Pause the Match

The Gate of Purgatory, the Sixth Layer.

It was midnight.

Gu Ding lay half-reclined on the bed, his fingers swiping across the projection screen in front of him. The screen displayed a dazzling array of items, similar to Taobao, the online TaoTao Website Gu Ding used on Deep Sea Star, except that the currency for payment was now points from the Gate of Purgatory.

"The items displayed here seem quite cheap. One-Star Divine Object items can be bought for less than 10 points." Gu Ding noticed that many items could be purchased for only a single-digit number of points.

"What's so cheap about it? One point here is equivalent to 1,000 source stones outside. One-Star Divine Object only sells for a few thousand points outside. Look at the spirit items, which one doesn't cost more than two million points to exchange for? With your four million points, you can only exchange for two very ordinary spirit items at most." The Sea Emperor clearly knew the value ratio between these points and actual currency.

"So, what do you want me to buy by opening this page?" Gu Ding asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I've already chosen what I want to buy. I had you turn the pages like this so you would understand the value of the points in the Gate of Purgatory, and so you would work harder to earn more points in the future." The Sea Emperor finally revealed his purpose.

"Although the lower the level, the more base points you get, the harder it is to earn points later on. Whether it's the arena or the Outer Domain Battlefield, it's very difficult to get double points." With Gu Ding's current strength, he's not even the top in this Sixth Layer. Winning a hundred consecutive matches in the arena is quite difficult. As for the Outer Domain Battlefield, it's impossible to crush all the Alien Race like before.

"Weren't you planning to go into seclusion tomorrow? Breaking through to a lower level won't be too much of an obstacle for you. So why not raise your cultivation to the mid- Five-Star Mid-rank God in one go?" The Sea Emperor said this, clearly indicating that he had already planned it all along.

"Breaking through four minor levels in one go? It's not as easy as you say. My physique is special. Every time I improve my cultivation, I need dozens of times more energy than others. Last time, it was because of the Cosmic Fruit that I had an epiphany, which allowed me to break through to the Five-Star Low-rank God in one go. Now, let alone without the Cosmic Fruit, even if I still had it, I am now Mid-rank God, and eating that kind of Cosmic Fruit would be much less effective."

Gu Ding was well aware of his physical condition. Back in the Pirate Crew, he was the most diligent in his cultivation, but his progress was always the slowest. This wasn't due to any other reason, but rather because of his unique physique. This special physique, while granting him extraordinary Combat Strength, required a great deal of effort to advance in cultivation each time.

"Since I've said that, I naturally have my reasons. Turn to page 1123 of the projected item exchange page, select the seventeenth item, and then purchase four." The Sea Emperor's voice sounded very confident.

"Could there really be something with an effect similar to the Cosmic Fruit?" Gu Ding flipped through the projected page with some suspicion, scrolling down until he saw the seventeen items at the bottom. He paused, somewhat stunned. "What is this dark, fuse-equipped thing that looks like a bomb?"

"This fruit is called the Explosion Bodhi. If you ignite the stem at the top of the fruit with divine fire, it will quickly explode, releasing terrifying energy. In the Middle Ancient Era, when this fruit was plentiful, many people used it as a bomb in battle, capable of harming even High-rank God. Later, due to over-harvesting, this fruit gradually fell out of use in combat and became an ornamental plant. By your time, this fruit has become a rare commodity, each one worth more than a five-star divine artifact..."

"No wonder it's so expensive, costing 100,000 points per item. But why are you asking me to buy this?" After listening to the Sea Emperor's explanation, Gu Ding was even more confused as to why the Sea Emperor wanted him to buy such a thing.

"What's your hurry? I haven't finished yet," the Sea Emperor continued. "This fruit is expensive for another reason: in the Middle Ancient Era, a genius Body Cultivation discovered a second use for this fruit—to help Body Cultivation cultivators quickly break through their cultivation levels..."

"It sounds kind of dangerous..." Gu Ding thought to himself as he listened.

"The specific method is quite simple: after eating the fruit, detonate it inside your body, and then use the impact and enormous energy of the explosion to boost your cultivation. Because Body Cultivation are incredibly strong, and the difficulty of their breakthroughs is similar to yours, many people are willing to try this new method. Of course, many have also failed and perished."

"It is indeed an extremely unsafe way to break through!" Gu Ding muttered to himself.

"Although you don't belong to the Body Cultivation, your physical strength is already comparable to many Body Cultivation, which is why I came up with this method. Moreover, the Explosion Bodhi are also differentiated by age; the shorter the age, the weaker the power. The black ones are the least powerful, usually growing for less than ten thousand years. The energy generated by the explosion can only harm the physical body of those below the Peak-rank God. Those over fifty thousand years old are purple in color, even rarer and more expensive, and can harm the physical body of those below the Half-Step True God. As for those over one hundred thousand years old, they are golden in color, and basically no one will sell them because they are extremely valuable ornamental items, but the explosion can harm Half-Step True God." The Sea Emperor continued to explain. He didn't tell Gu Ding that the reason he trusted Gu Ding to use this method was because he knew that if Gu Ding really encountered danger, the Black Virus in his body would appear to resolve the crisis.

Although the Sea Emperor's method sounded somewhat unreliable, Gu Ding still chose to believe in the Sea Emperor.

"Are four enough?" Gu Ding entered six as the purchase number. He planned to keep two as backup, in case four weren't enough to upgrade to Five-Star Mid-rank God, causing his seclusion to be interrupted, which would be quite troublesome. Besides, even if he had extra, it wouldn't matter much; he might need them sometime in the future.

The Sea Emperor did not stop him when he saw the number he entered.

"Then I'll buy six." Seeing that the Sea Emperor had no objections, Gu Ding pressed the buy button directly.

The 600,000 points were quickly deducted and disappeared, and Gu Ding's system also showed that the delivery time was the next morning.

"Go to sleep. We'll go to the Cultivation Tower after we collect the goods tomorrow morning." Gu Ding then lay down peacefully.

During the three days Reed was there, Gu Ding didn't enter the Cultivation Tower or the Time Acceleration Cabin. He only used the nights to consolidate his recently improved cultivation.

Over the course of three days, he and Reed talked a lot.

Reed knew a great deal about his journey into the Universe Sea, but he knew little about Reed himself. Reed wasn't stingy, sharing all the details of his experiences with Gu Ding. The two also exchanged many insights about cultivation, and even sparred. However, Reed's strength now far surpassed Gu Ding's, reaching a near-godlike level, probably no less than those reserve Order Keeper of Order.

Actually, the two didn't feel any distance from each other despite being separated for more than half a year. On the contrary, it felt like leaving Deep Sea Star had happened just yesterday.

It wasn't until Reed left that Gu Ding realized he didn't know when they would meet again.

The next morning, while Gu Ding was still washing up, someone knocked on his door.

He opened the door, still biting his toothbrush. Standing outside was none other than Oliver, who had dragged him in. He asked, somewhat indistinctly, "Did you need something?"

Oliver suddenly had a box in his hand, and a page projection popped up at the same time. "Sign for it."

Gu Ding then realized that the other party was actually delivering a package. He signed his name and was about to close the door to continue brushing his teeth.

Oliver asked with some doubt, "This thing is used as a bomb. It's basically ineffective against people above the fifth floor. What are you buying it for? You're not going to use it as a decoration, are you?"

"I bought it to eat." Gu Ding said with a very serious expression.

Oliver was taken aback. He was clearly unaware of that special cultivation method of Body Cultivation, but by the time he came to his senses, Gu Ding had already closed the door.

After washing up, Gu Ding had breakfast in the cafeteria and then headed towards the arena.

He went to the arena not to compete, but to request a pause in the challenge.

In the arena, the rule is that once a challenge is accepted, you must fight at least one match within three days, otherwise you will be considered to have forfeited and the corresponding points will be deducted.

Gu Ding needs to go into seclusion, while his challengers have lined up in the arena, with tens of thousands waiting to challenge him. If he doesn't step onto the arena stage for more than three days, all his subsequent matches will be considered as forfeiting, and he will lose tens of thousands of points.

The arena rules also include a pause rule: if the challenged player urgently needs to enter the Outer Domain Battlefield or the Cultivation Tower, a location they cannot leave in the short term, they can apply to pause their arena match. However, each person can only use this pause privilege a maximum of three times per year, and the interval between each use must exceed one month after the pause expires.

Once you apply for a suspension from the arena, leaving the Outer Domain Battlefield or Cultivation Tower area will signify the end of the suspension period. You must complete the arena match within three days of the suspension period ending; otherwise, it will be considered a forfeiture of the challenge.

Upon entering the arena, many people waiting to challenge Gu Ding were hoping to be selected by the system. However, to their surprise, Gu Ding did not register at the Registration Office. Instead, he spoke to the silver-armored registration officer and said, "I want to request a suspension of the match."

"Fill out the form." The Order Keeper didn't seem surprised, because he knew that Gu Ding had just broken through not long ago. He directly displayed a page projection, "State the reason for your application. If the reason is unreasonable, there is a high chance that it will be rejected."

"Such a thing exists?" Gu Ding had never heard the Sea Emperor mention anything like this before, and was somewhat surprised, but he quickly finished filling out the form. "Who will review this reason, and how long will it take to review?"

"I'll review it," the Silver Armor Order Keeper said, glancing at Gu Ding's registration. "The reason for your application is that you recently broke through to a higher level and need to consolidate your cultivation. That's a valid reason."

After saying that, he placed his palm on the page that Gu Ding had filled out. A palm print quickly appeared, and after a Red Radiance scanned the page, a female electronic voice was emitted.

[Scan to confirm]

[Identity: Kasper, the Order Keeper]

[Document: Application to Suspend Arena Matches]

Applicant: Gu Ding

[Suspension duration: Depends on the duration of the lockdown]

[Review Result: Approved]

[Document has been archived]

"Your application has been accepted. Stepping out of the training room in the Cultivation Tower signifies the end of your seclusion. After your seclusion ends, you must return to the arena within three days and complete at least thirty matches. Otherwise, you will be considered to have forfeited your current challenges and will have the corresponding points deducted. For others, this punishment wouldn't be considered severe, but I've noticed the number of people challenging you has been increasing these past few days, reaching over 50,000. In other words, if you break the rules, you will have over 50,000 points deducted." The Silver Armor Order Keeper smiled at Gu Ding, seemingly looking forward to seeing Gu Ding lose points.

Gu Ding was completely unaware of the increase in the number of challengers he had faced in the past few days, and Sea Emperor had not mentioned it either.

Gu Ding communicated with the Sea Emperor through his consciousness, "Sea Emperor, you've been lazy again. The number of challengers has increased from over 10,000 to over 50,000, and you didn't even tell me."

"The number of challengers is increasing every day. I originally planned to tell you how many there were after you came out of seclusion and went onto the stage, because the number would definitely be more than it is now." In fact, the Sea Emperor didn't say it because he judged that this information was not important at all, since Gu Ding was unlikely to be deducted anyway.

Gu Ding then left the arena and headed towards the Cultivation Tower.

~~~

[It's strange, I didn't experience any writer's block this chapter. Logically, I should have finished it quickly. I started writing around 6 PM and only just finished now. Looking at the time, I was shocked – it took over five hours! I'm starting to wonder if I was abducted by aliens and had my memory erased, which is why I skipped around a bit... Well, because of this possible alien fright, I'll skip this chapter for today and make up for it tomorrow. PS. This chapter is close to 4,000 words!] (To be continued~^~)