Actually, making the same decision was not considered coincidental. To begin with, the demand itself had reasonable and unreasonable terms, so anyone could have selected the unreasonable terms and discarded it.
However, the terms that Tang Ling and Tang Long selected at the same time were not unreasonable. On quite the contrary, they were quite normal, but their hearts could not accept the normal terms.
Tang Ling thought that only he could not accept it, but he did not expect Tang Long to agree with him on this. It might not prove anything but the peculiar feeling remained in his heart. Therefore, he would have to trouble Boss Huang again.
The staff was very experienced in this, so he advised, “Very well then. Since the two of you have reached an accord, we’ll combine your opinions and the demands into a new set of rules for you two.”
When Tang Ling and Tang Long did not object to anything, the staff left with a strange feeling lingering in his heart. Meanwhile, the duo stayed inside the office that looked like a glass box in silence while being watched by the crowd.
The two of them were not affected by their surroundings. At least, they looked like they were fine. They closed their eyes at the same time and their thoughts wandered.
As Boss Huang was watching the situation in the office, a profound smile curled up on his lips before he returned to selling the seats.
As a matter of fact, the so-called seats were long sold out. The girls who had bought the seats were jam-packed like a can of sardines, but Boss Huang did not care, as long as there was a seam left in the crowd, he would not stop making money.
…
“Tang Feng’s son really knows how to stir things up.”
By the seaside on a dilapidated wooden boat, a shabby-looking elderly with a normal bamboo hat and a straw rain cape, which was the most common fisherman attire of the old civilization, sat down to fish at the front of the boat.
Behind him was another elderly man who seemed very sage and a man standing respectfully.
The sage old man did not comment on the old fisherman’s words while his eyes were gleaming at the plate in front of him. On the plate were clamshells that looked like duck feet. It was not big and was only the size of half a thumb.
The clamshells were fresh out the frying pan whereas the top of the greenish-black shells were still glistening with oil.
The dish did not exactly appear decent, but the sage old man carefully picked one up, slurped it strongly, and sucked the opaque meat into his mouth. He shut his eyes and held his breath with an intoxicated expression before he started chewing.
In response, the middle-aged man behind him, who wore a set of glamorous and shining captain uniforms, gulped gluttonously.
However, after the old man had one, the plate flew up and floated to the fisherman’s side. “Noooo!” he cried out unhappily.
The fisherman smiled in silence. It was then that his fishing rod shook, and the bell at the tip of the rod rang vigorously.
Excitement flashed over the fisherman’s eyes. He reeled his rod in and a strong surge came from the surface of the sea, stirring up violent waves that might overturn the wooden boat.
Strangely, the wooden boat looked like it was glued to the fisherman’s feet. No matter how strong the waves were or how fierce the wind was, it swayed along with the waves and showed no signs of turning over.
The old fisherman grunted softly as his wrist pulled the rod slightly. A gigantic strange fish was then dragged out of the sea!
The strange fish was 15 meters long and was almost as long as the old fisherman’s dilapidated fishing boat. It was 2 meters wide and had scales that looked like dots. Strangely, it had eight fins each of which had sharp thorns.
It bit the fishing hook tightly with its gnashing sharp teeth, and when the sunlight shone on it, it reflected a strange metallic luster.
How could a normal fishing rod catch such a fish? How could a regular-looking fisherman reel in that fish that looked at least 2 tons in weight?
However, the sage old man and the captain behind him were not surprised at all. They stood beside the fisherman like it was a common sighting. The old man even gulped gluttonously, appearing very hungry.
After the big fish was hooked, the fisherman tossed the rod to the captain. The captain caught it with steady hands. The old fisherman then jumped up onto the fish’s back while it was still in the air.
When the large fish had a feeling that something was not right, it struggled fiercely, but a swift palm strike landed on its head. Despite being just a simple strike, the struggling fish froze instantly and fell back into the water, relying on the buoyancy of water to remain afloat.
The old fisherman stood on the large fish’s body, searching for something meticulously.
Three minutes later, he seemed to have collected two items from the fish. He then removed his fishing hook from the mouth.
The hook was not that huge either in only the size of a palm, but its luster was strange. After the fisherman put the hook away, he jumped back onto his shabby fishing boat.
Pak!
He tossed aside the two items that he had obtained from the fish. They were revealed to be clamshells that looked like duck feet.
“Gu Dao, look how hard it is to find duck webbing clams. There are only one to two attached to the scales of the eight-finned centi-electric fish and it’s not often found even on a Level 6 vicious beast like this. There are more than 20 clams on the plate. How shameless must you be to keep eating?” The fisherman was all smiles, but the wrinkles on his face were heavy. His smile made him look like a dried orange that was opening up.
“Geez, Elder Black, just get to the point. You bring me all the way out here, but you don’t want me to eat your clams. What are you trying to do?” The sage old man was none other than the owner of the Ancient Path Drugstore, Ro Xin’s master, Gu Dao.
The fisherman known as Elder Black was not in a hurry either. He leisurely hooked some bait on the fishing hook. The bait shone like a gemstone under the sunlight, which made it different from other common fishing baits.
“I said Tang Feng’s son really knows how to stir things up.”
“Hmm? So?” Gu Dao blinked.
“I want to adjust the Hell Ledge for a bit,” Elder Black said flatly.
Adjusting the Hell Ledge? What was going on? What adjustment would that be? It seemed to be something huge, but when the words came out of Elder Black’s mouth, it sounded very casual. Gu Dao was slightly surprised before he started to reply with something stupid. “Huh? Isn’t that something you can do with a single command?”
“The Hell Ledge, hmm…It has been 26 years since the Hell Ledge initiated the Hell difficulty and come to think of it now, the last time I opened it was because of a single man.” Elder Black had hooked the bait onto the fishing hook and tossed it back into the sea.
“Hmm, I remember. The last time that the Hell difficulty was initiated because of Tang Feng, that bastard! After he came out from the challenge, he even laughed at it and acted like it was nothing.” Gu Dao reminisced about the past.
“Hmph! He was just pushing himself! After the crowd dispersed, he collapsed…That man, he always loved to act cool.” Elder Black also recalled the past.
“Fine, since you know that Tang Feng was the one who made it through the challenge, who are you trying to adjust the difficulty of the Hell Ledge for this time? Tang Long? Or Tang Ling? Tang Ling might be a little weak at this though.”
“No, I’m doing this for neither of them but for everyone who has joined their little game. These ignorant kids don’t know the immensity of the sky and the earth. Since they wanted to use my Hell Ledge as the main stage of the Life and Death Ring, I must entertain them, mustn’t I?” Elder Black grinned like a shriveled up orange, but a hint of slyness was hidden in between his wrinkles, making his smile something to ruminate over.
“Elder Black, stop joking, will you? How many of the kids can survive the Hell difficulty?” the middle-aged captain, who had been quiet, cut in nervously.
All the young geniuses were the blood and sweat of every major faction around the world. They would never allow their prized disciples or students to die on Hell Ledge. Any mistake in the process, and Darkness Port would offend all the major factions in the world.
Elder Black did not say anything and just shifted his attention to Gu Dao.
Pursing his lips tightly, Gu Dao looked at the plate of clams and said, “Fine, fine. I get it, I get it! No one will die under my watch, I assure you.”
“You can actually let one or two die in the process. This era is harsh and cruel. How can a bunch of geniuses not die on Hell Ledge? If it’s really difficult to save them, don’t waste your resources.” As Elder Black elaborated, the plate of clams flew back to Gu Dao.
Gu Dao quickly grabbed two of them to stuff into his mouth. The best way to cook these clams was not boiling them but frying them. Only by frying could the unrivaled taste be brought out completely.
Even if things were going to get a little more troublesome after this, Gu Dao was happy to accept the circumstances.
“So, Elder Black, since Tang Ling and Tang Long have started the Life and Death Ring, they’ll surely fight to the death. What’s your opinion on this?” The middle-aged captain had wanted to ask this question a long time ago.
No matter which one of them died, it would be a sensitive, explosive and blistering matter that would shake the world. If the two of them really wanted to fight to the death, no one could stop them.
However, if either one of them died in Darkness Port…
With that in mind, the middle-aged captain was drenched in nervous sweat. He was afraid that even Darkness Port might not be able to withstand the upcoming storm. It might be even scarier than all the other geniuses dying together!
“What opinion? Things aren’t as severe as you thought! Tang Feng is dead, isn’t he? If his sons want to kill each other, what can we do to stop it?” Elder Black’s complaint was filled with ridicule. No one knew what he was complaining about or what he was ridiculing.
“But Elder Black…” The captain would not settle for such an answer.
Elder Black looked at Gu Dao who was slurping all the clams greedily. Gu Dao then said while enjoying the flesh, “I don’t care! I don’t want to care! That Tang Ling boy is under Huang Dao’s care, so what could possibly happen to him?
“As for Tang Long? The Stardust Council is like the sun in the middle of the sky. They are influential and powerful, and with the council behind his back, what’s the worst that could happen to him?”
“Yeah, the two of them will be fine, so what’s the point of determining life and death?” Elder Black looked askance at Gu Dao.
“The fairness and prestige of the Life and Death Ring will not be challenged! Since it’s where life and death are determined, so be it!”
“But…” Elder Black once again looked at Gu Dao.
As Gu Dao shuddered, he stopped eating the clams and leaned aside. “Elder Black, you must think this over. Your stand in this reflects the stand of the whole Darkness Port. Are you going to take a stand?”
