Han Xing said yes.
He groped the pouch with the 50 Black Sea coins and thought it felt unreal. Black Sea coins possessed a high value and he got 50 of them!
Should I go and eat something good? Or spend it with some beautiful girl? Hmm, I think I should go pay a visit to the cultivation area first.
Han Xing came out from the shower prepared for the participants as he thought of the best way to make use of the fortune while rubbing his hair dry with the towel. As a matter of fact, 50 Black Sea coins and a vial of cell regeneration serum was not enough to buy the powerful and handsome Young Master Han. It was far from enough!
Han Xing was only interested in two things.
Firstly, the internal intel that the fat boss mentioned must be related to the opportunity in May next year. Unlike previous years, many big factions received some secret intel this year and every one of them reached an agreement based on this particular intel.
As for what the intel was about, the fat boss was not that competent enough to know yet, so he was clueless about the details of the intel. However, he knew about the agreement between the major factions.
The major factions agreed to stay out of the opportunity in Darkness Port next year and allow their own geniuses to seize the chance with their own hands.
If the agreement was true, things had just become interesting.
Why?
In order to possess a stronger base than others after breaking through to become a Purple Moon Warrior, one must get three necessary items before the breakthrough and all three of the items were produced here in Darkness Port, which granted them top quality.
One of the necessary items was the Seven Stamen Lotus, a local specialty of Darkness Port.
Han Xing’s father had once explained something about the items to him, “Supposedly, all three of the necessary items were only prepared for those who could achieve the perfect breakthrough, but after a while, people realized even though one couldn’t achieve the perfect breakthrough, these three items would still provide great benefits. At least, the items would make one stronger than other normal Purple Moon Warriors with every increment in rank. It also provided them a boost in their talent abilities.”
Han Xing never hoped to achieve the perfect breakthrough because his father had said, “Starting from the first day of the Purple Moon era, those who achieved the perfect breakthrough by accumulating their strength to nine bulls and two tigers didn’t surpass more than 300 people. Most of them will be stuck at the strength of nine bulls and one tiger.
“However, in recent years, maybe…” His father stopped explaining after he exclaimed about the era.
Han Xing knew what his father meant. Many geniuses sprung up in recent years and maybe there were a lot more capable geniuses who could reach the strength of nine bulls of two tigers.
Han Xing’s current strength of nine bulls had been merged completely and he already got the clues on how to achieve the strength of one tiger.
Even though he did not go after the perfect breakthrough, he was still an ambitious teenager. If he could not get the legendary Nine Stamen Lotus, he could at least try to get a Seven Stamen Lotus, could he not?
In the past, whenever the chance appeared in Darkness Port, the captains of the port city would sail and retrieve it. Then, it would be distributed into the major factions through all kinds of profitable deals. This time, however, the major factions decided to keep their hands off and allowed the geniuses to seize the chance with their own hands.
The so-called chance was located in the sea, so would it mean that the geniuses had to set sail one day?
Aside from the fact that sailing might be dangerous, Han Xing had never dreamt of sailing by himself either, so teaming up with the fat boss might be a decent choice.
Han Xing was no idiot. He even predicted that the genius prodigies that arrived in Darkness Port would be sought after by the different factions of Darkness Port. They would then be chosen as the faction’s representative to set sail.
There must be profit and gains related to all this, but the fat boss did not mention them, so Han Xing did not ask. If the fat boss ultimately chose him over someone else, Han Xing would be informed.
As for the second point, it was much simpler.
The fat boss had proposed that if Han Xing agreed to work with him, starting from tomorrow onwards, for every match that he won, the boss would top up an extra 5 Black Sea coins as a reward. If he could win five continuous matches, the bonus would be 30 Black Sea Coins; 10 matches would result in 100 Black Sea coins.
The boss did not mention an upper limit either. Why would the fat boss spend a fortune on investing in him?
It was simple actually. If Han Xing was able to win consecutive matches, he would be proving his own value and there was a high chance for him to set sail. Therefore, investing a fortune on Han Xing would help his growth.
It was a decent cycle of life.
With that in mind, Han Xing’s mood lifted. He was always a happy-go-lucky fellow and was easily satisfied.
As for the famous cultivation room of Darkness Port, could the place help him break through to the strength of nine bulls and one tiger?
Han Xing was not overly concerned about his basic stats like the others because his talent lay in swordsmanship, but if he could boost his basic stats, who would not be pleased about it?
******
Sitting in the tub of the herbal bath, Tang Ling continued reading ‘The Purple Moon Chronicles’.
The contents were substantial. It described every occupation in the Purple Moon era in detail and how the occupations grew, even including the different types of Purple Moon Warriors.
All the detailed knowledge was fascinating to Tang Ling. He was almost at the end of the book, and he found out that there were a total of 73 major safety cities and 317 safety sectors in the world.
The 317 safety sectors also included family factions and their influences. As long as the requirements were met, they were all considered as safety sectors.
Other than that, there were a total of 3,690 safety villages, plus an unknown number of Drifter camps.
The current population of the world did not exceed more than 500 million.
The decrease in population was shocking. During the prime age of the old civilization, the world population had reached 7.5 billion people, and even after more than a hundred years into the Purple Moon era, the population was smaller than the old civilization by two digits.
Tang Ling somehow felt worried until he suddenly realized that Boss Huang had gone a little quiet at the study desk. The boss had been drawing and writing something earlier, but he suddenly stopped and went silent.
Curiously, Tang Ling looked at him. To his shock, he realized Boss Huang was glaring at him with a profound gaze, so sweat rolled down his forehead.
“Speak! How did you meet her, that Higan?”
“I’ve told you more than a dozen times now. Do I have to repeat myself again?” Tang Ling was getting impatient. Since when did Boss Huang care about Higan so much? Was he a pervert that had some other thoughts about her?
“Impossible.” Boss Huang rubbed his chin while squinting his eyes. He muttered to himself, “I’m so handsome, yet you barely look like a human. Why are there no angelic girls following me around?”
Tang Ling suddenly realized that it was a mistake to look at Boss Huang, so he quietly raised the book over his face and continued reading. He hoped he could finish the book by that night and would be able to read new content tomorrow.
“Hold on.” Boss Huang stopped him.
Tang Ling impatiently looked up to see Boss Huang jump over the study desk seriously. The boss looked at him with strict scrutiny and said, “What do you think? Should I really stop eating tomorrow?”
WTF? Tang Ling was utterly speechless! He decided to turn a blind eye to the boss and continue reading before he went to bed.
As for Boss Huang’s scribbles on the desk, he could not care less about them.
The wind entered through the window, making the notebook that Boss Huang scribbled on earlier flutter. If anyone saw what he was scribbling, one would realize that he had not been scribbling or drawing at all.
Several words were written down, scattered across the page, and some of them were repeated.
Calamity, timebomb, missing, doubts, suspect…
******
“You’re back.”
Tang Long leaned at the entrance of the little yard decorated with seashells welcoming Higan. His gaze was soft and tender with a tinge of worry but showed no intentions of blaming.
Higan was pulled back to her senses. The smile on her face lingered as Tang Ling was still in her mind, and even her hand was still holding the black iron mask.
“Mm-hmm,” she answered with her nasal voice and recovered to her calm and cold expression.
It was late at night and the wind was chilly. Tang Long walked up to her and put the robe that he had been holding over Higan’s shoulder. “I know you’ll be fine, but I’m still worried.”
Higan tightened the robe around her shoulder, but her hand was still holding the mask as she asked softly, “So, you’ve been waiting for me here?”
“Not really. The moon in Darkness Port is beautiful. I’ve always spent time in cultivation and training, so it’s nice to come out to see the moon once in a while,” Tang Long answered kindly.
Higan was quiet. Tang Long was so sweet to her that she felt like he was the only person in the world that she could get close to. Her mind could not comprehend the love between two different genders, so she measured everything based on kindness.
However, she felt guilty about receiving Tang Long’s love and kindness. No matter how kind he was to her, he was not as comfortable to be with as Tang Ling, whom she had met that day. She had the urge to get close to Tang Ling but not Tang Long.
Should she be kinder to Tang Long and try to get closer to him?
With that in mind, Higan decided to voice a part of her mind, “You are really kind to me.” She was not proficient at expressing her thoughts though, so that was the best she could do.
When Tang Long heard what she said, he smiled brightly. Coupled with the moonlight, he looked like the son of the moon. “This is the happiest thing that you’ve ever said to me.”
Higan also smiled. It’s great if Tang Long could be happy.
“The wind is strong. Let’s go in. Is it that fun going out alone? You are all smiles when you come back.”
“Yeah, it’s fun.”
Tang Long and Higan walked into the yard side by side, but they were constantly half a meter apart.
The feeling was unlike how Higan had followed Tang Ling. When she saw Tang Ling walking ahead of her, all she wanted to do was follow him tightly like she was afraid to be away from him.
Higan sighed in her heart. She had no intention of telling anyone about Tang Ling or her feelings for him, including Tang Long. This was her little secret.
“I’ll go out again tomorrow,” she said to Tang Long while thinking about Tang Ling.
Tang Long did not feel that anything was strange. He nodded and requested, “The only thing I ask of you is to bring your comms with you, please?”
Higan would never be in danger. Other than himself, she would never let anyone near and she would never lie.
Tang Long had 100% trust in Higan, but he was still worried about her safety. Her beauty was eye-catching in Darkness Port and would attract a lot of unwanted attention.
“Mm-hmm.” Higan actually wanted to reject him, but when she saw the softness in Tang Long’s eyes, she could not help but nod.
Did she not just tell herself to try to be closer with Tang Long?
Han Xing said yes.
He groped the pouch with the 50 Black Sea coins and thought it felt unreal. Black Sea coins possessed a high value and he got 50 of them!
Should I go and eat something good? Or spend it with some beautiful girl? Hmm, I think I should go pay a visit to the cultivation area first.
Han Xing came out from the shower prepared for the participants as he thought of the best way to make use of the fortune while rubbing his hair dry with the towel. As a matter of fact, 50 Black Sea coins and a vial of cell regeneration serum was not enough to buy the powerful and handsome Young Master Han. It was far from enough!
Han Xing was only interested in two things.
Firstly, the internal intel that the fat boss mentioned must be related to the opportunity in May next year. Unlike previous years, many big factions received some secret intel this year and every one of them reached an agreement based on this particular intel.
As for what the intel was about, the fat boss was not that competent enough to know yet, so he was clueless about the details of the intel. However, he knew about the agreement between the major factions.
The major factions agreed to stay out of the opportunity in Darkness Port next year and allow their own geniuses to seize the chance with their own hands.
If the agreement was true, things had just become interesting.
Why?
In order to possess a stronger base than others after breaking through to become a Purple Moon Warrior, one must get three necessary items before the breakthrough and all three of the items were produced here in Darkness Port, which granted them top quality.
One of the necessary items was the Seven Stamen Lotus, a local specialty of Darkness Port.
Han Xing’s father had once explained something about the items to him, “Supposedly, all three of the necessary items were only prepared for those who could achieve the perfect breakthrough, but after a while, people realized even though one couldn’t achieve the perfect breakthrough, these three items would still provide great benefits. At least, the items would make one stronger than other normal Purple Moon Warriors with every increment in rank. It also provided them a boost in their talent abilities.”
Han Xing never hoped to achieve the perfect breakthrough because his father had said, “Starting from the first day of the Purple Moon era, those who achieved the perfect breakthrough by accumulating their strength to nine bulls and two tigers didn’t surpass more than 300 people. Most of them will be stuck at the strength of nine bulls and one tiger.
“However, in recent years, maybe…” His father stopped explaining after he exclaimed about the era.
Han Xing knew what his father meant. Many geniuses sprung up in recent years and maybe there were a lot more capable geniuses who could reach the strength of nine bulls of two tigers.
Han Xing’s current strength of nine bulls had been merged completely and he already got the clues on how to achieve the strength of one tiger.
Even though he did not go after the perfect breakthrough, he was still an ambitious teenager. If he could not get the legendary Nine Stamen Lotus, he could at least try to get a Seven Stamen Lotus, could he not?
In the past, whenever the chance appeared in Darkness Port, the captains of the port city would sail and retrieve it. Then, it would be distributed into the major factions through all kinds of profitable deals. This time, however, the major factions decided to keep their hands off and allowed the geniuses to seize the chance with their own hands.
The so-called chance was located in the sea, so would it mean that the geniuses had to set sail one day?
Aside from the fact that sailing might be dangerous, Han Xing had never dreamt of sailing by himself either, so teaming up with the fat boss might be a decent choice.
Han Xing was no idiot. He even predicted that the genius prodigies that arrived in Darkness Port would be sought after by the different factions of Darkness Port. They would then be chosen as the faction’s representative to set sail.
There must be profit and gains related to all this, but the fat boss did not mention them, so Han Xing did not ask. If the fat boss ultimately chose him over someone else, Han Xing would be informed.
As for the second point, it was much simpler.
The fat boss had proposed that if Han Xing agreed to work with him, starting from tomorrow onwards, for every match that he won, the boss would top up an extra 5 Black Sea coins as a reward. If he could win five continuous matches, the bonus would be 30 Black Sea Coins; 10 matches would result in 100 Black Sea coins.
The boss did not mention an upper limit either. Why would the fat boss spend a fortune on investing in him?
It was simple actually. If Han Xing was able to win consecutive matches, he would be proving his own value and there was a high chance for him to set sail. Therefore, investing a fortune on Han Xing would help his growth.
It was a decent cycle of life.
With that in mind, Han Xing’s mood lifted. He was always a happy-go-lucky fellow and was easily satisfied.
As for the famous cultivation room of Darkness Port, could the place help him break through to the strength of nine bulls and one tiger?
Han Xing was not overly concerned about his basic stats like the others because his talent lay in swordsmanship, but if he could boost his basic stats, who would not be pleased about it?
******
Sitting in the tub of the herbal bath, Tang Ling continued reading ‘The Purple Moon Chronicles’.
The contents were substantial. It described every occupation in the Purple Moon era in detail and how the occupations grew, even including the different types of Purple Moon Warriors.
All the detailed knowledge was fascinating to Tang Ling. He was almost at the end of the book, and he found out that there were a total of 73 major safety cities and 317 safety sectors in the world.
The 317 safety sectors also included family factions and their influences. As long as the requirements were met, they were all considered as safety sectors.
Other than that, there were a total of 3,690 safety villages, plus an unknown number of Drifter camps.
The current population of the world did not exceed more than 500 million.
The decrease in population was shocking. During the prime age of the old civilization, the world population had reached 7.5 billion people, and even after more than a hundred years into the Purple Moon era, the population was smaller than the old civilization by two digits.
Tang Ling somehow felt worried until he suddenly realized that Boss Huang had gone a little quiet at the study desk. The boss had been drawing and writing something earlier, but he suddenly stopped and went silent.
Curiously, Tang Ling looked at him. To his shock, he realized Boss Huang was glaring at him with a profound gaze, so sweat rolled down his forehead.
“Speak! How did you meet her, that Higan?”
“I’ve told you more than a dozen times now. Do I have to repeat myself again?” Tang Ling was getting impatient. Since when did Boss Huang care about Higan so much? Was he a pervert that had some other thoughts about her?
“Impossible.” Boss Huang rubbed his chin while squinting his eyes. He muttered to himself, “I’m so handsome, yet you barely look like a human. Why are there no angelic girls following me around?”
Tang Ling suddenly realized that it was a mistake to look at Boss Huang, so he quietly raised the book over his face and continued reading. He hoped he could finish the book by that night and would be able to read new content tomorrow.
“Hold on.” Boss Huang stopped him.
Tang Ling impatiently looked up to see Boss Huang jump over the study desk seriously. The boss looked at him with strict scrutiny and said, “What do you think? Should I really stop eating tomorrow?”
WTF? Tang Ling was utterly speechless! He decided to turn a blind eye to the boss and continue reading before he went to bed.
As for Boss Huang’s scribbles on the desk, he could not care less about them.
The wind entered through the window, making the notebook that Boss Huang scribbled on earlier flutter. If anyone saw what he was scribbling, one would realize that he had not been scribbling or drawing at all.
Several words were written down, scattered across the page, and some of them were repeated.
Calamity, timebomb, missing, doubts, suspect…
******
“You’re back.”
Tang Long leaned at the entrance of the little yard decorated with seashells welcoming Higan. His gaze was soft and tender with a tinge of worry but showed no intentions of blaming.
Higan was pulled back to her senses. The smile on her face lingered as Tang Ling was still in her mind, and even her hand was still holding the black iron mask.
“Mm-hmm,” she answered with her nasal voice and recovered to her calm and cold expression.
It was late at night and the wind was chilly. Tang Long walked up to her and put the robe that he had been holding over Higan’s shoulder. “I know you’ll be fine, but I’m still worried.”
Higan tightened the robe around her shoulder, but her hand was still holding the mask as she asked softly, “So, you’ve been waiting for me here?”
“Not really. The moon in Darkness Port is beautiful. I’ve always spent time in cultivation and training, so it’s nice to come out to see the moon once in a while,” Tang Long answered kindly.
Higan was quiet. Tang Long was so sweet to her that she felt like he was the only person in the world that she could get close to. Her mind could not comprehend the love between two different genders, so she measured everything based on kindness.
However, she felt guilty about receiving Tang Long’s love and kindness. No matter how kind he was to her, he was not as comfortable to be with as Tang Ling, whom she had met that day. She had the urge to get close to Tang Ling but not Tang Long.
Should she be kinder to Tang Long and try to get closer to him?
With that in mind, Higan decided to voice a part of her mind, “You are really kind to me.” She was not proficient at expressing her thoughts though, so that was the best she could do.
When Tang Long heard what she said, he smiled brightly. Coupled with the moonlight, he looked like the son of the moon. “This is the happiest thing that you’ve ever said to me.”
Higan also smiled. It’s great if Tang Long could be happy.
“The wind is strong. Let’s go in. Is it that fun going out alone? You are all smiles when you come back.”
“Yeah, it’s fun.”
Tang Long and Higan walked into the yard side by side, but they were constantly half a meter apart.
The feeling was unlike how Higan had followed Tang Ling. When she saw Tang Ling walking ahead of her, all she wanted to do was follow him tightly like she was afraid to be away from him.
Higan sighed in her heart. She had no intention of telling anyone about Tang Ling or her feelings for him, including Tang Long. This was her little secret.
“I’ll go out again tomorrow,” she said to Tang Long while thinking about Tang Ling.
Tang Long did not feel that anything was strange. He nodded and requested, “The only thing I ask of you is to bring your comms with you, please?”
Higan would never be in danger. Other than himself, she would never let anyone near and she would never lie.
Tang Long had 100% trust in Higan, but he was still worried about her safety. Her beauty was eye-catching in Darkness Port and would attract a lot of unwanted attention.
“Mm-hmm.” Higan actually wanted to reject him, but when she saw the softness in Tang Long’s eyes, she could not help but nod.
Did she not just tell herself to try to be closer with Tang Long?
