ding had no intention of making a move. Although Karrot was strong, he was on par with Liliath and the others, slightly weaker than himself. In this world, currently, the only opponent he was interested in was Futu. Before being teleported here, the Sea Emperor had given a general overview of the first day's events. He was also quite concerned about Futu's entry into the four-star Peak-rank God Region.

"You know me?" Karrot was surprised that Gu Ding knew him.

"I watched your match in the War God Arena, the one with Lily." Gu Ding also had a deep impression of this boy.

After Karrot and Liliath finished their match, Carrot only chatted with Liliath for a few words before leaving. He only glanced at Gu Ding from afar and did not go up to greet him, so the two could not be considered to have officially met.

"Liliath is strong, but I won't lose to her this time." Karrot, though slender, had a determined look in his eyes. "I'll beat her first, then I'll challenge you!"

"This won't be easy. Lily has improved a lot lately," Gu Ding couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed Karrot was determined to get his revenge. However, he didn't intend to stand up for Liliath, because in his view, Liliath's soul cultivation was a perfect counter to Karrot's, and he also knew from the Sea Emperor that Liliath could even control Two-Star Peak-rank God using her Pupil Technique, meaning that in her strongest burst state, her soul attack was more powerful than Two-Star Peak-rank God's. Karrot's chances of winning were slim.

"If you join our team, you'll have the chance to spar with us every day. Not only Liliath, but also Bigge, Elsa, Big, and me, oh, I forgot, and Dokter Scarlet. Interested in considering it? Actually, after you finished fighting Lily that day, I wanted to talk to you about this afterwards, but you left too quickly."

"Scarlet has joined your team too?" Karrot was slightly surprised to hear Scarlet's name.

"Not yet. I still have to fight him, and if he loses, he'll join." Gu Ding grinned. That's what Scarlet said back in the War God Arena, but they haven't run into each other since entering the Universe Sea.

"It's said that he has already captured a second powerful sword spirit, and his Sword Dao Domain has also reached the second level of the Spiritual Affinity Realm, which is considered minor completion. Now, apart from his cultivation level, all his other physical stats have reached the peak level of Mid-rank God. You think it won't be so easy for you to defeat him." Karrot seemed to be paying attention to some information about Scarlet as well.

"How about joining our team? Becoming Interstellar Pirate is more interesting than being Interstellar Hunter." Gu Ding didn't care how strong Scarlet had become; he had always been someone who enjoyed challenges.

"I have no interest in becoming Interstellar Pirate." Karrot shook his head and rejected Gu Ding's offer. "In fact, I chose to be Interstellar Hunter because I'm used to working alone."

"When he mentioned the word 'Interstellar Pirate,' he frowned slightly, which shows that he doesn't like Interstellar Pirate and may even dislike them. Moreover, when he said he was used to working alone, his gaze wandered slightly, which means he was lying." Sea Emperor noticed Karrot's micro-expressions and quickly dug deeper into Karrot's information.

"I found out. Karrot isn't a pure-blooded Serian. His father was Serian, but his mother was human. He didn't grow up with the Serians; instead, he lived on a human planet. When he was five, his home Universe Country was raided by a powerful Interstellar Pirate group. His mother died at the hands of an Interstellar Pirate, and his father, being Theia Clan, was captured and sold into slavery, where he later died at the hands of his slave owner. After his father was captured, a friend of his father hid him and secretly sent him back to the Theia Clan. Later, he was raised by his grandfather."

After learning Karrot's story, Gu Ding didn't press the matter further, only nodding with a slight sense of regret. "Alright, good luck then, I'll be leaving now."

Watching Gu Ding's departing figure, a hint of melancholy flashed across Karrot's face. He still remembered that glimpse he'd made in the War God Arena —the joy on Gu Ding Team's faces when Liliath triumphed. The smiles of his comrades—perhaps something he could never attain in his entire life... (To be continued...)