Chapter 328: The One Who Set The Rules
Francis was not a smart person.
Otherwise, he would have noticed that he had stepped on the wrong person’s tail when Grid simply gave him the warning.
When the teen with the thick brows bellowed, the indignant Francis was immediately terrified and ran out of the Dreamy Visitor without uttering a word.
There was a crowd outside the Dreamy Visitor.
The news was out. The gathering of the young geniuses was the next big news after Tang Ling and Tang Long’s meeting and agreeing to start the Life Or Death Ring yesterday.
While the intentional parties increased the exposure of the news, entering the Dreamy Visitor had somewhat become a privilege. Those who were inside were well-recognized geniuses. On the other hand, those who were outside, regardless of what kind of reputation they had, were not qualified as geniuses.
After Francis was kicked out from the Dreamy Visitor, he ran out of the exit and left while covering his face in shame. He had to stomach this insult because the one who had kicked him out was the top among the teens in Darkness Port, the leader of the Dark Nine Feathers, Ling Yu.
“Ling Yu, aren’t you being a little obvious, trying to s.h.i.+eld one of yours in Darkness Port?” Grid could not understand the situation. He was not familiar with the Dark Nine Feathers and honestly thought Ling Yu was trying to maintain his presence.
However, someone among the geniuses saw everything and leisurely gave Grid a kind reminder.
Grid was no idiot. Immediately, he responded to the situation and looked at Ling Yu. “Are you trying to protect that guy? Well, I guess you did the right thing. If he didn’t run fast enough, he would have already become a handicap.”
Ling Yu did not mind being exposed. Hearing Grid’s tone, he bowed slightly and said, “It can’t be helped. Darkness Port needs a reserve for geniuses. Francis might not be one, but it isn’t necessary to lose him because of some minor mistake.”
“Hoho, you are really protective of Darkness Port.” Grid did not want to be calculative, so he simply found a seat and sat down, stretching his legs out lazily.
Then, Madam Qing walked over flirtatiously with the gla.s.s of wine in her hand. “Let’s continue what we were talking about just now.”
Everyone in the house looked at her in silence. Anyone with a working intelligence network knew that Madam Qing was not a simple woman. How could they not respect her?
Swirling the gla.s.s of red wine in her hand, Madam Qing was as calm as always. “To be honest, I don’t care what kind of gathering this is, but since the person who booked my place decided to invite only young prodigies and the Dreamy Visitor has accepted this order, we will do our best to accommodate everyone who’s eligible just so I can maintain my reputation and be free from all castigations. So…”
She put the gla.s.s down and clapped her hands. Soon, a Purple Moon Warrior appeared with a tray.
On the tray were 70 small silver tablets. Madam Qing briefly explained, “If you think you are qualified to be in here, take one. If you don’t, keep your hands off. I don’t care if you want to get one, but the other guests might not think so.
“I’ll put the rest at the entrance. The rules are as always, and it ends when all 70 tablets are taken. After that, those who don’t have a tablet will be escorted out of the Dreamy Visitor. Little cuties, have fun. I’ll be resting upstairs.”
With that, Madam Qing swayed her beautiful waist and strutted upstairs charmingly before she walked into her own personal s.p.a.ce in the Dreamy Visitor.
The Purple Moon Warrior placed the tray on the table in the center of the first floor before he ambled away. The silver tablets on the tray glimmered faintly under the warm and ambiguous lighting of the restaurant.
All the young geniuses were no idiots. Otherwise, they would not be called geniuses. They watched Madam Qing strut away, and a single thought popped up in everyone’s mind—what a sharp woman!
She was calm and skillful, getting the most done with the slightest of effort. It might seem like she had not stated any rules, but the harshest ones were set, and she also vaguely made her stand. Her stand was actually simple. She knew that a lot of extraordinary teenagers were currently in Darkness Port, but she believed only 70 of them were truly worthy of being called geniuses.
As for the rule, she laid down a simple range, which was only allowing 70 of them to be in the Dreamy Visitor. Someone would automatically maintain the numbers for her.
The powerful ones would never let the weaker ones occupy the slots. Furthermore, geniuses would never team up with commoners in most situations since they had their own pride to maintain.
With those two points alone, the rule would automatically take effect.
Madam Qing did not need to host or care about the situation. All she had to do was walk away and the result would present itself when the time came. Therefore, she was deserving of being called a sharp woman.
40 minutes later, the doors to the Dreamy Visitor closed.
According to rough calculations, all the teenagers who believed they had what it took visited the Dreamy Visitor within the 40-minute duration at least once.
There was no need to feel worried about those who might miss out. After all, they were still teenagers and the idea of keeping a low profile could barely root itself in their hearts.
Since all the qualified teenagers came by, the 70 silver tablets quickly found their respective owners. There was no need to open the doors anymore. All the qualified geniuses in Darkness Port were now gathered under one roof.
Madam Qing came out and left the qualified teens with some simple words, “The mysterious figure who held this gathering got sick. He said he isn’t coming, but since all of you are here, don’t waste the chance.
“Why don’t you discuss whether you want to join the little game that those two ignorant little boys started yesterday or not? If you do, how do you plan to join it? I’m quite curious about that.”
Was she really curious? Not really.
She disappeared after saying and did not show a smidge of interest at all.
The 70 elite geniuses understood that Madam Qing was just trying to tell them the theme of this gathering—the game of Life Or Death.
To join or not to join? If they decided to join, how should it be? They were all geniuses, and none of them were willing to be second, so what rules would be appropriate?
All those who were left did not share Francis’s opinion. They did not think Tang Ling and Tang Long were commanding them whatsoever.
Aside from that, these real geniuses acknowledged Tang Ling and Tang Long’s achievements and did not think they were being over the top. Besides that, they were not that stupid to think that Tang Ling and Tang Long were the gamemasters.
Indeed, these geniuses only viewed Tang Ling and Tang Long as the game starters. Determining life and death, in the end, was their own personal problem.
However, when it came to the other games involved in the Life Or Death game, such as the power of appeal or who could be the captain of the s.h.i.+p and have his or her own followers, every single genius present had a chance to achieve that.
Therefore, the geniuses did not think it was unfair. Only those outside this circle would have such narrow thoughts.
The rest of it was simple. Since they were involved in the game, it was natural that they ought to partic.i.p.ate in the setting or the rules and gameplay before informing Tang Ling and Tang Long concerning their stand. If Tang Ling or Tang Long rejected their discussed results, they would just throw the game back to both of them.
“Very well, since Madam Qing has stated it clearly and everyone’s time is precious, why not discuss how to make this game interesting?” The first one to speak was Ling Yu. No one disagreed with his initiation. He was a local genius, so acting as the host for the meeting was not all that inappropriate.
Inside Madam Qing’s chambers, she leaned out of the window, allowing the tender sea breeze to caress her naturally wavy hair. She was still swirling the gla.s.s of wine as she muttered to herself, “It seems like these little boys and girls this year are smarter than those in our year. I’ll be looking forward to this game.”
…
After returning to Dvesha Moha, Tang Ling was very quiet.
He smithed, he read, and he took the herbal bath when it was time. He also spared out an hour before sleep every night for his cultivation.
Previously, Tang Ling had to cultivate for four hours, but with the meals Boss Huang supplied, he was able to obtain sufficient amounts of energy daily. After he used the Thousand Satin Skill to temper his cells, most of the energy was left in his dantian, so he would just have to absorb the energy after he thoroughly merged his strength.
Therefore, Tang Ling did not have to meditate for four straight hours anymore because in his daily routine, he had three full hours to absorb the energy and used it to temper his cells to the limit.
It was not his fault for being less efficient. He was not a lucky boy from the big factions. Even if he had vicious beast meat or other resources, he would have to train according to plan. His body and the little seed were his priorities. Only the leftover energy was used to temper his cells.
He could not live a luxurious life of tempering his cells with energy from other resources because he just could not afford it. Therefore, he could only use his time to exchange for something more.
Of course, no one expected Tang Ling to be this extreme and temper his cells to the limit every single day. Normal people could not achieve it at all because of the limitations of both resources and one’s willpower.
Most geniuses chose the method of satisfying their body’s requirement for energy first before tempering themselves with cultivation techniques such as the Thousand Satin Skill to improve the basics. Extreme cultivation was only performed once every few days.
Otherwise, even if they had the resources to support their extreme methods, the mental exhaustion could not be expunged and the cells of the body would be in a constant state of pain from all the extreme tempering. Who could have endured the pain?
People only saw Tang Ling as a genius. They did not see the hard work he put in behind his back. The burden he shouldered did not even spare him a window to take a breath. He always had to move forward with the heavy burden on him.
Tang Ling was reading a book quietly in the study room. He had finished reading ‘The Purple Moon Chronicles’, so he was no longer a b.u.mpkin who did not know about the relations.h.i.+p between the Stardust Council and Starstay City.
He did not have to take the herbal bath that day since the schedule of the medical treatment for his hidden wounds was not a daily affair.
He was reading a book about body array a.s.siduously while Boss Huang was opposite him, looking impatient and anxious.
A lot of things have happened in the past few days. There’s even something going on tonight, yet the kid has nothing to say at all?
With that in mind, Boss Huang could no longer hold his urge back, so he said, “Tang Ling, do you want to buy some information? It’s information about Tang Long.”