Dark Moon Era

The bad news was really bad, at least, to Tang Ling.

He was unable to replenish energy and cultivate anymore because the blue active energy in his body would challenge him for the energy he consumed.

“Why is it taking energy from me and not me taking energy from it?” Tang Ling was miserable about being on the losing end.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s a lot stronger than you.” Ro Xin’s answer was simple. Up until now, she had a clear idea of how Tang Ling got tangled up with the blue active energy and how it attacked his body.

A member of the Death Adder Squad, who was equivalent to a rank 3 Purple Moon Warrior-to-be, had unleashed his most lethal attack on Tang Ling. It was almost certain that the attack contained some essence of his power, so the blue active energy was a lot stronger than Tang Ling, who was not even a Purple Moon Warrior yet.

“Can’t I even replenish a tiny bit of energy?” Tang Ling sulked. Would it mean that he had to pause his cultivation for now? Would the little seed starve to death?

“No, the more you replenish, the faster it spreads. I hate it when my patient doesn’t believe what I say. You can test it out. Eat as much as you want and replenish as much as you want. If it doesn’t attack, that means it won’t spread and I’ll be proven wrong. I’ll then apologize to you every day for the rest of my life,” Ro Xin declared coldly.

Tang Ling stuck his tongue out. Is it that serious? “Then, if I can’t replenish energy, can I starve the active energy?” he asked.

“No, you can only maintain it as you are. You can’t get any better than this. This active energy possesses a powerful cold nature and will attack you when it feels like it.” Ro Xin did not hold the truth back from Tang Ling.

“Cold nature? I feel very hot when it attacks.” Tang Ling was confused, but he did not doubt Ro Xin’s diagnosis because the first feeling he felt was indeed cold.

“It’s simple. That’s because your senses are mixed up. If you’ve seen someone freeze to death before, you’ll understand. Their bodies are usually naked and they have a faint smile on their face because their senses have been mixed up by the cold, causing them to feel hot and warm.” Ro Xin glanced at Tang Ling. Will he smile if he freezes to death? 

“What?”

“That’s it. It’s too much of a hassle to explain everything to you. In short, feeling like that is an extremely dangerous symptom. I really don’t understand how your body can withstand the attacks one after another following all that!” Ro Xin’s gaze scanned him carefully.

Tang Ling shivered. He was afraid that she would dissect him for research purposes, so he quickly changed the topic. “What about the good news?”

“I’ve come up with a healing method, and if it goes smoothly, the active energy will nourish you instead.” Ro Xin was serious when she mentioned the possible cure.

“Huh?” Tang Ling raised a surprised brow. He somehow started to understand Ro Xin’s intention.

“It’s simple. The energy will eventually be exhausted, and only then will you be considered fully healed. And since it must be exhausted, your body can simply consume it. Wouldn’t it nourish your body instead?” she said seriously.

“Let’s do it then.” Decisively, he stood up and started packing.

“I’m not very confident about this.” Ro Xin did not want to give Tang Ling false hope.

“It’s fine. We’ll know after trying.”

“Where are you going?” She was curious. Where could he possibly go in his condition?

“You are trying to heal me, aren’t you? Of course, I’m following you wherever you go.” Tang Ling turned around and smiled. “But I’m on the clock, so can you please hurry up?”

Unknowingly, when she saw his smile, Ro Xin had the urge to punch him to death.

…

The floating carriage was speeding ahead while Tang Long was daydreaming in his seat. He had left the Raqir PLains and was returning to Starstay City.

As a matter of fact, he stayed in the Raqir Plains for a very short amount of time: a total of one night and half a day, yet in that period of time, his pride had been shattered. Something deep in his heart was shaken.

He had lost and it was utter defeat. He was not No. 1. If he was Tang Ling and did not have all these resources at his disposal, would he be stronger than Tang Ling?

With that in mind, Tang Long poured himself a glass of alcohol. He once hated and resented this kind of liquid and would never touch it except for a special occasion, yet he drained it to the last drop in a single gulp.

Tang Long did not care how it felt when the alcohol ran down his throat and burned him. He only knew that when the heat rose, the tinge of inebriation would make him feel a little better.

“Drinking isn’t bad. Compared to collapsing mentally, getting drunk and venting your emotions is the right way.” Qi Dou had somehow slipped into Tang Long’s carriage. He was sitting beside the window, looking at him quietly.

Tang Long was his selection, the masterpiece that he raised since young, and there was no going back on this choice of his. He could not allow Tang Long to be destroyed by a single defeat.

“That temple…he has been there as well.” Tang Long poured another glass for himself and finished it again. He really wanted to vent it out but he got a lot quieter. The grievance that was buried in his heart almost caused him to explode.

The whole world was talking about Tang Ling. They said that he was the heir to the legacy, the legend, who was the rightful candidate that the Dragon Army had been waiting for.

However, what about Tang Long? What was he to the world?

Fine, I’ve abandoned the identity a long time ago, so I shouldn’t care about it.

However, deep down inside, he knew that even if he abandoned that identity, one day he would have to face the identity again. His identity would be brought up again though not as loudly. Then, the world would get to see that he was just an abandoned child! Indeed, he was the abandoned one!

He was the man’s abandoned child who did not need anything from that legendary hero and could rise and shine by himself and even surpass that wretched man! His goal was clear and he was getting closer to it. Although he had a feeling that he would soon achieve it, still…

Qi Dou sighed and sat down opposite Tang Long as he poured himself a glass of alcohol as well.

“The temple is just an entrance and there’s more than one entrance. You know that, don’t you? If you view this as defeat, then you’re being too hard on yourself.” Qi Dou sipped his glass. He knew about the Ark Searcher Program and had even heard a thing or two about the Beginning Searcher Program.

He spoke the truth. This whole incident should not be considered as a defeat to Tang Long. After having heard Tang Long speak about the incident several times, he soon acquired sufficient understanding from many different angles.

After Tang Long got to the temple, he used his Precise Instinct and faintly sensed and witnessed everything, but he was not able to get a clear picture.

On the other end, the six villages of the grasslands were responsible for offering and worshipping the temple since they were the guardians of the temple. They could see everything that happened inside and could even touch everything inside like the silver eggs.

However, this time around, everyone from the six villages could not see the temple anymore. All they could see was a cave that contained nothing. Something must have happened inside the cave. Tang Long was certain that Tang Ling had been into the temple.

Tang Ling was that man’s son, so there was a high percentage that he also possessed Precise Instinct. Through his engagements in the grasslands with him, Tang Long was able to confirm that Tang Ling had Precise Instinct through the details. He had to admit that his little brother had caused a lot of trouble for him.

Originally, the Stardust Council planned to decipher the genetics of the villagers from the six villagers just to search for that key that would allow them to make a genetic serum of sorts so that a part of the Stardust Council would be able to access the temple and explore it.

Since Tang Ling got involved, the plan was ruined, but it did not die without any contribution.

With that in mind, Qi Dou said in front of Tang Long, “The facts have proven that you can see the temple and I said there’s more than one entrance. As the Stardust Council, we control three of those entrances. That boy accidentally entered one, but so what? What did it prove? Tang Long, this is no reason for you to deny your own value.”

“Stand up when you fall. Even the president agrees that grasping information has proven to be a huge advantage in battle. If you are defeated by this engagement, you are truly lost. You cannot afford to lose now. You must beat Tang Ling to the next goal and find that person, make him one of us.” Qi Dou hesitated for a while before he said that because he was planning to reveal the truth during Tang Long’s 18th birthday. However, now that Tang Ling had made himself known and taken the world by storm, he had to bring the schedule up by a little.

“Who?” Tang Long felt a little calmer. That’s right. I can also see everything in the temple, so I cannot blame myself just because Tang Ling got in accidentally. It seems like the engagement in the grasslands damaged my mentality. It made me forget to remain calm in the face of honor or humiliation. 

“Zero. After you are done with the celebration in the True Capital, you must head to Darkness Port and find Zero! The council can’t help you with this. You must go there alone. Do you understand?” Qi Dou said absolutely seriously.

Zero? Me, alone?

“Sure!” Tang Long’s eyes were burning with determination. His heart longed for a chance to prove his own value. After all, people viewed his light as the shadow of the council, and not his own brightness.

He wanted to be like Tang Ling who went out alone and proved his value to the world!

…

“Are you…Tang Ling?” Ro Xin walked in front, searching for something in the bushes and that question suddenly came up.

Tang Ling had his stretchable backpack on his back and Ro Xin’s animal pelt bag in front of him. His hands were in his pockets as he lazily followed her around. He answered in a nonchalant tone, “Yes, I’m Tang Ling.”

Ro Xin got grumpy again. Can this guy even understand me properly? She pulled some herbal grass and waved her hands while saying seriously, “I’m not talking about your name. I’m talking about your identity.”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with my identity?” Tilting his head to the side, he saw Ro Xin’s serious and careful expression combined with a dash of nervousness which he found funny, so he stated, “I’m not even hiding anything from you.”

That was right. He had not kept any secret from her. From his power to his vicious beast meat to the active energy that the rank 3 Purple Moon Warrior fired into him, he had told Ro Xin everything brazenly.

Ro Xin was rendered speechless, but on second thought, he was right since he did not hide anything from her at all. Then, she added, “Are you aware that I know you are the Tang Ling?”

“What are you talking about? It sounds like some trick question or a tongue twister!” said Tang Ling as he drew his dagger from his waist. His hand was as fast as lightning when he tossed the dagger out and nailed a thorny chameleon on the tree.

Ro Xin screamed in fright when Tang Ling threw the dagger all of a sudden, but when she realized that all he did was kill a Level 2 mutated beast, her fear turned into anger. The urge to beat him to death grew stronger. “Are you even listening to me?”

Tang Ling ran up to the chameleon that he had pinned to the tree. It was as big as his arm. He quickly carved everything useful from the body and said, “Of course, I am. I actually don’t know whether you know who I am or not, but I’m prepared for it. I did cause such a huge ruckus and the news spreads so quickly these days. Like I said, I didn’t hold anything back from you, and you are also not surprised about me possessing Level 3 vicious beast meat at my age. What does that mean?”

Ro Xin walked to Tang Ling, squatted down and repeated, “What does that mean?

“It means that you already have the basic knowledge, hence your lack of surprise.” Tang Ling skillfully skinned the chameleon and cut its tail after he picked it up. “This seems tasty.” The tail of a thorny chameleon was indeed tasty. It was meaty and possessed a special texture.

“Huh?” Ro Xin found it difficult to communicate properly with Tang Ling.

“Come on. You must have a way to make this a delicious dish.” He was serious.

Speechless, Ro Xin snatched the skin of the chameleon from him. “Eat it raw! Don’t you know how dangerous the condition your body is in now?”

“Why are you taking my skin?”

“It’s the chameleon’s skin, not yours!”

“I have use for that.”

“Me too!”

Then, the two of then asked in unison, “What’s the use?”

“To make a dyeing agent,” they spoke in one voice again.

Tang Ling’s body was covered in blue, so it would easily give his identity away. He must make some dyeing agent to mask the blue on his body. The dyeing agent that he made using Su Siao’s recipe had failed to cover the blue. After he applied them, the strange blue color popped up again on where he applied the agent.

Therefore, he decided to try out the second recipe, but he did not expect that Ro Xin would want to do the same. “Why would you want a dyeing agent?”

A quick thought later, Ro Xin decided to be honest with Tang Lin. “I’m one of the Ro Drifter Group members, and it’s a little…complicated back at camp. In order to keep it down, I have to add some disguise to you before I bring you back.”

Indeed, the Ro Drifter Group’s camp was in turmoil at the moment.

“If it’s too much trouble, you can just…” said Tang Ling.

“It’s fine. It’s my decision to bring you back and I have to cure your poison. It’s a challenge to someone of my profession.” Ro Xin thought of someone back at camp and her eyes gleamed in disdain.

Although Tang Ling did not answer verbally, his heart was moved by her words once more.