Breakthrough, Mid-rank God!

On the arena, the battle between Gu Ding and Carothers had been going on for a while.

Carothers was indeed stronger than Gu Ding had imagined; his Combat Strength was already at the peak of the six-star half-step True Body realm. But that wasn't all; the key was that this guy's speed was terrifying, having already surpassed a level of strength and reached the peak of the seven-star Half-Step True God realm.

With Gu Ding's eyesight, he couldn't catch the opponent's movements at all, only seeing a blurry figure. Fortunately, Gu Ding's Martial Dao Intent realm had reached the Enlightenment Realm, allowing him to sense the opponent's trajectory and judge the direction of their moves even when at a significant speed disadvantage.

Therefore, what the crowd below the arena saw was a white phantom rushing towards Gu Ding from various angles and trajectories. Gu Ding, however, stood calmly in place, using a variety of simple and effective moves to dismantle the opponent's attacks.

Each impact of the white shadow triggered a violent roar.

If the protective energy shield on the arena hadn't been so powerful, the energy waves generated by their battle would have already spread out and formed a terrifying storm.

"That guy Carothers is fast, but when he encounters a martial artist like Gu Ding with a strong Martial Dao Intent, it's like he's encountered an impregnable fortress, and he's completely helpless."

The sixth level of the Gates of Purgatory is filled with powerful individuals of considerable strength and astonishing insight. Most of them could see through the battle, and Carothers was helpless against Gudin.

"Yes, Carothers' high-frequency attacks put a huge strain on his body, while Gu Ding relies entirely on his Martial Dao Intent, which puts almost no strain on his body. If this continues, once Carothers' stamina decreases and his speed slows down, Gu Ding should have no difficulty winning this match."

"It's too early to say that. Don't forget, Carothers is a vampire. Once he transforms, his Combat Strength will increase by at least one level, and his speed will also increase accordingly. If Gu Ding relies solely on his Martial Dao Intent, he probably won't be able to withstand it."

"That's true, but Gu Ding, since he chose to take on the challenge, must still have some Trump Card up his sleeve, right? In the past few days, he's only used close combat abilities in his challenges. He hasn't used any other methods even once."

Some people have also noticed this.

In fact, after entering the Sixth Layer, in order to break through the Gene Shackles within his body, Gu Ding didn't use the Demon Face or the World Star in his battles; he relied entirely on close-quarters combat. Therefore, some of his victories were very difficult. Many people believed he was deliberately hiding his strength, because quite a few had seen his information and knew he possessed a powerful technique that summoned the Demon Face.

Only Gu Ding himself knew that every time he was hit by an opponent, the Gene Shackles in his body would tremble.

Reed and Belinda had also been teleported down from the First Level of the arena. They quickly found Arena Number Eight and watched Gu Ding's battle from a distance at the back of the crowd.

"Based on this, Gu Ding will lose this battle," Belinda concluded after only a short while.

"Why do you say that? He's clearly still in the lead." After asking this question, Reed's gaze fell on Carothers. "Is there something strange about that guy in the white shirt?"

"That guy in white is called Carothers, and he's a vampire. He's currently fighting Gu Ding in his normal form. If he transforms, not only will his Combat Strength increase to the peak of the Seven-Star Half-Step True God level, but his speed will also increase dramatically, reaching the level of the Eight-Star Half-Step True God level."

"We've seen Gu Ding's trump cards. One is to summon that Demon Face to attack the opponent. The other is to summon the World Star for a ranged attack. But given the opponent's speed, Gu Ding's Trump Card will be hard to be effective against Carothers."

Belinda didn't think highly of Gu Ding; opponents with exceptional speed are indeed difficult to deal with. Not to mention that Carothers himself was Combat Strength than Gu Ding.

"Summoning World Star?!" Reed was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Having received the inheritance of a true god, he naturally knew what summoning World Star meant. He never expected that Gu Ding would possess Miniature World. Even though he had studied a lot of information about Gu Ding recently, he had not found any mention of this.

"It's normal that you didn't know, because we only found out he possessed Miniature World before he was arrested, and the Federal Government hadn't recorded this information," Belinda quickly added.

While the crowd below was discussing the battle situation, Carothers, who had been unable to break through for a long time, finally became a little impatient.

He suddenly dodged and retreated.

A slender figure hovered in the void, looking down coldly at Gu Ding. "Martial Dao Intent at the Enlightenment Realm, that's a bit beyond my expectations. Truly Epoch Monster of the Human Race Camp. However, the more extraordinary you are, the more satisfying it is to defeat you. I'm too lazy to waste any more time with you, so I'll let you witness my true strength."

Gu Ding glanced at the other person indifferently. He guessed that the other person was preparing to transform, but he didn't intend to stop him. Because he clearly felt that if he suffered an even stronger impact, he might be able to touch the Gene Shackles of Mid-rank God.

In the void, Carothers's eyes suddenly turned blood red, his muscles began to tremble in an eerie manner, his facial expression became extremely ferocious, and his once neat and white teeth turned into sharp spikes, like a mouthful of white steel nails...

What was most unusual was that his back and shoulders suddenly bulged up, and from that bulge, there were faint sounds of flesh growing. Although they were faint, everyone present could hear them clearly.

After a while, suddenly there were two tearing sounds, and two black wings stretched out from the white suit, as if emerging from a cocoon, tearing the once intact suit to shreds.

Carothers' entire upper body was suddenly exposed to everyone, and a pair of black wings spread out from his back and began to flap. Each flap created a strong gust of wind.

"My Combat Strength and speed have both increased by a level. I'd like to see how many moves you can withstand now." Carothers sneered, his wings on his back suddenly flapped, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

Gu Ding's pupils contracted sharply. His eyes could no longer capture the other's movements at all. Before the transformation, he could only barely see a blurry figure. Now, even that was gone. The other had simply flapped its wings and vanished from his sight without a trace.

"Right!"

But Gu Ding's Martial Dao Intent and instinctive perception of danger prompted Gu Ding to react immediately. He turned to the right, his arms forming a cross to protect his head.

"Boom!"

A powerful force slammed into Gu Ding's arm, sending him flying.

At the same time, Gu Ding felt his right arm completely fractured by the blow. His back then slammed violently against the arena's protective shield, sending ripples through the air. Simultaneously, a strong tremor ran through his internal organs.

But a strange smile flashed across his face.

Because he saw that the bronze gate in the Soul Space had finally emerged, with thousands of black chains. They clanged together as if blown by the wind, producing a pleasant sound.

"You've finally appeared!"

Seeing Gu Ding stand up again, Carothers licked his lips, flapped his wings, and disappeared from Gu Ding's sight once more.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..." Then, a series of impacts rang out.

Gu Ding bent slightly, continuing to defend himself. Carothers' attacks poured down like a torrential downpour.

In just a short time, Gu Ding's body had been subjected to countless impacts. Almost every bone in his body was intact, but he did not dodge or retaliate, simply letting his opponent attack him.

"What's wrong with Gu Ding? Even if he's not fast enough, he shouldn't be taking so many attacks." Below the arena, Reed felt something was off. Logically, if Gu Ding was able to defend against the first attack, he should be able to defend against the subsequent attacks as well. But now, he was practically letting his opponent attack him at will.

"It's possible that the initial blow he suffered damaged his internal organs, affecting his bodily functions. Although Body Refinement Cultivator are powerful, some weaknesses can be fatal," Belinda offered her speculation.

Gu Ding, whose consciousness had largely sunk into his Soul Space, began a frenzied attack on the chains with the help of external forces. In just a short while, hundreds of chains were shattered.

"Let the attack come even more fiercely!" Gu Ding shouted frantically in his heart.

Meanwhile, Carothers was attacking Gu Ding with a frenzy.

Gu Ding's back leaned against the arena's protective barrier, ripples spreading outwards, sending chills down the spines of everyone present. They all knew that to leave ripples on that barrier required at least Six-Star Half-Step True God's attack. For Carothers, even through Gu Ding, to create such widespread ripples on the barrier indicated an attack power at least that of a seven-star Half-Step True God. Such an attack, within the Sixth Layer of the Gate of Purgatory, would leave almost no one unscathed.

"Carothers, stop!" The Black Armor Referee finally intervened when he saw that Gu Ding was no longer offering any resistance.

Carothers seemed not to hear him and continued his frenzied bombardment.

The Black Armor Referee then made his move, grabbing his arm and throwing him away.

Meanwhile, Gu Ding, who was in the Soul Space, had already destroyed half of the chains. When he saw that the speed had suddenly slowed down, his consciousness returned to his body, only to find the referee standing in front of him.

"He's still conscious..." The Black Armor Referee frowned slightly. "Gu Ding, you should just admit defeat. You'll die if you keep going like this."

"I won't admit defeat!" Gu Ding shook his head firmly.

The referee hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave way.

But to everyone's surprise, Gu Ding actually took the initiative to provoke Carothers, saying, "Didn't you eat breakfast? You're as weak as a woman."

Carothers had originally intended to mock his opponent, but instead, he was mocked instead. Enraged, he unleashed another burst of wings and charged towards Gu Ding, his powerful punches raining down on Gu Ding. "You brat, today I'll smash every bone in your body to pieces with my fists!"

Gu Ding just grinned defiantly.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

The roaring sound reached everyone's ears again, and many people couldn't understand why Gu Ding would do something so self-destructive.

"What is that guy Gu Ding doing? He still won't admit defeat. He's going to fall. Should I stop the match?" Belinda frowned and turned to look at Reed.

"He seems to be deliberately provoking the other party... Let's wait and see." Reed didn't think Gu Ding was the kind of person who would joke with his own life. Based on his understanding of Gu Ding, he must have some purpose in doing this.

Inside the Soul Space, Gu Ding frantically bombarded the chains binding the bronze giant gate, and the chains broke one after another. This time, with the help of external forces, the speed was countless times faster than before.

Thousands of black chains broke in less than twenty minutes, leaving only the last ten.

"Gu Ding, your vital signs are in danger. You either give up or quickly shatter the remaining chains!" The Sea Emperor's warning suddenly came.

Gu Ding immediately sped up, summoning the Demon Face and blasting it towards the last ten chains.

"Click, click, click..."

When the last chain broke, Gu Ding finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the bronze gate slowly opened.

Before Gu Ding could even investigate what lay hidden behind the bronze gate, his consciousness returned to his body. Almost simultaneously, a surge of new life force emerged from an unknown location, quickly permeating every corner of Gu Ding 'Gu Ding body, which began to repair itself at a visible pace.

"What happened?" Not only Carothers, but also many of the spectators below felt the new aura emanating from Gu Ding.

Moreover, many people saw that Gu Ding's body began to repair itself. "Look, Gu Ding's body is repairing itself."

"This aura seems to belong to Mid-rank God. So that's why..." Reed finally understood why Gu Ding had deliberately provoked his opponent. "He was using his opponent's attack to try and become a Mid-rank God. As expected of Gu Ding, he actually used such a risky method of advancement."

Faced with this bizarre situation, Carothers was unwilling to retreat and instead intensified his attack, trying to destroy Gu Ding's now-repaired body again. But he soon realized that everything he did was in vain.

"Have you had enough?" a voice suddenly rang out from the arena.

Below the arena, everyone saw that Gu Ding, who had almost collapsed into a puddle of mud, was slowly getting up...

~~~

[I accidentally wrote a 4K long chapter, and I feel it's hard to end it here, so I'll just post it now...] (To be continued~^~)