Chapter 210: Shadow
The only thing Clyne was worried about was Su Siao. He was concerned that the Mad Lion might intervene at the last minute just to save Tang Ling. It was entirely possible, and if it happened, Clyne would have to accept his unfortunate fate.
However, there was nothing from the Mad Lion and Clyne would not let this opportunity slip by. He had to kill Tang Ling now.
He had a feeling that the reinforcements from the Stardust Council might have already arrived. His hesitation lasted for less than a second before he charged towards Tang Ling. For the sake of efficiency, he drew the dagger that he sheathed at his boot and aimed for Tang Ling’s neck.
At the same time, Tang Ling reacted with a terrified and surprised expression. However, right before Clyne’s dagger touched him, a giant hand appeared and grabbed his wrist holding the dagger instead.
“Did not expect this, eh?” A narrow glare flashed in Tang Ling’s eyes. Then, his other hand started to engorge, breaking the layer of thick ice.
Without hesitation, Clyne covered his other fist in the white light and punched Tang Ling’s other arm that had broken out of the ice. Instead of dodging the punch, Tang Ling quickly poked Clyne’s body by extending his robust finger. The icy punch landed on Tang Ling’s arm, encasing it in a layer of white ice again.
In that split second, Tang Ling’s sturdy finger managed to poke three spots on Clyne’s body where Clyne’s armor had broken, and it was almost effortless for him.
“Stop wasting your…” Before Clyne could finish the sentence, he suddenly covered his mouth in agony as his face started to twitch terribly and he started to breathe heavily.
Tang Ling smiled coldly and let Clyne faltered backward, eventually falling on the ground. He curled up like a cooked shrimp.
“Huuu, haaa, huuuu, haaa.” Although he had a hard time breathing, he mustered his remaining strength and stammered, “W-what…d-did you…d-do?”
If Tang Ling was not trapped in ice, he would never have told him the answer, but since he had to wait for the ice to break, he did not mind entertaining the man since it was quite boring.
“Not much, but in this form, I can see something extra called weak spots. Get it?”
Clyne widened his eyes, seeming to understand what Tang Ling was referring to albeit not entirely. After all, when one reached the level of a Purple Moon Warrior, physically speaking, the body no longer had any weak spots. However, in Tang Ling’s current form, his Precise Instinct drastically changed and allowed him to see the flow of energy within a person.
Through the enhanced Precise Instinct, he was able to see a person’s essential weak spots. Due to the different habits of exerting strength and different types of talents plus all other kinds of reasons, a person’s energy flow varied depending on their habits and actions. As a person exercised, the flow of energy would form a node of sorts, and whenever the energy flow through the node was not very smooth or harmonious, it would become a weak spot.
The reason why Tang Ling changed his battle style all of a sudden was to strike Clyne’s weak spots.
Tang Ling had leaked this new ability of his before this battle during the encounter with Aber. As a matter of fact, Aber had been very good at faking his death. Had Tang Ling’s Precise Instinct not been enhanced, he might not have been able to see through Aber’s tricks.
Aber’s talent should be mentioned at this particular point. His talent was an insignificant defensive ability that would allow him to shift his organs.
The moment Tang Ling entered Aber’s room, Aber quietly moved his heart away from its usual spot, and it was at that moment that Tang Ling saw the change of energy flow within him. He could have moved it before Tang Ling came in, but he did not, probably because the ability had a time limit.
After seeing through Aber’s little trick, it was not possible for Tang Ling to fall for it anymore. He watched Aber’s performance patiently and gave him hope, but in the end, his hope was shattered with that slash.
Tang Ling had enjoyed torturing an *sshole like Aber. After that, he even acted for a bit by stating that he did not want to follow Aber’s pace. However, he actually said it for the camera because he was acting for Clyne to see. After all, he did not want to expose his newfound ability to see weak spots and energy flow beforehand.
Before the fight, Tang Ling used his new ability to calculate the weak spots within Clyne’s energy flow and found a total of 167 spots. If he could follow the pattern and split 19 spots, the energy flow in Clyne’s body would be completely disrupted, turning into turbulence and gush towards his heart.
With his Precise Instinct, Tang Ling had seen through Clyne’s little conspiracy early on. He realized that every punch Clyne threw seemed humid, and at first he suspected Clyne’s talent ability to be water.
However, as the fight carried on, Tang Ling felt that the humidity possessed a sense of unyielding icy coldness. It immediately dawned on him that Clyne’s talent was not water but the derivative of water, ice.
Maybe his talent was not powerful enough, hence the slow set up in the ring. The ring and Tang Ling’s body were slowly soaked in the humidity released from Clyne’s punches and his intention was clear.
The ice talent was not powerful enough to instantly freeze everything, so he had to set it up step by step and eventually freeze Tang Ling whole!
Tang Ling naturally went along with the plan and pretended to fall into Clyne’s icy trap. He then seized the change to counter Clyne by poking the last three essential weak spots.
If it was not for Clyne’s little plan, Tang Ling might have a headache. The little wounds that he inflicted on Clyne earlier in the battle might not have been enough to raise the old fox’s attention. However, with each of the last three spots poked, the disruption of energy flow was clearer, and if the old fox realized what Tang Ling was after, it would not have been easy for Tang Ling to pull it off.
Clyne could have simply dragged this out and Tang Ling was on the clock with his current form.
On the other hand, Clyne was having a hard time figuring out Tang Ling’s simple answer. His heart was in so much pain as the turbulence of energy in his body almost imploded his heart and he had no way of stopping it.
Truth be told, it was not Clyne’s mistake. He could not have figured it out earlier.
Tang Ling’s energy might not have been able to support his entire transformation, but what about just an arm? However, what were the odds of Tang Ling transforming just an arm in battle? It was so tiny that as vigilant as Clyne was, he would have neglected the meager chances.
Since the different types of war seeds were no secret, a handful of people had detailed information about them. One of the rules of the war seed was that any consumable war seed that could be used multiple times required an enormous spirit to activate. It was difficult to control as a whole, let alone precisely master a certain part.
For the precise control to be possible, one must either reach a terrifying level in spiritual abilities or have a high fusion rate with the war seed. The latter might seem easier, but it was actually harder. Many people who had a war seed for several decades failed to achieve the so-called high fusion rate. Even going as far as figuring out how to increase the fusion rate or what the key factor was, the war seed bearers failed to figure out a pattern to it.
Did Tang Ling figure it out? No, Clyne did not even consider the probability. If Tang Ling’s spirit was powerful enough to precisely control the war seed, he would have been an excellencer.
Besides, Tang Ling was only 15 years old, so the control he had over the war seed was probably at entry-level. How could he possibly achieve a high fusion rate?
However, Clyne seemed to have forgotten that Tang Ling was the wonder kid, the kid who created miracle after miracle under his name. Tang Ling had not conspired against him or whatsoever. Therefore, Clyne realized that losing to this kid seemed to be a fixed outcome.
After figuring out the matter, Clyne panted even faster. His heart had expanded to its limit, but there was still one more question he wanted to know before dying.
“Y-your talent?” He longed for an answer from Tang Ling.
“Talent? I guess it’s Precision.” Tang Ling did not want to bluff a dying man.
“L-liar!” Clyne spat a mouthful of blood out as he widened his eyes. His body twitched and he lay straight before he died in front of Tang Ling.
Tang Ling was surprised. Why would Clyne say that? Isn’t Precise Instinct my only talent from the beginning?
Right after the thought came into his mind, a spine-chilling sense of danger enveloped Tang Ling whole.
Without a second thought, Tang Ling called out to the little seed, ‘Little seed, transform!’
Tang Ling’s body rapidly grew, but his belly also started to hurt immensely as a long and strange weapon the thickness of a chopstick stabbed his belly. It almost punctured his liver, but thankfully his transformation was complete. The strengthened muscles contracted right away and held the weapon back from puncturing his liver.
He did not get to talk or even catch a glimpse of the attacker because the energy stored in the little seed was only enough to maintain his transformation for two seconds.
It was Tang Ling’s final trump card that he planned to use on Clyne.
“Hehehe…” The attacker cackled evilly. After missing the first hit, the attacker wanted to remove his strange weapon and leave, but at that very moment, Tang Ling, in his strongest super form, saw seven flickering spots on the attacker’s arm.
Seven weak spots!? The weak spots are so clear!
Without a second of hesitation, Tang Ling fished out a punch and hit one of the attacker’s weak spots. Hitting the weak spot was especially effective. A single punch disarmed the attacker of his weapon as the arm quivered.
However, the attacker was not happy about the sudden failure. His other hand twisted at inhuman angles and made its way to Tang Ling’s back as another long and narrow weapon of the same kind appeared in the freaky hand.
He went for Tang Ling’s liver again.
This time, Tang Ling had no more defensive measures, but since he had made it this far and his battle fanaticism would get the best of him whenever he entered his super form, he grinned and punched the attacker’s left side of the abdomen after distinguishing that it was the attacker’s largest weak spot!
Bump!
Tang Ling’s punch landed precisely on the weak spot, but the attacker was terrifyingly powerful. His body twisted around by almost 360°, he and shifted his crucial weak spot to the other side in the nick of time.
Thanks to the punch, the second strike from the attacker was also interrupted, so the special narrow weapon managed only to brush Tang LIng’s kidney, poking a little hole in it.
Perhaps because of Tang Ling’s powerful reaction, after the second punch, the attacker dove into the shadows of the cage and disappeared.
Tang Ling scanned his surroundings in a daze, yet he was unable to locate this mysterious attacker! His super form could only last for two seconds, after which he would have to go through a weakened state. With the additional weakening from using the low tier war seed, this upcoming weakened state would render him completely useless, so he would be no different from a coma patient.
The quick exchange of blows consumed a second of Tang Ling’s transformation. With the attacker out of sight, he could not do anything in the next second. All he could do was wait with his eyes wide open.
“Is this how I go?” Tang Ling watched his body shrink. It felt like his huge body had holes in it and his energy slipped away rapidly as he fell to the ground with a thud. He could not help feeling so weak that he could not even blink his eyes anymore.
A sinister and gloomy laugh then came from the shadows. Tang Ling saw a tiny bit of shadow by the cage move and it took form rapidly, growing into the attacker’s silhouette.
Tang Ling finally got a clear glimpse of the attacker after that. The attacker wore a gray and fitting stealth bodysuit and had a strange mask with a crying expression on it.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Shadow. I’m honored to kill Tang Feng’s son with my own hands.” He had floated to Tang Ling’s side after his introduction. He squatted down and all ten of his fingers transformed into that strange long weapon.
“I’m sorry. I was supposed to capture you alive, but since your identity has been confirmed, it’s no longer necessary.” After his words subsided, with clean and nimble movements, Shadow poked Tang Ling’s heart and neck, his two lethal weak spots.
Tang Feng? A bitter hatred arose in his heart. He actually did not want to hear the name until his last day on Earth because he did not know what the name meant to him.
The reason why he was so resistant towards the Dragon Army was that they were followers of Tang Feng, were they not?
It was at this particular moment that countless thoughts flooded Tang Ling’s mind and went out of control because of what Shadow said. Tang Ling was no idiot. He was very smart. He had connected all the dots a while ago, but he did not want to elaborate on his deduction since he was afraid to do so.
However, fearing the answer did not mean that he did not have it. The only thing the black-mantled people, including Ah Bing, did not do was brazenly tell him that he was the son of a hero, an amazing hero!
The moment he got the answer, bitterness took over his heart and uncontrollable rage flooded his mind. He resisted the Dragon Army because of their relationship with this hero and intentionally gave them the cold shoulder.
The man might be a hero in other people’s eyes, but he was less than a piece of sh*t in Tang Ling’s eyes.
A father? Tang Ling had once fantasized of such a figure in his life numerous times. Would this imaginary father of his be like the other fathers in the settlement, giving the best part of the meat from the hunt to him quietly and looking at him with a smile?
Would this father raise him up high in the air despite grumbling about how tired life was in the settlement and smile honestly when his kid rode his shoulders? Would this father brag in front of the people and say, ‘Look at my cute son.’?
Would this father of his offer comfort to him when he was at his weakest and most helpless times? Would he say regardless of how reckless he was, ‘Don’t worry, I’m here for you.’?
No, he would not!
Nonetheless, it did not matter. There must be some unspeakable reason for this father of his to have abandoned him when he was young.
Tang Ling tried to understand it but failed to. His father did not compromise and abandoned him to the extent that he had been on the brink of death when his grandmother’s family picked him up. That was what he learned from his late foster parents and he never doubted it a single bit.
So, is this the way of a hero? He abandoned me! What about my mother? Where is she? Why is every one calling this father of mine a hero but no one mentions a thing about my pitiful mother? He must have compromised and abandoned her as well.
Tang Ling did not want to think badly of his father, but he could not help it.
If there were not that many Dragon Army soldiers hidden in the safety sector, he would have tried to understand the matter from a better perspective, but there were so many of them in hiding, hence the hatred!
He hated that the Dragon Army did not show up during the bloody night in the settlement. Even one of them had shown up, his grandmother and sister would not have died!
He was okay with living a life of poverty in the settlement for many years since he was a man after all, but he hated them for not showing gratitude to his grandmother’s care for him. Why did the Dragon Army not move her and his sister into the safety sector? Was it that hard?
He resisted the Dragon Army because these men, who were fearless against death, had appeared just to announce to the world that this son of a hero had arrived and the Dragon Army was making a comeback.
The reason why the Dragon Army did this was mostly because of his heroic father’s arrangement, was it not?
Tang Ling’s heart was soaked in resentment. He hated that he was not cold-blooded enough. The way the Dragon Army gave up their lives for him moved him ultimately and he shouldered the responsibility without complaint.
He even though of bringing Clyne’s body outside to declare that it was all over.
_How ironic, my heroic father…_Tang Ling eyes almost shut. He felt peaceful as he welcomed death. At that very moment, he already felt the long, narrow weapon touching his skin.
Then, before his skin was penetrated, a crash broke the air while dust and mud rained down on him. Shadow seemed to have sensed something, but he did not leave. Instead, he hastened his actions and stabbed Tang Ling’s body.
Kaboom!
A huge pillar sprung out from the ground, knocking Shadow away. Then, a rough voice echoed in the storeroom, “Do you really think you can kill him with me around?”
Shadow was quick as well. After the voice echoed in the storeroom, while his body was still floating in the air, he vanished into the shadow cast by the ceiling light.
Tang Ling then felt himself being lifted and laid on a broad shoulder as a rope circled him and quickly tied him in place.
“I’m late,” Su Siao said with a slight tilt of his head.
Tang Ling saw Su Siao covered in a large expanse of blood. He must have gone through a fierce battle before he arrived.
Before Su Siao could explain, he raised his hand up and countless dust swirled around his fist rapidly. Pillar after pillar sprung out from the ground, bumping and stabbing all the shadowy spots that Shadow could have hidden in.
As expected, Shadow was flushed out from the shadows. Countless narrow and long weapons appeared from him and all of them were fired at Su Siao.
At the same time, the dust that was swirling around Su Siao’s fist clumped up together into sturdy mud balls and flew out at Shadow.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Numerous detonations from the clashes were heard. Shadow’s weapons were all shot to the ground and the rest of the mud balls swept over him.
However, before he was hit, Shadow stuffed a small, strange-looking bamboo flute into the mouth of his mask and blew it.
A sudden flap of wings sounded from the window and a huge shadow flew over.
Shadow jumped on the huge shadow when the mud balls hit him. Then, he flew away in a hurry.
His voice echoed in the air, “Mad Lion, you cannot escape the inevitable. His identity is now confirmed, isn’t it? Run, haha…”
