Dark Moon Era

Tang Ling crouched like a tiger as all his muscles vibrated at a fixed frequency and pattern. This was the so-called body technique that Boss Huang had taught him.

There were a total of five moves in this set and every single one of them took reference from the movements of felines. When coupled with the vibration of the muscles, the accumulated stress and fatigue could be relieved quicker.

“A huge amount of exercise produces lactic acid which stimulates the nerves. That’s why your body feels sore after exercising. The vibration can increase blood circulation and help expel the lactic acid. Coupled with the poses, you can stretch your body to the maximum.

“Besides that, the vibration is similar to a type of massage technique. After the vibration, the muscles will loosen and you’ll feel more relaxed.

“This is just something fun that I came up with based on my experience, but if you continue practicing for a long time, it will bring huge benefits to your recovery and body tenacity. It will also make sure your body muscles are constantly filled with oxygenated blood, so even after you do some intense exercise in a short span of time, your muscles will remain hydrated and won’t feel sore. These helpful and beneficial things aren’t necessarily earth-shattering, but the point is to maintain it as a habit.”

Right after that, Boss Huang looked intoxicated. He muttered to himself, “I’m really a genius. You don’t have to admire me. This is just something fun. I feel pity for the people of the old civilization. They cannot vibrate their muscles to this extent because they don’t have control over their body like we do.”

Admire, my ass! 

Tang Ling felt nothing but disgust toward Boss Huang’s boasting and aggrandizing words. He knew there were many shameless people in the world but only a few were as shameless as Boss Huang. The reason why he felt that way was because of the request that the boss asked of him.

The request was not difficult at all. Tang Ling would just have to go out in five days, using his one-hour free time and head to a restaurant called the Dreamy Visitor to deliver something as an errand boy. He was to deliver a Sea Kiran flower to the female owner.

It sounded really simple and should have no challenges, so there was no reason for Tang Ling to be upset at all. What upset him was the details that Boss Huang requested which would drive anyone crazy.

“You must go there around 8 to 9 p.m. when the Dreamy Visitor is the busiest. Only then will the owner of the restaurant come out and sing a few songs for the customers.

“You must grasp the timing perfectly. When she’s done singing, you’ll rush up the stage and give her the flower. The key isn’t going up to the stage. The key is where you should stand on the stage. I mean, you should stand in a spot where what you’ll say next can be heard by the customers of the restaurant.

“How? There’s a mic on stage. Don’t tell me you don’t know what that is. You can just speak loudly near the mic, but be subtle.

“What do you say? Don’t you understand by now? Praise me. As an errand boy, you would’ve received an order from me to deliver the flower to her. You are excited, you are touched. I’m the most handsome man that you’ve ever seen, the gentleman of the year. Whatever that can bring out my personality, you say it. Get it?

“What’s my personality? Tang Ling, do you still want to eat, smith, and read? If you do, squeeze your brain juice and figure out my personality. Oh, and when you mention me in front of the lady owner, be sure to show a deep affectionate gaze. It’s best if you can look bashful like the kid that you are.

“In the end, you should look as excited as possible, and when the lady owner answers you, you can pretend to faint for like, 30 seconds, then you can wake up with teary eyes and say that our love touched your heart to the point that you passed out.”

Faint? Tang Ling told Boss Huang that even if he had to give up on the body technique, he would not faint.

Boss Huang thought about it for a bit and decided to take a step back. Tang Ling could skip the fainting spell, but he must be teary and be excited about their love. After a tug-of-war between them, Tang Ling compromised.

Firstly, the temptation of the body technique was too overwhelming.

Secondly, Ro Xin could dress him up and change his face, turning him into someone else. If he exposed himself, he would just have to ask Ro Xin to change his appearance entirely.

The best he could do was console himself that it was not him who would be doing all the embarrassing things. It would be ‘someone else’. Even though he set up a strong mental defense and the embarrassment was five days away, how could he not feel upset when he thought about it?

The set of body techniques was completed after 40 minutes.

According to Boss Huang, overextending would get nothing done. Under normal circumstances, the body technique should only be repeated twice within 20 minutes. After some intense exercise, he repeated the body technique four times and keep the time within 40 minutes.

If Tang Ling’s body had gotten used to the smithing pace, he could just follow the usual routine.

Boss Huang was still a very responsible teacher, so he always explained all the important points during the lesson. Tang Ling wiped the sweat off his face and his body felt even more relaxed than before.

The comfort of relaxation slowly seeped into his body. He had the urge to jump into bed right away, but he did not want to give up on the precious reading time. Books posed a huge temptation to him as well.

However, as Boss Huang always had tricks up his sleeves, he took a cloth pouch the size of his palm out from his sleeve. “What about this? It’s my secret medicinal pouch. If we aren’t beside the sea that’s gifted with rich resources, I might not get the ingredients to complete the recipe.” Boss Huang revealed his cunning smile again.

“I don’t have money and I won’t do anything else other than work,” Tang Ling rejected through ground teeth. The better the benefits he got from Boss Huang, the higher the price he would have to pay.

“Are you really going to say that now? You should know that humans might have a regeneration factor, but the regeneration speed cannot keep up with the damage that the body suffers, especially battles, throughout a long period of time. Huge volumes of exercise and cultivation will grind your muscles and bones down, so they will eventually turn into hidden wounds in the long term.” Boss Huang took a puff from his pipe and looked at him with an honest gaze.

Tang Ling had heard a similar saying before. He even knew that such hidden wounds were considered trouble to warriors or even Purple Moon Warriors. Should the hidden wounds accumulate, it would inflict irreversible damage to the body.

Therefore, in order to maintain a combat-ready form at all times, one must constantly perform maintenance of the body and eradicate any hidden wounds.

However, it was not an easy task. In the old civilization, hidden wounds were nearly irreversible, and even in the Purple Moon era, the price for certain super-advanced technology and medical serums were high.

Tang Ling’s breath quickened.

“Ding Dong,” Boss Huang summoned the little plump.

Less than 10 seconds later, a grumpy and impatient plump face appeared at the entrance of the library.

“What?” Ding Dong just came out from the bath. Her hair on her round head was still wet, so she resembled a hairy tangyuan that looked cute and funny at the same time.

“Boil me some water please.” Boss Huang gave her a flattering smile.

“No, you said you’d deal with your own water boiling business.” Ding Dong looked away angrily and rejected his request.

“Two bags of white jade squid slices,” Boss Huang said in a righteous tone.

“Two bags?” Ding Dong looked surprised. She gulped before she disappeared. When she had gone out of sight, her voice echoed in the air, “Give me 10 minutes.”

Hmph, kids are so gullible. 

Tang Ling sympathized with Ding Dong from the bottom of his heart.

Then, Boss Huang started to toss the cloth pouch in his hand into the air as he said, “In the old civilization, there were ways to heal the hidden wounds, but all of them were secrets to a certain family or lineage. It’s only found in some ancient civilizations where the lineage is passed down for many generations, like Chinese medicine knowledge that has been passed down from ancient Huaxia.

“I happened to come across a recipe, and after many studies and careful experiments, I managed to make it better. On top of that, I have to thank the rich natural resources in this era and with the resources found in the wild as it is now even more effective than the previous version. It wouldn’t be possible to put this secret medicine together if not for the rich resources.

“It’s even better than those serums and potions from the super-advanced technology because this is from a natural source, get it?

“But, of course, its effect isn’t that pronounced like its counterpart, but if you continue using it, the accumulated effect will be astonishing. Just imagine it. You soak yourself in the warm medicinal bath, allowing the warm water to soothe your tired body and cure the hidden wounds while you read and listen to the waves…”

“Fine, I’ll take it! What do you want me to do?” Boss Huang sure was a qualified cunning merchant as Tang Ling compromised again before he even finished. Before this, he had sympathized with Ding Dong for being so gullible, yet he was no stronger than her in front of Boss Huang.

“You should have. I don’t know what happened to you for your hidden wounds to have accumulated this much at your age,” Boss Huang said.

A chilly sensation traveled down Tang Ling’s spine!

There was no reason for him not to believe that Boss Huang was mysteriously powerful, so it was only natural for his eyes to be this sharp. After that ominous night, Tang Ling had been in constant battles and injured himself quite often, thus it was only natural that hidden wounds had piled up within him.

“What do I need to do?” Tang Ling rushed Boss Huang, eager to test the secret medicine.

“Hmm, it’s not time to tell you yet, but just remember that you agreed to do something for me to exchange this secret medicine.” Boss Huang smiled mysteriously.

“The price is too high. A single pouch of medicine isn’t possible.” Tang Ling finally came to his senses before the crucial moment. He believed this particular request that Boss Huang was keeping a secret must be ridiculously difficult.

“I’m talking about long-term usage. Normally, you’ll just have to use it once a week.” Boss Huang winked at him.

Tang Ling was in deep thought.

Long-term usage? Once a week? Should he take it or not?