Guding's entire body was taut, patiently waiting for the opponent to launch an attack.
This opponent was indeed a tricky one. The arena was only four or five hundred square meters without any obstructions, yet the opponent vanished without a trace, leaving no clues or suspicious signs.
With the Sea Emperor's assistance, he could easily detect the opponent's location, but he believed this arena battle belonged to him alone; asking for help would be unfair.
Standing on the arena, he had no idea where his opponent was. All he could do was wait. When the opponent launched an attack, that would be his moment to counterattack.
However, professional killers were always patient. Before their opponents showed any flaws, they could lie in wait for hours. But on this arena, he couldn't afford to wait that long.
If there was no attack for a long time, the system would declare a draw, which "Invisible Tenderness" knew. By not launching an attack himself, he ensured that others couldn't attack him. If this stalemate lasted for more than half an hour, the system would rule it a draw.
He patiently waited for about ten minutes, finding no opportunity to strike. The young man before him, though slender, was as tough as a fortress. Guding knew that if he acted recklessly, he might face a frantic counterattack. But he also knew that the opponent's aura was as stable as a mountain; even after twenty minutes, there would be no flaw. With no other choice, he finally struck!
The dagger's cold gleam flashed in the air, stabbing toward Guding's throat at lightning speed, but it suddenly encountered resistance.
Guding caught the dagger's blade with one hand. Though the dagger's tip pierced his throat, it went no deeper than half a centimeter before Guding's palm stopped it. His palm appeared damaged, but he didn't care at all.
"You've lost!" Guding grinned, his other hand punching with accumulated force into the opponent's waist.
"Invisible Tenderness" immediately shattered into fragments, reassembling outside the arena.
Many in the crowd hadn't clearly seen what happened in that electric moment. They chose to slow down the replay to understand the event.
"What terrifying reflexes!" many martial artists couldn't help exclaiming. Most believed they would have been instantly killed by the dagger piercing their throat in such a situation.
"His fist power is terrifying!" another martial artist exclaimed. Guding's blow had opened a hole in the opponent's body. Though this might not have been possible in the real world, the attack power was definitely something ordinary people couldn't withstand.
"As a newcomer, his reflexes are quite impressive," the short-haired woman in the control room nodded in satisfaction.
"Miss, should we continue to arrange opponents for him?" a tall man in a black suit beside her asked.
"No need. I've gathered a fair understanding of his body techniques. His current gene level is not high, and his present performance is almost at the extreme. There's no need to probe further," the short-haired woman shook her head and turned to leave the room. "Let him compete normally."
"Alright, Miss. Should we record his upcoming matches?"
"Record the ones with some interest, the others we can skip," the short-haired woman paused, nodded, then continued walking.
Without the arena's backstage arrangements, the challenges Guding received around his current rank of 5000 became normal, primarily from those ranked lower than himself.
There were two ranking rules in the arena: points ranking and replacement ranking.
Under normal circumstances, most people took the points ranking route because too large a point difference wouldn't result in a random system match-up.
The replacement ranking involved actively challenging higher-ranked contestants. Winning granted the challenger's ranking, while the defeated opponent's rank decreased. High-ranked contestants typically found suitable opponents in advance before entering the arena, leaving immediately after competing without giving others a chance to challenge.
In Guding's previous matches, they were supposedly random, but the backstage had actually arranged higher-ranked opponents for him, a rare occurrence but one that boosted Guding's rank to around 5000 through replacement.
By standing on the arena accepting challenges, Guding gave lower-ranked contestants a chance to challenge. Seeing Guding's low points, many who hadn't watched him fight assumed he was weak and only ranked high due to luck, hitting the challenge button.
In less than two minutes, Guding received over thirty challenges, and more kept coming.
"Is there a system glitch?" Guding raised an eyebrow.
"Your rank is high, but your points are low, so many think you climbed up by luck and want to step on you for rank," the Sea Emperor explained, making Guding understand the situation. "This is a great chance for you to rack up points, as a challenge cannot be retracted once issued unless the challenged party declines. So, even if you display terrifying strength, those who have challenged you can't withdraw; they can only give you points."
As they talked, the challenges surged past fifty, and Guding grinned, "Not bad at all."
"Let me screen some opponents for you. The highest-ranked one challenging you is around 6100, but they all seem to pose little challenge to you," the Sea Emperor found it somewhat boring.
"Let's go with that one. Too many challengers disrupt my cultivation time," Guding was pleased at the potential points since one point equated to one hundred Star Coins. Winning sixty consecutive matches would amass 1,830 points, quite a fortune. But if he spent all his time on these challengers, his Extreme Body Technique would progress little. Only facing true strong opponents could he quickly improve in battle.
"You want to set an example using this guy, right?" the Sea Emperor guessed Guding's intention.
"Unless I do it, there'll be endless challengers," Guding smirked, "he's the one!"
A moment later, a Fatty appeared on the arena. He looked young, just over twenty, and not tall. Seeing Guding, he laughed, "So it's a child."
Guding found this reaction helpless. Even though cultivating Extreme Body Technique made him grow taller and stronger, he still appeared somewhat small among peers.
"Little buddy, it seems your luck is running out. I'll try to be gentle," Fatty said, rushing towards Guding, aiming to end the fight quickly.
Guding stood there with a wry smile. As the opponent approached, Iron Fist prepared to the Fifth Layer's First Move, smashed into Fatty's chubby belly with force…