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Chapter 275: The First Pass in the Secular World

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

Walking behind the juveniles and observing them teetering and gritting teeth with wire sacks on their back, Zhang Tie started to feel a bit weird about Hidden Dragon Palace.

Before coming to Hidden Dragon Palace, Zhang Tie also imagined the scene when he entered it for the first time. In his imagination, an immortal old man with wholly white hair and a beard was holding a pile of secret books to teach students; a perverted one-eyed coach was strictly training plenty of juveniles under the hot sun; great piles of various marvelous weapons and fighting skills books were put in front of him which made it hard to even choose. Zhang Tie had fantasized all kinds of scenes with the exception of that where some mistreated slave laborers were teasing him——welcome to Hidden Dragon Palace

Among the four juveniles in front of Zhang Tie, the weakest one was in the back with a wire sack on his back. He was also the shortest one. The moment he walked out of the castle and stepped onto the steps of the mountain pass, this juvenile suddenly felt soft on his feet as he continued forward. Thankfully, Zhang Tie, who was behind him, had a pair of sharp eyes and caught the wire sack on his back to keep his balance.

"Can I help you?" Zhang Tie smiled as he directly took over the sack from the juvenile's back. The weight of the wire sack was less than 150 kgs, which was trivial for Zhang Tie. After taking over the sack, Zhang Tie found the skin on his shoulder had been broken, exposing a bloody skin.

"Argh, no need, I will be alright soon..." With tears rolling in the juvenile's eye sockets, the juvenile kept it from dropping off.

"Yunfei, are you okay?" The stronger juvenile in the front stopped as he turned back to ask.

"It's okay, I lost my footing just now and almost fell down."

"Hold on a little longer, we'll soon arrive at the Items Center."

"That's fine!" The juvenile called Yunfei responded as he looked at Zhang Tie, "Thank you, but I have to carry the sack over there by myself. If you help me carry them there, they will not pay me. This is the rule of Hidden Dragon Palace——no other's assistance is allowed when one performs labor."

Seeing the juvenile called Yunfei being so persistent and learning the rules here, Zhang Tie then returned the sack back to this juvenile as he became increasingly curious about the rules of Hidden Dragon Palace.

They then kept walking upward. Thankfully, less than 100 m away on the stone steps, Zhang Tie had heard a bell ringing.

Walking through the bamboo woods and the shallow stream, Zhang Tie saw the smoking chimney and the blast furnace outside the tall wall while a house with a courtyard marked with "Items Center" appeared in front of Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie and some juveniles then entered the courtyard. On the left of the first door was a warehouse. Zhang Tie followed the juveniles into the warehouse and pulled the items out of the sacks. After that, they weighed them on the scale. Zhang Tie found all the items inside their sacks were ores that radiated a pale blue metallic luster.

The housekeeper was also a 15-16 juvenile. As he weighed them, he told them the weight. After that, he would take money out of the drawer beside him and gave it to the juveniles one by one, making them very happy.

"The total price of 241 kg of navy-blue iron ore is 24 silver coins..."

...

"The total price of 203 kg of navy-blue iron ore is 20 silver coins..."

...

"The total price of 195 kg of navy-blue iron ore is 19 silver coins..."

...

"The total price of 148 kg of navy-blue iron ore is 14 silver coins..."

"Argh, it's too pitiful. With 2kg more, Yunfei would get 15 silver coins!" Another guy sighed. Hearing their words, Zhang Tie found that juvenile called Yunfei was slightly clenching his fists. Meanwhile, Zhang Tie understood the terms of payment——10 kg of navy-blue iron ore for 1 silver coin. Those less than 10 kg would not be included inside.

"You will also come here later on." That stronger juvenile put his money in his pocket as he told Zhang Tie.

"Does everyone entering Hidden Dragon Palace have to do these things?" Zhang Tie asked.

"Yes, everyone entering the Hidden Dragon Palace should at least submit 30000 kg of navy-blue iron ore at first so as to gain 30 gold coins as your personal property on the island. It's mandatory." The juvenile turned back as he recalled something, "Oh, I'm Zhang Keliang, what's your name?"

"I'm Zhang Tie!"

"I'm Wei Wei!" That juvenile who told Zhang Tie "Welcome to Hidden Dragon Palace" also introduced himself.

"I'm Zhang Hongsheng!"

"I'm Zhang Yunfei!"

After introductions, they all felt more familiar with each other.

"Come on, let's go back to take a good rest. In order to bring these ores back, we've been staying outside for almost 2 days. We will take a rest today to recover before going back there tomorrow." Zhang Keliang wove his hand and said while the others nodded.

After that, Zhang Tie and the others left the Items Center.

The Zhixing Department was not far from the Items Center. Walking out of the gate of the Items Center, they walked 200 m towards the east of the hillside along the stone path in the bamboo woods before arriving there. On the way there, through their introductions, Zhang Tie gradually understood many things.

People had to face the most important first hurdle in the secular world——making money!

In regards to money, you can despise it by treating it as dung, but you could need it at any time. Therefore, you have to accept its importance.

All the juveniles entering the Hidden Dragon Palace should first learn how to survive on their own on the island instead of mastering great fighting skills, secret knowledge, poems and ancient Chinese classics or the laws on ruling the country.

Each new arrival lived in the Zhixing Department. They were given 3 days to adapt to the living environment here, during which period, you can eat and live for free. After 3 days, you had to think about how to survive on the island as by then the Zhixing Department would not provide you food or accommodation for free.

One had to pay 5 silver coins for the lodging and 2 silver coins for food, namely 7 silver coins each day in the Zhixing Department. Credit was allowed, but an interest of 5 cents a day was also required. It would be calculated as compound interest. When your credit was as high as 1 gold coin, if you couldn't pay it off, sorry, you had to roll out of the Hidden Dragon Palace and stay wherever you had to stay.

"Do you mean one can leave the Hidden Dragon Island then?" Zhang Tie asked.

"Leave Hidden Dragon Island?" Wei Wu gritted his mouth and mocked, "No more than dream of it, those driven out of Hidden Dragon Palace are not allowed to leave the island at all. Instead, they have to make money to pay off their credit on the island. If one owed 1 gold coin to Hidden Dragon Palace when he was driven out of it, he had to pay off 2 gold coins in 2 weeks at the compound interest of 5 cents a day. After 1 month, one had to pay off 4 gold coins. The longer one lasted, the more one would owe. Those people being driven out of the Hidden Dragon Palace might not able to pay off in the rest of their lives if they could not pay off the debt in half a year and have to stay on the island for the rest of their lives..."

"Stay on the island for the rest of their lives?" Zhang Tie felt very chilly inside, "Is there anyone like that?"

"There is!" Zhang Keliang replied, "Those people who could not pay off 1 gold coin and could not even survive alone on the island could only be regarded as trash by their clans. It's better to keep them on Hidden Dragon Island safe and sound than letting them out to be killed or stir up troubles."

"There are rules on Hidden Dragon Palace in the Zhixing Department. If you go there, you would know that you need money in many places..." Zhang Yunfei added.

As they chatted, they had arrived at the Xingzhi Department.

The Xingzhi Department as a whole was like a huge triple-layer quadrangle. There were all sorts of pavilions, terraces and fish ponds and a martial-arts arena that covered 1334-2001 square meters. On the martial-arts arena, there are all kinds of drill weapons. When they arrived, Zhang Tie saw nobody else except for an old man in green clothes sitting under a persimmon tree outside the gate of the Zhixing Department who was staring blankly at a stone desk under the tree. He could only hear chirps of birds and insects in the courtyard, which made it very tranquil.

"Have you seen that old man? He has been staying on the island for more than 50 years as he could not make enough money to pay off his debts when he was young. Because he's old now and is a member of Zhang clan, he was brought back by Hidden Dragon Palace and is responsible for watching the gate for Zhixing Department!" Zhang Hongsheng murmured to Zhang Tie.

"Argh!" Zhang Tie became really startled.

"What are you shouting loudly over there for? I've just thought up a marvelous play step, yet was driven away by your noise. Look at your disheveled hair and dirty face, where are your elders? I will definitely let them teach you well!" It seemed that their words had disturbed the old man as he raised his head to blame Zhang Tie and the others. After that, he took out of a black player from the side of the desk and lowered his head again with frowning eyebrows to consider the next step on the desk like before.

Zhang Tie and the others exchanged glances at each other and stuck out their tongues as they hurriedly walked inside.

"Room No. 73 is over there. The rules and instructions of Hidden Dragon Place are on the stele in the pavilion beside the pond." Zhang Keliang pointed at the two places in the Xingzhi Department, "We will eat supper at 6 pm in that canteen over there. We need to go back to our rooms to take a rest first!"

"Fine." Zhang Tie nodded as he departed from the others.

Zhang Tie held his key and came in front of No. 73 room. When he opened the door, Zhang Tie stared blankly at the empty room for quite a while.

Nothing was inside the room except for a bald wooden board bed.

"F*ck!"

...

10 minutes later, after recognizing the reality of his situation, Zhang Tie went to the pavilion which held the rules and instructions of Hidden Dragon Palace and read them carefully. He then gradually understood the situation of the Hidden Dragon Palace.

Those who came to the Xingzhi Department were all new arrivals of Hidden Dragon Palace. All the newbies had to meet two minimum standards before left Xingzhi Department: first, reach level 6 to become a fighter and form battle qi; second, submit 30000 kg of navy-blue iron ores.

After leaving the Xingzhi Department and entering Lingtian Department which was 1 level higher, one would start his or her life within Hidden Dragon Palace. Entering the Lingtian Department, one could enjoy more of the resources belonging to Hidden Dragon Palace. Accordingly, one should pay more there. Although one needed to pay at least 7 silver coins for lodging and food each day in the Zhixing Department, the fee would become at least 30 gold coins per month, almost 1 gold coin a day.

The 30 gold coins that one gained by submitting 30000 kg of navy-blue iron ores in the Xingzhi Department could only afford one's first month's living in Lingtian Department.

Reading this, Zhang Tie almost swore out loud, "1 gold a day, for a presidential suite?"

However, another paragraph on the stele made Zhang Tie calm down at once.

——Money was an influential power. It was one's basis for freedom. If one could not make enough money, freedom would be an illusion.

Zhang Tie gradually understood the real meaning of those rules in the Hidden Dragon Palace——to force each one here to strive for "freedom with money". The best attitude to money was to step on it ferociously instead of spitting towards it and being stepped on by it. The former attitude belonged to the powerful ones while the latter one belonged to the weak ones...

Those who could survive on their own on Hidden Dragon Island which was covered with powerful creatures and dangerous environment, could definitely make money to survive when they were back on the mainland. What the Hidden Dragon Palace would like to train were not those "powerhouses" who could not even survive by themselves by doing hard labor and finally had to be restricted by others.

After knowing that, Zhang Tie instantly accepted the rules on money inside Hidden Dragon Palace, instead of being disgusted by them like before.

'It's just making money, I don't think that I will lose out to anyone else on this aspect. If others can do it, I can do it too, even by imitating them!' Zhang Tie mumbled.

When he read the rest of the rules and instructions of Hidden Dragon Palace, Zhang Tie finally found a benefit to entering Hidden Dragon Palace.

All the people who had awakened their ancestral bloodlines could gain 100 clan donation points automatically, which, for those people who had no foundations in martial arts, could be exchanged for some simple and fundamental secret techniques or fighting skills to help them form battle qi, breakthrough level 6 and finish the initial task of submitting 30000 kg of navy-blue iron ores.

Those navy-blue iron ores were not on the land, instead, in the sea. Before one carried those navy-blue iron ores from under sea level, one needed to master a secret technique that allowed them to stay underwater and move freely.

Preliminary Fish-like Diving Skill——

Exchange price: 50 clan donation points.

Exchange site: Secret Technique Pavilion of Hidden Dragon Palace.

When he read this news, Zhang suddenly came up with an idea, "I wonder what kind of fruit can I gain by setting free fishes..."

Chapter 276: The Secret of Battle Qi

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

Early on the second morning, before the sun rose, Zhang Tie had already fumbled around and arrived at the Secret Technique Pavilion of Hidden Dragon Palace.

The Secret Technique Pavilion of Hidden Dragon Palace was a 7-floor octagon. It was a traditional Chinese building like a pagoda. He had already caught sight of it when he was at the foot of the mountain.

The Secret Technique Pavilion of Hidden Dragon Palace opened 3 days a week, from 7 am to 3 pm. Zhang Tie had planned to arrive here at 8 am.

The moment he entered the gate of the Secret Knowledge Pavilion, Zhang Tie saw a 60-odd-year-old man sitting before a large tea table in the middle of the lobby on the first floor. He was leisurely tasting tea over there. The moment Zhang Tie entered the gate, he smelt the dense fragrance of tea.

Noticing Zhang Tie enter, the old man cast a glance at Zhang Tie as he put down the teacup and politely asked, "Young man, what do you want to learn, the preliminary fish-like diving skill or a battle qi technique?"

Zhang Tie estimated that the old man must have known that he was new here. That was why the old man directly asked upon seeing him.

Zhang Tie wanted to learn the preliminary fish-like diving skill; however, when he heard the old man mentioning the battle qi, Zhang Tie's heart had raced, "Can you tell me about battle qi?"

The old man cast another look at Zhang Tie, "You can exchange for one of the five battle qi techniques with 50 clan contribution points here; they are Fury-Wave Battle Qi, Robust-Ox Battle Qi, Raging-Flame Battle Qi, New-Crescent Battle Qi and Iron-Blood Battle Qi!"

Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could also learn Iron-Blood Battle Qi at the Secret Technique Pavilion. He was a bit amazed about that. However, after thinking for a second, he had already thought it through. For the battle qi and secret fighting skill that was widely spread in the Waii Subcontinent, even the entire Blackson Human Clan Corridor, how could it not exist in Hidden Dragon Palace?

"Can you explain the features of the different battle qi?" As he had no teacher, Zhang Tie had not been familiar with much fundamental knowledge till now.

"Fury-Wave Battle Qi is powerful when one fights in the water; Robust-Ox Battle Qi could greatly improve one's strength; Raging-Flame Battle Qi could scorch enemy's skin; New-Crescent Battle Qi could improve the cultivator's fighting strength in the darkness and at night; Iron-Blood Battle Qi is extremely overbearing and unrivaled which could overcome many other battle qis. It was a secret technique of the imperial household of Norman Empire. Iron-Blood Battle Qi was a high-end battle qi, which would not be easily provided for you; however, it had been widely spread and could be hardly formed as less than 1 out of 10000 people could form Iron-Blood Battle Qi. Therefore, we put it here together with other basic battle qi. If you have just started your cultivation, I suggest you to choose one of the previous battle qis to cultivate to avoid wasting time." The old man patiently explained.

Zhang Tie became a bit pleased inside as he had not imagined that the Iron-Blood Battle Qi that he was cultivating could win such a high praise in Hidden Dragon Palace.

"If I choose a battle qi now, do I have to give it up when I meet other better battle qis in the future? Will it waste my time?"

Zhang Tie thought about it as he asked. Zhang Tie believed that there must be many collections of high-end battle qi techniques and fighting skills if so many battle qis are provided for newbies. If those people cultivating these basic battle qis at the beginning met any high-end battle qi techniques due to chance, will they give up cultivating them?

After asking this question, Zhang Tie found the old man becoming a bit stunned as he stared at him for quite a while like looking something strange. Zhang Tie remembered that it was like how some residents of Blackhot City saw those people who had been living in the wild.

"Hasn't anyone taught you about the properties and relevant theories on basic battle qi?"

Zhang Tie smirked as he scratched his head.

Seeing Zhang Tie's behaviors, the old man understood instantly, "No one is born with battle qi. Upon final analysis, battle qi is just a tool, which could be produced due to each one's potential and hard work. Because of different manufacturing methods, the tools also became different in terms of looks and effects. The functions of these tools would also be different for the same people. You can understand the alleged high-end battle qi as a tool being made of more sophisticated materials in more complex patterns with more powerful functions. Although these tools have more functions than that of the low-level tools, there was no essential difference between them. These surplus functions could be regarded as an upgrade of the previous tools. Am I clear?"

Zhang Tie nodded. He seemed to understand a bit, but he was still confused.

"Battle qi is a tool; however, the greatest difference between it and those tools that we usually see is that battle qi is born to be shaped. Its shape is not fixed when it is produced just like other tools in our daily life. The flexibility of battle qi is like plasticine. As long as you constantly add materials to it, you will gradually make a breakthrough and add new abilities to its original foundation. You can also directly use more plasticine with more functions to completely cover the smaller one. It will not be wasteful."

"You mean, if I practice Raging-Wave Battle Qi, I could also practice high-end battle qi in the future. In that way, my high-end battle qi not only has a higher starting point than others but also might have the feature of Raging-Wave Battle Qi——being powerful in water?"

"That's true. Different battle qis could be integrated with each other like how different tools could be combined. After the combination, the power of the battle qi would be much greater!"

Hearing such words, Zhang Tie instantly became thrilled, "According to you, the more battle qis a person practices, the greater he will be?"

The old man revealed a smile, "Young man, if you weld a pair of pliers with a screwdriver, you can truly turn them into a new tool with more functions. However, if you weld a pair of pliers that weighs 1 kg with the head of a steamer that weighs 2000 tons, what will you get? Can the pair of pliers still play its role? If you want to exert the functions of each battle qi after combining them, you have to follow the Equivalence Principle. If the two battle qi are greatly different in content, the functions of the battle qi with less content might not be exerted."

"What's the Equivalence Principle?"

"The Equivalence Principle is the most important principle in cultivating battle qi. You will know about it in the later. As you have not yet formed battle qi, you don't know the situation and feeling after level 6. Each one's battle qi could be measured by quantity and quality. The world of battle qi is very mysterious which can't be thoroughly explained in a short while. You should keep in mind that you reap where you sow. Especially on the road of cultivation, you have to practice hard. A person who's absent-minded in practicing Raging-Wave Battle Qi for 3 years and a higher-end battle qi for 4 years might not be able to defeat a person who had tried his full efforts to practice Raging-Wave Battle Qi for 10 years. Neither might he defeat a person who has practiced hard a high-end battle qi for 6 years!"

Zhang Tie was suddenly enlightened...

"Of course, there are also powerhouses who could combine different kinds of battle qi very well. Those who could do that have always been exceptions. However, among the three roads of upgrading and expanding battle qi, the combination of battle qi is more difficult. It can't be easily achieved. Comparatively, if someone has the chance and ability to form high-end battle qi, it would be better to use high-end battle qi to swallow low-end battle qi. In that way, although the attributes and functions of high-end battle qi could not be extended, one could increase the accumulation of high-end battle qi on absolute quantity at once. For the third road...", the old man shook his head as he picked up the teacup and slightly blew over it...

"What about the third road?"

"Fewer people can succeed on the third road. After forming battle qi, one might have a very small chance to promote his or her battle qi to another level and gain some more attributes and abilities. It's accidental and hardly duplicated. It's as rare as winning the lottery. After explaining so much to you, have you made your decision?"

"I've decided!"

"Which battle qi will you choose?" The old man solemnly asked as he picked up his teacup.

Zhang Tie seriously said, "I've decided to choose the preliminary fish-like diving skill..."

"Pfft..." The old man instantly spit out his tea. Seemingly choking, he coughed for quite awhile before recovering his composure.

The old man glared at Zhang Tie while the latter spread his arms in an innocent way, "We have to learn it."

Hearing Zhang Tie's explanation, the old man almost coughed again...

...

1 hour later, Zhang Tie touched his head which was in pain due to the old man's flick and left the Secret Technique Pavilion. He kept walking as he was recalling the preliminary fish-like diving skill that he had learned for the first time. The alleged great truths were the simplest; however, Zhang Tie had not imagined that the preliminary fish-like diving skill could be that simple. He just needed to constantly practice in order to master it.

According to the old man, as long as one mastered the preliminary fish-like diving skill, after practice, one could be able to dive longer than 15 minutes in water. Additionally, this secret technique is related to a person's spirit energy. The higher a person's spirit energy is, the longer they could he stay in the water.

When he returned to the Xingzhi Department, Zhang Tie saw that Zhang Kejie and the other guys had already prepared everything well and were waiting for him to head over in order to carry more navy-blue iron ores.

"Have you learned it?" Zhang Yunfei asked Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie nodded.

"Let's go make money then!" Wei Wu made a weird noise as the others burst out loud laughing and left...

Chapter 277: A Good Practice in the Sea

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

There was a beach covered with dense reefs to the west of Hidden Dragon Island. Only one tortuous path was accessible from the beach to the 100-m high steep cliff. The reefs on this beach were different from those in other places as these reefs slightly radiated a blue metallic luster. The beach was called Iron Ore Beach, where people on Hidden Dragon Island got the navy-blue iron ores from.

It was noon when the hot sun was like fire in the sky. Over the sea, near the Iron Ore Beach, more than 20 juveniles were working hard to get navy-blue iron ores out of the sea.

The exposed reefs in the sea stopped ships from drawing close but became the best bases for those juveniles who were getting navy-blue iron ores out of the sea.

With the rippling of the water, Zhang Tie exposed his head beside a reef as large as a house. He heavily breathed in the fresh air over the sea and spat out all the dirty air out from his body as he slightly rose and fell along with the waves.

"Zhang Tie...will you take a rest? As it's already noon, come here to eat something..." Zhang Hongsheng, who had been tired and was lying on the reef greeted Zhang Tie with a faint smile.

Beside Zhang Hongsheng was Wei Wuying, lying in the shape of the Chinese character "大" like a salty fish, who was too tired to utter a sound

With another ripple of the waves, Zhang Yunfei whose face turned a bit white revealed his head out of the water beside the reef and forcefully swam and climbed onto the reef before faintly laying down.

"I have a bit strength left. I can dive again." After talking loudly to Zhang Hongsheng, Zhang Tie made another dive by kicking the water by his feet.

"How...how long has Zhang Tie dived for this time?" Zhang Yunfei gasped as he asked Zhang Hongsheng.

"It's been almost 20 minutes. Damn, what a freak!" Wei Wu sat on the reef as he gritted his teeth and said, "This guy only knew how to swim like a dog yesterday and didn't even know how to dive. He couldn't even hold himself underwater. In order to learn how to dive, he had to foolishly hug a huge stone and jump into the sea, causing the other guys laugh loudly. I'd never have imagined that he could really learn how to dive in such a stupid way. Only after practicing for one day, this guy has already been impatient to make money here..."

"Alas, don't mention it anymore. If you keep talking about him, I'll lose face. Having been here for over a month, I could only stay underwater for 15 minutes. However, this guy has already been able to stay underwater longer than me on his second day. Comparisons are just..." Zhang Hongsheng sighed, "The ancestral bloodline that this guy has awakened might be related to water. I've heard about this bloodline in the Palace before."

The juveniles chatted on the reef while they heard movement in the water. It was Zhang Keliang who popped his head out beside the reef. After gasping for quite awhile, Zhang Keliang looked over the reef and asked, "Where's Zhang Tie? Has he come up?"

"Yes, he's already come up, but he dived in again..." Zhang Yunfei replied.

"This guy is really..." Zhang Keliang forced a bitter smile as he took two breaths and dived in again.

...

There were beautiful coral reefs beside him. Cute little fish were swimming across the coral reefs. The sea water near Iron Ore Beach was as translucent as a mirror. The sunlight cast on the sea caused large patches of fish-scale-like light shadows. It was an enchanting sight.

It was a brilliant world under the sea, which could never be matched on land.

Zhang Tie was like a clumsy yet curious little fish. With his eyes widely opened, Zhang Tie enjoyed the unprecedented fantastic submarine world as he tried his best to swim towards the nearest oceanic trench.

The topography in the sea was very weird as there were all sorts of deep trenches whose width varied from 10 plus meters to dozens of meters. The deep trenches became wider and deeper. The drop between the two trenches would be over 10 m. Those navy-blue iron ores were buried in the sands in the deep trenches.

These deep trenches were really like they had been carved due to the movements of glaciers several million years ago. Zhang Tie didn't know why these special navy-blue iron ores were buried here. However, now that there were exposed iron ores on the land, it was not weird to see such things in the sea.

Of course, all the navy-blue iron ores near Hidden Dragon Island belonged to Huaiyuan Palace.

As Zhang Tie had just learned how to dive, he was not adept at diving. Although he could hold his breath for a long while, he could only look for navy-blue iron ores in the oceanic trenches at the depth of over 30 m.

However, those juveniles in Zhixing Department who were better at diving could reach 50 m or deeper into the sea to look for navy-blue iron ores. The deeper they could dive, the more navy-blue iron ores could they find.

There were green marine plants that looked like water weeds in the oceanic trenches. Under these plants were a layer of soft silver-like fine sands. The navy-blue iron ores were buried under these fine sands. A part of some bigger ones could be seen above the sands, radiating a faint blue luster. There was a sharp comparison between these ores and the surrounding environment in color.

The moment Zhang Tie found two fist-sized navy-blue iron ores from the sands of a sea trench and was preparing to put them into the wire sack no far away, Zhang Keliang had already swum towards him and made some hand gestures to Zhang Tie, telling him to pay attention to his surroundings.

Zhang Tie then nodded in the water. It was not absolutely safe in these waters. It was said that there were guardians of Lingtian Department in the distant waters who were arranged to kill those dangerous and mutated marine creatures near the Iron Ore Beach, such as mutated magical sharks.

However, there were also many dangerous creatures below the water within 1 square kilometer of Iron Ore Beach such as poisonous sea serpents, which once bit, their poison would kill a person in five minutes if one didn't take the antidote.

The price of the antidote per vial against sea serpents was 20 silver coins, which would be taken by everyone here besides dried rations, except for Zhang Tie who had not yet made even one silver coin.

This time, Zhang Tie stayed under water for less than 20 minutes. After collecting ten more kg of navy-blue iron ores, Zhang Tie gradually felt it hard to breathe. He then insisted on another 1-2 minutes. When he felt that he had stayed a bit longer than last time, Zhang Tie returned once again and revealed his head above the water. After gasping twice, he swam back to the reef and climbed onto it.

The Preliminary fish-like diving skill was also a skill that required increasing amounts of practice before one was adept in its use.

However, Zhang Tie had already reached this in two days, which already surprised many people. Nevertheless, Zhang Tie still didn't feel pleased about it. Zhang Tie felt that he was still not adept at holding his breath while moving flexibly in the water and had not fully exerted the essence of the Preliminary fish-like diving skill.

"I should make it better!" Zhang Tie mumbled. However, when he looked at Zhang Yunfei and the other pals when they watched him, Zhang Tie knew that he should not be too anxious about that and could only slowly improve it like how he practiced the Iron-Blood Fist Skill.

Although he could still dive many times due to his strong body, Zhang Tie didn't want to stand out too much. Therefore, he also climbed onto the reef to eat his dried rations and took a rest under the sun.

Several minutes later, Zhang Keliang also swam onto the reef. Sitting on the reef, he took a rest while drinking water and eating dried rations.

From the early morning to now, the five people had worked for 4-5 hours underwater. With the exception of Zhang Tie, all the others felt very tired.

Looking at the vast sea and eating the dried meat and preserved fruits in his hand, Zhang Tie felt like returning to the New Crescent Prairie as the water waves were like the grass waves across the prairie.

Thinking of the New Crescent Prairie and those wild wolves, Zhang Tie forcefully slapped his forehead as he swore inside, "Zhang Tie, how stupid you are?! How could you forget such a thing? It's just a Preliminary fish-like diving skill, would it be as sophisticated as the Iron-Blood Fist Skill? Have you forgotten how you practiced your Iron-Blood Fist Skill? Have you forgotten your Trouble-Reappearance Fruit?'

"Hahahaha..." Zhang Tie suddenly burst out laughing loudly, causing Wei Wu and Zhang Keliang glance at him.

"What's wrong with you?" Wei Wu asked.

"I was thinking of a funny thing..." Zhang Tie said mysterious manner.

"What's that?"

"I realized that I haven't seen sea serpents!"

"Argh? Lunatic..." Wei Wu twitched his mouth as the others showed the whites of their eyes to Zhang Tie.

"Where can we find sea serpents?" Zhang Tie asked Wei Wu.

"Are you seeking death or have you made enough money? A vial of antidote for sea serpents would cost you 20 silver coins. That's one day's work!" Zhang Hongsheng urged.

"It doesn't matter. I want to see how sea serpents look so as to prepare for their attack in case I'm ever bitten. Even if I was bitten, I could borrow your antidote first and pay you back when I get enough money!" Zhang Tie explained innocently.

"Do you really want to see what sea serpents look like?" Zhang Keliang seriously looked at Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie nodded.

"Over there..." Zhang Keliang pointed at the sea with some desk-sized reefs exposed out of the water 100 m away to the left, "They are over there. There is a wide area of red kelp forest in the water over there. I was bitten by sea serpents over there last month. These sea serpents like to hide in seaweed. There are black and white circular grains on them."

"I will take a look over there..." After saying this, Zhang Tie stood up from the reef and dived into the sea once again before rapidly swimming towards the sea serpents.

Chapter 278: A Good Practice in the Sea II

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

Within one day, Zhang Tie had upgraded his swimming from a doggy paddle to a freestyle.

The kelp forest was over 100 m away; however, it took Zhang Tie less than two minutes to reach the place where Zhang Keliang had pointed to by easily moving his arms in the water. He then took a deep breath before diving into the sea.

After diving deeper than 10 meters, Zhang Tie had already seen a great area of red seaweed at the bottom of the sea. They were as tall as a person and were slowly waving along with the surging seawater. The bottom of the forest was like a fire while a great shoal of finger-long silverfish was swimming around there like changing clouds, making it very beautiful.

Because there were sea serpents and not too many navy-blue iron ores here, few people would like to pick up navy-blue iron ores here. Only Zhang Tie who had a special purpose would be here.

When he drew close to the seaweeds, Zhang Tie had become very careful and started to look for his target.

Within three minutes, before Zhang Tie noticed one, a sea serpent had already found him. When Zhang Tie swam across the red seaweeds, a fierce sea serpent instantly launched out of the reefs, intending to bite Zhang Tie's shin.

Thankfully, the sea serpent didn't swim very fast in the sea. The moment it drilled out, its black-and-white grains had already formed a sharp contrast with the surrounding colors and was noticed by Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie immediately pulled back his feet and rapidly turned around. He slightly moved his hands to remain balanced in the sea while directly facing the sea serpent.

It was a 2-m long sea serpent with a terrifying head. Its tail was flat, making it look like an eel.

Even though sea serpents were not good swimmers, it could definitely swim faster than Zhang Tie. It was impossible to outrun the sea serpent. Therefore, Zhang Tie just stayed to wait for its attack.

Although failing to hit Zhang Tie, the sea serpent didn't leave; instead, it swam around Zhang Tie once before launching another attack towards Zhang Tie's arm, as was expected by Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie didn't move until it almost bit his arm when he instantly stretched out another hand and seized the place where its heart was. All in a sudden, the sea serpent tightly wrapped Zhang Tie's arm. Feeling its great strength, Zhang Tie became a bit amazed. He was wondering whether this sea serpent was mutated or not as he felt it was very powerful. Ordinary people might not be able to deal with it when being wrapped by this 2-m long sea serpent, no matter where it was.

However, for Zhang Tie, the fight between him and the sea serpent had already ended the moment he touched its body. After calmly assessing its strength, Zhang Tie had already infused his iron-blood untouchable strength into its body. If he used iron-blood hidden strength, the sea serpent must have become a bloody fog; however, with iron-blood untouchable strength, Zhang Tie could display his greater controlling force and destructive power.

In a split second, under the impact of iron-blood untouchable strength, each bone of this sea serpent became a fine powder. However, no wound was found on the sea serpent at all.

The sea serpent was like a lifeless soft rope which slid into the seaweeds from Zhang Tie's arm.

"Two more!" Zhang Tie told himself before he continued to search for them among the seaweeds more carefully.

After 20 minutes, Zhang Tie exposed his head out of the water and took two breaths before diving again.

After 10 more minutes, Zhang Tie swam back.

"Have you seen the sea serpents?" The others who were resting on the reef asked Zhang Tie.

"Yes, I've seen them."

"How do you feel about them?"

"They're cute." Zhang Tie smiled. They are truly cute. Without them, how could he form Trouble-Reappearance Fruit?

Zhang Tie made it!

After taking a rest at noon, everyone was busy as they entered the sea one by one to pick up navy-blue iron ores. After working for almost two hours, before the dusk arrived, the juveniles were already preparing to leave. As they had to walk over 10 km of a treacherous mountain path before arriving at the Palace, everybody could only carry a limited number of ores back.

Although it was Zhang Tie's first time to here, Zhang Tie also had some achievements as he almost lifted over 50 kg of navy-blue iron ores today. After practicing for several hours, Zhang Tie felt that he had greatly improved his diving abilities.

When they finished work, the juveniles dived into the sea again with wires in hand. They buckled one end of a wire onto a sack before returning back to the reef. They then pulled their sacks up and carried them back onto the bank using a canoe. It was a painstakingly tedious process.

After arriving at the bank, everybody started to climb the mountain while carrying the sacks full of navy-blue iron ores and walked over 10 km of a mountainous path before arriving at Hidden Dragon Palace.

Actually, Zhang Tie felt nothing by carrying over 50 kg of navy-blue iron ores as he didn't feel tired at all. However, Zhang Keliang, Zhang Yunfei, Zhang Hongsheng and Wei Wu looked pretty exhausted as their foreheads were already sweating when they arrived at the top of the mountain.

Actually, Zhang Tie really wanted to help them; however, as he had gradually realized the intention of Hidden Dragon Palace to force them to do this, he didn't do that; instead, he just watched them carrying the navy-blue iron ores up with their own strength.

Besides teaching the juveniles of Hidden Dragon Palace to learn to survive on their own, this mandatory task had other two functions: first, letting them adapt to diving as it was another survival skill. If the people on the island drowned, that would be the greatest joke and an insult to the Hidden Dragon Palace; second, during this period, the juveniles would become stronger, temper their will and develop hardworking mindsets.

No matter how weak the person was, after carrying 30000 kg of navy-blue iron ores to Hidden Dragon Palace from the sea, he would become strong. Take Zhang Yunfei as an example. He was living like a young master since he was young as his family had a steamer in Yiyang City. After he came to the Hidden Dragon Palace for one month, the young master had already learned to disregard his dignity using his weak shoulders. He started to survive on his own by working hard.

None of them had suffered this before. At this moment, everyone could only persist. No matter how well you lived before and what kind of great family you born into and what reason you had, everyone had to grit their teeth and tough it out. No one dared to show off their status and family background to seek special treatment——because——the one who held the record for weight of navy-blue iron ores when he entered the Hidden Dragon Palace was Zhang Taixuan, the head of Zhang clan, who had carried 760000 kg.

Even the head of Zhang clan had worked so hard here without any complaints like a willing ox, nobody else dared to seek any special treatment with their great family background and status.

The record was carved on the 100-m high cliff near Iron Ore Beach in scarlet letters so that each juvenile who came to Iron Ore Beach to finish task could catch sight of it the first time they arrived here. No matter how unpleased they were with the task, after reading the record, they would have to lower their heads and start working hard.

The first day Zhang came here, he was also shocked by the record and the status of the record holder.

It was an over 10 km mountainous path. It took them over one hour to go back to the Palace to submit their achievements. When they were on the way back, they kept encouraging each other although they moved slowly.

Compared to the weight two days before, they all got more ores. Zhang Yunfei carried back 152 kg' navy-blue iron ores and gained 15 silver coins. Holding the 15 silver coins, the juvenile who was a young master in the Yiyang City stared at them and cried.

"I can finally survive by myself. I can finally make above 7 silver coins a day, wu...wu...I can finally survive by myself..."

After crying, Zhang Yunfei started to laugh. From today on, his debt to Hidden Dragon Palace could be gradually paid off. Before today, Zhang Yunfei's debt to Hidden Dragon Palace had already reached 34 silver coins. As he could make 15 silver coins today, it meant that his debt would not keep growing if he kept carrying so many ores a day; instead, it would gradually decrease. For this 15-year old juvenile, it was his first time surviving on his own since he had arrived at the island for more than a half month.

Zhang Tie carried 56 kg' navy-blue iron ores today, which brought Zhang Tie 5 silver coins.

"It's really not easy. From tomorrow onward, I have to make at least 7 silver coins a day to survive on my own." After weighing the silver coins marked with a huge scale issued by Huaiyuan Palace, Zhang Tie felt it was becoming more and more interesting here. For Zhang Tie, it was of course not difficult for him to make 7 silver coins a day.

After getting their payment, everyone became very happy and returned to the Xingzhi Department together. This time, Zhang Tie found that the girls living in the Xingzhi Department also came back. Compared to the male students' task, the female students' task became relatively simpler yet not easier. When male students picked up ores, the female students had to pick up pearls in the sea. Although not requiring great labor, this task also meant great exercise for them.

There were totally 43 people in Zhixing Department, among which 31 were male students and only 12 were female students. The ratio between male and female was close to 3:1. Among the 31 male students, 23 of them were still finishing the first task at Iron Ore Beach while the other 8 male students and 2 female students had already reached level 6 and had accumulated enough money to go to Dragon Cave to form their battle qi.

Amongst peers, once there were girls, male students would always care about their own images. The other juveniles who had come back together with Zhang Tie all hurriedly returned to their own rooms to take a bath and put on new clothes so that they didn't look that awkward when eating supper together with the girls in the canteen.

Zhang Tie also returned to his room. After taking a bath, he put on his clean clothes and washed his dirty clothes before drying them in his room.

After doing all this, it was almost supper time. Therefore, Zhang Tie left his room for the canteen.

When it was supper time, almost everybody in the Zhixing Department had come back. Therefore, it looked very boisterous in the canteen. After picking up their own supper, the male and female students obviously sat on two sides of the canteen as they murmured to each other. Among them, there was a short boy whose voice was so loud. Zhang Tie glanced at those male students in that circle and realized that they were of his age had all reached level 6 and were preparing to form battle qi in the Dragon Cave.

They were talking about fighting level 6 magical beasts——the huge black spiders in Dragon Cave.

"As long as I could kill some more black spiders, I would be able to form the New Crescent Battle Qi and officially enter the Lingtian Department!" The juvenile said proudly.

"We will be there soon too. Wanjie and I killed 1 black spider. After practicing over 2 years in the Zhixing Department, it's time to show off our real strength!"

His voice gained the approval of the group.

Seeing them loudly talking about their strength while listening for the girls' responses on the other side, Zhang Tie shook his head inside, "You want to attract the girls' attention in this way? You are really innocent."

Zhang Tie had not realized that he had been utterly different from those juveniles of the same age with him after experiencing the dense "intoxication" of the girls of Rose Association.

...

"Who's Zhang Tie?"

When Zhang Tie took his supper and arrived at the table where Zhang Keliang and the other pals sat, a loud voice at the entrance of the canteen instantly arouse everybody's attention as everybody looked at that direction.

A tall, robust and handsome youth who was over 20 years old and wearing a set of black warrior clothes were standing at the entrance of the canteen and looked around the people in the canteen with his gleaming eyes.

This 20-year old youth had a pair of dense eyebrows which were as sharp as a sword and looked very powerful. His eyes presented an unknown sense of oppression, making nobody dare to look directly into his eyes.

Given that look which was a bit similar to his, Zhang Tie identified his status——his cousin!

Chapter 279: Gamble

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

It was very quiet in the canteen. Nobody knew why this person was asking for Zhang Tie. Therefore, nobody spoke but fixed their eyes on Zhang Tie.

Under many strange stares, Zhang Tie naturally stood up and walked towards the newly arrived juvenile. The moment he stood up, the juvenile had already fixed his sharp eyes on Zhang Tie's face. After seeing that Zhang Tie gazing straightly at him without any timidity, that person showed a faint smile.

Walking in front of the juvenile, Zhang Tie obediently greeted, "Cousin!"

"Good, very good! That juvenile nodded as he heavily put his hands onto Zhang Tie's shoulders,"Let's talk outside."

They then went out of the canteen.

"I didn't know that you were in Hidden Dragon Palace until I received a letter from home. How about that? Have you adapted to the living style here?"

"It's alright, I went to pick up navy-blue iron ores and made 5 silver coins today." Zhang Tie touched his nose.

"Don't ignore this task. Keep practicing your diving skills. When you enter the Lingtian Department, you will find that there are many more ways to make money. For newbies, it's not that easy to make 1 gold coin a day. If you are to excel at diving, you will have more chances to make money after entering the Lingtian Department."　

"What other tasks are there in the Lingtian Department?" Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

"When you enter the Lingtian Department, you will not be forced to perform tasks to make money. But you will have to perform some fixed tasks to gain clan contribution points. By then, if you want to make money, it will depend on your ability as there are many chances for you to make money in the sea. However, they require great diving skills. Therefore, you have to practice your diving skills well!" Zhang Tie's cousin seriously admonished.

"Thanks, cousin, I got it!"

"You are my brother, don't be so polite." Zhang Tie's cousin smiled, "Oh, what battle qi do you practice? When you reach level 6, I can take you to Dragon Cave in order to form battle qi."

"I'm practicing Iron-Blood Battle Qi."

"What?!" Hearing Zhang Tie's words, his cousin became slightly shocked, "You're ambitious; even in the Palace, there are still very few people who have formed Iron-Blood Battle Qi during the past dozens of years. This battle qi is very hard to form. So, you'd better make a plan for yourself. If you cannot form it, you'd better change to another battle qi. If you have other chances in the future, you can continue to practice advanced battle qi! Otherwise, it might take you a lot of time to reach level 6 which would be disadvantageous to you."

After feeling this cousin's good intentions, Zhang Tie modestly nodded and received his suggestion without mentioning that he almost had met no obstacle when he practiced the Iron-Blood Fist Skill, "Got it!"

Zhang Tie's cousin then continued, "There are sky-reaching stages and many opportunities that could change your fate in the Hidden Dragon Palace. However, these items are all for the truly powerful people of the Palace. You could only gain these opportunities by yourself. Nobody else can help you. It's rarely seen that two brothers of the same generation in a clan like you and me could enter Hidden Dragon Palace at the same time. It means that our clan's bloodline is very excellent and eye-catching. The relationship between you and me might be known to the public, therefore, you will catch a lot of attention here. I have two opponents in Lingtian Department, they are also cousins. I ferociously beat them down before. As you are now in the Xingzhi Department, you don't need to worry about them as they will not find trouble for you. However, when you enter Lingtian Department, they might come looking for you. You should be prepared for that."

Zhang Tie became dumbfounded, "Do you mean they will set me up?"

"Not that bad, but they could ferociously beat you up in the public according to some rules of Lingtian Department!"

"Argh..." Zhang Tie became stunned. He had never imagined that he could gain this cousin's troubles in such a way.

At the sight of Zhang Tie's expression, his cousin became bashful as he forced a smile, "At the beginning when the two brothers entered Hidden Dragon Palace, they were also very eye-catching and arrogant. I didn't like them. I had not imagined that someone else in Zhang clan could enter Hidden Dragon Palace, therefore, I thought they were from other clans and beat them up according to the rules of Lingtian Department.

Zhang Tie finally understood it. Because his cousin always beat up others, now, it was his turn to be beaten up.

When they talked, Zhang Tie saw two men entering the Zhixing Department, one was 18-19 years old while the other was as old as Zhang Tie's cousin. The two men looked similar. The moment the two entered the Zhixing Department, they had walked directly towards Zhang Tie and his cousin.

"Zhang Su, I heard you've got a brother entering the Zhixing Department. Is this the one?"

Walking over here, the two guys fixed their eyes onto Zhang Tie at once.

Zhang Tie's cousin then turned back and peered at the two men walking towards them, "This is my brother Zhang Tie. How about that? Do you want to see how you are beaten up by my brother?"

Zhang Tie realized that his cousin's mouth really drove him mad. Even if he was in such a disadvantageous position, his mouth was still unyielding.

Hearing Zhang Su's words, the two guys' smiles instantly became stiff. At the same time, their faces blushed.

"Trust me, when your brother Zhang Tie enters Lingtian Department, we will definitely 'guide" him!" That person of 18-19 years old gritted his teeth.

"I've forgotten to tell you that my brother is practicing Iron-Blood Battle Qi, you'd better not be afraid of that by then!" Zhang Tie's cousin still urged.

"Ha..." As if having heard a joke, that person who was as old as Zhang Su glanced at Zhang Tie in a contemptuous way," Do you mean to stay in Zhixing Department longer this way? This trick is too low, don't you think so?"

"You can't form Iron-Blood Battle Qi, it doesn't mean that others can't. Additionally, how would you know without having a tried?" Zhang Tie's cousin said in a calm way.

"Hahahaha...it seems that you are very confident about your brother!" The one as old as Zhang Su ridiculed as he rolled his eyes, "Zhang Su, dare you bet with me?"

"What's the wager?"

"The wager is on whether your brother could form the Iron-Blood Battle Qi."

Zhang Su slightly hesitated...

"Are you afraid? Were you not just talking about your confidence in your brother? If not, I've guessed it, your brother just wants to stay longer in Zhixing Department for this reason?" That person further urged, "If your brother can form Iron-Blood Battle Qi, I will pay you 300 gold coins. How about that? Dare you wager 300 gold coins to bet that your brother will definitely form the Iron-Blood Battle Qi?"

"300 gold coins?" Zhang Su looked at the two people as he frowned his forehead. Although this figure was not too much outside the Hidden Dragon Island, it was already a lot for people in Hidden Dragon Palace. It's not that easy to make so much money on the Hidden Dragon Island. Even though they were in Lingtian Department, many people could not make that much money in half a year. Now, Zhang Su only had a bit more than 200 gold coins. He knew that it was a trick, sending him in the dilemma by using his own words.

"Argh, I almost forgot it. As Iron-Blood Battle Qi is very hard to form, how can I profit at your expense? I remember that you don't have that much money. If you are confident about your brother, I can give you a concession. Once you can pay 200...no, once you can pay 100 gold coins, we will reach the agreement. 1 for 3, how about that?" That person pretended to be serious.

"300 gold coins, that's a deal. I don't need others to make a concession for me. I will bet with you!" Saying this, Zhang Su raised his head. He could lose a fight, but he could not lose his personality. This was what Zhang Su firmly believed.

"Fine, how long will you give your brother to form his Iron-Blood Battle Qi?"

"2 years. Before we leave the Hidden Dragon Palace, if he still couldn't form his Iron-Blood Battle Qi, you win then!"

"That's settled then!"

"It's settled!"

Zhang Su then clapped that person to settle it.

After that, the two people peered at Zhang Tie and sneered in a contempt way before left.

"Wait a moment!" Zhang Tie who was always being silent suddenly opened his mouth.

The two people then turned back and glanced at Zhang Tie.

"I will also participate in this bet. I bet that I will form Iron-Blood Battle Qi by then!"

"You? Bet what?" One of the two glanced over Zhang Tie from his head to his feet.

"I will also bet with 300 gold coins." Zhang Tie calmly said.

"Hahahaha. You're just a newbie. You won't have that much money. You'd better not cry while asking for your parents to pay for you. According to the rules in Hidden Dragon Palace, each cent you spend here, even the wager should be made by yourself on the island. How much have you made now? By what dare you bet 300 gold coins with us? No debt is allowed by then!" That person continued to look at Zhang Tie in a contempt way, "Young man, it's easy to boast, but you should concern your real ability before you bet. Do you want to say that you prepare to pick up 300 tons of navy-blue iron ores for me if you lose it, ha...ha...ha..."

"That's what I'm thinking about! I bet that if I lose it, I will go pick up 300 tons of navy-blue iron ores for you. If I cannot fulfill this bet, I will never walk out of the Hidden Dragon Island in the rest of my life" Zhang Tie faintly said.

That person's laughs suddenly ceased. At this moment, the three people fixed all of their eyes onto Zhang Tie. Even Zhang Su, the cousin of Zhang Tie seriously watched Zhang Tie, seemingly having never recognized him.

"Do you dare to take my wager?" Zhang Tie gazed at that person.

"What a joke, of course I dare. But if you lose it, I will have no time to wait for you to pick up navy-blue iron ores to exchange for 18 silver coins each day. By then, the money you exchanged for with the navy-blue iron ores might not even match the interest of the 300 gold coins. If you pick up navy-blue iron ores on the island for 20 years, do you want me to wait for your debt on the island that long? What if you cannot pay it off in the rest of your life? Who will pay it off for you? If we bet, of course, we will bet with real gold and silver coins. There's no reason for you to bet just by saying! Do you think it is that easy to make 300 gold coins on the Hidden Dragon Island?" That person sneered.

Zhang Tie had not imagined that this guy was that shrewd, "What do you want then?"

"It's very simple. Now that you want to play, certainly, it has to count when you show us your wager. Before you reach level 6 and try to form Iron-Blood Battle Qi, I will regard all the money that you make through picking up navy-blue iron ores as your wager..."

"Fine, that's settled then."

"Zhang Tie..." Zhang Su wanted to stop him.

"Cousin, as you dared to bet 300 gold coins for me to form Iron-Blood Battle Qi, dare I not bet for myself? It's nothing serious even if I lose it. Additionally, I'm thinking about picking up more navy-blue iron ores so as to practice my swimming skills and built my body. As it's our first time to meet with each other today. We will bet with them. According to a traditional Chinese phrase, father and son will go to battle hand in hand while brothers will beat tiger shoulder to shoulder. I also want to be on your side when betting."

"Fine!" Zhang Su's eyes gleamed as he loudly shouted. He had not imagined that his cousin was that manly. He felt very interesting to be a friend of Zhang Tie.

"Heh...heh, this time, we will make you brothers lose everything!" After that, he clapped with Zhang Tie's hands to show his consent to Zhang Tie's participation.

"Everybody knows that Iron-Blood Battle Qi could be hardly formed. The odds between you and my cousin is unfair. My cousin is forced to accept 1: 1 with you. For me, as I'm younger than you and don't like to suffer from a loss, how about 1: 3 between you and me? If I win, how about paying me 3 times the wager?" Zhang Tie smiled as he set a trap for that person at once.

That person had not imagined that Zhang Tie was that shrewd either who wouldn't suffer any loss at all. 'But, 3 times...' That person quickly racked his mind. "Even though the comprehensive ratio between him and Zhang Tie and Zhang Su is 1: 2, as the opponent is practicing Iron-Blood Battle Qi which was hard to accomplish even in Hidden Dragon Palace. Actually, this ratio is also quite reasonable for me. If it were others, they would never bet with me on this. But this brat looks too calm. It seems that something is wrong with him..."

"What, you don't dare to? With the exception of the imperial households of Norman Empire, across the Waii Sub-continent, the chance to form Iron-Blood Battle Qi is even less than 1 out of 10000. The rate should be at least 1:1000 to make it fair. Considering that we are all in the Hidden Dragon Palace, I set the odds between you and me at 1: 3, I've already made a concession for you by over 300 times. Do you want me to take another step back for you? How about 400 times then. Even though I'm new here and have not reached level 6, even though I have no money, I should at least show my respect to seniors. Do you want more? How about 500 times?" Zhang Tie glanced at that person with contempt. He treated that person in the same way that he treated him. With the same tone, he instantly took advantage of them. Just like how he dealt with Samira, Zhang Tie would never be polite with them.

That person then gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, 1 for 3. I will see how many navy-blue iron ores can you pick up from the sea!"

After clapping with Zhang Tie to fix the bet, the two people then left. After walking a few steps away, that person turned back and sneered, "Iron-Blood Battle Qi is not that easy to form. I hope your boast today will not become a joke across the Palace!"

After the two people walked away, Zhang Su patted Zhang Tie's shoulders, "Well done! Be a man! Don't care about the bet. Even though we may lose the bet, we will not lose face! I can still afford the several hundred gold coins. You should treat this bet as a rare experience!"

Although what Zhang Su said was to encourage Zhang Tie, he was still not confident about whether Zhang Tie could form Iron-Blood Battle Qi. What faced Zhang Tie were two tasks: to pick up navy-blue iron ores; to form Iron-Blood Battle Qi if he wanted to win. Each one of the two tasks is very difficult to achieve. Zhang Tie had no other choice now.

"Cousin, trust me, we will win." Zhang Tie revealed a smile, "I'm worried about whether that guy can pay off the wager or not."

"That guy is called Zhang Haige, who's one of the figures who are very good at finding ways to make to make money in the Lingtian Department. He has about 2000 gold coins now. But he's also known as a mean guy. If he dares to repudiate the debt, I will peel off his skin!"

"That's fine."

"Additionally, based on my acknowledgment to him, he must have thought that he's set to win this time. So, he will definitely spread the news on the bet across Hidden Dragon Palace in case we repudiate when we lose it."

"Hoho, I will let them know how it feels when they lift one rock only to drop it on their own feet..."

After chatting with Zhang Tie for awhile, Zhang Tie's cousin left.

After Zhang Tie returned to the canteen, Wei Wu and the other pals started to be very curious about that person who came here for Zhang Tie just now.

"He's my cousin." Zhang Tie briefly introduced Zhang Su without even mentioning the bet at all.

As was expected, hearing that two of Zhang Tie's family entered Hidden Dragon Palace at the same time, the other guys sitting together with Zhang Tie all became very surprised as their eyes showed a sense of curiosity.

After eating supper, the girls in Zhixing Department set up a booth in the pavilion of the courtyard. They were beautiful pairs of seashells. In the seashells was oil extracted from seashells. This kind of oil, when being pasted on face and body, could be used to protect people from being scorched by sun. It could also help recover skin after being scorched.

The cost of seashell oil was 1 silver coin a box. A great amount of boys were surrounding their booths. God knew whether they were there to buy commodities or to get acquainted with girls. Even Zhang Keliang and Wei Wu were moving there along with the masses.

After glancing at the sky and touching his 5 silver coins in his pocket, Zhang Tie left Zhixing Department.

"Zhang Tie..." Zhang Yunfei caught sight of Zhang Tie's shadow as he hurriedly shouted, "The seashell oil is nice, will you want one?"

"No need, that item is useless to me. It's purely wasting money to buy them. I'm heading for the wharf!" Zhang Tie waved his hands as he left, "Are you kidding me? As I have preliminary recovery body, do I need any seashell oil at all? The tiny problem of being scorched in the daytime will be healed overnight. With such money, it's better for me to buy a great amount of seashells and set them free in the sea and check what kind of fruits will I get.'

Zhang Tie left while some girls who were selling seashell oil started to glare at his shadow. "This bastard is really disgusting! His words are really jarring!"

Zhang Tie didn't know that because of his honest words, he had been drawn into the blacklist by the girls.

After leaving the Palace, thinking of that wharf where he first came, Zhang Tie started to increase his pace.

"As I've made the bet with them, of course, I will win. My expenditure on Hidden Dragon Island will depend on this bet."

In the breeze, Zhang Tie felt that he was a bit sinister...

"It's all because of that disgusting bastard!"

Chapter 280: To be the Public Enemy of Girls

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

Because Zhang Tie had been there before, he was familiar with the path. Therefore, after speeding up, he arrived at White Dragon Town in a short while. After running across White Dragon Town, it took Zhang Tie less than 10 minutes to arrive at the wharf on Hidden Dragon Island from where he had landed on Hidden Dragon Island several days ago.

Zhang Tie remembered that when he landed on the wharf last time, he saw some fishing vessels next to the wharf. Close to the hotel was a fish market. Therefore, Zhang Tie directly rushed towards that fish market.

As the only fish market on Hidden Dragon island, most of the booths had already sold out when Zhang Tie arrived, except one, the owner of which was also preparing to leave although he had some fish left.

Zhang Tie hurriedly ran in front of that booth. For the god's sake, there was still a barrel of fish which had not been sold out! All the fish inside the barrel were finger-long small fish with silver scales. The head of the fish had a fine needle-like spine. As there were so many kinds of fish in the sea, Zhang Tie could not identify its name.

"Will you sell them?"

Zhang Tie asked the booth owner, who was over 40 years old with an experienced face. Hearing Zhang Tie'swords, that man stopped and cast a glance at Zhang Tie.

"You want to buy these sand-scale fish?"

"These are sand-scale fish?" Zhang Tie realized at once, "Yea, I want to buy them all!"

"How many do you want? They are not sold in small quantities!"

Zhang Tie pinched the five silver coins in his pocket and further asked, "How much is one barrel of sand-scale fish?"

"A barrel weighs about 20 kg. As I'm going to leave, you only need to pay 1 silver coin for them."

"1 silver coin?" Zhang Tie instantly let out a sigh as he had not imagined that they were so cheap.

That man thought that Zhang Tie felt it was too expensive, so he gave a further explanation, "Sand-scale fish have less meat and more bones. Although they are not that valuable, they can be used for making fish sauce. If you like it, you can dry them before frying them with oil. Then you can eat them while drinking alcohol. They're tastier than peanuts. If you really want to buy them, you can pay me 90 copper coins for 1 barrel of them."

Zhang Tie directly pulled out of a silver coin and put it in the hand of the booth owner, "1 silver coin is okay. I will come here every day in the future. You can leave all the sand-scale fish for me!"

Having not imagined that Zhang Tie was that generous, that man took over the silver coin and revealed a smile, "Fine, I will leave all these sand-scale fish for you from then on."

"Can I borrow your barrel? I will be back in 5 minutes."

Zhang Tie didn't bring any containers to load those sand-scale fish which were all put in the iron-sheet barrel in front of the booth.

The booth owner nodded at once. Therefore, Zhang Tie lifted the barrel of sand-scale fish before heading directly for the wharf.

The sand-scale fish might have realized what Zhang Tie was going to do as many of them started to jump happily when Zhang Tie lifted the barrel. Two of them even jumped out of the barrel and fell to the ground. Zhang Tie then hurriedly picked them up and put them back into the barrel.

"Little fish, little fish, I will send you back to the sea and set you free..." Zhang Tie mumbled to those little fish.

Zhang Tie came to the seaside very soon. He chose a place with crystal clear water and poured all the little sand-scale fish out of the barrel into the sea. Watching them return to the sea happily, Zhang Tie also felt a sincere pleasure.

Nobody would catch fish here, let alone these worthless little fish. Even if they wanted, they could not easily catch them. Therefore, after setting them free, Zhang Tie won't worry about them being caught by others.

The sun was setting, creating a golden hue over the horizon. Some little sand-scale fish jumped out of the sea, seemingly greeting Zhang Tie.

"Watch out next time, don't be caught again!"

When setting free earthworms, Zhang Tie had already understood a law——no life in this world was humble. Zhang Tie felt very happy about setting free a barrel of sand-scale fish with only 1 silver coin.

When he returned that barrel to the booth owner in the fish market, that 40-odd-year-ol-man gazed at Zhang Tie with a strange expression, "You put them back in the sea?"

What Zhang Tie was doing had all been observed by this man. He felt it difficult to understand that someone would buy fish to set them free. "Is there anything wrong with his mind?"

However, Zhang Tie had long prepared for that question.

"Erm, I met an old man before, who told me that by setting lives free, I could accumulate good karma from God. He urged me to set free more animals if I was able to do that!"

"Setting free animals to accumulate karma?" Hearing this theory for the first time, the booth owner became stunned. Obviously, he could not accept this. However, Zhang Tie won't discuss that with him. After giving back the barrel and agreeing with him to buy sand-scale fish here at the same time tomorrow, Zhang Tie left the wharf.

After walking for a short while, Zhang Tie had already returned to the Zhixing Department of Hidden Dragon Department at night.

Sparkling light radiated from each building of Hidden Dragon Palace and extended from the memorial archways at the foot of the mountain all the way to the top of the mountain, making it pretty beautiful.

Outside the gate of the Zhixing Department, the old man who played the game of Go by himself under the tree all day long was still mediating at this moment. Because people were all very tired in the daytime, when the dusk arrived, many people had returned to their own room for a rest or practicing fighting skills. Therefore, Zhang Tie could barely see any people in the courtyard of Zhixing Department at this time.

...

"Sister Yuhan, I really want to go home, I miss mom, wu...wu..."

"Don't cry. Staying here isn't so bad. We have a lot of friends."

"But it's too difficult to make money here, wu...wh...I only picked three very common pearls for 6 silver coins and sold two boxes of seashell oil for 2 silver coins today. My hand was lacerated in the sea yesterday. If it touched the seawater, it would ache. I want to go home, wuwuwu..."

"You're just not used to it yet. When you are used to it and have better diving skills, you would reach deeper into the sea. If you are lucky, you could even pick up colorful pearls, each one of which would at least worth 1 gold coin. We girls could make money easier than the badass boys as they have to pick up iron ores in the sea. They are not afraid of that, what would we be afraid of? You will definitely make it, Shasha..."

The moment Zhang Tie drew close to the front corner of the corridor, he had heard two girls' voices. In order to avoid misunderstanding, when he drew close to them, Zhang Tie coughed twice and made his footsteps heavier on purpose. As was expected, the moment they heard about someone coming, the two girls became silent.

When Zhang Tie moved to the corner, he saw two girls who were also watching him. One of them was 15 or while the other seemed a bit older, about 17-18 years old. The younger girl had a good-looking round face whose eyes were like red peaches. Seeing Zhang Tie coming here, her face blushed as she hurriedly mopped off her tears. The other girl seemed to be comforting her.

Zhang Tie had formed a sharp instinct that the moment he saw a girl, he would know her key sizes. He didn't mean to, but he would know naturally. After a glance over the two girls' faces, his eyes had already scanned across their breasts, waists, butts, and thighs which had outstanding curves.

"Erm, compared to Alice, Hanna and the other girls, Chinese girls truly have a smaller figure at this age."

"Humph!" The moment she saw Zhang Tie, the girl called Yuhan cast the whites of her eyes at Zhang Tie. Even the weeping girl was glaring at him and turned her head to the other direction.

Zhang Tie felt a bit strange about that...

When he walked a few steps away, he heard the two girls' voices through his acute auditory sense.

"Humph, he's that disgusting guy called Zhang Tie..." The girl called Yuhan said.

"His eyes were so terrifying. After being glanced by him, I felt uncomfortable all over!"

"I wouldn't have imagined that this person is so lecherous. His eyes were too lecherous. Shasha, you have to warn other sisters to be careful about this boring guy who kept looking at your body under the neck. He's not only boring but also dangerous to girls. Remember to not be tangled with this kind of person alone!"

Zhang Tie became depressed as he almost wanted to return to argue with them. "Damn, I've been here for only two days innocently, how could I have been hateful?"

...

Returning to his own room, Zhang Tie recovered his composure and constrained his impulse to enter the Castle of Black Iron to see what fruit did the sand-scale fish bring him. Instead, he took out the crystal pyramid which was put on the windowsill to refill its energy. After putting it under his bed, he calmly and patiently sat on the bed to start cultivating.

He started to polish the 6th surge point on his spine. Within 2 hours of cultivation, the 6th surge point started to radiate very bright orange lights. When it almost broke through to radiate yellow light, Zhang Tie stopped. He then started to practice mental arithmetic by two abacuses. He kept making sophisticated divisions and multiplications on the two abacuses respectively at the same time. After a while, he started to do multiplications and additions on the two abacuses at the same time.

After finishing mental arithmetic by two abacuses, Zhang Tie's mind felt highly spirited and flexible. He was in an unusually vigorous and pure condition.

At this moment, he could only hear insects chirps in the Zhixing Department. The two exotic moons were hanging high in the sky. Along with the sound of the wind blowing through the window was the sound of the waves in the distance. Zhang Tie stood still at the windowsill and looked outside at the bright moons. He felt everything was so fantastic that it couldn't be described.

Standing still over there for quite awhile, when the fantastic sense in his mind gradually faded away, with a sound of "Zhi", Zhang Tie pulled off the curtain, leaving a great darkness in the room at once.

The darkness in his eyes soon disappeared; instead, a vigorous manor appeared in front of his eyes.

In a black swallowtail, Heller whose handsome face made Zhang Tie so envious that he even wanted to ruin Heller's face walked towards Zhang Tie.

"Handsome and magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!" After bowing towards Zhang Tie, Heller looked at Zhang Tie, "Castle Lord, as the basic energy storage in Castle of Black Iron is going to be used up, I have to stop much work. You seemed having forgotten about our appointment."

Chapter 281: A Discovery

Translator: WQL Editor: EbonyFrost

"Appointment? An appointment with Heller?" Zhang Tie racked his mind. After a short while, he patted his forehead and looked at Heller with a sorry expression, "I truly had forgotten about bringing basic energy into this space. But I didn't have a chance to bring things in. You know that once I'm found having such an ability, I might be abducted by others to be sliced up for tests. Therefore, I have to be careful about it."

"I know the environment you're in and your meticulous attitude. On increasing the basic energy storage of Castle of Black Iron, I have a suggestion."

"Just say it."

"I know that Castle Lord is here for the two new fruits on the Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree.," Heller revealed a smile, "So we can talk about this after you've had the fruits!"

Zhang Tie hadn't imagined that Heller could be that "considerate". Hearing Heller's words and watching the small tree in front of him, Zhang Tie nodded, "Fine, we'll talk about it after I eat the fruits."

At this time, the Castle of Black Iron had already completely changed. Previously, Zhang Tie had no time to assemble the 2-story log cabin that covered 210 sq meters which he ordered from Blackhot City, but now, the house had already been erected in front of Zhang Tie. The assembled houses had been surrounded by one-person high wooden boards. The small tree was in the courtyard surrounded by a barrier and the assembled houses.

The topography of the courtyard seemed to have been renovated by Heller. The location of the small tree was obviously 2 m higher than its surroundings. It was on a huge and tidy mortar-like mound. The small tree was even surrounded by white stone stages.

Zhang Tie admitted that after Heller's renovation, everything truly made him feel more comfortable and at ease.

"From now on, except Castle Lord, no other living beings are allowed to get close to the stages heading to the Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree!" Walking together with Zhang Tie, Heller stopped in front of it and explained as he stood aside.

Zhang Tie delightfully nodded as he walked upwards.

The small tree was still growing. This time, Zhang Tie felt it was more verdant than last time. Each time he came here, the moment he saw those raw and ripe fruits on the small tree, Zhang Tie would be in a very good mood.

One leakless fruit had already been ripe and hanging over the tree while the second one would be ripe within three days. After knowing that the leakless fruit could work as alternative blood bags and save his life in an emergency, Zhang Tie kept all the leakless fruits on the tree these days.

Besides leakless fruits, there was an Iron-Body Fruit, a Trouble-Reappearance Fruit and a Fruit of Redemption.

Zhang Tie firstly cast his look on the pitch black hexagonal Trouble-Reappearance Fruit.

——Trouble-Reappearance Fruit has become ripe. Usage: Pick and directly consume. Notice: The fruit cannot be taken out of the Castle of Black Iron. After twelve hours of having been picked off the tree, its energy and vitality will gradually fade.

After injecting his spiritual energy into the Trouble-Reappearance Fruit, Zhang Tie saw three sea serpents and the sea around Iron Ore Beach.

Zhang Tie then burst out loud laughing. After killing three sea serpents, he saw the scene using Trouble-Reappearance Fruit as expected. This time, Zhang Tie had a place to practice diving.

In the middle of the twigs was a Fruit of Redemption which contained the strength of golden uangs which was still raw. On the side of that fruit was another heart-shaped fruit.

——Fruit of Redemption——coming from the gratitude of the sand-scale fish. It has become ripe. Usage: Pick and directly consume. Notice: The fruit cannot be taken out of the Castle of Black Iron. After twelve hours of having been picked off the tree, its energy and vitality will gradually fade.

——With this fruit, Castle Lord could increase resistance against cold environments by 1% and increase sensitivity to water flow by 1%.

Because fish breathe with gills while people breathe using their lungs, this Fruit of Redemption didn't bring Zhang Tie an abnormal underwater breathing ability. Due to physical constraints, Zhang Tie could not be a weird animal with gills. However, the two abilities provided by this fruit truly shocked Zhang Tie.

Many fish in the water had a powerful resistance to cold. Zhang Tie had read in a book that some fish, after being frozen for many days, once thawed, could still happily swim in the water. Zhang Tie had not imagined that the sand-scale fish was a type of the cold-resistant fish.

When in water, besides being unable to breathe, people were also largely limited on time by the low temperature, which made people rapidly lose body heat in the sea and become stiff while shivering. Finally, they would lose their consciousness and suffer from cardiopulmonary failure, etc.

1 silver coin for a 1% increase of cold-resistance and 1% increase of increase in water flow sensitivity. Zhang Tie had truly gained quite a bit.

Life was priceless! This ability brought by saving lives was priceless!

In a sophisticated manner, Zhang Tie picked off this Fruit of Redemption and engulfed it. The moment he bit into the fruit, its juice had already flown into his stomach and created a warm sensation which spread across Zhang Tie's skin and subcutaneous tissues. In only several minutes, Zhang Tie had absorbed it all.

After eating the Fruit of Redemption, Zhang Tie picked the Trouble-Reappearance Fruit and ate it. Closing his eyes, Zhang Tie then felt one more six-pointed star on the marvelous arch door in his mind. This six-pointed star was already activated, which indicated that Zhang Tie could enter the Trouble-Reappearance Situation at any time.

Because Heller was still waiting to talk with him, Zhang Tie didn't go inside the Trouble-Reappearance Situation. After all, he had a lot of free time in the future.

When Zhang Tie was going to leave the small tree, he saw the Iron-Body Fruit on the small tree. However, this time, Zhang Tie felt the color of the Iron-Body Fruit became different from that last time. Therefore, Zhang Tie stretched out his hand to check.

"Yi? That's so strange!" Zhang Tie remembered that when he came here last time, this Iron-Body Fruit was only one-third ripe, how could it be almost half ripe this time?

"Did I make a mistake? It shouldn't be that ripe." Since his spiritual energy surged, Zhang Tie's memory had grown increasingly better. He didn't think that he would make any mistake remembering things. "I haven't been practicing the Bear-Shoulder Iron-Body Skill these days, neither have I been beaten up by others. How could this Iron-Body Fruit be developing further?"

"I will ask Heller."

...

Heller was still waiting for Zhang Tie outside the stone stage under the small tree.

"Heller, what's your suggestion for increasing basic energy storage of the Castle of Black Iron?" Zhang Tie asked bluntly.

"I suggest Castle Lord seize the opportunities right around you. You could have seized many chances to increase the basic energy storage of Castle of Black Iron, but I haven't seen you taking any action!"

"You mean those iron ores in the sea? I'm practicing my diving skills. After a couple of days, when I can dive deeper, I will take action." After thinking for awhile, Zhang Tie had understood Heller's meaning. It was truly a nice environmental condition in the sea just like that in the mine. If he chose a place with few people and act in a secret way, he could bring something into the Castle of Black Iron using the direct-transportation function that he had just mastered without being noticed by others.

"I'm happy that Castle Lord could consider moving the iron ores in the sea. But I didn't mean that..."

"What is it then?"

"Have you thought about it, Castle Lord?" Heller became quite thrilled as he continued, "When you swim in the sea, you are surrounded by seawater, once you use the direct-transportation function that you have mastered and steadily open the space channels on your two hands, won't the seawater constantly be absorbed into the Pool of Chaos in the Castle of Black Iron? Is there any other easier method that could be used to increase the basic energy storage of Castle of Black Iron?"

Zhang Tie became stunned as he felt an explosion go off in his mind. "That's it, how could I have not have thought about that. Once I dive in the sea, who could notice that the seawater is decreasing? Additionally, now that I could use the direct-transportation function of Castle of Black Iron to absorb seawater into the Castle of Black Iron, won't I be able to transport air from the Castle of Black Iron to the outside through the arch door in my mind?"

"Of course you can. Castle Lord has tried to move water from the Castle of Black Iron into the cup outside. Once you lock any space in the Castle of Black Iron, you can move the air in that space! If you are in the water, once you try several times, you will be able to freely breathe underwater."

Zhang Tie covered his mouth using one hand as he asked in a low voice,"You mean that as long as I do this in the water, I can directly move the air from the Castle of Black onto my hand and freely breathe through by hand?"

"It looks like you get it!" Heller nodded, "But this is one of the direct-transportation functions of Castle of Black Iron, there's a simpler method. If you want to take a breath in the water, you can try to directly send the air from the Castle of Black Iron into your mouth through the arch door in your mind!"

The moment he heard the words, Zhang Tie almost sprung up. "That direct-transportation function is simply marvelous. It's definitely a portable oxygen tank. However, compared to an oxygen tank, Castle of Black Iron is invisible. Additionally, the air in Castle of Black Iron is definitely much fresher than that in an oxygen tank.

Zhang Tie was so excited that he almost wanted to rush into the sea and have a try now. However, before he left, he had another question, "I've got another question. I remember that Iron-Body Fruit was only one-third ripe, how could it grow these days without being stimulated?"

"Castle Lord, when you are diving in the sea, the constantly changing water pressure would impose itself upon you. During this process, it was akin to be beaten or hit with something hard. The only difference between the two is that the force that you sustain in water is constant, which could be adjusted by the diving depth. As long as the force on you constantly changes, it will stimulate the Iron-Body Fruit to ripen. During this process, you could treat the sea as a still iron hammer, while you are..."

Before Heller finished, Zhang Tie had already disappeared...