In the Hell Ledge Challenge colosseum of Darkness Port, almost all the young geniuses appeared before 10 in the morning.
It was not as lively and exciting as the first time. Instead, the whole colosseum felt tense as an unusual pressure mounted as time went by.
After a few months, all the young geniuses had more or less changed for the better. Some of them appeared even steadier, and one could easily tell how much they had grown in the past few months.
Nothing stimulated growth more than placing a bunch of geniuses together.
On top of that, the young geniuses would have to sail on the dangerous sea after the challenge for the so-called changes to break through, so who could afford falling behind?
People with better perception even sensed the differences in the young geniuses’ presence. Take for example the True Capital Seven. Everyone always thought that they were just names, but now, they no longer lay low and expressed their explosive toughness openly. It was the first time they showed their strongest form to the public.
Even the Dark Nine Feathers, which existed in people’s thoughts though barely, felt a lot stronger. They were the home representative after all, and their strengthened presence unconsciously increased people’s anticipation of them.
Maybe because the audience today were people with statuses, their anticipation did not transform into mindless cheers. Instead, an endless stream of applause sounded.
Other than the True Capital Seven and the Dark Nine Feathers, there were other less familiar contestants who had decided to make their presence known as well.
The young geniuses were teenagers after all, so they were naturally competitive. The rivalry finally exploded in this competition and the atmosphere in the colosseum was very overwhelming.
However, the audience noticed that Han Xing was not among them, even the high profile Tang Ling and Tang Long were missing, despite the Stardust Sixteen being there. No one would blame them either since the last day for the competition was the 30th of April.
“All green. Open Hell Ledge now.”
After almost all the young geniuses were there, the slumbering Hell Ledge opened its doors once again. Rules were rules and they would not change just because some high-profile contestants were not there.
No one cut the line or made a single noise as if everyone was in agreement. Every single young genius walked into the passage to Hell Ledge in an orderly fashion.
The audience’s anticipation was a lot higher than the first time. They fixed their attention on the monolith at the entrance to Hell Ledge. The rules stated that the 10 monitors on the monolith would broadcast the live feed of the top 10 contestants in the competition.
This time, however, as though Darkness Port wanted to emphasize the importance of the event, a giant silver screen was lowered down after the contestants went through the passage. It resembled the screen of a projector from the old civilization.
The host, the Simpering Pierrot, finally appeared. Unlike his extravagant hosting style, his voice sounded solemn and heavy as he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the colosseum of Hell Ledge. This competition is, without a doubt, a magical one. It’s a competition that the whole world will pay attention to. It is magical because of almost all the young geniuses picked to complete their challenge this day, and as for the world’s attention, I believe I don’t have to explain that.”
He then pointed at the giant silver screen. “I won’t over commentate the competition this time, but I will only provide the necessary explanation at particular timings. Why? Because this is the best competition there is. There is no need for my nagging to disrupt its pace.
“This silver screen will broadcast all the contestants live. You won’t miss anything, and you won’t need me talking a lot either.”
The Simpering Pierrot then bowed at the audience and said, “As a matter of fact, there are less than a handful of competitions that m emcee like this, so please enjoy the show and be grateful for the feast for your eyes prepared by the best geniuses of the world.”
After that, he kept quiet and even pulled himself a chair to the host’s podium and sat down as if he was also a spectator who wanted to watch the competition.
The people gave the veteran host a round of applause. His way of emceeing was probably the best and the most respectful way to the competition.
…
After a few months of grinding, the geniuses started the competition differently.
Every single contestant on the silver screen performed outstandingly. In less than a minute, the first SSS rating appeared, followed by the second and the third in less than 10 seconds.
The contestants cleared the stages decisively with top-notch performance. Ever since the competition started, everyone might have the wrong thoughts about the Hell difficulty. How could it look so easy? Should it be like this?
Everything happened so smoothly! Even the weakest of the geniuses was able to clear the stage without any sluggish movement, and until now, there was no roadblock yet.
The young Peacock Sovereign, Abu Sheikh, was able to clear stage 5 with an SSS rating before this. In less than 5 minutes, he had reached stage 8. Even stage 6, which was once known as the first roadblock, did not hinder him at all.
The audience who came to watch the competition this time were not commoners, and they soon found out what was so great about Abu Sheikh’s performance.
“As a matter of fact, the Peacock family’s ace is that peacock and he still hasn’t used it.”
“Just you wait. Stage 9 is definitely a hurdle. Only the contestants who cross that hurdle will gain all the attention.”
The experienced spectators might be in awe of Abu Sheikh’s performance, but they tended to be conservative.
Every three stages in Hell Ledge made up a single level, and that was already the iron rule for everything. However, not everybody knew how the difficulty would grow with each level.
The actual way Hell Ledge set its difficulty would be by dividing the first 12 stages into 3 stages per level, and with every level passed, the difficulty would multiply mercilessly.
Therefore, before everyone decided to pause the challenge, the highest stage that was cleared was only stage 10 with only a few geniuses who achieved it: the Cardinal Four, Han Xing, and Ro Li.
However, after stage 12, the rules changed because with every stage cleared, the difficulty would increase and the contestants would not have a breathing window anymore.
Therefore, in the history of the Hell Ledge Challenge, the highest record achieved on the Hell difficulty by someone who was not a Purple Moon Warrior was held by a real legend—Tang Feng. It might look and sound easy, but other than Tang Feng, several other highest record-holders only made it to stage 13.
The normal difficulty of Hell Ledge had over a century of history while the Hell difficulty only had 50-odd years of history, but the records made in the past were all based on Hell difficulty.
Therefore, it was reasonable for the conservative audience to say that only contestants beyond stage 9 were worth paying attention to and they should not have faith in Abu Sheikh’s attempt.
The pace of the competition was fast because the scenes in Hell Ledge would not leave a breathing window for the contestants. Those who could clear it would have to carve out a bloody path whereas those who could not make it would be killed instead.
There was no trickery or whatnot involved, so it was only natural for the pace to be quick.
Abu Sheikh left everyone in awe when he cleared stage 8 at an insane speed and reached stage 9. Another 20 to 30 more contestants made it to stage 9 in less than a minute after him.
Among those who reached stage 9, it was not Abu Sheikh who cleared it first, but it was a pale, handsome teen.
“It’s him, Quentin! I knew it! The Dracula family view honor as their life. How could they allow mediocrity in their descendants?” said one of the excited audience members.
The old civilization might have been gone, but part of its culture persistently survived the apocalypse.
The Dracula family had the vampiric traits from the legends of the Light Continent, so of course, they would gain a large number of passionate supporters.
Therefore, right after Quentin cleared stage 9, the competition welcomed its first boiling point.
“Quentin is rather interesting. Stage 9 isn’t that easy anymore. It’s certainly a hurdle that will divide mediocrity and supremacy, yet he didn’t even use his special talent from his family to clear it.” The one who commented about Quentin this time was not a fanatic supporter of the Dracula family. Instead, it was someone who had analyzed the situation calmly and still had high expectations for Quentin.
“Hmm, Quentin might be the first candidate to clear stage 12. I’m looking forward to it.” Another steady audience nodded at Quentin’s performance.
“Actually, shouldn’t it be those two kids? Where are they anyway?”
The audiences could not hold back their curiosity.
At that moment, cheers erupted from the crowd because the first contestant who cleared stage 11 had appeared, and it was none other than the black horse, Ro Li! As a matter of fact, clearing stage 11 was not a record-breaking feat since he had reached stage 10 before this.
The audience was looking forward to stage 12. They wanted to know how Ro Li would perform in the stage that would set great apart from good.
“The first seed to start stage 12 has appeared! It isn’t the popular Cardinal Four but the black horse, Ro Li! I don’t actually want to comment on it, but I can’t hold myself back with all the excitement! Stage 12 on Hell difficulty will be the separation line. Before the record of Hell Ledge had been broken by a legendary figure, the highest stage achieved was only stage 13.
“I can also give you all a little fun fact: Stage 12 and stage 15 will be open to all!”
Right after Ro Li entered stage 12, the Simpering Pierrot commented excitedly. The first thing he said revealed a sensational piece of news to the crowd: stage 12 and 15 would be open to all.
On second thought, it did not seem strange at all. There were many stages with ridiculous challenges, and even if it was not opened to all, the audience would get it, so the Simpering Pierrot might as well reveal it to them to increase their anticipation.
The Simpering Pierrot skipped the unnecessary chatter and said, “On stage 12, all contestants will face the same scene to endure absolute fairness beyond the separation line. So, what will the important stage 12 be? It’s the Bronzemen Alley!”
Right after his voice subsided, the audience gasped in shock.
Stage 12 was Bronzemen Alley?! It was the legendary scene that was built as a tribute to an ancient cultivating culture of Huaxia in the old civilization!
The difficulty, however, surpassed the old civilization’s since it was already the Purple Moon era.
The scene once shocked the world when it appeared and not just because of its nostalgic scenes but because it was known as the ‘Unbeatable Stage’! It stopped almost two generations of geniuses the moment it appeared.
What exactly was the Bronzemen Alley and how were the settings like?
It was simple, actually. In an alley that measured less than 5 meters long and 20 meters wide, there were 9 Bronzemen standing on both sides.
All the Bronzemen were in the strongest state of the pre-Purple Moon Warrior, the strength of nine bulls and two tigers. Four of them were equipped with combat arts, and not any junk combat arts but superior combat arts!
The lowest rating of the stage would be successfully crossing the alley alive. As for other ratings, the conditions were as harsh as they could get.
The difficulty of the stage was so well-known that it could act as stage 15 or even stage 18 on normal difficulty. If the Hell difficulty was not initiated, this stage would not have happened this early on.
Even for the Hell difficulty challenge, the audiences believed that the Bronzemen Alley should be at least stage 15 or beyond, yet it had appeared as stage 12 this time.
“The challenge this time is really sick! Is it trying to be unprecedented?” cried someone in the audience.
“It is definitely unprecedented, but it might not stay that way for long. After all, the Hell difficulty has only 50 years of history and it was started by the legends in Iron-Blooded City.” An old man shook his head.
It was another legendary tale of a man. Before the man appeared, Hell Ledge did not have a competition format, so everyone was just clearing the challenge.
It was a distant past and years had gone by since then. However, because the era moved on so slowly, people did not even feel the passing of time.
“I think this might be it. There will never be another time like this! Which era will have these many geniuses at once?” someone argued.
After that, everyone else was silenced.
He was right. The contestants were not commoners, and the people of this era indeed felt the overwhelming presence of the geniuses, but was it a good thing?
On the screen, Ro Li was struggling to make it through stage 12. Facing 18 enemies with formidable strength at once put him in a difficult situation.
However, he did not look like he was having a hard time. Yes, he was in a difficult position, but it was not because he could not keep up with his enemies. It was because he had yet to adapt to the situation and was gaining on his enemies fast!
Ro Li’s situation was displayed on the monitor of the monolith and the spectators could see he had taken at least seven punches and five kicks from the Bronzemen.
In the face of absolute power, suffering some damage was inevitable, but everyone also realized Ro Li was getting more and more familiar with the dodging and could slowly fight back in the midst of the concentrated attacks.
Maybe in this era with these many geniuses, the Bronzemen Alley was only fit for stage 12. A lot of the audience members could not help but think as such because another young genius cleared stage 11 and entered stage 12. It was Dongyang from the Cardinal Four.
In less than 5 seconds, the remaining Cardinal Four also cleared stage 11, but when they saw that Ro Li was the first to make it to stage 12, they looked sour.
With his signature simper, as though he did not know that the forces were brewing in the dark or that the people were discussing the stage, the Simpering Pierrot continued to bombard the audience with astonishing news. “If stage 12 is the Bronzemen Alley, what would stage 15 be?
“Stage 15 is the Blazing Road!”
Right after his words subsided, even the most elegant noble among the audiences could not help but gasp bitterly.
The Blazing Road?!
It was a known fact that the Hell Ledge Challenge could not be completed without the Blazing Road. Why? Because it was the most famous and most difficult scene in the entire Hell Ledge.
It was not to be mistaken with the Gray Mist Street and the Bloody Tower, which Tang Ling and Tang Long had cleared respectively in terms of difficulty. The two might be famous, but they were popular because they were known as the two most difficult scenes in the first five stages.
What about the Blazing Road? It was known as the hardest scene of the Hell Ledge Challenge, especially for people who were not Purple Moon Warriors. Nothing else was tougher than it!
The record that Tang Feng once achieved was stage 16 which was none other than the Blazing Road!
It was said that the mysterious Island Master of Darkness Port purposely trifled with the difficulty of the scene in order to keep Hell Ledge’s reputation. The scene then stood out from the rest and became a difficult scene on its own.
It might be as well-known as the Bronzemen Alley, but no one would say that the Bronzemen Alley had the highest difficulty. Instead, they thought that Hell Ledge was still hiding its trump card under its sleeves.
However, once the Blazing Road came into the picture, everybody no longer assumed that. It was not because Tang Feng did not make it through the Blazing Road, but it was because there were experts who ran multiple simulations and announced to the public that the Blazing Road was impossible for someone who was not a Purple Moon Warrior.
Therefore, if stage 15 was the Blazing Road, was Hell Ledge trying to stop the geniuses from moving forward so that it could maintain its reputation?
Was it necessary? Back then, Tang Feng had been 19 years old and was on the rise. He had been energetic and he intentionally trampled on the Hell Ledge Challenge!
On another note, if someone somehow made it through the Blazing Road, what would the three remaining stages be? If there were no stages left, it would instead make the slogan 18 stages of Hell Ledge Challenge, which was ‘one who does not clear the 18 stages of hell will eventually fall into hell’, a joke.
A racket broke out in the audience, but as the Simpering Pierrot promised, he would not be a busybody. Since he already gave an obvious answer, the rest was up to the people’s imagination.
However, since he revealed stages 12 and 15 at once, he must reveal one last exciting thing. “Ladies and gentlemen, you don’t have to worry about the difficulty of Hell Ledge. Since we decided to move the Bronzemen Alley to stage 12 and the Blazing Road to 15, we will also prepare some extra drama for this life or death game.”
As he spoke, the Simpering Pierrot waved his hand and three things appeared on the screen.
The first item was something similar to an inner armor. The second one was a crystal ball and the third one was a belt.
A lot of people recognized the items at first glance and could not help but wonder what Hell Ledge, or more precisely Darkness Port, was trying to achieve with these items.
The competition was still going on fiercely, and even though it had only been a little over a quarter, the colosseum welcomed another climax.
The audience might be captivated by the three items that the Simpering Pierrot revealed, but they were also feeling curious about the entrance to Hell Ledge.
Why did the Stardust Sixteen come down to the colosseum but not enter the challenge?
Could Tang Long be absent? Why did Tang Long abandon the sixteen of them there and leave on his own?
…
Tang Long was looking at the copper-faced man with a depressed expression. He did not understand why the copper-faced man had abducted him.
Where am I? This isn’t a strange place. It’s just a sightseeing spot on the deck area.
There was a long passage that extended from the deck area that eventually split into two. One side would lead to the chain, which led to the island area, while the other side would lead to the sightseeing platform which was the closest place to the sea.
The sightseeing platform was empty at the moment. Other than the whistling of the sea breeze and the caws of the seagulls, it was eerily quiet.
Tang Long looked at the copper-faced man who returned his stare. He was wondering what the copper-faced man, a hostile and potential enemy, was trying to do to him.
If he remembered correctly, the copper-faced man had appeared out of nowhere and smashed him to bits, similar to what happened to Tang Ling.
Yes, he had benefited from the recovery, but still…
Was it an intentional act from the copper-faced man or an unexpected one?
Tang Long was still pondering upon it. In short, he had mixed feelings about the copper-faced man, but his feelings did not include hatred.
He also asked the Stardust Council to run a background check on the copper-faced man although he expected it to return without a result. However, the Stardust Council did not seem to be interested in this either as if it was trying to brush off his request.
What a strange and mysterious guy.
Tang Long was not nervous. Instead. he gazed at the sea with a rather calm disposition.
“Tell your lackeys that you are fine. I might not be able to hold my temper if there’s too much noise.” The copper-faced man tossed Tang Long a communicator.
Tang Long took it but did not dial it right away. He asked, “What are you trying to achieve?”
“Just a simple conversation and I’ll let you go.” The copper-faced man’s answer was straightforward.
Tang Long nodded. He contacted the Stardust Sixteen and his men to tell them that he was fine and he was just caught up with some matters. He also told them that he would go to the colosseum in an hour.
No one suspected anything since he was collected.
The Stardust Council had prepared a dozen of secret codes for a top genius like Tang Long just to update his status. There was a lot of way for Tang Long to tell his men that he was in danger.
“Done. What’s this about?” After contacting all the necessary parties, Tang Long tossed the communicator back to the copper-faced man.
As a matter of fact, Tang Long was curious about which side the copper-faced man was on. All he remembered was a daze before he was silently abducted from the wagon, yet none of the Stardust Sixteen noticed his absence.
Judging from the reply he got from the Stardust Sixteen, they really thought he had left on his own accord.
The copper-faced man would never explain it. He went straight into the point and said, “Tang Ling is your little brother.”
Tang Long turned around and put his hands over the rail, not showing any change in expression.
“Something is wrong with Draconic Twelve. I want you to send him away. At least, don’t allow him to participate in the Hell Ledge Challenge,” said the copper-faced man.
A smile curled up on Tang Long’s lips as he turned to the copper-faced man, “You are strong, but I’m not afraid. I just wonder if it will be easier for a person to stay alive or die?”
The copper-faced man peered down, shielding his gaze from Tang Long.
“Look at me. As someone who is trying to embrace death, what am I supposed to be afraid of? I’m suspecting that you are a lobbyist Tang Ling sent over.” Tang Long raised a curious brow.
However, the curiosity was immediately replaced by anger and he shouted, “What are you trying to say? Can you skip to the point?”
