Threat

With a few whooshing sounds, several figures quickly appeared and surrounded Gu Ding and Beika.

Gu Ding looked closely and recognized several familiar faces—those he had seen before in the images projected by the Sea Emperor. They were all members of the Dees Family Elder Council. Even the previously terrifying Fourth Elder Du Kao, was there, though Du Kao's aura was noticeably weaker than in the Real World, only possessing the strength of Second Sequence Heavenly God.

"These guys are obstacles created in the dream by the projection of that Main God's Will. Their strongest Combat Strength will not exceed the strength of that Will Projection itself," Beika explained, stepping behind Gu Ding.

"No wonder. There's a guy in the Real World with almost godlike Combat Strength, but here he's been weakened countless times." Gu Ding was a little worried when he first saw Du Kao, but he quickly realized that the Combat Strength in this Dream World was on a completely different level from the Du Kao in the Real World. After Beika's explanation, he understood the reason.

"Outsiders, stop your futile resistance. Surrender and you'll avoid physical suffering." The speaker was the Fourth Elder Du Kao, who was the most powerful among them.

"Futile resistance? You can try it and see if my resistance is futile." Gu Ding took a step forward in the void, and a powerful aura surged out, instantly relieving the combined pressure from several elders. The pressure that had been acting on Beika also vanished without a trace.

Sensing Gu Ding's power, Du Kao and the others' expressions changed slightly.

"Tell me where Hake is, and I'll spare you from any physical pain," Gu Ding grinned. He was clearly mocking Du Kao had said the same thing earlier.

"You're asking for it!" Du Kao clearly understood the mockery in Gu Ding's words and was immediately annoyed.

"You won't talk, huh?" Gu Ding took a step forward and was already in front of Du Kao, his five fingers spread wide, carrying the force of wind and thunder. He grabbed at the other's throat.

Du Kao's expression changed drastically. He knew that if the opponent's claw landed, he would likely be powerless to fight. Moreover, in a head-on confrontation, the difference in their Combat Strength was enormous, and he was powerless to block it. He quickly retreated, even using the movement techniques from his Inheritance Memory.

His figure transformed into several black shadows, darting off in all directions.

With a "ripping" sound, Gu Ding's claw, though failing to capture Du Kao, did not miss its mark either, tearing off one of Du Kao's arms.

Du Kao clutched his bleeding arm, glancing warily at Gu Ding. His wound was healing rapidly, visibly so. Unlike energy cultivators, whose severed limbs could quickly regenerate, physical Body Refinement Cultivator like him possessed abundant qi and blood, allowing for fast recovery. However, for regrowth to occur, sufficient qi and blood energy replenishment was needed, or time was required for slow healing.

In a battle between the strong, even a slight difference in technique can lead to a completely different outcome, let alone losing an arm, which would significantly reduce Du Kao's fighting ability.

Du Kao, the strongest fighter, was injured in a single blow, causing the others to reassess Gu Ding's Combat Strength.

Having figured out the other party's strength, Gu Ding felt even more confident. He didn't attack the others, but calmly said, "You are no match for me. Don't make trouble for yourselves. Tell me where Hake is."

"Hake is a serious criminal in our family, and we cannot hand him over to outsiders." It was Du Kao, who had just suffered a loss, who spoke.

"In that case, I have no choice but to resort to some special measures."

As soon as Gu Ding finished speaking, he unleashed his full Combat Strength, like a wolf among sheep, and lunged at the elders.

The fists were like heavy hammers, striking out one after another with the force of shattering the void. In just an instant, all the members of the Elder Council had their chests shattered, coughing up blood and being forced back, their Combat Strength reduced by nearly 80%.

Everyone looked at Gu Ding with fear, for Gu Ding's Combat Strength at this moment was even greater than when he had injured Du Kao earlier.

"Tell me, where are you keeping Hake?!"

Gu Ding, pressing his advantage, swiftly closed in on Eleventh Elder, Odoqi. Before Odoqi could react, long, slender fingers were already gripping Odoqi throat.

The immense force emanating from Gu Ding's hand caused Odoqi a severe feeling of suffocation. This suffocation wasn't due to an inability to breathe, as he, as a Celestial-level powerhouse, didn't need to breathe at all. That suffocation stemmed from death; he knew acutely that the moment Gu Ding gripped his throat, his life and death were completely in Gu Ding's hands.

Odoqi looked at Gu Ding with a face full of terror. He hesitated whether he should speak up, because he was unsure whether the other party would kill him in return.

"Eleventh Elder, our Old Ancestor once said that secrets concerning the Direct Lineage bloodline of the family must never be revealed to outsiders!" These words were spoken by another gaunt elder. He was weaker and had been coughing up blood after being punched by Gu Ding, but he still remembered to shout these words at Odoqi.

"Damn it, is this guy trying to kill me?! He's even brought up the Old Ancestor's words. If I speak up, I'll be seen as a coward. But if I don't, this kid might just crush me..." Odoqi's face was full of bitterness. If it weren't for that old man's words, he would have loved to speak up, but now those words had blocked his way out. If he spoke up and survived because of it, he would inevitably suffer the scorn and ridicule of the rest of the family.

"I won't tell. Hake's location is a major secret concerning the Direct Lineage bloodline of our Dees Family. Don't even mention me. Even if you kill me and then threaten each of them with their lives to interrogate them, they still won't tell. Because whoever tells will be the biggest traitor in the family." As soon as Odoqi said this, the faces of the others turned ugly. He was clearly dragging the others into the mess, adopting an attitude of "if we're going to die, we'll all die together."

Just then, Gu Ding heard Beika's voice transmission in his ear.

After hearing Beika's telepathic message, Gu Ding grinned and turned to Du Kao, "You must be the leader of this group, right? Tell me where Hake is being held, or I'll kill one of your companions every ten syllables."

"The countdown begins now, ten, nine, eight..."

"Do you think this kind of threat will work on me?" Du Kao frowned slightly, and he secretly glanced at the Fifth Elder Koloff, who was his closest friend.

Even this small movement was noticed by Beika, who immediately Way of Sound to Gu Ding, "Grab the guy with the two short swords!"

Although Gu Ding didn't know why Beika said that, he suddenly changed his target, released Odoqi's throat, and appeared in front of Koloff in an instant. His hand once again clamped Koloff's throat without any resistance.

Koloff had no time to react, and he didn't understand why Gu Ding would suddenly change his target and attack him.

But Du Kao's expression changed drastically when he saw Koloff captured.

"Others may not matter to you, but this person seems different. Tell me where Hake is, or I'll kill him." Gu Ding also noticed the change in Du Kao's expression, and he grinned at the other man.

~~~

[I'm so sorry for the past two days. My girlfriend is sick, and I've been with her all day, so I haven't had time to write. Today is Children's Day, so I wish everyone a happy holiday. There will be another chapter at midnight, so please don't wait up.] (To be continued~^~)