Farewell, Reed

Carothers' fist was suddenly blocked. He looked closely and saw that it was Gu Ding's hand that had firmly blocked his attack. At the same time, Gu Ding's murderous eyes sent a chill down Carothers' spine.

"Playing tricks!"

Carothers forced down his fear, flapping his wings once more, creating a gust of wind. He increased the force of his punches several times over, but Gu Ding stood before him like a towering mountain, unshakeable.

"Click..."

Suddenly, several sounds of Dao Bone cracking rang out, and Carothers felt a sharp pain in his fist, causing him to scream in agony.

"Ah!!!"

The crowd below the ring could clearly see that Carothers' right fist had been crushed by Gu Ding, and blue blood gushed out wildly.

Many people who witnessed this scene began to look at Gu Ding with some apprehension.

"Click..."

Another series of cracking sounds, like firecrackers, came from the bones. This time, it was Carothers' left wrist that was clamped by Gu Ding. In the next instant, his entire left hand twisted and deformed into a spiral shape.

Large beads of sweat streamed down Carothers' forehead. Seeing Gu Ding's murderous glare, he quickly looked at the referee and said, "I admit defeat..."

Before he could finish saying "I surrender," he was shocked to find his mouth covered by a hand. It was a long, slender, fair hand that forcefully silenced the last word.

At the same time, Carothers found himself being thrown backward. In an instant, he was forcibly carried to the other side of the ring, his head slamming heavily into the protective barrier on the other side. All his teeth were knocked out by the immense force of that long, slender hand, and even his jaw was torn apart.

"We're fighting. Where were you looking just now?" Gu Ding yanked Carothers' head around so that he was staring directly at him.

Looking into those indifferent eyes that seemed almost inhuman, Carothers' eyes were filled with terror. He had no doubt that Gu Ding would kill him.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me..." Carothers murmured incoherently.

"You just punched me over three million times. To make a fair trade, I'll return the same number of punches. As for whether you survive, that depends on your luck," Gu Ding said. He released his grip on the other man's mouth; after all, the man couldn't utter a word of surrender anyway.

The referee seemed hesitant, but when he saw Belinda nodding at him from below the stage, he simply chose to stand by and watch.

"Ah..." With a roar, Gu Ding's fist, like a storm, engulfed Carothers.

Ripples spread across the arena's protective shield at an extremely high frequency.

With each attack, Gu Ding's aura grew stronger.

The audience below was completely stunned. Gu Ding's Combat Strength after his advancement was completely different from before.

"This guy is really something else, breaking through in battle. How much courage does he have to do something like that!" Exclamations of admiration came from the crowd.

"No wonder Gu Ding is called Epoch Monster. He was able to turn the tide in this situation. I thought Gu Ding was doomed to lose this time." Even some of the guys who weren't optimistic about Gu Ding before started to praise him.

"Hey, Gu Ding, if you kill this guy, you'll be locked in the Confinement Space." Seeing that the opponent was on the verge of death under Gu Ding's attack, the Sea Emperor couldn't help but remind him.

Gu Ding completely ignored the Sea Emperor's words and kept punching Carothers' body. His attack speed and power were even increasing, because his body was constantly adapting to the new changes brought about by this improvement in cultivation.

Seeing Gu Ding's attitude, Sea Emperor clearly didn't care about entering the Confinement Space anymore, and didn't say anything more.

Reed, watching from below the ring, raised his eyebrows. "I've never seen Gu Ding like this before."

"If Carothers dies, Gu Ding will be locked in the Confinement Space. Should we stop him?" Belinda turned to observe Reed.

"He knows the consequences and will bear them himself." Reed shook his head. He knew Gu Ding's character very well. He seemed impulsive, but he had actually considered the consequences and knew that they were within his capacity to bear them.

On the ring, Gu Ding suddenly stopped moving, and Carothers' body was completely broken.

"Three million eighty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-two punches! One punch left!" Gu Ding suddenly twisted his waist 180 degrees, his tightly clenched right fist spread wide, and after a long while, he suddenly unleashed a powerful punch, "Three million eighty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-three punches!"

"Boom!"

A loud explosion reverberated, and ripples spread across the arena's protective shield.

Gu Ding's punch pierced through Carothers' chest, the fist entering from the front and exiting from the back.

Carothers' last breath was extinguished by this punch, leaving him barely clinging to life. His winged form dissipated, and he reverted to his human form.

Gu Ding withdrew his fist and turned to look at the Black Armor Referee. "Can we announce the result now?"

"Winner of this match: Gu Ding!"

After announcing the result, the referee immediately removed Carothers from the ring.

Gu Ding also changed his previous habit of fighting for an entire day and walked off the stage directly.

He's fought so many battles these past few days not to gain points, but to seek a breakthrough. Now that his cultivation has broken through, he should find a place as soon as possible to consolidate his power. Continuing to fight would be pointless.

Below the arena, although many people felt regret, they also knew that Gu Ding, whose cultivation had just improved, was definitely unwilling to continue fighting.

As soon as he stepped off the stage, the Sea Emperor spoke again, "Gu Ding, someone you know has come to the arena."

"My acquaintances?" Gu Ding frowned slightly. The Gate of Purgatory was no good place, and he didn't want to see any of his friends imprisoned there.

"That's right, it's about 50 meters away at the two o'clock position." The Sea Emperor's voice sounded tinged with laughter.

Gu Ding looked in that direction and his gaze quickly fell on a blond boy.

"Reed...? What's he doing here?"

He noticed that Reed was also looking at him.

Gu Ding, who was about to leave the arena, immediately changed course and headed towards Reed.

"You've grown quite a bit taller since I last saw you in half a year." Reed punched Gu Ding in the chest.

"Aren't you the same?" Gu Ding's smile remained warm.

Back on Deep Sea Star, both of them were only a little over 1.6 meters tall. Now, more than half a year later, they have both grown to 1.8 meters tall and are no longer as thin as before.

"You two talk, I'll leave for now." Belinda didn't intend to eavesdrop on their conversation and chose to leave directly. Although the warden had previously asked her to guard Reed mainly to protect his safety, she could also tell that Reed's strength was second only to a true god, and he wouldn't encounter any danger in this Sixth Layer, so she felt at ease leaving.

Gu Ding then noticed that there was a Golden Armor Order Keeper standing next to Reed.

Belinda vanished in a flash, and only then did Gu Ding ask, "How did you end up at the Gate of Purgatory?"

"I came with Quentin," Reed said with a smile.

"Oh, I know, it's the Chief Justice of the House of Representatives." Gu Ding also remembered that today was the day the Chief Justice was to visit the Gate of Purgatory. "You helped him win the Chief Justice position, no wonder he agreed to bring you along."

"How do you know these things?" Reed hadn't expected that information was readily available within the Gate of Purgatory. Normally, prisons would block information.

"The Local Area Network of the Gate of Purgatory can see news happening outside. Your news was yesterday's headline, so of course I know that," Gu Ding grinned.

"The Gate of Purgatory is indeed completely different from the prison I imagined. However, seeing your current situation, you seem to be doing quite well, which puts my mind at ease." Reed was speaking the truth. He had been somewhat worried that in a typical prison, facing a small room of only a few square meters all day, with only one hour of exercise time a day besides mealtimes, Gu Ding definitely wouldn't be able to stand it.

Actually, after Belinda showed him around the First Level of the Gate of Purgatory, he had already guessed that Gu Ding was probably doing well. Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he was finally relieved.

"Let's go to the cafeteria to talk, I'll treat you to dinner!" Gu Ding said generously.

"You're not going to treat me to pan-fried buns again, are you?" Reed couldn't help but laugh. Back on Deep Sea Star, whenever Gu Ding said he'd treat him to a meal, he'd always end up with just two or three pan-fried buns. But back then, Gu Ding really didn't have much money; his meager salary came from working at the Rose Tavern. Treating him to pan-fried buns was already quite generous.

"No, I'll treat you to a big meal this time. You can also order pan-fried buns if you want." Gu Ding said, leading Reed toward the cafeteria.

Upon entering the cafeteria, Gu Ding immediately registered for a private room on the Ninth Layer and led Reed up to the Ninth Layer.

When they pushed open the door to the private room, both of them stood there stunned.

This private room didn't feel like a dining place at all; it was more like the interior of a magnificent palace. Even the floor was a dazzling gold that reflected people's images.

"This... looks a bit too high-end. How about we go get some fried buns instead..." Reed knew that places like this must be expensive.

"Stop talking nonsense, the money's already paid. If you want pan-fried buns, just order from the menu." Gu Ding strode inside.

The two sat down, and Gu Ding then tapped on the menu projection on the armrest of his chair, directly searching for "pan-fried buns." "Hmm, two orders of pan-fried buns, perfect timing, I haven't had any in a long time..." (To be continued~^~)