It was evening in Darkness Port.
The coastal route was blessed by the comfortable sea breeze and a fascinating sunset.
All kinds of interesting stalls were open and many carts were selling local delicacies. There were couples holding hands, strolling down the route, and there were senior citizens taking a break while enjoying the breeze.
It was peaceful and calm at the same time.
At the end of the coastal route was the entrance to the cabin area.
Tang Ling was on the clock. Before he came out from Dvesha Moha, he shamelessly borrowed 20 Black Wind coins from Ding Ling and promised to return 21 Black Wind coins in order to secure his riding fee.
The deck area was huge. If he were to travel by foot, he would have to spend the entire hour walking without reaching his destination.
Higan, on the other hand, seemed to show interest in everything. She looked left and right along the way while she curiously traveled with Tang Ling in the unique public transportation of Darkness Port: a cable car of the old civilization which was decorated like the sea.
After they got out of the car, they walked and stopped along the street, checking out everything that came within their sight.
Tang Ling was actually in a hurry, but somehow, when he saw how curious Higan was, he did not have the heart to rush her. All he did was accompany her as she stopped at every interesting spot.
“Tang Ling, the cotton candy seems interesting. Can we have one?”
Tang Ling asked for the price. One cotton candy cost 10 Black Wind coins. The price almost shocked him to death. He held his urge to buy it back because he had no coin to spare!
“Tang Ling, the squid leg looks delicious.”
“It’s not tasty at all. I’ll go catch some squid for you in the sea next time. I’m quite good at catching things.”
“You can catch squids in the sea? You are so cool!”
Tang Ling successfully distracted Higan.
“Tang Ling, what do you think about that fried fish…?”
“I can catch fish in the sea too!”
He wished he could carry Higan and sprint all the way to the cabin area.
“Tang Ling, it’s not that expensive. Let’s buy one. It only cost 15 Black Wind coins,” Higan insisted like a spoiled child. She did not want to leave until she had some fried fish.
It cost Tang Ling 6 Black Wind coins for the transportation fee, so only had 14 Black Wind coins left.
Tang Ling helplessly scratched his head. He walked to the stall and showed a flattering smile to the owner. “Excuse me, can I get one with 14 Black Wind coins? You can pack one less for me.”
Higan looked at Tang Ling strangely as she took 1 Black Sea coin from her pocket and told the owner, “Two, please. Tang Ling, don’t you want some?”
Tang Ling felt like his pride was thrown on the floor and trampled multiple times. He manned up to Higan and said, “I-I am full. Consider it my treat.”
Higan smiled and shook her head. “My my, I suddenly don’t want the fried fish anymore. Let’s go have some icicles. I’m thirsty.”
Peering around, Tang Ling coincidentally found an icicle seller beside the fried fish stall and on the signage, it was written: ‘One honey icicle, 1 Black Wind coin.’
Great!
To his relief, he immediately said, “What a coincidence! I also want to have an icicle.”
The two of them left the fried fish stall and the owner wiped his sweat off his face nervously. He was not used to a young boy smiling at him in such a sleazy manner while wearing a face cloth with a dog over his face. The owner thought Tang Ling was a suspicious person trying to harass him.
Tang Ling lifted his face cloth and gobbled down the so-called ‘honey icicle’. As expected of its price, the icicle had a faint taste of sweetness and nothing else, but it was able to provide a comfortable chill during sunset.
On the other hand, Higan smiled brightly. Her eyes curved into crescent shapes as if the cheap icicle was something delicious.
As the two of them strolled around the street, 10 minutes had passed and they finally reached the end of the coastal route.
Before them was a big building shaped like a sharp knife and beneath it was the cabin area.
******
Anyone who visited the arena area would surely be overwhelmed by the fascinating colors and luxurious lifestyle.
3D holographic projections were everywhere. There were all kinds of astounding and luxurious entertainment facilities, luxurious restaurants and many giant screens that ran 24 hours, broadcasting the matches of all the different rings. The bloody and exciting fights would easily stimulate one’s adrenaline.
However, when they entered this colorful and luxurious place, Higan’s interest faded. She no longer looked around curiously as she quietly followed Tang Ling. She would gaze at his back absent-mindedly at times, seeming to think about something.
Since she was wearing the mask and the beautiful women in the place were only some coins away, Higan was not harassed and did not attract any attention along the way.
Tang Ling already knew a thing or two about the arena area from Boss Huang’s book, so after he made sure of the direction, he headed straight to the junior division in the south-eastern area.
Compared to the ring of the grown-ups, the junior division had less attention. Since the age restriction of the division was quite strict, only 15- to 22-year-olds were allowed to participate in the junior division.
In the Purple Moon era, everything became harder, but strangely, human beings were able to live a little longer. Except for natural causes of death, the average lifespan of men was now at 100 years old, so Purple Moon Warriors could live longer.
Some people thought it was necessary to redefine the terms regarding human age such as teenagers, young adults, adults and elders.
For example, ages between 15 to 28 should be called teenagers; those between 29 to 50 should be young adults; those between 51 to 80 should be adults, and 81 and above should be elders.
To be honest, some people exclaimed that if the old civilization had not been wiped out, the human lifespan should be extended to this length.
However, regardless of how the outside world defined the age and categories, the arena of the junior division in Darkness Port had a maximum participating age of 22.
The organizers were afraid that some geniuses of this age would have reached rank 2 Purple Moon Warrior or above, and the difference in strength between opponents was too huge, hence making the match dull and boring. In fact, it might even affect gambling rates.
Despite the age restriction in the ring being strict, other than the matches in the master division, be it man versus beast or man versus all kinds of machinery, none of them were as popular as the junior division matches.
After all, discovering a young prodigy was very interesting to the audience.
In the Purple Moon era, many powerful and important figures once participated in the matches in the ring, so the popularity of the place was boosted.
The junior division had a total of 11 common areas, from Areas A to K.
Participants of similar power levels would be pitched against each other according to strength, age and many other criteria. With every victory, the challenging opponent would be stronger.
In short, the matches in the ring involved a complex rating system. A participant with an initial rating of 55 would not meet an opponent with a rating higher than 60 or lower than 50.
After the first victory, the participant would have the chance to meet an opponent from the 60 to 65 range, and so on.
According to Tang Ling’s understanding, the first match in the ring would be rewarded with 20 Black Wind coins regardless of the result.
In the second match, if the participant lost, he would get 40 Black Wind coins and 1 Black Sea coin if he won.
The prize money remained the same in the third match and the winner would be rewarded with some benefits from the organizer.
The same went for the fourth match but there were more benefits.
In the fifth match, the participant’s value would rise to the next level and he could start earning Darkness value.
However, under normal circumstances, one could only participate in a maximum of two matches a day because there were many people watching in line to join the ring. No one was allowed to occupy the ring for selfish purposes.
All the rules sounded reasonable. Some people might think of participating in the matches every day just to earn money since they would be rewarded even if they lose.
The idea was actually a joke.
The matches in the ring were brutal and primitive with no safety precautions set up and not many rules existed to limit the participants. The only rule was that after the opponent conceded, the other side was not allowed to attack anymore, but dying from attacks or being crippled after the matches were common in the arena area.
Commoners dared not even participate in the first match just for the 20 Black Wind coins because it was a pure suicidal act for them.
After arriving at the arena area, Tang Ling was not in a hurry to join a match. Instead, he walked around and observed the young participants’ strengths.
Maybe because of the timing of only 6 something, which was not the peak hour between 3 to 6 or the golden hour from 8 to 11, the participants were nothing stellar.
A quick thought later, Tang Ling decided to take the risk.
The face cloth that he wore might seem plain, but there was a second layer with an eye mask that he could pull up to cover his eyes although it would make him even more like a pervert or a thief.
Tang Ling couldn’t care less about his image. After a quick scan around, he pulled the eye mask up and walked to a less popular ring area.
The background that the 3D holographic projection set up in the ring area was astonishing. Countless bones and skulls formed a giant throne and lines of blood dripped from the top, flowing towards the bottom. It was huger than any other ring and the ring with a black cold luster was on top of the throne of bones.
Tang Ling knew that the material that emanated with the black cold luster was a type of special rock. It was rich with iron and its integrity was comparable to grade A alloy. Considered as a decent mineral, it was used to set up the ring after some rough polishing and it matched the luxurious style of the arena area.
There were almost no participants who could destroy this particular ring, except for some elite young prodigies!
Any ring lover would jump in the ritualistic ring in a heartbeat and show off their power in an exciting and colorful match, hence making a name for themselves.
However, the ring was strangely empty. There was no one around the ring waiting for the match to start. There was not even an audience.
Had it been a few days ago, Tang Ling would have been curious. He would not have known any details about the ring such as the material used to build the ring.
Now, Tang Ling was not surprised at all. Boss Huang’s book really lived up to its name, and it might really be worth a lot of money, so having read through the book, Tang Ling was now familiar with the unusual ring.
This ring was the only ring located in Area S of the junior division and it was not a common one. It was known as the Ring of Desperado, also known as the Ring of Legend.
Why?
Those who dared to enter this ring were either very powerful or desperate.
In this ring, other than age, there were no other restrictions. As long as one rang the bell beside the ring, one must step into the ring and take up the role of ring defender.
Then, anyone who fit the age criteria would be welcomed to challenge the ring defender.
One should never be afraid of not having an opponent because in order to provide maximum excitement, any challenger that successfully defeated the ring defender would be rewarded with 50 Black Sea coins.
