Dark Moon Era

“Are they willing to compromise?” Long Qi fixed his eyes on a piece of steak in front of him. The steak was coated with a caramelized crust, and as the knife slid through the meat, the rich meat juices flow and the fragrance of primitive meat permeated the air.

“Yes, Sir, they are willing to cooperate with our operation and take over Ro’s command at lightning speed. The items that we requested will be given to us without fail,” reported the officer who stood ramrod straight. He actually wanted to gulp because the Level 4 vicious beast steak was so tempting.

It was said that the steak was cooked with a dozen of precious spices. The purple rosemary alone was worth half a True Capital coin, so how could the steak not smell tantalizing? On top of that, it was Level 4 vicious beast meat! Despite the slab being a generous 500 grams, it was just a meal for Young Master Qi.

However, the officer dared not display his desires. Young Master Qi had a strange temper. He was generous at times, and if he was happy, he would simply give away precious things to people around him. However, when he was not happy and the people around him showed their desire for his possessions, he would beat the person without a second thought. The fortunate ones might survive his beating but would be crippled for the rest of their lives. After all, Young Master Qi’s nickname was Brutal Qi, and he was known for his brutality.

After the update from his officer, Long Qi did not show any emotions on his face. He pierced a juicy piece of meat that was crusty on the outside and tender on the inside to put into his mouth and chew slowly. Then, he used the white napkin beside the plate to wipe his mouth.

His elegant and relaxed movements were coated with the charms of a noble which did not match his rough image.

“Very well. We will move accordingly to the Boride family,” Long Qi said before he took a sip of wine beside him. He then picked up a modest but precious chunk of blue cheese made from the milk of the Bolly milk cow, which had a very low milk yield, and put it into his mouth.

“Yes, Sir.” The officer received the order and stepped down.

Meanwhile, Young Master Qi continued his dinner without showing any expression. The luxurious dinner started to feel insignificant, and soon, it might just be pure enjoyment to his tastebuds because the meat would not be able to increase his strength anymore.

In order to grow stronger, he had to get his hands on even more precious things or have Level 5 or higher vicious beast meat as his daily meal. It might be just an increment by one rank, but even for the prestigious Young Master Qi, it was quite a burden.

However, time waited for no man. He had, at most, six months and by May next year, the surge would arrive.

What was the surge? It was a time when geniuses grew and geniuses who had been accumulating their strength would break through to become a rank 1 Purple Moon Warrior.

Such examples were Young Master Long and his 16 other followers who were destined to accompany him into battle, including Long Qi. These 16 followers were the infamous Sixteen Prodigies. They were rivals but also brother-in-arms, and no matter what happened, they would follow Young Master Long for life.

No one would believe that none of them, including Young Master Long, were even Purple Moon Warriors yet. Every single one of them was waiting for a chance.

The lower ranks might be shocked by that fact, but it was common knowledge among the higher ranked people.

As long as they were capable of accumulating and as long as they were able to get their hands on that piece of news, every faction and force that was capable of raising a bunch of prodigies were waiting for a chance.

Before such a chance arrived, everyone had to try their best to accumulate as much as they could. The best condition to break through would be the strength of nine bulls coupled with stellar speed and reflexes plus some other trivial abilities that were on par. However, the strength of nine bulls was not the perfect condition; it never was.

Many might not believe it, but those who broke through with the strength of nine bulls were garbage! Besides Young Master Long and the Sixteen Prodigies, descendants of great factions had reached the strength of nine bulls a long time ago.

Many of them had also achieved the perfect condition to break through: the strength of nine bulls and two tigers! They started to accumulate some other trivial abilities like battle knowledge or wisdom or even some other skills. In conclusion, the more they accumulated, the higher their chances of succeeding were.

Long Qi had achieved the strength of nine bulls and one tiger, and his talent was also activated. However, as one of the Sixteen Prodigies, having an activated talent was common, so it should not be considered as an advantage.

Therefore, Long Qi was trying his best to accumulate everything that could boost his strength greatly. He was fortunate that he had the Stardust Council as his pillar of support.

The Stardust Council might be powerful, but in Long Qi’s opinion, the strength of the Stardust Council was their control over vital information. As one of the Sixteen Prodigies, he was given very high access to tons of top-secret information and he could select whatever that would benefit his growth.

Long Qi had chosen the Ro family as his current goal. The Ros was a legendary family, especially their ancestor, Ro Ren.

With that in mind, Long Qi cut another piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed it carefully and savored the rich meaty juice which made him content.

Ro Ren, who was a master in martial arts and medical knowledge, even knew some ancient divination arts.

He was a man of many talents. Otherwise, he would not have been able to roam the Herrocky Mountain Ridge as he wished and established the Ro Drifter Group.

More importantly, based on the information analysis, Ro Ren’s masterful skills were passed down from ancient Huaxia, and this inherited knowledge might have something to do with the spirit. To be precise, it was a rare cultivation technique that could boost the spirit.

Since his basic abilities had basically neared his limits, the other ability that he could train would be his spirit. Long Qi was very concerned about that.

Other than that, it was said that Ro Ren discovered a mysterious Ninth Ruins, in which Long Qi was also very interested. He drained the red wine from his glass before pouring himself another.

Unfortunately, the Stardust Council had limited military forces and their plans were too gung-ho. Other than that, due to some restraints in this world, the Stardust Council could not go all out and eliminate the smaller factions.

Hence, in order for Stardust Council to get their hands on something important, they could not resolve in direct and violent actions. They had to use tricks and tactics to maneuver their way around the precious things.

The tactic used in this case was simple and direct, which was to break their enemy from the inside and make them turn against one another, so all the Stardust Council had to do was aid one side to get the matter done. Such a plan would save the council a lot of manpower and spill less blood. More importantly, it had a very high success rate since people were born with ambition.

Long Qi conspired against the Ro Drifter Group based on this tactic. It had been five years and it was finally time to reap the fruits.

As he squinted his eyes, the Bolly milk cheese melted and filled his mouth with a rich creamy texture. He suddenly had a feeling that dinner tonight was extra delicious.

He was waiting for the troops to get ready before he rode for the Ro Drifter Group. The journey was in around four hours. If things went smoothly, they could start at 11 p.m. and he could get the outcome he desired by midnight.

Long Qi loved this kind of calculation because Young Master Long seemed to be someone who cared a lot about numbers. Young Master Long was the man he vowed to follow, a man that he admired, so there was no harm in mimicking him a bit.

…

Tang Ling wiped his body dry and put on his clothes.

While Ro Yan waited quietly for Tang Ling to get ready, he was preparing the words in his mind. Should he be more direct or start with a story first? Regardless, he should be quick because time was running low.

He subtly used the turtle shell left behind by his ancestors for divination. Although he might not be able to accurately read the divination results, he was able to tell that tonight would be a night of change. He had to either leave and survive or stay and die. He had to make up his mind and tell this young boy something because the latter’s decision determined his own fate.

Tang Ling was done putting on his clothes. He fished out that page from the Horror Lullaby List and put it on the table in front of Ro Yan.

“Are you going to talk to me about this?” Tang Ling sat down.

Ro Yan fixed his gaze on the silver piece of paper and the bronze words that spelled ‘Ro Li’. His expression wavered before he asked in a slightly surprised tone, “You have the list for the seed? How did you know I was going to talk to you about this?”

“Did your father leave this for you?” Ro Yan added.

“No, I got it out of coincidence,” Tang Ling explained, “Chief Ro, I suppose you withstood all the pressure to keep me in camp not just because of Ro Xin. What do we have in common? I’m also doubtful. I understood that you knew who I was when I saw the complicated gaze in your eyes. After that, I realized that Ro Li’s name was on the paper and I figured out that the similarity between us must be this list.”

Tang Ling pointed at the page from the Horror Lullaby List. Was it also known as the List of Seeds? It was the first time Tang Ling heard that name.

Now, I see!

Ro Yan was speechless. Getting his hand on the List of Seeds coincidentally? How coincidentally he would have to be? Did Tang Feng not bequeath the list to his son?

However, Ro Yan admired Tang Ling’s sharpness. He sensed Tang Feng’s shadow in him. Since Tang Ling had put the topic on the table, there was no need for him to hide anymore.

He fished out two more things from his pockets. One of them was a bottle of strange green pills. The pills were opaque and looked like beautiful gemstones. The other item was another bottle with a small amount of red liquid inside it.

“These two things were given to me by your father 16 years ago when Ro Li was a year old.” Ro Yan went straight to the point.

“No, you can just say you got them from Tang Feng. I cannot call someone I’ve never met or spoken to my father,” Tang Ling decisively corrected Ro Yan.

Ro Yan was surprised. Never met or spoken to before?

When Ro Yan and Tang Feng met, Tang Ling had yet to be born and Ro Yan only heard fragments of whatever happened after that, but the fragments were not strong enough to prove anything. Still, it seemed like he could not change Tang Ling’s mind and force him to call Tang Feng his father. It was not something an outsider like him could meddle with. It was a matter between father and son.

“Fine, then. Tang Feng left them for me and these two bottles decide the fate of my son, Ro Li.” Ro Yan spilled the deepest secret in his heart.

“Hmm? How so? What role do I play in this?” Tang Ling asked. He had a good impression of Ro Li and would help him if he could.

“Actually, I once decided to give these pills to my son. According to Tang Feng, the pills can keep Ro Li alive, but he will become a normal person after taking it, a regular person without any talent, not even one-star,” Ro Yan said with a sigh.

“Hmm.” Tang Ling did not voice his comment or say something to comfort Ro Yan. It was as if being a normal person was good enough.

In his era, no one had the right to say that to another person because strength determined one’s status and position. It determined one’s life and even death.

“But if he takes this liquid instead, five drops every month until he is 22 years old, Ro Li’s defect will also be cured and his true powerful talent will show. Without powerful talent, he cannot afford to be on the List of Seeds,” Ro Yan fixed his gaze at Tang Ling, uttering every word clearly. “Do you get what I am trying to say?”

Tang Ling was in thoughts for a while before he said, “I think I got it. Ro Li was born with defects. You then met Tang Feng who saved him and gave you these two types of medicine. They are by choice. Am I right?”

“Basically, yes, but I’m not done…” Ro Yan smiled bitterly, then he continued, “This bottle of liquid is made from Tang Feng’s bone marrow extract. He extracted as much as he could without damaging his base, but as you can see, there’s only this much left. It’ll only last until he’s 18, so…”

Ro Yan went silent. Deep in his heart, he extinguished his last flicker of hope because he realized how much Tang Ling disliked Tang Feng.

“So, you need my bone marrow?” Tang Ling said plainly.