Prison Cafeteria

Andrew's surrender in the arena sparked considerable discussion.

He had roamed the Gate of Purgatory for many years, and in the First Level, he was a powerful figure, strong enough to rank among the top ten, with many followers. Within the First Level of the Gate of Purgatory, many had witnessed his strength and had no doubt about his power.

He walked off the stage with a carefree air, leaving many of his underlings behind him somewhat puzzled.

"Boss, why aren't you making a move?" a young man asked, somewhat indignantly.

"Because I can't beat them. Why would I go up and get beaten up if I know I can't win? I don't have that kind of bad habit." Andrew's fat face showed a helpless expression.

"How could that be? But that guy didn't seem that strong..."

"That's because you're too weak," Andrew retorted mercilessly. "If you want to go up on stage and get beaten up, I won't stop you."

The group was stunned. Although they were somewhat unwilling, they all knew that Andrew would not lie about such things.

"But we've already signed up for the challenge..." one of them whispered.

"You can concede or forfeit, or you can choose to fight Gu Ding. The result is the same anyway, you'll just be giving away points," Andrew said, waving his hand. He then found a seat and watched Gu Ding's next match.

Upon hearing these words, many people decided not to go into the ring and lose face, and chose to forfeit.

After a long while, on the arena, the Sea Emperor's voice echoed in Gu Ding's mind, "More than 5,000 challengers have forfeited, and you have directly gained more than 5,000 points. However, victories gained through forfeiture do not count towards the winning streak. Only when the opponent enters the arena and voluntarily concedes, or is defeated, will it count towards the winning streak."

Gu Ding said nothing. He remained motionless on the stage, continuously sweeping away each opponent who came up to the stage.

In the blink of an eye, a day had passed quickly, and more than 300 people had completed the challenge. No one could force Gu Ding to use a second move.

As soon as Gu Ding stepped off the ring, everyone in the arena made way for him.

Gu Ding headed straight for the prison's main dining hall. He had never eaten prison food before and found it quite novel. He wanted to give it a try.

Inside the arena, there was still much discussion about Gu Ding's performance throughout the day.

"Too powerful. No wonder he is the number one expert on the Black Iron Prodigy Ranking. He didn't use a second move from beginning to end."

"Let alone the second move, he didn't even move his feet."

"I wonder how many consecutive matches he can win. It's said there are over 100,000 challengers; if you calculate the points for consecutive wins, it'll probably reach an astronomical number..."

"You've won 323 games today, bringing your winning streak points to 1423. And so far, 8528 people have forfeited, so your total points for today are 9951." The Sea Emperor summarized Gu Ding's points for the day. "That's almost 10,000 in one day! Looks like it's more worthwhile than the Outer Domain Battlefield. Before, in the Outer Domain Battlefield, I only earned a little over 30,000 points in ten days."

"In the short term, those guys' forfeit did make my points gain faster. But forfeit results don't count towards the winning streak. The more people forfeit, the fewer winning streak points I get." Gu Ding also saw this problem.

"The First Level of the Gate of Purgatory. The highest winning streak is 858. The higher-ups at the Gate of Purgatory will at most let you break that record, reaching 900 or 1000 consecutive wins, but it's unlikely to go any higher. 1000 consecutive wins will get you over 200,000 points, and 1600 consecutive wins will get you over 10 million points. These points can be used to exchange for cultivation resources, but they won't let you get an excessive number of points at once, allowing you to exchange for resources that you can't use up in several years." The Sea Emperor had long anticipated that either Gu Ding's winning streak would be broken in some way, or the winning streak rules of the Gate of Purgatory would be modified.

"What's the exchange rate for items based on points?" Gu Ding was also curious about this.

"Here, 1 point is equivalent to one Source Energy Crystal, which is 10,000 source stones. However, the items are priced at about 20% higher than outside. A Pseudo Spiritual Object that sells for over 1 billion source stones outside will cost at least 120,000 points here." The Sea Emperor had no objection to this premium. "This premium is understandable, because the imprisoned people can only exchange resources with points, which is monopolized within the Gate of Purgatory. It's already quite good that their prices haven't doubled."

Gu Ding nodded in agreement.

Between their intermittent mental exchanges, the two had already arrived at the prison canteen.

This large dining hall has nine floors in total and is where all the prisoners on the First Level eat.

Gu Ding had assumed that the prison canteen wouldn't be much better; he'd be lucky if it were comparable to the canteen at the Hai Lan Star Basic Military Academy. However, stepping inside, he was somewhat surprised.

The entire cafeteria was like a high-end restaurant, and there was a constant flow of people, which surprised Gu Ding.

Because his cultivation had reached the level of a god, he had no need for food. So, before stepping into the restaurant, Gu Ding thought it would be deserted. But to his surprise, almost all of the thousands of tables on the First Level were full.

"There are so many people here, could it be because the food is free?" Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.

"Of course it's not free. The First Level is the cheapest, 1 point per person per meal, and it gets more expensive as you go up. The Second Level is 2 points per meal, the Third Level is 5 points per meal," the fourth floor is 10 points per meal... From the fourth floor onwards, drinks are available. And the higher you go, the better the food and service. A meal on the Ninth Layer costs 500 points, which is 5 million Originium if converted to Originium—comparable to a nine-star hotel in the Universe Sea, with all sorts of services. It's said that if you spend over 10,000 points on the Ninth Layer, you can even get an invitation to dine with the Warden."

The Sea Emperor's explanation left Gu Ding speechless. "Is this really a prison?!"

"Yes, outsiders tremble at the mere mention of the Gate of Purgatory, but for the strong, the living conditions here are so enticing that some are reluctant to leave," the Sea Emperor chuckled. "However, for those lacking strength, this is also a true purgatory. Without gaining points, they will forever remain at the bottom, unable to obtain cultivation resources, and their strength will remain stagnant. The law of the jungle here is even more brutal than outside."

Just as the Sea Emperor was saying these words, Gu Ding overheard a young man helping a girl talk to the Order Keeper at the front desk.

"Do you have Detoxification Shell on your menu today?" the young man asked anxiously.

"The Detoxification Shell was just served yesterday. We change our menu every day, so the earliest we'll have it again is next Tuesday," the female Order Keeper explained. "However, on the Seventh Layer and above, the dishes are all customizable by the customers. If you'd like, you can Seventh Layer to order."

"The Seventh Layer..." The young man frowned, clearly not having enough points. "But my friend is poisoned. Can you help me? I really don't have that many points. I can give you all 37 points I have, just to order that one dish."

"I'm sorry. That's against the rules. The rules of the Gate of Purgatory were established by successive wardens and cannot be violated at will." The Order Keeper in silver armor shook his head again.

"Just sell us one of the kitchens, we don't need your chefs to cook it, please." The young man was so anxious that tears were welling up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, that won't work either." The Order Keeper shook his head again.

"Hey, if you don't have points, don't stand here and get in the way. Get out of here. There are other people waiting to register." A big guy behind him shouted.

Seeing this, Gu Ding walked towards the two and asked, "Can you order Detoxification Shell on the Seventh Layer?"

The Order Keeper knew Gu Ding also nodded and said, "That's fine."

"Book me a table for three on the Seventh Layer." Gu Ding didn't hesitate and swiped his card to book the table. Then he turned to look at the young man and the girl next to him. The girl's face was black, and she had obviously been poisoned.

"Your assigned seats are in VIP room number eight. Just swipe your wristwatch to go in," the Order Keeper to Gu Ding after registering him.

Gu Ding nodded and said to the two of them, "You two come up with me."

The young man quickly put his arm around the girl and followed behind Gu Ding. The three of them took the elevator and soon arrived at the private room on the Seventh Layer.

"The watch is directly linked to the menu. Order whatever you want. Don't be shy, you've already paid." After Gu Ding sat down, the young man still seemed a bit awkward. "What are you standing there for? Sit down and order. This girl won't last long."

"Give me some time, and I'll return the points to you." The young man then sat down, connected his wristwatch to the menu, and ordered only a Detoxification Shell.

Gu Ding shook his head, ordered more than a dozen dishes that looked quite unique, pressed the send button, and then looked at the young man, saying, "No need to pay me back, it's just 100 points, it's on me. You can treat me to a meal sometime in the future."

"Alright then." The young man said, sizing up Gu Ding, and after a long pause, asked somewhat uncertainly, "Are you Gu Ding?"

"That's right, this little girl seems to be much younger than you." Gu Ding looked at the young man with some suspicion. The young man was at least in his early twenties, while the little girl looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old.

"She is my sister," the young man finally spoke. "My name is Reint, and my sister's name is Aina."

"Oh, so they're siblings. What kind of poison did she get? Are you sure the Detoxification Shell is effective?" Gu Ding had only heard that the Detoxification Shell had detoxifying effects, but he didn't know how effective it was.

"We were still on the Outer Domain Battlefield yesterday when she was struck by a Two-Headed Demon Race's poison whip. I tried a one-star antidote, but it didn't work. The Detoxification Shell should be effective, because other people have been poisoned before and recovered after eating the Detoxification Shell," Reint explained.

"Some Two-Headed Demon Race do indeed poison their arms; this is probably the kind they encountered. However, usually, the poison isn't too strong. The antidote wasn't effective, which could be due to the antidote itself, or it could be that the Two-Headed Demon Race used a different kind of poison. If that's the case, the Detoxification Shell's effect will be limited..." the Sea Emperor explained.

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