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Chapter 268: Promotion and Arrival

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

The heavy winds were still turbulent at a thousand meters in the air which caused Zhang Tie's clothes to make rustling noises. At this moment, Zhang Tie was running back and forth at the top of the gas bags as if running on the ground without any protective gear.

At this time, the red-snake sword in Zhang Tie's hand seemed like it had truly become a red snake. Each time Zhang Tie slashed out, there was a twisting snake shadow along with a silver light in the air.

Each time the snake shadow in Zhang Tie's hand twisted, there would be a spray of fresh blood in the air, which drove the remaining Iron-beak Ibises into a frenzy.

Being different from the last time when those Iron-beak Ibises would attack the airship, this time, Zhang Tie became the sole target of all the Iron-beak Ibises. Each Iron-beak Ibis in the air seemed to have great hatred towards Zhang Tie as they surged towards him one after the other.

The airship penetrated through the clouds at a speed of above 120 km/h…

The fight between Zhang Tie and Iron-beak Ibises was still underway…

"Is this the feeling of being a level 5 warrior? Is this how Invisible Iron-blood strength feels?

One hour ago, Zhang Tie had eaten the latest Leakless Fruit, which directly helped him to ignite the 5th surge point on his vertebrate, sending him into the realm of level 5 warriors.

When he was promoted to a level 5 warrior, Zhang Tie felt his bones itch all over like numerous ants were crawling inside. However, he could not reach them by scratching. It was itchy to the extreme and after all his bones cracked, a wholly new sensation appeared.

Zhang Tie felt great strength flowing through each bone, promoting Zhang Tie's Hidden Iron-blood Strength to an entirely new level.

Invisible Iron-blood Strength! The new-born strengths were Strength of Bone and Strength of Marrow.

The number of people who could be promoted from Hidden Iron-Blood Strength to Invisible Iron-Blood Strength counted for less than one tenth in number, even in the entire Iron-Blood Camp of Noman Empire. However, Zhang Tie felt it was as easy as drinking water during the process like he had been well prepared and expectant of it. Even Zhang Tie was confused as to how that could be.

The red-snake sword driven by Invisible Iron-blood Strength started to present an utterly different strength than before. With the exception of a great force, each time Zhang Tie launched an attack, there would be an agile, virtual snake shadow mixed with the sword qi.

Zhang Tie hadn't experienced this feeling of "one with the sword, one with the world" for a long time.

At a thousand meters in the sky, Zhang Tie jumped up almost 3 m from the top of a gasbag while the Red-snake Sword in his hand suddenly opened its bloody mouth like a dragon and engulfed the 5 Iron-beak Ibises in the air at once.

Only one Iron-beak Ibis was left…

The moment Zhang's feet left the ground, the last Iron-beak Ibis had already thrust his javelin-like bill in front of Zhang Tie's chests, aiming to fight Zhang Tie to the death.

During the past days in flight, Zhang Tie had grown very experienced in fighting Iron-beak Ibises. At the sight of the Iron-beak Ibis, he smirked inside as he just slightly tilted his body. In the meantime, the long bill of the Iron-beak Ibis was pinched under Zhang Tie's armpit.

When it stretched its sharp claws towards Zhang Tie, the latter also stretched his five fingers towards the Iron-beak Ibis's sharp claws.

When the bird's claws clashed with the man's hands, the claws immediately broke off, making a 'kacha kacha' sound.

With its bill being pinched, the Iron-beak Ibis couldn't wail but instead quivered all over.

"Heh heh, sorry, as you are the last one today, stay a while!" Saying this, Zhang Tie rapidly clipped the other foot and the remaining wings of the Iron-beak Ibis, causing them to completely break apart.

Being too weak to struggle, the Iron-beak Ibis stared at Zhang Tie with extreme grief and fury. Zhang Tie didn't show any mercy at all. After doing this, he rudely grabbed its bill. Pulling the half-dead Iron-beak Ibis, Zhang Tie ran two steps towards one side of the airship as he seized one rope and jumped off the gas bag of the airship, seemingly ignoring his own life.

Within several seconds, Zhang Tie had already fallen dozens of meters. When that rope automatically returned to the middle part of the gas bag, Zhang Tie lightly landed on the airship for a second as he swung outside once again. After that, the rope returned once again, this time, Zhang Tie loosened his grip while he was thrown onto the deck of the airship and steadily stood on it. The whole process was as graceful as an acrobat in high altitude without any protective measures. Additionally, during the process, the airship was rapidly moving.

What was even more amazing was that Zhang Tie was holding a crippled yet heavy Iron-beak Ibis.

There was nobody on the deck. Zhang Tie directly held the anguished Iron-beak Ibis and entered the cabin. After that, he casually opened a door. Without even taking a look inside, he had already thrown the completely crippled Iron-beak Ibis inside.

No one was on the airship.

Haha, free time!

Zhang Tie trotted onto the third floor from the second floor. The third floor was mainly where the bridge was located. Zhang Tie then entered the bridge.

The bridge of the airship was at the highest position at the head of the airship below the gas bags. The bridge characteristically allowed for a broad vision with the nearly 1m-high and 270-degree circular, translucent and high-intensity glass windows, the driver would almost have no dead angles of vision.

Outside of the bridge were floating white clouds. As nobody was inside the bridge, the airship was moving forward in a straight line.

The door of the bridge was locked from inside. Because of the large-piece of translucent glass on the door of the bridge, Zhang Tie could clearly see the inside. Thinking of how he entered violently every time, Zhang Tie forced a smile.

'Bang', Zhang Tie directly kicked through the wooden door and made a big hole on it. After that, he put his hand inside the hole and opened the door from inside.

Since he entered the bridge, this airship had become Zhang Tie's personal toy.

In the middle of the bridge was a good-quality rudder that could be held with two hands. On both sides of the rudder were a great number of operating levers of different heights and lengths. Below the rudder were two pedals that could be controlled by feet.

These days, after causing this airship to crash over 10 times, Zhang Tie finally understood the functions of these operating levers. Additionally, he learned how to pilot an airship. During these accidents, the most miserable one was when Zhang Tie pulled down the operating lever with a red handle at the very of the rudder, the airship fell down at a free fall speed, causing Zhang Tie's face to turn blue.

After this accident, Zhang Tie knew that the red operating lever was the emergency landing lever. As long as the lever was pulled down, the 12 gas bags of the airship would start to deflate at the same time. As a result, the airship would lose its buoyancy in the shortest time. When Zhang Tie pulled down this lever, he even hurriedly stepped down the steam-driven output pedal, pushing the propeller of the airship to rotate at a greater speed, causing the airship to rush towards the ground at a higher speed. As a result, Zhang Tie lost his life miserably.

This accident left a deep impression on Zhang Tie.

The fact was that as long as a person didn't fear death and had more lives, he could learn anything very quickly.

Zhang Tie drove the airship for over 2 hours and enjoyed it very much. After feeling that time was almost up, Zhang Tie left the bridge. Inside an equipment room beside the bridge, Zhang Tie skillfully carried a parachute bag before rushing onto the deck on the second floor. With a strange yell, he jumped off the deck…

"I'm here, hooah…hooah…ah…ah…"

After several seconds, a small white flower blossomed in the air…

After several seconds, the white flower landed on the ground smoothly…

After another few minutes, the whole world broke into motes of light.

...

Within a bedroom in the airship, Zhang Tie opened his eyes as he lay on the bed comfortably, revealing a wisp of a smile.

Zhang Tie didn't know whether what he had done was a petty trick, but he had some more feelings regarding the use of Trouble-reappearance Fruit.

The latest Trouble-reappearance Fruit was from Iron-beak Ibises. The first scene was on the airship. After fighting Iron-beak Ibises many times in the Trouble-reappearance world, Zhang Tie found that if didn't want to stop if the effective time of the Trouble-reappearance world, he had to make sure the last Iron-beak Ibis didn't die. Under those conditions, the Trouble-reappearance world would not break into motes of light. With the exception of spiritual beings, nothing else was different than that in the real world.

As this Trouble-reappearance world was situated in the air, which was a opportunity rarely seen, of course, Zhang Tie wouldn't want to give up such an opportunity. After dying many times, Zhang Tie learned how to use parachutes and drive the airship. Additionally, he became more experienced in fighting with Iron-beak Ibises in the air.

Since they left the Loulan City, on the way, they didn't encounter any other dangers. The airship kept moving southward smoothly. Due to always being in a state of cultivation, Zhang Tie didn't know where the airship was currently located.

Today, the moment Zhang Tie exited the Trouble-reappearance world, he heard someone knocking on his door.

Zhang Tie opened the door and found that Zhang Zhitian was outside.

"What's up?"

"We've arrived!"

"What! We've arrived?"

"Huaiyuan Prefecture, we've arrived!"

Zhang Tie was inwardly shocked as he went to the deck together with Zhang Zhitian. On the ground below the airship was a great river that Zhang Tie had not seen before, the width of which might be over 20 km. The whole river twisted for as far as the eye could see and seemed to flow like a huge dragon below the airship. There were many steamers on the river, forming a very boisterous scene. Black smoke columns rose up from the chimneys of the steamers. On the sides of the river, Zhang Tie saw vast golden wheat fields dotted with several lofty castles erected on the plains on one side of the great river.

This initial image of the Huaiyuan Prefecture Zhang Tie imprinted within him the magnificence and richness of Huaiyuan Palace.

"This is Yuanjiang River, which belongs to Huaiyuan Palace. Tonight, our airship will arrive at the Yiyang City, where the headquarters of Changfeng Business Group is located, namely where the Clan Shrine of Huaiyuan Palace and the Head Palace of Huaiyuan Palace are!

"Huaiyuan Palace, I've finally arrived!"

Thinking that he could rapidly unite with his family members in this strange place, Zhang Tie took a deep breath, "No matter what, as I'm here, I will rescue my father from prison!"

Chapter 269: Zhang Clan

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

In the evening, after two weeks of flight, the airship that set off from Kalur finally arrived at Yiyang City, Huaiyuan Prefecture of Jinyun Country. Huaiyuan Palace of the Zhang clan shared the same name with the Huaiyuan Prefecture as the whole prefecture was the Zhang clan's territory.

For the first time, Zhang Tie felt the power of the Zhang clan. Through Zhang Zhitian's introduction, Zhang Tie knew that over 200,000 members of the Zhang clan were of direct blood relation to Lord Huaiyuan. Strictly speaking, among the crew of the airship, captain, first mate, technicians in the engine room, Zhang Zhitian, and Zhang Tie were definitely related to each other. Because they were all of the same bloodlines as Lord Huaiyuan, although from different branches of Huaiyuan Palace.

Lord Huaiyuan had eight wives and over 40 sons and daughters. Each of his wife's relatives had a city. The first wife's relatives had Yiyang City, the second had Xince City, the third had Guanxing City, the fourth had Qihai City, the fifth had Fubo City, the sixth had Yunzhou City, the seventh had Jinhai City while the eighth had Taian City. After several hundred years, the eight cities developed to today's scale.

Among the eight cities, Yiyang City was not only the capital city of Huaiyuan Prefecture but also the political, economic and cultural center of the Zhang clan in the entire Huaiyuan Palace.

Yiyang City was a coastal city, the prosperity and scale of which was 10 times that of the Blackhot City. Twenty-one million people were living in this city and its surroundings. Yiyang City was not only the largest port in Jinyun Country, even if it was in the entire Waii Sub-continent, the annual trading throughout Yiyang City could also rank within the top three.

Zhang Tie only learned about the Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace through the introductions of others before; however, when the airship drew close to Yiyang City, the power and accumulation of the Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace instantly impressed Zhang Tie, making him feel trivial in front of his clan.

The dense steamers in the port far away and on the sea and those various airships coming and going in the air were like scenes in the drawings for Zhang Tie.

At the sight of this, the passengers who came together with Zhang Tie from Kalur City were also excited as many of them loudly shouted in poor Chinese, "Yiyang…Yiyang…"

"Do you plan to settle down here in Yiyang City?" Zhang Zhitian asked Zhang Tie.

"I might go back to Jinhai City firstly. I'm not sure whether or not I will stay in Jinhai City later." After thinking for a while, Zhang Tie told Zhang Zhitian.

"This time, I've built up enough accumulate points as I've been on the airship for three years. Therefore, I plan to apply to join the airship troop of the Zhang clan. I want to be a real soldier and a captain in the future!" Zhang Zhitian replied, full of ambition.

"I hope that you're successful in your endeavors." Zhang Tie smiled.

During this period, Zhang Tie had learned about something on the airship. Many young men below 18 years old on the airship were interns. They had to follow the talent training system of Zhang clan. For most juveniles of Huaiyuan Palace, between the ages of 15-18 were the most treacherous period for members of the Zhang clan as the greater part of them didn't finish school but instead entered various industries to as interns. During this period, they would enter society in order to accumulate experiences and qualifications so as to confirm their later developmental orientation. After undergoing the coming of age ceremony at 18, they would become adults when they could enjoy numerous social rights and officially join the clan army as well as being entrusted with official titles and jobs.

Compared to the assembly-line talent education system in Blackhot City, the Chinese educational system in this age was much stricter. Juveniles like Zhang Tie who would be 16 in the new year were unable to join the clan army officially, let alone to be a military officer.

"I heard from the first mate that the talent that you used to shoot down those Iron-beak Ibises with bolts was an awakening of an ancestral bloodline, some sort of throwing skill?" Zhang Zhitian stared at Zhang Tie with sparkling and admiring eyes.

Zhang Tie forced a smile as he realized the difference in cultural backgrounds. This problem had long been puzzling him. However, in Huaiyuan Palace, it seemed that many people knew the reason. Only after performing it once, his talent had already been identified, "It might be that. At the beginning, I didn't know what was going on, as my throwing ability became very precise immediately. I didn't know this was the awakening of Chinese ancestral bloodline before I came back to Huaiyuan Palace. Do any of your friends have the same talent as me?"

"Yes. He's was a classmate at school. When he attended the sports meeting, he suddenly awakened his ancestral bloodline. Although being average in archery, he won the archery competition that year!"

"The ancestral bloodline that he awakened was in archery?"

"Yes!" Zhang Zhitian glanced at Zhang Tie with a weird expression, "Don't you know that one of the two main ancestral bloodlines in the Zhang clan is in archery?"

Zhang Tie felt embarrassed as he revealed a smile, "I really didn't know about that..."

...

The airship finally landed in a base of Changfeng Business Group.

After bidding farewell to some friends that he had made on the airship, Zhang Tie took his luggage and got off the airship with the other passengers who came to Yiyang City for the first time. When Zhang Tie was considering whether he would first buy a ticket to Jinhai City, he had already caught sight of his elder brother Zhang Yang, who was accompanied by two men in black uniforms. Behind them was a sedan.

"Elder brother!" Zhang Tie was thrilled as he hurriedly walked forward. The two brothers then forcefully hugged each other. Zhang Yang was also excited as the last time they met was several months ago. They felt like they had departed with each other during a life or death situation. Whether it was Zhang Tie or his family members, they had experienced too many troubles during this period.

"How's father? Has mother recovered?" The moment the two stopped hugging each other, Zhang Tie had asked two questions.

Zhang Yang firstly looked over Zhang Tie before revealed a smile, "Dad has been back home. Knowing that you're going to come back safe and sound, mom has also recovered!"

Zhang Tie became so happy as his greatest concern had been solved during this period. This was the greatest happiness, "Has dad come back?"

"Hmm, we will talk about the details when we get back home!" Zhang Yang looked at Zhang Tie as he started to introduce the two uniformed men to Zhang Tie, "They are personnel of the Clansmen Pavilion of Huaiyuan Palace!"

The two men nodded towards Zhang Tie in a kind way.

Through Zhang Zhitian's introduction on the airship, Zhang Tie had already known the role of Clansmen Pavilion. This time, he would first declare himself innocent and mend things through the Zhang clan. Otherwise, he would definitely still be a murderer wanted by the secret police of Norman Empire in Jinyun Country.

After introductions, the four people got on the car. Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang sat in the back while the two personnel of Clansmen Pavilion sat in the front. After that, the sedan drove out of the airship base.

Sitting in the sedan, Zhang Tie told his elder brother about what had happened in the Kalur battle zone after he left Blackhot City as he widened his eyes to watch the scenery outside the sedan and exclaimed about the prosperity of this city.

There were so many vehicles on the road while passers-by were walking on the sidewalks and the high-rises were erected right next to each other. The two sides of the road were filled with Chinese ad boards. Additionally, the passers-by had various skin colors, although above 95% of them were Chinese with black hair and eyes. The frolic voices of Chinese kids drifted from the passersby. Seeing such a scene, Zhang Tie who had grown up in Blackhot City became relaxed as he suddenly felt a sense of belonging which originated from his bloodline.

Of course, the alleged Clansmen Pavilion was not that simple. It was the clan management headquarters of the Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace. Actually, it was a square plaza of more than 20 floors. The entrance of the plaza was safeguarded by guards. The reason that the two personnel of Clansmen Palace brought Zhang Tie here was to finish the final confirmation about his status. The process was so simple that Zhang Tie couldn't have imagined it going so smoothly in his wildest dreams.

He was taken into a room in the plaza. On the table in the middle of the room was a weird black crystal, which was embedded on a silver base with strange runes. After that, under the supervision of the others of the Clansmen Pavilion, one personnel who had taken him here poked Zhang Tie's finger using a needle, causing Zhang Tie's blood to drop onto the crystal. Soon after that, the black crystal started to glow which symbolized the end of the authentication.

After finishing this process, Zhang Tie took a photo and filled in out two forms. Sitting in the lounge with his elder brother for less than 10 minutes, one personnel who had taken Zhang Tie in gave him a rectangular plate which was carved with sophisticated grains.

The greater part of this plate was made of metal, in the middle of its positive side was inlaid with a piece of translucent crystal, beneath which was the photo that Zhang Tie had taken just now. Below the crystal image was Zhang Tie's name which looked very delicate and special. On the back of the plate were the characters——Zhang Clan of Huaiyuan Palace.

"This item is your ID certificate. You have it preserve it well. If you lost it, the results would be very serious!"

"How?"

"You will be fined 100 gold coins and be punished to do labor work for half a year. Besides, 20 clan donation points would be deducted!"

Zhang Tie let out a sigh. 100 gold coins meant 2500 grams of gold. The 20 clan donation points seemed also to be hardly gained.

"Do you mean this item is more valuable than gold?" Zhang Tie asked.

That personnel who had given the plate to Zhang Tie revealed a smile, "Your status plate contains 7 rare alloys, among which, Hailan iron and peacock copper are 10 times more valuable than gold. This status plate also contained several secret craftsmanships which could not be made anywhere except for within the Zhang clan. You can hardly destroy it. If you destroy it, you would hardly restore it. At least in Waii Sub-continent, nobody could imitate it. The secret grains on the status plate contain the metal identification bar code formed by the steam analyzer in the Clansmen Pavilion, which is the symbol of your unique status and access. Do you think it's important or not?"

Hearing these words, Zhang Tie was so scared that he even became dumbfounded, "What are clan donation points?"

Chapter 270: Hidden Dragon Palace

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

"Clan contribution points are used to measure the family members' contribution to the Zhang clan's undertakings. To put it simply, you can regard clan contribution points as a special currency that could be circulated among the Zhang clan's subsidiaries and the Zhang families of Huaiyuan Palace.

When you make a contribution to a clan undertaking, you will gain clan contribution points. You can exchange these points for corresponding clan resources, which are only open to clan members. Generally, you can't even buy them with gold coins on the outside!" The personnel of the Clansmen Pavilion briefly answered Zhang Tie's questions.

"Can I exchange contribution points for secret fighting skills" This was what Zhang Tie was most interested in.

"Of course, this is just a single usage of clan contribution points. As you have arrived at Huaiyuan Palace for the first time, you might not know the importance of clan contribution points. You will know soon enough."

"How can I gain points then?"

"I can't explain it to you in one word. There are strict rules and regulations on achieving contribution points. For example, I am serving the clan as a member of the Clansmen Pavilion. Besides a daily salary, I can also gain three contribution points monthly! Those women who could give birth to kids after marrying Zhang clan could gain an eight gold coins' subsidiary and 15 clan contribution points for each kid!"

Women can gain clan contribution points and a gold coins' subsidiary by having children? Zhang Tie finally understood how the clan developed over 200,000 direct bloodline descendants in only hundreds of years.

"I wonder if there is anything else?" Thinking of his parents that were still in Jinhai City, Zhang Tie couldn't wait to go back.

"There's another thing that I have to inform you of. Since you have not come in contact with the clan's orthodox education before and always stayed out of the clan system; the clan has not provided any help for you in your earlier life, even if you've come back to Zhang clan, you still have great freedom!"

"What do you mean?"

"It means that the Zhang clan and you are on equal footing with rights and obligations. Across Huaiyuan Prefecture, most of the members of the Zhang clan at your age were practicing everywhere after graduation. When serving the clan, they are also learning to improve their own talents and abilities. Those young men who have awakened ancestral bloodlines have all gathered in the Hidden Dragon Palace of the Zhang clan due to the regulations. However, you are free to choose whether you enter or not!"

Huaiyuan Palace was the official name of the Zhang clan to the public while Hidden Dragon Palace was an agency of the Zhang clan, which was like the Clansmen Pavilion. Given the name, people would know the property of the agency, Hidden Dragon Palace.

"Do people entering the Hidden Dragon Palace need to strictly follow the clan's orders and lose many personal freedoms?" Zhang Tie asked.

"Yes, those gathering in the Hiden Dragon Palace are all elites of the Zhang clan. Hidden Dragon Palace is almost like a military agency, in which, you will lose many personal freedoms and will have to carry out many dangerous assignments that average people at your age could not accomplish. The casualty rate of clan members who enter the Hidden Dragon Palace to cultivate themselves is 20%, namely, only 8 out of 10 people entering this place come out alive."

When the Clansmen Pavilion personnel said this, Zhang Tie's elder brother looked at Zhang Tie twice with concern, being afraid that Zhang Tie would promise to enter Hidden Dragon Palace.

"What benefits are there in Hidden Dragon Palace?" Zhang Tie casually asked.

The Clansmen Pavillion personnel smiled as he nodded. He seemed to be very satisfied with Zhang Tie's response after hearing his words——He didn't shake his head, instead, he calmly answered the question, "In Hidden Dragon Palace, you will get the most opportunities to gain clan contribution points, where, you could enjoy numerous quality resources of the clan and learn various secret clan knowledge and fighting skills. In the Hidden Dragon Palace, you can also broaden your horizons. Those who could come out of Hidden Dragon Palace alive would basically become talents and elites of the Zhang clan who would assume great responsibilities alone!"

Zhang Tie smiled, "I choose to join the Hidden Dragon Palace of the Zhang clan."

Hearing Zhang Tie's reply, Zhang Yang instantly stood up from his chair to object as he wanted to say something. However, after looking at that personnel of Clansmen Pavilion, he suppressed his desire.

"The headquarters of Hidden Dragon Palace is located on Hidden Dragon Island. If you want to go there, you can go to register next Monday, namely December 5th. If you don't arrive there on time, it will be assumed that you've given up."

"What certification do I need to take"

"None needed, you only need to take this plate over there."

...

When Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang left the building of Clansmen Pavilion, Zhang Yang who had always remained silent couldn't stand it as he started to ask Zhang Tie, "Do you know how much mom and dad worried about you when you were in Iron-Blood Camp? They were really afraid of you being in danger. This time, you could've obviously chosen to not join the Hidden Dragon Palace, why did you choose to join?"

Zhang Tie watched Zhang Yang seriously, "Elder brother, if the holy war between humans and demons break out in the future, in which way do you think it'll be easier for us to survive? Would it be by the power of our family or by the power of Huaiyuan Palace? For our family, you and I could neither get rid of Huaiyuan Palace's clan system nor collapse in at the same time. If I join the Hidden Dragon Palace, it would be for the best as we could respond to any situation!" Zhang Tie patted his elder brother's shoulder, "Don't worry elder brother, since I was alright in Iron-blood Camp, I'll also be alright in Hidden Dragon Palace!"

After considering it for a while, Zhang Yang finally nodded, "If so, you'd better not mention this at home in case of our parents' concerns. You can tell them about this before you leave home two days later."

"Fine." Zhang Tie nodded as he looked at the two sides of the road, "How do we go back home, by train?"

"There's something more convenient than the train!" Zhang Yang wove his hands towards one side of the road. Soon after that, Zhang Tie saw a green car driving from afar and parked in front of them. Zhang Yang told Zhang Tie to get in the car which really startled Zhang Tie as he had not imagined that the car would directly park after being greeted like the carriages in Blapei and Blackhot City.

"Where are you going? The driver in uniform asked the two people in the back seats of the car.

"Jinhai City!"

"Jinhai City is 240 km away from Yiyang City. It will take you 3 hours to get there and 3 more hours for me to come back to Yiyang City, you need to pay 12 silver coins!"

"No problem!" Zhang Yang directly gave the money to the driver.

After receiving the silver coins, the driver immediately drove away.

"What kind of car it is?" Sitting inside, Zhang Tie asked Zhang Yang out of curiosity.

"A rental car, it's convenient, right?"

Zhang Tie nodded as he thought that this was really a prosperous land. Even cars could be rented…

"Knowing that you're going back tonight, mom even made your favorite food for you!"

Zhang Tie felt like crying, "Fine, let's go back then!"

...

Less than 10 minutes after Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang left the Clansmen Pavilion, all the elders who were sitting in the Shrine of Huaiyuan Palace——the forbidden land of Zhang clan had known of Zhang Tie's choice.

"I wouldn't have imagined that this kid's mentality was not bad. As he chose to enter the Hidden Dragon Palace, he has the potential to be an elite!" One of the elders opened his mouth as he slightly nodded.

"According to the intelligence of clan, this brat was also a powerhouse in the Iron-Blood Camp of Norman Empire. He has even been awarded the Iron-Blood Medal in the Iron-Blood Camp. He must have killed numerous people on the battlefield!" Another elder said, "Although the opponents were all common soldiers of Sun Dynasty, he's still not an average person. He has the potential to be an elite!"

"But he's too lecherous. This brat slept with over 80 girls of the Rose Association within one week. That's too cock-and-bull. Thankfully, he didn't make them pregnant, otherwise, it would bring a great trouble to the Clansmen Pavilion!"

"That's trivial. No one can say they weren't romantic in their youth." Another elder smiled, "Hoho, if he's energetic and has awakened an ancestral bloodline, in the worst case scenario, we can gift him some more concubines, letting him make some contributions to extend the clan's bloodline."

"Great!" The other elders touched their snow-white beards as they seriously nodded.

If Zhang Tie knew that he would be a breeding machine in the eyes of the elders of Huaiyuan Palace in the worst case scenario, he wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"It seems that his father, Zhang Ping, is suffering some light punishment this time. If he was set free, someone might imitate him in the future!" Some elder seemed to still be worrying about his father's affair.

"Zhang Ping pretended to be dead as he escaped with a girl. Although this violates the clan regulations, it's not as severe as being harmful to the other people or being unforgivable. Its impact is trivial. Even if we put him into the prison for 100 years, will it benefit the clan? There were also exceptions of which punishments were reduced by performing meritorious deeds. We deal with this affair not especially for the sake of him. As we've deeply learned about the secrets of Mental Arithmetic by Abacus in these days, we all know that this method is very effective in increasing the cultivation of spiritual energy and is of great benefit to the development of the clan. If someone imitated Zhang Ping by pretending to be dead and escaping with a girl from a destined marriage, as long as he could present the item of the same value as Mental Arithmetic by Abacus, it's reasonable to even exempt from his crime. If there are some more people like Zhang Ping, our Huaiyuan Palace will definitely be more prosperous!" The one who said this was the sixth uncle of Zhang Ping who had brought Zhang Tie's family back from Blackhot City. Sixth uncle was the head of Clansmen Pavilion, which was also one branch of Jinhai City of Huaiyuan Palace.

"As all the elders have made the decision. Let's call it an end. Don't mention it from now on!" another elder looked at the two elders who had spoken just now and genially relieved the atmosphere, "Two elders' intentions are all for the sake of the long-term development of Zhang clan. At this critical moment, we should make the sustainability and growth of the clan our largest priority!"

Hearing this elder's words, the two previous elders looked at each other and nodded.

"Recently, there was a number of abnormal turmoil in the Waii Sub-continent. Therefore, we should prepare for the incoming war as soon as possible…"

"Before each holy war, the demons' puppets amongst humans would raise turmoil so as to eliminate the people's overall strength to the largest extent by increasing their mutual suspicion and breaking their unity. This time, many more people would be the sacrifice of demons before the holy war arrives, alas…" Another elder sighed.

Chapter 271: It Sounds Great

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

In previous years, it always snowed in Blackhot City in December. However, 5000 miles away in Jinhai City, it had rained. Due to the rain, the air in the early morning seemed very nice.

This was the third day since Zhang Tie came to Jinhai City to reunite with his family members. 　

Although his father had suffered in prison for over 10 days, thankfully, the decision-makers of the Zhang clan still set Zhang Ping free due to the Mental Arithmetic by Abacus. Zhang Tie was told by Zhang Yang that it was mainly because of the sixth uncle of their father.

Because of sixth uncle's help, this tragedy, which might have caused their father to suffer in prison the rest of his life was finally cleared off.

Based on the generations, Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang should refer to their father's sixth uncle as sixth great-uncle as he was an elder of the Zhang clan who was three generations higher than them. It was said that he was a cousin of Zhang Tie's grandfather. Their sixth great-uncle was very famous in Jinhai City as he ruled the Clansmen Pavilion and was the only member of Jinhai City's bloodline in the Zhang clan's elders association. He was evidently the Jinhai City's representative in the Zhang clan's elders association.

Hearing this news, Zhang Tie bore it in mind and must repay this sixth great-uncle whom he had never met.

The Jinhai City bloodline of Zhang clan originated from the seventh wife of Lord Huaiyuan. Today, there was a total of 20,000-30,000 members of the Zhang clan in Jinhai City of Huaiyuan Palace. Although this number ranked near the last amongst the 8 cities of Huaiyuan Palace, the Zhang clan was really the number one clan and the most powerful ruler of Jinhai City.

As Zhang Tie's family had lived alone in Blackhot City for dozens of years, it really seemed like a dream to Zhang Tie's that he could be a member of such a great clan.

This morning, Zhang Tie's mom boiled a pot eight-treasures porridge[1]. She had started to prepare it since last night. In the early morning, Zhang Tie devoured the sweet eight-treasures porridge. He saw his mom's genial smile with fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, which reminded Zhang Tie of the time when his mom would watch him eat breakfast before going to school each morning when they were in Blackhot City.

All the risks that Zhang Tie had experienced, the fights and struggles in the outside during the past several months had all disappeared in front of his mom's eight-treasures porridge. Instead, Zhang Tie only felt a warm sense of home flowing inside.

"Eat as much as you'd like, we've got more in the pot!"Seeing Zhang Tie's spoon moving slower, Zhang Tie's mom added another big spoon of porridge into Zhang Tie's bowl.

"Save a spoon for elder-sister in law, she needs the nutrition more than me!" Eating it, Zhang Tie mumbled.

"You know that your mom knows what do to!" Zhang Tie's father flicked at his forehead.

Although he had stayed in prison for more than 10 days, Zhang Ping seemed to not be suffering from any mental or physical troubles. At the sight of his father at this time, Zhang Tie felt his father had become more relaxed and revealed more smiles.

Zhang Tie had never imagined that the Mental Arithmetic by Abacus that he had bought at the cost of several silver coins from a roadside booth was so influential. The moment he thought of the benefits that the book had brought him, Zhang Tie felt that he hadn't fully learned its secrets.

In the past two days, Zhang Tie found that he could calculate the four operations on two 13-column abacuses at the same time more fluently. He felt his mindset was becoming more and more flexible after each visualization of the abacuses. He seemed to be gradually able to focus on two totally different things at the same time which was a marvelous sensation.

"Mom, last night, I went to that building on Xinhe Street that you told me about. My grandparents and eldest uncle's family don't live there anymore. I inquired about it from others and was told that they had moved away ten years ago. It seems that they moved to Xince City. Since you had already fallen asleep when I came back, I didn't bother you." Zhang Yang reported to his parents about the news while he was eating the eight-treasures porridge.

Hearing this news, Zhang Tie's mom let out a sigh.

"Mom, don't worry, if you want to find them as soon as possible, we can release wanted posters in the newspaper. As they are still living in the Huaiyuan Prefecture, we will definitely find them!" Seeing his mother a bit sad, Zhang Tie hurriedly comforted her.

"Release it in the newspaper?" Zhang Tie's mom blinked, seemingly interested in this idea.

"Since we know they've been to Xince City, I will go to there with your mom when we're free. It's only several hours from here. We can hire people to find them too. If neither of these methods works, we will release it in the newspaper. As we are new here, it's better for us to be low key" Zhang Tie's father explained in a calm way.

Since they came back to Huaiyuan Prefecture, Zhang Tie also found that his dad became calmer in lieu of recent events.

Hearing dad's words, all the others nodded after thinking awhile.

After eating breakfast, the whole family was busy as they all started to clean up after themselves and put on the new clothes that they had recently purchased. Especially his father as it was Zhang Tie's first time seeing him put on a double-breasted suit with a tie.

After putting on this suit, Zhang Tie's dad looked completely different from before.

"Dad, you really look like a dandy in that costume!" Zhang Tie kidded.

"Alas, I've not worn it for dozens of years. I don't even know how to prepare my tie anymore." Zhang Tie's dad sighed.

Thinking back to the period when Zhang Tie's dad usually wore a set of somewhat white working uniform and struggled for the whole family's livelihood by getting up early and going back home late in Blackhot City, Zhang Tie would feel like crying. Thinking of this, he increased his resolve to join Hidden Dragon Palace. As he had grown up, it was the right time for him to assume the responsibility for his family.

When it was almost half past nine in the morning, Zhang Ping's brother, Zhang Tie's eldest uncle, came to pick them up.

Zhang Tie's eldest uncle was over 50 years old, who looked 60% similar to Zhang Tie's father. Besides, he looked a bit gentle in a pair of glasses. Nevertheless, he was a bit fatter than Zhang Tie's father and looked like he had been used to a noble's lifestyle.

Because Zhang Tie's eldest uncle usually came here during this period, they had been familiar with each other. Therefore, they got straight to the point.

Zhang Tie's family then got into a black three-row sedan and left their current residence.

Jinhai City was also a coastal city. It was not as prosperous as Yiyang City but was still a large city. Jinhai City contained 3.4 million people. As the manufacturing center of Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace, its manufacturing accomplishments were even above that of Kalur. Half of Jinyun Country's steamers and one-fifth of its airships came from the manufacturing factories in Jinhai City. 　

When the car drove onto the coastal avenue of Jinhai City, Zhang Tie saw numerous docks of different sizes on the sea and the harbors in the far.

"Let's go to visit our shipyard first, Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang have not seen it yet." Sitting in the front row, the eldest uncle turned back and spoke to Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping nodded, "Fine, let's go to have a look then. I've not been there for a long time. I'm also wondering how it looks now."

"Dad has merged two more shipyards in past years. Now, the Milkyway Shipyard could rank top three in shipbuilding in terms of scale and strength in Jinhai City and top five in Jinyun Country. Now, our shipyard mainly builds off-shore fishing boats weighing from 500 tons to 2000 tons, Yuanjiang-class passenger liners and rapid destroyers that we've bid for from the navy of Jinyun Country. Dad is full of ambition that he prepares to start the program of 10,000-ton pelagic fishing ships next year and officially push the Milkyway Shipyard into the ranks of 10,000-ton ships manufacturers!"

"Our former shipyard didn't have the ability to produce 10,000-ton pelagic fishing ships. Is the new shipyard under construction?"

"It will be completed in two months. As our former shipyard started from building fishing ships, we've got many assets in the past years, we could also be able to build 10,000-ton pelagic fishing ships!"

"As pelagic shipping is an industry of high risk and high return, ships that are adapted to pelagic shipping are produced in accordance with orders, which pose very strict requirements on various aspects. Our new shipyard has not been completed, how have we received orders?" Zhang Tie's dad became slightly startled.

"The orders come from our Zhang clan. I also feel strange about that. Last year, the Changfeng Business Group, the Pelagic Fishing Company and the Pelagic Steamers Company under the affiliation of the Zhang clan almost tossed some development plans at the same time, which increased the demands for 10,000-ton pelagic fishing ships, pelagic passenger liners and pelagic freighters by several times. It looks very rash and a bit absurd. I don't know how could they be that confident. What is more absurd is that their plans had been approved by the council of the Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace. the first set of capital to renovate the Milkyway Shipyard is interest-free loan provided by Huaiyuan Bank. As for the orders sent by the Pelagic Fishing Company, as long as the first 10,000-ton pelagic fishing ship is paved with its keel, the Huaiyuan Bank will prepay 40% of the shipbuilding cost for Pelagic Shipping Company. It's great preferential treatment. In Jinhai City, besides our shipyard, all the other shipyards have received similar orders."

Hearing the discussion between dad and eldest uncle, Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang sitting in the back of the car exchanged glances with each other with astonishment. Neither of them had ever imagined that their dad was born into such a great clan, who's shipyard ranked top three in Jinhai City and top five in Jinyun Country. It sounded great.

Chapter 272: Relatives

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

Milkyway Shipyard was located in the cove of Jinhai City. It occupied 1.16 million square meters of land area and 1.28 million square meters of the sea. The dock's shoreline lasted 1400 m. Including the soon to be completed 10,000-ton dock, there were six docks and berths of different sizes. Recently, the Milkyway Shipyard could produce various fishing boats, passenger liners, and freighters as well as medium and small-sized naval vessels. It employed over 4000 workers. With assets of about 7.5 million gold coins, the Milkyway Shipyard could rank top three in Jinhai City in terms of scale and manufacturing strength.

Such a great undertaking had been accumulated by five generations after over 100 years of development. Since the beginning of Zhang Tie's great-grandfather's grandfather to Zhang Tie's grandpa, the Milkyway Shipyard of Jinhai City completely changed its status from a tiny rough berth which was opened to repair small fishing boats to a large-scale shipyard which enjoyed a high rank in Jinhai City, even in Jinyun Country.

Zhang Tie's grandfather played an extremely influential role. Since Zhang Ping's father took over the family business, its assets were less than 100,000 gold coins. Through his dozens of years of management, the scale of the shipyard increased ten times over.

Hearing his eldest uncle's introduction, Zhang Tie started to admire the elder whom he had never met.

After paying a visit to the Zhang clan's shipyard, in addition to Zhang Tie's newfound understanding about the circumstances of his father's family, Zhang Tie was able to develop a picture of the overall situation.

Zhang family's old home was a beautiful estate which occupied over 20 mu, namely about 13340 square meters. From the outside, although it didn't appear very magnificent, it was every bit that of rich and powerful family's home. In the old house, Zhang Tie finally experienced this family's background.

Zhang Tie's grandfather had four wives. Including Zhang Tie's father, Zhang Tie's grandfather had 11 children, five of which were daughters, with the remaining six being sons. Among the five daughters, two were married away from Huaiyuan Prefecture and didn't come back today, the other three daughters were in the Huaiyuan Prefecture and had all comeback today. Among the 11 children, Zhang Tie's father ranked eighth. Therefore, besides two younger uncles and one younger aunt, Zhang Tie had four elder aunts and three elder uncles. After the introduction, Zhang Tie could still remember his uncles and aunts' faces and names. However, when his uncles and aunts' spouses had gathered here, making Zhang Tie feel dazzled.

Zhang Tie finally understood why Huaiyuan Palace would create a Clansmen Pavilion. Since there were so many relatives, if such a professional agency wasn't created to manage personnel affairs, nobody would know the relationships between clan members anymore.

When Zhang Tie came back to the old family home, he had 20-30 more elders. Additionally, Zhang Tie had over 20 cousins, some of which didn't join the family party due to various reasons. Additionally, many of Zhang Tie's cousins had children. Therefore, Zhang Tie also had 10 nieces and nephews.

Among Zhang Tie's nieces and nephews, the eldest had been 12 years old, only 3-4 years younger than Zhang Tie. As they were still too naughty, they didn't even feel like calling Zhang Tie uncle.

Amongst all the relatives and elders, only the members of Zhang Tie's father's blood brothers' families felt more genial. Others, although being also very passionate, looked slightly curious but mostly indifferent towards Zhang Tie's family.

Zhang Tie didn't mind this either. After all, they hadn't been in contact for dozens of years, it was impossible to have no estrangement among the brothers and sisters with the same father and different mothers. Let alone, there were many underhanded plots like struggling for family properties in such rich family. Zhang Tie's father might be viewed as a competitor who would share the properties of the family in the future in someone's eyes.

...

"Zhang Ping, where does your family live?" At supper, when Zhang Haitian, Zhang Ping's father, asked him in a calm way, all the other people at the 5 tables in the dining hall instantly became quiet. Even the servants who were serving dishes in the dining hall stood aside and didn't move anymore.

"Papa, Zhang Ping's family came back too abruptly, I arranged for them an average apartment on Xinhai Road." One of Zhang Tie's elder uncles spoke out.

The Zhang Haitan slightly nodded.

"Papa, I fail to consider it properly, when eighth younger brother and sister-in-law came back. I've didn't prepared well, causing them to suffer discomfort." At the sight of their father being silent, another elder uncle of Zhang Tie's sitting at the main table hurriedly opened his mouth. He was the eldest son of the first wife and was called Zhang Lin. He was also the designated successor of the of Zhang Haitan and the future head of the family.

Of course, Zhang Lin should be meticulous at this moment.

"As we came back too suddenly and didn't want to bring trouble to the home, I didn't notify eldest brother. I beg for eldest brother's forgiveness. We feel right at home in the apartment. With three bedrooms, one parlor and one dining room, it's enough for us." Zhang Tie's father hurriedly explained.

All the elders of Zhang clan knew the details surrounding Zhang Tie's return. However, nobody mentioned the affair about Zhang Ping escaping marriage by faking death. They all knew what was happening yet didn't reveal it, making it seem as though Zhang Tie's dad had wandered in the outside for a personal undertaking for dozens of years.

Looking at Zhang Ping's face which seemed older than that of the other brothers, the Zhang Haitan went quiet. No one knew what he was thinking. "Previously, we didn't treat you well, causing you suffer a lot of bitterness outside for all these years. This time, as you've come back, you can share 5% of the shipyard of the family. With this share, you could only participate in sharing profits of the shipyard instead of daily management."

Hearing Zhang Haitan's words, Zhang Tie's father directly stood up from his chair. Look him in the eyes, he firmly told his father, "Papa, the scale of Zhang's shipyard is due to the efforts of you and my elder brothers. As I was not at home all these years and had not made any contribution to this home, I've always felt shameful about what I've done. Therefore, I will not accept this share. If you insist on that, you are forcing me and my family to leave Jinhai City!"

Zhang Tie had not realized that his dad was so strong-willed. Seeing his father looking back at him and his elder brother, Zhang Tie didn't speak but revealed a brilliant smile as he silently raised his thumb towards his father below the table. Zhang Tie's elder brother also nodded towards Zhang Ping with a smile. Looking at the two sons' expressions, Zhang Ping felt warm inside and released tears.

Zhang Tie saw that his mother was also smiling as she grasped Zhang Ping's hands under the table. At the same time, Zhang Tie's elder brother silently patted on his wife's thigh twice.

After looking over Zhang Ping for half a minute, Zhang Haitan felt uncomfortable as he also let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Dear, even though Zhang Ping doesn't want a share off the shipyard, why not directly give him the manor in Changman, letting them settle down in Jinhai City. As Zhang Ping's two children have grown up, it's time for them to get married and have their own undertakings. If you're concerned about them, it's not too late for you to take care of your grandsons." Sitting beside Zhang Haitan, his first wife slowly said.

The elderly person moved his eyebrows as he glanced at Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang and slowly nodded.

"Eighth younger brother, if you aren't even prepared to accept one manor, you'll really make us uncomfortable then." Zhang Lin opened his mouth once again.

"Thank you, dad, I will accept the manor. We will move there tomorrow!" After thinking for awhile, Zhang Tie's father made the decision as he sat at the table once again. Seeing this, Zhang Ping's elder brothers sitting on the same table nodded too.

Not knowing whether it was an illusion, Zhang Tie felt that when his dad accepted the manor, many people present let out a breath as the atmosphere became lively once again.

"Zhang Yang, it's said you've just retired. What's your plan?"Zhang Haitan turned to Zhang Yang and asked him seriously out of concern.

On hearing this question, Zhang Yang was relived as he had discussed it with Zhang Tie in the morning. Zhang Yang had long made the decision, "As Huaiyuan Prefecture has a well-developed trading industry and gathers numerous commodities from both east and west continents, I'm preparing to start a trading firm!"

"Is there any problem with capital?"Zhang Haitan went straight to the point.

"No, I will start small. I plan to buy a storefront in Jinhai City. After slowly developing the skills, I believe that I can succeed!" Zhang Yang proudly answered.

Zhang Haitan nodded. No one present derided Zhang Yang's low threshold. This was due to Zhang Haitan usually repeating on phrase.——As long as a person could steadfastly push forward, sooner or later, he would succeed.

"What about you Zhang Tie, what's your plan?" The Zhang Haitan now focused on Zhang Tie.

"I will report in Hidden Dragon Palace next Monday!"

When Zhang Tie uttered this, the whole room became quiet once again as everyone cast their eyes onto Zhang Tie with mixed expressions of amazement, surprise, admiration and shock. Everyone present knew what Hidden Dragon Palace was. From its name it's meaning could be derived. It was the gathering of the elites of the Zhang clan. Everyone who joins Hiding Dragon Palace and survives would be the elites of the Zhang clan. Almost all the members of the Zhang clan's elders association and those big figures who ruled the crucial agencies of Huaiyuan Palace had undergone training at Hidden Dragon Palace.

Because Zhang Tie had told his parents about his plan yesterday, his family members were not stunned about this. Previously, Zhang Tie thought that his parents would disagree with his plan. Zhang Tie had not imagined that both of them would support his decision.

"Fine, fine, fine..." The Zhang Haitan started to laugh loudly, "I wouldn't have imagined that two of my progeny would awaken ancestral bloodlines and enter Hidden Dragon Palace, hahaha..."

"Your cousin is also in Hidden Dragon Palace. He's not back today. When you arrive there, you can contact him..." Zhang Lin also smiled as he said this. However, Zhang Tie saw something else in the eyes of his eldest uncle...

Chapter 273: A Trip at Sea

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

The steam-driven engine of the small passenger liner had been in operation for almost five hours. Sharply contrasting to the jarring and monotonous sounds were the tweets of the seagulls that flew over the sky and the sounds of the sea waves surrounded the liner.

The passenger liner broke through the winds and the waves, creating snow white water droplets which flew high into the air and sparkled under the sunlight like silver beads, causing Zhang Tie to slightly narrow his eyes as he was standing on the deck of the second floor and gazing at the sea in the front.

Today was Monday, December 5th, the day when Zhang Tie was going to register at Hidden Dragon Palace.

It was a good day today. Thinking of when he was attending the beer festival in Blapei last month and was heading for his new life on the sea at this moment, Zhang Tie couldn't help but sigh the miracle of fate.

Thinking of those affairs, a girl with black eyes reappeared in Zhang Tie's mind——Pandora! Before he left Kalur, this was the very name that Zhang Tie concerned the most.

Pandora's family had suddenly left Blackhot City. Nobody knew where she had gone. It seemed as though she was never there in the first place. She was like a drop of water jumping and falling back into the sea without warning. She disappeared, leaving no signal at all. Even her neighbors didn't know when they had moved away.

Alice's family also left Blackhot City. When they left there, Alice left a letter and told Barley to hand it to Zhang Tie——Alice's father took her and her mother to Nordinburg, the capital city on the North Border of the Norman Empire.

Beverly worked as a nurse at a hospital in Blackhot City. The girls of Rose Association also lived their own lives like before. That absurd affair seemed having been a distant memory.

The former City Guard Army of Blackhot City had completely disbanded. The No. 39 Division that defended Blackhot City had started the official expansion of its establishment. Most of his partners and friends at school had joined the army. Only a few of them didn't pass the physical examination for joining the army.

Fatty Barley didn't pass the physical examination due to his asthma. Sharwin didn't pass because he was too weak to reach the minimum standard to be a new recruit of the Norman Empire. The other one left was Potter——the juvenile who was cheated into being a fire holder in the mining cave because of his flatfoot.

Compared to that of the former Andaman Alliance, the conditions for joining the army of the Norman Empire became much stricter.

Zhang Tie had always been sorry for Potter. Only Potter was digging in the mines when the others of the Gods Bliss Association had joined the army when Zhang Tie left the Blackhot City. He was still trying to improve the "Big Bliss Skill" through mining. Besides expecting for Potter to give it up by himself and letting Barley take care of him when necessary, Zhang Tie had no other ideas to aid him. Facing the weak Potter's eyes which were as firm as fire, Zhang Tie couldn't even stand to tell him that as a joke.

"Argh, look, dolphins..."

Hearing the surprise, Zhang Tie was instantly drawn back into the reality. Zhang Tie then shook his head and drove everything about Blackhot City out of his mind. What counted most now was to improve his own strength. If he had strength, it would be no problem for him to bring everybody that he knew in Blackhot City along with his family member to the East Continent when the holy war between human and demons started. However, for the time being, he was just a tiny shrimp in the torrents of destiny, who could only jump at the bottom of the water and could not even see the direction ahead.

On the sea in the distance, some dolphins were jumping out of the sea and played alongside the steamer. Zhang Tie looked back and five more people were standing beside him on the deck.

Three of them were male, while two were female. They were all older than Zhang Tie and carried weapons. The three males all had tiger-like shoulders and bear-like waists. The moment Zhang Tie caught sight of them, he knew that they were warriors. One of the two females was over 30 years old while the other one was 17-18 years old. The older women had a slim waist and thrusting breasts while still looking valiant and heroic. Although looking a bit experienced, she was still very enchanting and as mature as a ripe honey peach. The younger lady had almond-like eyes, peachy cheeks and a pair of long legs. She also looked very beautiful. Although being younger, she was taller than that 30-odd-year-old woman.

The exclamation just now was from this young lady. She was looking at the dolphins in the distance and clapped her hands out of excitement.

"Even now sister Fu likes dolphins so much, why not let junior brother Yu catch two for you after you've advanced to level 6 and form battle qi. I think once you make a request, junior brother Yu will never refuse no matter what trouble he will encounter. Right, younger brother Yu?" The 30-odd-year-old woman casually joked.

"Senior sister Fang, don't tease me!" The 17-18 old girl stomped her feet as she sneered at the man who was most handsome among the three male. 　

The male looked even more bashful than the woman as his face had already blushed the moment he heard the joke. He then stuttered, "If...if junior sister...Fu likes it, we can go see the dol...dolphins!"

Junior sister Fu...junior brother...senior sister...Hearing those official appellations with Chinese features, Zhang Tie could almost guess their status. They must belong to a certain Chinese sect as was usually mentioned by Donder.

A Chinese sect was a fresh concept for Zhang Tie. In his mind, a sect was an organization that was a melting pot that had clans, business groups, academies, churches, guilds, and even an army. It was a group that was tied together through similar interests and personal attachments.

A sect was rarely seen in other places except for Chinese countries. Zhang Tie had not heard about any sects in the Andaman Alliance. Although he had seen many churches, academies, fighting clubs and various secret teams even the relations between teachers and apprentices, he knew they were all scattered traditional inheritance systems.

In Hebrew-spoken areas, sects were most close to schools. Compared to schools, the greatest difference between sects and schools was that all the sects were involved with beliefs and idolatry, yet beliefs or idolatry might or might not exist in schools. Schools were more flexible on management. Sects focused on belief yet schools focused on secret knowledge. They all had their own features.

Because it was his first time to contact the people in a certain sect, Zhang Tie kept enjoying the scene as he paid attention to their chat. Seeing Zhang Tie was just a 15-16-year-old juvenile, they didn't care about him either as they started to chat for free.

Their topics soon shifted to their target on this trip from "junior sister Fu" and "junior brother Yu".

"It's too expensive. It takes each of us 15 silver coins for only several hours of travel on the sea. This is no different than robbery. In other places, it might not take 5 silver coins for even one day's trip on the sea!" A person complained.

"Junior brother Feng, no more complaints about that. As it's the first time for you and Junior brother Yu to come out to form battle qi, there are things you don't know. If you were in other places in Jinyun Country, you might not able to enter the underground world even if you spent 10 times the amount. Recently, five entrances towards the underground world have been discovered in Jinyun Country. Besides this one on Hidden Dragon Island where you could enter for free, three of the others have been occupied by the big clans of Jinyun Country and you're not allowed in unless you pay 5 gold coins each time. The last entrance is in the Yangui Mountain Range. That entrance was over 1000 km away from Yangui City. You can also access their at your will; however, besides a few great fighters, nobody could arrive there."

"Senior brother An, you mean Huaiyuan Palace has done a good thing?" Junior brother Feng questioned.

"Heh heh, the Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace is so rich that it occupies 8 cities and enjoys the benefit by being adjacent to the sea. Even if the gold coins gained from trades between east continent and west continent were many times more than the benefits gained through this entrance to the underground world. This Hidden Dragon Island is far away from the coast. It's wiser to open it to us than building a new city and dispatching soldiers here for a good reputation. Additionally, people will gain various useful items by hunting magical beasts in the underground world which will be inconvenient to take away. Therefore, most of them will choose to trade the items directly on Hidden Dragon Island, which will definitely bring great benefit to the Changfeng Business Group under the affiliation of Huaiyuan Palace!" Senior brother An explained.

"That's really shrewd!" Junior brother Yu sighed.

"It doesn't only rely on fortune for Huaiyuan Palace to reach such a scale. Based on their means, of course, they will carry out their plan very well so that they could gain others' praise and benefit others." senior sister Fang answered.

"Senior sister Fang, I heard the magical beasts in the underground world are very large and fierce. Even the black spider of the lowest level is as big as an ox."

"Don't worry, junior sister Fu. Although those black spiders are very fierce, your senior brother An and I have encountered them before. This time, it won't be difficult for us to deal with those black spiders at all. Your senior brother An and I will definitely help you three form wind-breaking battle qi safe and sound. We will not start advancing to level 7 until you three reach level 6. By then, you can just stand aside and observe what it's like to assail to level 7 from us.

Hearing this, Zhang Tie turned back and prepared to leave the deck. At the same time, a glimpse of a land could be seen from afar. Looking at the passenger liner driving towards that big island. Zhang Tie knew that must be Hidden Dragon island.

The moment he left the deck, Zhang Tie had heard the sound of splashing from under the liner. Zhang Tie felt the sound of the water was a bit strange. Before he turned back had he heard an exclamation behind him and the powerful clashes between weapons accompanied by some furious growls and muffles.

Zhang Tie turned back and saw one more person on the deck.

A person in watertight clothing with scattered hair was standing in the middle of the deck, his hair dripping water. That man's eyes were incredibly alert as he continued to scan the deck. However, his weird fingers were tightly grasping the throat of "junior sister Fu", who looked to be in quite the amount of pain and had completely lost her ability to fight back. The people who had been together with "junior sister Fu" had been thrown away and lying far away on the deck. Junior brother Yu and junior brother Feng were struggling to climb up from the deck while senior brother An and senior sister Fang were standing several steps away with an ugly look in their eyes. Senior sister Fang's hands were quivering. She looked pale. The corners of senior brother An's mouth revealed a wisp of blood. The moment they fought the mysterious man, they had been wounded.

Behind the man was a rolling fighting qi, presenting the image of a serpent.

After another splash, one more young man, less than 20 years old, suddenly appeared on the deck, who had a naked upper body and was barefoot. He was casually wearing a pair of underpants and was rotating a water-breaking dagger[1] in hand. He looked at that man in a distant way, "Let her go, as you've been reduced to such, why do you have to involve in an innocent girl to make you more guilty?"

"Bull****!" Holding her throat, that man loudly shouted. As he looked at this young man, he drew the girl closer to his side and carefully hid behind her, "You jump off the boat and let the boat turn back to send me back to the mainland!" That man had been raving loudly.

"You've violated the laws of Huaiyuan Prefecture on Hidden Dragon Island, do you think that you can still escape?" Even if you can get to shore, do you think that you can escape from Huaiyuan Prefecture? Don't be that naive." Playing with his water-breaking dagger, the youth became more cordial, "As I've chased you for three days, we've gotten familiar with each other. Save me some face. I will give you a quick death so that you can go to hell as soon as possible and I can go onto submit my mission as soon as possible. From then on, we will not interfere with each other, how about that?"

"F***" Before the man loudly swore just before a shiny long sword had penetrated his throat. His eyes popped out of their sockets as he tried to look back who had stabbed him but failed.

His battle qi totem and shortly after, his life, were both now gone.

The man fell down as junior sister Fu who was under his abduction also hurriedly ran away from the man with a terrified look.

At this time, a handsome male youth in white clothes was holding a long sword and standing behind that man. Nobody on the deck had noticed from when had this youth appeared behind that man, including Zhang Tie.

Seeing the man lying on the deck, the youth in white clothes shook his head, "I really wonder how could you reach level 8; after being chased for three days, you didn't even know how many people were chasing after you. With such a poor aptitude, you dare to do business at any cost? Your intelligence is really..." The youth flicked the long sword in a cool way so as to clean off the blood dripping from it. After that, he raised his head and looked into the sky, "What a tragedy."

The moment he finished the word "tragedy", the youth in white clothes had already jumped up from the deck and spun twice in the air while putting his sword back into the sheath before he threw himself into the sea like a dolphin. He directly disappeared into the sea without making any splash.

"Why do you always act cool ahead of me and then leave me deal with the remains?" The other youth with the bare torso who was playing the water-breaking dagger muttered as he walked towards the corpse and searched it thoroughly. He then got a bag from the corpse and opened it in front of everyone. He then took out of a round red bead from the bag. After looking at it for a while, he nodded before put it back into the bag and took it away.

"When the ship arrives at the port, someone will come to deal with this corpse." After saying this, the youth playing the water-breaking dagger instantly jumped into the sea from the deck.

At this moment, the deck had been surrounded by a lot of passengers. Most of the people who came to the Hidden Dragon Island would be fighters who had been used to battles. Therefore, after noticing what happened on the deck, many people didn't feel afraid at all, instead, they all ran out of their rooms to watch.

It was really a splendid fight.

"This dead guy looks familiar!" One onlooker said.

"He's Deng Tong, the Monster of the Sea. He's the head of the pirates wanted by the Qilan Country. I didn't imagine that he could be killed today!" As there were hundreds of passengers on the deck coming from all walks of life, the moment someone felt the one lying on the deck was familiar, someone else had already recognized his status.

"I heard Deng Tong excelled at swimming in the sea and had some secret techniques. He's known for not drowning to death after staying in the sea for seven days. He's escaped pursuit many times in Qilan Country due to this excellent talent. He even reversed the situation in the sea and killed pursuers twice while at sea. I didn't think that he could be killed near Hidden Dragon Island. He was chased after by others and jumped onto the ship. Alas, his luck finally ran out."

"If he had behaved well and hadn't stolen items while killing people over on Hidden Dragon Island, why would he have been killed. It's said that Deng Tong was just level 7. I think he was here to promote himself. However, he had never imagined that he could lose his life right after promoting to level 8!"

"Who are the two youths chasing after and killing Deng Tong just now?"

"They must come from the Hidden Dragon Palace of the Zhang clan. Hidden Dragon Palace is the place where the elites of Zhang clan cultivate themselves. It's said that people who cultivate here have all awakened their ancestral bloodlines."

After letting out a few sighs, the onlookers left. However, after looking at the corpse on the deck, many people warned themselves that they should never perform any questionable activities on Hidden Dragon Island based on their own strength.

...

"Junior sister Fu, are you okay?" Junior brother Yu looked at his junior sister Fu nervously. His junior sister Fu didn't recover her composure until he repeated this question many times.

"Argh...I'm okay!"

"Thankfully, you're okay, I was really worried about you!" Junior brother Yu let out a sigh and smiled. However, he had not noticed that his junior sister Fu was absent-minded at this moment.

Only senior sister Fang sighed inside after looking at younger sister Fu's face, The two young men are too handsome and talented, especially that youth in white who had saved junior sister Fu. After seeing that person, junior sister Fu's eyes didn't even move away from him. What's that person's last sentence? Sigh! Junior brother Yu, what a tragedy!'

...

"Hidden Dragon Palace..." Zhang Tie muttered this name twice inside as his eyes began to shine. After glancing at the three males and two females on the deck as well that Monster of the Sea's corpse, he returned to the cabin together with the rest people.

...

Twenty minutes later, the shadow of Hidden Dragon Island grew increasingly larger on the horizon.

Hidden Dragon Island was a big island under the affiliation of Huaiyuan Prefecture. It was 190 km away from the continent and covered 340 sq km. It was densely covered with woods and surrounded by mountains.

Being on the same island together with Hidden Dragon palace was the "Dragon Hole on the Island" which was known as 1 of the 5 entrances to the underground world...

Chapter 274: Newbie

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

Hidden Dragon Island was surrounded by mountains. Its coast was covered with dense rapids. Under the surging waves were strange and jagged rocks. The only wharf on the island was to the north, which was located between two steep leeward ranges which extended into the sea. The terrain was pretty precipitous.

The waterway entering the wharf was a winding path. The mountains on both sides of the waterway were covered with karst caves of different sizes which were formed due to weathering, water erosion or special geological composition. Half of the karst caves were immersed in seawater. As a response to the crashing of the waves, weird and chilling noises drifted from the inside of the karst caves like the growls of monsters.

Not until the passenger liner moved forward in the narrow and twisting waterway for about 500-600m did Zhang Tie see a large space and caught sight of the 100m long small wharf and some buildings on Hidden Dragon Island.

After anchoring the liner, everyone started to go ashore. Zhang was left alone on the deck. When almost everybody left the deck, two 16-17 years old youths in black uniforms came onto the deck with the other three men in multicolored outfits.

"That's him..." The moment they arrived onto the deck, one of the three people in the multicolored outfits pointed at the corpse on the deck and loudly shouted, "That's the one who killed my elder brother and my eldest uncle as well as robbed two centipede's cores from them...", saying this, that person couldn't wait to burst into tears. Finally, he couldn't stand still before proceeding to take out his long saber and fiercely hacked into the corpse, "Elder brother, eldest uncle, you died so miserably, I will use this evil person's head as a sacrifice for your death!"

"I've given you the centipedes' cores, here's his corpse. You are free to deal with it even by grinding his bones into ashes and throwing them away or directly peeling his skin."

"On behalf of the 659 people in Ma Village of Qingshan Prefecture, I thank the Zhang clan for your righteous deed!" Another old man among them forcefully withstood his lament and bowed towards the two youths by a holding fist salute.

"As they are already dead, please restrain your grief."

Being grieved, the other men in multicolored clothing extended their thanks to the two youths before directly carrying the corpse away from the liner.

While standing on the deck, Zhang Tie saw this scene and had been able to guess the status of the two youths. They were at least members of Zhang clan on the island, if not, from Hidden Dragon Palace.

"Wait a moment, please!" When the two youths walked onto the wharf, Zhang Tie stopped them.

"What's up?" The two youths turned back and stared at Zhang Tie who suddenly came out.

"Do you know how to get to Hidden Dragon Palace?"　

"Hidden Dragon Palace?" One of the two youths started to seriously glance over Zhang Tie when he heard that Zhang Tie was going to the Hidden Dragon Palace.

"Yes, I want to go to the Hidden Dragon Palace." Zhang Tie said with a smile.

"What are you going to do in Hidden Dragon Palace?"

"To apply to join!"

"Show me your clan plate!"

Zhang Tie then took out his clan plate and gave it to the two youths. After a serious look, the two youths exchanged glances with each other and nodded together.

"You're Zhang Tie?" One of the youths returned the clan plate to Zhang Tie.

"Yes!"

"I'm Xu Lang; he's Zhang Houyu. We are all from Hidden Dragon Palace!" Saying this, Xu Lang instantly became enthusiastic. After saying this, Xu Lang looked at Zhang Houyu and asked, "Who will send him to Hidden Dragon Palace, you or me?"

"Hoho, after all, we're both surnamed Zhang, I will send him over there! You continue to patrol around the island, I will first send him to Hidden Dragon Palace. Then we will meet in Blackdragon Town." The youth called Zhang Houyu replied.

"Fine."

"Follow me!" Zhang Houyu greeted Zhang Tie and turned back to leave. Of course, Zhang Tie followed him away from the wharf.

There was a narrow street on the side of the wharf, on both sides of which were some buildings. Zhang Tie took a look and found a warehouse, a hotel, a fish market and two stores that posses items he wasn't aware of. There was one restaurant too. Most of the passengers got off from the liner poured into the restaurant. After taking a trip on the liner for 4-5 hours, they had eaten nothing at all. Therefore, the moment the saw the restaurant, they all went in at once. 　

Zhang Tie's stomach was still growling. Nevertheless, as someone was guiding him, he felt it improper to let him wait for him to finish a meal before continuing to walk.

"Do you want to eat something?" Although Zhang Tie didn't speak, Zhang Houyu was sentimental as he asked, "If you're hungry, you'd better eat a bit, as this place is more than 20 km away from Hidden Dragon Palace. If you're too hungry, I'm afraid that you won't be able to keep up with me."

"It doesn't matter, it's okay to eat at Hidden Dragon Palace!"

"Fine, follow me then. We can run over there. It will be faster." Saying this, Zhang Houyu started to run as Zhang Tie hurriedly followed behind him.

Thinking of Xu Lang that he had met just now, Zhang Tie suddenly thought of a question as he asked Zhang Houyu, "Hidden Dragon Palace also takes in apprentices with different surnames?"

"Besides Zhang clan's direct line of descendants, if anyone among the relatives of Zhang clan across Huaiyuan Prefecture have awakened the ancestral bloodline, they can also enter Hidden Dragon Palace. As you're new to Hidden Dragon Palace, you should bear in mind the primary rule that you should not casually ask for others' ancestral bloodlines or how many times they have awakened. You should not casually reveal to others about what ancestral bloodline have you awakened. Although you feel this information are not important, they are very important clan secrets. When you awaken your ancestral bloodline for the first time, someone might know about that. Once you have awakened your ancestral bloodline for the second time, no matter what great ability do you have, you'd better reveal it to others as little as possible. This is a card in your hand, it might save your life a critical moment!" Zhang Houyu explained as he found Zhang Tie could keep up with him. Therefore, he increased his pace.

"Ancestral bloodlines can be awakened a second time?" As it was Zhang Tie's first time hearing this, he was a bit amazed as he thought he could only awaken his throwing skill once.

"Of course! There's no limit to the amount times one can awaken their ancestral bloodline. Different ancestral bloodlines could grant you different talents and gifts. As for how many times can you awaken, it will depend on your ability and luck. Many people who have awakened their ancestral bloodlines for the first time could awaken them twice, then thrice, even more. It takes time to improve and intensify the same ancestral bloodline that they've awakened!"

Zhang Tie slightly sighed inside, "Hidden Dragon Palace is really great. Although I've just arrived, I have received two surprises, one on the passenger liner, the other here. I wonder how it would feel if I awaken my throwing skill for the second time. Only after thinking about this question did Zhang Tie's heart begin to race and long for the future.

After leaving the wharf, the two people started up the mountainous path. At the beginning, Zhang Houyu wanted to take care of Zhang Tie by slowing down his speed on purpose. Gradually, he realized that Zhang Tie could still easily chat with him when running, Zhang Houyu started to speed up. However, no matter how he accelerated his speed, Zhang Tie could still closely follow him up in an easy manner. Zhang Houyu became really amazed about that as he grew increasingly aggressive and started to use his full strength.

Zhang Tie didn't feel tired at all while the guide's forehead had been oozing sweat. For Zhang Tie who had eaten nine Wild Wolf Seven-Strength Fruits, Zhang Tie only felt very relaxed by trotting as this speed which was even a bit slower than his "cruising speed". If he liked, he could even keep running at this speed for the whole day long.

After running 5 km over one mountain, Zhang Tie found another large-scale town on Hidden Dragon Island. The town was in a small basin on the Island, which was surrounded by forest. Its prosperity was not worse than those on the mainland. They then ran across the town from the hillside in the east of the town.

"Argh, I didn't imagine that there could be such great towns on Hidden Dragon Island!" Zhang Tie sighed.

Hearing Zhang Tie's sigh, Zhang Houyu who kept running by lowering his head almost gasped as he could not even speak fluently at this moment. He had never imagined that Zhang Tie could still speak without even panting.

"This is...White Dragon Town...there are... a total of five towns...on...Hidden Dragon Island...Besides White Dragon Town...there are Cyan Dragon Town...Yellow Dragon Town...Black Dragon Town...and Blue Dragon Town." Gritting his teeth, Zhang Houyu kept muttering intermittently. The oncoming wind filled into his mouth, almost causing him to cough.

At this moment, Zhang Houyu had inwardly confirmed that the ancestral bloodline that Zhang Tie had awakened must be related to running. If not, he could never have such amazing stamina and running ability as a youth who looked 1-2 years younger than him.

After following Zhang Houyu running for less than less than half an hour, they finally arrived at Hidden Dragon Palace. It was a combination of three castles built on a steep location with beautiful scenery, which extended to the top of the mountain. The castles were connected with each other by various types of villas and pavilions that hid in the woods. It looked pretty magnificent. With only a glance at these buildings, Zhang Tie could tell that Huaiyuan Palace was truly rich.

A 20m high memorial archway marked with "Hidden Dragon Palace" was erected in front of Zhang Tie. Under the memorial archway were two huge and magnificent stone lions.

"This...this is Hidden Dragon Palace. When you enter there...you will see someone greeting you inside!"

After saying this, Zhang Houyu had already left before Zhang Tie said thanks.

Zhang Tie scratched his head as he felt Zhang Houyu's attitude was a bit weird. He didn't know that this "elder" who brought him to the Hidden Dragon Palace had been so embarrassed on the way due to Zhang Tie's great endurance. Therefore, the moment he arrived at the destination, he hurriedly escaped.

...

After taking a deep breath, Zhang Tie touched his clan plate as he entered the memorial archway. He walked towards the first castle at the foot of the mountain. The guardians outside the castle were all young. At the sight of Zhang Tie, a young man less than 20 years old moved forward on his own. After seeing Zhang Tie's clan plate and understanding Zhang Tie's intention, the young man took Zhang Tie inside the castle.

...

Several minutes later...

"Zhang Tie, 15, level 5 warrior. Having awakened a bloodline for the first time. It's your first time entering Hidden Dragon Palace. Here's the key to your room, No. 73 of Xingzhi Department. Here's the map of Hidden Dragon Island. You can go to register in Xingzhi Department today. Before you leave, you can reconfirm whether you've already handed in all your money. We've recorded your money, 8 gold coins and 13 silver coins in total. Before you leave Hidden Dragon Palace, we will return it back to you. If you are found to have hidden money privately, even one copper coin, the result would be very severe!" A 60-year old man with an obscene look and a goatee stood behind a high counter like an owner of a pawnshop. He pushed a key, a map and something else in front of Zhang Tie as he raised his head to warn Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie had not imagined that the first step was to hand in all of his money when he entered the Hidden Dragon Palace. Besides this money, he had 5000 gold coins and 5000 gold coin notes in the Castle of Black Iron, which was his reserve funds. There were the remains of the returns by auctioning the ring of energy after Zhang Tie went to the Blackhot City and gave a part of them to his elder brother.

"Excuse me. Don't I have to pay for buying items on Hidden Dragon Island and in Hidden Dragon Palace? Why should I have to hand in my private money?"

"Of course, it requires money on Hidden Dragon Island and in Hidden Dragon Palace. It even requires a lot of money. Money is required everywhere. But for we apprentices of Hidden Dragon Palace, we have to make each copper coin on the Island, instead of from home!" This voice came from Zhang Tie's back. Zhang Tie looked back and found four youths at this age walked towards him, each carrying a wire sack.

The four youths only wore a simple coarse-cloth velvet. They were oozing sweat. It seemed that the items on their back were very heavy. The taller youth in the front was better while the skin of the faces and arms of other three youths behind him were as dry as bark and were cracking in places. Zhang Tie could imagine their former tender look.

Because their forehead corners sweated too heavily, fine white salt granules could be seen over there. Their cracking skins were dipping in their sweat, causing their eye corners twitch out of control.

The moment they drew close to him, Zhang Tie could smell the sea odor on them. Zhang Tie took a look at the fine wounds on their arms and hands. If they were not here, they would definitely be taken as being mistreated in other places.

"Newbie?" That youth in the front asked Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie nodded.

"Follow us then, we're also from the Zhixing Department!" The front youth replied.

"Hahahaha, welcome to Hidden Dragon Palace!" Another youth whose face was like the crust of cooked rice seemed as though he wanted to laugh as he saw Zhang Tie's dumbfounded look. However, the moment he forced a smile, he controlled it...

This Hidden Dragon Palace seems to be different than what it was in my imagination.