Back on the Arena

When Gu Ding appeared in the prisoners' common living quarters, many people were completely stunned.

More than two years ago, many people witnessed Gu Ding being locked in the Confinement Space of the Gate of Purgatory, and in Death Mode. Under Death Mode, no one has ever walked out of the confinement gate alive.

Furthermore, the one-year penalty period for Death Mode had ended more than a year ago, and Gu Ding did not appear at that time. Therefore, everyone believed that Gu Ding had perished.

The sudden appearance of someone who has clearly passed away is naturally quite surprising to many.

Gu Ding ignored the surprised looks from the crowd. For over a year, he had been on edge, almost every moment, in order to return to his original plane. Now that he was back at the Gate of Purgatory, he could finally relax a little.

He found the room he had lived in more than two years ago. The room was still empty and covered in dust from being uninhabited for so long. After cleaning it up, Gu Ding lay down on the hard bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The news of Gu Ding's return to the Gate of Purgatory quickly spread throughout the entire Sixth Layer. Those Order Keeper received the news immediately, and even some people from other levels learned about it through special channels.

Gu Ding slept for two whole days, while the discussions outside only grew louder.

"Did Gu Ding really come out of the Death Mode Confinement Space alive?"

"How strange. The deadline was clearly one year, so why did it take him more than two years to come back? Isn't it said that the longer the time, the greater the chance of him dying?"

"I wonder what Gu Ding's strength is now. Legend has it that those who survive in Death Mode will have their strength greatly increased, although no one has ever come out alive."

"Gu Ding should be continuing the challenges he didn't finish soon, right? Since he didn't perish, those previous challenges can't be discarded."

On the morning of the third day, Gu Ding finally woke up naturally. For the past two days, the Sea Emperor hadn't disturbed his rest, because he knew Gu Ding needed to rest, and there was nothing urgent that required waking Gu Ding.

Even when Belinda came to visit after hearing the news, she was turned away at the door. She knocked twice, but received no response. Only then did she turn and leave. In fact, Belinda was the only Order Keeper in the entire Gate of Purgatory who truly considered Gu Ding friend.

"Belinda came yesterday morning." The Sea Emperor Gu Ding this as soon as he woke up. "She probably just came to visit you, not because she had anything urgent to do, so I didn't wake you."

"How long have I been asleep?" Gu Ding asked immediately when he heard that Belinda had come yesterday.

"This time it lasted two days and two nights. Not too long. However, the effect of this sleep seems to be quite good. Your energy and spirit have recovered to their peak level, and you even give people the feeling that you are about to break through at any time." The Sea Emperor examined Gu Ding's body and found that Gu Ding's stagnant cultivation level was showing signs of breaking through.

"Tomorrow is the deadline to enter the arena, and I don't have any cultivation resources right now, so I can't break through my cultivation level. I can only wait until the arena is over and I have enough points to exchange for cultivation resources. Now, I should be able to break through to the Eighth Level of the Gate of Purgatory in one go."

Gu Ding was quite confident in himself. His current cultivation level was Two-Star Peak-rank God, and his physical body and soul strength had reached the level of an eight-star Half-Step True God, yet his overall strength was comparable to Fourth Sequence true god. Even at the Eighth Level, this level of strength was still top-tier.

Within the Eighth Level of the Gate of Purgatory, the highest cultivation level is only First Sequence True God, and the strongest Combat Strength is merely at the Fourth Sequence level. If they were to truly clash with Gu Ding, the outcome would be uncertain.

"Once we reach the Eighth Level and retrieve the item Big Brother Ango mentioned, we can leave the Gate of Purgatory." Gu Ding's face was full of anticipation; he could feel that he was not far from successfully escaping.

"There are less than four months left until the three-year agreement expires. The item in the Eighth Level should still be there. If someone had actually obtained it and successfully escaped, the news would definitely have spread to other levels beyond the Eighth Level. But in the two days you've been asleep, I haven't heard any news about an escape from the Sixth Layer. The fact that no one has been able to retrieve it for over two years also indicates one thing—the item Angorde mentioned isn't so easy to obtain." The Sea Emperor, however, still maintained a strong sense of crisis.

"Whether we can get it or not, we'll talk about it when we get to the Eighth Level. We don't even know what that thing is yet, so there's no need to speculate." Gu Ding wasn't too worried about this issue. "Besides, as long as I have enough cultivation resources, my strength will increase, and reaching the Combat Strength of Fifth Sequence True God in a short time shouldn't be a big problem. The people on the Eighth Level are probably only at most the Combat Strength of Fourth Sequence True God. If they can't get it, I might be able to."

"I hope so." The Sea Emperor said nothing more.

As soon as Gu Ding left his room, he was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Almost everyone turned their attention to him the moment they saw him.

Gu Ding was already used to this kind of "staring gaze," so he didn't pay any attention to it and swaggered off to the cafeteria.

After a hearty meal, Gu Ding did not return to the rest area, but went straight to the arena.

In the arena, many people turned their attention to Gu Ding's sudden appearance, and even some of the fighters on the rings slowed down their battles.

Victoria had given orders that Gu Ding would have a three-day adjustment period, and all the prisoners on Sixth Layer knew about it long ago. Many people thought that Gu Ding would not appear until the end of his adjustment period, but they did not expect him to arrive at the arena a day early.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Gu Ding walked straight to the registration desk.

"Please register me, I want to go into the ring." Gu Ding grinned confidently.

"Are you sure?" The Silver Armor Order Keeper naturally recognized Gu Ding. "The warden gave you a three-day rest period, and only two days have passed."

"I've rested well," Gu Ding nodded with certainty.

"Alright then." Seeing Gu Ding's insistence, the Silver Armor Order Keeper didn't say anything more and directly helped Gu Ding complete the registration, "Fifteenth Arena."

Gu Ding nodded and turned to walk towards Fifteenth Arena.

After stepping onto the ring, Gu Ding closed his eyes slightly, and he quickly regained the feeling he had when fighting on various rings.

The system's selection results for the challengers came out quickly... (To be continued~^~)