916 - 924
Chapter 916: The Power of An Emperor-level Secret Method
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The Purgatory Samsara Method was a top-secret method, which was pushed by the chakra of the major secret skill that the knight was cultivating.
Due to the difference in the level of cultivation methods, the Purgatory Samsara Method had different effects. From a certain perspective, Purgatory Samsara Method was completely a powerful auxiliary secret skill, which also verified an early speculation of Zhang Tie——In the far-ancient times, humans had various auxiliary equipment and methods to accelerate the formation of their chakras.
As the secret methods for fighters to promote to knights were classified into 7 levels, the effects of the Purgatory Samsara Method were also classified into 7 levels.
There were 50 universal laws while 49 of which were derivatives, the rest one fit humans. 7 multiplied by 7 was 49, which was the necessary condition for forming seven-strength fruits. Nevertheless, the base of Purgatory Samsara was 7. It seemed that there was a mysterious connection between the Purgatory Samsara and the seven-strength fruits. They might follow universal laws.
Being pushed by a baron-level chakra, the Purgatory Samsara could help the knight absorb 1/7 of the elements of the opponent's chakra.
Being pushed by a viscount-level chakra, the Purgatory Samsara could help the knight absorb 3/7 of the elements of the opponent's chakra.
Being pushed by a count-level chakra, the Purgatory Samsara could help the knight absorb 4/7 of the elements of the opponent's chakra.
Being pushed by a marquis-level chakra, the Purgatory Samsara could help the knight absorb 5/7 of the elements of the opponent's chakra.
Being pushed by a prince-level chakra, the Purgatory Samsara could help the knight absorb 6/7 of the element of the opponent's chakra.
Being pushed by an emperor-level chakra, the Purgatory Samsara could help the knight absorb all the elements of the opponent's chakra.
Zhao Yuan thought that Zhang Tie was cultivating a viscount-level "Five-elements Ground-look Sutra"; actually, Zhang Tie was cultivating an emperor-level "King Roc Sutra". Therefore, as for Zhang Tie, it was the "King Roc Sutra" that pushed the Purgatory Samsara. With the terrifying power of an emperor-level secret method, all the earth elements in the earth chakra of that ox-head demon knight which had not been formed were absorbed by Zhang Tie.
When Zhang Tie was rapidly digesting this achievement, the dragon scales on the knight's crystal plate of Cui Li were lit one after another...
The 31st, the 32nd, the 33rd, the 34th, the 35th, the 36th...
When the 36th dragon scale was lit, an unexpected change occurred...
A golden feather-shaped seed rune of "King Roc Sutra" flew out of the center of the chakra in Zhang Tie's chest. Hovering above Zhang Tie's head, it started to radiate brilliant luster. Zhang Tie then slowly rose up cross-legged and hovered in the air in the cultivation room...
This seed rune was a bit different than the former seed rune of the "King Roc Sutra" before he formed the chakra. Under the golden light of the seed rune, all of Zhang Tie's surging points started to resonate and radiate luster together with his qi sea. The runes flew out of the surging points and flew around Zhang Tie like almost 1,000 golden fireflies...
After that, Zhang Tie released his battle qi from all of his surging points. Closely after that, the spiritual energy in his mind sea spilled out of his forehead. Four elements in the elements realm then appeared out of nowhere and poured into those firefly-shaped runes, making them more brilliant. The battle qi then intertwined with those mysterious runes and gradually formed a golden, huge shell being covered with mysterious grains around Zhang Tie...
The entire cultivation room became quiet at once, except the mysterious lusters which flashed by the surface of that huge egg floating in the air from time to time...
...
After over 10 hours, with a muffled thunder in the huge egg, more cracks started to appear on the surface of the huge egg as if something was going to be hatched. Finally, with a thunder, the mysterious eggshell was completely shattered while releasing numerous golden light spots, causing a brilliant, golden light rain in the entire cultivation room in a split second...
...
Zhang Tie opened his eyes while being cross-legged in the air. The moment he put down his feet, he had stood on the ground with a confused look...
Zhang Tie didn't know what happened just now at all.
About 3-5% of the total earth elements of the demon knight had not been absorbed.
Zhang Tie felt that he had lit another 5-6 dragon scales. At that moment, Zhang Tie was in ecstasy. All of a sudden, he felt that the first and the second chakra which had not been formed rocked at the same time while releasing a strong luster, sending Zhang Tie into an absolute, empty chaotic state physically and mentally...
Zhang Tie didn't know what happened to him just now. He just felt being in an empty, chaotic state while all of his surging points were exchanging energy with something else. It seemed that he had opened one deeper level of his surging points.
After that...
He didn't know how long had passed when all the surging points rocked. Closely after that, a thunder occurred in the chaos along with a light. Then, the sky and the ground were divided while everything became clearer. Zhang Tie finally woke up.
He found that he was floating in the air.
After sensing his body, Zhang Tie widely opened his mouth. He felt wholly new as this body was utterly different than that before he entered the cultivation room.
Zhang Tie attempted to make some movements and control his battle qi but he felt evidently different than before.
He could feel an overall increase of 10% in the capacity and power of battle qi, physical strength, reaction speed, defensive and anti-strike ability, even the surging spiritual energy in his mind sea.
It meant that his battle strength had increased by 10%, which was a new stage and progress for a knight; especially the incremental part of spiritual energy was even much more than the total spiritual energy of a common black iron knight.
After taking a free walk in the cultivation room, Zhang Tie felt so light that he almost floated in the air.
'Why?'
Zhang Tie was both shocked and confused.
Before he fully accepted the surprise brought by the Purgatory Samsara Method pushed by the "King Roc Sutra", Zhang Tie welcomed another surprise.
All of a sudden, something occurred to Zhang Tie's mind. Zhang Tie took out the Cui Li's crystal plate and found 36 dragon scales had been lit.
'36 scales were 1/10 of the total 360 scales required to form a chakra.'
'Does it mean that the sudden change just now was caused by the "King Roc Sutra" after forming 1/10 of the earth chakra?'
'Wait, 36 scales...'
Something occurred to Zhang Tie's mind once again.
A few years ago, when Zhang Tie had promoted to a knight in Waii Subcontinent and received the knight's crystal plate, he thought that the power of black iron knights was divided by the number of scales that they had lit. Later on, as he deepened his understanding of knights, he knew more secrets about them.
The scale was the most objective unit of measurement that represented the cultivation base and progress of a knight. However, in the knights' world, especially in Taixia Country, the center of the human world, each knights' level was further divided into ranks. It was too general to regard 360 scales as a realm. If each scale was taken as a realm, it was too sophisticated, which sometimes could not reflect the genuine battle strength of knights who cultivated different secret methods. Therefore, they needed a more objective and easier division standard to measure ranks.
Actually, each level of the knights, black iron knight, earth knight, even shadow or heavenly knight could be divided into 9 small ranks, which were called "changes", 36 scales were called 1 change; 360 scales were called 10 changes. After 9 changes, when one lit 36 more scales, one would completely form a new chakra and promote to the next level of the knight.
Take black iron knight as an instance, the progress from 0 to 35 scales was the consolidation period.
When one lit 36-71 scales, one was called 1 change black iron knight.
When one lit 72-107 scales, one was called 2 changes black iron knight.
...
When one lit 324-359 scales, one was called 9 changes black iron knight, which was also called great perfection stage of a black iron knight and was the last stage for a black iron knight to promote to a higher level.
After lighting the 360th scale, of course, the black iron knight would advance to the next level as he had formed a new chakra.
'36 scales, I've just lit 36 scales...'
'Change——wasn't I "changing" just now?'
Being shocked immediately, Zhang Tie figured out something at once, 'Is the standard of "change" based on the emperor-level classic?'
According to the viscount-level classic "Five-elements Ground-look Sutra", Zhang Tie remembered that after lighting each 1/4 of a chakra, one would gain a chance to strengthen one's five-elements battle qi; it was also mentioned in the marquis-level classic "Fire Dragon Sutra" that, after lighting each 1/6 of a chakra, one would gain a chance to strengthen one's overall strength. '1/4 of a chakra match 90 scales while 1/6 of a chakra match 60 scales; however, I could strengthen my battle strength only after lighting 36 scales. Does it mean that one could strength one's overall strength 10 times if one cultivates an emperor-level secret method? Additionally, do people strengthen their overall strength at different times due to different levels of secret methods?'
Take viscount-level secret methods as an instance, only after one promoted to 2 changes black iron knight could one strengthen one's overall strength. Similarly, those who cultivated baron-level secret methods could only gain 3 chances to strengthen their overall strength at each level...
...
After throwing a glance at the clock hanging on the wall of the cultivation room, Zhang Tie found that one day had passed. It was already 6 pm. After remembering that he had to meet Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan in the Iron-blood Tower two hours later, Zhang Tie recovered his composure for a short while before leaving his knight's tower...
Chapter 917: Meeting Pandora Once Again
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After walking out of his knight's tower, Zhang Tie looked up at the dull red sky and took a deep breath. After that, he strode towards the Iron-blood Tower...
The sky in the Earth-elements Realm reminded Zhang Tie of Castle of Black Iron. In the Earth-elements Realm, it would also turn dark in the evening while the weird clouds in the sky caused a low visibility just like that in the evening on the earth's surface.
On the earth's surface, at night, sometimes the moons were bright and the stars were few when the visibility was very high; sometimes, the moons were covered with black clouds when it was pitch dark. In the underground world, the exotic clouds in the sky of the Earth-elements Realm seemed to reflect the climates on the earth's surface too.
Besides day and night, the Earth-elements Realm was exchanging atmosphere with the earth's surface, causing alternative four seasons and various climates.
After Zhang Tie left the knight's tower for less than half an hour, the sky outside the Lion Fortress had completely turned dark.
Bang...
A loud sound drifted from the sky.
Zhang Tie looked up and caught sight of a golden lightning bolt which flashed across the top of that huge pyramid in the middle of the Lion Fortress. In a split second, it started to rain heavily.
It was Zhang Tie's first time to see the rain in the Earth-elements Realm.
It was marvelous to see it raining in the Earth-elements Realm. Due to the existence of the transparent energy cover, all the raindrops would slide off the energy cover, causing a layer of exotic ripples on the dome of the Lion Fortress. It felt just like enjoying a heavy rain in the dining hall on the top floor of a skyscraper with a glass dome.
The heavy raindrops slid off the glass dome; however, the dining hall was dry. Sitting in such a dining hall, listening to the melodious performance of violin and piano, sniffing the fragrance of rose blossom, and having a candlelight dinner with a beauty in bobtail. How romantic it was...
However, Zhang Tie was in the Lion Fortress, which had nothing to do with romance.
Although there was no rose here, there were a lot of grim demons. The beauties here were a scarce resource. It depended whether you could have a dinner with a beauty. The fortress was filled with high-end eternal fluorite lamps. Zhang Tie thought that few candlesticks could be found here. Additionally, there was a river of magma with stimulative sulphuric smell being not far from the fortress. There was no feast here. All the resources on the earth's surface were relatively scarcer here. Breadfruit, nutritious mushroom and watermelons definitely posed a great test to your palate...
Zhang Tie didn't know whether the beauty would feel romantic when eating breadfruits, nutritious mushrooms and watermelons. No matter what, Zhang Tie didn't feel that it was necessary for him to eat those fruits. By having those fruits, you would not starve to death and could maintain your physical strength to move; however, your palates would suffer a lot. As there was a lot of tasty food in Castle of Black Iron, it was unnecessary for Zhang Tie to endure hardships in his knight's tower.
In the evening, Zhang Tie found fewer passers-by on the streets of the Lion Fortress. Besides knights, many logistical personnel and auxiliary fighters in the fortress had started to relax themselves. Only a few people were on duty.
Both humans and demons should comply with the universal rule of the balance of yin and yang. Sun would rise and fall; oceans would ebb and flow; plants had ups and downs. As living beings, how could humans and demons become intense around the clock like having dozens of kgs of viagra?
At this moment, perhaps, some human knights were still wandering and fighting demons outside the Lion Fortress and the first abyss while some others were still cultivating in their own knight's tower; however, it was time for most of the human knights to relax themselves after one day's busy work.
There were many bars on both roadsides of the streets in the Lion Fortress. As this place lacked resources on the earth's surface, many people in the Lion Fortress chose to relax themselves in the bars, where they could enjoy music and laughter.
In the evening, Zhang Tie felt the Lion Fortress became more like a market. Walking on the streets and sensing the reassuring qi, Zhang Tie, who had been restless since he started to escape, gradually recovered his composure. As a person who grew up in a small city, this qi made him comfortable like bathing the spring wind and raindrops. The burst of laughter from roadside bars made him feel especially safe and genial.
Not every knight liked this atmosphere. Therefore, the bars in the Lion Fortress were all far away from the knights' towers. However, Zhang Tie felt as free as fish in water in such an atmosphere. He didn't feel bored at all.
Generally, there were two kinds of bars in the Lion Fortress: first, being exclusive for people in certain classes and circles such as logistical personnel and knights. Although there was no stipulation in explicit terms, those customers basically stuck to this game rule. Outsiders would not enter a bar which was exclusive to a specific group of people in case of arousing others' attention. Additionally, it was impolite; second, they were open to people regardless of their identities. They just drank, chatted, bragged, accosted girls, exploited connections and learned from others, etc...
Iron-blood Tower belonged to the first type of bar. Only knights consumed there.
The Iron-blood Tower was over 1,000 m in height, making it outstanding among the other knights' towers whose height on average was only about 500 m.
Under the heavy rain and rumbling thunders, Zhang Tie came to the Iron-blood Tower on time.
Compared to the exaggerated gates of the other high towers, the gate of the Iron-blood Tower was much smaller. At the sight of its gate, Zhang Tie had known that it was a private place. If Zhang Tie was a bit taller, he had to stoop down.
After entering the gate, Zhang Tie came to a vestibule. After passing the vestibule, Zhang Tie entered a metal tunnel, both sides of which were carved with various rough reliefs. There were blue fluorite lamps in the tunnel, creating a pretty good atmosphere. Zhang Tie could hear the melodious piano tune in the tunnel from the bar. The ornaments below the crystal floor of the tunnel were earth-elements crystals...
This tunnel was luxurious enough even for knights.
The moment he exited the metal tunnel, Zhang Tie's sight had been expanded. He caught sight of a woman, whose black hair was covering her shoulders, playing a melodious piano tune on a music stool...
At the sight of the woman, Zhang Tie had felt getting an electric shock; he almost forgot how to walk...
The woman raised her head and threw a glance at Zhang Tie. The pair of eyes were like black gemstones. How familiar and unforgettable they were...
...
Being late at a heavily rainy night in the common bus station in Blackhot City...
The girl was watching him while her face was covered with tears...
"...when I grow as beautiful as Miss Daina, if you're still alive, will I marry you on behalf of her?"
The boy burst out into tears...
...
In a split second, Zhang Tie felt like returning to the past while that girl's words rang in his ears...
After so many years, the girl had been even more beautiful than Miss Daina...
Although Pandora had changed her look, Zhang Tie could still recognize her. The boy had changed his look too; however, he could never be recognized by Pandora.
'Why is she here?'
In a split second, numerous whims flashed by Zhang Tie's mind.
...
"Young brother Cui Li, here..." Gong Ziyao stood up from a cassette at 9 am direction and wove his hand towards Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie revealed a smile and waved his hand towards Gong Ziyao before striding towards Pandora...
Pandora wore a black longuette. Therefore, Zhang Tie didn't know whether she was working here or having a rest. However, each of the two identities was out of Zhang Tie's imagination.
Right under the gaze of Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan, Zhang Tie stopped in front of Pandora who was playing a piano tune and glanced at her right hand.
He caught sight of the very black seal ring on her fair, plump, smooth and slim fourth finger of her right hand.
"Young sister, do you have a boyfriend?" Zhang Tie watched Pandora with his glittering eyes while asking her in a hoarse voice.
With a sound of "Huala", before Pandora replied, 8-9 knights had sprung up while staring at Zhang Tie with malicious eyes...
The greater part of the 8-9 knights were Hua knights while the rest two were Hebrew knights.
...
"Audacious..."
"How dare you be so rude to Miss Pandora?"
"Does this guy treat us as farts?"
...
Along with the furious reprimands, two Hua knights were just gazing at Zhang Tie silently with sharp killing qis.
Pandora stopped playing her piano as she faintly raised her head and threw a glance at Zhang Tie. Closely after that, she asked, "Who're you?"
"Cui Li, from Yongzhou Province!"
"I've already got a boyfriend!"
"When I caught sight of you, I fell in love with you immediately. Pitifully, I'm one step later!" Zhang Tie shrugged while he threw another glance at Pandora. After that, he directly walked toward Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan.
Watching Zhang Tie leaving so fast, the other knights who had just sprung up sat down...
Chapter 918: Familiar Strangers
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
"Elder brothers, who's that woman?" Zhang Tie asked straightforwardly after coming to the side of Gong Ziyao and Zhou Sufan.
Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan exchanged a glance with each other. After staying with Zhang Tie a couple of days, they both knew that Zhang Tie was straightforward; however, they had not imagined that he could be so unconstrained. How could he directly ask a girl if she had a boyfriend the moment he caught sight of her? It was their first time to see such a person.
Zhou Sufan forced a bitter smile, "Younger brother, take a seat first!"
Although Zhang Tie sat down, he was still gazing at Zhou Shufan.
After Zhang Tie's interruption, Pandora didn't feel like playing the piano anymore. She stopped and directly walked out of the bar, closely followed by the two silent Hua knights. The other knights just watched Pandora leaving with reluctant looks. Two more guys were throwing furious glances at Zhang Tie as if they were complaining that Zhang Tie had disturbed their good moods.
"This woman has been in the Lion Fortress for over 1 year. She's the princess of the Demon Killing Valley, the granddaughter of the head of the Demon Killing Valley, she's called Pandora!"
Zhou Shufan told Zhang Tie about Pandora's background in a secret manner.
After hearing this message, Zhang Tie widely opened his mouth with an amazed look.
The princess of Sacred Golden Orchid Empire, the daughter of Haiger VII the weird emperor, the granddaughter of the head of Demon Killing Valley. All these identities puzzled Zhang Tie.
'With an evident, foreign look, Pandora had the bloodline of Hebrews, how could she be the granddaughter of the head of the Demon Killing Valley?'
When Zhang Tie thought about it, he asked this question in a secret manner, "Elder brother Zhou, this woman has a foreign bloodline, how could she be the granddaughter of the head of Demon Killing Valley? Does the head of the Demon Killing Valley also have a foreign bloodline?"
"How could a leader of one of the top 7 sects in Taixia Country carry a foreign bloodline? It's told that Pandora was the daughter of a young daughter of Wu Dingtian the head of Demon Killing Valley and an emperor of a subcontinent who traversed across Taixia Country many years ago. She had been living in a remote place away from Taixia Country. After the holy war broke out, she returned to Taixia Country. As one of the top 7 sects in Taixia Country, the Demon Killing Valley is very powerful and has a lot of secrets!"
"What's this woman doing in the Lion Fortress? I couldn't find a knight's qi from her. She should not be a knight. What does the head of Demon Killing Valley mean by dropping her granddaughter in the Lion Fortress?"
"Younger brother, you're wrong this time!" Gong Ziyao replied Zhang Tie in a secret way, "Pandora is very famous in the Lion Fortress. I was told that she had awakened two top heavenly-rank bloodlines, the dark body and the bad luck curse. With the dark body, she could completely hide her qi. No matter how powerful she is, she just looks like a commoner; as for the bad luck curse, all those who are against her will be in great troubles. The two bloodlines are exclusive top bloodlines of the Wu Clan in Taixia Country. With the secret battle skills of Demon Killing Valley, this woman has killed more than 5 demon knights in the past one year."
After hearing Gong Ziyao's introduction, Zhang Tie was greatly shocked. He couldn't help recalling how Pandora was pushed aside by the other girls in the Wild Wolf Valley. 'As all the other girls said that they would have a bad luck when they stay with Pandora, Pandora was always lonely in the Wild Wolf Castle. She had no friend at all. Is this caused by the strength of her bloodline? After encountering Pandora a few times, I also suffered from some dangers. Pandora felt very sorry for that. Perhaps, Pandora had already realized that she had awakened some special bloodline at that time. Therefore, she became increasingly lonely and sensitive...'
Additionally, Zhang Tie knew that many major families, even common families in Taixia Country forbade their Hua girls to marry foreign people; otherwise, it was always regarded as a humiliation. When he recalled that Pandora, as the princess of Sacred Golden Orchid Empire, had to dwell in Blackhot City instead of returning to Taixia Country, Zhang Tie doubted that this might be because that her mother was a daughter of the head of Demon Killing Valley. Due to some unknown reason or the stress from Demon Killing Valley, the emperor Haiger VII who dreamed to build a powerful mechanical troop in the black iron age had to take Pandora away from the imperial palace and hide her in a secret place.
Zhang Tie remembered that Pandora had never mentioned about her mother.
It was completely out of Zhang Tie's imagination that Pandora could be a knight. 'However, given the terrifying resources and powerful backgrounds of the top 7 sects in Taixia Country and the fact that Pandora had awakened her powerful heavenly-rank bloodlines, it was not difficult for Wu Dingtian the head of the Demon Killing Valley to help Pandora promote to a knight in a few years. Even I could promote to a knight, not to mention a princess of one of the top 7 sects in Taixia Country, whose identity is much nobler than the princess of Sacred Golden Orchid Empire. Additionally, I was told that the top 7 sects in Taixia Country had private towers of time, which were an extremely scarce resource. Of course, they could produce knights very fast...'
Zhang Tie thought through many things at once.
However, although Zhang Tie could not get her for the time being, he had been satisfied too much after knowing that Pandora lived pretty well with such a powerful background. After the demonized puppets disaster on subcontinents and witnessing hundreds of millions of people dying miserably, Zhang Tie just hoped Pandora to survive herself for a very long time until the moment just now.
Therefore, after knowing that Pandora was still alive, Zhang Tie became reassured.
Seeing that Pandora was still wearing the finger ring that he had gifted her, Zhang Tie became reassured and pretty moved. However, neither he nor Pandora could be as capricious as before.
Being once young and frivolous and having made an unalterable oath of marriage and always being moved by each other, Zhang Tie wondered how important he still was in Pandora's heart.
Due to the growth, changing environment, time and space and status, the innocence might have gradually faded away.
Given his current situation——being wanted by the Supreme Court in Taixia Country and being hunted by the official and mysterious powers of Taixia Country at the same time, Zhang Tie felt like being an alchemist's bomb which was going to explode at any time; therefore, he dared not expose his original look to Pandora in case of unpredictable troubles and dangers to the latter.
At this moment, he could only hold back even though he had too many words to say.
The previous performance of Zhang Tie was not out of his whim or impulsion. It was a decision that Zhang Tie made in a split second after consideration. With this start, if he was close to Pandora again, or protected her or made good overtures to her, it would be regarded as a normal deed of a man who wanted to court Pandora.
Zhang Tie loved Pandora. Many times, one cared about and loved another in his own pattern.
As a princess of Demon Killing Valley, Pandora could easily gain a lot of suitors in the Lion Fortress due to her power, background, even the distinctive look. What happened just now was nothing strange to Pandora at all. As all the knights were very confident, not only Zhang Tie who was straightforward in the Lion Fortress.
Of course, Pandora didn't know that the suitor was Zhang Tie.
However, Zhang Tie knew that she was Pandora...
Although they had met each other, they could not recover their former ties.
Zhang Tie didn't withdraw his full attention from Pandora until her footsteps completely disappeared.
After departing for so many years, Zhang Tie suddenly re-encountered Pandora and departed with her in such a calm manner just like strangers.
Although Zhang Tie became spirited, his mind was still filled with the look of Pandora and the warm moments between them...
——Am I still your beloved one?
Zhang Tie asked inside, although he didn't expect that Pandora could hear it.
Pandora who had come to the outside of the Iron-blood Tower slowly stopped her footsteps while she faintly frowned her beautiful eyebrows. She suddenly felt melancholy like having missed something precious the moment she left the Iron-blood Tower. At the same time, her heart raced for a second...
Right then, a lightning bolt flashed across the skyline, closely followed by a rumbling...
Pandora looked up and watched the rain curtain above the Lion Fortress——
After a long while...
"Am I still your beloved one?" Pandora muttered while her eyes became blurred.
That night, the rain was as heavy as this, however, that person was not on her side anymore. She was concerned about him so much.
"Miss..." One of the two knights who followed her walked forward and asked her what happened...
Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Pandora opened her eyes which had turned distant and decisive, "Let's go to the first abyss..."
After 10 more minutes, three lights rushed out of the gate of the Lion Fortress and disappeared in the heavy rain...
...
After being apart for so many years, Zhang Tie suddenly re-encountered Pandora and departed with her in such a calm manner just like strangers.
Chapter 919: Alluring Secret Items
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After Pandora left...
Some more knights entered the Iron-blood Tower Bar. It was still boisterous over there; especially when some female knights entered the bar, they made the surrounding men restless at once. As a result, men queued up to invite those girls for a drink...
After throwing a glance at those female knights, Zhang Tie withdrew his eye lights.
The liquor in the bar was brewed by watermelons. It tasted like beer. Although it tasted a bit bitter and strange, this liquor would still cost one consumption point a cup.
Zhang Tie's mood was like the watermelon liquor in his hand. Watching Pandora leaving, Zhang Tie also felt a bit bitter. Besides, he felt a bit enraged inside...
However, he could only bury these feelings deep inside.
The surrounding knights were drinking and chatting. As for those usual contents, they directly talked with each other; however, even the usual contents were major events for commoners.
Some foreign knights being not far away from Zhang Tie were chatting that someone was going to be a No. 1 knight of a country in a subcontinent in a usual tone while the other knights at a farther table were discussing the advantages and disadvantages to be a corps leader at this moment.
In front of commoners, the topics such as becoming a No. 1 knight or a corps leader were all major events that could influence numerous people's fates. However, in Iron-blood Tower of the Lion Fortress, these contents were casually discussed and determined by knights.
This was the knights' world!
Zhang Tie sighed with emotions. Looking around these people, Zhang Tie knew that if a knight became famous in the Earth-elements Realm or in the Lion Fortress, he or she would have a great influence and reputation in the entire human world. If these knights could survive here, when they exited the Earth-elements Realm, they would be No. 1 in a region. They were on the top of the pyramid of human rights. If someone could become outstanding among these human knights, he or she would leave a brand in the top circle of humans. In the future, he or she would have an inestimable influence for sure.
Now that Pandora became famous in the Lion Fortress within such a short period, she must have a very powerful battle strength.
What happened just now was just a small episode for Gong Ziyao and Zhou Sufan. They didn't care about that at all. Actually, they had something to negotiate with Zhang Tie.
After having some cups of watermelon liquor and chatting, Gong Ziyao exchanged a glance with Zhou Shufan. Gong Ziyao then opened his mouth once again.
"Young brother, have you heard about silver secret items?"
Gong Ziyao asked in a secret way. Therefore, nobody else could hear that except for Zhang Tie.
"Yup, it's said that silver secret items are very marvelous. When in need, they could come out of nowhere after extracting four elements from the elements realm. They're very powerful!" Zhang Tie replied in a secret way too.
As for knights, only silver secret items that came from the underground world could be the exclusive equipment of knights. After promoting to knights, being affected by the black iron effect, most of the equipment for knights produced by rune equipment masters and alchemists were actually dispensable. It was not determined by someone, but by the difference between civilizations and levels in the long river course of history. Some civilizations had been on the peak while some civilizations were still in the valley and remained unchanged.
"As young brother has just been here, I wonder whether you have gotten your exclusive silver secret item yet?"
"Elder brother Gong, you must be kidding. I'm new here, how could I have any silver secret item?" Zhang Tie replied with a smile.
Zhang Tie indeed got a silver secret item from the demon general. As he had not made it legitimate, Zhang Tie wouldn't expose it easily.
"To tell you the truth, brother Zhou and I have got a chance to gain silver secret items in the first abyss, therefore we came back to make some preparations for that. As we both like you and admire your battle strength very much, after negotiating with each other, we want to know whether young brother Cui would like to have a try with us and get a silver secret item for yourself so that you could have a self-protection in case of greater dangers in the future!"
Zhang Tie straightened up and put down his glass.
Gong Ziyao looked very solemn. It didn't look like a joke.
How could Zhang Tie refuse the chance to have a silver secret item aboveboard?
"Are you sure we can have some?"
"Not sure. Silver secret items are precious wherever they are. Anyone who got it would not like to expose it to the public; additionally, the more the better. However, as we've been staying in the Lion Fortress for a long time, we're well-informed. Additionally, we've met some friends. This time, we've got a chance to gain silver secret items. If young brother could join us, even if there's any danger, we three could form a 3-in-1 matrix and have a greater chance to survive ourselves."
"Are we going to the first abyss?"
"Yes, not only three of us. A team of knights in Lion Fortress would go there under the leadership of an earth knight. Those who will go there tonight would meet in the Iron-blood Tower! If young brother has determined to join us, we can go and meet the other knights after a while."
"Right in the Iron-blood Tower?"
"Yup, in a private room above us at 9 pm!"
Only after considering it for half a second, Zhang Tie had nodded and made his decision, "Sure, thanks to your appreciation, I will have a try with two elder brothers this time regardless of a mountain of swords and a sea of flames!"
Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan burst out into laughter at the same time.
"That's our friend, hahaha..."
...
After Zhang Tie fixed the plan with Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan, the group of three waited for the rest of the team while drinking and chatting in the bar. Only after a short while, some knights came to the lobby of the bar. After throwing a glance inside, one of them caught sight of Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan. He then pointed upstairs before going there from the staircase on one side.
Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan then exchanged a glance with Zhang Tie at the same time. The group of three then left their cassettes and went upstairs after the rest of the team...
Chapter 920: Mountain Lifting Hermit
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The private room upstairs was more brilliant. Covering over 300 square meters, it was as resplendent and magnificent as an imperial palace.
Soon after Zhang Tie, Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan arrived here, the other knights constantly entered this private room.
It was a secret party for some knights in the Lion Fortress. Therefore, they all arrived here on time. After entering the private room, they exchanged a glance with each other and nodded at each other before taking a seat quietly.
Before 9 pm, 11 knights had arrived in the private room. They were in 4 groups, three groups were composed of 3 knights respectively while the rest two Hua knights were a couple given their genial looks and behaviors. One group was composed of three foreigners——a black tough man, a white tough man and a blonde woman.
The 4 groups of knights were destructive to a city or a nation in any subcontinent.
All the knights here had strong qis. They were at least more capable and vigorous than common black iron knights. Many of them had a bloody sense of oppression.
Many knights here threw a glance at Zhang Tie in spite of themselves because of Zhang Tie's sturdy figure and height and dowdy look.
Compared to the other knights, Zhang Tie was completely like a migrant worker from a slum as he only wore a set of common battle uniforms without any special weapon. However, the other knights' helmets, armors or portable weapons were all senior commodities which had broken the black iron effect. Given their looks, Zhang Tie knew that they were all elaborate works which were worth millions of gold coins. Even the Hua couple in white and golden boa silk robes with white-sheath longswords at their waists looked like an immortal couple.
All the knights arrived at this private room a few minutes earlier than the regulation. After that, they just waited here and communicated with each other in a secret way.
A black tough guy constantly threw a glance at Zhang Tie. As his figure and height were outstanding among all the knights at present, he had not imagined that Zhang Tie was taller than him; additionally, Zhang Tie's muscles were as firm as steel which revealed an explosive strength faintly.
Watching the black tough man glancing at him, Zhang Tie grinned towards him.
This black tough man reminded Zhang Tie of Bagdad. Such a knight was definitely the idol of Bagdad.
At 9 pm, the door of the private room was pushed open from outside while a man entered.
Watching this man entering the room, all the knights who were sitting in the private room stood up at once so as to greet him.
Zhang Tie stood up together with Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan too; meanwhile, he glanced at the man out of curiosity.
That was an old man at his 60s. He was not tall and was even a bit thin. Besides two strands of silver hair near his temples, his hair looked pretty smooth and tidy. With bulgy nose and forehead and slim legs, his eyes glittered.
Given the sense of oppression which was overwhelming to black iron knights at present, Zhang Tie knew that this guy must be an earth knight. Given the other knights' response to him, Zhang Tie knew that this guy must be extremely dignified among these people.
"Mountain Lifting Hermit..." They all greeted him.
Mountain Lifting Hermit was the official name of this earth knight, which also represented his background in Taixia Country. Given his official name, he didn't serve the imperial palace or any major clan in Taixia Country. Otherwise, they would add Lord plus official positions such as General, Provincial Governor ahead of Mountain Lifting. However, if this guy originated from a major clan, he would be called Elder or Clan Head Mountain Lifting. The official name Mountain Lifting Hermit indicated that he was a lonely knight who used to cultivate himself or a member of a sect in Taixia Country.
Zhang Tie's current identity was also a lonely knight.
Mountain Liting Hermit nodded as he threw a glance over the knights at present before saying, "Please take a seat!"
After the Mountain Lifting Hermit issued an order, he walked to a long table in the private room and sat on the main seat. At the sight of this, the other knights in the corners and sofas of the private room also came to the long table and sat down.
As the table was longer than 10 m, it was available for over 20 people, not to mention the 12 knights in total.
Zhang Tie walked over there with Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan and sat inferior to them, also the end of the left side of Mountain Lifting Hermit. As Zhang Tie was tall and sturdy, he sat there with ease. On his opposite were the three foreign knights.
It felt like a mini-conference among knights. If being led by a black iron knight, this team was already destructive in Waii Subcontinent, not to mention that it was led by an earth knight.
Zhang Tie sighed with emotions inside, 'Lion Fortress is really a capital city of knights.'
It seemed that all the knights at present had known about Mountain Lifting Hermit; however, they were strange to each other. Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan were just a bit familiar with that knight who greeted them in the lobby of the bar just now. They had heard about the others at most. Take the immortal couple as an instance, Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan heard that couple came from Huizhou Province, Taixia Country, who excelled at the combined strike. They had killed some demon knights in the Lion Fortress.
"Now that you came here, you must have known our purpose. I will put it simply. Our destination is a pre-historical relic in the first abyss. Due to the hurricane in the abyss, that pre-historical relic was accessible every 3 years. Last time, someone found the Mountain of Weapons in the pre-historical relic and gained a lot of silver secret items from there. Someone even gained nanobeads and space-teleportation equipment from there. My first target is nanobead and space-teleportation equipment!" The Mountain Lifting Hermit said in a muffled voice.
The moment the other black iron knights heard "Mountain of Weapons", they were in uproar at once.
"If so, Mountain Lifting Hermit, why do you summon us to go there? Based on your battle strength and skills, you could easily gain nanobead and space-teleportation equipment over there alone." The male of the couple on the right hand of Mountain Lifting Hermit posed his question. As knights, they all had their own concerns and benefits, especially in such an action. Even though Mountain Lifting Hermit was an earth knight, he was on equal footing with the other black iron knights on rights. He had no right to order the other black iron knights to do anything.
"That pre-historical relic is in a space like a Shangrila. It's a hieron. According to the knights who entered the pre-historical relics for the first time, some powerful battle puppets were safeguarding the pre-historical hieron inside. It would take a long time for one person to repel those battle puppets. Before the hurricane in the abyss sealed the pre-historical relic once again, I alone might not have a chance to gain any silver secret item or other space-teleportation equipment. Therefore, if we go there in a team, we could share the stress and benefits together. It's a win-win situation!"
"You mean we might encounter enemies in the pre-historic relic?" Zhou Shufan asked after thinking for a second.
"Yes!" Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded immediately, "Additionally, the pre-historical relic is in a very deep place of the first abyss, which is crisscrossed with the frequent forces of the demons. We probably need to fight demons there. Even though we could enter the pre-historical relic, we might face competitions from other knights from the Lion Fortress. Therefore, it's a very dangerous action; plus, we cannot ensure that everyone at present could gain a silver secret item!"
"How do we allocate the booties?" The white knight on the opposite of Zhang Tie asked.
"Before entering the pre-historical relic, the booties and meritorious points that you gain from killing demon knights belong to yourselves. After entering the pre-historical relics, we will join hands to break the battle puppets in the hieron. The first space-teleportation equipment that our team gains belong to me, nanobead or others. If there's no space-teleportation equipment, the first silver secret item that our team gains belong to me. I enjoy the right of selecting one item at first. As for the rest, it depends. I don't need anything else from you!"
Mountain Lifting Hermit revealed his plan of allocation in an arrogant look yet fair way. As an earth knight with greater battle strength, the convener and the leader of this action, of course, he enjoyed a greater right of distribution.
After thinking for a second, everybody else nodded.
"As this action is very dangerous, I hope everybody at present is a powerhouse who has at least killed one demon knight." Mountain Lifting Hermit said as he focused on Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie was a newbie in the Lion Fortress. Therefore, few people knew him here; plus his dowdy look, no wonder Mountain Lifting Hermit paid more attention to him.
Hearing Mountain Lifting Hermit's suggestion, all the other knights moved their eyes onto Zhang Tie.
"Although young elder Cui Li has been in the Lion Fortress for less than 1 month, he has just killed an ox-head demon knight a few days ago!" Zhou Shufan said calmly.
All the others gleamed their eyes before moving their eyes away from Zhang Tie...
Mountain Lifting Hermit then moved his eyes away from all the other knights one after another before saying with absolute certainty, "Now that we've made a decision, we will set off at 9 pm tomorrow..."
Chapter 921: Becoming a Celestial Being
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
As knights treasured time so much, they did everything at a high efficiency.
The entire process of Mountain Lifting Hermit entering the room to leaving lasted less than 5 minutes. After a short meeting with each other, the 12 knights left the Iron-blood Tower respectively.
As they were going to set off at 9 pm tomorrow, they only had 24 hours left for making preparations in the Lion Fortress.
When Zhang Tie, Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan left the Iron-blood Tower, the heavy rain had not stopped yet. It was still pitch-dark outside the fortress.
"Brother Cui, we might encounter many accidents in this action, you'd better prepare some equipment in case of possible dangers!"
"Thanks, brother Zhou, I'm thinking about preparing something!"
"If you don't have enough consumption points and earth-elements crystals. Just tell us, we've got 10 more earth-elements crystals, you could exchange them for many items!"
"I've not used up the earth-elements crystals that I've exchanged with the horns of that ox-head demon. Additionally, I've got 1,000 consumption points left. It's enough!"
"Which weapon are you good at, brother Cui?"
"Spear!"
"Spear!" Zhou Shufan glanced at Zhang Tie's tower-like figure seriously as if he was imagining how Zhang Tie looked when he used a spear, "It's a popular weapon. You could buy it in the equipment stores in the fortress. Top-quality spears need to be customized which requires longer time. I'm afraid that you might not have enough time to customize spears."
"No problem, I will take a look in the equipment stores. By the way, I will buy some other items!"
"See you tomorrow then!"
"Yes, see you tomorrow!"
Gong Ziyao, Zhou Shufan and Zhang Tie then cupped their hands towards each other before separating from each other.
Seeing Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan off, Zhang Tie recalled Pandora's look once again...
Standing outside the Iron-blood Tower for a few seconds in an absent-minded way, Zhang Tie shook his head. After recalling the locations of the equipment stores on the map of the Lion Fortress, Zhang Tie strode away...
...
3 hours later, Zhang Tie returned to his private knight's tower with a senior metal field operations bag which was longer than 70 cm. A knight's battle spear which had been folded into three sections was inserted to one side of the bag.
It was a snapping-up, in which Zhang Tie spent 80% of his earth-elements crystals and consumption points.
The most expensive one among the commodities that he had purchased was that knight-level foldable battle spear, which was called abyss battle spear. It was 178 kg in weight and 3.8 m in length. The entire battle spear was made of abyss iron. Additionally, the body of the spear was attached with a Class III consolidating effect; the head of the spear was also granted with a rune effect of accelerated bleeding. This battle spear was made by an artisan master in the Lion Fortress. It cost Zhang Tie 11 earth-elements crystals.
As Zhang Tie was also an artisan master, at the sight of the spear, he had known the superb craftsmanship of the artisan master who made this abyss battle spear. Its maker was even better than "Master Jiang" and Zhang Tie himself. It would take Zhang Tie at least 1.5 months to make a battle spear which was faintly dwarfed by this one.
In peacetime, abyss battle spear was portable as it could be folded into three sections. When in need, it would only take its owner a couple of seconds to assemble the three sections and play its role as a knight's battle spear.
Besides the abyss battle spear, Zhang Tie bought a pair of high metal tiger-claw shaped battle boots, which was waterproof, fire-resistant and pierce-resistant and carried the effect of Class II consolidating skill and a Class I cleaning effect. The Class II consolidating skill was common; however, the Class I cleaning effect was considerate for knights. With this rune effect, even if Zhang Tie constantly fought for months in the wild, he would never scare others away by his foot the moment he took off his battle boots.
This pair of battle boots cost Zhang Tie 6 earth-elements crystals. As a result, Zhang Tie only had 1 earth-elements crystal left.
Actually, there were better battle boots and battle spears. However, given his ability, Zhang Tie could only buy the two items.
As for others, the senior metal field operations bag and the sets of combat uniforms in the bag cost Zhang Tie more than 700 consumption points.
After returning to his knight's tower, Zhang Tie put down his belongings in the bedroom before entering Castle of Black Iron...
Since being wanted, Zhang Tie had not entered Castle of Black Iron.
...
"Ah..." The moment Zhang Tie entered Castle of Black Iron, he had heard a jarring exclamation instead of a Heller's greeting.
Right in the lobby of the palace tree, two girls of about 15 years were startled by Zhang Tie's sudden appearance as they exclaimed at once.
Zhang Tie was also stunned as he had not imagined that someone else was here. However, he instantly remembered that he had promised Heller to have some youngsters go up the mountain last time.
When he took his parents in, he didn't see the two girls. It was really out of his imagination that he could see them this time.
"This is the God of Karma whom you're worshipping. The God could freely access to the secular world and his own immortal country in his incarnation. No panic!"
Heller always appeared in time. After hearing that this one was the celestial being that they had been worshipping, the two beautiful girls hurriedly knelt down.
Heller blinked his eyes towards Zhang Tie. After understanding Heller's meaning, Zhang Tie instantly triggered his body-changing immortal bloodline and recovered his original look. At the sight of Zhang Tie's original look, the two girls immediately lowered their heads and almost touched the ground. They dared not glance at Zhang Tie anymore as if they were very guilty...
Zhang Tie only recovered his original face; however, his figure remained unchanged. As Cui Li's figure was much larger than Zhang Tie's, if he recovered his original figure, his pants would rip off at once. He could not continue to disguise as a celestial being by pulling his pants.
However, it was enough for him to just change his face. Watching the two girls being so scared and thrilled, Heller told them to leave...
'God of Karma?' Zhang Tie blinked his eyes towards Heller as he wondered when did he become the God of Karma of those residents in Castle of Black Iron.
Chapter 922: Golden Lotus Flowers over the Magma Lake
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
"Castle Lord!" Heller bowed towards Zhang Tie after the two awe-stricken and exciting girls left.
Zhang Tie asked Heller, "What's the God of Karma?"
"It's the official appellation of Castle Lord given by the residents in Castle of Black Iron. Karma represents reprimand and redemption. It's both a start and an end. Karma is the top rule, the source of all the strengths, nature and all the rules. All the rules are the concrete manifestation of karma. The God of Karma is the top celestial being and the Creator. The appellation indicates that the residents in Castle of Black Iron worship and respect you!" Heller said with a solemn look.
"Is that real?"
Zhang Tie touched his bald head in a bashful way as he felt the appellation was something great.
"Erm...is it okay?" Zhang Tie asked Heller in a faintly shameful way. It might be a bit exaggerated for a mortal to be worshipped as a celestial being.
"What are you concerned about, Castle Lord?" Heller asked.
'Hmm, whatever, it's just an appellation. Nothing to be worried about it.'
'Could a wanted man also be worshipped like a celestial being?' Zhang Tie smiled in a self-deprecated manner. Closely after that, he walked towards the small tree which was covered with fruits.
After so many days, the small tree was covered with leakless fruits.
Besides, two fruits of redemption from the gratitude of gulf shrimps and hairy shellfish were also hanging over the small tree, which looked pretty brilliant...
——Fruit of Redemption from the gratitude of gulf shrimps. It's already ripe. 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.
——With this fruit, Castle Lord could accelerate the healing and recovering ability by 18.7% and increase the upper limit in endurance capacity in the hypoxic environment by 9.3%.
——Fruit of Redemption from the gratitude of hairy shellfish. It's already ripe. 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.
——With this fruit, Castle Lord could increase the defensive capability and anti-strike ability by 4.3%.
The two ripe fruits of redemption indicated that Paul had been carrying out his task by setting free gulf shrimps and hairy shellfish after Zhang Tie left Yanghe Prefecture.
Zhang Tie revealed a big smile before starting to enjoy the fruits.
Rome was not built in one day.
A long journey began with the first step. After taking so many fruits one after another, Zhang Tie gradually climbed up to the higher peaks.
These leakless fruits became the "tonic" of Zhang Tie's battle qi. Zhang Tie ate them one after another like having common fruits. Zhang Tie soon ate up all the leakless fruits that had been accumulated during the past months. After that, Zhang Tie started to take the fruits of redemption. Compared to those leakless fruits, it took Zhang Tie about 3 hours to fully digest the two fruits of redemption, which was a bit longer than that required by those leakless fruits.
After returning to the Lion Fortress for only 2 days, Zhang Tie had promoted to 1 change black iron knight and gained an overall improvement in power from "King Roc Sutra". After taking so many fruits, Zhang Tie's potential overall strength increased once more.
After digesting these fruits, Zhang Tie got off the sacrificial altar. When he was going back to his private knight's tower, he was stopped by Heller.
"Castle Lord, you might have already forgotten something."
"What?"
"Castle Lord, how did you feel in the first abyss?"
"Nice, but it was too misty over there. I had a poor vision inside it!" Zhang Tie replied with a confused look.
"The garrison knights in the Lion Fortress have to drink one vial of senior night-viewing medicament per year so as to stay in the Earth-elements Realm. I'm afraid that Castle Lord has forgotten that you could have a dark vision ability without taking night-viewing medicament!"
After hearing Heller's words, Zhang Tie became confused at first; after that, he blinked his eyes as if he had recalled something. Closely after that, he was in ecstasy...
Many people have the similar experiences. When making a move, they would suddenly find a passbook in a corner or some gold coins that they once hid. They then felt having a windfall.
That was how Zhang Tie felt at this moment. After being busy fighting demons these years, he might have forgotten about this if not being reminded by Heller.
He remembered that he had one more treasure in Castle of Black Iron——Fiery Flame Lotus.
After taking the seeds of the Fiery Flame Lotus, he could have a dark vision ability which was more effective than night-viewing medicament.
"Oh, how about the Fiery Flame Lotus in Castle of Black Iron now?"
"Why not take a look at them with me, Castle Lord?" Heller suggested as he stretched out his hand to invite Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie immediately rushed into the underground tunnel of the palace tree.
The underground tunnel of the palace tree was linked with the Immortal Mountain.
The inside of the Immortal Mountain had a wonderful scenery.
The hinterland of the Immortal Mountain included the largest warehouse of Castle of Black Iron, Aziz's cellars and Edward's foundry.
As for rune equipment masters, Edward's foundry was really attractive where Edward used dozens of extremely pure underground flames in different temperatures to extract items. Each rune equipment master was desiring about having such a workshop. They could not imagine about having dozens of underground flames in different temperatures in the same workshop at all.
In the past, Zhang Tie didn't understand why Edward chose to build it in the hinterland of the Immortal Mountain. Now, in the eyes of an artisan master, Zhang Tie found that Edward's foundry in the Immortal Mountain was really a DreamWorks for rune equipment masters. He realized that he would not find the second foundry like this in the world outside Castle of Black Iron.
Right at the bottom of the Immortal Mountain, Zhang Tie saw numerous glittering fiery flame lotus on a magma lake which covered tens of thousands of square meters.
Among the glittering lotus leaves were golden lotus flowers. Some golden lotus buds were getting ready to burst; some had been in full bloom; some golden lotus flowers had bred seedpod.
The entire space above the magma lake was filled with an exotic fragrance.
The remaining lotus seeds that he left here had become a wide area of fiery flame lotus leaves, flowers and seeds.
At the sight of such a luxuriant scene in the magma lake, Zhang Tie felt a contradictory deja vu. Many people might have already seen common lotus flowers covering a lake; however, Zhang Tie bet that they had never seen so many fiery flame lotus leaves, flowers and seeds over a magma lake. Even his master Zhao Yuan might not have seen that before.
This was a top luxuriant scene and the manifestation of the good luck in Castle of Black Iron. It was Castle of Black Iron who was the celestial being instead of him.
"After the first batch of fiery flame lotus become ripe, Castle Lord didn't care about it as if you didn't need fiery flame golden lotus seed for the time being; therefore, I decided all by myself to sow those seeds. After so many years, due to the nourishment of the aura in Castle of Black Iron, they finally reached such a scale. There were 1149 fiery flame golden lotus seeds in this magma lake."
Zhang Tie squatted beside the magma lake as he touched one fiery flame golden lotus leaf out of curiosity. As large as a common lotus leaf, it was not hot but the texture was like a metal. It was like a super alloy leaf. Although Zhang Tie had a terrifying strength, he could still not crumb the fiery flame golden lotus leaf; instead, he could only leave a fingerprint on it. Zhang Tie flicked at it, causing two melodious, silvery metallic sounds.
The subtlety of silicon-based life was really out of Zhang Tie's imagination.
As an artisan master, Zhang Tie instinctively knew that the leaf of this fiery flame lotus was an extremely rare material. Besides being light and firm, the leaf also had some special functions. Battle armors being made of the leaves of fiery flame lotus were definitely rare.
Zhang Tie touched its stem and felt bristles as hard as metal on it. Like lotus leaf, lotus stem was also a rare raw material of equipment.
Zhang Tie picked himself up from the ground and asked Heller, "What's the lotus root of this fiery flame lotus used for?"
"The root of the fiery flame lotus is not available to you, Castle Lord."
"Why?"
"Even after being processed, the effects of the root of fiery flame golden lotus could only be digested by earth knights. After taking its root, earth knights could raise their high temperature-resistant ability to an unimaginable level and could further improve their protective battle qi. As a result, when in a defensive state, earth knights could also harm their enemies."
"Protective battle qi could be aggressive?"
"Castle Lord, you have already seen your master Zhao Yuan perform it!"
Zhang Tie remembered that the moment the LV 10 fighter from Zhen Clan in Heavens Cold City touched Zhao Yuan's clothes, his arms had burned into ashes...
Watching these lotus flowers, Zhang Tie wondered what effect would he gain after taking all of these fiery flame lotus seeds.
"After 3 days, Castle Lord could try the taste of these fiery flame golden lotus seeds. Castle Lord will have a big surprise by then!" Heller said leisurely.
...
When Zhang Tie exited the Castle of Black Iron, he had been fully confident about the coming action.
One day flew past...
...
At 8:50 pm, November 3rd, after putting away his belongings, Zhang Tie carried his metal field operations bag with an abyss spear on its side and a gold-eaten tri-edged dagger in a metal sheath beside his waist in a soft armor and a pair of metal tiger-claw shaped battle boots and came to the outside of the gate of Lion Fortress.
As the old saying went, a fair bird had fair feathers. With such a wholly new set of equipment, Zhang Tie looked much more powerful than that a few days ago. He was filled with killing qi at the moment.
Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan had arrived here a few minutes earlier than Zhang Tie. Besides carrying a knight-level field operations bag respectively, Gong Ziyao wore a set of half-body metal armor, Zhou Shufan wore a set of senior grey knight-level soft armor with a short sword at one side of his waist. Watching Zhang Tie punching his card and striding out of the gate, Gong Ziyao's and Zhou Shufan's eyes gleamed at the same time.
"Brother Cui, you look extremely brave. If you were in a senior armor, you would look more dignified!"
"Ha...ha...brothers, you don't look bad, either!" Zhang Tie burst into laughter.
In only a few minutes, those whom Zhang Tie had met in the Iron-blood Tower had arrived one after another. Almost each of them was carrying a knight-level field operations bag.
Without a space-teleportation equipment, even being knights, they had to take enough food and water with them. With one kettle of water, the knight might survive the dilemma. Therefore, nobody dared be careless at this critical moment.
The garrison knights at the gate of the Lion Fortress were not shocked by such a team of knights as they could catch sight of many teams of knights going on expeditions everyday. No matter what these knights were going there for, as long as they left the Lion Fortress, they might encounter demons. In that case, they had to end the battles by forces. Objectively, these teams of knights going on expeditions safeguarded the Lion Fortress.
Mountain Lifting Hermit also arrived here on time with a metal bag on his back. After ensuring that everybody had arrived, Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded and issued the order, "Let's go!". Closely after that, he rose in the air, followed by all the others.
As an earth knight, Mountain Lifting Hermit moved very fast in the air. Only after a short while, Zhang Tie felt that he had reached almost 800 km per hour. The others hurriedly followed him up.
As for common black iron knights, it was a bit difficult for them to constantly fly at such a high speed for a few hours.
As Mountain Lifting Hermit flew, he kept observing the performance of the others. Actions spoke louder than words. If a black iron knight could have an excellent performance in the air, his battle strength would not be too bad.
Although all the knights in this team had killed demon knights and were elites in the Lion Fortress, they were also different than each other in battle strength.
Only flying 1 hour at such a high speed, the differences between the knights in battle strength had been exposed.
The couple was still closely following up Mountain Lifting Hermit while the three foreign knights had gradually lagged behind.
Zhang Tie, Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan were close to each other. Although being in the middle of the team, Zhang Tie's leisure look won more glances from Mountain Lifting Hermit. As a result, Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded inside...
...
As for Zhang Tie, through this action, he might get silver secret items or kill demon knights. Even if they did not encounter a demon knight, it would also be a big achievement for a newbie to explore a mysterious region in the first abyss under the leadership of so many veterans. He just took this action as a knights' travel in the first abyss.
Therefore, Zhang Tie was the most relaxed one among them...
Mountain Lifting Hermit enjoyed a great dignity among this team of knights, which was not formed in a short period. Instead, it was gradually formed through long-term contacts with him. For example, Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan once fought together with Mountain Lifting Hermit in the first abyss a couple of years ago. Therefore, they believed in him very much.
According to Zhang Tie's observation, although Mountain Lifting Hermit was a bit solemn, his moral standing was reliable. Without personal charisma, he would not easily organize such a team.
In Lion Fortress, the moral standing of an earth knight could easily become a widely accepted secret among black iron knights in a very short period.
...
After leaving the Lion Fortress for less than 1.5 hours, someone in the team had already been exhausted. Mountain Lifting Hermit noticed that; therefore, he landed, followed by the others. They started to run on the ground...
As for knights, as long as they were not flying but were running rapidly on the ground, it was almost like taking a rest.
After landing, their running speed was about 200 km per hour. While running, they could adjust their breaths.
As for Zhang Tie, running was a piece of cake.
After 4 hours, Mountain Lifting Hermit rose in the air once again, closely followed by all the others...
After one night's travel, they finally appeared in front of the first abyss on the next morning when it started to break in the Earth-elements Realm...
Mountain Lifting Hermit landed in a valley less than 10 km away from the first abyss. There were some plants and a brook in this valley. It was the ideal place for supply and resting before entering the first abyss. It seemed that Mountain Lifting Hermit was familiar with this route very much.
"After resting 3 hours here, we will enter the first abyss!" The moment they landed here, Mountain Lifting Hermit had issued the order.
After that, Mountain Lifting Hermit found a place and entered cultivation calmly with eyes closed.
Zhang Tie came to the lower reach of the brook and washed his face.
"Hello, I'm Filton, a knight from the Grims Republic on the Western Continent. What's your name?" The black knight walked to Zhang Tie and greeted him...
Filton spoke Hua language fluently...
'Grims Republic?' Zhang Tie became stunned for a second. He remembered that he had heard about this nation before, 'Oh, yes, it's the trading partner of Ms. Olina's Navyblue Castle on the Western Continent.'
Zhang Tie picked himself up from the ground as he casually cleaned his hand on his clothes before saying straightforwardly, "I'm Cui Li, from Yongzhou Province..."
Zhang Tie stretched out his hand towards Filton; however, Filton cupped his hands towards Zhang Tie...
After being stunned for a second, they changed their gestures at the same time.
This time, Zhang Tie cupped his hands; however, Filton stretched out his hand.
After exchanging a glance with each other, they burst out into laughter at the same time.
"Cecilia made a bet with me just now. She said I was destined to be snubbed!" Filton smiled.
"Ah? Why?"
"Because all the Hua knight that we've known in Lion Fortress before were too arrogant or too reserved. Additionally, you don't look like a kind-hearted man!" Filton threw a glance at the blonde female knight who was looking at them from hundreds of meters away.
That female knight called Cecilia was hot in terms of both figure and look. Although her oval face was not extremely beautiful, she looked valiant, heroic and elegant. Plus her long blond hair, she looked pretty charming.
"Hahaha, you could tell that tomato, besides arrogant and reserved ones, there are also sincere ones like me who'd like to make friends with others among Hua people!"
After hearing the word "tomato", the female knight replied with a cold harrumph.
"Do you think that I'm sincere?" Filton pointed at his own nose.
"I have a brother who looks similar to you. You remind me of him! In the saying of your black guys——if someone liked to be friends with you even though you didn't have any beautiful younger sister, he would not be too bad. I've not got any beautiful younger sister..."
Filton burst out into laughter...
When the two people were making fun of each other, the other knights kept that in mind. Nobody could imagine that Zhang Tie would have fun with that foreign knight. Even Mountain Lifting Hermit had opened his eyes and thrown a glance at Zhang Tie once again...
Chapter 923: Sects and Team Members
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Even though they didn't know each other before, after staying with each other for 3 days, they had become familiar with each other.
At least, Zhang Tie had known all of them after 3 days.
Of course, the head of this team was still Mountain Lifting Hermit who always looked serious.
As for the immortal couple, the male was Lu Zhongming while the female was Lin Huanxi. They both came from Guzhou Province, Taixia Country. They usually lived in the Minling Mountain, Guzhou Province, Taixia Country seclusively. Additionally, they were the heads of Minling Sword Sect in Minling Mountain and had over 1,000 disciples over there. Therefore, they were well-known in Guzhou Province.
In Taixia Country, if any knight did not want to be an official or a hermit, could establish a sect in a famous mountain. Of course, the top 7 sects were the most eminent in Taixia Country. Below the top 7 sects, there were numerous sects established by knights in each province or prefecture. This was an implicit rule in Taixia Country. In Waii Subcontinent, many sects were developed in places such as fighting clubs. Over there, even a great battle master or battle general might establish a sect in a country, not to mention a knight. However, in Taixia Country, besides gangs in streets, all the sects should be at least established by a black iron knight. This indicated that any sect in Taixia Country at least carried forward the battle skills and knowledge of a black iron knight. The disciples in these sects could have chances to promote to knights.
Those below knights, even battle spirits were not qualified to establish a sect in Taixia Country. If someone dared violate the implicit rule in Taixia Country, his sect would be destroyed by someone else in only a few days. Without a black iron knight on their back, how could they defend their undertaking?
This was why Taixia Country was full of powerful ones. Besides the huge population, the cultivation environment in Taixia Country was pretty good. Any youth who had a rich family and was decisive and strong-willed would have a greater chance to join a sect in Taixia Country and carry forward the knowledge of a knight-level powerhouse if they could travel across Taixia Country.
Although there were a lot of sects in Waii Subcontinent, none of them could provide a chance for commoners to carry forward the knowledge of a knight.
The couple Lu Zhongming and Lin Huanxi were most careful in the team. They always maintained cleanliness all over. Each time they landed and took a rest, they would clean themselves. Before having a rest on the ground, they would take out a piece of cloth from their bag and pave it over the ground. After that, they would sit on the cloth. In the term before the Catastrophe, they were petty bourgeois in the team.
However, they were qualified to be petty bourgeois, although Lu Zhongming and Lin Huanxi were black iron knights, they had entered 8 changes black iron stage at the same time. At least they were the best ones below Mountain Lifting Hermit from cultivation base.
By contrast, according to Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan, Mountain Lifting Hermit had entered 2 changes earth knight stage two years ago. Of course, it was impossible for him to enter 3 changes earth knight stage in only 2 years; however, Mountain Lifting Hermit had consolidated his realm and battle strength much more.
In Lion Fortress, Mountain Lifting Hermit had killed 6 black iron demon knights and fought earth demon knights for more than 3 times. He was an experienced knight.
In the entire team, besides Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan, the three foreign knights Filton, Cecilia and Bolam were familiar with Zhang Tie first. The three foreign knights were all from the Western Continent. Filton came from Grims Republic, Cecilia came from Francia Empire, which was a big country in the center of Western Continent and had over 10 billion population. The total area of Francia Empire was equal to the size of a province in Taixia Country. Its overall national strength was a bit greater than that of Grims Republic. Francia Empire was the core strength of the Western Continent.
After knowing that Cecilia came to Lion Fortress alone, Zhang Tie admired this woman's braveness too.
Bolam was that white knight. Even he didn't know which country did he belong to. For as long as he could remember, he had been traversing across so many countries on the Western Continent. His mother was a performer in a traveling circus. Even his mother didn't know whom his father was. Since he was born, he had been traveling across the continent with the circus. He did not stay at any place for over 1 month. Later on, he left the circus and started to travel everywhere alone. He promoted to a knight in an airship. Bolam was obsessed with fighting skills. He was always silent and would not speak more than 5 sentences a day.
The three people met in a knight's bar in the Lion Fortress. They then organized a group and gradually became familiar with each other.
By the way, it was the commonest form for three knights to organize a group in the Lion Fortress, because three knights could form a 3-in-1 matrix at the critical moment and could greatly increase their viability in the first abyss. The other 6 knights in the team usually worked together in a group of 2.
Among the rest 6 people, 3 of them were respectively elders of three major clans in Force Province, who were called Yang Zhenjun, Zhao Youxian and Qian Yi respectively. Their clans had at least 5 cities in Force Province. Yang Zhenjun had long known Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan.
As for the rest 3 knights, one was called Tai Rufeng who came from Tai Clan in Yanzhou Province, Taixia Country. Tai Clan was the clan of the provincial governor of Yanzhou Province; one was called Hua Qianxia who came from Songzhou Province, Taixia Country as an elder of Gulao Mountain in Songzhou Province; one was called Ximen Fu who came from Heavens Holding Pavilion, one of the top 7 sects in Taixia Country.
All of these knights, including Cecilia, had killed demon knights. All of them had a deep background or rich experience. By contrast, Cui Li might be the commonest one among them.
Besides Mountain Lifting Hermit, 4 of the 8 knights from Taixia Country were from sects. Therefore, Zhang Tie started to become interested in sects in Taixia Country very much. In the 3 days, as long as Zhang Tie was free, he would inquire about sects in Taixia Country from the couple, Hua Qianxia and Ximen Fu.
Compared to the clan system which was maintained in terms of bloodlines, the sect system in Taixia Country had a greater influence and speed in development.
How long would it take a black iron knight to reproduce a clan of more than 10,000 people? At least several generations. However, it would take a black iron knight less than 1 year to accept 10,000 disciples. Additionally, the development of sects was out of the limit of regions and bloodlines. Many times, when some talents in a clan were accepted by a certain sect, the clan would be bound to the chariots of the sect and become closely related to the sect on interests. The more apprentices the sect had, the greater the community of interests would be.
If two knights with the similar conditions launched a competition of developing their own forces from the same starting line, one chose clan route, the other chose sect route. In 10 years, the one who chose sect route would have an overwhelming strength than the one who chose the clan route.
In Taixia Country, the cohesive force of sects being maintained in terms of the relationship between masters and apprentices was very powerful. The relationship between masters and apprentices could completely match that between the emperor and the chancellors and between fathers and sons. The leader of a sect could have the right to determine the life or death of his apprentices.
The monarchical power of the country, the power of clans and the power of masters of sects crisscrossed with each other in Taixia Country and determined the fate of Taixia Country.
The sects in Taixia Country were actually the most vigorous systems. Some sects in Taixia Country could last over 1,000 years. Given this point, one would know the power of sects in Taixia Country.
'Why was I framed by people and had to escape everywhere this time? In the final analysis, I'm too weak in both strength and background. If I was a disciple of one of the top sects in Taixia Country or if I had established my own sphere of influence in Taixia Country, the one who framed me would not make it so easily as he had to consider the outcome of it.'
The current situation and prospect of the power of sect in Taixia Country reminded Zhang Tie of something.
'What if I establish a sect in Taixia Country?'
Now that he could not rely on Huaiyuan Palace anymore and didn't want to be restricted too much by being an official in Taixia Country, he had to establish his own sect so as to expand his own influence.
The moment this whim occurred to his mind, it had started to grow up crazily in Zhang Tie's mind.
'However, it is not the right moment to do that now. I don't need to consider it at least before promoting to an earth knight.'
'The influence of a sect being established by a black iron knight is utterly different than that being established by an earth knight. Additionally, my current identity Cui Li is not well-known above ground or underground. It's boring to establish a sect and be a rustic emperor in a remote palace.'
'After establishing an Ancient-God Church in Ice and Snow Wilderness, I have firmly controlled the entire Ice and Snow Wilderness and all the Slavs. If I establish a sect in Taixia Country, perhaps...I will have bright prospects!'
...
After 3 days, the team had deepened thousands of miles into the first abyss and started to enter the main battlefield between demon knights and human knights...
Chapter 924: Encountering Demon Knights
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
During the past 3 days since they entered the first abyss, this team didn't encounter any demon knight at all.
In the first abyss, the team of 12 human knights moved and rested together. The distance between every two members would not exceed 100 m. Even though, they would have the same probability to encounter demon knights as that a single human knight would have in the first abyss.
As the proverb went, when one usually walked along the riverside, how could his shoes not get wet.
On the 4th day since they entered the first abyss, when they reached the conventional battlefield of the first abyss, they finally encountered demon knights.
...
Mountain Lifting Hermit was flying ahead of the team, closely followed by the other 11 human knights in the shape of herringbone. Everybody had hidden their battle qi lusters and followed up Mountain Lifting Hermit in the black fog along the precipice of the first abyss.
All of a sudden, Zhang Tie caught sight of some lusters flickering in the black fog over 20 miles ahead of them.
Due to the dense fog in the abyss, he could faintly judge that they were knights' battle qis.
However, Zhang Tie remained silent. Through these days' observation, Zhang Tie had realized that he could have a greater vision than the others due to his dark vision ability.
Until the flickering lusters moved another hundred of meters ahead in a few seconds did Mountain Lifting Hermit stop.
Everyone had caught sight of the faint battle qis in the distant black fog.
Due to the long distance, Mountain Lifting Hermit could not see it clearly. Additionally, the looming battle qis were separating and gathering from time to time. Therefore, it was very difficult to determine how many forces were there.
As the leader of this team, Mountain Lifting Hermit was expected by all the others to work out a plan in such a case.
Generally, battle qis in the first abyss indicated an ongoing battle. Of course, it might also be a fatal trap. The party which thought that they were advantageous in battle strength or had powerhouses on their back might simulate an ongoing battle by releasing battle qis in the first abyss on purpose so as to attract the opponent passers-by and ambush them. Such a trick was usually seen in the first abyss by both demons and humans. The fatal trap was like angling in water. Of course, if the anglers had a bad luck, they might encounter a great white or a billhead, when he might be tragic.
Generally, shadow knights and heavenly knights had disdained playing such a trick. Those who dared play such a trick would always be a team of knights led by one or two earth knights.
Narrowing his eyes, Mountain Lifting Hermit watched the battle qis in the distant fog with flickering eyes. Only after thinking a couple of seconds, he had made the decision, "I need one person to take a look over there with me. The others just hide here! If it's a trap ahead of us, I will send a signal to you. You then retreat to the place where we rested last time. After we broke through their encirclement, we will converge with you over there!"
"I will go there with Mountain Lifting Hermit!" Soon after Mountain Lifting Hermit finished his words, Zhang Tie had jumped out.
Demon knights were definitely "tunics" for Zhang Tie. Although it might be a trap, Zhang Tie still wanted to take a look over there. It would be better for him if it was not a trap. Before determining to interfere with it, Mountain Lifting Hermit actually could determine to have his team detour that place and the rest of the team would not have any different opinion about that. However, they would feel a bit uncomfortable if they just detoured that place. Because, it might be unkind for them to do that. As human knights, if they didn't stand on the side of their same kind when facing demons, they would face a mental test on being righteous or not.
The boldness of execution stems from superb skill. As his battle strength grew increasingly powerful, Zhang Tie became increasingly bolder.
He might have dangers there with Mountain Lifting Hermit. If it was indeed a trap in front of them, they might be trapped. As for the same trap, an earth knight might be able to escape out; however, a black knight might not. If it was not a trap, after a black iron knight and an earth knight joined the battle, given the scale of the faint battle qis, the balance between both parties would be altered at once. As a result, the human knights would have an overwhelming advantage.
If it was a trap, it would be more convenient for them to break through the encirclement; if not, the trace of their team would not be exposed. This consideration indicated that Mountain Lifting Hermit was very shrewd and righteous.
Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan both wanted to say something; however, now that Zhang Tie wanted to go there, they didn't feel it proper to stop him at this moment. It was improper if they persuaded Zhang Tie that it was too dangerous over there and let others go there.
After throwing a glance at Zhang Tie, Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded. Closely after that, he flew towards the flickering battle qi totems, followed by Zhang Tie.
The moment they left, the other knights of the team had exchanged a glance with each other before hiding somewhere nearby.
Being not far from them was a precipice of the first abyss. In the precipice, there were many vertical, valley-like gullies as deep as hundreds of meters. The gullies had been covered with thick and huge abyss vines. Any gully could hide hundreds of people, not to mention 10.
While hiding his battle qi luster, Zhang Tie flew towards the battlefield closely after Mountain Lifting Hermit...
It only took Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit a bit longer than 2 minutes to finish the trip of over 20 miles.
It was not a trap, but a real battle between human knights and demon knights.
3 human knights in uniformed greenish armors were fighting fiercely with 4 ox-head demon knights. As demons outnumbered humans, the 4 demon knights had already been in an advantageous position.
The battle was undergoing pretty fiercely.
Each party had formed a 3-in-1 battle formation, the surplus demon knight was constantly booming the 3-in-1 human formation on one side, causing a great disturbance and stress to them.
"I will assault the demon formation, you deal with that surplus demon knight as soon as possible!" Mountain Lifting Hermit told Zhang Tie in a secret way.
"Okay!" Zhang Tie's heart had long been pounding.
The moment Zhang Tie finished his words, Mountain Lifting Hermit had released his battle qi luster and accelerated his speed by 2 times towards the 3-in-1 demon formation. Zhang Tie also released his battle qi luster and accelerated towards the surplus demon knight.
Due to the low visibility in the first abyss, their sudden acceleration made the four demon knights off-guard at once.
Being hundreds of meters away from the 4 demons, Mountain Lifting Hermit had released his huge virtual image which was hundreds of meters in height.
After promoting to earth knights, knights would manifest the virtual images of their battle skills when their battle qis were extremely vigorous. The virtual images were the symbols of knights above earth knights. Knights' virtual images were illuminant objects which were almost material objects being composed of battle qi, spiritual energy and willingness like that of battle qi totems of fighters. However, knights' virtual images were several levels higher than that of battle qi totems.
The appearance of the virtual image of an earth knight indicated that the earth knight had spent his full effort in the battle.
The virtual image of Mountain Lifting Hermit was an extremely fierce giant who was embracing a hill.
With the appearance of the virtual image, Mountain Lifting Hermit who was not tall previously instantly became much more muscled.
The moment he launched an attack, Mountain Lifting Hermit had exerted his full efforts like how a lion pounced on a hare.
"Go die!" Mountain Lifting Hermit roared like causing a spring thunder.
At the same time, Mountain Lifting Hermit released a light beam by his hand and stroke one of the 3-in-1 demon knight, sending him flying backward...
The 3-in-1 formation was collapsed in a split second.
The demon knights were shocked greatly while the 3 human knights became spirited immediately...
The surplus ox-head demon knight was also stunned. He caught sight of Zhang Tie who was accelerating at him. Therefore, he slashed towards Zhang Tie by his huge saber, being accompanied with a fierce saber qi...
Zhang Tie accelerated once again as fast as a lightning bolt being benefited from the effect of the "Fire Dragon Flowing Light Battle Skill". At this moment, the gold-eaten tri-edged dagger appeared in Zhang Tie's hand and protected Zhang Tie's body from being harmed by the saber qi like a diamond crown.
The saber qi of the demon knight was split up by Zhang Tie's gold-eaten tri-edged dagger into two halves and rubbed with Zhang Tie's protective battle qi as if it was going to cut open Zhang Tie's protective battle qi.
Being pushed by this saber qi, Zhang Tie became faintly absent-minded in a split second when time and space might have paused.
Being pushed by this saber qi, he felt like being pressed by sea water and two undercurrents at the bottom of the sea when in a high-speed flight. If he could take advantage of this stress, he could move faster instead of slowing down. Similarly, when one peeled a banana, the moment one put forth one's strength, one would send the banana flying out of its peel.
In the sky, when he took advantage of the wind strength facing him, his glider would also win an elevating force and driving force. The secret lay in the difference between the upper and lower planes of the wings of the glider...
Zhang Tie had experienced the similar scenes so many times in both sea and sky.
Facing that stress, Zhang Tie ran his spiritual energy while he shrunk his protective battle qi and adjusted it in the shape of a spindle. Closely after that, he rapidly shrunk and rocked his protective battle qi. When sensing the changing stress and friction force, Zhang Tie accelerated once again and rushed towards that demon knight in an overwhelming way...
In a split second...
The tri-edged dagger split off the saber qi of the demon knight and broke its protective battle qi before stabbing into the demon knight's body immediately...
The demon knight watched Zhang Tie with a dumbfounded yet a pain-free look...