The Highest Bounty

Chapter 33: A Strong Victory

In the arena’s ring, the fight between Gu Ding and the tall man was still ongoing. The situation looked very different for the two of them. Gu Ding was getting more and more courageous, while his opponent focused mainly on defending.

Gu Ding was definitely setting the rhythm of the fight. He overwhelmed his opponent and showed no mercy. He rained down on him like a storm such that his opponent barely had enough strength to withstand his blows.

Gu Ding used the fifteenth, sixteenth, all the way up to the eighteenth stance of Steel Fist. For the Phantom Kick, he used the thirteenth stance all the way until the eighteenth stance. Even for the close-range attacks such as the Lightning Elbow and Flaming Knee, he went all the way to the twelfth stance.

The eighteenth stance was the last move in Level 3. Even with a 150% boost, Gu Ding knew that it was not enough.

Although a flurry of blows might break his opponent’s defense, it was not what Gu Ding wanted. What he wanted was to break his opponent’s defense with a single blow. This was why he would not stop pushing himself until his attacks got stronger.

After Gu Ding managed to muster up the last stance in the Ultimate Arts Level 3 Steel Fist, he started scanning his brain for the contents of Level 4.

Neptune was reluctant to allow Gu Ding to expose himself to too much of the Ultimate Arts so early on because that set of moves damaged one’s body greatly. Not only did it accelerate one’s body metabolism, it also accelerated the aging of one’s cells. The main reason why Neptune did not stop Gu Ding was that he was in the Virtual Arena. In here, Gu Ding’s body was just a combination of data. It did not matter what damage he sustained, since it would still be neutralized. In the virtual world, as long as Neptune was willing, he could reconstruct Gu Ding’s body in the blink of an eye.

What Neptune was more worried about was Gu Ding’s desire for victory in battle. In the Virtual Arena, this desire usually made him push his body past his limits. He was worried that when Gu Ding encountered something similar in real life, Gu Ding might end up doing the same.

Immediately, Gu Ding got all of the moves from Ultimate Arts Level 4 and blasted the first stance from Level 4 at Tall Guy.

Since his comprehension of martial arts was very good, the moves were normally successfully applied.

Then the second stance, and the third stance. One attack after another he fired them off, with each blow stronger than the last. Slowly, Tall Guy could feel his heart sinking to his stomach. He originally thought that his opponent’s high-speed and continuous movement meant that it would damage his body greatly, and he would not last long. Even though the body was a virtual one, it still fully simulated the human body’s physical strength, endurance, perception, spirit strength, and all other variables. This made Tall Guy, who was confident about his physical strength and endurance, slowly lose hope if winning. He gradually felt his physical strain increasing as his spirit, which was connected to the Arena, teetered on the brink of depletion.

Gu Ding continued using his Steel Fist up until the sixth stance of Level 4. He could feel his body going past its limits and thought that his arms were going to fall off anytime soon. However, he also knew that it was a Virtual Arena and that the worst scenario would just be him losing the competition. Once he got out of the ring, his body would regenerate. This thought made Gu Ding more confident as he ignored the pain. In his mind, it was less about losing or winning, but more about leveling up himself.

When he started using his first stance in Level 5 Steel Fist, the powerful punch hit Tall Guy right in the chest. At that moment, Tall Guy’s face changed as there was no time for him to react. His chest felt like a cannon had exploded against it as he heard a noise and went flying through the air.

Before he could stand up, his chest disintegrated. After a while, he found himself standing outside the ring. He looked up at the young man inside the ring, whose entire right arm had been broken into pieces due to the repelled force from the armor. However, the young man still stood unflinchingly inside the ring. His eyes were calm, as if he had expected such an outcome.

“Player Lukewarm Assassin player has won!” The arena’s system announced the results of the competition.

“This kind of incredibly strenuous act is alright in the arena. However, you better not do such stupid things in the real world. Otherwise, you’ll lose your arms for good!” Although he knew Gu Ding did not usually listen to him, he still said what was needed to be said. “Don’t think that you can solve all these problems with cell repair fluid. The functions of the cell repair fluid on the body works by accelerating your metabolism. Bad injuries will accelerate your metabolism even more, which means you will have a shorter lifespan.”

In the monitoring room, the short-haired woman was a little shocked when she saw what had happened in the arena. She knew that Gu Ding would win, but she did not expect Gu Ding to use such an extreme method to achieve victory. She was slowly beginning to understand Gu Ding’s purpose in joining matches.

“Ask him if he wants a new match,” The short-haired woman found herself grinning slightly. However, this time, her smile was no longer one of excitement.

In the ring, Gu Ding’s arm finished regenerating as a dialog box popped up in front of his eyes. It read, “Do you want a new match?”

“Yes!” Gu Ding made the choice without a second thought.

“This time, your opponent’s rank is around five-thousand. His strength is so-so, but his special ability is stealth. Do you need my help?” Neptune asked.

Gu Ding shook his head slightly and rolled his shoulders.

Instantly, his opponent appeared. He was a thin small man, dressed in black from head to toes. His face was covered with a black face mask and on his head was a black headscarf. The only thing one could see on his entire body was his eyes. In addition to this, both his hands were wrapped with white cloths that each held a dagger. His ID was InvisibleGentleness.

Upon seeing this ID, Gu Ding secretly ridiculed him and thought to himself, “How can anyone see your gentleness if you’re wrapped up from head to toe?”

“He’s a professional killer so you must be careful. Don’t get killed by him in a single blow,” Neptune commented.

He did not wear gloves because wearing gloves meant that there would be less sensitivity between his palms and the dagger. This was why he used a thin layer of cloth instead. Even though the cloth might affect the sensitivity slightly, he could slowly get used to it through long-term training.

The black ensemble from head to toe was to facilitate stealthy movements at night. By covering his face and hair, he could avoid being seen by unnecessary witnesses, making it harder to identify him.

The opponent’s real-life identity could very well be an assassin. This kind of opponent was extremely dangerous as once they spot a weak point, they would end their foe in a single blow. The pair of daggers were not to be taken lightly either. If he stabbed his opponent in the throat or some other vital point, they would be eliminated on the spot.

Gu Ding became vigilant and activated his defense through Righteous Body the moment he judged his opponent.

When his opponent saw Gu Ding, he did not attack immediately, He seemed to be analyzing Gu Ding too. After a while, his avatar faded away and disappeared completely from the ring.

“Where did he go?” Gu Ding was shocked. Although Neptune reminded Gu Ding that his opponent could hide himself, he did not expect his opponent to be completely traceless.