The Highest Bounty

At the end of it, Gu Ding agreed to the muscular man"s challenge.

A Deity Position, even if broken, was enough to cause demiG.o.ds to scramble over it wildly. Having a Deity Position meant that one could become a deity right away as a demiG.o.d. It was not a random guess without any reason but a fact that had been proven by many humans in history.

It had been well doc.u.mented in history that, ever since the Ancient Age, people had become deities by engulfing Deity Positions. From the Ancient Age to Modern Age, there were more than twenty stories that had been recorded regarding a person becoming a deity by engulfing a Deity Position.

In addition to those historical stories, in the current era, there was a man named Raj in Cosmic Sea who had become a deity by engulfing a Deity Position. Therefore, no one doubted the feasibility of promoting becoming a deity through that way.

The Deity Position was of little use to Gu Ding because all of the members in his crew were still a long way from becoming deities. Moreover, if one engulfed a Deity Position, one could not ascend unless they stripped it off and reintegrated it with their Deity Position. Otherwise, their cultivation would be restrained by the Deity Position they had engulfed, and they would not be able to achieve a breakthrough. Engulfing a Deity Position was a choice made by demiG.o.ds who had decided that it was very unlikely they would be promoted to become a deity before the end of their lives. Gu Ding agreed to the man"s challenge because he had other plans for the Deity Position.

The muscular man was called Marceau, and he was an Interstellar Hunter. He was a Rank-13 Gene Body. He was not weak and was well known in the Interstellar Hunter community. Nevertheless, he had debuted more than eight hundred years ago and rarely caught famous Interstellar Pirates. Of course, not all the pirates he caught were weak. In fact, he had captured Interstellar Pirates with bounties of more than eight billion Universe Credits before. Nevertheless, being famous and having a high bounty was not the same thing.

Kohld Blood had a higher bounty than Gu Ding, but he was not as famous as Gu Ding. Evidently, he was one of the hotter Interstellar Pirates-it was just that he did not get as much attention as Gu Ding. Marceau had never caught anyone on the list and had never seen a guy like Gu Ding who was extremely popular.

Of course, with the rest of Gu Ding"s crew around, he also knew that his chances of catching Gu Ding were basically nil. Hence, he challenged him. As long as he won, his reputation would increase considerably even if he did not catch Gu Ding. Additionally, the Childe family had secretly gathered sixteen Interstellar Hunters, including himself. The Childe family had told them that they would receive double the amount of Gu Ding"s bounty if they managed to drive him out of Red s.h.i.+eld. Additionally, they would be ent.i.tled to enjoy top VIP treatment in the Childe family as well as 20% off all the Childe family"s goods–It was treatment only demiG.o.ds could enjoy.

That was why he had made the conditions of the challenge clear from the very beginning by setting it so that if Gu Ding lost, he had to leave Red s.h.i.+eld immediately and never set foot on it again. In fact, the moment he said that, Gu Ding knew that he had been sent by the Childe family.

Marceau had felt a bit worried when Gu Ding refused to accept his challenge. However, he was also a little confused, he could have lied or something. However, he unconsciously blurted out the truth instead. He had intended to keep the Deity Position for himself as he was not far away from becoming a deity. As soon as he blurted out the secret, he knew that even if he managed to beat Gu Ding in the challenge, he would still lose the Deity Position.

Gu Ding took a step forward and the crowd scattered around him; they planned on watching from afar.

Lilliath and the others stepped back one hundred meters away to avoid getting caught up in the fight.

If Gu Ding had not achieved a breakthrough and became a Rank-7 Gene Body, he would not have a shot at winning the battle. Thankfully, he had already promoted to a Rank-7 Gene Body and had the combat effectiveness of a Rank-13 Gene Body. His opponent this time was a close-combat bodybuilder who was a Peak Rank-13 Gene Body. It was going to be a head-to-head fight.

Gu Ding"s Ultimate Arts Level 12 was now fully activated along with the combat enhancement effects of his Bronze Grade Combat Armor and Level 3 Rage Attack. Instantly, one million points of basic combat effectiveness were increased to become 6.4 billion points. With the special effects of his martial arts field, one could say that his combat effectiveness surpa.s.sed the ten billion point mark. Combined with his Damage Stacking effect, he could achieve a maximum combat effectiveness of over fifty billion points.

Looking at Gu Ding"s emaciated body, he looked much firmer with the support of his muscles.

Nevertheless, Marceau only smirked, and his knotted muscles propped up in an instant. His entire figure became much larger than before. At the same time, other than his muscles and bones, his height skyrocketed from a little over two meters to more than two and a half meters.

“It doesn"t look so good. That guy has an ability called maximum conversion, which is an ability similar to berserker conversion. His strength and defense have tripled in an instant. His basic combat effectiveness is around 95 billion. Now, his combat effectiveness has been increased to over 280 billion…” Neptune was a little worried about Gu Ding. “Are you sure you don"t want to use that move?”

“At a time like this, there is no need to show all your strength. If you can"t crush him with strength, crush him with skill.” Gu Ding clearly intended to hold back.

A light golden colored Righteous Force flew out from Gu Ding"s body and enveloped it in an instant. Then, just as it was about to finish wrapping itself around it, Gu Ding"s figure suddenly disappeared.

Gu Ding relied not on speed but on the ultimate skill of Level 12 Silent Step. His movement speed was already comparable to the special ability of teleportation, even Biggie could not catch up with him.

The position where Gu Ding appeared next was the left side of his opponent"s head. Gu Ding leaped high, his body upside down. With his Terminating Finger that carried his horrifying golden Righteous Force, he struck his opponent"s left temple directly just like a meteor. It was as beautiful as could be. The beauty of close-combat was applied to perfection in his moves.

“That move was so beautiful, I want to learn too!” Elsa could not help but shout.

Lilliath noticed that from the moment she met Gu Ding, his moves had been sleek and fluid. However, with Gu Ding"s golden Righteous Force, his moves that were graceful had become more beautiful. The corner of her lips as she quipped, “That move was indeed beautiful, but he"s not performing right now. He"s in actual combat.”

“His moves are very practical,” Biggie explained, “Don"t think of his handstand as a useless stunt. In fact, he managed to avoid being counterattacked by his opponent because of it. Gu Ding is shorter from shoulder to head because of his opponent"s size. Gu Ding"s attack was aimed at his opponent"s temple, and anyone"s first instinct would be to duck and then strike back straight out with their left arm. Nevertheless, a straight swing would not hit Gu Ding because of his handstand. If the opponent wishes to hit him, he cannot rely on his instinct to act. He must use his brain to lift the angle of his left arm. Nevertheless, having to do so would mean his response time is delayed, and Gu Ding would be out of his range by then.”

Gu Ding"s would not miss cursing his opponents with his Damage Stacking ability on his first hit. Nevertheless, an attack of more than ten billion points was only like a tickle to Marceau who had nearly three hundred billion points in terms of combat effectiveness. However, for Gu Ding, he was still warming up.

After the first blow, without a pause in between, he vanished once again before he reappeared on his opponent"s right. This time, Gu Ding smashed his elbow into his opponent"s right lower rib cage before he disappeared again.

Before Marceau knew it, Gu Ding had appeared quietly behind him. Gu Ding"s fist was completely encased in blinding golden force and looked just like a small star. His fierce Steel Fist carried a burning star as it punched the back of his opponent"s head.

The blow made Marceau feel dizzy, and his vision blurry.

Gu Ding seemed to have expected it as he suddenly appeared in front of Marceau. His hands supported him as his body twisted violently. In the blink of an eye, the tip of his toes, covered with Righteous Force, violently struck Marceau"s throat three times.

At the last blow, the distinct sound of a hyoid bone snapping was heard.

Marceau"s body instantly fell back after he had been hit. The pain was so intense that he clutched his throat as he struggled to control his falling body.

Nevertheless, Gu Ding knew that it was not enough to make him lose combat effectiveness and admit defeat. Hence, he appeared once again. This time, he reappeared behind Marceau, poked out two fingers, and continuously hit the back of Marceau"s neck with a thunderous force three times.

Marceau felt a sharp pain come from the back of his neck and his eyes suddenly darkened before he pa.s.sed out.

Gu Ding managed to suppress him almost perfectly without fighting as violently as he had before in the past. It made Gu Ding even more terrifying. All the positions which he had struck were the most vulnerable parts of the human body.

Those positions were tens or even a hundred times more vulnerable than the rest of the body. Not to mention, when they were hit, they helped Gu Ding achieve special effects that made his fight much easier.

Marceau had pa.s.sed out, and the outcome of the battle was evident.

The fight had been recorded by many people. Neptune had blocked their communication signals but not their other functions.

Besides, Gu Ding"s moves in this fight were so beautiful, they were far more beautiful than the ones he had used in his previous battle. Most of the time, he crushed his opponents with force, so there was no need for fancy moves. However, in this battle, Gu Ding did not take more than a blow from his opponent.

Looking at Marceau, who had pa.s.sed out and had returned to his original size, Gu Ding walked over to him.

“His body is fine except for the fact that he"s in a coma because you attacked the back of his neck. The worst injury he has is a broken throat. He only has to drink some cell repair agents and rest for a few days.” Neptune scanned Marceau"s body and came to a conclusion.

Gu Ding took the anti-magic handcuffs Robert had made from his Inventory, locked Marceau"s hands, and sat down, waiting for him to wake up.