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Chapter 416: Kill Them All

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Zhang Tie didn't know how long had he slept. When he opened his eyes, he felt agile and energetic both mentally and physically like waking up from a nap in the order of his mom at weekends when in Blackhot City.

He got up quickly and put on his clothes. After that, he left the only 2-storey cabin in Castle of Black Iron.

Zhang Tie found it was already afternoon.　

With a smile, Heller saw Zhang Tie walking out of his cabin.

"Did you sleep well, Castle Lord?"

Zhang Tie forcefully swung his arms as he felt that all the pains had relieved, "How long have I slept?"

"36 hours!" Heller replied precisely, "I had kept Castle of Black Iron in the state of darkness so that your preliminary recovery body could help you recover faster. With the help of all-purpose medicament, although just being 36 hours, your recovery effect was equal to 1 week's recovery effect of commoners!"

Looking at those old scars over his arms, Zhang Tie kept silent. "At the critical moment, my preliminary recovery body would always take effect greatly. I've done really right by setting earthworms free." Zhang Tie determined that after he reached his target in Ice and Snow Wilderness, if Hanna's family didn't fulfill the appointment, he would go to Blapei once again and set free earthworms himself. If it improved to medium recovery body, it would have a greater effect in saving his life. "Besides Blapei, I could also inquire whether people in other places also breed earthworms. I can set free more earthworms at the same time so that I could update to medium recovery body as soon as possible."

At the sight of Heller's respectful and solemn look, Zhang Tie became embarrassed.

"Erm...I will take care next time. I've not imagined that b*stard could attack me with his secret weapon before I escaped to the riverside!"

"Even though an earthworm or an ant has its special feature, not to mention a LV 10 strong fighter. Facing such a great opponent, the safest way is to boom him into pieces with your javelin after eating enough seven-strength fruits. Additionally, to be honest, although you've already selected a way to escape, the river is indeed far away from where you hunt those iron-teeth hyenas. Facing such a great opponent, I suggest you to narrow the safe distance within 3-5 km!"

Zhang Tie accepted Heller's suggestion modestly. This crisis was the best warning for his excessive confidence. Zhang Tie thought that Dawson could not catch up with him with the help of rapid moving skill; therefore, he dared to hunt iron-teeth hyenas at a place far away from the riverside. Additionally, he felt that he could enter Castle of Black Iron at the critical moment. Furthermore, he was not using his true name and face. Even if he had been seen by Dawson, he could change his look. In this way, Dawson could never find him. However, Zhang Tie had not imagined that he almost bid farewell to Castle of Black Iron in this crisis.

"Heller, which secret weapon did he use to strike me? It's very sharp! How could it influence my spiritual energy? I could not have it back in over 10 hours!"

"That's a rune weapon. Besides weakening your battle Qi, it could make your spiritual energy unstable and void. If not having eaten so many Iron-body fruits, it might have penetrated through your body! You have to especially take care of yourself when you encounter him next time!"

Iron-body fruits reminded Zhang Tie of something instantaneously, "I should have some new seven-strength fruits after killing so many demon rats!"

"Why not take a look?" Heller smiled.

Zhang Tie hurriedly rushed towards the small tree. At the sight of it, Zhang Tie bounced happily.

"Ha...ha...That's great! Crisis brings me bliss..." Zhang Tie burst out into laughter as he danced like a lunatic. He found 8 seven-strength fruits in shape of demon rats were hanging over on the small tree. They were so cute! "I'm rich..."

"Although demon rats are not as powerful as wild wolves or iron-teeth hyenas, this kind of mutated rats are huge. They are not weaker than a common dog. Additionally, this animal could not match wild wolves and iron-teeth hyenas on speed and agility. Therefore, the seven-strength fruits of demon rats must contain such special features."

Like how he obtained the ability to run constantly at a high speed after eating wild wolf's seven-strength fruits, "I should be able to improve my abilities on some special aspects with these seven-strength fruits."

"Castle Lord has killed 367 demon rats in total. Therefore, there are 8 demon rats in total, 7 of which have been ripe and edible..."

Hearing Heller's explanation, Zhang Tie hurriedly rushed towards that cabin on his side.

Seeing this, Heller was startled, "Castle Lord, what are you going to do?"

"I will find a rope and kill all the other demon rats outside in case of more dangers. I remember that those demon rats lived in a nearby mountain cave!"

...

So many items were piling in the cabin. Zhang Tie searched over them for a short while before found 2 pioneering kits which he bought in Blackhot City. After opening 1 of them, Zhang Tie found what he needed, an iron claw and a rope longer than 60 m.

After fastening the rope on the iron claw, Zhang Tie left Castle of Black Iron and reappeared on the stone in the middle of the pond in a split second.

Although it was daytime outside, Zhang Tie could barely see any light. Because of the vapour from all the ponds, a thick mist had formed above the serene valley. The rolling mist gradually faded away covering the whole sky and making it a cloudy day.

The corpses of demon rats were still floating over the pond. Only after one more day, Zhang Tie had already smelt a vomiting odor due to the high temperature here.

Holding his breath, Zhang Tie started to observe the surroundings. He noticed a bulged rock on the cliff being not far from the bank. There were so many cracks around the rock, where he could have his iron claws on. Therefore, he threw his iron claw towards there immediately.

Although it was over 50 m away, the iron claw hit the target right away. The opening angle bar had firmly tucked into the cracks. Holding the rope, Zhang Tie swung himself forcefully and fell on the ground steadily after flying over dozens of meters' of water.

After putting away his rope and iron claw into Castle of Black Iron, Zhang Tie took out his double-carp sword and walked in a nearby mountain cave.

If those demon rats lived in smaller holes, Zhang Tie could only wait here; however, as they lived in that mountain cave, Zhang Tie didn't care to take a look inside.

The mountain cave was about 3.5 m in height. Some twigs were lying disorderly at the entrance. Because of the poor light outside, the inside of the cave became darker. Being daytime, Zhang Tie could still barely see inside with his naked eyes.

Zhang Tie revealed a faint smile as he injected some spiritual energy into his eyes. Right now, the dark vision started to take effect. Everything in the mountain cave became bright.

He then entered the mountain cave. The inside space of the mountain cave was pretty large. Amazingly, Zhang Tie found that it was very orderly inside. Someone seemed to have lived here before. There was a pond on the plain ground. Furthermore, Zhang Tie even saw some stony stages and a stony table over 20 m away from the mountain entrance.

"Someone lives here?" Zhang Tie's heart pounded as he held his double-carp swords tightly. Under the curiosity, Zhang Tie started to fumble towards the deep inside.

When he came in front of that stony table, Zhang Tie touched it and found the dirt over it was 1.5 cm in thickness. Seeing this, Zhang Tie knew that someone might have lived here before. However, the people had left for a long time.

Walking upstairs, Zhang Tie continued to dig deep in. Only after a few steps, he had encountered a demon rat. At the sight of Zhang Tie, it instantly uttered a shrill sound, "Zhi...zhi..." The sound of the demon rat drifted far away in the quiet mountain cave. Hearing this warning, all the other demon rats in the cave started to reply, causing the mountain cave noisy right away. The squeaks grew louder and louder.

Along with a sword Qi, a 6-m long agile golden carp struck past that demon rat, cutting it into two halves at once.

Having been totally recovered, Zhang Tie could easily deal with all of them with double-carp swords.

A great number of demon rats poured out of the deep inside. There were hundreds more. After seeing their public enemy, their eyes turned pretty red. No matter how they identified Zhang Tie, from his look or through his special odor, the moment they saw Zhang Tie, they charged towards him immediately, aiming to engulf Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie responded with a smile..

Chapter 417: Great Wildness Sutra

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Although demon rats flashed like lightning bolts, Zhang Tie's double-carp swords were faster.

The silver carp blade encountered a purple-black demon rat in the air. Before the rat left any wound on Zhang Tie's neck, it had been cut open by the silver carp blade less than 2 m away; after spurting a blood mist, it fell down the ground.

Zhang Tie had not imagined that the first demon rat that he killed in the mountain cave was the "head". This demon rat indeed moved faster. The moment he saw Zhang Tie, it had already started to launch an attack. As a result, it was exploded by Zhang Tie's sword.

Although demon rats were smart, the head rat still couldn't figure out how that guy who was chased into the water by them about 30 hours ago to kill became so sharp.

Of course, Zhang Tie didn't need to explain anything to those demon rats; instead, he just waved his gold carp and silver carp swords rapidly.

Under the force of iron-blood battle Qi, the blades of gold carp sword and silver carp sword had been fully extended. The sword Qi reached 6 m away. The sword Qi was as agile as water while a golden carp and a silver carp were swimming happily in it. Everywhere they reached would arouse a lot of bloody ripples.

Seeing their head being killed, all the remaining demon rats became furious. They started to attack Zhang Tie completely out of mind. However, after 1.5 days, Zhang Tie had completely recovered from his heavy wounds while his swimming golden and silver carp swords became an insuperable barrier for those demon rats.

As the sword Qi of double-carp swords reached 6 m away. Besides that head rat at the beginning, no other magical rats could reach Zhang Tie within two meters.

If someone who didn't know about fighting skills watched this fight, he might be amazed with what he saw. Because Zhang Tie was absolutely like a magician who released his magics in the water. As long as he waved his hands, he would make numerous golden or silver carps out of his swords handles and send them into the demon rats, arousing blood mists.

Since he obtained the 2 swords in Heavens Cold City, Zhang Tie had been able to use one sword to attack and another to defend when in fight.

As Zhang Tie barely used such high-end weapons by 2 hands at the same time, he could only try his best to coordinate them. It was more powerful to use the 2 swords at the same time than only 1 sword. However, he could not use them perfectly at the present. In the eyes of real powerhouses, Zhang Tie might still have problems on the continuity and coordination of this set of double-carp swords. Whereas, it was enough for Zhang Tie to use double-carp swords to deal with those demon rats.

In less than 10 minutes, when the last demon rat's head was cut open by the double-carp swords, the entire mountain cave recovered its calm once again.

The ground was covered with dead demon rats while their blood was flowing everywhere. For those demon rats who wanted to engulf Zhang Tie, he didn't spare any sympathy to them. After doing that, Zhang Tie let out a deep sigh inside.

With another adjustment of his iron-blood battle Qi, Zhang Tie narrowed the length of his sword blades from 6 m to 1 m, causing a mellow buzz. They looked like common long swords as the thin and smooth blades slightly swayed in the air. After watching it for a while, Zhang Tie found no blood stains or defects over them at all.

"What great swords!"

Zhang Tie highly praised inside. "This pair of double-carp swords are better than the red-snake sword that I have used before."

Because it was impossible for demon rats to live together with other animals and nobody was here, Zhang Tie hung the double-carp swords back onto his waistband.

"Castle Lord, those demon rats tastes nice; their furs are also useful. Why not take them in Castle of Black Iron? After a short treatment, we might use them in the future!"

Heller's voice sounded in Zhang Tie's mind at this moment. Glancing over the demon rats over the ground, Zhang Tie found each of them weighed about 10-20 kg. "As those in the pond are too disgusting, I will not take them; but it's really pitiful to leave these fleshes and furs here. Now that they are useful and nobody has seen that, I will put them away."

Zhang Tie picked up all the dead demon rats and threw them directly into the underground ice cave in Castle of Black Iron. Plus their furs and bones, they might weigh around 5000-6000 kg in total. "I will have Agan deal with them."

Previously, Zhang Tie planned to leave this mountain cave after he killed these demon rats and made the last demon rat grow mature; however, now that he knew that someone might have lived here before, out of curiosity, Zhang Tie continued to walk inside.

Someone indeed lived in this mountain cave before. Only after a few steps, Zhang Tie had already seen some artificial stony rooms. Some undying fluorite lamps were hanging on the walls, radiating a greenish luster. In one room, Zhang Tie found some simple living products like bottles and jars, which had been covered with dirt or were completely rotted. Only after a glance at them, Zhang Tie had left.

This mountain cave was not deep. After walking 70-80 m, Zhang Tie had already reached its bottom, where he saw some stony stages winding upwards like whelks. Zhang Tie then walked upwards along the stony stages.

There was another huge space above the stony stages. The moment Zhang Tie arrived there, he had already seen an artificial room. Some water-drops were dripping off the stalactites on the roof. A natural, philosophical small pond formed outside the room. A bundle of sunlight cast from a crack on one side of the mountain cave, making it much brighter down there.

"Sunlight, fresh air, clean water. If there's anything precious in this mountain cave, it must be in this room." Zhang Tie muttered.

There were many stony room in the mountain cave; however, only the one in front of him had a stony gate. Zhang Tie then walked in front of that stony gate. After a slight push, Zhang Tie had already opened it, causing a cracking sound. At the same time, a lot of dust dropped off from the top of the gate. Zhang Tie hurriedly dodged away. After that, Zhang Tie walked in this stony room.

The moment he entered the room, Zhang Tie saw a skeleton sitting on the stony bed. Besides a stony bed and a stony table, most of the other items in the room had been rotten.

Out of curiosity, Zhang Tie came to the front of that skeleton on the stony bed. The skeleton's clothes had been covered with dust. Zhang Tie could not identify its texture. After a slight touch, it was broken into pieces. It seemed that it had been sitting here at least dozens of years. Besides, he could not find even a single item from that skeleton, not even a copper.

It sat up straight with complete bones. None of its bones were broken or cracked. Additionally, the bones also looked normal. From this, Zhang Tie could easily conclude that this man died of natural causes. It seemed that this person didn't encounter any accident or poisoning.

"I'm so sorry. Although you lived here before, you're dead now. By chance, I came here to see whether there are something I can use. No matter what, you don't need them anymore. Hopefully, you don't mind! Hehe..."

Zhang Tie explained to that skeleton before coming to the front of the stony table. Some bottles and jars were on the stony table. Zhang Tie opened some of them and found the contents inside had long become sh*t.

After checking all the bottles and jars, Zhang Tie was greatly disappointed. "The items here were nothing but junks. They were not even worth a silver coin in total. Isn't it written in knight novels that people would always have a great achievement in similar cases? How come it doesn't work on me!"

After glancing over this room once again, Zhang Tie saw nothing special at all.

"Do you want me to kowtow in front of this skeleton or to bury it somewhere like what Donder has told me?" Thinking of the contents of eastern knight novels that Donder has told Zhang Tie and watching the hard stony floor, Zhang Tie almost burst out laughter, which flushed away his disappointing mood at once.

"I'm afraid that you are just an average hermit. Now that there's nothing special, I will not disturb you!" Of course, Zhang Tie would not kowtow to it. After all, it's just mentioned in knight novels. Receiving no achievement, Zhang Tie directly turned around and left.

After another circle outside the stony room, Zhang Tie found nothing special either. The moment he wanted to walk downstairs, he suddenly felt empty inside like losing something.

The lower he reached, the sharper the sense became. When he reached the middle of the stages, Zhang Tie stopped his feet immediately as a detailed scene flashed across his mind.

Zhang Tie instantly turned around and rushed upwards like a wind. When he came to the front of that skeleton, Zhang Tie started to observe the hands of that skeleton seriously.

Before death, that man put his hands below his lower abdomen levelly. It looked pretty calm and nothing special was found. However, Zhang Tie finally focused on its left hand. Its left hand was supporting his right hand. It was nothing weird for cultivators. However, besides the third finger of its left hand which was straight, all the other 4 fingers of this hand were curved.

Zhang Tie was afraid that nobody else would notice this detail except him.

In Blackhot City, when a person erected his middle finger, it meant that he was swearing someone. Seeing this, of course Zhang Tie who had always erected his middle finger in No. 7 Middle School in Blackhot City understood that he was not swearing, but pointing at somewhere in such a hidden gesture.

Along the direction of the finger, Zhang Tie looked at a stony wall on the right side of the stony bed.

Coming to the front of the wall, Zhang Tie forcefully blew off the dust on it; then, he started to fumble and knock it seriously with his fingers.

After 2 minutes of hard work, Zhang Tie's face changed as he started to rub the stony wall with his sword forcefully. After a short while, he had scraped off the stone powers from the wall, exposing a fine crack in front of him. Zhang Tie became very excited as he started to work harder. After a few minutes, he inserted his long sword into the crack. After prying it for a couple of times, Zhang Tie pried out a stony brick covering 20 cubic centimeters.

After putting it carefully down, Zhang Tie saw a hole on the stony wall. Something was inside it! He put his hand in and got it out of there.

That was a black heavy wooden box which was unlocked.

At the sight of it, Zhang Tie's heart started to palpitate. After a couple of deep breaths, he finally recovered his composure.

After opening it, Zhang Tie saw a book with a black cover. The cover looked aged and mysterious; some pure, golden patterns like fishes, insects, birds and other fierce beasts as well as some Chinese seal characters "Great Wildness Sutra" were on it...

"A Chinese secret knowledge? He's Chinese?" Zhang Tie focused his eyes on that skeleton.

If he fumbled over the skeleton the moment he entered the room and profaned the dead, he would definitely destroy the direction of the middle finger; as a result, he would not have found that "Great Wildness Sutra".

Similarly, when he didn't find anything in the room, if he lost his temper on this skeleton out of disappointment, he would get nothing either.

The erecting middle finger reminded the visitors to be careful and respectful about the skeleton and mocked those who might ruin the skeleton.

"It turns out that the contents in knight novels are all real." An absurd thought flashed across Zhang Tie's mind.

It was hard to guess the contents of this book only from its name "Great Wildness Sutra". However, it was not suitable for him to study this secret knowledge at this place at this moment. Therefore, Zhang Tie directly threw it in Castle of Black Iron. After that, he turned around and left quickly.

Chapter 418: To be an Animal Controller

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

It was indeed not the right place and time to study the secret knowledge. Undoubtedly, it was the silliest choice to stay here with a treasure. Additionally, Dawson might come in this cave at any time.

Therefore, Zhang Tie left the cave rapidly. Outside the entrance of the mountain cave, he found this serene valley ranged east to west. It seemed that each direction was available. However, Zhang Tie asked himself which direction he would choose if Dawson came down for him.

After thinking about it for 2 seconds, Zhang Tie remembered the general terrain of this valley before he rolled down. The ranges on both sides of this valley was "west high, east low". If Dawson came down, he would definitely choose east. In case of another battle with Dawson, Zhang Tie would choose west.

After figuring it out, Zhang Tie rushed towards west at once.

Zhang Tie was not familiar with the path; he just moved by his intuition. He kept running westward in the narrow valley. After a short while, he had been 6-7 km away from that mountain cave. This place was full of verdant grasses and woods; by contrast, there was nothing but some ponds in the surroundings of the mountain cave which was occupied by demon rats.

After 1 hour of travelling in the valley, Zhang Tie came about 40-50 km away from that mountain cave. At this moment, it had almost been dark. Zhang Tie saw a lot of vines with purple tiny flowers on the cliff. Among those flowers, Zhang Tie saw many pits and cracks. Therefore, he ran towards there.

He climbed up deftly along those vines and found a pit on the cliff which was over 10 m above the ground. That pit was about 1.7 m in height which extended 7-8 m inside. A great number of plants with purple flowers covered the entrance. It was clean inside. Soon after climbing in, Zhang Tie entered Castle of Black Iron.

...

Zhang Tie was right. It was really not wise to stay in the mountain cave. Less than 40 minutes after he left the mountain cave, Dawson had appeared there. He raised his head and looked at the crisscrossed vines on the cliffs and the huge ponds down there; soon after that, his face became gloomy.

Especially when he saw so many dead demon rats in the huge pond, his face turned gloomier.

He picked a demon rat from the pond and checked its wounds carefully. After that, he threw it back into the pond ferociously. Like Zhang Tie, he also noticed that mountain cave and rushed in immediately.

After 10 more minutes, when Dawson came out of the cave, although with a gloomy face, his eyes gleamed.

Dawson then chased after Zhang Tie towards west...

...

The moment Zhang Tie entered Castle of Black Iron, he saw Heller. Heller responded with a smile, "Congratulations, Castle Lord. I've not imagined that you could have such a great achievement in the mountain cave."

Zhang Tie knew that Heller referred to "Great Wildness Sutra". In Chinese, any book with the Character "经[1]" was special. At this moment, as Zhang Tie was in an absolutely safe place, he got curious about that book.

As seven-strength fruits would not escape away from the small tree themselves, Zhang Tie didn't worry about them. After greeting Heller, he came to his study room in the 2-storey cabin. A black wooden case was lying on the table.

Noticing that his hands were a bit dirty, he cleaned his hands seriously before opening the wooden case.

The moment he opened its cover, he saw a piece of paper dropping down the ground from the title page. Zhang Tie was stunned as he picked up the piece of paper.

"4 decades ago, our Great Wildness Sect was unrivaled on both Eastern and Western Continents with animal controlling skills. Although there are so many animal controlling skills among hundreds of millions of population, only the secret animal controlling knowledge in Great Wildness Sect is mysterious and unrivaled. So many heroes are desiring for it. However, when Great Wildness Sect reaches its extreme prosperity, it starts to decline. I'm the only alive member of Great Wildness Sect; I'm going to die together with my cultivation base; however, I still could not find our enemy and rejuvenate our Sect. How regretful!"

Regretful, regretful, regretful, regretful, regretful, regretful, regretful!

My bones lie in an uncivil land. The one who can obtain the 'Great Wildness Sutra' is lucky. However, the animal controlling skills in the book 'Great Wildness Sutra' are the top secrets. Actually, they are the great laws and top secrets on controlling our incarnations. With these skills, we can control all the animals in the sky and on the land. We don't reveal these skills to the outsiders. Therefore, we establish the 'Great Wildness Sect'. Because of this, we are swept by other forces. When the Great Wildness Sect became prosperous, it ruled the hundreds of millions of square meters for hundreds of years on the south region of Eastern Continent like an undying kingdom; when the Great Wildness Sect declined, it encountered great damages over night while tens of thousands of followers and hundreds of years of foundation ruined so fast. These were all caused by "Great Wildness Sutra"

As you're lucky enough to obtain this top secret knowledge of the Great Wildness Sect, if you want to be rich, you can learn some secret skills from this book and work as a common animal controller in human countries or great families where you could be treated as the top guest. Namely, you can get money and social status so easily. However, you should never reveal to the public that you've mastered the top secrets in the Great Wildness Sutra; otherwise, you are doomed to be killed. Keep it in your mind! Keep it in your mind! At the beginning, the forces that ruined the Great Wildness Sect were very powerful. They were so ferocious that they could destroy a city very easily. In order to get the Great Wildness Sutra, those people had been driven mad; if they know that you have the Great Wildness Sutra, they would not keep you alive.

Although the Great Wildness Sect has been ruined, its reputation is still high in the world, especially in the South Region of Eastern Continent. Over the past hundreds of years, the sect has so many followers among the hundreds of millions of mountains in the South Region. If you want to be a king in the future, you can seek for an opportunity in the South Region of the Eastern Continent. However, although it might bring you countless wealth, it will also bring you high risks. Therefore, hopefully, you can considerate it.

I found dozens of demon rats in the valley, which had been tamed. There's not a head rat yet; I feed them with a secret medicine; a head rat is doomed to form in the future. If you can master the soul-based animal controlling skill from this "Great Wildness Sutra", you can incarnate yourself as that head rat so that you could order the other demon rats.

Those demon rats are mutated ones; they are born to be ferocious and cunning. Additionally, they are very aggressive. If their population could reach millions, they would be irresistible. Whereas, demon rats could not match common rats on the basis of reproduction. I planned to increase their reproductivity with improved species so as to rejuvenate our sect by establishing the Great Wildness Sect once again in the uncivil land; however, after more than 2 decades of cultivation, I still could make no progress. As I have no time to do that which might be the god's intention, I'm afraid that I cannot finish this task.

By using soul-based animal controlling skill, you have to consume a lot of Qi, blood and the essence of spiritual energy and soul. Although it's a marvelous secret knowledge, its incarnated situation always makes you unforgettable. However, you'd better not indulge in it or use soul-based animal controlling skill freely, as which might consume a lot of your essence. If you do that, you are seeking for death. In its heyday, the Great Wildness Sect had more than one million of books, which included various classical secret knowledge like methods that were used to strengthen one's essence. Besides, there were the mountains of eccentric secret medicines in the sect. Therefore, followers of the Great Wildness Sect could recover their essence that were lost by using soul-based animal controlling skill. Now, the foundation of the Great Wildness Sect has been ruined. Everything precious has been robbed away. You have to be considerate before using the soul-based animal controlling skill.

That's what I want to say. If you can get this "Great Wildness Sutra", you must have a good personality and mentality. As the great law of ancient human could continue to carry forward, I can close my eyes.

"The will of Cloud Crane from the Great Wildness Sect!"

After reading this paper repetitively, Zhang Tie finally let out a long sigh. Zhang Tie really didn't imagine that he could meet a follower of the Great Wildness Sect of Eastern Continent in the cave. Additionally, he obtained this "Great Wildness Sutra", which could be explained with nothing else but god's will.

"However, Cloud Crane might have not imagined that his demon rats which had developed so many generations were killed by me. I'm so sorry about that. I'm afraid that it is impossible to tame them anymore."

However, the thought of using demon rats really made Zhang Tie excited. In a split second, Zhang Tie had realized that he could have those demon rats mutated and evolved in Castle of Black Iron, but he had to solve two questions.

The evolutionary direction of living beings in Castle of Black Iron was optional and uncontrollable. Even if a demon rat was evolved, its reproductivity might not be strengthened; instead, it might be weakened. According to the universal law and the basis of the existence of various species, the greater the animals were, the weaker they were in reproductivity. This law could hardly be broken.

Furthermore, given the growth cycle of demon rats and the possible astronomical cost on evolution and mutation, Zhang Tie could not afford it at all. Perhaps he could get no return in dozens of years. If he made such a great investment only for obtaining some demon rats with greater reproductivity, it would be so stupid. By contrast, earthworms and Buckthorns had shorter growth cycles and stronger reproductivity.

After thinking it through, Zhang Tie dropped the thought about demon rats as he moved back onto the "Great Wildness Sutra".

The two words soul-based animal controlling skill and incarnation made Zhang Tie highly spirited.

Zhang Tie opened the "Great Wildness Sutra" and was shocked by the first line.

——Humans, heart of the universe; living beings, the body of the universe!

As he opened new pages one after another, Zhang Tie entered a wonderful world that he had never imagined.

Amazingly, Zhang Tie, who always dreamed to be an alchemist, became an animal controller, who inherited the "Great Wildness Sutra" of the Great Wildness Sect on the South Region of Eastern Continent.

Chapter 419: Making a Breakthrough

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

The contents in the "Great Wildness Sutra" were ancient and profound. Each words and sentences were very fantastic. That was a world that Zhang Tie had not touched before. The world was full of sutras, fingerprints, illusions, rules and new definitions about the relationship between human and everything else in the universe. It was completely different from that fighter cultivation system that Zhang Tie adopted since he was young. It broadened Zhang Tie's vision greatly.

Of course, animal controller was a profession in this age. This profession only existed less than 700 years. However, it was hard to say how long have human coexisted with everything else in the universe, including various wild animals. According to a common saying, people had existed at least 6 million years on this planet.

Before the appearance of animal controller, of course humans could coexist with everything else in the universe. The "Great Wildness Sutra" was talking about the methods for humans to coexist with various animals in the mother nature; therefore, Zhang Tie could not only learn about the abilities to control animals from this book.

Humans could not coexist with animals simply by controlling them. In Zhang Tie's opinion, many contents in the book were nothing different than the skills of the legendary shamans, flamens and wizards. They were far more than what animal controllers could be in this age.

For instance, according to the book, before entering adventurous lands, one could make demon figures with grass so as to avoid from being bitten by venomous insects or snakes. Wasn't it similar to the deeds of shamans and flamens?

However, it would be too polite if one said that this book was about "coexistence" rules between humans and other animals; actually, to put it straightforward, the "Great Wildness Sutra" was definitely an arbitrary book as it was described in the book, "Human is the heart of the universe while everything else forms the limbs of the universe; to drive its limbs with the heart is like driving its fingers with its arm."

The secret knowledge of the "Great Wildness Sutra" included 5 sections; "Summon", "Amulet", "Increase", "Drive" and "Incarnation".

The section "Summon" taught people how to summon animals; the section "Amulet" taught people how to protect themselves; the section "Increase" taught people how to gain more benefits; the section "Drive" taught people how to drive animals while the section "Incarnation" taught people how to incarnate their souls on animals, which was the essence of the "Great Wildness Sutra".

In this age, it was enough for an animal controller to completely master the contents in the section "Summon" and the section "Amulet" of the "Great Wildness Sutra".

Zhang Tie read that book for 2 days in the cabin repeatedly. Until the third morning did Zhang Tie stretch his limbs and walk out of his 2-storey cabin.

This was the longest period that Zhang Tie had stayed in Castle of Black Iron since he obtained it.

It was early morning in Castle of Black Iron. Agan, Edward and Aziz had already been doing farming work in the verdant farmlands with farming tools. Heller seemed being meditating while sitting below the cherry grove not far away.

This was Zhang Tie's first time to see Heller meditating; therefore, he was a bit curious about that.

Yellow chrysanthemums were growing around the fence. They were blossoming brilliantly. A swarm of bees were busying working among those chrysanthemums. The entire Castle of Black Iron looked tranquil and vigorous.

Zhang Tie stood in the courtyard for a while to enjoy the beautiful scene. After that, he revealed a faint smile before coming to the small tree.

The small tree was also fruitful at this moment. Only after a deep sniff of the rich fragrance of seven-strength fruits, Zhang Tie had already being highly spirited and intoxicated.

The 9 crystal seven-strength fruits in the shape of rats looked pretty cute. They were like crystal artworks which aroused Zhang Tie pity.

8 of the 9 demon rats looked same, except one which looked a bit deeper with a purple luster flowing inside, making it very special.

"Isn't this one not ripe yet? How come that be!? I've killed so many demon rats!" With this doubt, Zhang Tie stretched his hand towards that special seven-strength fruit.

——Seven-Strength Fruit of King Demon Rat. This fruit has gathered; the strength of Qi, the strength of blood, the strength of channel, the strength of vein, the strength of bone, the strength of marrow and the strength of spirit of king demon rat. Usage: Pick and direct eat it. 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 decline.

——This seven-strength fruit was a senior fruit of demon rat. It comes from a king demon rat. The seven-strength inside this were 5 times that of common seven-strength fruits of demon rats.

After reading the above 2 paragraphs, Zhang Tie was startled for a short while. He then burst out into laughter. "This small tree is really unbelievable. I've not imagined this special fruit after killing the head rat."

"According to the old Chinese saying, if you want to catch thieves, you have to catch their king at first. I will eat this seven-strength fruit firstly!" Saying this, Zhang Tie picked off this seven-strength fruit of king demon rat as he sat down with his legs crossed. He then put it in his mouth and chewed it carefully.

The sweet juice of the seven-strength fruit slid in Zhang Tie's esophagus very soon and gradually turned into seven rolling hot Qi's and energy inside Zhang Tie's chest.

Once again, Zhang Tie felt his body being blown up like a balloon by that combined strength.

...

When the 1st strength Qi swam to the sea position of Zhang Tie's lower abdomen, it gradually integrated with Zhang Tie's body; meanwhile, Zhang Tie heard the familiar sound of heavy wind blowing by his ears in his mind...

Then, the 2nd strength...

When the 3rd strength swam to Zhang Tie's after-brain, it resolved and entered Zhang Tie's muscles all over in terms of thousands of smaller strength. When they arrived there, they started to slightly quiver like strings of a musical instrument. Zhang Tie felt that he became a huge harp. With the effect of that strength, he started to sound himself all over.

This time, the "performance" lasted especially long...

Followed by the 4th strength...

...

When Zhang Tie opened his eyes, he became stunned as he found it was morning.

Heller was standing beside the small tree and watching Zhang Tie.

"How long did it take me to digest the seven-strength fruit?" Zhang Tie asked.

"30 hours!" Heller replied, "The more powerful the seven-strength fruit is, the longer it will take you to digest it!"

Zhang Tie smiled as he stood up and picked off another demon rat seven-strength fruit.

When Zhang Tie woke up once again, it was almost night.

After eating this common demon rat seven-strength fruit, Zhang Tie felt that its strength of Qi, strength of blood, strength of bone, strength of marrow, strength of vein and strength of spirit was almost equal to half of that of a wild wolf seven-strength fruit respectively; however, its strength of channel was about 1.5 times that of a common wild wolf seven-strength fruit, which might be deeply related to Zhang Tie's great explosiveness...

After thinking for a short while, Zhang Tie picked off another demon rat seven-strength fruit.

After digesting the 3rd demon rat seven-strength fruit, it turned completely dark. The moment Zhang Tie opened his eyes, he saw Heller who was holding a lamp.

"Castle Lord, haste makes waste. After eating so many seven-strength fruits at once, you'd better slightly move, eat or drink before take a sleep. Only by relaxing yourself to fit your latest physical functions could your body contain the energy of the other seven-strength fruits!"

Zhang Tie nodded as he left the small tree, ate something and drunk some honey-water. After that, he took a bath and slept for some hours. When it was late morning, he came to the small tree and started to eat seven-strength fruits once again.

This time, he ate 4 seven-strength fruits consecutively. After that, he continued to rest, sleep and eat.

On the 3rd day, Zhang Tie ate the last 2 seven-strength fruits of demon rats.

When he woke up this time, Zhang Tie felt being completely different than before. After eating 9 seven-strength fruits in a couple of days, he updated his body 9 times. Even Zhang Tie wondered how powerful he was at this moment. With a will, Zhang Tie felt that the strength in his muscles was moving ferociously like a piston in a high-pressure cylinder which was going to explode at any time.

Like before, Heller knew what Zhang Tie was thinking about. Zhang Tie found that he was standing below the small tree, with a javelin container in hand. Agan, Edward and Aziz were standing respectfully behind Heller. Each of them were carrying a new wooden target.

"Castle Lord, you must not wait to try the power of your javelins!"

Zhang Tie responded with a smile as he walked downstairs. After glancing at the 3 nice targets, he nodded, "I remember that Agan is a carpenter and stonemason. He made them, right? Not bad!"

Receiving Zhang Tie's praise, Agan was so excited that his face even blushed. He hurriedly knelt down to kill Zhang Tie's shoes, "Castle Lord, it's my great honor to serve you!"

"Let's have a try over there!" Saying this, Zhang Tie walked towards the most open parcel of grassland on the lake's shore, followed by Agan, Edward and Aziz.

After coming to the shore, Zhang Tie drew out a javelin from Heller's javelin container before narrowed his eyes and looked at the distance.

"How far?" Heller asked.

"200 m, 300 m and 500 m!"

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, Agan, Edward and Aziz directly ran away. Agan stopped 200 m away; carrying the target, he stood still like a dare-to-die corps member; Edward stopped 300 m away while Aziz stopped 500 m away. They all moved very fast. In less than 2 minutes, they had already arrived at the right positions and gave signals to Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie then drew out a javelin from Heller's javelin container. After fixing his eyes on that target 200 m away, he took a deep breath; closely after that, he threw out the javelin.

In a split second, the javelin had disappeared in the air. Almost at the same time, Zhang Tie heard the cracking sound of Agan's target and the air-breaking sound.

Zhang Tie threw out the 2nd and the 3rd javelins consecutively in an extremely short period closely after the 1st javelin.

The 3 targets were almost exploded in a second. Seeing this, Zhang Tie let out a deep sigh satisfactorily. After throwing out 3 javelins, Zhang Tie felt so cool. Zhang Tie felt that he had realized essential improvements on strength, responsiveness and explosiveness. Certainly, the speed of his javelin was much faster than before.

Zhang Tie didn't know about its precise speed; but it was true that it only took him a bit more than half a second from throwing out the javelin to the crack of the target 500 m away.

After breaking through the 3 targets, the 3 javelins continued to fly forward until they hit the colorful, rolling fog to the edge of Castle of Black Iron. They suspended there for several seconds before dropping off.

"Congratulations, Castle Lord, all the initial speeds of the 3 javelins were greater than 728 m/s, which was twice that of sound transmission speed in air. Your javelin could match heavy crossbow on destructive force within 300 m. Its destructive force didn't decline until 400 m. Its maximum effective destructive range was 800 m."

Zhang Tie did not feel strange about the precise flying speed of his javelin. Because it was in Castle of Black Iron while Heller was the administer and intelligent spirit of Castle of Black Iron; of course, he knew everything.

Zhang Tie only cared about one thing, "Can Dawson survive my javelins?"

"He can't!" Heller shook his head, "Unless he could reach or approach LV 11 in these days, he could never dodge away from sonic boom which was twice the speed of sound transmission speed in the air. You're already able to kill most of strong fighters with javelins. Few strong fighters could respond faster than this speed."

A harsh countenance flashed through Zhang Tie's eyes...

"Are you going out now, Cast Lord?" Heller asked.

"No hurry. I will stay here for a couple of days..." Zhang Tie smiled as his eyes gleamed, "As nobody disturbs me here, I can practice the first section of the "Great Wildness Sutra". As the first section should be finished in a row, I need to spare 7 days to practice it; but I cannot find such a good condition outside!"

...

Several hours later, Zhang Tie became completely relaxed. After adjusting himself to his best condition, Zhang Tie returned to the place below the small tree. Crossing his legs, he started to make a fantastic gesture described on the "Great Wildness Sutra". At the same time, Zhang Tie started to recite the 7 word-sutra of strange pronunciation by only moving his tongue and throat.

Chapter 420: The All-Spirits Pagoda

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

The gesture, the sutra and the illusionary, mysterious strength gradually took effect on Zhang Tie on the 2nd day.

Of course, the manifested content was in Zhang Tie's mind which could not be sensed by others.

In Zhang Tie's mind, a whole new mysterious space swirled like a milky-way under mist of golden spiritual energy with Zhang Tie's meditation.

In Zhang Tie's mind, previously it was all empty except for that golden swirl of spiritual energy; however, under the guidance of the secret knowledge of the "Great Wildness Sutra", Zhang Tie saw a lamp in his mind. As a result, those unknown land in the darkness gradually became clearer, expanding the space in Zhang Tie's mind.

Soon after the space in his mind was expanded, his swirl of spiritual energy started to hang in the sky like a milky way while a bronze, classical pagoda was rising straight from the ground in that mysterious territory under the swirl of spiritual energy.

Each time Zhang Tie finished reciting that mysterious sutra, he would have some tadpole-like mysterious runes out of the void. Those runes then merged in that pagoda one after another. Like the materials of the pagoda, they became a part of that pagoda and enabled the pagoda to rise higher.

In such a meditation of foundation, the concept of time became vague.

Zhang Tie didn't know how long had he entered meditation. He only made a gesture and recited the 7-word true words of the great wildness repetitively; meanwhile, he was visualizing the tadpole-like mysterious runes. Like a diligent ant who kept working inexhaustibly, he was sensing the ground-breaking change in his mind and watching the classic pagoda gradually rising higher.

Although it was a painstaking course, Zhang Tie was filled with pleasure inside.

Skill was no burden! Nobody would disguise about having one more skill, including Zhang Tie. Furthermore, it seemed to be very interesting and useful to control wild beasts. Therefore, Zhang Tie was immersed in it.

...

When he finished reciting the true words of the great wildness for 300,000 times, he felt a slight shock of that pagoda; closely after that, the pagoda stopped its growth; meanwhile, the swirling golden spiritual energy above the pagoda started to roll heavily. In a split second, Zhang Tie's mind went dark and turned bright like a lightning bolt flashed across. With a thunder-like boom in his mind, Zhang Tie quivered all over at once. After that thunder, the milky-way like swirling spiritual energy suddenly scattered into fine sparkling light-spots and fell on the pagoda. After such a bath, the pagoda looked more glamorous at once. At the same time, various eccentric decorative patterns of insects, fishes, birds and beasts started to glitter and appear on the pagoda before fading away.

The pagoda had 5 facets and 21 stories. After the special bath, each facet was manifesting various images of animals. Until the glamorous rain incarnated by his spiritual energy stopped and the pagoda recovered to its classic and chunky look. Additionally, a layer of golden light was rolling in the pagoda, making the pagoda more magnificent and mysterious.

After completing this, Zhang Tie had consumed about half of his total spiritual energy. He carefully sensed the all-spirits pagoda in his mind which represented that he started to cultivate the "Great Wildness Sutra". He felt that this pagoda was much higher than that in the book. Additionally, the body of the pagoda looked like a firm solid; instead of an illusionary image after the completion of the foundation of the "Great Wildness Sutra" as was described in the book.

Zhang Tie didn't think too much about this difference. He only took it as a result of his strong spiritual energy. Actually, the spiritual energy that he had consumed was equal to that of dozens of people in total. How come a commoner complete such a foundation at once?

...

Sitting below the small tree, Zhang Tie opened his eyes once again. At this moment, tens of thousands of bees were circling around him and the small tree in the clock-wise manner. Zhang Tie had never seen this before.

"These bees look very happy." Zhang Tie thought at once. After that, he became stunned, "But, how do I know that?"

Scratching his head, Zhang Tie felt that the "Great Wildness Sutra" was truly amazing.

Heller walked towards Zhang Tie with gleaming eyes, "Castle Lord, have you finished the foundation?"

"Yup, what's the matter with these bees?"

"They've already been here 2 days ago. It might be related to your cultivation of the foundation!"

"I see!" Zhang Tie recalled and found it was when he formed the all-spirits pagoda in his mind. "According to the book, all-spirits pagoda and all the living beings could sense each other. It's seems true."

Zhang Tie took a look at the grasses and woods in Castle of Black Iron and felt an unknown friendliness. All the living beings became vital in Zhang Tie's eyes. Zhang Tie felt an improvement in his sensing ability once again.

Not knowing the reason, the moment Zhang Tie thought about the all-spirits pagoda, he had remembered those TV towers and antenna which were used to emit and accept electro-magnetic signals before Catastrophe. He forced a smile inside at once. Certainly, according to people's recognition, besides emitting and accepting signals, they were at least sure about one thing——the basic functions of towers was to form field energy, gather and compress energy. Pyramid was a representative.

Zhang Tie relaxed his arms as he walked downstairs from the platform. "Is there anything to eat? I'm too hungry!" Zhang Tie asked.

"I've long prepared it for you, Castle Lord!" Heller smiled...

After walking downstairs, Zhang Tie saw those bees flying away...

...

On the second morning, Zhang Tie left Castle of Black Iron with 2 short javelins and reappeared in the crack being covered with vines on a cliff.

The sun had just risen up. Everything in the serene valley also seemed having just waken up. Pulling a vine, Zhang Tie slid off the crack nimbly. After breathing the fresh air which was mixed with moisture and the fragrance of grasses and woods, he ran westwards.

"As I have stayed in Castle of Black Iron for over 10 days, I wonder whether Dawson has left this valley or not. If not, Heh...Heh..."

Zhang Tie revealed a chilly smile as he was running.

...

2 days later, at dusk, nearby a Buckthorn wood on Grey Hill...

The sun was going to set off while Zhang Tie had picked up some dried Buckthorn twigs and was setting a fire at a leeward place to cook his supper.

When the hind-leg flesh of iron-teeth hyena dropped its oil onto the bonfire, the fragrance of those wild potatoes had long drifted in the air. Imitating those villagers in Kurgan village, Zhang Tie crumbed the Buckthorn juice and pulp of Buckthorns and sprayed the on the flesh. He was told that by doing this, he could sweep the fishy smell.

After doing this, he picked up his short javelins to dig out some wild potatoes from the bonfire. Holding one, Zhang Tie blew the ash off its skin while changing it between two hands rapidly; meanwhile, his face was filled with the pleasure of harvest.

Plus those iron-teeth hyenas that he hunted today, the 3rd iron-teeth hyena's seven-strength fruit on the small tree might have grown ripe

Thinking of the latest fruit, of course Zhang Tie felt pretty good.

Especially then when he was sitting beside the bonfire, enjoying the night breeze and eating potatoes and roasted meat. When the night fell, he could put his arms under his head and lay on the grassland to watch stars. Everything was that pure. If not so many things to deal with, Zhang Tie really thought it was a free way to live the rest of his life.

The roasted potatoes were hot and tasted good. Zhang Tie kept blowing it as he was eating. However, Dawson appeared on the hillside over 60 m in front of him like Zhang Tie's shadow when Zhang Tie only ate half of that potato.

Watching Zhang Tie eating his roasted potato beside a bonfire, Dawson's eyes gleamed weirdly.

Zhang Tie also saw Dawson, but he only raised his head to glance at him like peering at a common iron-teeth hyena. After that, he continued to blow and eat his potato.

Seeing this, Dawson who was preparing to walk closer felt his heart pounding at once. Being suspicious, he looked around carefully. After ensuring that nobody was in the surrounding, he let out a sigh and slowly moved closer to Zhang Tie.

When Dawson was about 30 m away from Zhang Tie, he was sure that Zhang Tie could never escape this time. Therefore, he finally recovered his composure.

"Brat, I will see what else tricks can you play this time. You should be proud enough of escaping away twice from me; however, never dream about the 3rd time!" Dawson grinned hideously.

Seeing Dawson's meticulous look, Zhang Tie sniggered, "What? How come you become so timid? Why not move closer?"

Chapter 421: A Butcher

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Dawson had a deep feeling about Zhang Tie's crafty and great fighting strength. Seeing Zhang Tie's calm look, he became worried about Zhang Tie's tricks. After ensuring that nobody else was in the surroundings, Dawson even checked the ground in front of him carefully.

"You look bolder now!" Dawson moved his eyes from the ground to Zhang Tie without even a wink. He seemed wanting to see through Zhang Tie; meanwhile, he also noticed the short javelins in Zhang Tie's hand and on his side. Dawson remembered that Zhang Tie had no such weapons when he fell down the cliff. However, he didn't pay much attention to these common weapons.

"I'm always bold!" Zhang Tie grinned while exposing his tidy teeth. Under the effect of the great strength of marrow, Zhang Tie had changed all of his teeth over these couple of days. Now, his teeth were as white as porcelain; besides, they were delicate, compact and as hard and sharp as diamonds. Furthermore, he found that he had some more teeth this time. Although he was not that boring to count his teeth before; as he was free these days, he carefully counted them and found that he had more teeth than common people.

Zhang Tie's grin was really shiny to Dawson's eyes.

"Bold people always have their dependence. I've checked the place where you stayed in the valley. I've understood what you've survived on. However, as it was only over 10 days, whatever you got from that mountain cave, you will not survive this time!" Dawson's eyes became greedy at once as he licked his lips and watched Zhang Tie like watching a fat sheep, "Give me what you've got from the mountain cave. I might keep you alive if you satisfy me!"

'He's been to the mountain cave?' Zhang Tie raved his mind. "If he's been to the mountain cave, he must have seen the stony room. Even if he has noticed the hole on the wall in the stony room, he wouldn't know what's inside at all." Zhang Tie understood that he should never tell him about the "Great Wildness Sutra". Otherwise, he was doomed to face endless troubles. "If I spread this news to public, those b*stards from Demon Snake Island would not be the only ones who want to kill me."

Even Zhang Tie had already taken Dawson as a dead man, he still didn't prepare to talk to him about the truth. There were so many odd secret skills in this world; Zhang Tie was not sure whether his words would be revealed or not if he told him the truth even if he killed Dawson right away.

Zhang Tie sneered as he watched Dawson like watching an idiot, "I've been to that mountain cave you mentioned. When I dropped into the pond, I was almost killed by a swarm of demon rats. There was a stony room in the mountain cave. A skeleton was sitting there. However, everything inside has been rotten, except for those cheap bottles and jars. That skeleton had been there for so many years. Are you dreaming that I got something from there? Is your head kicked by a donkey?"

"You get nothing from there?" Dawson watched Zhang Tie with a dubious look.

"No crap!"

"Hehe, it doesn't matter. I will kill you and search it out!" Dawson replied with a cruel smile as he reached his tongue out to lick his lips. He then slowly walked several steps closer to Zhang Tie. Besides keeping up the stress on Zhang Tie, he was trying to find out Zhang Tie's tricks.

"Even if Zhang Tie really got some secret knowledge from the mountain cave, he could not surpass me after only 10 days." Dawson was clear about it. "However, Zhang Tie looked too calm. As a person whom I've almost killed twice, his performance is not reasonable." As a LV 10 strong fighter, Dawson had a sharp sense about the potential danger. However, because of the strong greedy desire, he could not stand to let Zhang Tie go. "If this brat truly has got some secret knowledge from the mountain cave, I'd better kill him right away!"

Additionally, Dawson faintly felt that Zhang Tie was becoming that calm because of that special thing he got from the mountain cave.

After thinking for a while, Dawson looked both greedy and cautious in front of Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie knew well about what Dawson was thinking about at this moment. If it was before, he could understand Dawson's deed; he might even feel facing a great enemy; however, at this moment, Zhang Tie felt like laughing, "Isn't it hilarious for a person to be that tricky, greedy and meticulous when he's going to die?"

Zhang Tie continued to eat his roasted potato leisurely. He seemed to have not seen Dawson at all. The more Zhang Tie acted like this, the more cautious Dawson became. After moving forward another few steps, he stopped as he looked a bit suspicious.

"Do you really want to know why I'm so calm?" Zhang Tie suddenly raised his head and asked Dawson.

Hearing Zhang Tie's question, Dawson became faintly stunned as he rolled his eyes for two circles. He then suddenly understood something as he burst out laughter's, "Brat, you're really a good performer. However, it's impossible for you to scare me off with small tricks. As I've told you, if you give me what you've got from the mountain cave, I might save your life!"

"I'm wondering how did you find me in Ice and Snow Wildness. If you tell me the reason, I will tell you my reliance. How about that?'' Zhang Tie smiled, "As it's too late, one of us must die before the next sunrise. Out of one human fighter's respect to another human fighter, I suggest us to satisfy the other's demand before death. How do you feel?"

"It's okay. I'm good at tracking. Additionally, as I'm practicing a special battle Qi. After LV 9, each level I reach, one more sensory organ of mine would be strengthened. When I reached LV 10, I had my sense of smell improved. I can smell the aroma of human flesh from several miles away, especially on the open land of Ice and Snow Wildness. As long as someone pass by some place, the aroma of their flesh would stay in the air. When I pass by, I will be able to smell it. As there were few people on Grey Hill, it's not difficult to find you! The smell of a LV 7 teenager was different from that of others..." Dawson said confidently.

"The aroma of human flesh?" Hearing Dawson's words, Zhang Tie frowned.

"Heh...heh...you've not tasted the yummy human flesh. If you eat it sometime, you will find that human flesh tastes best among all kinds of fleshes. Especially the taste of fresh flesh of kids or virgins which are full of energy. By eating them, you will be fully energetic. Demons like to eat human flesh and drink human blood, because they could gain a lot of life energy and special DNAs from human fleshes and blood so that they could become stronger. The fresh blood of humans who were filled with terrors have a special energy, which could not even be matched by the best drinks..." Saying this, Dawson reached his tongue out and licked his lips again.

"It's my fault. No matter what, b*stards like you are not qualified to gain any respect at all..." Zhang Tie waved his head as he stood up, "Don't you want to know what I'm relying on? I will fulfill my promise. Look...get it..."

Soon after Zhang Tie finished his words, he had raised his hand while a black shadow flew towards Dawson. Having been prepared for Zhang Tie's trick, Dawson was really startled at the sight of that black thing. Almost at the same time, he flew backwards at his greatest speed; in the course, he even constantly changed his movements. In a wink, Dawson had already stood still 50 m away in another direction.

With a sound of "Pah..." the black thing threw out by Zhang Tie finally dropped down the ground after flying over 40 m in the air. After recovering his composure, Dawson glanced at it and was driven extremely furious. Because that black shadow which forced him back was only a roasted potato skin. Dawson realized that he was scared off by a roasted potato skin. Such a humiliation could not even be stood by commoners, not to mention a LV 10 strong fighter.

"Go die..." Dawson's face and eyes instantly turned amaranth. Glaring at Zhang Tie, Dawson's killing intent boiled immediately.

However, Zhang Tie was watching him with disdainful and sneering look like watching a lump of sh*t of iron-teeth hyena on Grey Hill, "I thought a person who dares to eat human flesh had something special. I find you are just a coward and d**chebag. At the first time, you were scared away by my words; this time, you were scared so much by merely a piece of potato skin. I really wonder how you dared to eat human flesh. Even an iron-teeth hyena is bolder than you. I think you cannot even eat a hot lump of sh*t![1] Peh..."

Zhang Tie spat his saliva onto ground.

"F*ck..." Dawson roared as he rushed towards Zhang Tie right away...

"Get it!" Zhang Tie raised his hand again while another black shadow flew out...

It moved as fast as a lightning bolt. It had absolutely surpassed Dawson's limits of perception and physical responsivity. When Dawson intended to move, he saw that thing penetrating through his chest. With a huge inertia and great sharpness, it opened a big hole on Dawson's body and sent Dawson, who was rushing forward, flying backwards like a kite with a broken line...

Before the sharp air-breaking sound disappeared, Zhang Tie had already sat down. Without looking at Dawson, he just found a small wooden stick from aside and dug out a potato from the middle of the ash. After that, he patted it by hands and blew off the ash. As he blew, he started to eat the steaming potato. After eating it, Zhang Tie turned over one kebab. After doing this, Zhang Tie picked himself up once again and walked towards Dawson in the distance.

After penetrating through Dawson's body, the javelin which was dripping blood was inserting into the soil over 20 m away in a declining way, 10 cm of it had entered the soil. After pulling the javelin out of the ground, Zhang Tie wiped the soil off it from a trunk aside. He then walked towards Dawson who was lying on one side of the Buckthorns.

With a bloody hole on his chest, Dawson was lying on the ground, eyes staring at the sky, mouth wide opened; meanwhile, his abdomen was moving undulantly as he was heavily breathing. His blood that flowed out of his chest had painted the ground around. Because of his great vitality as a LV 10 strong fighter, Dawson was still alive.

Zhang Tie came by. Although Dawson was lying on the ground, he could still move his dead-fish like eyes. Slightly opening his mouth, he uttered some words in a very low voice, "Wh...why?"

Zhang Tie knew what Dawson wanted to know. Last time, his long sword was dodged away by Dawson; however the difference between that long sword and this javelin on destructive force was too sharp. Dawson didn't understand how Zhang Tie could make such a great improvement in only about 10 days. It was unnecessary for Zhang Tie to hide his real fighting strength at that critical moment.

Dawson had too many questions. However, Zhang Tie didn't want to explain to him at all. As he had fulfilled his promise. He didn't cheat Dawson. When he threw out the potato skin, he had already told the latter his trump card was throwing weapons. However, this b*stard was completely an idiot. Now that he didn't understand it, he had to die.

Seeing Dawson opening mouth and gold-capped teeth, Zhang Tie didn't say anything; instead, he stepped on Dawson's necks. Like killing a dog, under the terrifying eyes and imploration of Dawson, he ferociously poked the javelin into Dawson's mouth and nailed him onto the ground after penetrating through his after-brain.

After kicking his feet twice, Dawson finally died.

"This gift is from those whom you've eaten, you d**chebag!"

After killing Dawson, Zhang Tie started to search over his body. Although this d**chebag could not even match a lump of sh*t, it must have many good items as a LV 10 strong fighter. Zhang Tie didn't have the habit to waste. Actually, precious items and money could not be identified by good or bad. It depended on who had them. "Of course, Dawson could not do good things with them...but if they were in my hands...hmm...well, even though I would not do good things, at least I would not do bad things."

Zhang Tie didn't have any mental burden at all.

He undid that container over Dawson's waist which was made of sharp's skin. After opening it, Zhang Tie's eyes gleamed as it was that pair of terrifying metal gloves which radiated pale blue luster.

Zhang Tie's heart raced as he injected some spiritual energy into the gloves. Instantly, the information about this pair of glove appeared in his mind.

——Rune Equipment. Dark Ripper Glove. This equipment could be used as double-hand weapon or an auxiliary equipment. Wearing it, the wearer could increase his flexibility by 3% and block all the alloy blades below LV 10 and battle Qi's below great master. If the wearer torn the opponent's body with this double-hand weapon, he could have the special rune effect of this pair of glove, activate the Qi and blood that had lost and increase his recovery speed by 18%. The length of time would depend on the abundance of the enemy's Qi and blood.

——This item was made by Kui Andi, a rune manufacturer.

Watching the pair of dark ripper glove, Zhang Tie almost burst out laughter's. "It's really suitable for me." Zhang Tie instantly put it back into the leather container before hanging it over his own waist.

After that, Zhang Tie searched a purse and a small black metal ball.

The surface of the small black metal ball was covered with sophisticated floral patterns. At the sight of the ball, Zhang Tie's back had started to ache faintly. Zhang Tie felt having seen it before. After injecting some spiritual energy into the small ball, Zhang Tie got its attributes instantly.

——Spirit-Sealing Bead. After injecting your spiritual energy into the item, you can cause a follow-up impact on the enemy's spiritual energy when you struck him, enabling him to not use his spiritual energy in a short time.

This item made Zhang Tie slightly amazed. Compared to Zhang Tie's powerful javelin, this item didn't work too much. It might be helpful sometimes. Therefore, Zhang Tie put it away directly.

The name of the rune manufacturer was not included in the information of this item. According to the traditions of rune manufacturers, as to these weapons which are used to attack people secretly, rune manufacturers would not record their names on them in case of troubles, except for some sharp weapons with exceptionally great power.

Zhang Tie opened Dawson's purse. Besides 20-30 gold coins, Zhang Tie found some gold checks which were worth 2000 gold coins. Amazingly, the gold check was issued by Golden Roc Bank. Zhang Tie became further shocked by the power of Golden Roc Bank.

When Zhang Tie searched over his booty and was going to stand up, he heard a voice from his back.

"I've not imagined to see robbery here. It seems that no place is safe with people!" the voice was full of helplessness.

Zhang Tie turned around and saw a tall figure standing 30 m away who was watching him with a calm look.

This man was over 40 years old. Besides whiskers, he was wearing a very old, pale gray robe like an ascetic.

This man's eyes were green. At the sight of him, Zhang Tie felt looking at a green sea as his heart palpitated at once.

A huge eagle was hovering above that man's head. When Zhang Tie turned around, he saw the huge eagle was falling on the man's shoulder...

Zhang Tie knew who was he in front of him.

Chapter 422: The Wild Protector

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Zhang Tie didn't know about the fighting strength of this wild protector; however, from the opponent's eyes, he didn't see any animosity; instead, Zhang Tie found the opponent was only observing him. Therefore, Zhang Tie became a bit relaxed.

"This man is Dawson, a round-table warrior from Demon Snake Island. He's a d**chebag. As I destroyed their plan in Saint Herner Island, I was chased after by. Thankfully, I killed him and was collecting booty," Watching that man, Zhang Tie added calmly, "Therefore, I'm not robbing. You'd better say I'm a cleaning riot and evil person for the safety of commoners!"

"Why do I believe you?" that man asked.

Zhang Tie shrugged, "I don't care whether you believe me or not. Based on this guy's gold-capped teeth, if you are not afraid of being revenged by Demon Snake Island, you can chop off his head and send it to Ewentra Archipelago. You might get several thousands of gold coins as a reward! Pitifully, I remember that you wild protectors from the Gaia School don't always care about the wars between human race."

After being revealed his real status, the man's eyes gleamed, "You know me?"

"When I was in Kurgan village, I heard about you from the village head Zieg..." Saying that, Zhang Tie glanced at that huge black eagle on the man's shoulder and explained calmly, "Your pet left a deep impression to the village head Zieg. When I saw you, I was not sure that was you; however, when I saw your black huge eagle, I knew that was you!"

Hearing Kurgan village and the village head Zieg, that wild protector revealed a smile as he became relaxed instantly. He then walked towards Zhang Tie, "What an interesting young man! Are you dodging away from the Demon Snake Island or picking herbal medicines on Grey Hill?"

Hearing this question, Zhang Tie thought too much. However, in less than 0.1 second, he had got the best answer.

"Actually, I'm a protector, a devoted follower of Gaia School!" Zhang Tie repeated the reason that he told Kurgan villagers. However, this time, he considered many utilitarian goals, "Previously, I was here for the relics of Haidela Glacier Crack. If I was lucky, I could have a look at the piece of star of god; however, when I came to Eschyle City, I was told about the animal tide. Therefore, I decided to come to Grey Hill. It is the responsibility of each devoted follower of Gaia School to maintain the balance between the nature law and various species.

Hearing Zhang Tie's explanation, that man's calm look finally changed. He looked very amazed. He wanted to see through Zhang Tie, "Good, I've not imagined that I could meet a devoted follower of Gaia School here. Young man, do you mind me eating some of your roasted potatoes? I've smelt the aroma of your roasted potatoes in the ash!"

"Please!" Zhang Tie smiled.

...

The two people then sat beside the bonfire. When eating potatoes, that man kept testing Zhang Tie. He talked about religious doctrines and rules of the Gaia School with Zhang Tie. As Zhang Tie had heard so many times about these contents from grandma Teresa in Blackhot City, he had been so familiar with them; therefore, Zhang Tie had a lot of common topics with that man.

That man asked where did he accept these knowledge, Zhang Tie replied instantly, "In Blackhot City. This city was once a member of Andaman Alliance. Last year, after being annexed by Norman Empire, it officially became a LV 4 city of Brunswik Province under the affiliation of the governor of the North Region of Norman Empire!"

"I know that place! It's a border area in Blackson Human Corridor. It's close to the New Crescent Prairie..." That man ate Zhang Tie's potatoes as he said casually, "Gaia School has a church in Blackhot City. People can indeed accept the doctrine of Gaia, the mother of land! I remember that a flamen was dispatched there to take charge of the church..."

"You might be wrong. The school of protector has no church in Blackhot City. There's only a narrow orphanage. The one who was in charge of it was not a flamen, but grandma Teresa. She's a nun!" Zhang Tie smiled as he tore a piece of roasted meat and threw it to that huge eagle. Seeing it, the huge eagle clutched it instantly and started to tear and engulf it, "Grandma Teresa taught me about the greatness and tolerance of Gaia!"

That man stopped what he was doing as he watched Zhang Tie throwing the piece of roasted meat at that huge eagle. He then became silent with a very strange look for a short while. Then, he turned around and glanced over Zhang Tie seriously. With brilliance in his eyes, he revealed a smile. This time, the man finally showed his sincerity, "Young man, I think we need to introduce ourselves. I'm Crell, the wild protector in Ice and Snow Wilderness dispatched by the Gaia School. Who are you?"

"I'm Peter, Peter Hamplester!" Zhang Tie replied.

Crell slightly narrowed his eyes, which reminded Zhang Tie of Dawson whom he had killed just now. Not knowing why, Zhang Tie always felt this man had hidden thoughts.

"Peter..."

"What?"

"Are you sure that you've not met any other followers of our school besides grandma Teresa?"

"Truly not, you're the 2nd protector I've ever met! How do you know?" Zhang Tie became a bit alert as he watched Crell.

"It's simple. If you've met other followers, you've definitely have been told one thing!"

"What?"

"You're born with the heart of mother nature!" Crell explained as he pointed at his black huge eagle, "Besides mine, the eagle would not eat the food from anybody else. You are the first one who could feed it. All the people who are born with the heart of mother nature have received the bliss of Gaia. Only they are reliable to the black eagle!"

"Heart of mother nature? What's that?" Zhang Tie looked perplexed. ''I only felt that the black eagle was hungry; therefore, I threw a piece of roasted meat to it. Is there anything related to the heart of mother nature?"

"Wait, how did I feel that black eagle was hungry?" when Zhang Tie thought about the all-spirits pagoda in his mind, he seemingly understood that the heart of mother nature mentioned by this wild protector was the ability to be intimate to these animals that granted by the all-spirits pagoda like how he could feel the moods of bees in Castle of Black Iron...

"Erm, can you explain about the heart of mother nature to me? It sounds cool!" Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

"Of course I can!" Crell smiled, "the heart of mother nature is an ability to exchange with other living beings in the mother nature. Actually, the most remarkable symbol for a member of school of protector is to have a heart of mother nature. Individuals have two ways to obtain the heart of mother nature: first, after experiencing a strict cultivation, individuals could sense the existence of Gaia and keep the link with Gaia's will; second, individuals are blessed by Gaia. The latter one are born with heart of mother nature. They can be intimate to everything in the mother nature."

"Erm, how many people are born with heart of mother nature?"

"Neither too many nor too few. Some people are born with heart of mother nature; however, they gradually lose it after being isolated from the mother nature since they are grown up. It's indeed rarely to see people at your age still have a heart of mother nature!"

Hearing this reply, Zhang Tie let out a sigh at once. He was thinking about how to be intimate with Crell; he had not imagined that the all-spirits pagoda had such a great function. It was a great surprise to be considered to have the heart of mother nature.

"Zieg told me that you were investigating the animal tide over Grey Hill. This animal tide is truly weird. Have you found something?"

"Yes, I've got the reason. Someone must be manipulating this animal tide in Ice and Snow Wilderness. These iron-teeth hyenas on Grey Hill are very irritable. This is not a normal animal tide!" Crell frowned his forehead, "At least one powerful animal controller is pushing behind it!"

"Why are they that boring? Is this beneficial to them?"

"For some people, their target is to make human race chaotic by consuming the reiki and fighting strength of humans!"

"Demons?"

"Possible!"

"How do we find the culprit?"

"If he wants to manipulate so many iron-teeth hyenas, he must always stay in a huge pack of iron-teeth hyenas. If not staying with those beasts for a long time, even the greatest animal controller could not control those wild beasts. As a result, those wild beasts would recover their consciousness and instincts and escape away. I've discovered several large packs of iron-teeth hyenas on Grey Hill; however, I didn't find that person. According to my speculation, that person might have sensed me; therefore, he changed his location and played the cat-and-mouse game with me."

"A huge pack of iron-teeth hyenas", hearing these words, Zhang Tie's heart raced. After thinking about it with a faint frown, he revealed a virtuous expression, "If you want to find out the guy playing hide-and-seek, the power of two people is bigger than that of a man!"

"It's very dangerous. You might lose your life at any time. Have you made a decision?" Crell asked Zhang Tie with a solemn look.

"He's profaning the mother nature and harming the living beings in Ice and Snow Wilderness. I believe that each follower of Gaia School would not stand it!"

Chapter 423: Motive

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

The Grey Hill covered about tens of thousands of square kilometers. Therefore, it was not easy to find a person on it, even for a wild patron from the school of patron, not to mention that the target was a powerful animal controller.

Given the survival ability and concealment ability in the wild, animal controllers were much better than pioneers. Because animal controllers were especially about getting along with wild beasts, they were good at concealing themselves in the wild. As an old saying went, "Animal controllers could live wherever wild beasts lived. However, wild beasts might not survive where animal controllers could live."

After circling around Grey Hill for 3 days, Crell gained nothing.

For Zhang Tie, those 3 days were his happiest period that he could even laugh out when in dream.

The benefit to stay with a wild patron was displayed on the 2nd day. Previously, if Zhang Tie wanted to kill the iron-teeth hyenas, he had to depend on fortune or set some harsh traps. He could only hunt 20-odd iron-teeth hyenas a day at that time. However, staying with Crell, Zhang Tie didn't need to find those iron-teeth hyenas anymore; because Crell seemingly had a marvelous talent; he could always take Zhang Tie to the most aggressive pack of iron-teeth hyenas easily.

Crell said that these "most aggressive" iron-teeth hyenas probably had just contacted with the animal controller. After the hidden animal controller took effective measures on these iron-teeth hyenas, he drove them more aggressive and irritable. Based on this, they could narrow the animal controller's scope of activity.

Zhang Tie really admired this ability.

Zhang Tie felt being a bit selfish as he only cared about seven-strength fruits instead of that mysterious animal controller when he was staying with Crell.

In the 3 days, he had 3 more seven-strength fruits on the small tree. Plus that seven-strength fruit of iron-teeth hyena that Zhang Tie had not eaten on the day when he met Crell, there were 4 ripe seven-strength fruits of iron-teeth hyenas on the small tree. With 3 more, Zhang Tie would have all the seven-strength fruits of iron-teeth hyenas from the small tree.

On the 3rd night, the 2 people chose to sleep in a mountain cave of the Grey Hill. When Zhang Tie came back with some firewoods, he found one more guest in the mountain cave——an iron-teeth hyena.

The iron-teeth hyena was lying at the foot of Crell and was as docile as his pet dog. Fondling its head, Crell was muttering something like holding a strange ceremony.

Zhang Tie kept silent; he just stood and watched aside. Crell was uttering that strange sound "Gulugulu" completely through the resonance between his throat and abdomen.

2 minutes later, Crell drew a strange pattern on its head before patting it slightly. After that, the iron-teeth hyena stood up. With a glance at Zhang Tie, it flashed out of the mountain cave.

"This iron-teeth hyena looked very relaxed when it left."

Crell glanced at Zhang Tie with an admiring look, "You're right. It indeed felt relaxed when it left!"

"What were you doing? Was it a ceremony? I was told that all the wild patrons were able to control animals." Zhang Tie put down the firewood and set a fire rapidly as he asked out of curiosity.

"I was comforting it and removing the invisible bound in its mind so as to set him free again. That was a skill to control animals, being similar to that of an animal controller!" After these days, Crell had trusted Zhang Tie very much. He imparted some secret knowledge to Zhang Tie which could be barely touched by commoners in the school of patron. Remarkably, he had taken Zhang Tie as his fellow. Soon after Zhang Tie's question, he answered honestly, "Actually, all those with the heart of mother nature have the potential to be an animal controller or a wild patron!"

It was an evident hint. Of course, Zhang Tie could understand it. However, Zhang Tie pretended to consider it for a short while, "I'm interested in animal controllers, but I cannot be a clergy of the school of patron as I've got many things to concern. I cannot sacrifice myself to Gaia!"

After these days, Zhang Tie had known what it meant by becoming a clergy of school of patron. As school of patron had very strict disciplines, if being not decisive enough to sacrifice one's youth and life to Gaia, the mother of land, one better do not attempt to be an official clergy of this school. Take Crell as an example, as a wild patron, he had to live in the wild all the year. He could not get married and have babies. Since the day a person became the wild patron, he had been forbidden to eat meat. Because everything on the land was the offspring of Gaia, the mother of land. As a clergy of Gaia, of course, he could not eat the offspring's of Gaia.

After staying with Crell for 3 days, Zhang Tie ate roasted potatoes and wild vegetables every meal. To tell the truth, Zhang Tie could not stand such an ascetic-like life.

Hearing Zhang Tie's explanation, Crell responded with a smile, "All those who chose to be official clergies of school of patron made the decisions voluntarily after sensing the existence of Gaia. The alleged rules and disciplines in your eyes are just the realest reflection of our mind. We don't consider them as a bound; conversely, we take them as the true freedom. If you want to learn animal controlling skill, I can teach you some. However, it's uneasy to master this secret skill; it's harder to make an achievement on it. As to how much you can master, it depends on you!"

Zhang Tie became thrilled immediately, "That's great..."

'"If so, my 'Great Wild Sutra' would not be discovered. Because I learn how to control animals from a wild patron. No matter how rich the opponent's imagination was, they would not imagine that I'm the only disciple of the "Great Wild Sect" on Eastern Continent."

As he thought this, Zhang Tie felt a bit embarrassed. "My motive is not as pure as I've told you."

"Alright, I will help Crell find the culprit as a compensation..." Zhang Tie thought.