925 - 934
Chapter 925: A Destructive Strike
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Nobody had imagined that Zhang Tie could directly break the demon knight's strike and stab his dagger into its body, including Mountain Lifting Hermit, Zhang Tie, even the demon knight itself.
It was out of everyone's imagination that Zhang Tie could break the demon knight's saber qi, his amazing speed and the sharpness of his tri-edged dagger.
If not the powerful gold-eaten tri-edged dagger, Zhang Tie's sensitiveness to air flow and stress after long-term exercise in water and sky and his ability to convert this sensitiveness into his advantage in superb skills, if the demon knight didn't launch a long-distance strike at him when he rushed towards it...Zhang Tie would never do that in a split second.
The speed of the simulated "Fire Dragon Flowing Light Battle Skill" had reached over 70% of that of the real battle skill. The moment Zhang Tie converted the stress of the saber qi into driving force, his speed had reached twice that of the "Fire Dragon Flowing Light Battle Skill" in a split second.
What a destructive blow!
A blow being accomplished with super high speed and strength at a certain time and under specific conditions.
The demon knight had not imagined that Zhang Tie could move so fast and penetrate through its protective battle qi with such great strength.
The protective battle qi of the demon knight could not be penetrated through easily. Although the demon knight felt that its protective battle qi had been extremely pressed and cut open by the sharp dagger, its protective battle qi was still elastic. It was Zhang Tie's terrifying strength that had his dagger break the upper bearing limit of the demon knight's protective battle qi like cutting through a piece of steel by a dagger.
After being dumbfounded for less than 0.1 seconds, with the secondary harm caused by the dagger's battle qi, the demon knight finally roared. Closely after that, it felt one wrist being tightened. It was Zhang Tie again who gripped its wrist the moment he broke its protective battle qi...
With red eyes, the demon knight chopped its huge pitch-dark saber towards Zhang Tie's head.
"Go die!" Zhang Tie's battle qi grew vigorous as he forcefully cut open a terrifying wound on the side of the lower abdomen of the demon knight. Closely after that, he drew the dagger out of there and stabbed inside ferociously once again...
The demon knight's saber only cut open 2/3 of Zhang Tie protective battle qi. Its saber blade slid off a few centimeters before Zhang Tie's nose...
Zhang Tie's dagger penetrated through the demon knight's protective battle qi once again and inserted his gold-eaten tri-edged dagger into the other side of the lower abdomen of the demon knight before stirring it inside forcefully...
Zhang Tie's other hand kept gripping the demon knight's wrist. In this way, the two knights were chopping and stabbing each other, causing flesh and blood to fly everywhere...
...
When in Blackhot City, Zhang Tie had known that some gangsters in the city would handcuff one hand with each other while fighting with daggers by the other hand ferociously...
This pattern of the duel from the bottom of the society was brutal, bloody and fatal.
Zhang Tie was adopting this combat mode. The winner must be the fiercer and braver one...
Based on rich battle experiences, skills, braveness, battle strength and insight, Zhang Tie could catch the faint chance in a split second and win the combat in the end.
Since he gripped the wrist of that demon knight, the result of this combat had been fixed...
Only after three collisions, the demon knight's face had turned completely pale.
When Zhang Tie launched a strike towards it once again, the demon knight started to block Zhang Tie's strike instead of attacking him anymore.
However, in such a close combat, as Zhang Tie was gripping its wrist, the demon knight had lost its agility. Therefore, it was very difficult for it to defend Zhang Tie's strike, not to mention that it had suffered a heavy wound...
...
After Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit joined the combat, the battle situation was reversed at once...
After striking a demon knight and sending it flying backward, Mountain Lifting Hermit forcefully rushed towards that demon knight and kept releasing his battle qi towards it.
The 3-in-1 formation of the 3 demon knights was destroyed at once.
Mountain Lifting Hermit's aggressive qi and Zhang Tie's amazing performance shocked the other two demon knights at the same time. After realizing that human knights outnumbered them and an earth knight had joined the battle, the two demon knights immediately turned around and escaped...
The 3 human knights who were fighting the 4 demon knights immediately chased after the two demon knights and disappeared in the dense fog...
...
After a few minutes, the demon knight who was giving dying kicks at Mountain Lifting Hermit uttered a miserable shriek. At the same time, its entire body [below head] was punched into pieces by Mountain Lifting Hermit...
After hearing the miserable shriek, Zhang Tie streaked his dagger through the demon knight's throat...
The demon knight spurted out its blood from its neck like a fountain.
The demon knight was so shocked that it felt the energy of its collapsing earth chakra was pouring into Zhang Tie's hand which was gripping its wrist like being devoured by a bottomless black hole while it watched Zhang Tie's glassy-eyed expression...
The moment its earth chakra was collapsed, the demon knight's remaining protective battle qi disappeared in a split second. As a result, it had no strength to struggle anymore.
Of course, Zhang Tie didn't grip its wrist only for showing off his fierce battle skills.
The demon knight wanted to roar; however, the moment it uttered, it had spurted out a mouth of dense blood from its broken neck and windpipe.
When Mountain Lifting Hermit flew towards him, Zhang Tie felt that he had already absorbed 80% of the energy of the earth chakra of this demon knight. Therefore, he directly stabbed into its heart and punched its body into flesh...
Zhang Tie instantly caught its black battle saber and the pair of ox horns...
"Great!" Mountain Lifting Hermit hailed Zhang Tie...
Chapter 926: Being Extremely Awkward and Sincerest
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Mountain Lifting Hermit was an earth knight. It was reasonable for him to exert his full efforts to kill a black iron demon knight. However, even Mountain Lifting Hermit hailed Zhang Tie's fierce striking skills towards a black iron demon knight.
Mountain Lifting Hermit had noticed how Zhang Tie gripped the demon knight's wrist and stabbed his dagger into its body while resisting the saber of the latter. Although Mountain Lifting Hermit had met so many combats these years, he had not seen such a brutal close duel before.
Although being coarse, this combat made its onlookers thrilled.
Mountain Lifting Hermit had not seen such an intrepid human knight for so long.
The moment they ended the combats, Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit had flown towards the direction where the two demon knights had escaped for.
After a few minutes, the 3 human knights who had chased after the two demon knights flew back from afar, one of whom held a pair of ox horns like Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit.
At the sight of the ox horns in the hands of Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit, the 3 human knights understood that the two demon knights had been killed by Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit.
"Thanks to your righteous deed, we're members of the Feathers Army in the Lion Fortress. I'm Zhou Feng; this is Guo Zifang; this is Deng Tianhao. May I know your names?" The moment the three knights arrived, one knight with a square face and dense eyebrows had cupped his hands towards Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit.
If not Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit, the 3 human knights might be in great danger. Even though they were not exterminated, being besieged by the 4 demon knights, even if they could break out of the encirclement, at least 1 of them would long sleep in the first abyss.
To tell the truth, Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit were like their saviors. Therefore, Zhou Feng introduced himself and the other two human knights very politely and solemnly.
Feathers Army was one of the top 4 armies of Hua people in Taixia Country. Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could meet the knights of Feathers Army here once again. Although Zhou Feng, Guo Zifang and Deng Tianhao were not outstanding in the Lion Fortress, they were definitely high-ranking officers in the Feathers Army and corps leaders on the earth's surface.
"As we're all knights in Taixia Country, we had to help you when we found you were in trouble. I'm Mountain Lifting Hermit!" Mountain Lifting Hermit replied with the same indifferent and faintly cold look. Although he was speaking politely, his look still remained unchanged.
This was the temperament of Mountain Lifting Hermit——being glassy-eyed yet kind-hearted. At the sight of dangers facing the 3 human knights, he immediately rushed towards them; however, he was not passionate about others' appreciation.
Zhou Feng, Guo Zifang and Deng Tianhao raised their eyebrows. Earth knights in the Lion Fortress were definitely more outstanding than common black iron knights. As there were so many black iron knights here, they might not know each one; however, he had indeed heard about Mountain Lifting Hermit.
"This one is..." They then looked at Zhang Tie.
They had seen how Zhang Tie raided that demon knight and carried out a close duel with it. Actually, they were more impressed by Zhang Tie than Mountain Lifting Hermit. They could identify that Mountain Lifting Hermit was an earth knight; however, they were more shocked by Zhang Tie's braveness and terrifying battle strength. Few outstanding valiant generals in the Feathers Army could match Zhang Tie.
"I'm Cui Li, Cui Li from Yongzhou Province!" Zhang Tie grinned as he frankly inserted the pair of ox horns into his metal bag.
This pair of ox horns indicated his exploit, which could be exchanged for many good items in the Lion Fortress. Even Mountain Lifting Hermit would take it, not to mention Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie felt pretty good. Although the booty from killing this demon knight could not match that from the last one, Zhang Tie felt that this one's earth charka could almost light 4 of his scales. The Purgatory Samsara was really the best partner of emperor-level secret methods. If he maintained his previous cultivation speed, he didn't know how long would he take to light 4 scales. However, this time, after coming to the first abyss for less than 5 days with Mountain Lifting Hermit, he had lit 4 scales. Zhang Tie had already been satisfied with this journey even if he couldn't gain anything later on.
This time, Zhou Feng, Guo Zifang and Deng Tianhao were responsible for scouting in the first abyss. After accomplishing their task, on the way back, they encountered the 4 demon knights. Therefore, a fierce battle broke out.
After chatting with Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Tie for a short while, they had revealed a news to the two, "The Tiewei Mountain Range in the First Abyss is abnormal lately; demons' activities are growing increasingly frequent over there. Additionally, high-level demon knights were found there. It's becoming more dangerous to gain element crystals from the mines of Tiewei Mountain Range. The battle over there is growing fiercer. If you want to go there, you'd better take care of yourself. After returning to Lion Fortress, we will report this news to our superior..."
After reminding Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Tie, Zhou Feng, Guo Zifang and Deng Tianhao cupped their hands towards Zhang Tie before leaving rapidly.
The final warning by Zhou Feng should be confidential. Generally, without the consent of the superior, they should not leak this news to others. They broke the rule because Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit saved their lives.
Seeing them off, Mountain Lifting Hermit revealed a thoughtful look before nodding towards Zhang Tie, "Let's go back too!"
Zhang Tie nodded silently before following Mountain Lifting Hermit on the way back.
After 1 minute later, Mountain Lifting Hermit suddenly opened his mouth...
"I saw the demon knight to strike you with its saber qi but how did you break its saber qi while accelerating your speed by almost 2 times in a split second?" Mountain Lifting Hermit put it straightforwardly as if he was not good at communicating with others.
Zhang Tie directly drew his gold-eaten tri-edged dagger out of the sheath and threw it to Mountain Lifting Hermit, "This is a sharp weapon that I got by accident. I found that this dagger was greatly penetrative to knight's battle qi; therefore, I had a try just now and broke its saber qi smoothly. As the old saying goes, sword always goes in line while saber always covers a wide area. The demon knight's saber qi had a wide striking scope; however, its saber qi was not as dense as sword qi. Therefore, I broke its saber qi fortunately. When I cut open it, I felt that its saber qi pushed my protective battle qi which reminded me of the experience in the sea when I met undercurrents. Actually, the stress could be converted into a driving force. After adjusting the interactive pattern between my protective battle qi and saber qi, I accelerated immediately. I've not imagined about such an effect too..."
Mountain Lifting Hermit had not imagined that Zhang Tie could explain it to him so clearly. After taking Zhang Tie's dagger, he looked over it while his look gradually turned more solemn, "Your dagger is made of the teeth of gold-eaten boa by an alchemist master. It's priceless given its material and craftsmanship. It's indeed very penetrative to the protective battle qi of black iron knights. You'd better put it away. This item would make people jealous in the Lion Fortress."
After looking over it for a short while, Mountain Lifting Hermit threw it back to Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie put it back into the sheath.
After letting out a sigh, Mountain Lifting Hermit watched Zhang Tie with a tender look at once as he told Zhang Tie in a genial voice, "As for the pattern that you could accelerate your speed by two times immediately under the stress of saber qi, it's your precious gnosis and your trump card. You might even work out another powerful battle skill by it. Remember to not expose this gnosis to the others from then on. You have to watch out in the Lion Fortress and the Earth-elements Realm!"
Touching his bald head, Zhang Tie smirked, "Thanks for your warning, Mountain Lifting Hermit, I've caught sight of your virtual image——an intrepid giant embraced a mountain, may I know your cultivation method?"
"I'm cultivating the "Embracing Mountain Sutra", a count-class sutra!" Mountain Lifting Hermit explained it to Zhang Tie patiently.
After fighting together with Zhang Tie, witnessing Zhang Tie's valiance and finding that Zhang Tie was straightforward and sincere who would stand out immediately when in dangers, Mountain Lifting Hermit who was usually forthright slightly changed his attitude towards Zhang Tie too.
Zhang Tie also found the change in Mountain Lifting Hermit. Therefore, he sighed with emotions inside, 'The extremely awkward deed could conquer the extreme intelligence; the extreme sincerity could break the extreme hypocrisy.' Being disguised by Zhu Liang the fierce wolf, the role of Cui li was crazy about battle skills in an awkward and sincere way, Zhang Tie inherited the temperament of Cui Li and exerted it to the utmost, namely, being extremely awkward and sincerest. However, Zhang Tie gradually found that the way of being extremely awkward and sincerest was actually a profound life philosophy. It could relax him and pose a great influence on those beside him. Therefore, Zhang Tie gradually found that it was natural for him to behave in an awkward and sincere way...
Chapter 927: The Demon Baron
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Watching Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit to come back in such a short period with a pair of ox horns respectively, the other 10 human knights of the team were shocked inside.
It was not strange for Mountain Lifting Hermit to kill a black iron knight as an earth knight; however, it was really out of their imaginations that Zhang Tie could also kill a black iron knight in such a short period.
Therefore, many people changed their attitudes towards Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie ignored their amazing eye lights. He directly threw the battle saber that he gained from the demon knight to Gong Ziyao, "Brother Gong, you're good at using sabers, this saber might have a great power in your hand..."
Abyss iron was very precious. Even if it was not a weapon, a piece of abyss iron weighing dozens of kgs would be very expensive too.
"But this is your booty..."
"It's just a saber. I don't use it. By the way, it's heavy. Just take it, brother Gong!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's words, Gong Ziyao took the saber.
The battle sabers of demon knights were fierce and grim, which were very popular in the Lion Fortress.
"As we've already met demon knights here, we'd better watch out..." Mountain Lifting Hermit warned them before setting off ahead of the team once again.
This time, Mountain Lifting Hermit accelerated his speed evidently...
"You've killed a demon knight?" Filton asked Zhang Tie in a secret way.
Zhang Tie turned around and found that Cecilia and Bolam on the other line were watching him.
"Right, when the demon knight wrestled with some knights from the Lion Fortress, I raided it and killed it!"
"Wow!" Filton said while sighing with relief, "You've already killed 2 demon knights after coming to the Lion Fortress for less than 1 month, I feel you might become a trump knight!"
"Trump knight?"
"After killing 5 knights of your level, you would be called trump knight! The target of I, Cecilia and Bolam is to be a trump knight!" Filton explained seriously.
Zhang Tie replied with a smile.
It was really too difficult for a common black iron human knight to kill 5 black iron demon knights. The one who could make this achievement was qualified to be a trump knight. However, Zhang Tie had killed over one dozen demon knights and knights from Three-eye Association; therefore, the reputation of trump knight was not attractive to him. Actually, Zhang Tie was qualified to be a trump out of trump human knight.
"What benefits do I have after becoming a trump knight in the Western Continent?" Zhang Tie asked Filton in a secret way.
"After becoming a trump knight, you would be able to rule the most powerful trump corps in the Western Continent. Even being a No. 1 knight in a country, you could also enjoy a very good treatment and many privileges!"
Zhang Tie replied with a surprised look, "I see!"
"You didn't know that?"
"I didn't know too much about the Western Continent!"
"Even in Lion Fortress, you could also have a lot of benefits as a trump knight!"
"What are they?"
"You can choose highly paid tasks which are especially for trump knights. Additionally, you can practice your battle skill in the Heavens Ball once a month for free! Of course, you will gain more respect. All the earth knights being promoted from trump knights are very sharp. If trump knights could be famous on the Heavens Fortune Namelist, they would be the real nobles among humans!"
"Hahaha, I've not imagined that there're so many benefits for a trump knight. I expect to be a trump knight in a few days!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's answer, Filton became speechless. 'Others have to exert their full efforts to be a trump knight, how come this guy expect to be a trump knight in a few days? How arrogant he is!' However, although Zhang Tie was arrogant, Filton didn't feel sick about that; instead, he felt it was possible for Zhang Tie.
Under the leadership of Mountain Lifting Hermit, the team made turns twice and soon disappeared in the dense black fog in the first Abyss...
...
After they left this region for 4 hours, a tall demon knight appeared silently in the air above the battlefield where Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit fought just now. There might be a powerful, invisible tensile force over this figure while the black fog within 20 m rolled away in all directions like being blown away by the wind.
The demon knight's horns looked purple and golden. In a black half-body armor, a bloody cloak and a pair of grim metal gloves, this one looked much more powerful than the 4 demon knights that Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit had just met.
The demon knight's eyes looked aggressive with full killing intent. He gazed at the surrounding fog while the fog gradually formed 7 figures, each figure was about 16 cm in height. At first, 4 figures fought 3 figures. Later on, 2 more mini figures darted towards them and killed 2 of the group of 4. The remaining 2 figures started to retreat while the group of 3 who were in a disadvantageous position chased them away...
This demon knight stood still here a couple of minutes when another demon knight arrived with luster. Those mini figures composed of fog faded away suddenly...
The latter one was the very one who had escaped away from the three human knights.
"Lord Baron, we encountered the raid from an earth human knight and a top black iron knight just now..." The latter demon knight panted faintly with an embarrassed look as its wounds had not been treated.
"I've already known that..." The demon knight being called Lord Baron gazed at the latter demon knight while its eyes gradually turned icier and bloodier, "In that case, even if you only had 2 people, you could fight human knights to death instead of escaping, although you were besieged by the 3-in-1 formation of human knights, you could at least perish together with one human knight. However, you chose to escape and survive the 5 human knights safe and sound. Why are you still alive?"
The latter wounded demon knight had been wet all over as it started to quiver, "Lord Baron..."
"If you could not fight to death for the Demon God, you're nothing but a sh*t!"
The moment it finished the word "sh*t", the Lord Baron had already penetrated through the quivering body of the wounded demon knight with a punch...
The demon knight whose body was penetrated through started to burn all over. Only after wailing mournfully a few times, it had become ashes in less than 1 minute and disappeared in the black fog of the First Abyss, leaving a pair of horns...
The pair of bloody horns fell in the hands of Lord Baron. The Lord Baron then widely opened its mouth and started to crunch them with its terrifying, sharp teeth, causing jarring frictions and grinding sound before swallowing them.
When the Lord Baron crunched the pair of horns, the horns flew out of dense fresh blood while a weird bloody rune appeared in Lord Baron...
"Now that you could not serve the Demon God, I will put away the strength that the Demon God gifted to you..."
After swallowing the pair of horns, Lord Baron's eyes turned bloody. It looked at two directions: one was where Zhou Feng and the other two human knights left for; the other was where Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Tie left for. Only after considering it for 2 seconds, it had moved towards where Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Tie left for and disappeared in the dense fog in a split second...
After the demon baron left, the black fog covered that place once again...
This place recovered its tranquility like nothing had happened.
...
After 4 hours of flight, they caught sight of a huge black entrance of a cave whose diameter was about 1 mile among the gullies of the First Abyss. Mountain Lifting Hermit led them in...
They had met hundreds of caves like this one, large or small on the way.
Each cave like this one might lead to a mysterious yet unknown world...
From a certain perspective, the First Abyss was similar to an elevator in the Earth-elements Realm...
Chapter 928: An Accidental Encounter
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The First Abyss was too large. Even if all the human knights in the Lion Fortress entered the First Abyss and spread at the same height on average, they would not see each other within hundreds of square miles.
If not the illuminating battle qis in battles and the battle qi lusters in flight, they could only have a visibility of a few miles in the First Abyss.
The First Abyss was a huge, deep well. If not entering the hotspot regions in the First Abyss on purpose, they would have a very low possibility to encounter human knights or demon knights in the First Abyss.
The hotspot regions in the First Abyss were closely related to the interests of both humans and demons, for instance, the Tiewei Mountain Range which was abundant in earth-elements crystals.
The fiercest battle in the First Abyss happened in Tiewei Mountain Range.
The team of Mountain Lifting Hermit entered an underground tunnel of the First Abyss, which was not the hotspot region. At least before those mysterious places and items behind the tunnels were exposed to the public, those deep and serene tunnels would not become boisterous.
There were numerous underground tunnels in the First Abyss. As a result, the First Abyss was like a piece of cheese with many small holes in it. Until today, demons and humans had just explored a small part of these underground tunnels. As for what was in the other tunnels and where they led to, it was still a mystery.
If the contingent of pioneers on the earth's surface could arrive here, they would love this place.
With these tunnels and caves, the First Abyss was like a maze full of treasures, secrets and dangers.
Compared to the earth's surface and the First Abyss, the underground tunnels and caves in the First Abyss composed a fantastic and magnificent world.
After entering one cave for half a day, the black fog released by the vines started to fade away as their visions gradually recovered.
After entering the underground cave for a day, Zhang Tie saw many ruined pyramids. It seemed that those pyramids were destroyed by an irresistible power. They might have lain in the pitch-dark tunnel tens of thousands of years and were quietly telling the history of human civilization being buried underground.
Underground, each pyramid might hide many secrets. Those ruined pyramids might have been explored by many knights.
On the 3rd day since they entered the underground cave, Zhang Tie saw a wide area of purple crystals covering hundreds of square miles; all the crystals were above Class III and higher than 0.5 m, making it look like a splendid purple sea. If it was on the earth's surface, those crystal clusters would be worth a lot. There were precious ores and semi-precious stones among those crystal clusters such as aquamarines, topazes, fluorites, magnesites, calcites and zinc crystals...
Watching those purple crystal clusters and those precious associated ores and semi-precious stones on the earth's surface, Zhang Tie suddenly understood why Mountain Lifting Hermit wanted a space-teleportation equipment.
As a knight who usually accessed to such places and saw numerous precious objects; however, due to limited conditions, he could not take away too many of them. Even if he could take some of them back to the Lion Fortress, his achievements would not match his labor force and identity as a knight. Zhang Tie could feel how depressed Mountain Lifting Hermit was.
Additionally, a space-teleportation equipment with resources inside indicated a greater ability to explore the Earth-elements Realm and dangerous situations, a stronger viability and a better logistic service; especially the latter two points which counted most for knights. Without a stronger viability and a better logistic service, knights could only move in a short distance even though they could fly.
By then did Zhang Tie realized how lucky he was with Castle of Black Iron.
As for Zhang Tie, Castle of Black Iron's space and great food supply ability could almost satisfy all of his demands.
On the 4th day, since they entered the underground cave, the team of Mountain Lifting Hermit had met their competitors.
Coincidentally, Zhang Tie had met some of them before.
...
"Mountain Lifting Hermit, long time no see..." After hearing the sound drifting from the front, the team of Mountain Lifting Hermit stopped at once.
At the same time, they saw another team of knights flying from afar.
That was also a team of human knights. Additionally, it seemed that the head of that team knew Mountain Lifting Hermit as he hailed the latter. Mountain Lifting Hermit didn't prepare to defend them; he just stopped. Therefore, the others of his team realized that those flying towards them must come from the Lion Fortress too.
Zhang Tie also stopped as he watched those knights flying close to them.
The head of the opposite team was an old man with silver hair in a green robe. His long eyebrows were as white as snow under the pair of slim eyes while his cheeks were red. He looked like an immortal. Given his qi, he could match that of Mountain Lifting Hermit. Therefore, Zhang Tie knew that the old man was also an earth knight.
The old man was followed by 9 knights. Besides the 4 men and 2 women that Zhang Tie had seen on the airboat of Zhang Clan in Tianlu Palace in Taixia Country, there were 3 elder ones whom Zhang Tie had not seen before.
The equipment and weapons of the 9 knights behind the elder were evidently more advanced than that of the team of Mountain Lifting Hermit.
It seemed that Zhang Tie had left a deep impression to the 4 men and 2 women. The moment the two teams drew closer, the 6 pairs of eyes had gazed at Zhang Tie.
Although being at the end of the team, Zhang Tie's figure and bald head made him eye-catching.
At the sight of Zhang Tie, the 2 female knights of the other team had moved a few steps back; especially when Zhang Tie threw his glance at them, the two female knights both felt uncomfortable.
"Brother Anguo..." Mountain Lifting Hermit hailed the head of the other team with a glassy-eyed look.
As the old man with long snow-white eyebrows knew the temperament of Mountain Lifting Hermit, he didn't mind Mountain Lifting Hermit's indifferent attitude. After throwing a glance at Zhang Tie, he looked at the 6 young knights in his team and asked, "You know someone in the team of Mountain Lifting Hermit?"
As an earth knight, Mountain Lifting Hermit had a very sensitive feeling. The moment his team members behaved abnormally, he'd sense it right away.
"Grand elder, when we came to the Lion Fortress this time, we entered the tunnel of the Earth-elements Realm together with a knight in the team of Mountain Lifting Hermit...ahem..ahem...that brother is really sturdy...erm, he's also heroic and unruly. Therefore, he's very impressive to us. We've not imagined that we could encounter him here once again!" A young man considered a second before replying.
"Hahahaha, if so, you should make friends with each other..."
Although it was a polite suggestion, the two female knights felt jarring. They even felt bashful repeating what Zhang Tie had said last time.
"Brother Anguo, what's your rule in this journey to the hieron?" Mountain Lifting Hermit suddenly asked.
After hearing Mountain Lifting Hermit's question, the old man's eyes gleamed. After being silent for a second, he replied, "As human knights, although we all want items in the heiron, I feel that it's unnecessary for us to fight to death only for those trivial items in the holy war and it would make others to mock us. After entering it this time, private combats and setting traps are forbidden inside. We will depend on our own abilities. As for the waifs, anyone who could get it first would own it. Anyone who dared violate this rule would be punished by the rest of us. What do you say about that?"
"What a major clan! That's great!" Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded.
"Hahahaha...this is a good method. I also agree with you..." With thunder-like laughter, another group of lights arrived from afar in a split second.
The head of this team was a fat man in a robe of a ministry councilor with floral patterns on it.
At the sight of this man, both Mountain Lifting Hermit and the white-eyebrow elder frowned faintly.
Zhang Tie watched the latter team of knights as he sighed with emotions inside, 'What an accidental encounter! The "Young sister" that I met a few days ago outside the entrance of the Earth-elements Realm is also in this team.' Compared to that a few days ago, this "Young sister" had changed a set of purple imperial costume and made a snail-shaped bun, which made her more enchanting.
The "Young sister" also caught sight of Zhang Tie as she replied with an arrogant harrumph. Closely after that, she turned around and moved her eyes away from him. However, her plump breasts became firm at once...
'What a woman! She still didn't forget to show off her physical capital at this moment.' Zhang Tie touched his bald head as he almost burst out into laughter.
"Old Monster Qi, why are you here..." Mountain Lifting Hermit watched that fat head with an icier expression.
"Hahaha, as you're here, I'm here too!" The fat man replied with a smile as he took out a diamond-shaped piece of metal which shined exotic luster like a magic, "Without my object, you cannot enter it. I've spent a lot on this object and this chance. If you don't like me, I will leave right away..."
"If so, do you agree with our rule?" The white-eyebrow elder asked.
"I do, of course, I do! Why not?" The fat man patted his chest, causing his fat belly to quiver all over, "I was even scared of being trapped by you two. Although I have a bad reputation, what I've said was like a fart which could never be regretted at all. Otherwise, even if I didn't feel it disgusting, the others would feel it disgusting. After eating my fart, my words would always be smelly. If so, nobody would stay with me anymore. Am I not right?"
After hearing such funny words, Zhang Tie couldn't stand bursting out into laughter...
The moment Zhang Tie burst into laughter, the fat man changed his face right away. With dangerous, gleaming eye lights, he watched Zhang Tie, "Brat, why do you laugh..."
Chapter 929: The Hurricane in the First Abyss
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
"It's my first time to hear someone comparing his words to fart, I like your simile, it's fresh, humorous and individual!" Zhang Tie said straightforwardly. Even though he was facing an earth knight, he was not scared at all.
"Humorous?" Old Monster Qi watched Zhang Tie as he blinked his eyes. All of a sudden, his killing qi disappeared as he burst out into laughter, "Brat, you're visionary, I like you. What's your name?"
"Cui Li!"
"I like you. How about coming to my side? I'm sure that you could get benefits in the ruined hieron!" Old Monster Qi patted his chest and suggested with a smile.
Zhang Tie had not imagined that this guy would dare "undermine the foundation" of Mountain Lifting Hermit. 'It seems that this Old Monster Qi is really something. He must be qualified to be arrogant. It's normal for such an able man to be a rustic emperor in a remote place like Waii Subcontinent.'
"Thank you but I don't care which team do I belong to!" Zhang Tie shrugged as he continued with a casual look, "Additionally, I don't like to cooperate with someone who changes his facial expressions so fast. Although Mountain Lifting Hermit looks cold, he's enthusiastic inside. I feel good in this team!"
The moment they heard Zhang Tie's reply, both Mountain Lifting Hermit's and Old Monster Qi's eyes gleamed.
Old Monster Qi slightly narrowed his eyes as he said, "You're the first black iron knight who dared to say that I change my facial expressions so fast!"
"Although the others didn't say that in front of you, they thought the same inside. If it's your real reflection, why not care about it being mentioned by others? If you're a mountain, you will be a mountain; if you're a tree, you will be a tree; if you're a snake, you will be a snake; if you're a dragon, you will be a dragon. No matter what others comment about you, a mountain will not be a tree; a tree will not be a mountain; a snake will not be a dragon; a dragon will not be a snake. Unless what you present to others are fake, you should not care about it being mentioned by others. Am I right?"
"Interesting, interesting..." The Old Monster Qi's eyes gleamed as he burst out into laughter once again.
Finding that Zhang Tie was so talkative in front of Old Monster Qi, the "Young sister" in the team of Old Monster Qi couldn't stand throwing a few glances at Zhang Tie out of curiosity. All the other knights who met Zhang Tie for the first time also gazed at him with a serious look.
"Ahem..ahem..." The white-eyebrow elder coughed twice at this moment so as to attract the others' attention, "Now that we've fixed the rule, we'd better not stay here anymore. Let's go take a look at whether the hurricane has stopped or not. I'm afraid that it will stop after a day or two!"
Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded as he issued the order "Let's go" before flying towards afar ahead of his team, closely followed by Zhang Tie and all the other team members.
Seeing Mountain Lifting Hermit's team leaving, the other two teams also hurriedly followed them up. The three teams then moved shoulder to shoulder with a distance of less than 50 m. The 3 earth knights led their teams towards the pit in the distance.
This underground pit was thousands of meters in depth, which had many branch holes. If the three teams could encounter here, it indicated that the hieron ruins was not far from here.
They were all thrilled inside.
"Young sister, long time no see!" Zhang Tie hailed the "Young sister" in a secret way when in flight.
Even earth knights could not easily hear the contents of talks between black iron knights which were done in a secret way. Therefore, Zhang Tie was not afraid of being heard by others.
"Harrumph, rogue!" The young sister replied with a cold harrumph.
As the young sister was born to be enchanting, even such a simple reply sounded like being coquettish to Zhang Tie.
"Young sister, as we entered the Earth-elements Realm at the same time, this brother wants to warn you. My mother told me to not make friends with people who usually changes his moods. Such people are not reliable. Watch out, don't be devoured by him in the end!" Zhang Tie threw a glance at Old Monster Qi as he warned the young sister.
"Why do you care about me so much?" After a few seconds, the young sister replied with a softer voice.
"Even though we cannot sleep on the same bed, we're not enemies either. Additionally, this brother finds that you are not a bad girl. You're at most a lost girl with full desires. Therefore, I just warned out of good intention..."
After hearing Zhang Tie's response, the young sister turned around and rolled her eyes at Zhang Tie from dozens of meters away before flying off...
Touching his bald head, Zhang Tie became confused, 'Did I say something wrong?'
...
The demon baron appeared in their confluence after they left there for 2 hours. With sparkling red eyes, the demon baron stretched out of its bloody tongue which split into 4 parts like that of a lizard. After licking around its mouth rapidly, he flashed away towards where Zhang Tie and Mountain Lifting Hermit left for...
...
After 3 hours, those human knights felt hot abruptly while Zhang Tie saw some statues on the walls of the deep tunnel.
All the exotic statues as high as 1,000 m were sitting up straight on chairs. Some of them held weapons, some held maces; some cupped fruits such as pine cones. These statues were too huge and tall with grim faces. Being directly carved in the mountain, they shocked Zhang Tie's souls greatly.
Although they were flying hundreds of meters above the ground, they could only reach the knees of those statues.
Many of those statues had been ruined; many had cracks as wide as dozens of meters; some had already collapsed. Zhang Tie guessed that they had been carved for tens of thousands of years. However, Zhang Tie could still sense something solemn and holy from these statues.
'In the long course of history, what kind of civilisation could create such a marvel?'
When flying past these statues, everyone slowed down out of their reverence to the unknowns and human history.
At this moment, Zhang Tie saw a glow from the exit of the cave. At the same time, he felt hotter. The temperature was almost as high as 100 celcius degrees. After penetrating through the exit of the cave, Zhang Tie saw a borderless space.
Zhang Tie was shocked by this scene.
It was a boiling magma sea below them which was covered with a red hurricane. The red hurricane roared and rolled the magma into the air as high as thousands of meters. 'What a destructive power!'
This was the so-called hurricane in the First Abyss. Although being far away from the magma sea and the hurricane, they could still feel the terrifying power of the hurricane. It was a destructive furnace being featured by a terrifying, high temperature and speed...
The red hurricane was very strange as it was only rampant above the magma sea. The moment it left the magma sea, it had disappeared.
Due to this red hurricane, they couldn't see anything in the distance of this space.
Out of curiosity, Zhang Tie broke off a solid rock from aside. It was a low-quality hematite which was very hard and resistant to high temperature. After weighing it in hand, Zhang Tie threw it into the red hurricane.
Right under the gaze of everyone else, the piece of hematite entered the red hurricane. Before it fell into the magma sea, it had been torn apart, melt by the red hurricane and finally disappeared...
'F*ck!' Zhang Tie took a deep breath.
Even earth knights would not insist on a few minutes facing such a destructive power, not to mention black iron knights. If knights wanted to enter this hurricane, they had to bear high-speed excisions hundreds of times a second in all directions. No protective battle qi could stand such a destruction. Even shadow knights might not bear it.
"F*ck, that's amazing. Is the hieron ruins behind this hurricane? It's really the idealest place to kill a person and rob his treasures..." Filton said as he flew to Zhang Tie's side with Cecilia and Bolam.
"Shut up, Filton..." Cecilia swore him with her furious eyes on him.
As they were cooperating with three earth knights, even if there was a robbery, it could only be a black iron knight who's robbed. After thinking it through, Filton smirked and didn't say anything else.
Watching the magma sea, Bolam who was always silent finally uttered with a solemn look, "After entering it, we'd better stay with each other!"
Cecilia and Filton nodded at the same time.
As they watched it on one side of the magma sea, the white-eyebrow elder took out a metal compass and stood on some positions for a short while respectively by facing the compass towards the hurricane as if measuring or confirming something. After a few minutes, he put away his metal compass and told Mountain Lifting Hermit, "We're neither too late nor too early, the hurricane will disappear in 45 hours..."
"You mean we will be able to enter it in about 2 days?"
"Right!"
"Hahahaha..." Old Monster Qi laughed, "That's pretty good. We will take a rest two days here so that we could plunder inside!"
The white-eyebrow elder exchanged a glance with Mountain Lifting Hermit before nodding with him at the same time.
Everyone then moved back into the cave. As it was barren near the magma sea, they couldn't find any resources to supply themselves at all. Additionally it was too hot here, they'd better rest in another place.
...
After half an hour, all of them landed in the valley where those huge statues were 35 miles away from that magma sea...
Chapter 930: An Emergency
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The deep and serene valley was covered with fungi which were adapted to darkness. All the fungi were higher than 2 m like huge, open umbrellas, few of them could reach 3-4 m in height in the shape of pavilions. At the first blush, the entire valley was like an exotic children's playground...
Water flew out of the cliffs on both sides of the valley. In the Earth-elements Realm, as long as there were underground plants, there would be full of vitality.
This was the ideal place for the teams of human knights to take a rest.
All the members of the team led by the white-eyebrow elder were from Zhang Clan in Tianlu Palace, Taixia Country. The white-eyebrow elder's name was Zhang Anguo; he's the grand elder of the House of Elders in Tianlu Palace. The word " An 1 " was exclusive to the knights of Zhang Clan in Tianlu Palace like the word "Mu" in Huaiyuan Palace.
Given the point that the Tianlu Palace could dispatch one grand elder and nine knights for an action in Earth-elements Realm, Zhang Tie sighed with emotions about the sharp difference between Tianlu Palace and Huaiyuan Palace inside. He wondered when Huaiyuan Palace could reach the level of Tianlu Palace.
The knights under the leadership of Old Monster Qi also came from the Lion Fortress. Besides Old Monster Qi, the other black iron knights were all strange in the Lion Fortress. As there were too many human knights in the Lion Fortress with a great mobility, if not being a trump knight, black iron knights could barely have a great influence in the Lion Fortress.
The three teams of knights pitched their camps with a distance fewer than 7 miles from each other.
The team of Mountain Lifting Hermit directly pitched their camp on the thigh of a huge statue which was sitting up straight.
As it was about 400 m away from the ground, it was relatively cleaner and more refreshing. The two legs of the huge statue, after being put together, was as large as a square which could hold thousands of people at least. The valley was at the foot of this status, from where they could get food.
...
Zhang Tie also took out a simple foldable tent from his bag, which only weighed 2 or 3 kg and was as large as a hat after being folded. Zhang Tie found a proper place and threw the tent onto the ground. With a sound of "bi", it automatically turned into a camouflaging tent with a dome.
Such a simple, portable tent was only used for the waterproof purpose and prevent its owner from being exposed to the public when in sleep. It was just a bit confidential yet without any defensive power. As for knights, even though they slept in armored vehicles, their safety could still not be guaranteed. Therefore, Zhang Tie didn't pose any requirement for the tent.
After fixing the four corners of the tent by hand using alloy steel nails, Gong Ziyao came to Zhang Tie's front and said, "Come on, let's go find some food!"
"Where's brother Zhou?"
"He went to find firewoods and water. After coming out for so many days, I've been so desiring about meat!"
Zhang Tie then picked himself up and called Filton. Filton hurriedly ran toward them.
"We're going to find some food, will you come with us?"
After hearing that they were going to find food, Filton's eyes gleamed at once as he licked his lips, "The breadfruits and nutritious mushrooms in the Lion Fortress made me sick..."
Zhang Tie and Gong Ziyao burst out into laughter at the same time. After that, Filton told Cecilia about their plan before flying off the statue with Zhang Tie and Gong Ziyao.
As they would enter the magma sea in about 2 days, with the three earth knights on their side, they became relaxed at once...
...
With the perceptions and night-viewing ability of knights, the three people would soon find a prey among some fungi.
It was an animal as large as a dog. When Zhang Tie caught sight of it, it was eating a finger-nail sized termite at the root of a fungus. At the sight of it, Gong Ziyao took out a fluorite lamp with optical lens and irradiated it. The moment the animal saw the light, it became still at once like being affected by a magic. Closely after that, Gong Ziyao walked over there leisurely and killed it by pointing at its head before picking it up.
The entire process went very smoothly and easily.
"Brother Gong, what's this?" Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.
"This animal is called underground pangolin. It's very vigilant. The moment it catches sight of light, it will become still and relaxed. In this state, its flesh will be very tasty. If it were killed in vigilance in the dark out of fear, its body of gland would secrete an exotic substance to make its flesh sour and poisonous. If so, its flesh would be inedible!" Gong Ziyao explained.
In the next half an hour, the three people caught another underground pangolin in the same way. They even found some edible mushrooms. After cleaning them in a mountain spring, the three people took their food back to their camp.
The others had already set some bonfires and cooked their own food in the camp. Those withered fungi in the valley were good firewoods.
At this moment, proper rest and adjustment physically and spiritually were definitely necessary. Nobody knew what they would face in the hieron ruins in 2 days.
The group of 6 roasted two underground pangolins and boiled a pot of fungi soup, which were both tasty food at this moment.
Sitting around the bonfire, the group of 6 ate and chatted. Until they ate up all the food did they return to their own tents to rest.
As knights didn't need to sleep for too long, they were actually cultivating and forming their chakras.
After entering his own tent, Zhang Tie closed the tent from inside and sat down with crossed legs before digesting the achievements of killing that demon knight a few days ago...
Just like what he achieved the first time, Zhang Tie became reassured, he "saw" a lot of golden, pure earth elements rotating around his chakras like satellites on the tracks of a planet and waiting to be converted into his earth chakra...
This achievement was indeed fewer than the last time. However, he could light at least 4 scales.
Zhang Tie revealed a smile...
Being immersed in Zhang Tie's spiritual energy, the geometrical patterns on the earth chakra of "King Roc Sutra" were gradually lit...
...
As expected, in a few hours, four scales on Cui Li's crystal plate were lit consecutively, turning the number of scales being lit into 40...
What an amazing speed!
Soon after he lit 4 dragons scales, Zhang Tie heard a muffled sound "Emergency..." from outside...
All the team members woke up from their dreamlands or cultivation realms at the same time as they rushed out of their tents at the fastest speed...
In a place over 50 miles away, a knight's battle qi luster faded away immediately...
Chapter 931: The Crisis
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
If there was a battle qi, it indicated that a combat was breaking out. At this critical moment, any combat was very sensitive, combats between human knights and demon knights or internal conflicts between human knights.
Before Mountain Lifting Hermit uttered, the other members of his team had rushed towards the battle qi in terms of light.
At the same time, the other two teams also rushed towards that place in terms of light from their camps.
It only took them about 4 minutes to complete the distance of over 50 miles.
The moment they arrived there, they had caught sight of a corpse lying on the ground.
The corpse's head had been chopped off, leaving a puddle of blood on the ground.
After looking around the place, the knights ensured that there was no ambush in the surroundings; neither did they see any figure; therefore, they landed.
After landing there, Mountain Lifting Hermit, Zhang Anguo the grand elder of Tianlu Palace and Old Monster Qi threw a glance at each other before walking towards the corpse.
After checking the corpse, they confirmed the identity of the dead. However, they didn't find any clue of the murderer at the scene.
"It's Sun Sheng!" Old Monster Qi picked himself up from the ground as he glanced at Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Anguo with a weird, icy eye light. As he had seen the two earth knights fly off their camps just now, he didn't think they had a chance to kill Sun Sheng.
Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Anguo also stood up.
"He was raided. Before he released his battle qi, his heart had been fatally wounded. In the latter combat, he was chopped off in a few seconds!" Zhang Anguo said in a muffled voice.
Mountain Lifting Hermit looked icy. He just threw a glance at his team members silently.
Even if it was a close combat, it was also difficult for an earth knight to kill a black iron knight; however, a black iron knight could heavily wound or kill another black iron knight in an extremely short period by raiding the latter.
Everyone at present felt a solemn yet weird atmosphere among the three teams.
"Jia Xiong, wasn't Sun Sheng always with you? Why did he come here alone?" Old Monster Qi suddenly turned around and asked a knight on his team.
The knight was swarthy and short. After hearing Old Monster Qi's question, everyone focused on Jia Xiong, causing him to feel nervous and swallow his saliva, "Sun Sheng was with me 1 hour ago; however, later on...later on he met...Miss Bai, after hearing that Miss Bai just ate some dried rations, Sun Sheng voluntarily said that he would hunt some smooth rats for Miss Bai, which was the tastiest food in the cave...Therefore...therefore he went out alone!"
"Where's Bai Suxian?" Old Monster Qi threw a glance at the team and didn't see that woman.
"Soon after Sun Sheng left, Miss Bai 1 had left too..." Someone in the team of Old Monster Qi replied.
Zhang Tie didn't know the name of "Young sister" until now. This name made him speechless. Although the female was pretty white, she had nothing to do with Su 2 and Xian 3 .
Soon after his words, some more lights arrived from afar, including the couple Lu Zhongming and Lin Huanxi, the two women and one man from Tianlu Palace and Bai Suxian the "Young sister".
"When we arrived here, we found this guy had been raided!" Mountain Lifting Hermit uttered after throwing a glance at them while accenting the word "raided".
Watching the corpse whose head had been chopped off and hearing Mountain Lifting Hermit's words, the latter ones changed their faces at once.
As they were late, they were suspects.
Old Monster Qi gazed at Bai Suxian before asked in a muffled voice, "Where have you been?"
The "Young sister" threw an aggrieved glance at Old Monster Qi before asking, "Do you also think it's done by me?"
"It's a human life. You're late, therefore, you need to explain it to us!" Old Monster Qi replied in an icy tone.
Under the gaze of everyone else, Bai Suxian's face blushed as she replied, "I am menstruating these days. As there were too many males in the valley, it was inconvenient for me; therefore, I was looking for a place to solve it..."
Soon after Bai Suxian finished her words, Old Monster Qi's eyes gleamed. In a split second, he had come to the side of Bai Suxian. Before Bai Suxian responded, he had caught her wrist. Bai Suxian was shocked. Before she wanted to launch a counter attack, Old Monster Qi had rapidly let off her wrist and retreated. The entire process was completed in a split second. When Bai Suxian responded with a pale face, Old Monster Qi had moved away.
It was almost like raiding Bai Suxian. However, it also reflected Old Monster Qi's power and arbitrary temperament, which shocked everyone else at present.
"I've checked your pulse condition. It's indeed the physical condition when a woman is menstruating. You're not lying!" Old Monster Qi explained. Everybody else then understood why he caught Bai Suxian's wrist just now.
Watching how Old Monster Qi do, Lu Zhongming and Lin Huanxi were shocked immediately. They slightly moved away from Old Monster Qi. Lu Zhongming stood in front of his wife as he pressed one hand onto his sword handle. After throwing a glance at them, he said in a muffled voice, "Just now, we were seeking for some rare underground plants' seeds in the valley so that we could sow those seeds in the underground mountain cave of our Minling Sword Sect and create a cultivation environment being similar to that of Earth-elements Realm..."
"As it's the first time for some young elders in Tianlu Palace to come to the Earth-elements Realm, I told them to be familiar with the environment here these couple of days. I know that they left the camp just now!" Zhang Anguo opened his mouth as he clarified the reason why the three people of Tianlu Palace were late. At this moment, anyone who dared find Tianlu Palace's trouble would be regarded as the enemy of Tianlu Palace as a whole.
Everyone at present then became silent.
Old Monster Qi then watched Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Anguo with a sneer, "We've just fixed the rule to forbid private duel or mutual trap less than half a day ago, and we met such an accident here. How do you explain this?"
"It's not necessary that one of us who killed Sun Sheng!" Mountain Lifting Hermit said.
"What do you mean?"
"We don't have the motive to kill him. Even if someone wanted to kill him, he would not risk the dangers until Sun Sheng came out of the hieron ruins. However, Sun Sheng had not entered the hieron ruins yet; neither did he have any valuable item with him that might arouse others' vicious intention. Additionally, he had no resentment with us, why would someone kill him in vain at the risk of being recognized and besieged by us? Old Monster Qi, don't forget that we're in the Earth-elements Realm. Besides us, demon knights are also wandering here."
After exchanging a glance with each other, all the others were shocked once again...
...
After burying the corpse over there, the three teams of knights returned to their own camps in a weird atmosphere.
Zhang Tie was shocked inside as it was his first time to see a dead human knight.
Although Mountain Lifting Hermit's explanation was reasonable, Zhang Tie still was not sure whether Sun Sheng was killed by a demon knight or not. In this world, human's mind was most unpredictable.
Zhang Tie had tasted unpredictable human minds too much...
Because of this uncertainty, Zhang Tie ran his spiritual energy and released a lot of tracing tentacles and attached them to the sole of each knight at present before they left, including that of Bai Suxian, Old Monster Qi and those people in Tianlu Palace.
The biggest effect of tracing tentacle was to monitor each one's trace and position each knight at any time.
Whether Sun Sheng was killed by someone in the three teams or a demon knight, it was not a good news for all the others. Because this indicated that a dangerous enemy might beside them.
The temporary camp became more depressive and weird. Many people's eyes contained some hidden meaning when they looked at Lu Zhongming and Lin Huanxi.
No matter what, Lu Zhongming and Lin Huanxi were suspects. As a human knight was killed, all the others had to beware of them more or less.
Now that Sun Shen was raided, it indicated that all the others at present might be raided too. Nobody could ensure that he or she was not the next one being raided.
...
"These days, we three have to go out together. None of us should take any action alone..." Gong Ziyao told Zhang Tie in a secret way after returning to the camp.
Zhang Tie nodded.
...
Two days soon flew past.
Nothing else happened in the two days. The knights completed their supplies in the valley in two days. With full preparations, they came to the magma sea once again.
The terrifying hurricane gradually faded away...
"Let's go!" Mountain Lifting Hermit said in a muffled voice while all the others followed him towards the center of the magma sea...
Chapter 932: A Mysterious Island
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The hot and boiling magma sea appeared under their feet...
The magma sea was borderless.
Although being hundreds of meters high above the magma sea, Zhang Tie could still feel the hot waves from below.
Compared to the hurricane, the hot waves were as tender as spring breezes. Commoners might die out of hydration within a few hours; however, such a temperature didn't cause any effect to knights at all.
Except for the team of Zhang Clan in Tianlu Palace which felt to be united, the atmospheres in the teams of Mountain Lifting Hermit and Old Monster Qi were both subtle. Lu Zhongming, Lin Huanxi and Bai Suxian unconsciously flew to the front of the team close to the three earth knights.
Nobody in the two teams would like to expose their backs to the three people. Therefore, the three people were subconsciously driven to the front of the two teams.
"5 days later, the hurricane would reappear above the magma sea. Therefore, we could only stay 5 days in the hieron ruins at most. If everything went smoothly, we would leave after 3 days, at most 4 days!" Mountain Lifting Hermit's voice sounded in the ears of the others on the team, "I feel that we might face some trouble in this journey. You'd better take care of yourselves!"
After hearing Mountain Lifting Hermit's warning, Zhang Tie's heart pounded. After exchanging a glance with Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan, they could see a solemn expression from each other's eyes.
"What are you concerned about?" Zhang Tie asked Mountain Lifting Hermit in a secret way.
After thinking for a few seconds, Mountain Lifting Hermit replied, "If the one who raided Sun Sheng was a demon knight, I'm considering what that demon knight would think and do after seeing us waiting at the entrance of this magma sea! Undoubtedly, that demon knight's battle strength could never match the jointed battle strength of us. In this case, what do you think I'm concerned about?"
Being hinted by Mountain Lifting Hermit, Zhang Tie understood it at once.
'If a demon knight is really following us, Mountain Lifting Hermit must be concerned about it whistling.'
'If that demon knight didn't know what were we here for before today. It might have already speculated something when he saw the hurricane to disappear over this magma sea.'
'This was the worst scenario and the most possible result we might face. If that demon knight really blows a whistle after confirming our trace and purpose, given the efficiencies of both parties, we might have a fierce combat with a team of demon knights the moment we come out of the hieron ruins. We might be outnumbered by demon knights. The longer we stay in the hieron ruins, the more dangerous it might get and we might have to collide with a team of demon knights.
In the Earth-elements Realm, no knight could avoid from fierce collisions with demon knights.
If Mountain Lifting Hermit, Old Monster Qi and Zhang Anguo could coordinate with each other and make an ambush in the magma sea behind all the others, they would definitely make an achievement if there was a demon knight behind them. At least, it could scare the demon knight away. However, it was a daydream for three earth knights to stay here to set a trap only for the sake of the black iron knights. Even though the heads of the three teams were black iron knights, they would not agree to do that either. At such a critical moment, who would like to give up such a rare chance to wait for fighting a possible demon knight?
Zhang Tie would. As long as he could kill a demon knight, he would make a big achievement. With the shield that he gained from the demon general, he could hide in the magma sea for a few hours; but it was useless for him to stay here alone. First, everybody else would think he was foolish; second, if there was an earth demon knight behind them, Zhang Tie was not sure that he could defeat it.
Facing such a situation, Zhang Tie could only let out a sigh inside. Closely after that, he spirited up to respond to the next problems...
They could only respond to the next situations in a flexible way.
As there were three earth knights in their teams, it was not his turn to make decisions.
...
After flying almost 1,000 miles over the magma sea for over 2 hours at a high speed, they caught sight of a looming isle in the hot, rising, twisting vapor.
At the sight of this isle, everyone became spirited as they accelerated at once.
After flying close to it, they could see it clearly.
It was a big island that covered about 10,000 square miles instead of being an isle.
All the exposed rocks on this island were weathered and aged might be because of the hurricane. It was a taste of vicissitudes all over.
A tall, flat-roofed pyramid was standing in the middle of this island.
Zhang Tie took in a deep breath, 'Here we are.'
After reaching close to this island, the hot air that had been accompanying them over 2 hours instantly declined. The closer they were to this island, the faster the temperature would decline and be closer to normal temperature.
"Watch out, it's a no-fly zone in the island like that in Lion Fortress. When we are close to it, we'd better lower our flight altitude!" The grand elder of Tianlu Palace ahead of them opened his mouth as he declined his flight altitude rapidly, closely followed by all the other members of the three teams. When they were close to the edge of this island, they were only a few meters above the ground. The moment they entered the air territory of this island, they had lost their flying capabilities and fell down at once.
If not being warned in advance, those who came here for the first time might be very embarrassed after falling down from hundreds of meters in the air even though they would not die at once.
After landing, they felt that the temperature had recovered to normal while the air became refreshing at once.
Now that it existed in the hot magma sea, it already indicated that this place was very marvelous.
"After taking a rest, we will take action!" Old Monster Qi suggested.
They didn't reject him. Earth knights might not encounter any difficult to fly for 2 hours at a high speed consecutively; however, it was very difficult for most of the black iron knights...
They then found a place nearby to take a rest by sitting cross-legged, drinking water or eating something so as to recover their physical strength and battle strength.
Zhang Tie sat down against a huge grey rock. Filton then walked to him and stealthily gave him a vial of medicament. After taking a look at it, Zhang Tie became stunned, 'It's all-purpose medicament...'
"This thing just entered the Lion Fortress a few days ago. It's very effective to recover physical strength and cure common minor injuries and poisoning symptoms..." Filton explained it to Zhang Tie...
'Has my elder brother opened the market in the Lion Fortress?'
Zhang Tie felt complexed and gratified...
Chapter 933: The Hieron Ruins
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After having a sweet vial of all-purpose medicament, a relaxed feeling started to spread across his body from his stomach. After a short while, the fatigue and physical consumption caused by 2 hours of flight had been recovered.
The 2 hours' flight was much easier for Zhang Tie than the others. It was a middle-and-high speed for others, however, it was just a bit faster than the cruising speed for Zhang Tie. Such a flight didn't cost him too much physical strength. In case of being too eye-catching, Zhang Tie had to take the vial of all-purpose medicament gifted by Gong Ziyao. Actually, he could recover his physical strength very soon without having to take all-purpose medicament at all. Even if he wanted to take the all-purpose medicament, he only needed to run his spiritual energy to move the well-brewed all-purpose medicament from Castle of Black Iron into his mouth.
After 1 hour, seeing someone standing up, Zhang Tie stroked the familiar pattern of manjusaka on the empty vial before throwing it onto the ground. Closely after that, he also picked himself up from the ground.
Zhang Tie didn't know whether he was littering freely; if someone could really catch sight of this empty vial, his advertisement for his domestic business would be a success.
Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he threw a glance at Gong Ziyao and Zhou Sufan who was sitting with crossed legs not far away and nodding towards Zhang Tie at the same time.
Before entering the hieron ruins, everyone wanted to adjust their conditions to the best.
Gradually, all of them picked themselves up from the ground.
Mountain Lifting Hermit exchanged a glance with the other two earth knights and nodded at each other.
"Now that we've had a good rest. Let's go then!" The grand elder of Tianlu Palace opened his mouth while everyone else set off once again.
As they could not fly in the island, they could only rush towards the huge pyramid in the distance by foot.
Before leaving, Zhang Tie looked back at the boiling magma sea.
'I wonder whether someone would follow us?'
'But who would like to stay here and be a sentry at this moment?'
As this whim occurred to his mind, Zhang Tie ran forward as he undid his abyss battle spear from his back and assembled it one part after another.
After being assembled, the 4 m long abyss battle spear looked pretty terrifying. Plus Zhang Tie's towering figure, it was full of killing intent and became the largest and most eye-catching weapon in the entire team.
Most of the people in the team used short weapons such as sabers or swords; some used exotic weapons such as the ax, hook, spine and 1 m long sickle. Bai Suxian the "young sister" used a steel whip which was circling around her slim waist. Only Zhang Tie used a long weapon.
The moment he took out his weapon, he became outstanding at once. Even the members of Zhang Clan in Tianlu Palace couldn't stand glancing at Zhang Tie.
Few of battle skills on knights level were about long weapons. However, all the battle skills with long weapons were overbearing and powerful. Many people were guessing what battle skill did Cui Li the sturdy tough man use with such a terrifying weapon.
The grand elder of Zhang Clan also recalled the battle skills of long spears that he had learned. After that, he shook his head faintly. He didn't remember that there was a powerhouse called Cui Li who excelled at long spear battle skills.
In running, Zhang Tie felt a hot eye light falling on his body. Zhang Tie turned around and saw that Bai Suxian was watching him with her watery eyes. When she caught sight of Zhang Tie's eyes, she hurriedly moved her eyes away. At the same time, she replied with a cold harrumph. However, her split vision was still on Zhang Tie's body.
It was evidently a gesture and signal of a woman who sought for coquetry and comfort.
If not at this moment and this place, Zhang Tie was sure that as long as he dared hug Bai Suxian shamelessly, the woman would definitely fall into his arms as soft as water.
'Does this petite girl really like tough men like me?' Zhang Tie touched his bald head as he smirked...
Bai Suxian moved very elegantly. The moment she touched the ground, she would throw her long sleeves. At the same time, she moved dozens of meters ahead like a fairy. In the entire team, her battle strength reflected by her movements was definitely at the medium level.
'How could such a woman raid and kill a man who courted her out of no reason?'
When he thought about this, Zhang Tie felt that Mountain Lifting Hermit's concern might come true.
'However, as the arrow is fitted to the string, we could only move forward. If we make some achievements in the hieron ruins, we could at least have a greater chance to survive the raid of the demon knights when we go out of here. Mountain Lifting Hermit and the other two earth knights might think in this way. None of those knights who dare enter the Earth-elements Realm are afraid of battle.'
...
Based on the high speed of knights, after running less than half an hour, they had already arrived at the foot of the huge, flat-roofed pyramid in the middle of this island.
There were a lot of stony steps from the foot of the pyramid to the roof, each step was higher than 0.5 m. Led by the three earth knights, everyone rushed upstairs, 10 steps a stride.
When he reached the flat roof of the pyramid, Zhang Tie's sight expanded at once. He caught sight of a row of huge stony pillars while the entrance of an old, broken temple entered their visions. There were two rows of huge, time-honored statues at the entrance of the temple, each statue was higher than 10 m. At the sight of those statues, everyone became shocked once again, including Zhang Tie.
The statues were standing in two rows, one row on the left, the other on the right. The row on the right were armored human fighters who were holding their swords with solemn and dignified looks. Those on the left were demon fighters who were also standing in solemn looks with huge hammers in hands.
The two rows of statues didn't look aggressive to each other; instead, it seemed that they were commonly safeguarding the hieron.
As these statues were too old, it was hard to guess their ages. However, the statues reminded Zhang Tie that humans and demons might be two races living together peacefully in a far-ancient age. If not, how could humans and demons safeguard the hieron commonly at the entrance? No matter whether it was humans or demons who established this hieron, if they were in the antagonistic state at that moment, the party who established this hieron would never allow the other party's statues to be the guardians of the hieron...
If Zhang Tie was a historian or anthropologist, he might stop to study this question seriously. However, as a knight, he didn't need to do research; instead, he only needed to plunder so as to grow more and more powerful.
Therefore, although they were shocked inside, none of them would stop to study those statues. They just passed by the statues and arrived at the entrance of the hieron.
There were various animals such as cattle and sheep on the huge stony pillars. On the top of the only gate, there was a mysterious triangular sign being made of three scales of different sizes.
The mysterious triangular sign should be the symbol of this hieron or of a religious meaning like the signboard of yamun, bank or commercial group. However, like how they didn't know why statues of demons and humans were standing outside the hieron, none of the three teams of knights understood the meaning of the sign on the gate of the hieron until today.
They only knew that they would face dangers and might make good achievements inside.
After tens of thousands of years, everything in front of them became ruins. They only cared about interests; instead of the far-ancient yet unknown truth. If humans could kill all the demons, they might put their efforts in studying this place seriously; however, as the holy war had broken out, nothing was more realistic and meaningful than powerful punches and sharp blades.
Right at the entrance of the hieron, the time-honored metal gate being carved with exotic grains was shuttered, leaving three tidy and eye-catching pits on it.
After coming to the entrance, Mountain Lifting Hermit, Old Monster Qi and the grand elder of Tianlu Palace respectively took out a piece of shimmering diamond-shaped metal. After exchanging a glance with each other, they inserted their diamond-shaped metal piece into the pits respectively before moving a few steps back at the same time.
"Watch out. When the gate opens, as long as you enter it, don't exit casually. Being affected by the mysterious strength and guarding rule of this hieron ruins, everyone could only access to this threshold just one time. As long as you exit it, you will not be able to enter it again!" Zhang Anguo, the grand elder of Tianlu Palace warned the others.
As they had made it so far, if someone made such a stupid mistake, he or she would waste all the previous efforts.
Soon after Zhang Anguo's words, the entire pyramid quivered while the gate slowly opened. With a dazzling white light, a majestic qi poured out of the gate.
This majestic qi reminded Zhang Tie of the scene when he entered the tower of time, which also indicated that everything in this hieron could not be destroyed by knights...
Chapter 934: As a Lion, Like a Dragon
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After the gate was completely opened, the three earth knights moved one step forward and put away their metal pieces. Closely after that, all the members of the three teams entered the hieron consecutively...
When he entered the gate, Zhang Tie felt an exotic energy sweeping over him...
Zhang Tie looked back. Although they had entered, the gate didn't close; he then ran his spiritual energy while a tracing feather flew out of his forehead and lay on the entrance of the hieron silently.
——After everyone entered, as long as someone else entered, the tracing feather would attach to the sole of the new arriver automatically. The moment the tracing feather moved, Zhang Tie would know that someone else had arrived!
As it was on the flat roof of the pyramid, there was no space behind the gate but an extremely serene, spiral staircase, which led all the way to the bottom of the pyramid.
Most of the knights who came here for the first time didn't know what was at the bottom of the pyramid. The ground in the pyramid was brilliant and carried a special metallic luster.
"Ah, it's too cold..." The arrivers quivered a bit when a chilly wind blew towards them from below the staircase.
Compared to the hot magma sea outside, the inside space of this pyramid was at least below minus 40 degrees Celcius. Even being knights, they could only move normally inside in a short period.
"Attention, it's even colder downside there. In 3 days, if anyone of you couldn't stand it any longer, you should exit in advance..." Mountain Lifting Hermit uttered.
When Mountain Lifting Hermit uttered, Old Monster Qi remained silent, who directly led his team and rushed downwards along the spiral staircase at a very fast speed. The knights of Zhang Clan in Tianlu Palace hurriedly followed them up. Mountain Lifting Hermit's team was in the end.
Although they could not fly by the strength of the chakras at this moment, they didn't slow down. Everybody was moving rapidly on the spiral staircase.
At this moment, everybody became a bit thrilled.
When Zhang Tie was running, he kept observing the surrounding environment.
The spiral staircase gradually turned wider and flatter due to the structure of the pyramid. Additionally, this spiral staircase was a distinctive, two-helical structure like the helical structure of DNA. No artificial trace could be seen on this staircase. It was a complete, mysterious structure.
In each dozen meters, there would be a fire basket near the handrail. Zhang Tie guessed that the fire baskets might be used to illuminate the staircase in the far-ancient times. However, it could not be authenticated now.
Due to the existence of night-viewing medicaments, even if there was no fire basket, knights could still clearly see the surroundings.
There were odd-looking mural paintings and strange words on both walls of the staircase. Zhang Tie saw many scenes about the co-existence between humans and demons. What shocked Zhang Tie was that those scenes were not about wars but about strange religious activities. In those religious activities, animals such as cattle and sheep were pushed in front of a tall and odd-looking joss for a sacrificial purpose...
There were empty stands on both sides of the staircase. The items on the stands might have been taken away.
The three keys in the hands of Mountain Lifting Hermit and the other two earth knights were from others. In the past 9 years, two batches of people had arrived here.
According to the introduction of the previous two batches of people, due to a short period, even knights could not stay too long below there. Therefore, many regions in the hieron ruins had not been fully explored. There might be some good items left. However, as those who had entered here once could not enter it for the second time, even though being the third batch of explorers, they might still find something good inside.
The Weapons Mountain and the possible space-teleportation equipment were both worthwhile for people to risk their lives here.
The deeper it was, the colder it would be. They felt like entering an ice cellar.
In less than 10 minutes, they had deepened over 13 miles inside the pyramid. Given the position, they must have entered the underground space of the pyramid.
After coming to the last step, the three earth knights stood there. Even Old Monster Qi didn't walk a step forward with shimmering eyes. Everyone else then stopped on the last step.
What in front of everyone else was a huge palace-like lobby, which lasted for miles. They could faintly see dozens of portals at the end of the lobby, large or small. The ground of the lobby was as clean as a new pin, which was covered with exotic grains. The entire lobby felt icy and quiet. On both sides of the lobby were two rows of exotic metal statues.
All the grim and dignified metal statues were taller than 3 m which looked like spiders in the lower body and humans in the upper body. They were holding a metal shield by the left hand and various weapons by the right hand.
When they stopped on the last step, the eyes of the two rows of metal statues started to turn red while their necks started to sound, "kakakaka". At the same time, they moved their heads towards the three teams of knights which were very terrifying.
They were not statues but powerful battle puppets in the hieron who had been staying there since they were put.
It was so terrifying that these battle puppets could still move after so many years.
"Ga...ga...ga..." Old Monster Qi laughed as he watched Mountain Lifting Hermit and the grand elder of Tianlu Palace while narrowing his eyes, "We three will rush over there together in this pass. After that, we will choose one portal respectively and enter it independently. After entering portals, we will not interfere with each other whether you're alive or dead, rich or poor. How about that?'
After exchanging a glance with each other, Mountain Lifting Hermit and the grand elder of Tianlu Palace nodded at the same time before replying in a muffled voice, "Good!"
The 3 earth knights rushed out in a split second...
The moment the 3 earth knights left the last step and landed on the grand of the lobby, all the battle puppets in the lobby started to move as fast as knights.
6 battle puppets who were nearest to the 3 earth knights instantly rushed out and stabbed three huge swords and three long spears towards the 3 earth knights...
"Go die..." Mountain Lifting Hermit roared as he released a battle qi punch towards two battle puppets from 5 meters away, causing them to move backward, instead of killing them or damaging them.
The two battle puppets blocked the greater part of the battle qi of the earth knight with their shields. Although a small part of Mountain Lifting Hermit's battle qi punch touched the bodies of the two battle puppets, it only slid off a part of the metal on the battle puppets...
With a loud boom, the 16 feet of the two battle puppets left 16 scratches on the ground. After moving 7-8 m backward, they rushed forward once again...
These battle puppets' defensive abilities and close-combat capabilities could almost match that of knights.
The roar of Mountain Lifting Hermit started the first battle in the hieron ruins.
"Hahaha, cool!" Zhang Tie rushed out of the black iron knights with laughter. Based on his powerful jumping ability, Zhang Tie instantly arrived at over 20 m in the air. He then waved his abyss battle spear in the air while a battle qi fire dragon appeared whose brilliant glow covered the entire lobby...
In the battle, the 3 earth knights couldn't stand throwing a glance at Zhang Tie.
Everybody then felt a hot sun shining in the air while the temperature in the surroundings rose up abruptly...
Zhang Tie was lifting the hot sun. Together with the dancing, odd-looking fire dragon with a pair of wings, the hot sun was thrown into the group of battle puppets.
Thunder-like booms and strong, hot wind and shock waves of battle qi swept over 100 m in a split second, sending 4 of the group of battle puppets flying backward at once.
What a fierce strike! It could almost match that of an earth knight.
All the black iron knights including Gong Ziyao and Zhou Shufan who saw Zhang Tie using his long spear battle skill for the first time were startled at once. They had not imagined that Zhang Tie could be so fierce.
Zhang Tie refreshed everyone's senses once again.
At the sight of this scene, the grand elder of Tianlu Palace was shocked too while a famous figure in Taixia Country occurred to his mind, he immediately hailed, "Fire-Dragon Heaven Burning Spear Battle Skill!"
"Hahahaah...Grand Elder Anguo really has a good taste!" Zhang Tie burst into laughter as he raised his spear horizontally to block two huge swords.
Closely after that, he changed the direction of the head of the long spear in a weird manner and penetrated it through the gap between a battle puppet's shield and huge sword like a living, golden snake. He directly stabbed his spear into the lower body of the battle puppet and lifted it up, smashing it towards another battle puppet; as a result, the two battle puppets were both sent flying away...
Each battle puppet here weighed about 5-6 tons. All the black iron knights' eyebrows kept jumping when they saw Zhang Tie lifting up a battle puppet with the spear so easily, 'F*ck, how powerful is this guy! Is he even a human or not?'
After touching these battle puppets, Zhang Tie felt that these battle puppets' metal was very defensive to long-distance battle qi strikes. As for these battle puppets, the most effective combat mode was the close combat.
More battle puppets rushed towards them...
In the laughter, Zhang Tie passed by the three earth knights and rushed into a group of battle puppets alone in an aggressive way.
After that, all the others could not see Zhang Tie's body clearly. Instead, they could only see huge battle puppets being lifted up by Zhang Tie's abyss battle spear one after another and smashed onto the other battle puppets in the distance. They could barely pick themselves up from the ground until quite a while...
1...2...3...4...16...17...18...
Zhang Tie kept lifting up 18 battle puppets...
In Hua legends, an unrivaled fierce general could lift up chariots one after another on the battlefield. Although they had not seen that; at the sight of Zhang Tie's performance, everybody else felt that the legendary general could not even match Cui Li.