Dark Moon Era

Tang Long sauntered into the Hell Ledge as his challenge continued.

The first stage was the Deadly Beach. This scene was undoubtedly on Hell level difficulty. Ever since the geniuses started their challenge, there were no scenes below the Hell level of difficulty.

The difficulty of Deadly Beach was considered above average among the plethora of scenes and there were other geniuses who had cleared it before.

The audience did not doubt Tang Long for a bit. They did not even waver about him clearing it with an SSS rating which he did, but surprisingly, he cleared it with another record-breaking time: 1 minute 47 seconds.

Tang Long then disappeared from the resting lounge.

Among the geniuses who came down to the colosseum to watch, a young teenager with a long braid said in a rude tone, “Xifeng, what do you think? He broke your record.”

“Hmph!” Xifeng grunted. She still wore a short qipao with a phoenix sewn on her back but it was in a different color.

Grid Beiqi believed she might have a dozen more qipaos in the same design but in different colors.

Judging from Xifeng’s response, she was annoyed and reluctant to accept defeat.

Cough! Cough!

A series of coughing interrupted their conversation all of a sudden.

Beiqi turned around, and another teenager who seemed pale and weak had somehow appeared behind him.

You b*stard. Can’t you walk like everyone else? Why must you move in such a scary way? Beiqi grumbled inwardly.

The frail-looking teenager was Nanyu. Unaware that Beiqi was criticizing his arrival, he saw the wretched Xifeng and found it interesting. He teased, “Little Xifeng, unhappy, huh? I remember you gave your best when you cleared this stage.”

“Nanyu, are you trying to pick a fight? Why don’t we head down to the arena and have a fight now?” Xifeng was the shortest-tempered among the four and the slightest argument would ignite her temper.

Nanyu was not interested in picking a fight with Xifeng. They were all challenging the Hell Ledge, and he ought to save himself the trouble in this critical period. After all, he would not want to suffer a serious injury.

Therefore, Nanyu quickly explained, “It’s a fact that we four are quite far from Tang Long in terms of strength. It won’t hurt even if you admit it. Moreover, ahem…our target is Tang Ling, not Tang Long.”

Xifeng was silenced by his words.

All four of them had their eyes on Tang Ling, and as long as they could prove that Tang Ling was not worthy of their allegiance, they would be free from their shackles and bindings. They would try their best to prove it even if they had to get proof from Tang Long or one of them must secure a better result than Tang Ling.

It was not because the four of them were natural rebels, but they were teenagers, after all, and teenagers would never submit this easily.

“Quit it, you guys. Let’s just watch Tang Long’s performance. No matter what, it’s not bad news that Tang Long is more powerful than Tang Ling. Their life or death match has yet to begin. Whether we will eventually follow Tang Ling or not, this matter is slowly getting…” said a teen behind the three of them in a slightly intense tone.

He was wearing a traditional Huaxia outfit with his placket buckled up together. There was also a spear behind his back and this teenager was none other than Dongyang.

Among the four of them, Dongyang was slightly stronger, so he had somehow become the leader of the group.

Through the challenge of Hell Ledge, some of the young geniuses stood out from the others in Darkness Port. Other than Tang Ling and Tang Long, the most popular ones would be the Cardinal Four¹ plus the Sword Maniac, Han Xing.

Even Tang Ling did not know that Han Xing had earned a name for himself. Han Xing looked nothing like someone worthy of the title.

Dongyang ended the short conversation between the four of them.

Meanwhile, Tang Long had already started the fifth stage of the challenge. The fifth stage was also a scene with above-average Hell difficulty, but unsurprisingly, he cleared it with an SSS rating and another record-breaking time.

Tang Long had earned himself a number of frantic fans in the audience because his expected performance earned them some money albeit only being a small amount since the odds were not high, to begin with.

The main focus was the sixth stage. How would Tang Long clear it?

The odds for the sixth stage were higher because it was a hurdle for many of the geniuses. According to speculation, Tang Long would never use any of his trump cards at such an early stage.

After he easily cleared the fifth stage, a large portion of the audience started to get nervous, including the young geniuses who came to watch. They wanted to find out how the No. 1 genius would perform in a stage that stopped almost everyone.

…

“Bro, don’t you want to watch Tang Long’s challenge?”

Ever since Monty went into hibernation, Han Xing had a lot more time on his hands. Other than cultivating, he always wandered around aimlessly. He did not seem to be nervous about the Hell Ledge Challenge either.

Strangely, Boss Huang did not do anything with Han Xing and his free time. It felt as if the boss had completely neglected him. Of course, the boss would sometimes extort him for some Black Sea coins, but Han Xing was still allowed to eat and sleep in Dvesha Moha.

Today, Han Xing got bored again. When he heard that Tang Long had resumed the challenge, he excitedly went over to Tang Ling. If there was a show, Han Xing would be the first in the audience and he would hope the show got even bigger and fancier.

Despite Tang Ling having been ripped apart, his professionalism did not hinder him from his smithing work. He did not even take a day off after that.

Tss!

He picked up a newly refined blank using the tongs and cooled it in the cooling liquid.

Tang Ling was no longer refining the roughest black iron blanks. Instead, he was refining a new type of blank that was even harder to work on.

After realizing the strength of two tigers, he noticed that refining this new blank seemed to benefit the fusion of the strength of two tigers.

“I’m not watching.” Tang Ling concentrated on his smithing and rejected Han Xing’s invitation.

“Why not?” Han Xing got nervous. In fact, he had no money left and he wanted to watch the challenge. As stingy as he was, Boss Huang would never buy the live coverage for the match, so if Tang Ling wanted to go watch, Han Xing could tag along and skip paying the entrance fee.

Tang Ling calmly replied to Han Xing’s nervous question, “The outcome is fixed. What is there to watch?”

“What do you mean the outcome is fixed?” Han Xing was confused.

“Tang Long will surely clear the sixth stage with an SSS rating. This stage isn’t an obstacle for him.” Tang Ling picked up another piece of iron blank and started a new round of hammering. As he slowly mastered the art of smithing, he found it soothing and relaxing.

If his mouth did not taste like urine even after rinsing it ten times, it would have been a lot better. The taste reminded him of the hatred he harbored for Boss Huang.

Han Xing frowned. “Bro, you really are confident, aren’t you? Or is it because you can achieve an SSS rating in the sixth stage as well? You know, people tend to say you and Tang Long are the same.”

“Yeah, I can.” Tang Ling was not boasting. He had heard about the difficulty of the sixth stage from Han Xing and he knew that clearing it with an SSS rating was possible.

“No way! Are we that far apart?!” Han Xing tilted his head in disbelief.

It was then that Boss Huang appeared. He was not scared of Tang Ling taking revenge for the lobster urine. Instead, he tossed a pouch at Tang Ling with a disgruntled expression. The pouch was so small that it might not even hold 50 Black Sea coins, let alone 750.

I lost?! 

Tang Ling found it difficult to believe. Was the sixth stage of Hell Ledge Challenge that creepy? Nevertheless, he was not anxious for questions. He checked the pouch and found a card inside. He took it out and saw a crystal card.

“There’re 1,500 Black Sea coins inside. I’m done here.” Boss Huang was really grumpy. He sulked as he walked away. He really wanted to slap himself for only betting 100 Black Sea coins. He was obviously richer than Tang Ling and could have wagered at least a thousand Black Sea coins, yet he had not.

Han Xing widened his eyes and grabbed Tang Ling by the neck. He grunted like a man trying to clear his throat but failed to utter a single word clearly.

Tang Ling gave him a flying kick and called out to the boss, “He won?”

“Perfectly. The scene that he encountered was the ‘Lonely Boat of the Blasting Ocean’, the hardest stage of all Hell difficulty levels! He did great actually. I have a feeling that he’s stronger than he was before.” Boss Huang might not be happy, but he was not that childish to vent his emotions at Tang Ling.

“Mm-hmm.” Tang Ling nodded and continued smithing. Thoughts were running through his mind.

“After he completed the sixth stage, he left. Those geniuses who have never challenged that stage before came forth after he left and a number of them cleared the sixth stage. There’s also someone else who achieved an SSS rating like that group Four Directions or something…But no one did it better than Tang Long.”

“What are your thoughts on this?” Boss Huang teased Tang Ling.

“No thoughts. I smith and I work. I’ll challenge the Hell Ledge whenever I am free.” Tang Ling was calm unlike every other teenager out there who was slightly competitive.

Han Xing crawled back to Tang Ling and hugged him by the leg. “Bro, I’m broke. I can’t afford a meal…”

Tang Ling turned a blind eye to Han Xing and said to the boss, “I’m going out after work today.”

“It’s none of my business. It’s your free time after work. Spend as long as you like, and if you want extra time, pay up!” Boss Huang beamed.

“Got it.” Tang Ling nodded.

Time was ticking. He had to buy a large number of materials and collect whatever he required for the first layer of the formation.

He decided to pay a visit to the commercial district, and if he found the need, he would go down to the black market as well. On top of that, he did not forget about what the little notebook from Su Siao had told him: join the freelancers.

If it’s possible…

“Bro, come on! Don’t be so cruel!” Han Xing clutched Tang Ling’s leg tightly and was on the brink of crying a river.

“Fine! I got it, I got it!” Tang Ling frustratedly tapped on Han Xing’s head.

What world am I living in?! Are all geniuses this shameless?