“Now, I see. The strength of nine bulls isn’t about adding the strength together. It’s about mashing them, fusing them and linking them together. That’s the true strength of nine bulls.”
“The difference between adding and mashing it thoroughly is huge. Without mashing it thoroughly and linking the strength of nine bulls together, it’s like nine different strengths existing inside a single body. How can it be stronger than a single united strength that has been fused together?”
“Then, how should I merge and link the strength of nine bulls?” Tang Ling bolted up from the haystack. His sudden action startled Ro Li who was dozing off beside him so he also jumped up and responded in confusion, “Huh!? What happened?”
Ro Li’s beard was long gone. After Ro Xin skillfully transformed his appearance, he looked like a normal young man who traveled the mountains all year long. His current image was vastly different from his previous rugged look.
As for Ro Xin, she was also disguised as a boy. Her skills in disguise were getting better and she currently looked like a youthful boy.
Ro Li’s surprised cry caught Ro Xin’s attention. She jumped off the ox cart and headed to the other cart behind it where Tang Ling and Ro Li were.
“Brother, can you not be so nervous?” Ro Xin softly criticized her brother.
It was still the wee hours, but since it was winter, first light was two hours away. However, the merchant caravan had to keep on moving. They were not waiting for first light to move out, so they had already gotten on the road an hour ago.
Most of the merchants and travelers were still sleepy, so the caravan was extra quiet. With a Ro Li’s surprised cry, it was difficult for Ro Xin not to be worried about her brother.
“I don’t want to be nervous either, but you know what we’ve gone through along the way! I can be asleep a second ago and battle-ready in the next. It’s become a habit,” Ro Li defended himself. He was not boasting in the slightest bit.
That day, they transported themselves out of the Nine Ruins via the space formation. Ro Xin said that the energy wave of the space formation was directed towards the direction of Darkness Port which Joshua’s projection confirmed.
Unfortunately, a great amount of energy was required to activate the space formation and Joshua also stated that the trio could only use it once and only for a short distance.
In the end, the three of them were transported to Halaba Rainforest. It was nothing surprising though. In the Purple Moon era, be it the weather or terrain, everything was out of the norm. The changes were beyond the old civilization.
One might find himself walking in the desert at one point but would enter a snowy terrain in the next. The differences were extreme. They defied the laws of science and could not be explained by common sense. Some scientists who observed the drastic changes of geographical terrains realized that the terrains were constantly changing and never stopped before.
Therefore, it was not all that surprising for Tang Ling and company to find themselves in a rainforest since there was a substantial area of rainforest within the Herrocky Mountain Ridge anyway.
Entering the rainforest was bad news for them. Everybody knew that rainforests were heaven for insects, and on top of that, there were all sorts of strange creatures that not even the old civilization could identify each one of them. It had only gotten worse in the Purple Moon era since the shackle of evolution was removed from these creatures.
According to Tang Ling’s pre-planned route, he should have skipped Halaba Rainforest, but since he got held up in the Ninth Ruins for over a month, he got out by the end of October and was left with no choice. Tang Ling had to bring the siblings through the rainforest.
The only comforting fact was that Halaba Rainforest was not ridiculously far from Darkness Port. It was only 300 kilometers away if they traveled in a straight line, and only in a straight line.
The fact was that the three of them had to face all kinds of battles every day in the rainforest. They fought mutated insects, reptiles, crocodiles and also the pursuers from the Stardust Council.
Tang Ling strongly believed that if he did not have the map Tang Feng left behind, the three of them would have died in the rainforest. They were also considered lucky because the rainforest itself was dangerous so much so that even the soldiers from the Stardust Council were hesitant to go that deep, thus their pursuit of Tang Ling was less intense.
However, it was only relatively less intense compared to the Ninth Ruins as they would still run into soldiers everyday. If they could avoid them, they would. Otherwise, they would have to fight and use the terrain to their advantage.
In short, it was a difficult path to tread.
Because of the difficulties, Ro Xin’s mastery in disguise skyrocketed with the rainforest being so rich with resources. She was able to find all kinds of materials for disguise. On top of that, every time they ran into soldiers, Ro Xin would have to change their appearances after the battle. The situation and frequency of practicing boosted her skills to new heights.
Enviously, Tang Ling wondered whether Ro Xin would become the person with the nimblest hands in the Purple Moon era in the future. After all, whilst blessed with a talent to heal and create puppets, she had even trained her disguise skills to a considerable level given the situation.
On the other hand, Ro Li also gained something for himself. The harsh running and fighting for their lives in the rainforest heightened his strength by a lot.
Tang Ling might have run into a bottleneck in terms of his elevation, but he was able to temper his combat techniques along the way. Besides that, the rainforest was rich with resources, hence his stretchable backpack was now a lot bigger than it used to be. He picked many things up for himself. Albeit not exactly valuable, they were practical.
Tang Ling believed these materials would be assets for them to set foot in Darkness Port. It had always been the case because being poor could get nothing done no matter where one was.
With the intense pressure on them, Tang Ling and the siblings spent a total of 12 days getting out of Halaba Rainforest. After they got out, they realized something terrifying. The Stardust Council’s pursuit, especially of Tang Ling, had reached a whole new level. It was safe to say that they were everywhere!
A bounty of a million Stardust coins was put on Tang Ling’s head and his name was on the Fallen Star List. A million Stardust coins? If they were converted into Safety Sector No. 17 credits, it was a hefty 17 billion! The astronomical amount was terrifying!
One thing worth noting was that other than the most universal currency in the world, the True Capital coin, the Stardust coin came second or third. The bounty was so huge that even Tang Ling thought of turning himself in to get the million Stardust coins.
After knowing how big the bounty was, they realized that the soldiers in the rainforest were nothing compared to what was coming. Thankfully, after their time in the rainforest, Ro Xin was already a master in disguise, hence helping them to avoid many dangerous situations.
On top of that, after getting out of the rainforest, they were only less than 120 kilometers away from Darkness Port, which was already within the jurisdiction of the different factions from the port, so the Stardust Council’s influence in the area declined.
Darkness Port was a place of chaos, a lawless land, and a free port city. Many wanted criminals who were more notorious than Tang Ling hid there. Not only did the criminals have a higher bounty on their heads than Tang Ling, but they were also wanted by more than one faction.
Therefore, no major factions were allowed to catch their wanted targets in the port city. A snitch or whistleblower was also despicable because it would compromise the safety of Darkness Port and defy the spirit of freedom. In Darkness Port, anyone had the right to kill a snitch or a whistleblower. That was how strange the port city was.
The closer the three of them got to Darkness Port, the safer they would be.
After two more days of traveling, less than 70 kilometers away from their destination, the trio met another group of merchants who were affiliated with Darkness Port. Therefore, they paid the merchants and tagged along because they wanted to use the merchants’ caravan as cover to get into Darkness Port.
The journey with the second merchant caravan to Darkness Port was probably the most relaxing experience for Tang Ling, Ro Xin, and Ro Li. Even though the caravan traveled slowly, covering only 20 kilometers within half a day, the three of them did not want to rush anymore.
Staying with the caravan was a much better choice. They could rest in the ox cart filled with goods. All they needed was some haystack and they could sleep without worry. Someone in the caravan was in charge of meals, and a little bit of money could ensure that their bellies were full.
As for Tang Ling, all he had gotten from Su Siao was the True Capital coin that he wore around his neck. As for the other currencies that Su Siao used to put in a pouch, he had no idea where the man spent all the money. On second thought, Su Siao might have given them to Rona.
Tang Ling did not care about the money at all since he was wealthy by his own means. After all, he had a whole backpack of materials! If he were to trade most of the materials in Darkness Port for Black Sea coins, he could live a somewhat decent life, could he not?
Ro Li, on the other hand, was grumbling about how tough the journey had been. Tang Ling did not spare any attention to the huge loli because his own thoughts were going wild.
Suddenly, Ro Xin turned to him and asked, “Why did you scare him?”
“I didn’t! I just…” Tang Ling looked around before he lowered his voice to say to her, “I thought of something that can help me overcome my bottleneck situation. That’s why I’m so excited.”
“Have you figured out a way to overcome it?” Joy filled Ro Xin’s eyes.
Both Ro Xin and Ro Li knew that Tang Ling was at a bottleneck and his condition was fully cured seven days ago with the blue active energy having disappeared.
After he was cured, he consumed some vicious beast meat every day and cultivated as much as he could. However, none of his basic abilities went up at all. Most of the energy he consumed was stored in his dantian instead. According to him, if he continued consuming vicious beast meat, his dantian would explode, so he dared not simply consume energy anymore and his cultivation was put on pause since two days ago.
The little seed was not much help in this bottleneck situation either. Since Tang Ling was unable to convert the energy, the excessive energy was all fed to the little seed, so it was already bursting with energy.
Therefore, even when he asked the little seed to absorb more energy, it rejected him and feigned being asleep. No matter how much he called out to the seed, it turned a deaf ear to him like it was saying, ‘I’m asleep. I can’t hear you!’
Is this how a son should talk to its father?! Tang Ling was grumpy, but he could not do anything either. He originally planned to power up the little seed since he was unable to consume and digest the excessive energy.
Isn’t the little seed a big glutton? It seems like I’ve overestimated it! Have I been the big eater all along? No, it shouldn’t be!
Tang Ling refused to admit that he was a Harsheen boar!
“Hey, I’m asking you a question, Tang Ling.” Ro Xin nudged Tang Ling after he did not reply for a while.
Tang Ling came back to his senses and replied, “Yes! The key to overcoming the situation is to merge and link my strength. Before this, didn’t I power up myself with the body array? Because of that, I was able to overcome the bottleneck temporarily. I tried to savor the feeling and I realized it is a little different from my current strength.
“I tried to figure out what’s the difference and I finally realized what it is. It’s like the difference between nine people fighting one guy and a one-on-one duel.” Tang Ling tried his best to explain.
“What?” This time, even Ro Xin could not understand Tang Ling. Ro Li and Ro Xin both looked at him in confusion, especially the latter. She asked, “Although it’s just a temporary experience, you’ve already figured out the differences?”
It was not groundless speculation either. With his Precise Instinct, he could repeatedly simulate the feeling he experienced back then to find out the minor differences between the two states of strength.
However, his Precise Instinct, his Perfect Genetic Chain, and the little seed were secrets that he could not reveal, so he had to keep it from Ro Xin even though he had to lie.
Tang Ling scratched his head in front of the siblings, feigning ignorance and replying vaguely, “I guess it’s a hunch. As for the example with nine-on-one versus one-on-one, you guys can understand it this way. Each of the nine has 100 kg of punching force and they attack a single person together at once. The person might not have to handle a total of 900 kg of punching force in one go.
“But if the strength of nine people is mashed up into a single person, and then that individual attacks another person, the person will surely have to face a punch that contains 900 kg of force.
“That’s the difference between before and after the strength is merged and linked together! The merged strength can produce greater power and the excessive won’t go to waste.” Tang Ling could not help but furrow his brows at this point. He continued softly, “But I have a feeling that the strength of nine bulls isn’t the limit.”
Ro Xin smiled when she heard that. She tapped Tang Ling’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve heard that there are many powerful people in Darkness Port. Bloodline, background or talents matter there. As long as you can pay up, you can get the information.”
“What are you trying to say?” Tang Ling looked at her.
“So, you can solve your problem by paying up. I’m going to find a medical center to settle down. As for my brother…” Ro Xin was a girl with great plans in mind.
She could tell that Tang Ling had matters to attend to in Darkness Port, but she did not ask what it was. Nonetheless, she wanted to help him to solve whatever she could. At least, she and her brother would not drag him down anymore.
Before she could finish, the faint noise of waves crashing sounded ahead. It was followed by an excited cry from someone in front, “I heard it! I heard the sound of the sea! We’re almost at Darkness Port!”
The sound of the sea? Darkness Port?
Tang Ling’s mood was lifted. He bolted up and looked towards the source of the sound. The sky remained dark and there was still some distance, so the sea and Darkness Port were not visible yet.
However, as the person shouted excitedly in front of the caravan, the whole caravan was steeped in excitement.
Ro Li could not hold back his excitement either. “The sea? Where? I’ve wanted to see the sea for so long!”
Ro Xin also bolted up.
Amid the soaring atmosphere, mixed feelings started to rise within Tang Ling as well. The journey was tough, but he had the responsibility to complete his duty. For one, he had to find Zero before December and time was running short.
Still, in the end, he was here.
Darkness Port, here I come!
“Now, I see. The strength of nine bulls isn’t about adding the strength together. It’s about mashing them, fusing them and linking them together. That’s the true strength of nine bulls.”
“The difference between adding and mashing it thoroughly is huge. Without mashing it thoroughly and linking the strength of nine bulls together, it’s like nine different strengths existing inside a single body. How can it be stronger than a single united strength that has been fused together?”
“Then, how should I merge and link the strength of nine bulls?” Tang Ling bolted up from the haystack. His sudden action startled Ro Li who was dozing off beside him so he also jumped up and responded in confusion, “Huh!? What happened?”
Ro Li’s beard was long gone. After Ro Xin skillfully transformed his appearance, he looked like a normal young man who traveled the mountains all year long. His current image was vastly different from his previous rugged look.
As for Ro Xin, she was also disguised as a boy. Her skills in disguise were getting better and she currently looked like a youthful boy.
Ro Li’s surprised cry caught Ro Xin’s attention. She jumped off the ox cart and headed to the other cart behind it where Tang Ling and Ro Li were.
“Brother, can you not be so nervous?” Ro Xin softly criticized her brother.
It was still the wee hours, but since it was winter, first light was two hours away. However, the merchant caravan had to keep on moving. They were not waiting for first light to move out, so they had already gotten on the road an hour ago.
Most of the merchants and travelers were still sleepy, so the caravan was extra quiet. With a Ro Li’s surprised cry, it was difficult for Ro Xin not to be worried about her brother.
“I don’t want to be nervous either, but you know what we’ve gone through along the way! I can be asleep a second ago and battle-ready in the next. It’s become a habit,” Ro Li defended himself. He was not boasting in the slightest bit.
That day, they transported themselves out of the Nine Ruins via the space formation. Ro Xin said that the energy wave of the space formation was directed towards the direction of Darkness Port which Joshua’s projection confirmed.
Unfortunately, a great amount of energy was required to activate the space formation and Joshua also stated that the trio could only use it once and only for a short distance.
In the end, the three of them were transported to Halaba Rainforest. It was nothing surprising though. In the Purple Moon era, be it the weather or terrain, everything was out of the norm. The changes were beyond the old civilization.
One might find himself walking in the desert at one point but would enter a snowy terrain in the next. The differences were extreme. They defied the laws of science and could not be explained by common sense. Some scientists who observed the drastic changes of geographical terrains realized that the terrains were constantly changing and never stopped before.
Therefore, it was not all that surprising for Tang Ling and company to find themselves in a rainforest since there was a substantial area of rainforest within the Herrocky Mountain Ridge anyway.
Entering the rainforest was bad news for them. Everybody knew that rainforests were heaven for insects, and on top of that, there were all sorts of strange creatures that not even the old civilization could identify each one of them. It had only gotten worse in the Purple Moon era since the shackle of evolution was removed from these creatures.
According to Tang Ling’s pre-planned route, he should have skipped Halaba Rainforest, but since he got held up in the Ninth Ruins for over a month, he got out by the end of October and was left with no choice. Tang Ling had to bring the siblings through the rainforest.
The only comforting fact was that Halaba Rainforest was not ridiculously far from Darkness Port. It was only 300 kilometers away if they traveled in a straight line, and only in a straight line.
The fact was that the three of them had to face all kinds of battles every day in the rainforest. They fought mutated insects, reptiles, crocodiles and also the pursuers from the Stardust Council.
Tang Ling strongly believed that if he did not have the map Tang Feng left behind, the three of them would have died in the rainforest. They were also considered lucky because the rainforest itself was dangerous so much so that even the soldiers from the Stardust Council were hesitant to go that deep, thus their pursuit of Tang Ling was less intense.
However, it was only relatively less intense compared to the Ninth Ruins as they would still run into soldiers everyday. If they could avoid them, they would. Otherwise, they would have to fight and use the terrain to their advantage.
In short, it was a difficult path to tread.
Because of the difficulties, Ro Xin’s mastery in disguise skyrocketed with the rainforest being so rich with resources. She was able to find all kinds of materials for disguise. On top of that, every time they ran into soldiers, Ro Xin would have to change their appearances after the battle. The situation and frequency of practicing boosted her skills to new heights.
Enviously, Tang Ling wondered whether Ro Xin would become the person with the nimblest hands in the Purple Moon era in the future. After all, whilst blessed with a talent to heal and create puppets, she had even trained her disguise skills to a considerable level given the situation.
On the other hand, Ro Li also gained something for himself. The harsh running and fighting for their lives in the rainforest heightened his strength by a lot.
Tang Ling might have run into a bottleneck in terms of his elevation, but he was able to temper his combat techniques along the way. Besides that, the rainforest was rich with resources, hence his stretchable backpack was now a lot bigger than it used to be. He picked many things up for himself. Albeit not exactly valuable, they were practical.
Tang Ling believed these materials would be assets for them to set foot in Darkness Port. It had always been the case because being poor could get nothing done no matter where one was.
With the intense pressure on them, Tang Ling and the siblings spent a total of 12 days getting out of Halaba Rainforest. After they got out, they realized something terrifying. The Stardust Council’s pursuit, especially of Tang Ling, had reached a whole new level. It was safe to say that they were everywhere!
A bounty of a million Stardust coins was put on Tang Ling’s head and his name was on the Fallen Star List. A million Stardust coins? If they were converted into Safety Sector No. 17 credits, it was a hefty 17 billion! The astronomical amount was terrifying!
One thing worth noting was that other than the most universal currency in the world, the True Capital coin, the Stardust coin came second or third. The bounty was so huge that even Tang Ling thought of turning himself in to get the million Stardust coins.
After knowing how big the bounty was, they realized that the soldiers in the rainforest were nothing compared to what was coming. Thankfully, after their time in the rainforest, Ro Xin was already a master in disguise, hence helping them to avoid many dangerous situations.
On top of that, after getting out of the rainforest, they were only less than 120 kilometers away from Darkness Port, which was already within the jurisdiction of the different factions from the port, so the Stardust Council’s influence in the area declined.
Darkness Port was a place of chaos, a lawless land, and a free port city. Many wanted criminals who were more notorious than Tang Ling hid there. Not only did the criminals have a higher bounty on their heads than Tang Ling, but they were also wanted by more than one faction.
Therefore, no major factions were allowed to catch their wanted targets in the port city. A snitch or whistleblower was also despicable because it would compromise the safety of Darkness Port and defy the spirit of freedom. In Darkness Port, anyone had the right to kill a snitch or a whistleblower. That was how strange the port city was.
The closer the three of them got to Darkness Port, the safer they would be.
After two more days of traveling, less than 70 kilometers away from their destination, the trio met another group of merchants who were affiliated with Darkness Port. Therefore, they paid the merchants and tagged along because they wanted to use the merchants’ caravan as cover to get into Darkness Port.
The journey with the second merchant caravan to Darkness Port was probably the most relaxing experience for Tang Ling, Ro Xin, and Ro Li. Even though the caravan traveled slowly, covering only 20 kilometers within half a day, the three of them did not want to rush anymore.
Staying with the caravan was a much better choice. They could rest in the ox cart filled with goods. All they needed was some haystack and they could sleep without worry. Someone in the caravan was in charge of meals, and a little bit of money could ensure that their bellies were full.
As for Tang Ling, all he had gotten from Su Siao was the True Capital coin that he wore around his neck. As for the other currencies that Su Siao used to put in a pouch, he had no idea where the man spent all the money. On second thought, Su Siao might have given them to Rona.
Tang Ling did not care about the money at all since he was wealthy by his own means. After all, he had a whole backpack of materials! If he were to trade most of the materials in Darkness Port for Black Sea coins, he could live a somewhat decent life, could he not?
Ro Li, on the other hand, was grumbling about how tough the journey had been. Tang Ling did not spare any attention to the huge loli because his own thoughts were going wild.
Suddenly, Ro Xin turned to him and asked, “Why did you scare him?”
“I didn’t! I just…” Tang Ling looked around before he lowered his voice to say to her, “I thought of something that can help me overcome my bottleneck situation. That’s why I’m so excited.”
“Have you figured out a way to overcome it?” Joy filled Ro Xin’s eyes.
Both Ro Xin and Ro Li knew that Tang Ling was at a bottleneck and his condition was fully cured seven days ago with the blue active energy having disappeared.
After he was cured, he consumed some vicious beast meat every day and cultivated as much as he could. However, none of his basic abilities went up at all. Most of the energy he consumed was stored in his dantian instead. According to him, if he continued consuming vicious beast meat, his dantian would explode, so he dared not simply consume energy anymore and his cultivation was put on pause since two days ago.
The little seed was not much help in this bottleneck situation either. Since Tang Ling was unable to convert the energy, the excessive energy was all fed to the little seed, so it was already bursting with energy.
Therefore, even when he asked the little seed to absorb more energy, it rejected him and feigned being asleep. No matter how much he called out to the seed, it turned a deaf ear to him like it was saying, ‘I’m asleep. I can’t hear you!’
Is this how a son should talk to its father?! Tang Ling was grumpy, but he could not do anything either. He originally planned to power up the little seed since he was unable to consume and digest the excessive energy.
Isn’t the little seed a big glutton? It seems like I’ve overestimated it! Have I been the big eater all along? No, it shouldn’t be!
Tang Ling refused to admit that he was a Harsheen boar!
“Hey, I’m asking you a question, Tang Ling.” Ro Xin nudged Tang Ling after he did not reply for a while.
Tang Ling came back to his senses and replied, “Yes! The key to overcoming the situation is to merge and link my strength. Before this, didn’t I power up myself with the body array? Because of that, I was able to overcome the bottleneck temporarily. I tried to savor the feeling and I realized it is a little different from my current strength.
“I tried to figure out what’s the difference and I finally realized what it is. It’s like the difference between nine people fighting one guy and a one-on-one duel.” Tang Ling tried his best to explain.
“What?” This time, even Ro Xin could not understand Tang Ling. Ro Li and Ro Xin both looked at him in confusion, especially the latter. She asked, “Although it’s just a temporary experience, you’ve already figured out the differences?”
It was not groundless speculation either. With his Precise Instinct, he could repeatedly simulate the feeling he experienced back then to find out the minor differences between the two states of strength.
However, his Precise Instinct, his Perfect Genetic Chain, and the little seed were secrets that he could not reveal, so he had to keep it from Ro Xin even though he had to lie.
Tang Ling scratched his head in front of the siblings, feigning ignorance and replying vaguely, “I guess it’s a hunch. As for the example with nine-on-one versus one-on-one, you guys can understand it this way. Each of the nine has 100 kg of punching force and they attack a single person together at once. The person might not have to handle a total of 900 kg of punching force in one go.
“But if the strength of nine people is mashed up into a single person, and then that individual attacks another person, the person will surely have to face a punch that contains 900 kg of force.
“That’s the difference between before and after the strength is merged and linked together! The merged strength can produce greater power and the excessive won’t go to waste.” Tang Ling could not help but furrow his brows at this point. He continued softly, “But I have a feeling that the strength of nine bulls isn’t the limit.”
Ro Xin smiled when she heard that. She tapped Tang Ling’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve heard that there are many powerful people in Darkness Port. Bloodline, background or talents matter there. As long as you can pay up, you can get the information.”
“What are you trying to say?” Tang Ling looked at her.
“So, you can solve your problem by paying up. I’m going to find a medical center to settle down. As for my brother…” Ro Xin was a girl with great plans in mind.
She could tell that Tang Ling had matters to attend to in Darkness Port, but she did not ask what it was. Nonetheless, she wanted to help him to solve whatever she could. At least, she and her brother would not drag him down anymore.
Before she could finish, the faint noise of waves crashing sounded ahead. It was followed by an excited cry from someone in front, “I heard it! I heard the sound of the sea! We’re almost at Darkness Port!”
The sound of the sea? Darkness Port?
Tang Ling’s mood was lifted. He bolted up and looked towards the source of the sound. The sky remained dark and there was still some distance, so the sea and Darkness Port were not visible yet.
However, as the person shouted excitedly in front of the caravan, the whole caravan was steeped in excitement.
Ro Li could not hold back his excitement either. “The sea? Where? I’ve wanted to see the sea for so long!”
Ro Xin also bolted up.
Amid the soaring atmosphere, mixed feelings started to rise within Tang Ling as well. The journey was tough, but he had the responsibility to complete his duty. For one, he had to find Zero before December and time was running short.
Still, in the end, he was here.
Darkness Port, here I come!
