Dark Moon Era

Everyone’s hurried steps stopped.

A second of silence later, all of them said in unison, “Sure!”

The two girls even revealed obvious surprise in their tone.

Had the lazy Tang Ling finally woken up? He was actively seeking missions to clear and not just a single mission, but a group mission!

One thing worth taking note of was that group missions represented a bump up in terms of difficulty, but it also meant higher Hope credits.

The Hope Barrier focused a lot on the collective consciousness. Completing a group mission would increase the Hope credits on top of the basic earnings based on a certain percentage.

Everyone in the Fierce Dragon Squad had been looking forward to doing a group mission.

Strangely, the lazy Tang Ling seemed to have influenced everyone. Before he even mentioned it, no one had ever done it before him. Could Tang Ling have somehow formed a habit among them when he brought them along in his thieving days?

Yu quivered when the thought popped up in his mind. He felt like the more he mixed with this lazy guy, there was a higher chance that his life would deviate.

However, the excitement in his heart suppressed all the other stressful thoughts. Orston even clenched his fists excitedly and said, “I’ll inform Amir!”

“Mhmm, great!” Tang Ling nonchalantly shut his eyes as he tried to dissipate the touched feeling that amassed in him and the fluctuation of emotions he was experiencing.

My friends, what if one day, we are required to go up against each other from different perspectives?

It was an unspeakable burden in him, but the numbing illusion was intoxicating as well.

After telling the others to accept Friday’s night patrol mission before the group mission, Tang Ling emptied his thoughts and relaxed in the rather chilly cave.

There was a small hole in the cave where the energy gatherer was installed. It was glowing purple as if it was a purple star in the night.

Before starting their cultivation class, the purple glow was not much use. All it could do was allow one to recover his exhausted body quicker. According to reliable sources, after the cultivation class started, the purple glow would be a lot more important.

Therefore, staying in the cave furthest from the purple glow was not a problem for him now. He would eventually find a way to get to better places.

However, he would need a way to righteously do it without over-exposing himself! Therefore, the group mission should be the best cover. Did he just use his friends to achieve his goal?

Maybe he did, but… there was also sincerity mixed with his intentions.

Tang Ling rubbed the center of his brows and stopped himself from thinking too much.

Andy’s voice then entered his ears, “Tang Ling, I’m going to accept a new mission after my four hours of sleep. Do you want me to wake you?”

“No need. I’ll be going out later.”

“There’s a stamina increment class by Instructor Thuja tonight at seven. Don’t forget about it,” Andy reminded Tang Ling in concern. He could not understand why his friend always moved around on his own and did not want to accept missions.

His reminder was not much use though. No matter how lazy Tang Ling was, he would never be late for a class.

However, Andy was afraid that if Tang Ling continued to be this wanton and lax, he might not even make it to class soon.

The First Reserved Camp would not enforce their rules on the reserved warriors. Whomsoever failed to keep up with the classes would be kicked out instead.

“Yeah, I got it,” Tang Ling drawled.

Andy did not say anything else either. He returned to his little cavern and seized the time to rest. The rules around the camp might seem lenient, but it was actually as pressuring as a mountain. No one in the camp could ensure that they got a full six hours of sleep every day.

The cave returned to its quiet state as everyone went out for missions.

Even the two unlucky seniors went out after feeling envious of the group mission. They went over to their old teammates and tried to persuade them to form a group for a Friday group mission as well.

Andy fell asleep. In less than a minute, rhythmic breathing came from his cavern.

Tang Ling suddenly opened his eyes. He packed the battle uniform that Vian mended for him into his backpack together with some tidbits before he sprinted towards the shower cave in the First Reserved Camp.

He wanted to have a decent bath before he started doing his own thing.

******

The shower cave was steaming hot with white steam filling the place. It was actually a natural hot spring formed inside the cliff.

The place was empty at the moment. Only the murmurs from the gushing hot water on the left added a sense of vitality to the quiet environment.

Tang Ling undressed and jumped into the hot water. He held his breath under the water for almost a minute before he came up for a deep inhalation. He wiped the water off his face before he draped himself on the edge of the spring and closed his eyes.

There must be some special components added into the water as it relaxed one and was able to slowly heal injuries.

Tang Ling enjoyed the hot spring the most throughout the entire First Reserved Camp.

Unfortunately, other than early in the morning, it was always filled with people and given his notorious reputation, the best option for him would be to stay away from the others to keep unwanted problems away.

“Those bastards, why don’t they graduate instead of hogging the First Reserved Camp like their home?” Grumbling in dissatisfaction, Tang Ling grabbed a piece of jerky from his backpack and munched on it.

According to the rules of the First Reserved Camp, the quickest time one could graduate in was two years.

Factoring in the amazingly low recruitment rate, there should be less than ten New Moon Warriors currently in the camp, but the fact was that there were more than a hundred of them.

Was the requirement to graduate too difficult? Not at all because there was only one criterion—break through the limits and become a Purple Moon Warrior.

That was why there were rumors back in the settlement that those who could survive the First Reserved Camp would surely become a Purple Moon Warrior.

The fact was that those who were unable to break through their limits were kicked out a long time ago. The hundred or so New Moon Warriors that stayed behind were all on the verge of breaking through to the ranks of Purple Moon Warrior, but none of them wanted to. The higher ranks of Safety Sector No. 17 also let them go unchecked.

Why did no one want to break through? Some said that they desired to accumulate power! They must accumulate enough power before they broke through so that they could be stronger.

Those who could break through before the age of 30 were deemed as potential warriors that could rise up the ranks.

Year after year, more than a hundred New Moon Warriors stayed behind in the First Reserved Camp with the oldest one hogging the place for 12 years.

As a newbie who had just entered the place a while ago, that was all Tang Ling could gather.

After all, he still had not begun his cultivation training, so he did not even know what were the standards of a Purple Moon Warrior. What was the breakthrough? None of the Fierce Dragon Squad members knew anything about this despite it being basic knowledge. It was not something that they could find in the information library either.

As he pondered upon the useless thoughts, Tang Ling felt sleepy. He swallowed the jerky in one gulp and used the time to rest.

No one knew that Tang Ling only slept for a little over an hour every day, and it was usually during the early morning at the shower cave.

He had to maximize the resources at hand after all, like the hot water that had healing properties and could relax his body.

It was the result of his precise calculation as he even factored in his sleeping hour.