Dark Moon Era

How could Darkness Port be quiet at 6 in the morning?

It could not actually. The population in the city was denser than everywhere else. Even though there were less than half of the population working such early hours, there was already a crowd on the street. The only difference was that the crowd was much smaller than during the rush hour.

The commotion on the street was obvious.

Boss Huang was never a steady person although he liked to act like one. He stuck his head out the window for a quick glance and tried to eavesdrop on what was going on. A while later, he came back and looked at Tang Ling with a profound gaze. “Tang Long made his move. He’s early.”

“Really?” Tang Ling was calm and did not seem concerned.

The Hell Ledge Challenge spanned across months, almost 5 months to be exact, and by that time, Tang Ling would be 16 years old. Since there was still time, why should he be nervous about the challenge? He should be focusing on his accumulation instead.

Tang Ling understood the enthusiasm of the people because the biggest event lately would be the Hell Ledge Challenge. With a popular candidate deciding to continue the challenge at such an early hour, it would be strange if he did not cause a commotion.

“What do you think?” Boss Huang looked like a busybody as he leaned on the wall with his hands crossed, looking as loathsome as possible.

“What do I think? You ripped me apart yet you still want me to go for the competition? I should be asking the question: what are you thinking about?” Tang Ling fished out a pouch under his pillow and tossed it to Boss Huang.

“What?” Boss Huang caught it and realized that it was actually the pouch of Black Sea coins he had given Tang Ling yesterday.

Why is he keeping the money under his pillow as if someone is trying to steal his money? Even if I wanted to steal his money, he would never see it coming! How should I shift the blame to Han Xing after I steal his money? Hmm…

Boss Huang was having malicious thoughts in his mind.

“Help me place the bets on the competition such as Tang Long getting SSS rating or whatever.” Tang Ling shrugged. Only an idiot would let this opportunity to earn money slip.

He was certain that because of profits, some of the geniuses would work together with the supporting factions behind all those betting stations, but not Tang Long. Given how proud Tang Long was, he would never place profit over his honor. Therefore, the bets for Tang Long were guaranteed.

With that in mind, Tang Ling suddenly thought of something else and he revealed a sleazy smile just like Boss Huang’s.

“What are you trying to do?” Boss Huang was counting the Black Sea coins in the pouch. What if the sleazy Tang Ling tossed him several coins and said that the total was 750? Boss Huang would suffer a loss if he did not check the amount.

“I’m thinking if there are any factions that run the bets and want to work with me.” Tang Ling smiled brightly.

Boss Huang blinked several times before exclaiming, “You little cunning bastard! You are thinking about something evil, aren’t you? If there’s a faction who wants to work with you, I’m getting half of the profit as well.”

“Why is that?” Tang Ling was not happy with the suggestion.

“Because, if you work with them, you won’t be working with me, so I’m going to lose money. Just think about how good your life has been in Dvesha Moha with the meals, the money, everything that I’ve taught you. I even…” Boss Huang was counting with his fingers and acting like he was on the losing end again.

“Fine, fine fine. We’ll split it 50-50. You can contact the factions that run the bets.”

Tang Ling wanted money, a large amount of money, in fact. He wanted money, not honor or fame. Unlike Tang Long, he had grown up in poverty and had survived like wild grass, so he cared nothing about reputation.

As long as he had the money, he would fight whoever he was told. If it was A, he would fight A. If it was B, he would fight B. He did not care who the opponent was at all!

Boss Huang gulped nervously because the temptation was huge. Given Tang Ling’s popularity, if it was not because of himself and Dvesha Moha, the other factions that run the bets would have swarmed to the kid.

“No. You should choose reputation over money. There are a lot of other ways to make money but reputation is hard to build.” Boss Huang looked serious as his attitude suddenly changed 180°.

“What do you mean?” Tang Ling suddenly felt like he did not know who Boss Huang was anymore.

“Literal meaning! If I know you are working with the factions that run the bets, I’ll deal with you myself! I’m serious! And I’ll kick you out of Dvesha Moha! I’m also serious about that!” Boss Huang was not in a joking mood.

The boss’s serious threat took Tang Ling by shock, but what made him change his mind so quickly? A moment ago, he was arguing about a split of profit.

“But you can bet on Tang Long. However, it’s rather boring because the winning odds of him getting SSS rating in a stage is very low. If he clears the fourth stage with an SSS rating, the odds are only 1:1.02. The odds for the fifth stage are 1:1.03 and only 1:2 at the sixth stage. On top of that, there’s also another bet about him clearing the sixth level without failing with the odds of 1:1.3. Are you sure you want to bet on him? Even if you win, the profit is very low, and if you lose, you lose everything.” Boss Huang shifted the topic.

Tang Ling quickly caught on to the problem: the odds for the sixth stage. He did not even have to ask about it. The Hell Ledge considered three stages as a single level, and most of the geniuses were stuck at the sixth stage! Some had to use their trump cards to clear it and others decided to strengthen themselves for a second or third challenge.

Of course, not all the geniuses had entered the sixth stage as they were waiting for Tang Ling or Tang Long to do it first. They needed more comparison to motivate them.

Could Tang Long really clear the sixth stage? At least, the odds for that particular round were not looking good.

Tang Ling did not believe it. He and Tang Long almost started their life and death match ahead of schedule. Compared to the viewers, Tang Ling understood how strong Tang Long was better than anyone else since he had the first-hand experience of it.

He hesitated for less than 2 seconds and said, “An SSS rating at the sixth stage? I’ll go all-in! 750 Black Sea coins!”

Boss Huang gave him a big thumbs up. “Way to go, kid! That’s what a youngster should be!”

As a matter of fact, Boss Huang actually wanted to bet on the same category, but he only planned to bet 50 Black Sea coins.

Since Tang Ling and Tang Long encountered the Gray Mist Street and the Bloody Tower as their first challenge, it was entirely possible for them to meet even scarier scenarios such as the Blazing Road. If that really happened, the odds of Tang Long clearing the sixth stage with an SSS rating would be extremely slim.

According to what Boss Huang knew, there were still many undisclosed scenes in the Hell Ledge Challenge which were by no means easier than the Blazing Road.

But I guess it’s fine, it’s only 100 Black Sea coins! I earned a lot yesterday night! I wonder how the kid will feel when he loses all this money? 

Boss Huang was delighted by his own thoughts.

“Why are you smiling?” In Tang Ling’s eyes, Boss Huang looked extra sleazy at that moment.

Boss Huang suddenly brought the bowl of porridge to Tang Ling’s face. He clamped Tang Ling down and poured the entire bowl of porridge into Tang Ling’s mouth before he sealed the kid’s mouth tightly with his hand.

Groaning, Tang Ling was almost choked to death. He was forced to swallow the bowl of raw porridge with the charred smell, and it even tasted horrible as if he was drinking urine.

What did the b*stard boss put inside!?

Tang Ling wanted to cry. If he could beat the boss up right away, he would do it without a second thought.

“Boss, where’s that red-striped lobster with golden pincers that I put in the pail? It’s small and expensive, but now it’s gone.” Ding Ling suddenly appeared at the entrance.

Of course, it was expensive! In the Purple Moon era, all living beings mutated and grew bigger in size, but there was a type of magical lobster, which was a Level 4 vicious beast, that grew smaller. It was only as big as a knuckle.

Boss Huang had actually prepared the lobster for himself. It might only be a Level 4 vicious beast, but it had the richest protein content and was good for healing injuries. On top of that, its protein was unlike the regular protein. It had a type of natural substance that not even scientists could identify, so it was tentatively named R2 Gelatine Glue.

As its name suggested, when applied on the wound, it could glue the wound together. It was the holy medicine for hemostasis.

“I used it for porridge,” Boss Huang simply answered and glared at Tang Ling.

Now, do you know how kind am I to you?

“Boss, but do you know how to clean a lobster? You must release its urine first before you cook it. The striped lobster’s urine is no joke. It’s smelly as hell,” Ding Ling grumbled as she looked at the boss. She then wiggled her round body away.

Tang Ling’s eyes widened in anger.

“You fed me urine?!”

Boss Huang ran for his life!

…

Back at the Hell Ledge, it was rather lonely for a few days, but since Tang Long decided to participate early in the morning, the colosseum was crowded and lively.

For some reason, when Tang Long decided to take part in the challenge, those geniuses who had scheduled their challenge that day did not show up as contestants. Instead, they showed up as viewers in the audience seats.

Therefore, only Tang Long alone showed up for the challenge. It had been eight days and Tang Long seemed to have recovered from his serious injuries. In fact, he even became stronger.

He used to scream of elegance and nobility and lacked a manly rugged feel. However, when he showed up for the challenge today, his body emanated a tough and rugged presence.

No one knew this, but back when he had been badly damaged, his body was rejuvenated into the Iron Body. Tang Long himself was not clear about it, but he possessed Precise Instinct and his mastery over the talent was stronger than Tang Ling’s. Only he knew that something had changed within his body.

His muscle intensity reached new heights. He could no longer follow the strengthening procedure of breaking and reconstructing through artificial means unless he could inject a large amount of energy in the process.

Tang Long needed more energy. Even though his accumulation level could frighten any other genius to death, he did not want to use it. Since he needed to inject more energy into his muscles, he would simply earn more energy.

In fact, due to his tremendous amount of accumulation, Tang Long even used special techniques and resources to expand and train his dantian to store more energy. He stored his energy using a special method and the energy got so intense to the point that it almost crystallized. There were already micro-energy crystals floating in his dense energy pool.

Therefore, Tang Ling’s prediction for Tang Long was correct. Once the two of them ascended to the ranks of Purple Moon Warrior, Tang Ling would no longer be Tang Long’s match anymore. His advantage against the other geniuses would also greatly decrease to the point that he would have none.

The reason why Tang Ling only hoped for an above-average level was so that he could catch up with the others at a later stage. Given his pride, if he ended up with a below-average level, he would never accept it.

Similar to Tang Long, despite having such a tremendous amount of energy accumulation, he could not accept average results either. He had been keeping a low profile for a long time so that he could shock the world when he truly broke through into a Purple Moon Warrior.

Tang Long used to keep a low profile. He only started to change after he arrived in Darkness Port, and because of Tang Ling, he decided to announce himself to the public.

Tang Long’s strength was not something surface-level. It was also not something he could show off during his pre-Purple Moon Warrior stage.

Even so, he was still considered the No. 1 genius, at least, openly.

Who would have expected the No. 1 genius to continue accumulating to reach a higher level?