Dark Moon Era

Chapter 193: Challenge Part 2 (2 in 1)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Up in the air, two figures were skirmishing at an extreme speed, leaving shadows in their trail.

Bang, bang, bang!

It was but an instant, yet the two figures had already exchanged a dozen blows.

Every punch made the wind whistle, and every time their fists met, it sounded like a heavy explosion.

Brzzzzt!

Lightning sparks enveloped one of the figure’s punches.

The other party who received the lightning punches twitched when hit. Still, the figure elbowed the attacker without a second thought. Unfortunately, the elbow strike missed and was followed by a mighty knee strike of the opponent’s abdomen.

The opponent dodged by turning, but it was not enough. A wind blade that formed under the astonished gaze of the crowd was propelled by a punch toward the opponent and grazed the opponent’s forehead.

The wind blade cut a lock of golden hair from the opponent’s head and left a cut on his forehead. The opponent was panicked when he was hit, and before he could think any further, both his legs were swept out from under him by another kick, sending his body upwards. He was then hammered by a powerful punch to the face, sending him flying from the ring.

The ring? Well, in actual fact, the ring was no longer there.

The makeshift ring made up of metal boxes that were bound together was heavily damaged. By the time this extreme never-before-seen match reached the ending, it had surpassed what the metal boxes could sustain and they were no longer the same quality as the previous matches. Only the line drawn on the sturdy main war passage acted as the ring after the metal boxes were damaged.

Vincent was sent flying over the makeshift ring border and crashed to the ground.

A mouthful of blood spewed from his mouth as he barely got up on his feet. His mind was occupied with a shocking thought. ‘A wind blade? How? Does his talent lie in the wind element?’

Tang Ling obviously would never give this famous New Moon Warrior who ranked 11th place an answer. Time was running out, so he called out loudly, “Next!”

He was very close to his target. Tang Ling shoved a handful of vicious beast meat into his mouth and panted heavily. He was no God. He relied on his unyielding willpower and strong hatred to stand in the ring.

Everyone else was wondering where his limits lay, yet whenever they thought they saw his maximum, Tang Ling would always surprise them with stronger and more explosive power.

This time, he managed to use a wind blade. With his strength and connection to his talent beforehand, being able to use a wind blade to a certain extent was common. However, those who were stronger than the rest could not help but question the sight. Why did Tang Ling’s wind blade look so similar to the one that the 62nd-ranked Warrior had used?

Could it be…? No! A mere thought of the possibility was unexpected enough! People could not help but wonder who exactly was Tang Ling?

Yeah, who was Tang Ling? Even Tang Ling himself did not have the answer. All he knew was that hiding was unnecessary anymore, so he might as well go all out in the challenges.

The next opponent slipped into the ring and without saying anything, the long spear he held came zooming at Tang Ling.

He might win in a dishonorable way, but compared to defeat, winning without honor was a lot better!

The top 10 was another category of its own. It meant totally different amounts of resources and different futures. The cost of losing the top 10 spots was high and this New Moon Warrior could not afford to lose it.

A weapon? Tang Ling did not react differently. He even closed his eyes at that moment and allowed his Precise Instinct to feel the subtle changes in the area. He needed a little quiet time for himself.

Lightning was the second talent on display since he started his challenge, but it seemed like lightning was harder to master than the wind.

The generation of lightning was caused by the clash between positive and negative electrical charges in the air. Even if there were microcurrents in a human’s body, it would be…

The key to master it…Tang Ling paused his thoughts and opened his eyes. Then, he turned his wrist and drew the Wolf Crunch from his waist.

At the very next moment, the dagger collided with the sharp tip of the spear, producing an irritating metallic screech and drawing gasps from the crowd.

How extreme was Tang Ling’s prediction to be able to block the tip of the spear with a small dagger? The precision of his action would render one speechless since it was a lot more difficult than stopping the spear with minimal strength or diverting the tip of the spear away with the right amount of strength.

Was Tang Ling using the ring to develop himself? Many of them thought of the possibility but they dared not believe it.

The elite warrior, outside the ring who claimed that Tang Ling could reach the top 20 at most, was rendered speechless. He was too humiliated to speak another word.

He was in disbelief that such a genius existed in this world and he had seen him with his own eyes. Was he that lucky?

In the ring, the spear was like a living dragon. The tip of the spear whipped up a strong gale as it moved. While it was thrust out at a blurry speed, it focused on its target as though the movement of the spear formed a air-tight net to capture its target.

Tang Ling was agile like a breeze that slipped through the seams. He dodged the dangerous ‘spear net’ with extreme dodging that would put one in awe. He even managed to seize the opportunity to deliver several risky attacks.

Using a dagger against a spear definitely put Tang Ling at a disadvantage. No matter how bad the longsword was, he should really use it to fight the spear.

However, from the start until now, he did not touch the sheathed longsword at all as if it was a symbol of protection for Vian.

30 seconds. Several new cuts landed on Tang Ling whilst the screeching from the collisions between weapons was irritating and continuous.

60 seconds. There were still new cuts on Tang Ling but they had lessened. He seemed to have captured the pattern of the spear and how it moved, so he became more skilled in dodging the thrusts.

71 seconds. A sharp, irritating screech sounded, followed by a shout of, “You’ve lost” by Tang Ling.

The crowd was in awe when they saw the spear break into three parts and at that very moment, Tang Ling jumped forward to the New Moon Warrior. He seized him by the throat with the sharp Wolf Crunch.

What happened? Even the New Moon Warrior in 10th place did not know what happened, let alone the crowd outside the ring.

How did Tang Ling cut his spear into three parts? It was a grade C alloy spear that he had traded for with his hard-earned Hope credits!

If not for the sudden break of his spear which caught him off guard, Tang Ling might not have been able to seize the window of opportunity and then his neck, hence resulting in his defeat.

Nevertheless, a defeat was a defeat. If it was a real fight on the battlefield, the dagger would not just seize his neck. It would have slit his throat mercilessly.

“I concede.” The 10th place New Moon Warrior yielded loudly and sighed.

Tang Ling released the New Moon Warrior. The New Moon Warrior glanced at Tang Ling, hoping to know how Tang Ling broke his spear but it seemed like he would never get the answer. Dispirited and upset, he picked up his broken spear and walked out of the ring.

At the same time, in another observatory further away from the ring, a seemingly lazy Purple Moon Warrior asked a question, “Royce, if you were in his place, could you do it?”

Tang Ling would recognize this Purple Moon Warrior at first glance. He was the owner of Night Lightning, Anthony.

As a Purple Moon Warrior, Anthony had also broken through his genetic locks and his brain got a huge power-up, granting him a decent memory.

Of course, he remembered Tang Ling. Three months ago, Tang Ling was just a newbie Yang Kong brought in. He was curious about everything he saw in the command center.

Three months later, had he grown to his level? A genius like him in Safety Sector No. 17 would surely be cherished, and if Anthony was one of the higher-ups of the safety sector, he would have used everything he had to protect and train this kind of genius.

However, the Agnes family that would be in power soon would never share the same thought. It was obvious that the family had beef with the kid, it was certainly a big one.

With that thought in mind, Anthony rubbed his nose. He never liked to put his nose into other people’s matter, so was he thinking too much?

On the other hand, the Purple Moon Warrior known as Royce answered, “If I were him, and the opponent matches my power, it’d be a little difficult to pull it off. I realize Tang Ling really put everything he has to good use in the matches. He utilized his weapon’s advantage to win this round. The dagger in his hand should be a grade B alloy weapon.

“The longer the weapon, the more advantage it has; the shorter the weapon, the more deadly it is. The dagger might’ve seemed to be on the losing side against the spear, but through blocking, no, actually slicing, the spear, Tang Ling utilized the tactic to disarm his opponent. It was a very effective tactic. However, without a talent like his…” Royce did not continue after that.

He was correct. Without Tang Ling’s ability, no one would take the risk to do that, let alone dodge the spear thrusts in the nick of time and damage the spear at the same time. Being able to effectively dodge the thrusts was already considered lucky.

Therefore, Royce’s conclusion provided another overwhelming fact: if Tang Ling did not try to break the spear, he would never get hurt. Instead, the slicing action delayed the time in his movement and interrupted his dodges.

One had to give it to the Purple Moon Warrior for having such sharp observation.

The question that baffled the New Moon Warrior was solved by a single glance from Royce. However, no matter how sharp a Purple Moon Warrior might be, they would never have guessed that Tang Ling ended the fight with this risky tactic because he wanted to conserve energy and save time.

Breaking the spear and seizing the opportunity to defeat the opponent was a lot more efficient than fighting the New Moon Warrior the traditional way.

There were still nine more on the list and it would only get harder from thereon.

It had been 27 minutes since the challenge started. The duration might seem astonishing but was actually within an acceptable range. As long as one was powerful enough, the matches between powerhouses were usually sealed within milliseconds, so no time would be wasted.

If a match had been going on for too long and the fight was even, it would mean both sides had reached their respective limits and would probably end in a draw.

Nine more! Tang Ling’s eyes were burning of battle intent.

On the other hand, Clyne was also very busy communicating using his device. He was whispering non-stop into the device in a corner. Then, he hung up on the call and then started another as if he was trying to get permission from the higher-ups or reporting the situation to someone.

Andrew looked paler than before. Time was not on his side. Given his wisdom, he must be able to figure out why Tang Ling started the challenge.

All the others were overwhelmed by how powerful Tang Ling was but not Andrew.

Be it the information he had gotten from Amir or the results of the analysis from Aber’s attitude, all the signs pointed out that Tang Ling was a prioritized target on that list.

It would only be strange if a target on that list was weak.

Was there no hope left for Andrew? Not exactly! Tang Ling started all this with an obvious reason and Andrew would be given an option during his turn. However, regardless of choices, he would end badly.

Up until this point in his life, Andrew felt like he could no longer see tomorrow’s sun. A 9th place New Moon Warrior had stepped to the right.

Tang Ling was no longer as easy-looking at before. He had been through almost a hundred battles, thus he was tired and hurt, and he had just come back from the underground. He received some damage on his left forearm, while the burnt marks were still visible on his skin.

But those who understood the situation should not believe what they saw. Tang Ling brazenly stuffed vicious beast meat into his mouth.

No one would think about the pain from the meat because Tang Ling had started his cultivation, his cells had been through energy washes and the pain from the meat became tolerable, he would never have a weakened period either.

Everyone was wondering where did Tang Ling get his hands on this much vicious beast meat?

The challenge continued and only got fiercer here onwards.

Seconds turned into minutes, Aber’s face became uglier by the second. He seemed to have an idea of what Tang Ling was trying to do.

However, his grandfather was still making calls, meaning they still did not have a precise order from the higher-ups.

******

Inside a completely sealed room filled with purple mist, energy that almost materialized flowed back and forth in the room like a stream.

Upon closer look, one would notice that the room was built using a big piece of Universal Source Rock and in the center of it sat a figure.

The figure was unusually huge. Even Su Yao who was as buff as a mountain would look tiny in front of his figure.

Despite his huge figure, the presence of his existence was extremely low.

The interval between his breath was long and every time he inhaled, the purple energy in the room would be sucked into a vortex and entered his body through his nostrils.

Then, as he exhaled, the air would be blasted out like arrows and remain in the air for a while.

He was cultivating. Anyone who slightly understood the states of cultivation would know that this figure sitting in the center of the room had attained a very high state in his cultivation—the Tortoise Breath Form.

No one dared to speculate how powerful the figure was for reaching such a state.

Then, the room shook gently. The cultivating figure opened his eyes and said in a heavy voice, “Come in.”

Right after his voice subsided, a little door opened in a corner of the room and a figure covered in black came in respectfully with a very advanced-looking communication device in his hand.

“My Lord, I’ve got some important news.” said the black-robed man softly as he handed over the communication device.

The cultivating figure’s face was a little unclear in the purple mist. He grunted and accepted the device. “Yes?”

On the other side of the communication device was a nervous and careful voice. The chatter was skipped and the situation was reported to the leading figure.

The figure did not react differently after hearing the report. He said, “I understand. Keep him alive. Tomorrow before 10 in the morning, the Shadow of Stardust will come over directly.”

Then, the figure seemed to have thought of something and added, “You have to hold him down by all means necessary.”

The figure then hung up the call after the order.

The black-robed man did not leave after the call ended. Instead, he asked with a slight worry. “My Lord, according to intel, it is the son of that man. Sending Shadow there, isn’t it a little…”

The figure, who was known only as Lord, replied, “Not alone. Shadow will bring a unit of 10.”

“I don’t think it;s secure enough. Why not let Senator L-…” the black-robed man suggested.

“No need for that, the evidence is lacking. A seed isn’t strong enough as evidence. Moreover, the seed exists in many forms, so all the displays of personal development are the early stages of the seed’s ability,” Lord answered.

The Lord stood up and said word for word, “The key evidence is the Genetic Chain. We have locked down nine suspected targets. The Mad Lion’s whereabouts is also another key. Someone spotted him in Siron City. That means that Tang Yun of Siron City is the target’s goal. His Genetic Chain display…”

“I understand, my Lord. We should prioritize the target in Siron City. Until then, Young Master Long’s Genetic Chain will surely locate that man’s son,” said the black-robed man.

“You are right. Siron City is a Class 1 Safety City, so they are powerful. I’m more concerned about them. Go back to your work,” said the Lord.

The black-robed man put the communication device away after receiving the order and retreated outside the room carefully.

After the door closed, the Lord seemed to have lost the interest to continue his cultivation. He slowly walked to the side of the room and push the wall aside, revealing a huge open window.

The wind entered the room instantly. The Lord looked into the distance and said in a heavy tone, “Tang Feng, Tang Yun? Will the wind and cloud rise once more?

“Even after your death, you still want to leave a thread of hope behind, huh? No, a dead man is hopeless. The puzzle that you left behind will be soon solved and I’ll kill everyone involved in the Seed Plan, including your son. Soon, soon…”

As the Lord looked up to the sky, his gaze seemed to pierce the endless clouds and even the stratosphere, going beyond the vast universe.