Dark Moon Era - Chapter 412
Chapter 412: In A Hurry
Would he give up on the materials just because of how expensive they were?
Of course not! Even if he had to pay with every coin he had, if he could get stronger, it would be worth it.
However, paying the price without negotiation was not Tang Ling’s style. He was ready to argue with the elder for a decrease in price.
Since the elder was the customer service manager, he was not some John Doe either.
After using every trick and negotiation that he could think of, Tang Ling bought the tiger tailbone plus that insignificant tooth with 700 Black Sea coins.
Tang Ling did not show any flaw in his negotiation from the start till the end. The elder only assumed he was just irritated about paying extra and would only settle if the elder bundled the tooth together with the tailbone at a reasonable price.
Since even as a local trading company, they could not determine what the tooth was and failed to discern any specialty, keeping it in the storeroom would not earn them any interest, so it was acceptable to sell it at a lower price.
Next would be the other items that Tang Ling requested. Everything was up to expectations but there was nothing stellar either.
As a matter of fact, the customer service manager provided a suggestion of the vicious plant sap for Tang Ling’s reference. The Dragon Palace had something that matched Tang Ling’s criteria better, the kind that could nourish one’s brain and spirit, but these two specific requirements caused the item’s price to spike. The Dragon Palace could no longer sell it at the price of a common Level 2 vicious plant sap, so the elder did not show it to him.
Tang Ling did not want to give up, but after he asked for the price, he dropped the idea.
The sap was even more expensive than the Level 4 vicious beast bone! He could not afford it!
In the end, after Tang Ling purchased all the items on his list and walked out of the Dragon Palace, his thoughts of flaunting his wealth deflated as he was left with a paltry 27 Black Sea coins.
“I guess the life of a powerhouse isn’t as easy as I thought.” Tang Ling pouted and summed up his purchasing experience.
The basic materials for the first layer spirit formation already cost him more than 1,000 Black Sea coins, so how much would the Level 9 vicious beast blood actually cost?
Tang Ling had the urge to ask the elder but did not. He was afraid that the question would frighten every promoter in the Dragon Palace. Above all, he would be horrified by the price.
Would spending this huge amount of money on a single formation be too luxurious for him?
…
Tang Ling was broke once again.
Therefore, he spent more time in Dvesha Moha, but he would still use that one hour of free time to go outside.
Why? It was because he had to cultivate in the training room in the cabin area.
There were many different levels of training rooms in the cabin area and they were categorized carefully. The highest-tiered training room cost 100 Black Sea coins per hour and only those with the highest honor level of Darkness Port could enjoy the room.
Tang Ling managed to earn some honor level from the Desperado Ring and the Hell Ledge Challenge, so his honor level granted him access to the training room that cost 20 Black Sea coins per hour.
According to Boss Huang, Tang Ling was still in the pre-Purple Moon Warrior stage, thus using a training room that cost 10 Black Sea coins would be sufficient. However, Tang Ling was generous with his own training. After some thought, he still chose the training room that cost 20 Black Sea coins per hour.
The fee was considered expensive, but the training room itself was simple and plain. The whole training room only had a cushion and nothing else.
However, all four walls in the room were made out of a type of special and precious black crystal. It was said that the crystals could store and enhance the purity of the energy.
The higher the level of the training room, the better were the black crystals used to build the walls. Behind the crystals were many pieces of Universal Source Stone. The setup for the rooms was really generous.
The training rooms of Darkness Port were well-known because of the black crystals and it was unique to the port city since it could only be mined at a certain location at sea. The value of the Universal Source Rock was self-explanatory.
There was a reason that the fees were so expensive.
Therefore, if Tang Ling wanted to maintain an hour of cultivation in the luxurious training room every day, he would have to at least earn 20 Black Sea coins a day.
It was not something easy, but thankfully the Hell Ledge Challenge was being held at the same time, so he was basically betting with what he had daily in hopes of winning big.
With his Precise Instinct observation, his wins outweighed the losses, and earning 20 Black Sea coins everyday was basically achievable.
On top of that, while Tang Ling knew he could never get rich from gambling. It was just enough to earn him money to cultivate. If he ever got greedy, he could probably lose everything in a single bet since many geniuses had connections with the factions that ran the betting stations.
Tang Ling actually had a backup plan in case things went wrong. If he really ran out of money, he would take the challenge up himself and think of a way to bet on his own results.
The factions that ran the betting stations were not idiots, so candidates betting on themselves were basically forbidden. Therefore, it had to be the last resort.
Time flew by as he filled his daily routine with exciting gambles and luxurious training sessions, and it soon became a month since he started.
In the past month, Tang Ling was able to secure some peaceful days for cultivating. His improvement skyrocketed from his persistent routine. In only 10 days, he had completely mastered the strength of two tigers.
He used five days to fully merge and fused them together and another three more days to fuse everything together, hence officially achieving the strength of nine bulls and two tigers.
Be it the strength of nine bulls or two tigers, the theory behind the fusion was the same.
As for the remaining time, Tang Ling accumulated as much energy as he could while bearing the little seed in mind.
The little seed’s energy accumulation was executed unconsciously since it had not woken up ever since the operation. It did sense the presence of that tooth, but Tang Ling had no idea how to deal with it.
One had to give it to Tang Ling’s craziness. Even if the little seed was sharing his energy pool, he accumulated energy on an absurd level that would render one speechless.
Firstly, the meals provided by Dvesha Moha were unimaginably luxurious since vicious beast meat below Level 3 would never appear on the table.
On top of that, there was that training room which cost 20 Black Sea coins per hour. Since he no longer needed to temper and merge his strength, he could madly absorb as much as he could.
Slowly but certainly, Tang Ling’s dantian grew substantially. It was so full that a part of the energy started to transform into liquid form.
This tiny achievement was insignificant compared to Tang Long, but one must take the first step to travel a thousand miles, and Tang Ling was pleased about the speed of his accumulation. He was basically improving every single day.
Other than that, Tang Ling’s preparation for the first layer of the spirit formation was nearing completion.
The Level 4 vicious beast bone was ground into fine powder whereas the attributeless Level 2 vicious plant sap was poured in and mixed thoroughly. After developing the base, necessary but strangely inexpensive materials were added to the mixture and it was currently soaking in the cooling aid Boss Huang provided.
After that, it was soaked in common Proactive Nutrient Liquid. In the end, the mixture must be tattooed on his body using a special method and it had to follow his nerve patterns.
The whole process was very complicated.
Tang Ling practiced tattooing many, many times, and wasted numerous Level 3 and above mutated beast pelts. Boss Huang scolded him endlessly for the wastage and Tang Ling had to give up his pay in order to calm the boss’s rage and bleeding heart.
Tang Ling did not mind losing his pay from smithing though. After all, he was a rich teenager who spent 20 Black Sea coins every day.
Moreover, the wastage saw progress in the tattooing. After many practices, together with the help of his Precise Instinct, Tang Ling gradually remembered every detail of the first formation in his mind. He branded the whole process in his mind, so now, even with his eyes closed, he could easily redraw the first formation accurately.
Nevertheless, Tang Ling was not confident enough, hence his continuous practice.
With every second spent to the limit, Tang Ling barely had any private time. Nevertheless, whilst being pressured by limited funds and time, Tang Ling managed to squeeze a bit of money and time to select materials from the second commercial street to carve the present that he wanted to give Higan—the quad-colored dandelion.
He had yet to reach the body of the dandelion as he was still working on the tiny umbrellas of the quad-colored dandelion.
Since he decided to make it as realistic as possible, the little umbrella was only a few millimeters tall.
Tang Ling was serious about making the gift. He was done with the first color and was moving onwards to the second color. Only he knew how much materials he had wasted and how much time he had spent to make the little umbrella as lively as possible.
Tang Ling actually changed his mind again. He did not only want to make the quad-colored dandelion a decoration or a toy. He wanted it to have practical value so that it could at least provide a layer of protection.
Tang Ling had studied the body array for a long time now, and as he further his studies, his knowledge and attainments in body arraynology grew deeper.
Formations always shared common points, hence Tang Ling decided to start learning formations with practical use. He wanted to add two formations to the quad-colored dandelion and make it into a tiny weapon. However, it was extremely difficult.
Tang Ling enjoyed the process as if he could not feel tired. He even carved during his precious rest time.
He wondered whether Higan would like the quad-colored dandelion after she received it. The dandelion was a symbol of Tang Ling’s sweat and blood, his blessing, his thoughts, his regrets, and his biggest support.
Where is Higan? When will we see each other again? As long as I feel that you are safe, I’m happy. I’m always worried about your safety whenever I get the anxious feeling from my Precise Instinct.
Being able to stay calm and peaceful every day is a blessing to me because it also means that you are safe.
The Purple Moon rises every night. Will the moonlight that shines on me shine on you next, carrying my thoughts to you? Sometimes, I wish I could become the moon…
We will see each other again, right? If not, I’ll look for you in the future…As for when, the sooner, the better.
Tang Ling gazed upon the moon outside the window. There were moments when he would let his thoughts about Higan go wild.
However, he would always have to grab Ding Ling and Ding Dong by their collars and toss them out when he came back from his thoughts. Sometime after Tang Ling started to make the little umbrella, the two little fluffy balls had their eyes on it and they were as sneaky as thieves.
Their interruption gave Tang Ling a headache and made him unusually tired.
However, all he could do was be tired because Han Xing was busy as well.
Han Xing would challenge the Hell Ledge almost every week. The way he challenged it was unlike the others. He would pay to repeat a single scene to train his sword intent.
On top of that, he also controlled his pace so that he could progress in the levels every week.
Han Xing was gaining popularity, and with it, he grew even more shameless around Ro Xin.