Martial Dao Intent Advancement

For the next few days, the spaceship remained en route. Following the route arranged by the Sea Emperor, the Gu Ding Pirate Crew's next destination was the Ikes Star Region, a commercial star region in the Deep Sea Zone famous for its auctions, and also the location of one of the Gates Family's Auction House.

One reason for choosing this route was to allow Gu Ding and his group to clear out some unused loot and exchange it for other resources. Another reason was that Robert needed a special mechanical energy source to advance to the Peak-rank God, which they hadn't yet found and might appear at the Auction House.

For the past few days, Gu Ding had been secluded in the Time Acceleration Cabin, beginning to truly integrate the Inheritance Memory within his body. This inheritance, unlike those obtained externally, existed directly within Gu Ding's body and might involve the mystery of his origins, so he was unwilling to overlook even the slightest detail.

The inheritance contained a vast amount of information, and it took Gu Ding nearly a month, on and off, to fully digest it. However, this month broadened his horizons considerably. Sometimes, when he encountered something he didn't understand, he would immediately ask the Sea Emperor, and there were even some things that the Sea Emperor couldn't answer with his current level of authority.

"Sea Emperor, you said before that compared to the Great Universe Sea, humanity's Universe Sea is just a small pond. What about beyond the Great Universe Sea? Is there an even wider world there?"

"I don't know. My authority is limited to knowing information about ordinary true gods. As for the Conferred King of the Ninth Sequence and the Strongest King of the Tenth Sequence, I can't see detailed information about them, let alone those outside the Great Universe Sea." When it comes to matters beyond his authority, the Sea Emperor usually doesn't give answers. Even if he has some speculations, he won't say them.

"I see..." Gu Ding didn't ask any more questions, knowing that asking would be pointless.

Having thoroughly organized his memories, Gu Ding focused his attention on the inherited cultivation technique.

This inherited cultivation method is called "Martial Dao True Intent." It is neither a cultivation method to improve one's cultivation level nor a martial art, but a set of cultivation methods specifically for cultivating the Martial Dao Intent.

Upon turning to the first page of that inherited cultivation technique, Gu Ding's consciousness was directly pulled into a void.

A man who looked exactly like Gu Ding slowly materialized. Seeing the man opposite him, Gu Ding was slightly surprised. He was about to ask something when the man suddenly attacked. Left with no other choice, Gu Ding had to retaliate.

"Hey, who are you? Why do you look exactly like me?" Gu Ding hastily took a punch, but he found that his palm almost exploded under the impact. Just as he was about to activate his amplification ability, he discovered that all the supernatural powers in his body had become dormant and could not be activated at all.

Just then, the opponent's second punch came crashing down, striking Gu Ding the chest right before his eyes. Gu Ding's body shattered instantly, turning into nothingness.

A sharp pain shot through him, and moments later, Gu Ding's consciousness was ejected from the Soul Space and returned to his physical body. Gu Ding then realized that his soul power was severely depleted, almost completely exhausted. He quickly consumed several potions to replenish his soul power. He then recounted what had just happened to the Sea Emperor.

"My opponent's Martial Dao Intent was only at the subtle level, and through our exchange, I could tell that his physical body and divine source strength were about the same as mine, but I was killed in two moves. This was partly due to my carelessness, but I felt that even if I hadn't been careless, I would still have been killed by him; I would have just survived a few more moves."

"That's not surprising. Your Martial Dao Intent isn't very well integrated with your techniques, so losing is normal. Once the integration is sufficient, defeating him won't be difficult. After all, your Martial Dao Intent is at the Spiritual Affinity Realm, while his is only at the Entrance to the Microscopic Realm." The Sea Emperor wasn't surprised by what Gu Ding said.

"There's something else that's strange. The other person looks exactly like me, even their clothes are exactly the same. Standing in front of them feels like looking in a mirror. And they don't answer my questions." Gu Ding was speechless about this, as he had originally hoped to get some information from the other person.

"If I'm not mistaken, the other party is likely a projection of yourself. Some powerful beings can leave similar things within their own heritage," the Sea Emperor explained. "You don't need to waste time talking to him. Just fight him directly; improving your fusion level is the most important thing."

Hearing what the Sea Emperor said, Gu Ding understood. That set of techniques was only for improving his strength; there was absolutely no need to waste time on things unrelated to cultivation. If the other party really had any information to share, they would definitely take the initiative to speak; otherwise, his attempts to strike up a conversation would be ineffective.

Having figured this out, Gu Ding once again immersed himself in his own Soul Space and reopened the cultivation manual.

Over the next three months, Gu Ding suffered repeated defeats, but he fought on despite them. However, he could clearly feel his own progress. His techniques and Martial Dao Intent had become very closely integrated, while his opponents, although only at the microscopic level of Martial Dao Intent, knew a vast number of Martial Dao Intent, as many as three or four hundred, encompassing almost all martial arts, making it impossible for Gu Ding to defend against them.

One day in the fourth month, Gu Ding entered the Soul Space again and fought the man. After more than an hour of exchanging blows, Gu Ding won with a single move, striking the man in the chest and watching him turn into fragments and dissipate completely.

At this moment, Gu Ding did not see that the book "Martial Dao True Intent" in his Soul Space had automatically turned to the second page.

Gu Ding only saw that after the man who looked exactly like him disappeared, he reformed in less than a minute.

"Even if you reassemble yourself, you'll still lose!" Gu Ding laughed as he charged forward.

But he immediately sensed something was wrong. His opponent didn't dodge or evade, letting him rush forward. Just as he was about to make a move, the opponent suddenly struck, grabbing his throat with a claw. Then, with a "crack," Gu Ding's head rolled to the ground, and his body turned into fragments. He was teleported out again.

"That guy, he's advanced his Martial Dao Intent to the Spiritual Affinity Realm, and he didn't even warn me beforehand." Gu Ding was somewhat indignant, but upon reflection, he realized it was due to his carelessness. After consuming the soul-replenishing potion, he started another challenge...

For the next six months, Gu Ding was constantly being killed by his opponent in various ways. At first, he could only withstand one or two moves, but later he gradually improved to the point where he could last for several hours. Meanwhile, his Martial Dao Intent also improved from the minor completion of the Spiritual Affinity Realm to the major completion of the Spiritual Affinity Realm, and then reached the perfection of the Spiritual Affinity Realm.

As the third day outside was drawing to a close, Gu Ding once again entered the Soul Space and engaged in a fierce battle with his opponent within the inheritance.

After more than three hours of exchanging blows, Gu Ding held his own. His opponent switched between several different Martial Dao Intent, but Gu Ding remained unfazed, steadily maintaining his offensive and defensive stances. Taking advantage of an opening in his opponent's defense, Gu Ding seized the opportunity and smashed his opponent's head with a single punch.

As his opponent's body disintegrated, Gu Ding's Martial Dao Intent broke through again, reaching the third major realm of Martial Dao Intent — the Enlightenment Realm.

Eager to try, Gu Ding challenged the newly formed opponent, only to be instantly killed once more. His consciousness returned to his body, Gu Ding downed several doses of soul-replenishing potion, but did not re-enter the Soul Space. The spaceship was also nearing its destination.

Three days had passed in the outside world, but three hundred days had passed inside the Time Acceleration Cabin. Gu Ding did not leave immediately, but instead examined the changes he had undergone during this time.

Besides the significant breakthrough in his Martial Dao Intent, Gu Ding's soul strength has also been honed through continuous consumption and replenishment during this period. It has increased from the strength of Two-Star High-rank God to the peak of a seven-star High-rank God, and with further training, it will likely reach the level of Peak-rank God. Furthermore, his combat experience and techniques are countless times stronger than before.

"It's a pity that with the Asura World Extinction, you only obtained the introductory chapter, which can only increase your Combat Strength tenfold. Otherwise, with your current Martial Dao Intent strength, it would be enough to increase your combat Combat Strength thirtyfold," the Sea Emperor couldn't help but say. "It's a pity that this technique is very special. I have enough permissions, but I don't have the data for this technique. But this is enough to show how extraordinary this technique is."

"We'll see if we can find a follow-up technique later." Gu Ding also felt a little regretful. "However, we can't force these things. I've become much stronger. If I were to fight the me from three days ago, I could kill the me from three days ago within ten moves at most. In these three hundred days, I've experienced tens of thousands of battles that surpass my own abilities. The improvement in my techniques and combat experience is simply immeasurable."

"These past few days, it's not just you who's made progress. Lily and the others, including Scarlet and Hake, found an uninhabited planet the day before yesterday and survived the Heavenly Tribulation. Their strength has improved considerably. Liliath has now risen from ninth to second on the Black Iron Prodigy Ranking, pushing Scarlet down to third. Elsa and Dokter are ranked fourth and fifth respectively. The top five on the Black Iron Prodigy Ranking are completely occupied by our Pirate Crew. However, Hake is still not on the list."

"There's something interesting I have to mention. That guy Fa Te, seeing that Hake wasn't ranked on the Black Iron List, assumed Hake wasn't Combat Strength and challenged Hake to a training session. Hake was defeated in a single move. After that, Dokter and the others challenged him, including Liliath, and all of them lost to Hake. Even Scarlet couldn't last an hour against Hake, and Liliath's eye attacks had little effect on Hake. In the end, it was Bigge who finally defeated him."

Upon hearing this news, Gu Ding couldn't help but laugh. He had previously fought Hake in the virtual world, and even with equal Combat Strength, he was no match for Hake, only winning due to his superior strength. However, he knew that in his current state, Hake definitely be stronger than Hake if they fought with equal Combat Strength.

"There's another matter that requires you to go out and gather everyone now. It concerns the latest Bounty Order issued by the Federal Government just three minutes ago..." Sea Emperor suddenly changed the subject. (To be continued...)