Why Didn't You Tell Me Sooner?

[A new year, a new beginning! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2015, may all your wishes come true, and may everything go smoothly!]

Over 140,000 people pressed the challenge button against Gu Ding initially, but most withdrew after witnessing Gu Ding abilities. Now, fewer than 20,000 challengers remain.

Of these 10,000-plus people, most felt they would regret not fighting Gu Ding, though a small minority might have been hoping for a lucky break and thought they might win.

After leaving the Cultivation Tower, Gu Ding headed straight for the arena. On the way, the Sea Emperor informed him of the new rules.

The arena rules stipulate that, in addition to being required to attend the scheduled challenge time, if the challenge lasts for two days or more, the challenged person is allowed a three-day rest period after each day's challenge.

Gu Ding had fought continuously for three days, so he could have rested in between. His time in the Cultivation Tower didn't exceed that three-day rest period, so no one had the right to say anything when he reappeared in the arena.

There were also some people waiting in the arena. Although they were stood up the first day, everyone knew that one day in the outside world was equivalent to five hundred days on the Ninth Layer of the Cultivation Tower. Gu Ding couldn't stay in the Cultivation Tower for too long.

As soon as Gu Ding entered the arena, he was spotted by many people. He walked towards the Registration Office, and after registering, he reappeared on Arena 1 in a flash.

The referee immediately came up and explained the new rules to Gu Ding. Just as he was about to announce the start of the match, Gu Ding stopped him.

"Referees, you've unilaterally changed the rules, so I'll also make a small request. Challenging one by one is too slow; let all the challengers come up together. Anyway, this arena is big enough." Gu Ding made a strange request.

"This..." The referee was immediately at a loss.

Gu Ding's voice echoed across the arena in all directions. "All remaining challengers, come up here. I will only strike once. If even one person can withstand it, I will lose, and everyone who comes up will receive one point. As for those who don't come up, I will forfeit and will no longer accept challenges."

Gu Ding did this because he didn't intend to waste any more time. After all, this was only the First Level of the Gate of Purgatory, offering little challenge to him. Without challenges, the speed of strength improvement would be limited. He knew this very well. With his current strength, he would need to reach at least the fifth or even Sixth Layer before encountering a truly formidable opponent. Furthermore, he needed to reach the Eighth Level within three years, retrieve the treasure hidden there, and then escape.

Hearing Gu Ding's words, many challengers were actually unhappy. One person challenging more than 10,000 people sounded insincere and extremely arrogant.

"You won't get a winning streak if you keep doing this," the referee warned from the sidelines.

"You Order Keeper, even the reserve members, are all retired members of the TOP 5. You all possess at least the Combat Strength of Nine-and-a-Half Star Half-Step True God. I've fought Oliver before. I know very well that I have no chance of winning against other Order Keeper, so I'm not going to get any winning streak points anyway." In Gu Ding's view, since he couldn't get winning streak points anyway, he might as well quickly eliminate these challengers, exchange for some points, and then go directly to other levels.

The referee did not refute these words, because Gu Ding said was true. Among the reserve members of the Order Keeper, even the weakest one possessed Combat Strength of at least Nine-and-a-Half Star Half-Step True God.

The arena was growing larger, with many eager to know what kind of attack Gu Ding would deliver with his promise of a single strike. While many considered Gu Ding, the fact that he dared to make such a claim meant that even if his attack couldn't suppress ten thousand, its power would certainly be considerable. Furthermore, killing was forbidden in the arena; experiencing the attack firsthand would at most result in minor injuries. But once that opportunity was missed, who knew when they would encounter another opponent of Gu Ding's caliber?

Of the more than 16,000 challengers, more than 13,000 stepped into the ring, while more than 3,000 chose to remain on the sidelines.

"Is anyone else here?" After waiting for half a minute and no one else came up on stage, Gu Ding asked.

Two or three more people jumped onto the stage from the crowd. Gu Ding waited for about a minute, and when no one else was around, he spoke again, "Alright, that's enough people."

After Gu Ding finished speaking, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and after a long while, a black Demon Face appeared above his head.

The manifestation of the giant Demon Face left everyone speechless.

"Is this his real method?" The crowd murmured among themselves.

"How terrifying! That Demon Face exudes a terrifying pressure from afar, making people's hearts tremble with fear."

"What exactly is this Demon Face? Could it be the legendary, powerful Primordial Bloodline?"

The warden and the three Order Keeper Leader also noticed Gu Ding's behavior.

"Is this the powerful bloodline that defeated the Ancient Moon God?" As a high-ranking official of the Federal Government, the warden was also very clear about Gu Ding's killing of Ye Mei.

On the arena, before the Demon Face even made a move, many people were already struggling to maintain their footing. Those who were barely holding on all looked extremely pale, because the Demon Face's aura was simply too terrifying, and the difference in Combat Strength between them and Gu Ding was far too great.

Suddenly, two Red Radiance flashed in the Demon Face's scarlet eyes, like a bright neon light suddenly lighting up in the dark night.

Everyone felt a sharp pain in their eyes and couldn't help but close them. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a Blood Sea.

From that Blood Sea, hands kept reaching out, pulling him downwards, and even rotting heads opened their mouths to tear at him. His divine energy and even his physical strength seemed to have been completely drained, reducing him to an ordinary person, and he began to struggle frantically.

Some individuals believed they were seeing an illusion, but they also became obsessed with the real pain they felt after being bitten and the impending collapse of their bodies.

On the stage, more than 13,000 people instantly broke down. Some cried out, some jumped off the stage, some bared their teeth and claws and attacked others in all directions, and some sat on the ground in shock... all sorts of ugly behavior were on display.

"The difference in strength is still too great..." The referee looked closely and saw that everyone on the stage except for Gu Ding had entered an abnormal state of frenzy.

"Wake up, everyone!" The referee roared, his loud voice booming and reaching the ears of everyone present, who then roused themselves from their reverie.

"I declare that Gu Ding wins this round!" the referee announced after everyone had recovered from their shock.

"Everyone got infected just now?!" Upon hearing this result, everyone realized that no one had escaped unscathed.

After glancing at the extra 13,000 points, Gu Ding was about to step off the stage when the referee stopped him.

"Gu Ding, wait a moment, the warden has something to say."

As the referee spoke, he turned on the speakerphone of the communicator, and a woman's voice, with a touch of allure, came through.

"Hello everyone, I am Victoria, the warden of the Gate of Purgatory. I have no objection to the result of Gu Ding's match just now. However, due to the restrictions of the challenge rules, although Gu Ding can obtain more than 13,000 points for this victory, he will not enjoy the benefit of consecutive wins."

"Of course, for the remaining three thousand or so people who have not yet challenged Gu Ding, since Gu Ding offered the opportunity to challenge you but you chose not to go on stage, it is considered that you have given up the challenge. One point will be deducted from each of you and allocated to Gu Ding."

Victoria's words caused an uproar.

Those who didn't go on stage did so mainly because they heard Gu Ding say he would forfeit the challenge. Gu Ding forfeiting meant Gu Ding would lose points, which would be distributed among their group. Unexpectedly, the warden sided with Gu Ding at this moment, judging that those who didn't go on stage had forfeited and demanding that each of them give Gu Ding a point.

Even Gu Ding was somewhat surprised by the verdict; he couldn't understand why the warden would side with him in such a matter. In a way, he was in the wrong.

"That warden, could it be that he's taken a liking to you?" Sea Emperor couldn't help but tease.

You're overthinking it.

Gu Ding didn't linger on the stage any longer. He walked off the stage and left the arena, leaving behind a group of bewildered people.

"Sea Emperor, how do I get from the First Level to the Second Level of the Gate of Purgatory?" After leaving the arena, Gu Ding's consciousness communicated with the Sea Emperor again.

"Each level of the arena has three gatekeepers. Defeating all three gatekeepers will grant you access to the next level," the Sea Emperor explained.

"Guardians? Who are the three guardians of the First Level?" Gu Ding immediately asked.

"The three gatekeepers on the First Level were defeated by you long ago." The Sea Emperor couldn't help but laugh when Gu Ding asked. "Before you achieved your thousand-win streak, those three challenged you one after another, but you defeated them all in one move."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Gu Ding hadn't expected that he had unintentionally fulfilled the conditions long ago.

"You didn't ask. Besides, even if I had told you back then, you wouldn't have stopped challenging the others and gone straight to the Second Level. These guys aren't even in the same strength class as you, so whether I told you or not wouldn't have made much of a difference."

"Now that I have the authority, how do I go to the Second Level?" Gu Ding was too lazy to argue with the Sea Emperor and asked.

"The entrance is in the arena. Just tell the Order Keeper or the referee at the front desk that you want to go to the Second Level, and they will take you to the portal. Actually, normally they should ask you if you want to go to the Second Level. I don't know why they didn't," the Sea Emperor explained with a smile.

"Why didn't you say so sooner? I've already left the arena..."

"You didn't even ask..." (To be continued~^~)