1082 - 1091
Chapter 1082: The Ghost Region in the Future
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Pingsha Valley was about 300 miles away from their place of departure.
When they set off, it was heavily raining; when they arrived at Pingsha Valley, it was still cloudy; however, the rain had eased off. It was only drizzling.
The Iron-Dragon Airboat flew across the clouds and slowly descended from tens of thousands meters high. When it reached hundreds of meters high above the ground, it slowly moved forward.
Zhang Tie had convened all of his disciples in the airboat. All the male disciples were still wearing a set of military clothes which were specially designed for field operations. However, those female disciples had put on beautiful dresses. After dressing up, they looked beautiful, elegant, coquettish and cute in front of Zhang Tie's eyes.
All the female disciples were glancing at Bai Suxian and Zhang Tie silently.
Bai Suxian's beautiful look, coquetry and dress were imitated by many female disciples.
Those careful female disciples found that the relationship between Bai Suxian and their master was a bit different than before. It was hard to describe that feeling. They felt that Bai Suxian and Fire Dragon Hermit had a silent privity; especially the soulful and coquettish eyes of Bai Suxian when she saw their master. Additionally, their master's eyes also turned tender when he saw Bai Suxian. They looked like a couple.
"Are we in Pingsha Valley?" Bai Suxian muttered.
The airboat had already entered Pingsha Valley and was slowly flying above Pingsha Valley. They could see everything in Pingsha Valley from the airboat. Not only Zhang Tie but all of his apprentices were also watching this place with their eyes widely opened.
In the drizzle, it looked tranquil in Pingsha Valley. The entire Pingsha Valley was covered in the drizzle as if no battle had happened here. In the rain, the woods on both hillsides of Pingsha Valley were vigorous and verdant. Reclaimed farmlands crisscrossed in Pingsha Valley.
If nobody told them that they were in Pingsha Valley, they could not imagine what a terrifying event had happened here one month ago.
When they watched it carefully, they could still find the traces of that terrifying event more or less.
On the day the event broke out in Pingsha Valley, the entire Bi'an Camp in Zhongzhou Province had almost sacrificed. None of the native farmers and commoners could survive. Therefore, it looked deadly silent in Pingsha Valley. No living beings could survive in the crisscrossed farmlands, including domestic animals. There was no smoke in the looming villages at all. There were still faintly messy traces left by the disordered soldiers in the farmlands where grew vegetables and grains. As nobody took care of the crops, some weeds had grown out.
Perhaps too many people had died here, plus that it was cloudy today, many disciples of Zhang Tie felt that it was gloomy and chilly in Pingsha Valley.
Unsurprisingly, they saw another airboat suspending in the rain in front of them. It seemed that they were not the only group of people who felt like paying a visit here.
Being much smaller than Iron-Dragon Airboat, that airboat was over 100 m in length. It was golden all over. There was a round sign of black tiger's head on the airboat which indicated the identity of the owner of this airboat. However, as Taixia Country was too large, Zhang Tie, Bai Suxian and the other people on Iron-Dragon Airboat couldn't identify the identity of the owner of this airboat.
However, there was one point that they could confirm, namely, those in this airboat were definitely not commoners.
The ground in Pingsha Valley was both plain and spacious. In the sky, Zhang Tie, Bai Suxian and his disciples had already seen a deserted castle and a huge hole on the ground of the castle which led to the underground. The golden airboat was suspending above there.
Compared to that golden airboat, undoubtedly Iron-Dragon Airboat which Zhang Tie won from Taiyi Fantasy Sect was more frightening.
Watching Iron-Dragon Airboat slowly drawing closer to them, the golden airboat even moved a bit away from the huge hole so as to show their respect. However, Iron-Dragon Airboat didn't draw too close to them. It suspended a few meters above the ground when it was over 200 m away from that golden airboat.
Thankfully, the ground in Pingsha Valley was plain. The periphery of the castle was surrounded by farmlands where was spacious enough to hold Iron-Dragon Airboat. Otherwise, such an over 500 m long giant could not be easily parked.
"Let's go down there!" Zhang Tie called all the others.
Many disciples of Zhang Tie came from major clans in Northeast Military Region. However, they didn't have a convenient traffic tool like airboat to come to Zhongzhou Province like Zhang Tie. However, they all paid attention to what happened in Pingsha Valley. Zhang Tie would like to show his disciples what had happened here so that they could gain the first-hand information. When they went back home, they could tell their family members about what happened here as an indirect benefit of Iron-Dragon Sect.
The airboat suspended a few meters above the ground. When one side door of the airboat opened, they dropped off the gangway. Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian got off the airboat, closely followed by their disciples.
It was still drizzling. However, Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian didn't need to wear raincoats at all. They just released their protective battle qi to isolate the raindrops.
Watching the handsome looks of Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian, Zhang Tie's disciples admired them pretty much as they all swallowed their saliva forcefully.
After promoting to knights, people could fly and isolate fire and water. How great they were!
In the drizzle, the gangway touched the road which was paved with bluestones leading to the deserted castle. Besides waterlogging, the road was not muddy. Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian walked towards the deserted castle followed by their disciples.
"It smells bloody..." Bai Suxian slightly frowned after walking a few footsteps as she told Zhang Tie.
Knights' senses were much sharper than commoners.
"When the event broke out, tens of thousands of people died in the valley. This place had almost been covered with corpses and blood over 1 month ago. Although it was cleaned up, the bloody smell had still penetrated into each inch of soil and could not fade away in a few years. It's a bit better in rainy days; however, on sunny days, it would smell worse. In the evening, this place might be filled with wildfires and chilly, gloomy winds, which would make this place more terrifying. Look at the ground, the wide area of deep, brown parts on the bluestone slabs are blood stains. As human blood could fertilize the soil. Next year, the weeds would grow more luxuriant. Weeds that grow up in human blood are gloomier. Fewer commoners dare come here any more. In a few years, Pingsha Valley would be a ghost region. Perhaps only major thieves and criminals would hide here for the time being..."
Zhang Tie said in normal volume. Of course, Liu Xing and all the other disciples had heard it. After hearing Zhang Tie's words, all of his disciples carefully checked the bluestone slabs at their foot. When they found that almost the entire road was covered with bloodstains, many people turned pale at once.
After a few minutes, they had passed the hundreds of meters long bluestone road and arrived at the entrance of the black hole.
Given the look of the deserted castle, only a small part of it was destroyed in the battle. Unimaginably, the greater part of it was demolished by people.
After entering the entrance of the underground tunnel, as it was pitch-dark inside, Zhang Tie's disciples took out their portable fluorite lamps. Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian didn't take anything. As for Bai Suxian who had experienced in Earth-elements Realm and Liu Xing and the other 6 black-armored fighters who had served in Earth-elements Realm, most of them would use a vial of long-lasting night-viewing medicament, the effect of which could last about 1 year. This kind of long-lasting night-viewing medicament could not be used constantly. The interval between two vials should be over 1 month in case of negative impact to their eyes and battle strength.
Bai Suxian and the 7 black-armored fighters didn't need night-viewing medicament, not to mention Zhang Tie. Everybody at present including Bai Suxian thought that Zhang Tie had used night-viewing medicament. Zhang Tie didn't explain it to them either.
Compared to that in the outside, this underground tunnel looked cleaner and tidier. Besides some dust, there were no bloodstains on the stone steps.
The moment Zhang Tie entered the underground tunnel, he had heard a young voice from the depth of the underground tunnel.
"Those guys from the Supreme Court were too vicious. All the useful items in Pingsha Valley have been moved away, on the ground and underground, leaving nothing to us. Previously, I thought that I could take a look at the simplified bloody sea. I've not imagined that it was just a huge pit, leaving nothing inside, even a drop of blood. Boring!"
"Blood Sea is of great significance. Additionally, it violated God's will. Many people are paying attention to it. Do you think that we could catch a sight of that thing? I feel that those guys from the Supreme Court have been respecting all forces in Taixia Country much enough by leaving the tunnel complete!" Another young voice drifted from the depth of the tunnel.
"Heheheh, I'm afraid that the Supreme Court wanted to collapse this hole too; however, those people who really want to take a look inside could even dig another tunnel. The Supreme Court might also understand that it's useless to do that. Additionally, it would incur complaints about them. They could keep some strength and alchemist's bombs for bloody figures!"
The first voice sounded once again.
"Shh, someone's coming down..."
An old voice sounded. The two young voices shut up at once...
Chapter 1083: Black Tiger Palace
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
5 minutes later, the two parties encountered in the underground tunnel. Zhang Tie's team was going downstairs while the other party was going upstairs.
There were totally 123 people on Zhang Tie's side; however, there were only 5 people in the opposite, an old man with silver hair, a middle-aged man with a common look and 3 young men at their 20s.
'Earth Knight?'
'Earth knight!'
The moment Zhang Tie and that old man caught sight of each other, they had realized that the opposite was an earth knight. However, the old man was more shocked than Zhang Tie. The look of Cui Li was too young even as an earth knight. Earth knights at 30s were rarely seen. Additionally, Cui Li's terrifying tower-like figure and aggressive bald head were pretty oppressive.
Bai Suxian's look was also very outstanding. As a result, the 5 strangers couldn't stand paying more attention to her. Besides being a bit mild in front of Zhang Tie, Bai Suxian's elegant and noble movements sorted with her identity as the princess of Lord Guangnan's Mansion very well.
The middle-aged man on one side of the old man was also a black iron knight. The two knights were followed by some young men, too.
After sensing each other's situation, Zhang Tie and that old man nodded towards each other with a smile. After that, they passed by each other silently.
The middle-aged man on one side of the old man raised his head and threw a deep glance at Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie's team continued to walk downstairs; the old man's team continued to walk upstairs.
When they approached the ground and saw the light at the entrance of the cave, the old man tilted his head and asked that middle-aged man, "What about him?"
When the average-look middle-aged man heard the old man's question, he turned his head and said seriously, "Powerful, very powerful. That man is not only an earth knight, but he has also killed at least 2 earth demon knights and over 10 black iron demon knights..."
"At least 2 demon knights and over 10 black iron demon knights?" The old man took a deep breath. The 3 young men on their sides exchanged a glance with each other before changing their faces at the same time, "So many, are you sure?"
"Second Uncle, believe in me. The ancestral bloodline that I've awakened could help me observe the special killing qis left by those demon knights in that man's qi field. The more demon knights he killed, the stronger and more well-bedded the killing qis would be. The killing qis in his qi field are too terrifying. Additionally, I could sense that this man has killed much more demon knights than that!"
"But I've not heard about such a terrifying earth-level powerhouse in Taixia Country." The young man who opened his mouth just now asked with an amazed look, "He must be famous in the Earth-elements Realm!"
"Even the woman's qi field contains some killing qis of black iron demon knights. Additionally, her perfume Dew of Moonlight came from the imperial financial and living affairs department in Taixia Country, which is specially designed for the imperial harem in Xuanyuan Hill and the wives of lords. Commoners could not use it at all. The two people are definitely not common..."
"Taixia Country is so large. There're always many nameless powerhouses!" The old man frowned as he waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about it back in the airboat..."
The moment they exited the entrance, they had seen the 500-m longer Iron-Dragon Airboat suspending near there in a domineering way like a far-ancient fierce beast. They were shocked immediately. Of course, those who came here by airboat knew that such a large airboat could not be bought in the market. Only imperial households, top 7 sects, some super clans, those moguls in Xuanyuan Hill and Lords' clans across Taixia Country could have such a large airboat.
After throwing a few glances at Iron-Dragon Airboat, they returned to their own airboat.
The moment they boarded the airboat, the old man immediately told a young man, "Zhixuan, contact our clan and let them check the intelligence from Northeast Military Region, especially about sects!"
"Northeast Military Region? Second granduncle, why do you suddenly pay attention to Northeast Military Region? Especially the sects over there? I remember that there are only Immortal Fist Position Sect and some small- and medium-sized sects over there..." The young man called Zhixuan asked the old man with an amazed look while the other two people on his side watched the grand elder with dubious looks.
As the old man wanted to broaden the vision of these young disciples in his clan, he explained it very patiently instead of angrily, "You don't have knight's consciousness. Therefore, you don't have sharp perceptions. Before I met them, I've heard those young men behind them whispering to each other in the tone of Youzhou and Yanzhou Provinces in Northeast Military Region. Additionally, those young men called each other senior and junior fellow apprentices. Additionally, most of those young men came from rich and aristocratic clans. Even the man and the woman should be the elders in their sect, if not their masters. Sects outside Northeast Military Region would not enroll disciples from Northeast Military Region."
After hearing that, those young men watched the old man with admirable looks. His words implied his rich experience and intelligence. When those young men were guessing about the backgrounds of that team of strangers, their second granduncle had already speculated the backgrounds of that team of strangers.
Their airboat soon set off.
About 10 minutes later, the young man called Zhixuan received an intelligence. Holding a piece of paper, he walked into the command module of the airboat with a reverent look
——Cui Li the Fire Dragon Hermit held an opening ceremony of Fire-Dragon Sect within the territory of Fire Dragon Bounty Territory of Northeast Military Region on August 18. Additionally, he defeated Nangong Sheng, the master of Immortal Fist Position Sect who has entered the supreme realm of integrating his fist with the weather on the same day. It was said that Cui Li the Fire Dragon Hermit gained insight in his fist position when fighting Nangong Sheng and also entered the terrifying supreme realm of integrating his fist position with the climate.
——In the opening ceremony of Iron-Dragon Sect, Fire Dragon Hermit even took out 18 secret pearls as a gift, which shocked them pretty much.
——On the battlefield between humans and demons in Earth-elements Realm, Fire Dragon Hermit killed a shadow demon earth knight and was awarded Fire Dragon Bounty Territory.
——Over 1 month ago, Fire Dragon Hermit left Fire Dragon Bounty Territory by airboat with his 121 disciples.
——In a tall and sturdy figure, Fire Dragon Hermit has a domineering look with an eye-catching bald head. Bai Suxian the princess of Lord Guangnan's Mansion always glues with Fire Dragon Hermit. They have left Fire Dragon Bounty Territory.
——It's said that Fire Dragon Hermit won the airboat from Feng Yexiao, one of the 4 elders of Taiyi Fantasy Sect in the Earth-elements Realm. The details are not clear.
After combining these messages, everybody knew that they had met Fire Dragon Hermit's team underground just now. That man must be Cui Li the Fire Dragon Hermit; that woman must be Bai Suxian the princess of Lord Guangnan's Mansion.
After reading this intelligence, the old man revealed a bitter smile as he let out a sigh, "I've not imagined that there's such a powerful dragon in Northeast Military Region. Pitifully, our Black Tiger Palace have missed a chance to establish a relationship with Iron-Dragon Sect..."
"Second Granduncle, will we..."
After thinking a short while, the old man shook his head before replying, "If we catch up with them from behind, we might be despised by them. Tell our business groups to pay more attention to Iron-Dragon Sect in Northeast Military Region. As long as there's an opportunity, the young disciples of our clan could join Iron-Dragon Sect and learn some battle skills from Fire Dragon Hermit. With one more friend, our clan would have one more way in Northeast Military Region..."
"Second Granduncle, will we go to the Gold and Power Market now?"
"Of course! This year's Treasures Meeting will be held in Gold and Power Market. Once every 7 years! As Gold and Power Law also has a great influence in other continents and subcontinent, the Treasures Meeting in Gold and Power Market will collect various treasures from all directions. If we're fortunate, we could buy some good overseas items at lower prices! Of course, our Black Tiger Palace should take a round over there..."
All the 3 young men became thrilled with interested looks.
The old man and that average-looking middle-aged knight watched the sky outside the airboat with solemn looks. Their thought was similar to Zhang Tie——what if there's such a bloody sea in each province?
The moment this whim occurred to their minds, the two people had exchanged a glance with each other as they all noticed a bit concern in each other's eyes...
"Our Black Tiger Palace should make preparations in case of an emergency. Emperor Xuanyuan is missing. Many things are unreliable. The moment Taixia Country is in great chaos..." The middle-aged knight said in a secret way.
After being silent for a while, the old man slowly nodded...
...
The airboat of Black Tiger Palace flew away. Zhang Tie's team was still walking downstairs in a casual way.
"Aye, is your perfume called Dew of Moonlight?" Zhang Tie suddenly asked Bai Suxian in a secret means.
Chapter 1084: The Amazing Ability of Lotus-Flower Eyes
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After hearing Zhang Tie's question, Bai Suxian widely opened her eyes out of amazement as she asked in a secret way, "Ahh, how do you know that?"
"Hmm, someone told me!" Zhang Tie winked at her.
The 5 people of Black Tiger Palace could not imagine that the contents of their talks had been clearly drifted into Zhang Tie's ears. After promoting to an earth knight, Zhang Tie's perceptions had entered a terrifying level.
"Hmm, the entire Lord Guangnan's Mansion could only get a very small amount of Dew of Moonlight from the imperial financial and living affairs department per year. The Dew of Moonlight is very precious. Besides being fragrant, it also has a lot of marvelous effects. I've brought all the Dew of Moonlight here. I would never leave even a bit to Fang Xinyi, the foxtrel. When I treated her as my bosom friend, I even shared some Dew of Moonlight with her!" Bai Suxian said with a furious look.
Zhang Tie smiled as he felt that a woman was pretty cute when she hated another one.
"The all-purpose medicament is also not bad. You can have a try when you're free. Jinwu Business Group has already developed a suite of all-purpose medicament, especially for women. When I come back to Fire Dragon Bounty Territory, I will have my elder brother send some to you!"
"Ahh, I know that. Rose Beauty Series is very good. When I came back home, I was told that the imperial financial and living affairs department of Xuanyuan Hill were customizing some top all-purpose medicaments from Jinwu Business Group for Xuanyuan Hill. Those top all-purpose medicaments have been shared within Xuanyuan Hill. Very few of them could enter lords' mansions." Bai Suxian said with sparkling eyes.
Zhang Tie knew it too. Over these years, his elder brother had been establishing a relationship with the imperial financial and living affairs department of Xuanyuan Hill.
It was weird. The culprit who set me up in Fuhai City was one of the top 9 chancellors in Taixia Country. The imperial financial and living affairs department was also one of the top 9 chancellors' agencies. As a private department of Emperor Xuanyuan and the imperial households of Taixia Country, it was equal to the super private steward of the imperial households of Taixia Country, which was responsible for managing the finance, taxation, land, water irrigation, imperial clothes, jewelries, food, medicines, antiques, tools, vehicles, craftsmen, construction, colorful paintings and lights in Xuanyuan Hill.
Honestly, everything that was produced in the imperial financial and living affairs department was the best among humans. Because of the specialty of the all-purpose medicament, even Xuanyuan Hill demanded it. Therefore, Zhang Yang could establish a commercial tie with a Class 3 supervisor in the department. The raw materials of the top all-purpose medicament produced in Jinwu City were all provided by the imperial financial and living affairs department of Xuanyuan Hill. Jinwu Business Group was responsible for fermentation and cold extraction. After the top all-purpose medicament was produced in Jinwu City, they would be specially provided for the imperial financial and living affairs department of Xuanyuan Hill instead of entering the markets with the symbol of manjusaka as the sacrifice for imperials households.
The Class 3 supervisor in the imperial financial and living affairs department served as a Class 4 officer previously and was only responsible for the food, drinks and fruits in the harem of Xuanyuan Hill. Because of the relationship between the officer and the supplier of the top all-purpose medicament, this officer won the praise of those concubines and noble women in the harem of Xuanyuan Hill. In the past 4 years, he promoted from Class 4 to Class 3. With a rapidly growing power, he also enjoyed a greater influence in the imperial financial and living affairs department and could always communicate with the noble people in the harem of Xuanyuan Hill.
'My elder brother wants to slowly increase the influence of Huaiyuan Palace through this relationship and help me reverse my case in Xuanyuan Hill. Unexpectedly, after the event of Zhongzhou Province, being commonly affected by the series of events, the Supreme Court had already revoked the arrest order on its own initiative before this relationship took effect.'
"From then on, you can enjoy those top all-purpose medicament as much as you want!"
"That's great!" Bai Suxian became thrilled at once. She directly kissed Zhang Tie's cheek without caring about the looks of Zhang Tie's disciples.
His disciples didn't even know why their master's wife was so happy. They just pretended to have not seen that as they exchanged glances with each other in a curious and ambiguous way. After that, they continued to walk downstairs after Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian.
The underground tunnel had been cleaned. At least there was no gravel in the tunnel. However, they could see evident traces, the gravels on both sides of the tunnel and some broken steel bars near the passes left by knight-level powerhouses by force 1 month ago,
Zhang Tie's disciples couldn't gain any information from the ruins; however, Zhang Tie could identify the battle strength of those people who rushed downstairs 1 month ago given the traces. Meng Haishan the chief justice of Zhongzhou Provincial Court might have joined the battle himself.
As they walked downstairs, the bloody and stinky smell in the air became stronger. It smelt as disgusting as a slaughterhouse which had been sealed for dozens of years.
Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian could hold breath for a few hours in this environment. Even if they breathed, their bearing capabilities were several times stronger than that of commoners. By contrast, many disciples of Zhang Tie felt dizzy and breathless as their faces turned pale the moment they smelt the strong bloody smell.
At this moment, Liu Xing who had rich experience in dealing with this situation took out a vial of exotic ointment and daubed a bit of it onto the part below his nose. Closely after that, he passed it to the others, "This is taste-erasing refreshing ointment. You can daub a bit onto the philtrum!"
"Ahh, the first senior fellow apprentice is really considerate!"
"According to master, the bloody sea was located here; additionally, the knight-level powerhouses of the Supreme Court have killed over 10,000 bloody figures here. Even though they have moved away from the corpses, they could still not clean up the bloody smell. It might even arouse a special bloody plague in the worst scenario, under that circumstances, people might be poisoned after breathing a few times. In the Earth-elements Realm, a lot of caves and regions are affected by the bloody plague; therefore, I prepared for some ointment in advance!"
After hearing Liu Xing's explanation, Zhang Tie nodded inside. Bai Suxian also threw a smile at Zhang Tie. The other disciples of Zhang Tie approved the position of their first senior fellow apprentice too.
Soon after other disciples daubed the ointment on their philtrum, they had felt a bit cold on their philtrum. Closely after that, an exotic fragrance of herbal medicine stimulated their noses. After sneezing, they all felt clear-minded at once. The bloody smell also became less disgusting.
After a short while, they had come to the bottom of the hole and noticed the entire underground space.
The bloody sea had disappeared. Besides a huge, round pit and those gravels on the ground, they saw nothing else. Even the bloody water in the huge pit had been taken away by space-teleportation items. Otherwise, someone with evil intents might cause troubles with the bloody water.
Besides that the bloody sea was demolished and taken away completely, this underground space should have been searched over carefully by the powerhouses from the Supreme Court. Because the small karst caves on the ground and the surrounding walls of this underground space had been completely excavated. Even the traces were fresh.
Besides the stinky smell in the underground space, nothing else was left inside. This might explain why the Supreme court opened it to the public.
The ground and those stones in the entire underground space were covered with deep, brown blood stains which were left by those bloody figures who were slain here. The bloodstains reminded them of the terrifying scene of mountains of corpses with incomplete broken limbs.
Many disciples of Zhang Tie observed this underground space very seriously in case their family members asked them about what they saw here through letters when they came back to Fire Dragon Bounty Territory.
Zhang Tie and Bai Suxian directly took a round in the huge pit with their disciples.
The images that Zhang Tie gained from the memories of those live bloody figures corresponded to the scene here while those blurry parts in their memories immediately became clear. Zhang Tie had the directest impression and feeling about more details.
Through the confirmation of this observation, the image of a 9-floor crystal tower being covered with many bizarre runes gradually became clear in Zhang Tie's mind. Zhang Tie then realized that the crystal tower should be the core of the bloody sea.
Nobody could smile anymore. They all became silent. Even Bai Suxian's face turned solemn as she started to observe the source of this event which had aroused the great chaos in Taixia Country. As a result, only their footsteps and breath sounds were reverberating in this gloomy underground space.
When Zhang Tie looked around, he suddenly thought up something. Closely after that, he faintly narrowed his eyes while a golden lotus-flower shaped brilliance was silently in full bloom in his eyes.
'Although the elite forces of Supreme Court have searched over this place carefully, what if they missed something? After all, they didn't have the ability of lotus-flower eyes. They might miss something.' A whim occurred to Zhang Tie's mind as he activated his lotus-flower eyes.
After activating his lotus-flower eyes, everything in this underground space gradually turned different in Zhang Tie's eyes as they all turned transparent including the stones and the cliffs.
In less than half a minute, Zhang Tie had slightly opened his mouth as he was shocked. Because he really found something amazing...
Chapter 1085: Goodbye, Parent Puppet Worms
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Since he owned the ability of lotus-flower eyes in the Earth-elements Realm, Zhang Tie found that the more seeds of fiery lotus flowers he ate, the more brilliant the 6 surging points around his eyes would be and the more powerful his lotus-flower eyes would get.
In a common state, as long as Zhang Tie activated his ability of lotus-flower eyes, he could easily see through 1,000 m underground. In lotus-flower eyes, there were only temperatures, instead of solid objects. Precisely, in lotus-flower eyes, there was only independent light composed of transparent color temperatures. If there was any demand, Zhang Tie could even filter out the masking effect of color temperatures and see clearly what was inside or behind the object.
Zhang Tie didn't reveal this ability to anyone else, including his elder brother and Bai Suxian.
As Zhang Tie had too many secrets, if he revealed all of them to others, the others might not stand it mentally.
It was also awful if one was too weird.
In the eyes of commoners, the ground and the surrounding stones and cliffs had been searched over seriously. Many places had even been damaged; even the traces were fresh. They could not have any new discovery. After deepening his eye light into the cliffs for hundreds of meters, Zhang Tie could still see a lot of bare rocks, some small natural karst caves and some stalactites which were still dripping water.
The problem lay in a region of the dome of this underground space.
The dome of this underground space was over 200 m high in the shape of an irregular half gourd. There were stalactites hanging from the top of this underground space like bamboo shoots while dripping water. Like the situation on the ground here, the dome of this underground space might have also been seriously checked because the many stalactites had been broken by force, covering the ground.
No matter how, as long as this place was not blown out, the elite forces of the Supreme Court would not discover the special space in the dome of that underground space.
That special space was over 30 m deeper in the dome; additionally, the tunnel outside the space had been completely blocked by rocks as if the rocks grew out of there naturally. Outside that tunnel, there was a natural chasm on the dome. Besides, there was a broken stalactite beside the chasm...
Commoners could not climb that high to check it. Knights wouldn't blow out the dome to see whether there's something dozens of meters inside the dome. If they really did that, even the knights who checked it might be buried alive.
Because of above reasons, that hidden space was preserved.
That space was a natural karst cave in the underground space in the shape of a wedge. Being broad in the front and narrow in the back, it was longer than 20 m, wider than 5 m and about 5-8 m in height. The space was about 600 cubic meters with slight traces of artificial renovation.
At the sight of the items inside that special space, Zhang Tie's heart pounded at once.
There were four locked square black metal containers like mini safes on the ground of that special space.
Zhang Tie was too familiar with such containers because it was his second time to see them. He saw such a container in Upton City, Waii Subcontinent for the first time, when it held a double-headed parent puppet worm.
Under the gaze of Zhang Tie, the dozens of meters thick cliff and those black metal containers inside it turned transparent. In those black metal containers, Zhang Tie saw the disgusting, slimy liquid and the double-headed parent puppet worms which looked like sea cucumbers in the liquid.
The 4 double-headed parent puppet worms were creeping in the liquid and were ready for killing numerous people at any time.
Although Zhang Tie just looked up the dome casually, the 4 creeping double-headed parent puppet worms in the 4 black metal containers made his heart pound immediately. As a result, he slowed down unconsciously...
"What are you looking at?" Bai Suxian whispered to Zhang Tie.
"Hoho, nothing. Now that the elites of the Supreme Court have already searched over here, others might not find any intelligence valuable here!"
"Even though there's no valuable intelligence here, if not come here for the first-hand intelligence, many people might not have a good sleep. Even if the Supreme Court knows something, they have to notice some powerful forces in Taixia Country. If you want to know that, I can inquire it from Lord Guangnan's Mansion when it's proper!"
Women were always extroverted. After Zhang Tie told her that he would seek a marriage alliance in Lord Guangnan's Mansion 3 years later, Bai Suxian had long treated herself as Zhang Tie's wife as she would always consider Zhang Tie's thoughts.
Zhang Tie revealed a smile before saying, "After taking a round here, let's leave. There's nothing valuable clue here anymore." Bai Suxian didn't find that Zhang Tie's smile was a bit unusual.
"Sure! This place is indeed depressive. It makes people uncomfortable..."
When Zhang Tie talked with Bai Suxian, he had thought through 4 things.
First, the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms must be left by the Heavens Reaching Church. They definitely wanted to use the double-headed parent puppet worms to coordinate with the bloody figures in the bloody sea. As long as the opportunity was ripe, the bloody figures would take action. At the same time, the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms would create tens of millions of demonized puppets in Zhongzhou Province to deteriorate the entire province, causing great damages in the hinterland of Taixia Country.
Second, as the event in Zhongzhou Province broke out suddenly, Wen Clan and Heavens Reaching Church didn't have time to take away the double-headed parent puppet worms by a space teleportation item. Even Wen Haoyun couldn't take them away in such a short period although he had a portable space-teleportation item. Therefore, he could only leave the 4 precious double-headed parent puppet worms here for the time being.
Third, now that Wen Haoyun had not been caught, after knowing that the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms were still left here, Heavens Reaching Church would definitely have someone take them away. After all, double-headed parent puppet worms were not as cheap as white cabbages; conversely, they were too precious.
Fourth, if Heavens Reaching Church wanted to have someone take away the double-headed parent puppet worms from here, they'd better choose recent days. If the double-headed parent puppet worms were left here for too long, they might be discovered by someone. Lately, almost all the forces had been here to gain the first-hand intelligence. The forces of the Supreme Court had also left. Pingsha Valley was gradually "cooling down". Even so, some people would also come here to join the fun. If they took away the double-headed parent worms with the excuse of inquiring first-hand intelligence, they would not arouse anyone's attention at all.
When he thought about this, a crazy and audacious plan occurred to Zhang Tie's mind, causing his heart to pound...
After Zhang Tie, Bai Suxian and their disciples took a round here, the crazy and audacious plan had gradually become mature in Zhang Tie's mind.
Zhang Tie had made his determination, 'Whatever, I have to have a trial at the risk of my life.'
"Let's go back!" Zhang Tie finally sent his order calmly after taking a round in the underground space for over 10 minutes.
Before leaving, some tracing feathers silently flew out of Zhang Tie's forehead and floated up into a chasm of the dome of the underground space. Before Zhang Tie came back once again, as long as any knight-level powerhouse entered here and broke that secret tunnel, those tracing feathers would attach to that person's body automatically in case of an emergency.
It took Zhang Tie's team less than 1 hour in the underground space.
When they approached the entrance of the hole, at the sight of the light, Zhang Tie's disciples started to breathe the fresh air forcefully...
Chapter 1086: Preaching Secret Skills Through Enlightenment
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Since they had just taken a round in the underground space for less than 1 hour, they didn't make any great achievement. At most, they had been familiar with the location, the size and the surrounding environment of the bloody sea. Additionally, their curiosities were satisfied.
Of course, Zhang Tie was an exception.
When Zhang Tie exited the hole, his mentality had been utterly different than that when he entered it. However, Zhang Tie didn't reveal any abnormal expression as if he had discovered nothing.
The rain was heavier. Zhang Tie's protective battle qi isolated his body from rainwater once again. He looked up at the cloudy sky as he felt a bit chilly. That golden airboat had already left, leaving Iron-Dragon Airboat suspending alone in Pingsha Valley.
"Let's go back to the airboat, there's nothing to look at here!" Zhang Tie waved his hand as he walked towards the airboat with all the others.
After boarding the airboat, everybody gathered in the command module. Zhang Tie had the airboat fly towards Huian City.
Because of the event in Zhongzhou Province, the name of Huian City, a small city, spread over Taixia Country.
Huian City was over 50 miles away in the south of Pingsha Valley. It only took the airboat a few minutes to arrive at Huian City from Pingsha Valley.
The large areas of farmlands outside Huian City entered their vision first.
The golden wheat in those farmlands had already been messy and rotten in the rainy season after missing the optimal reaping opportunity. Very few people could be seen in the farmlands and the surrounding villages. It was dead silence and coldness everywhere.
When they approached Huian City, Zhang Tie had the airboat slow down and decline before slowly flying hundreds of meters over Huian City.
From the airboat, they could see that the entire Huian City was covered by a dead atmosphere in the rain in naked eyes; instead of using the high-power optical imaging device. The entire city was ruined. Many buildings had been burned, leaving large areas of damaged buildings and charred traces. It seemed that nobody lived in Huian City anymore. There was only a military camp of about 10,000 people outside the city.
Although it was raining, soldiers of Taixia Country were still arranging something in the ruins.
Watching such a giant airboat flying over here, those soldiers didn't feel strange about it at all. Besides someone who looked up at the airboat, all the others just minded their own businesses.
The major's mansion of Huian City had been ruined. Only a half-burned flag was tightly sticking to the flagpole like a dead fish that was scooped out of the water. If not the flagpole and the flag, Zhang Tie's team could almost not identify that the ruins were the mansion of the former major of Huian City, who was the first major who swore to die with the city in Taixia Country in this holy war.
In Waii Subcontinent, Zhang Tie had seen too many perished cities. However, it was his disciples' first time to see a perished city in Taixia Country. It was not in the remote areas, but in Zhongzhou Province, one of the 9 immortal provinces in Xuanyuan Hill.
It was a time-honored city in Zhongzhou Province which abounded in good liquor; instead of the small villages like Xujia Village.
In the north of Huian City, there were dense tombs within a few square miles. After flying over that graveyard, they could see a lot of rotten joss paper on the top of those tombs...
The terrifying scene in Huian City caused a great mental impact on many people in the command module, including Bai Suxian. None of them looked good.
"What do you think at the sight of this scene?" Zhang Tie asked his disciples after being silent for a while.
The 121 disciples threw a glance at each other before moving their eyes onto Liu Xing at the same time.
"Master, after going to Pingsha Valley and coming to Huian City, I think we all feel sad and shocked; meanwhile, we have a sense of crisis. Nobody has imagined that cities in Taixia Country could encounter such a catastrophe at the cost of so many lives!" Liu Xing replied in a low volume, which was also what the other disciples thought about.
"Sense of crisis. You're right. I want to show you the crises and dark forces in the prosperity of Taixia Country. You need to see the possible aftermath of wars and catastrophes that might happen in Taixia Country in the future!" Zhang Tie glanced at his disciples one after another solemnly before saying, "Many people among you come from major clans which were protected by knight-level powerhouses. Don't think that you and your clans won't experience what you see now. Listen, many countries and major clans in other subcontinents have perished, causing numerous nobles. In the Earth-elements Realm, over 1,000 knights would be killed and wounded in one battle between human knights and demon knights. Sometimes, the lives of earth knights are like candlelight swaying in the wind. Have you thought about how to survive such a chaotic world? Have you thought about how to survive yourselves and protect your beloved ones when overwhelming enemies rush towards you one day?"
Hearing Zhang Tie's words, some disciples looked firm and persistent; some were in meditation; some were clenching their fists.
If he told these words to his disciples 1 month ago in Fire Dragon Bounty Territory, his disciples might not have any true feeling about that. However, after seeing the tragedies in Xujia Village and Huian City and fighting the bloody figures, they all knew how terrifying and brutal were bloody figures. Everybody was move inside.
"Battle strength, only battle strength; precisely, only your punches, swords and sabers are your greatest reliance in the chaotic world!" Zhang Tie answered before anyone's reply, "Your family background and wealth could not guarantee your safety when your enemy waves his saber towards your head. Neither would you be more fortunate than others. Conversely, because of your family background and wealth, your enemy might want to kill you as soon as possible. Under such circumstances, you could only rely on your own punch, saber and sword. Don't think that your clans and parents would protect you forever. As a normal person, a disciple who could join Iron-Dragon Sect fortunately, from today on, you should think about how could you protect your parents and relatives. As long as you could bear hardships and be persistent, I will preach all the secret skills in "Fire Dragon Sutra" to you!"
When Zhang Tie's disciples were still thinking about Zhang Tie's words, Zhang Tie implied that he didn't go back on his word through direct action.
"Liu Xing" Zhang Tie asked in a muffled voice.
"Here I am, Master!" Liu Xing cupped his hands and moved one step forward.
"After a short while, you follow me in my cultivation room. I will officially preach the secret skills in "Fire Dragon Sutra" to you today!"
All the other disciples were shocked as they watched Liu Xing with extremely admiring looks.
Liu Xing became stunned at first as if he didn't believe that he could touch such a marquis-level classic which numerous major clans were dreaming for at this moment. However, given the admirable looks of all the surrounding people and the looks of Zhao Bing, Wu Yinhui and the other 4 black-armored fighters, Liu Xing knew that he didn't mishear it. In a split second, Liu Xing blushed as he took a deep breath and replied in the muffled voice, "Yes, master!"
Even though Liu Xing was always calm, his voice trembled a bit at this moment.
"After that, this master will enter cultivation for a few days. Your master uncle Bai will take charge of everything in the airboat!"
As Bai Suxian had not married Zhang Tie, it was improper for him to call her Mrs. Master Bai. Otherwise, it would incur jokes. He should consider the reputations of Lord Guangnan's Mansion and princess Bai Suxian. However, as a person who used to stay with Zhang Tie, Bai Suxian was destined to be influential in Iron-Dragon Sect one day. Additionally, she was a knight. Therefore, she deserved to be an outstanding elder and was qualified to be called Master Uncle Bai. All the sects in Taixia Country preferred male appellations. Even prestigious females in sects could only be called Master Uncle instead of Master Aunt by the juniors. Of course, the appellation Mrs. Master was an exception because she was their master's wife.
Bai Suxian threw a glance at Zhang Tie as she didn't know what trick Zhang Tie played. She didn't understand why Zhang Tie suddenly wanted to enter cultivation. According to the plan, after leaving Pingsha Valley, they should visit Gold and Power Market and Xuanyuan Hill.
"I will tell you about the reason after a short while!" Zhang Tie's voice entered Bai Suxian's ears secretly when the latter was thinking about the reason. After hearing that, Bai Suxian revealed a tender smile towards Zhang Tie. Whatever, she had already been very happy when Zhang Tie handed the airboat and these disciples to her when he was busy. This was what a master's wife should do.
"Well, adjournment. The cultivation facilities on the airboat are well matched. Don't forget about cultivation!" Zhang Tie waved his hand towards his disciples, letting them leave, except for Liu Xing.
Chapter 1087: Return of the Thunder Hawk
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
In the cultivation room of the airboat, Liu Xing's heart pounded as he sat in front of Zhang Tie with crossed legs in an intense way. Zhang Tie sat behind him with crossed legs too.
Liu Xing was very nervous about preaching secret skills through enlightenment; especially a marquis secret method such as "Fire Dragon Sutra". Actually, he was more nervous than Zhang Tie. As a result, his whole body tightened.
"Recover your composure and focus on the place 10 cm deep into your forehead, relax yourself all over..." Zhang Tie started a secret skill in Soul Forbidden Method to make Liu Xing calm down mentally and spiritually.
In Zhang Tie's opinion, as long as the cultivation of secret methods didn't violate the universal laws by benefiting the cultivator at the cost of the others' interests, secret methods were neither positive nor evil. It was a matter of human nature. If soul forbidden method was used for a positive purpose, it would be positive; if it was used for evil purpose, it would be evil. At this moment, Zhang Tie found that the enlightenment could see a better effect with the help of soul forbidden method.
After Lu Xing recovered his composure and was ready for enlightenment, Zhang Tie put one hand on the head of Liu Xing.
Liu Xing's spiritual energy appeared in Zhang Tie's mind in terms of a small golden mist like a pool in front of a sea.
Zhang Tie wanted to preach "Fire Dragon Sutra" to Liu Xing once; however, when he thought that Bright Enlightenment Method posed a strict requirement to the spiritual energy of the one being enlightened, Zhang Tie gave it up.
With his spiritual energy, Liu Xing could at most accept the enlightenment of LV 10 and LV 11 contents in "Fire Dragon Sutra", mental arithmetic by abacus and the fundamental foot movements in "Fire-Dragon Flowing Light Battle Skill for the time being. He could not cultivate "Fire-Dragon Heavens Burning Spear Skill", "Fire-Dragon Golden Body" and "Big Sun Fire Dragon Palm Skill" until he entered LV 10.
After making a decision, Zhang Tie started the enlightenment at once. In Zhang Tie's mind sea, some occult consciousness gradually became brilliant runes. Closely after that, the rune flew out of Zhang Tie's mind and directly entered a special region of surging points of Liu Xing's brain from the top of his head. Then, the rune started to open like blossoms and integrate with Liu Xing's consciousness at the same time.
In Bright Enlightenment Method, Zhang Tie was preaching a life and consciousness experience which was more profound and directer than words and images. Such a life experience surpassed the limit that could be expressed by words and images. Even an illiterate, a blind person and a deaf person could understand it immediately.
Three runes were preached into Liu Xing's mind: the first one was the cultivation method of the LV 10 and LV 11 contents of "Fire Dragon Sutra"; the second one was the fundamental foot movements of "Fire-Dragon Flowing Light Battle Skill"; the third one was the mental arithmetic by abacus, which was renamed as Thousands of Beads Mentality Sutra .
This process was very short for Zhang Tie as it was accomplished in less than 1 minute; however, it was a long process for Liu Xing.
After completing the enlightenment, Zhang Tie silently waited for Liu Xing to wake up in the cultivation room. At the same time, he observed Liu Xing's response. According to the Bright Enlightenment Sutra , very few people who accepted the enlightenment of Bright Enlightenment Sutra would suffer from rejection response both physically and mentally before of poor spiritual energy and condition in enlightenment. Their spiritual energy would be disordered; in the worst scenario, their mind sea could break and they would not cultivate for the rest of their lives anymore. Therefore, the one who preached the enlightenment should guard him on one side. When he found the one being enlightened was in a perilous state, he had to pull the one who received the enlightenment out of that perilous state in the corresponding secret method of Bright Enlightenment Sutra as soon as possible in case of tragedy. This was one meaning of the role of master.
Under the silent gaze of Zhang Tie, Liu Xing spent 1 hour in digesting all the contents that Zhang Tie had imparted him before opening his eyes.
When Liu Xing opened his eyes, Zhang Tie let out a sigh inside silently. After all, it was his first time to preach secret skills to his disciple through enlightenment. Although being aided by soul forbidden method, Zhang Tie was still worried about loopholes. Now that Liu Xing could wake up, it indicated that this enlightenment was successful. Of course, Zhang Tie became reassured.
The moment Liu Xing opened his eyes, he had seen Zhang Tie's caring eyes. Closely after that, Liu Xing's eyes turned red. Then, he kowtowed towards Zhang Tie three times, causing "bang, bang, bang" before saying, "Master, thanks for your secret skills, I feel like having a new birth!"
Liu Xing didn't exaggerate. In Taixia Country, the expression "feel like having a new birth!" could reflect the power and position of masters pretty well; especially the impartment of classic secret skills, the value of which was beyond measure.
"Ahem, ahem, stand up..." Zhang Tie coughed twice. Although he was Liu Xing's master, they were almost peers. Watching the contemporary treating him so respectfully, Zhang Tie felt a bit embarrassed.
The moment Zhang Tie opened his mouth, Liu Xing had stood up gently and waited for Zhang Tie's words respectfully.
"You can cultivate the LV 10 and LV 11 contents of Fire Dragon Sutra and the fundamental foot movements of Fire-Dragon Flowing Light Battle Skill diligently step by step as a good example. After you promote to a battle master, I will impart you with the remaining contents. Given your poor spiritual energy, I could only impart a part of contents to you each time!"
"Yes, master. This disciple will live up to your expectation and cultivate diligently so that I could promote to a battle master as soon as possible!"
Zhang Tie nodded as he continued, "Although Thousands of Beads Mentality Sutra looks simple, it's effective and could bring you a lot of benefits. As the exclusive secret method of Iron-Dragon Sect, this secret method could improve one's thinking and increase one's spiritual energy. After you master it, you could grasp multi-tasking skill and increase your battle strength by 2 times. After promoting to a knight, if you have enough spiritual energy and mastered the multitasking skill, you could cultivate two times faster than others. This secret method has endless, marvelous effects. This master has benefited a lot from this secret method. Speaking of value, Thousands of Beads Mentality Sutra could even match Fire Dragon Sutra , bear it in mind, bear it in mind..."
It was not inflated for Zhang Tie to treat Thousands of Beads Mentality Sutra as the exclusive secret method of Iron-Dragon Sect, because it was greatly different than the original mental arithmetic by abacus . On the basis of the original mental arithmetic by abacus, Zhang Tie added his gnosis, enabling the effect of mental arithmetic by abacus to increase by times constantly.
There was not such a method in the process of the cultivation of the original mental arithmetic by abacus . Zhang Tie gifted mental arithmetic by abacus to Huaiyuan Palace and Donder respectively as a meritorious service. According to Zhang Tie, Huaiyuan Palace and Gold and Power Law had arranged their kids and youngsters to cultivate this secret method so as to increase their spiritual energy. Zhang Tie confirmed that nobody could reach his realm through induction if not have an amazing spiritual energy and mastered the multitasking skill. Perhaps, someone could find the relationship between mental arithmetic by abacus and multitasking skill after a long while. However, in a short period, only Zhang Tie himself could grasp the secret of thousands of beads mentality sutra . In that sense, thousands of beads mentality sutra was indeed the exclusive secret method of Iron-Dragon Sect.
After having a brief talk with Liu Xing, Zhang Tie let him leave the cultivation room.
After Liu Xing left Zhang Tie's cultivation room, he immediately entered a cultivation room which was specially prepared for disciples below knight level to polish their surging points to cultivate Fire Dragon Sutra . However, Zhang Tie called Bai Suxian into his cultivation room and had a secret talk with her.
"I will leave this airboat for a few days. During this period, just tell others I'm in cultivation. You should be responsible for everything in the airboat!"
"Sure, don't worry!" Bai Suxian didn't even ask Zhang Tie what he was going to do, which indirectly indicated that this woman was intelligent and charming. She then asked, "Where should the airboat wait for you?"
"In Zhongzhou Province. You can stay in Zhongzhou City for at most 20 days in the name of replenishing supplies for the airboat. I might not come back in a couple of days!"
Bai Suxian asked, "Do you need me to go there with you?"
"It's a bit dangerous, additionally..." Zhang Tie immediately stopped. At the same time, he widely opened his eyes with an unimaginable look. Because he felt a familiar qi darting towards him from tens of thousands of miles away...
Although Zhang Tie's knight's consciousness was great and he had promoted to sage level, he could never sense what happened tens of thousands of miles away. The reason that he could sense it lay in that the thing had a telepathy with him——it was the thunder hawk that he released from Castle of Black Iron 4 years ago.
At this moment, Iron-Dragon Airboat had already entered the stratosphere and was flying at full speed. By contrast, that thunder hawk could fly two times faster than Iron-Dragon Airboat. It was absolutely a supersonic speed as fast as a lightning bolt.
"What's wrong?" Bai Suxian asked when she found that Zhang Tie suddenly stopped talking with a weird look.
"...Additionally...additionally, if too many people went there, we might screw it up. I'd better go there alone!" Zhang Tie swallowed his saliva forcefully as he tried to calm down and finish his words...
Chapter 1088: I Will Fly Higher
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
2 hours later, Iron-Dragon Airboat flew across a thick cloud which looked like a huge marshmallow. When Iron-Dragon Airboat left this cloud in less than 1 minute, Zhang Tie had already left Iron-Dragon Airboat and appeared in the cloud tens of thousands of meters above the ground.
The airboat had already left the border of Longxi Prefecture in Zhongzhou Province.
At this moment, Pingsha Valley might still be cloudy and rainy; however, this place had been sunny with white clouds. Airships would fly below the cloud now and then. There was a faintly prosperous city on the horizon in the distance.
There were secret tunnels in some rooms of Iron-Dragon Airboat which could help knights access to Iron-Dragon Airboat rapidly for the sake of escape and executing special tasks. These secret tunnels could only be opened from inside. After a few seconds, they would close up automatically. One secret tunnel was in Zhang Tie's cultivation room. Besides Bai Suxian, nobody else knew that Zhang Tie had left.
Zhang Tie was flying in the white clouds, where the visibility was less than 100 m. The others could not see what was inside the white clouds at all. Riding the wind in the white clouds, Zhang Tie really looked like an immortal.
After leaving Iron-Dragon Airboat, Zhang Tie became alone once again. He could do whatever he wanted. Zhang Tie felt being free once again. He did not have such a relaxing experience for a long time.
Over these years, Zhang Tie was escaping and thinking about how to reverse his case or fight demons and Three-eye Association constantly. When he could move alone, Zhang Tie felt pretty good.
Zhang Tie had been floating in the white clouds for over 10 minutes. When Iron-Dragon Airboat completely disappeared in the skyline, Zhang Tie had changed into an average middle-aged tough man in a blue long gown with rich eyebrows, a swarthy face and closely cropped hair. Given his qi, his battle strength became unidentified.
After changing his look, Zhang Tie flew out of the cloud when he was sure that there was no knight or airboat within dozens of square miles. Closely after that, he flew towards the north as he gradually ascended and turned into a small point.
Zhang Tie sensed that the thunder hawk was pretty excited when it was flying towards him. Additionally, its flight speed increased by almost 30% once again, which startled Zhang Tie a lot. Closely after that, Zhang Tie was moved.
It was similar to the feeling when you saw a dog that you fed many years darting towards you desperately while swaying its tail.
Zhang Tie was flying fast too. In only a few seconds, his flight speed had reached 600 miles per hour and was still increasing. In the blink of an eye, he had entered the stratosphere over 13 miles above the ground. A knight flying rapidly in the stratosphere could barely be discovered by others on the ground.
After entering the stratosphere, Zhang Tie continued to ascend while his speed had reached 650 miles per hour.
His two chakras of King Roc Sutra were rotating forcefully and slowly as firm as mountains. It was like an effective engine entering the velocity range for stable operation. The rotating chakras could offset the gravity from the earth and provide Zhang Tie with a greater speed. As a result, he had the impulsion to fly higher and faster.
After sensing this impulsion carefully, Zhang Tie discovered that 1/3 of this impulsion came from his curiosity, 2/3 of this impulsion came from the instinct that drove his chakras of King Roc Sutra to rotate.
As for the human aircraft in this age, airships and gliders could only fly in the troposphere 15 miles above the ground; however, airboats and knights could fly in the stratosphere between 15 miles and 80 miles above the ground. If he was higher than 80 miles, he would enter another atmosphere. Zhang Tie wondered about the feeling in the strange atmosphere. Neither had he heard about it from other earth knights. Therefore, he was curious about that.
Zhang Tie felt a bit strange about the instinct of King Roc Sutra . He started to admire about the terrifying flight speed of the thunder hawk. After that, he sensed that the virtual image of King Roc Sutra in his shrine became a bit restless. What a weird feeling!
Driven by this curiosity and the instinct of the emperor-level secret method, plus the proper time and location, Zhang Tie had a heroic feeling inside as he wanted to test how high he could reach.
Since he promoted to an earth knight, Zhang Tie had not got a chance to try this ability yet.
When he thought about this, Zhang Tie constantly ascended at an increasingly higher speed and broke the upper limit of 700 miles per hour for the first time. At this high speed, Zhang Tie soon entered the top region of the stratosphere which was over 80 miles above the earth.
At this height, the air became thinner. He was actually standing on white clouds. He felt like watching cotton fields on the top of a skyscraper. At this height, commoners could only see the outlines of very huge individuals such as cities, mountain ranges, lakes, long railways in the cotton fields.
However, with lotus-flower eyes, the higher Zhang Tie reached, the better visual field he would gain. Even at such a height, as long as he would like to concentrate, he could see clearly each grass and wood on the ground.
When he recalled the item called reconnaissance satellite before the Catastrophe, a hilarious whim suddenly occurred to his mind, 'Compared to those metal instruments, I'm a real "artificial satellite"'.
Zhang Tie didn't know why few earth knights mentioned the atmosphere above the stratosphere. At least he didn't feel it difficult to break through the stratosphere. His feeling and chakras which were still normally rotating granted him a very great confidence.
Zhang Tie entered the atmosphere above 80 miles high smoothly. He felt cold at once. Additionally, the convective motion that he met in the troposphere reappeared. After his flight speed reached 750 miles per hour, an invisible barrier appeared in front of him for the first time...
'Sonic barrier', a term occurred to Zhang Tie's mind.
Chapter 1089: A Bottleneck
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The invisible sonic barrier in the air was like an extremely elastic film in front of Zhang Tie.
This film was not terrifying. Zhang Tie felt that he was completely able to break through it. However, Zhang Tie couldn't break through this sonic barrier even though he had repeated it many times.
The chakras of "King Roc Sutra" were still rotating stably and providing energy for Zhang Tie constantly. Zhang Tie felt that it was still not the highest speed that he could reach. He had not made full use of the flight ability granted by King Roc Sutra . What made Zhang Tie extremely depressed was that he could not break through 750 miles per hour no matter how he struggled although he felt that he could easily break through this sonic barrier. This speed was very terrifying for common knights; however, Zhang Tie was not satisfied with it.
It felt like that Zhang Tie could only drive a Faerie Dragon T9 on the highway at a speed of 40 miles per hour. However, the overall performance of Faerie Dragon T9 could allow it to run at a speed higher than 200 miles per hour. Additionally, Zhang Tie was also a racing driver. However, no matter how he struggled, he could only reach 40 miles per hour.
'What's the problem?'
If a sportscar suffered from this problem, the driver might not have selected a high-speed gear.
Zhang Tie also suffered from this problem when he could have a powerful flight ability granted by the King Roc Sutra . He sensed that he could easily break through the sonic barrier; however, he couldn't. There must be only one answer——There's a corresponding secret flight method in the complete King Roc Sutra which could help Zhang Tie unlock his powerful flight ability. As the King Roc Sutra that Zhang Tie grasped was incomplete, Zhang Tie had not grasped the corresponding secret flight method; therefore, he couldn't break through the sonic barrier.
Zhang Tie remembered that it was an intermediate layer above the stratosphere.
When Zhang Tie attempted to break through the sonic barrier, he felt two evident features in the intermediate layer: First, the higher it was, the colder it would be. In the middle part of the intermediate layer, it was 50 degree Celsius below zero. The strong wind was piercingly cold. Second, very evident convective motion.
The higher it was, the colder it would be. Being similar to that in the troposphere, the convective motion also existed in the intermediate layer, which was even stronger.
Zhang Tie didn't care about the low temperature at all because his protective battle qi and his cold-resistant ability were super great. As for Zhang Tie, the super strong air motion in the intermediate layer was completely like undercurrent under the sea, which could help him fly at a high speed with less strength.
Previously, he sensed air motions by the sharp instinct that he had cultivated physically and spiritually; now, with lotus-flower eyes, he could see clearly the directions of air motions in the intermediate layer.
In front of his lotus-flower eyes, the cyclones caused by invisible air flows in the intermediate layer were like super large color-changing mushrooms whose diameters varied from dozens of miles to hundreds of miles. It looked pretty splendid.
Zhang Tie had attempted many times. With the help of airflows, he could indeed fly more easily and more flexibly sometimes. However, no matter how strong the airflows were and how good he could use them, he could still not break through that sonic barrier.
When he reached above 270 miles high at the top of the intermediate layer, it was Zhang Tie's first time to see that faintly arc outline along the earth. When he caught sight of this arc outline, Zhang Tie felt a stress too. This stress was similar to the sonic barrier. Apparently, he felt that he could fly higher; however, he felt a transparent ceiling above his head, which prevented him from reaching higher.
Zhang Tie realized that he could at most reach the top region of the intermediate layer in the atmosphere above 270 miles high at the speed of about 750 miles per hour if not grasp the corresponding secret flight method of King Roc Sutra .
After flying 8 hours in the intermediate layer, Zhang Tie had long left the air territory of Longxi Prefecture, Zhongzhou Province.
After flying over 6,000 miles, Zhang Tie didn't feel tired at all. He only felt a bit depressed. He felt that the thunder hawk was darting towards him at a speed of about 2,000 miles per hour easily. 'As an earth knight who cultivates King Roc Sutra , my flight ability could not even match that of a bird?'
However, Zhang Tie knew that it didn't work only by being anxious. Unless he could gain a complete King Roc Sutra , he could only slowly think about the solution to make a breakthrough in his flight ability. However, as long as this complete emperor-level secret method appeared, it would cause great troubles between humans and demons as numerous powerhouses and forces would fight for it. Even heavenly knights and sages would be interested in it. An earth knight was even not qualified to attend such a competition.
After flying a few hours, Zhang Tie met 3 waves of knights and 2 airboats.
As the two airboats flew in the stratosphere, they didn't find Zhang Tie and just flew across the latter. As for the 3 teams of knights, one team contained 2 earth knights and 1 black iron knight. They also flew in the stratosphere. Although they discovered Zhang Tie above them, they didn't communicate with him and left directly. The second team contained 2 earth knights. When they caught sight of Zhang Tie, the two earth knights might be curious that Zhang Tie could fly in the intermediate layer of the atmosphere. They chased after Zhang Tie for a short while in the stratosphere and wanted to see Zhang Tie's face; however, Zhang Tie was not interested in communicating with them. He directly flew away.
The two teams of knights flew at a speed below 600 miles per hour in the stratosphere.
Additionally, Zhang Tie was shocked a bit by a shadow knight whose virtual image was a 9-headed weird snake in the intermediate layer of atmosphere...
Chapter 1090: Old Monster
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The real body of the virtual image of that shadow knight was dull blue and longer than 300 m. The 9 snakeheads were taking clouds and blowing out fog while moving ferociously in the sky. Additionally, the snake had a pair of wings. If not the special luster over the real body of the virtual image of a knight, anyone who caught sight of this terrifying 9-head snake would regard it as a far-ancient fierce beast.
Legends about 9-headed snake existed in both Western Continent and Eastern Continent. Zhang Tie had heard a 9-headed snake called Hydra in some myths and legends in Waii Subcontinent. In Taixia Country, the 9-headed snake was called Xiang Liu!
After considering the two names carefully, Zhang Tie suddenly had an insight.
Hydra and Xiang Liu existed in western myths and eastern myths respectively. After comparing the pronunciations of the two names in two different civilizations, everybody would have an amazing discovery, namely, Hy and Xiang, dra and Liu sounded similar to each other.
The same 9-headed monster shared almost the same name in two civilizations with different cultural backgrounds. What did this mean?
It was never a coincidence.
Before the Catastrophe, humans treated all the myths as fake stories and legends. After the Catastrophe, everybody knew that all the myths and legends in the Eastern Continent and Western Continent contained a lot of secrets about human history. Many myths were even real.
...
The gleaming 9-headed snake flew in the intermediate layer of atmosphere at a speed of higher than 800 miles per hour along with muffled thunders like a moving airboat. It was really f*cking something!
Zhang Tie was shocked a bit as it was his first time to see the real body of the virtual image of a shadow knight.
Zhang Tie heard that a shadow knight could form the real body of a virtual image. Actually, the controller of the real body of the virtual image was still the shadow knight himself. When the knight's body integrated with his virtual image, it would lead to the real body of his virtual image. Of course, the virtual image could not become alive. To put it simply, the real body of virtual image could be considered as a variant of shadow knight or a manipulable armored machine.
Shadow knight would form water chakra. Water was volatile, colorless and invisible. It could exist in the form of gas, liquid and solid. Therefore, after forming water chakra, the real body of the virtual image would be formed basically which had a great power.
Zhang Tie noticed this 9-headed snake flying towards him with strong wind and muffled thunders from hundreds of miles away.
Being evil or not, such a shadow knight must be very flamboyant and had a powerful battle strength. At the sight of him, Zhang Tie had known that he was tricky. Zhang Tie wanted to teleport the thunder hawk into Castle of Black Iron before making an arrangement in Pingsha Valley for the one who went there to take the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms in case of troubles. Therefore, before the 9-headed snake approached him, he had descended and entered the stratosphere so as to avoid from meeting that shadow knight.
Finally, the 9-headed snake crossed Zhang Tie from over 50 miles away above him.
When they crossed each other, Zhang Tie felt that one head of the snake turned around and threw a glance at him. However, they didn't communicate with each other.
The previous two waves of knights and this shadow knight flew towards the same direction. After thinking about it for a short while, Zhang Tie felt that they might be heading for the Gold and Power Market. Zhang Tie remembered that Bai Suxian said that Gold and Power Market was going to hold a Treasures Meeting recently; therefore, powerhouses from all parties joined the fun.
'I wonder about the real body of the virtual image of king roc after promoting to a shadow knight.'
After thinking about it for a few seconds, Zhang Tie had forgotten about it. Unless he was not afraid of exposing the news that he was cultivating King Roc Sutra to the public, as long as he released the virtual image of king roc, he would become a target for all. He might not even know how he was killed. Therefore, he could only continue to be low-key even though he had promoted to a shadow knight.
Although he had a powerful virtual image, he could not release it. Because he could not grasp the corresponding secret skill of the King Roc Sutra , he couldn't exert his flight ability to the utmost...
'Alas, what a poor life I have!'
If Zhang Tie's plaint was heard by the public, he might be drowned by the saliva of people in the world in the blink of an eye.
Having Castle of Black Iron; promoting to an earth knight at his 30s; cultivating an emperor-level secret method King Roc Sutra ; If such a person still complained that he had a poor life, what about others' lives?
After seeing the real body of the virtual image of the 9-headed snake, Zhang Tie didn't continue to test his flight ability; instead, he just flew towards the thunder hawk in the stratosphere.
After another 2 hours, it was already dark while the sky was covered with sparkling stars. Zhang Tie didn't know where he was. He just saw undulating primitive woods on the ground.
At this moment, Zhang Tie sensed a shadow approaching him and already entering his vision.
Zhang Tie immediately suspended in the air while a golden lightning bolt was darting towards him from over 70 miles away. In the distance, that shadow which had been moving too fast accelerated once again. It took the shadow less than 2 minutes to fly over 70 miles.
'Almost 3 times that of the velocity of sound, f*ck!'
Zhang Tie was startled when he saw the golden light directly ramming towards his arms like how it always did when it was young.
Along with a strong wind and a golden light, before Zhang Tie responded to it, an extremely dignified bizarre huge golden bird whose wingspan was over 6 m had directly rammed into Zhang Tie's arms, sending him flying hundreds of meters backward.
The impact force brought by such a high speed, such a sturdy figure and such a weight was like that brought by a train at its high speed. Someone below knight level might have been severely injured. Zhang Tie suffered the impact force by flying backward hundreds of meters.
Hugging the bird's body, Zhang Tie suspended in the air while that bird's huge head was rubbing in his arms and uttering an exotic sound like a spoiled child as it usually did when it was young.
'But...but...how could this thunder hawk become so huge?'
Zhang Tie was really shocked by what he saw, 'It's too exaggerated. It's been only 4 years!'
However, before Zhang Tie greeted it, the huge bird chirped a few more times, pulling Zhang Tie out of his shock.
"What? You mean a bored old d**chebag met you in the sky and was chasing after you. That guy was flying only a bit slower than you? Even though he's far away from you, the light that he gave out had almost covered you a few times?"
The huge bird nodded.
Zhang Tie quivered all over. He knew the speed of this thunder hawk over the past hours, 'It flew about tens of thousands miles at a speed of above 2 times the velocity of sound. The shadow knight who released the real body of his virtual image could only reach a bit more than one times the velocity of sound. However, that old d**chebag could fly so many hours at a speed of 2 times the velocity of sound for tens of thousands miles after the thunder hawk?'
When Zhang Tie thought about this, he hurriedly started his lotus-flower eyes and looked in the direction where the thunder hawk came from.
A humanoid shadow being covered with purple light was flying towards here at an extremely high speed from hundreds of miles away.
In the purple light, there was an old guy in sackcloth and straw sandals with a huge silver gourd which was higher than 1 m. At the sight of this old guy, Zhang Tie had realized that he was an old monster above a heavenly knight. Only after looking at him for a few times from hundreds of miles away, Zhang Tie had found the old guy frowned as if he had sensed Zhang Tie's gaze. In a split second, the old guy's eyes flickered while shooting out two purple light towards Zhang Tie's direction.
'Damn!'
Zhang Tie was really startled as he felt goosebumps over his head. He immediately caught the thunder hawk and darted towards the ground.
After witnessing the ability of Zhao Yuan, his master, Zhang Tie could imagine how terrifying was a heavenly knight. A heavenly knight must have a lot of secret methods. If he played hide-and-seek with such an old guy in the sky, he was definitely seeking for death. Perhaps this old guy just wanted to catch the thunder hawk alive; therefore, he didn't kill it. Otherwise, the thunder hawk might have already been caught.
Zhang Tie and the thunder hawk penetrated through the stratosphere like meteors and entered the troposphere. The troposphere was covered with clouds. Zhang Tie used the same trick. When the cloud shaded all the downwards eye light, he entered Castle of Black Iron with the thunder hawk. After entering Castle of Black Iron, he incarnated into a small beetle at the fastest speed. At the same time, he activated a hiding skill for the little beetle and flew out of the clouds. Finally, he landed on a pine needle on the top of a mountain before looking up at the sky silently.
The fact proved that Zhang Tie's movements were not redundant.
Only after a few minutes, the purple light had entered the cloud where Zhang Tie and that thunder hawk had been in just now. Closely after that, the old guy swayed his sleeve, causing a LV 10 strong wind. In a split second, the cloud was broken apart and disappeared, revealing the empty sky...
Being shocked by this scene, the little beetle's claws slipped as it almost fell off the pine needle...
'F*ck, is that a human?'
Zhang Tie finally knew how terrifying were those people on the level of Zhao Yuan.
As the old guy didn't find the thunder hawk in the cloud, he flew around this air territory and swayed his sleeve constantly. Each time he swayed his sleeve, he would clean up a cloud. In only a few minutes, the sky had been very beautiful with bright moonlight and sparse sparkling stars...
Chapter 1091: Waiting
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The old monster cleaned up the surrounding clouds in vain. After that, he flew around here for a few minutes before leaving. Hiding still behind a pine needle, Zhang Tie watched it silently. 1 hour later, the old monster reappeared in the sky. After confirming that nothing was here, he let out a long sigh before flying backward.
At this moment, a colorful poisonous snake climbed towards him from the trunk of the pine. The moment it widely opened its mouth and intended to eat the little beetle, the little beetle casually jumped up and turned around in the air before falling onto the head of the poisonous snake. At the same time, it released a bit qi. This little beetle was definitely a ferocious living being. Soon after it released its qi, the poisonous snake had become stiff all over like a lamb whose neck was bitten by a lion.
Zhang Tie flew away, leaving the poisonous snake alone. As a result, the stiff poisonous snake didn't coil around the twig any more; instead, it directly fell off the pine tree. After falling onto the ground, it woke up immediately and escaped into the weeds in an embarrassed way.
After flying away from the pine tree, Zhang Tie identified the direction before flying towards Pingsha Valley in the incarnation of a little beetle.
After flying over 70 miles away, Zhang Tie came to a hidden place in the wild. After confirming that nobody was following him up, Zhang Tie's original body exited Castle of Black Iron. After activating a hiding effect, Zhang Tie entered the stratosphere once again. Closely after that, he flew towards Pingsha Valley silently and swiftly.
The power of heavenly knight was pretty awe-inspiring. Zhang Tie didn't know whether the old guy had seen clearly his look. In case of trouble, Zhang Tie changed his look and figure once again.
The thunder hawk was still resting in Castle of Black Iron. As Zhang Tie was concerned about the 4 double-headed parent puppet worm, he didn't communicate with the thunder hawk too much for the time being before leaving Castle of Black Iron.
Now that the thunder hawk had come back, after relieving the crisis in Pingsha Valley, Zhang Tie had enough time to figure out what happened to the thunder hawk.
On the way, Zhang Tie met another team of knights flying towards the same direction. In the evening, after releasing their gleaming battle qis, they looked like meteors. By contrast, with the effect of a master-level hiding rune, Zhang Tie hid his qi completely and integrated himself with the dark background in the evening. Even if someone flew towards him face-to-face, they could not discover Zhang Tie.
...
After flying a few hours, Zhang Tie approached Pingsha Valley, Longxi Prefecture once again at about 3 am after leaving Pingsha Valley for less than 1 day.
The tracing runes were still on the dome of the underground space, which indicated that nobody had moved those items in the secret space on the top of the underground space. Therefore, Zhang Tie became reassured.
When he was dozens of miles away from Pingsha Valley, Zhang Tie landed in dense woods. Closely after that, he called that little beetle out of Castle of Black Iron and flew towards Pingsha Valley.
When he arrived there, he saw two light flying out of the entrance of the underground cave towards afar.
The two knights might have no discovery in the underground space. Therefore, they left.
Zhang Tie slowed down once again and flew into the underground cave at the speed of common beetles.
The underground space was as pitch-dark as it was tomorrow. Everything remained unchanged. Nobody else was inside. After flying around the underground space for a short while, Zhang Tie approached the dome and drilled into it from a crack. After entering it for a few meters, he saw limestone in the surroundings. The little beetle instantly drilled into the limestone.
The hard limestone was as soft as a piece of bean curd for the little beetle. It might be very difficult for other living beings to drill a hole on it; however, it was pretty easy for such a little beetle to make it.
In less than 10 minutes, a small piece of limestone at an inconspicuous corner of the secret karst cave suddenly moved while the little black beetle revealed its head out of there. With a humming sound, he shook off the dust while lying on the ground.
There was a green fluorite in one corner of the secret space. As a result, this little secret space being renovated by a natural karst cave turned green. The 4 black square metal containers were placed in the middle of the secret space tidily.
Zhang Tie reappeared in the secret space.
In case of leaving any trace, Zhang Tie floated 10 cm above the ground in the secret space.
Zhang Tie watched the 4 square containers with gleaming eyes. The moment he ran his spiritual energy, the 4 containers had floated in the air. The containers were matched with ventilated covers and advanced locks. If they did not have keys, commoners could only break the locks by force.
However, it was very easy for Zhang Tie to unlock them. In lotus-flower eyes, the internal mechanical structure of the lock became completely transparent. As a great master artisan, Zhang Tie had figured out the principle of the unlocking actuator only after throwing a glance at it. Closely after that, he activated his ability as a divine dominator, causing the unlocking actuators in the locks to move automatically. With a click, the 4 locks were unlocked at the same time before floating in the air.
No matter how advanced the locks were, as long as he threw a glance at them, they would unlock automatically like how pets greeted their master. What a marvelous ability! It might be unique among human beings. Any chief thief might be dwarfed by this ability.
There were many great master artisans and more than one divine dominator. Someone might also grasp the ability of lotus-flower eyes. However, Zhang Tie might be the only one among human beings who could combine the two professions and the one ability. As a result, he could create a marvel by unlocking an advanced lock only by throwing a glance at it.
After unlocking those advanced locks unconsciously, Zhang Tie stroked his chin as he realized that his ability was really something. In some special occasions, this ability might be shocking.
'From then on, there's no lock in the world. What a realm!'
After sighing with emotions for a few seconds inside, Zhang Tie started to move.
After the containers were unlocked, their lids were opened, revealing the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms.
Given their look, the double-headed parent puppet worms indeed looked as disgusting as rotten flesh in the tins of pickled vegetables. However, given their effect, the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms could really destroy cities and countries. Anyone of them might cause an irreparable catastrophe as long as they were taken out.
As Zhang Tie had sensed the destructive power of double-headed parent puppet worm, he dared not be careless. After a consideration, he determined to make the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms safer.
'What if a powerful shadow knight or a heavenly knight came back for the double-headed parent puppet worms? Would I just watch him take them away and create more troubles? Although it might not happen, it's possible.' Because Zhang Tie didn't know how many trump cards did demons and Heavens Reaching Church have, he had to consider this possibility.
Zhang Tie injected a "driving-section" great wildness seal that he had formed in the All Spirits Pagoda into each double-headed parent puppet worm from his mind sea so as to control them like controlling pets.
As Zhang Tie had just reached the 15th floor of All Spirits Pagoda, he could control all the living beings below LV 15. Double-headed parent puppet worms were LV 14 living beings; therefore, it could be controlled by Zhang Tie.
After reaching the 15th floor of All Spirits Tower, he met a bottleneck. Each step forward would be more difficult. If Zhang Tie wanted to reach a higher floor and control all the living beings below knight level, he had to recite great wildness sutra for 418,100,000 times. Without 20 years' penance, he could barely make it. Even though Zhang Tie always cultivated Great Wilderness Sutra whenever he was free, he was not sure that he could make it within 30 years...
After being affected by the great wilderness seals, the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms only slightly moved in the liquid of the containers before becoming still.
When the great wilderness seals were injected into the bodies of the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms, a statue of double-headed parent puppet worm appeared on the wall of the 15th floor of All Spirits Pagoda. At the same time, Zhang Tie established a mysterious link with the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms and sensed the reliance from the 4 double-headed parent puppet worms...
After doing this, Zhang Tie recovered everything in the secret space to their original looks before starting a cultivation by sitting in the air with crossed legs and waiting for someone to come here for the double-headed parent puppet worms...