A large majority of the Interstellar gPirates at Border River were Rank 7 Gene Bodies or higher. Gu Ding was only a Rank 3 Gene Body. Not to mention, even with the help of berserker conversion and Ultimate Arts to enhance his power, his combat effectiveness was still not that powerful.
The girl named Elsa in front of him looked to be the same age as him. Hence, Gu Ding did not think that she had a combat prowess stronger than a Rank 8 Gene Body.
However, Biggie could tell that there was strange energy running through her body. It was a type of energy different from primary power, and it existed within her as another form of power. Biggie clasped his hand on Gu Ding’s shoulder and shook his head. “Don’t go up against her. She’s very strong.”
“Gu Ding, you’re no match for her. I did a quick check and found that the cells in her body are stronger than Biggie’s. Moreover, from what she just told us, I’m guessing she is a Viking. Every member of the Viking tribe is born with a powerful physique. Moreover, they’re given unique training when they become of age. Their strength is equivalent to that of a large dragon.” Neptune had managed to quickly gather some data on Else. The powerful Vikings! Gu Ding’s eyes brightened. He had not expected to meet someone from the legendary tribe at such a location.
“I don’t want to fight you. I want to fight the big guy!” Elsa shook her head and rejected Gu Ding’s challenge after glancing at him. “He won’t fight people.” Gu Ding shook his head determinedly while shielding Biggie behind him.
It was Elsa’s first time encountering such a situation. All those she had challenged before accepted happily. However, this big guy in front of her was not willing to fight. She felt slightly bothered by it. Elsa stood where she was, refusing to budge. After a moment, a thought flashed in her mind. “In that case, let’s not fight each other. Let’s arm-wrestle! If you can overpower me with your strength, I’ll take it as you’re the stronger one.”
“Arm wrestle…” Gu Ding could not fathom the logic behind her idea. That was because even though strength and combat effectiveness were tied together, they were not the only ways to display one’s strength. As for people who were very powerful, it was only even more so. The more powerful one was, the smaller the gap between their strength and combat effectiveness.
Gu Ding could only nod at Biggie when he saw the stubborn look in Elsa’s eyes. “Biggie, it wouldn’t be a problem for you to arm-wrestle, would it?”
“I’ll do it,” Biggie finally agreed to the challenge. “There’s a temple rest stop not too far from here. We’ll arm-wrestle there.” Elsa had visited each rest top throughout the past few days and was quite familiar with the land.
The three of them made their way to the rest stop very quickly, and Elsa found an empty stone table. Both Biggie and her respectively sat on the left and right of the table and clasped their hands together. Elsa’s little hand almost disappeared from view when Biggie’s larger hand wrapped around hers.
Gu Ding was the judge, and he pulled their hands to the central axis of the table. After making sure that there were no problems, he called out for them to start.
Gu Ding was shocked by what happened next. Both of them were stuck in a deadlock. However, the muscles on Biggie’s arm were ripped with protruding veins, while Elsa looked as if she was not suing much strength at all.
“You’re much stronger than other opponents I’ve faced before, but you’re still not strong enough.” Elsa looked disappointed. The muscles on her arms began to contract as she used some force. Then, there was a loud bang, and Biggie’s arm was pressed flat on the table’s surface. The entire stone table was instantly shattered into pieces by the force.
Gu Ding was stunned. It was completely out of his expectations.
Having lost to such a little girl in an arm-wrestling match, Biggie did not look too happy. Even though he had been aware that she was pretty strong, he was not expecting her to have such strength.
“Biggie, let’s go.” Gu Ding felt that there was not much use wasting anymore time there.
“Wait, I’d like to have another go!” Biggie was not about to leave just like that.
Gu Ding was taken aback but nodded.
Elsa knew why Biggie wanted a rematch. “You didn’t use your primary power just now, but the results would have been the same anyway. Primary power doesn’t strengthen you that much physically. It won’t help you become any stronger. My tribe cultivates energy that is used physically. Hence, it directly enhances our strength. However, it would be nice to have a rematch.”
They changed to another stone table and went at it again.
This time, Biggie coated his arm in primary power. His black primary power surged and pulsed around his hand continuously.
Elsa, on the other hand, did not do anything different.
When Gu Ding called out for them to start, they once again got into a deadlock position. This time, Biggie was fully focused, and he was intent on giving it his all. The black primary power continued to hold its own against Elsa’s strange strength.
Elsa’s muscles began to vibrate more and more until she reached her limit after three minutes. On the other hand, Biggie continued to hold on with all his might. Three minutes into the match, he felt Elsa beginning to become weaker. Hence, he took the opportunity to press her arm down in one full motion. Having lost, Elsa admitted that Biggie was powerful, “You’re really strong! You’re the second person I’ve met during this time who has a good grasp of utilizing primary power. I wasn’t expecting you to be able to withstand my different vibration frequencies that help enhance my strength.”
“You’re pretty strong too. Your strength alone shows that you’re no weaker than some Rank 11 martial arts practitioners,” Biggie might have been a Rank 10 Gene Body, but he had a cell index not far away from a Rank 11 martial arts practitioner. He managed to withstand Elsa’s special strength by employing a few primary power techniques during the arm-wrestling challenge. If he had not done so, the loser would have been him once more.
“I’m actually a Rank 10, but my people are quite strong… Even though you’re a strong person, I think you’re slightly weaker than the level of strength I’m searching for. I’m very sorry to say that I can’t marry you,” Elsa explained naively. “Marry…” Gu Ding and Biggie were stunned at this. So, that was her reason for going about challenging people. However, this Elsa was quite strong, and it would probably be quite difficult for her to get married any time soon.
If it was not for the urgency of Liliath’s matter, Gu Ding would have taken the time to find out more about Elsa. Nevertheless, he was in a hurry to find the man with scriptures carved on him; the man Nisoth had mentioned. “You can continue searching for someone else. We’ll be heading to the peak.”
“Aren’t you going to have a meal before leaving? There’s a rest stop every 1000 meters. They provide free board and food,” Elsa said casually as she picked up an empty plate and pointed toward a nearby location where people were lining up.
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“You can get food there.” “It’s fine. We’re in a hurry. Please do enjoy your meal.” Gu Ding broke into a wide smile. He could sense Elsa’s kindness. The little lady with super strength had a very pure heart. “Hmm, fine then. If you’re looking to cure your illness, you better hurry up. The spiritual healer stops taking in patients after sundown. If you miss her, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to return,” Elsa provided them with some useful information.
“Spiritual healer? What kind of person is he?” Gu Ding could not help but ask. He suspected the person to be the man he was looking for; the man who had scriptures carved onto him with a knife.
“You didn’t know? There’s a spiritual healer in the temple who tends to those who are sick. Everyone says he’s pretty amazing and can cure any sickness. It’s not the Day of Worship yet, so most of the people here have come to visit the spiritual healer to help them with their illnesses. A portion of the people here are also visiting tourists looking for some blessings. Nevertheless, most of the people on this planet are Interstellar Pirates. The amount of real worshipers here is less than 10%.”
Neptune did not know any of this information because Skynet did not have any data about the matter. Only the locals had such information, and they had not shared it on Skynet.
“It’s too late for Robert to bring Lili here. It’s going to get dark in less than three hours. It’ll take him at least three hours just to get here. To reach the peak, it would probably take him another two hours.” Neptune made a quick calculation and concluded that there was not enough time.
“Why don’t both of you visit the spiritual healer first to find out if there is any way of curing her? If there is, we can get Robert to bring Liliath here tonight, and we can take her to the spiritual healer first thing tomorrow morning.”
Gu Ding nodded at Elsa. “Thank you for the information, we’ll head there right now.”
Once again, Gu Ding and Biggie made a mad dash toward the peak.
It took them less than two hours to arrive at the temple on the peak.
There was a calming effect within the temple’s surroundings that gave everyone a sense of tranquility. Even Gu Ding, who was anxiously looking for the spiritual healer, suddenly felt his worries disappear thanks to the help of some strange energy. As a result, he was able to calm down quickly.
The temple was a greyish-white building that took up quite a large area of the place. It looked magnificent but not extravagant. It gave off a sense of simplicity and had a rustic feel to it. From the left side of the temple to its right, 12 round pillars arranged in a straight line could be seen. Those thick pillars did not have anything grandiose carved on them. Instead, they only displayed simple scriptures. The words carved on them were strong and powerful but not arrogant. There was something spiritual about them as well, causing one to wonder which holy figure had penned them. Biggie stared at the temple from afar. He could clearly sense the will that was giving the people around them a sense of peace. It was coming from deep within the temple. Biggie suspected that the deity might have left something there that had been in close proximity with him to create the effect.
Gu Ding turned toward a bypasser and asked, “Hello, do you know where the spiritual healer who helps people is?”
The bypasser pointed toward a location in the middle of the temple. “The spiritual healer is in the middle of the hall. You need to go in quickly because it’s about to get dark. Once it gets dark, the temple will close and only the side halls on both rears will remain open to provide free board and meals. You can stay in the side halls after you’ve had your illness looked at and leave tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you!” The person’s explanation was very detailed, and Gu Ding pulled Biggie into the temple’s hall after thanking the bypasser.
In the middle of the hall was a young man sitting cross-legged on a futon. He had a slightly open scroll in his hands. He looked up at Gu Ding with a light smile on his face.
