1617 - 1627

Chapter 1617: Preparation

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

If Taiyi Old Man heard Zhang Tie's question after taking such a pile of fiery lotus roots, he must have burst into tears.

It took Taiyi Old Man hundreds of years to promote to a sage-level knight with aiding strength. However, Zhang Tie intended to deal with him using endless trump cards and cheats. Taiyi Old Man's feeling could be imagined if he knew that.

After hearing Zhang Tie's question, Heller gazed at him for quite a while before asking Zhang Tie, "Castle Lord, could you enter Castle of Black Iron in combat?"

"You bet. Why not?" Zhang Tie said as he shrugged, "Over these days, I'm actually pondering and deducing the tactics facing a sage-level knight. Facing a sage-level knight, the safest way for me is to extend the distance between us using my ability as a divine dominator. At the same time, I would strike him by golden spears so that he couldn't catch me. In the worst scenario, we would confront each other and enter a stalemate. It depends on who could bear it in the end. If the old d**chebag treats me by Real Sun Flame, I would rapidly drill into earth or water before entering the Castle of Black Iron as soon as possible when he couldn't see me!"

"That's a good method!"

"Of course, I could enter Castle of Black Iron within 0.001 seconds. At the same time, I would release my duplicate for escaping outside on behalf of me. In that case, even if my opponent is a sage-level knight, as long as he doesn't have lotus flower eyes, due to the long distance and the existences of rocks and water, he couldn't discover that I've been substituted by my duplicate at all. Even though he could, he must think that I'm performing another weird hiding trick. Even though the Real Sun Flame couldn't be seen on my duplicate, he must think that I have the special item or method to deal with it. I don't need to explain it to anyone!"

This was the benefit brought by the fame of Immortal Qianji. Given his rich achievements and military exploits and trump cards, in many cases, as long as Zhang Tie didn't reveal too many loopholes, he would win proper reasons from others even if he was cheating.

"Any flame should have its material foundation. As for ordinary flame, it could die out when it's isolated from oxygen. Similarly, Real Sun Flame also needs a material condition and media. Given the material that His Majesty showed you, Real Sun Flame is completely under the control of the sage-level knight of Taiyi Fantasy Sect. It probably needs to withdraw the fire element from Elements Realm. It doesn't need oxygen; instead, it only needs fire element from Elements Realm. Therefore, it could burn everything and is hard to die out. In the outside world, nothing could be used to fully isolate Elements Realm; however, in Castle of Black Iron, when in combat, I could have all the four elements in Castle of Black Iron gather around the Abyss of Elements; instead of spilling over. Additionally, I would build a super low temperature isolation zone for elements. No oxygen could be found there, nor the four elements. As long as Castle Lord's body didn't burn, you could take off all your clothes when you enter the super low temperature isolation zone. In that way, the Real Sun Flame should die out…"

"Should?"

'Yup, it's just my theoretical guess. After all, I'm not a sage-level knight. Nor do I grasp the aiding strength Real Sun Flame!" Heller said calmly, "Even if my guess is wrong, Castle Lord, you don't need to worry about that either. Because as long as Real Sun Flame enters Castle of Black Iron, I would know its condition. Closely after that, I would invalid its burning condition!"

"Good. I believe in you!" Zhang Tie nodded. After that, he thought up something as he told Edward, "As those fiery lotus leaves could be made into a top-class heat-resistant outfit. When I'm absent in the following days, you could build some more outfits with face masks for me!��

After feeling his value, Edward instantly became thrilled as he replied, "As you wish, my master…"

Fiery lotus was nice. Its roots could improve his heat-resistant capacity and help Zhang Tie accomplish the evolution of his battle qi. Additionally, its leaves could be made into a heat-resistant outfit. What was more, Zhang Tie had Castle of Black Iron. Therefore, Zhang Tie didn't worry about the Real Sun Flame of Taiyi Old Man anymore.

Although Zhang Tie wondered about the aiding strength of a sage-level knight, he confirmed that the implementation of aiding the strength of a sage-level knight must consume one's strength greatly and couldn't be applied limitlessly. Otherwise, a sage-level knight grasping aiding strength would solve the problem at the bank of Weishui River. With the above three trump cards, if Zhang Tie really encountered the Real Sun Flame from Taiyi Old Man, as long as he could stand it for a few times until Taiyi Old Man couldn't use it anymore, Zhang Tie would take advantage of his speed as a divine dominator and his kinetic strike to push the combat into a stalemate.

That was Zhang Tie's plan.

Even at this moment, Zhang Tie was still not presumptuous and felt that he could defeat a sage-level knight.

…

After that, Zhang Tie returned to the lobby of the Palace Tree and started to take those fruits on the small tree.

Over these days, there were many more fruits on the small tree, all of which were fruits of redemption.

Accurately, there were over 140 fruits of redemption from the gratitude of golden uangs and over 20 fruits of redemption from hair shells and gulf shrimps.

Only after taking over 140 fruits of redemption from the gratitude of golden uangs, Zhang Tie's strength had surged by 10 more tons which meant more powerful kinetic strikes.

However, as Zhang Tie took more and more fruits from the gratitude of golden uangs, he felt all the weapons were growing lighter. How boring it was!

Zhang Tie felt "boring" pleasantly…

Besides, the small tree gave Zhang Tie one more surprise——a fruit of redemption from the gratitude of earthworms that he had not seen for a long time.

Realizing that Paul's team had found a steady channel for setting free earthworms, Zhang Tie felt excited once again.

"Fruits of redemption from the gratitude of golden uangs could increase Castle Lord's strength, which is the most effective way to improve your battle strength. However, Castle Lord, your explosiveness couldn't match the growing strength well as the explosiveness of humans is not very high among all the animals. If Castle Lord could find a fruit of redemption which could increase your explosiveness, Castle Lord would realize a great leap for real…"

Heller's voice sounded when Zhang Tie was about to put the first fruit of redemption from the gratitude of golden uangs into his mouth. Zhang Tie stopped what he was doing…

'Explosiveness!'

Zhang Tie was startled by this word…

Chapter 1618: The Stimulative of Xuanyuan Wuji's Death

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Zhang Tie had soon stayed in secluded cultivation for over one month.

During this period, the three black invitation cards constantly fermented, causing greater popularity across the forum of Mountain of Brightness and a hot discussion among the people. Even the censorate in Xuanyuan Hill was condemning the three top sects for neglecting the righteousness and the crisis from demons for the sake of their own interests. In this case, the black invitation cards became the accomplice of demons for real. That was too shameless! Some leftish imperial censors even requested His Majesty Xuanyuan Changying to go on a punitive expedition against the three top sects.

All the people, the knights and the officialdom of Taixia Country were rooting for Zhang Tie. As a result, the three top sects had to bear great stress from them.

In the same month, the mountain gate of Iron-Dragon Sect was always crowded with knights and major clans. After knowing that Zhang Tie was in secluded cultivation, all of them left messages that they would cheer for Zhang Tie in the Yinghai Region, Gobi Desert on next January 29. Additionally, they left some gifts or contact information before leaving.

At the critical moment, someone would sail with the wind and despise the future of Iron-Dragon Sect; some righteous and faithful ones who befriended and cooperated with Zhang Tie and Zhang family would stand on Zhang Tie's side.

The broad human relationship that Zhang Tie and Jinwu Business Group had established these years started to play its role.

Guan Clan, Heavenly Fortune Sect, Lord Guangnan's Mansion, Zuoqiu Clan of Biyong Palace, Demons-kill Valley, major clans within Northeast Military Region, provincial governors' clans and sects, over 10 billion soldiers and officers within the territory of west theater of operations, even knights in the Earth-elements Realm, the censorate of Xuanyuan Hill, the officers of the top four armies and the barbarians in the South Border propped for Zhang Tie as they condemned Taiyi Fantasy Sect, Heavens Holding Pavilion and Qionglou Pavilion severely.

Furthermore, due to the black invitation cards, Zhang Su and Zhang Tie's old mansion suspended the chakra rotating ceremony for Zhang Su. These days, Zhang Su had already left his troop, which didn't arouse any chaos in the troop.

Nevertheless, Zhang Tie didn't know anything about all these; instead, he just stayed in Castle of Black Iron and enjoyed his fiery lotus roots, fruits and gradually improved his overall strength. Nobody would disturb him at this critical moment.

…

The first snow in Youzhou Province fell on December 4. After the heavy snow, the entire ground of Youzhou Province, including Iron-Dragon Sect's territory was snow-white.

On the evening of December 5, heavy snowflakes were falling in the wind, covering starlights and moonlights. As a result, it was dark all over. Nobody could be seen in the Wild Duck Lake over 60 miles away from Xuantian Peak. There were only reeds covering over 6 million square meters on the bank of the lake. Swaying in the desolate and cold wind, those reeds were wailing like ghosts.

It had already become frozen near the bank. Of course, nobody would come here at this moment, except for one person.

Right then, the water in the middle of the lake suddenly rippled and separated into two halves as Zhang Tie walked out of the lake.

It was one of the three exits leading to the backroom of Iron-Dragon Sect. This lake connected to a subterranean stream through which Zhang Tie came all the way here.

As Iron-Dragon Sect was eye-catching, Zhang Tie didn't want others to know his trace; therefore, he chose to leave there through a secret tunnel when everybody else thought he was still in secluded cultivation.

The cold wind and the dark didn't influence Zhang Tie at all. After looking around, Zhang Tie instantly rushed into the sky and entered clouds. In the wuthering north wind, he flew towards south at a speed of almost 30 times that of sound wind.

In the air, Zhang Tie activated his super hiding skill as he turned looming like mist, leaving no sound in the flight at all.

When he was at the bank of Weishui River, he could already reach above 8221 m per second after promoting to a shadow knight; after full recovery; especially after promoting to three change realm of shadow knight in the tower of time, Zhang Tie had gained an overall improvement greatly.

Each round of overall strengthening would mean a pretty sharp increase in his flight ability as a divine dominator. Actually, his flight ability would strengthen by almost 13% in each round of overall strengthening. Zhang Tie had not imagined such a high increase.

According to his guess, perhaps shadow knight had formed a complete water chakra while the air was full of vapor which would be helpful to flight. What was more, shadow knight should form his wind chakra if he wanted to promote to a heavenly knight while wind chakra was related to speed. Therefore, whenever he formed 36 scales of wind chakra, he might get a great sharp increase in flight ability.

After lighting 108 scales, Zhang Tie's flight speed had easily broken 10,000 m per second.

These days, Zhang Tie had taken a lot of fruits of redemption in Castle of Black Iron. As a result, he had gained a further improvement in his strength, resilience and his resistance in extreme situations. It could be said that Zhang Tie reached a new height and was full of confidence about the future.

Heller's words in Castle of Black Iron warned Zhang Tie. As he was taking fruits and adapting to the new strength brought by those fruits and fiery lotus roots, he continued to think about this question these days.

To put it simply, the relationship between strength and explosiveness was like that between gunpowder and the burst time of gunpowder after being lit. The greater one's strength was, the more "gunpowder" he would carry. The shorter the chemical reaction was after gunpowder of the same mass was lit, the greater the explosiveness of the gunpowder would be. The destructive effect for one barrel of 100 kg gunpowder to explode in one day after being lit was completely different than that of being exploded within 0.1 seconds. The so-called explosiveness referred to the release of one's greater power within the shortest period. Although the golden uangs had great strength, they didn't have great explosiveness. Similarly, although elephants had great strength, they didn't have great explosiveness either.

Theoretically, if Zhang Tie could increase his explosiveness by two times, he would increase the destructive effect of his kinetic strike by two more times even if he didn't increase his strength anymore…

Zhang Tie knew that many animals had great explosiveness, such a flea or mantis. Pitifully, flea or mantis was not sold in the market in Taixia Country. Even though pharmacists didn't make pills using the two animals. At least now Zhang Tie couldn't find anything that could cater to his condition of redemption and carry great explosiveness. Therefore, he could only imagine the fruit of redemption from the gratitude of an animal which could increase his explosiveness. Perhaps, it was a matter of karma.

Heller's words broadened Zhang Tie's vision greatly. Now that the fruit of redemption could increase his strength and explosiveness, it would also increase his defensive capability. In other words, the fruit of redemption from the gratitude of an animal which could increase his defensive capability would definitely serve as new iron-body fruit. As long as the small tree could continue to produce the fruit of redemption, Zhang Tie would blaze a new trail and find another special route to improve his overall strength.

Although Zhang Tie was really thrilled about this discovery, he couldn't get those fruits easily.

However, it was just an imagination. As for some things, they wouldn't happen no matter how many times you imagined about them. For instance, if you wanted to kill someone; even if you had imagined about his death for 10,000 times, he would still not lose a fine hair in reality; instead, he might live better. If you insisted on waiting for karma, you might have to wait for hundreds of years before knowing that your opponent was dead.

Even though you cursed your opponent to die for 10,000 times, it couldn't be as effective as directly slaying him over his neck by a saber.

Therefore, Zhang Tie silently left the backroom where he entered secluded cultivation and flashed southwards in the heavy wind and snow.

The cold wind was bone-piercing in the high altitude; however, Zhang Tie felt his blood boiling as he was full of killing intent.

Since the beginning, Zhang Tie had not seen his enemy.

As for Zhang Tie, it was his first time to kill someone tentatively whom he had not even seen before. However, this person had to die. If not, Zhang Tie would be sleepless. Additionally, he would feel sorry about himself and Huaiyuan Palace as a whole.

The one that Zhang Tie intended to kill was one son of Emperor Xuanyuan, the younger brother of His Majesty, the key figure of Imperial Alliance and the third prince of Taixia Country——Xuanyuan Wuji!

After the event of Zhang Taixuan, Zhang Tie had known that Xuanyuan Wuji was framing him by arranging a mole on his elder brother's side. From then on, Zhang Tie had intended to kill the third prince. However, Zhang Tie didn't fully recover at that time; therefore, he could only stand it for the time being.

After returning to Iron-Dragon Sect from South Border, Zhang Tie had fully recovered. Therefore, when he received the three black invitation cards, he had determined to kill Xuanyuan Wuji.

Xuanyuan Wuji thought that Zhang Tie didn't know the relationship between him and the three top sects as he was hiding behind Imperial Alliance and the three top sects. Therefore, he held that he could make Zhang Tie his steppingstone towards his ascension to the throne by playing his tricks presumptuously. However, he couldn't imagine that Zhang Tie had long known his existence and those tricks he had played. In Zhang Tie's eyes, the three black invitation cards were stimulating his death for real.

Chapter 1619: A Long-Distance Raid

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

If Imperial Alliance knew that Zhang Tie had known the identity of Xuanyuan Wuji in Imperial Alliance…

If Xuanyuan Wuji knew that Zhang Tie dared kill him…

If Xuanyuan Wuji knew that Zhang Tie dared turn completely hostile against his opponents when he was weak in Blackhot City…

If Xuanyuan Wuji still regarded the word Qianji with a bit reverence…

…

The three top sects might not deliver the black invitation cards and everything in the future might change greatly.

Pitifully, none of the above conditions were real.

Xuanyuan Wuji and those sage-level knights in Imperial Alliance had realized the necessity, urgency and benefits of cracking down Zhang Tie. Additionally, even a sweet rabbit would bite people, not to mention Zhang Tie, who was a divine dominator. If Zhang Tie was driven mad, many people would die for real; instead of only be bitten.

They felt that they could defeat Zhang Tie for sure. Therefore, they didn't spare any chance to survive Zhang Tie. Whereas, they didn't know that their choice didn't spare any chance to themselves either as Zhang Tie would not wait for the offense.

Actually, the raid of Xuanyuan Wuji was an act of revenge and counter-strike for Zhang Tie; besides, the Imperial Alliance would be completely collapsed.

Without third prince, Imperial Alliance would lose its largest reliance for fighting for the throne of Taixia Country. Except for rebellion, the three top sects had no other means to fight for the throne anymore. However, if they did that for real, they would become the public enemy of Taixia Country as a whole.

After the two holy wars in the past 1,000 years, Taixia Country had not fallen facing the attack of demons, not to mention the attack of the three top sects whose total strength was weaker than demons. How could 3-4 sage-level knights and over 10,000 human knights become overwhelming among billions of humans and hundreds of thousands of Taixia knights?

Don't be naive!

The three top sects were so presumptuous now; whereas, as long as they dared lift the banner of rebellion, they would face a completely different result.

The third prince was a talented one among so many princes of Taixia Country surnamed Xuanyuan. He could match Xuanyuan Changying for real. If third prince died, of course the Imperial Alliance could collude with another prince. Nevertheless, even though the new prince could match third prince in ability, reputation and available resources and would like to collaborate with Imperial Alliance, it would take them at least 20 years to establish mutual trust and recover their existing power. Otherwise, it would only be a joke for the two forces to combine with each other to fight for the throne. However, within 2 decades, Xuanyuan Changying might have long ascended to the throne and Zhang Tie might have promoted to a heavenly knight.

By then, Zhang Tie would be afraid of nobody.

Therefore, now that Xuanyuan Wuji chose it, he had to die!

However, Zhang Tie was suffering a high risk by intending to kill Xuanyuan Wuji. As long as his identity was revealed, he would be accused of intending to kill a prince, which was nothing different than being involved with a rebellion. By then, even His Majesty couldn't protect him and speak for him. As both Xuanyuan Hill and Imperial Alliance would kill him, Zhang Tie would become the public enemy across the country; the undertakings of Iron-Dragon Sect and Jinwu Palace would be destroyed overnight; his friends and family members would also be involved. Therefore, Zhang Tie behaved pretty meticulously this time. Although he had long intended to kill the third prince, he didn't tell it to anyone else. Additionally, he chose to leave Iron-Dragon Sect during the period when he entered secluded cultivation secretly.

When he was flying at supersonic speed, Zhang Tie's eyes gradually turned into spiritual and bright amorous eyes with inclined eyebrows, thinner lips, white skin and long hair. At the same time, his face shape also adjusted…

Only after a short while, Zhang Tie had turned into a handsome youth at his 20s. To be honest, his new look was like Han Yuantu, the second abnormal prince of Han Zhengfang that Zhang Tie had killed on the airboat. His eyebrows looked debonair and would always be favored by women.

Han Yuantu was eaten by mutated rats. Besides Zhang Tie and Zhang Gui, nobody in this world knew that Han Yuantu had died. Before the event of Han Zhengfang, Han Yuantu had already "disappeared". After the event of Han Zhengfang, Han Yuantu was also wanted by the Supreme Court of Taixia Country. However, over so many years, Han Yuantu didn't show up in any continents or Heavens Reaching Empire. Therefore, few people could remember Han Yuantu's look. Even if someone remembered the look of Han Yuantu from his wanted order, they would at most look at Zhang Tie for a few more seconds; instead of regarding Zhang Tie as Han Yuantu. No matter what, Zhang Tie was just like Han Yuantu.

Of course, it depended. If Zhang Tie killed the third prince in this new look and performed some tricks of Bloody Soul Sutra in the process, this new look and the name of Han Yuantu would soon rise to the top of the name list of criminals in the Supreme Court of Taixia Country as everyone would take this new look as Han Yuantu which had undergone delicate disguise. By then, nobody would believe that this murderer was the famous Immortal Qianji Zhang Tie.

——It was the largest mistake that Imperial Alliance and the third prince had made by turning Zhang Tie into their enemy.

Zhang Tie moved at 6 miles per second, namely 36,000 km per hour. That was to say, he could fly across many provinces in one hour. This speed could already match that of the fastest supersonic ballistic missiles when they returned to the atmospheric layer.

At this speed, it was as difficult as a kid threw a copper coin into the slot of a piggy bank from over 20 m away if he wanted to arrive at a big city precisely over 120,000 miles away after penetrating through the greater part of Taixia Country, except for Zhang Tie.

In the flight, Zhang Tie visualized the panoramic map of Taixia Country in his mind as he kept glancing over the 600 miles' land using his lotus flower eyes. Through matching the cities, mountains and rivers with those in the map in his mind, he could fix his location and direction. In this case, even though Zhang Tie detoured some sensitive regions of major clans, after over 6 hours, he still entered the territory of the top nine immortal provinces outside Xuanyuan Hill. After less than half an hour's flight, he finally saw a magnificent Class A city…

Chapter 1620: Datang City

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Wind and snow had disappeared soon after Zhang Tie left the territory of Northeast Military Region. At supersonic speed, only after 6-7 hours' flight, Zhang Tie had already traveled across many climate zones. The southern it was, the high the temperature would be and the more tender the north wind would be. When Zhang Tie arrived at Jinghe Prefecture, Jiangzhou Province, the air was still a bit cold; however, it was warmer than that in Youzhou Province.

The Class A city in Zhang Tie's vision was many times larger than Youzhou Province.

Xuanyuan Hill didn't have a city wall; however, the Class A city in Zhang Tie's eyes had eye-catching red city walls. From the sky, the 70-m higher red city wall was like four arms of a giant or four fortresses which surrounded the entire city.

Given the prosperity of cities in Zhang Tie's memory, besides Xuanyuan Hill, this city could rank among the top ten for sure.

There were dense, high buildings inside the city and dotted towns outside the city. The broad Jinghe River was flowing by this big city from west to west. There were crowded ships at the wharf in the north bank of the river and endless field in the south bank…

This city was Datang City, the private city of Xuanyuan Wuji the third prince of Taixia Country.

It was still dark all over. Although it didn't snow in Jiangzhou Province, the sky was still a bit gloomy due to weak starlight when winter was near. As the day had not broken, Datang City in the north bank of Jinghe River was still in a dream. Few people had woken up, except for the airships that took off from the airport and the steamers which were docking at the wharf outside the city while turning on lamplight, which indicated the diligence of crew and sailors.

It only took Zhang Tie a few minutes to enter 120 miles of this city since he caught sight of it.

The traffic in Datang City was pretty complex, which included water, land and air. When Zhang Tie was in the air, he saw crisscrossed roads and railways on the land like a cobweb; especially the latter. There were six railways connecting to Datang City as the hub of Jinghe Prefecture.

When Zhang Tie was flying at a high speed, he saw a steam train moving towards Datang City at a speed of about 48 miles per hour while giving out steam and white smoke.

Previously, Zhang Tie planned to fly all the way to the center of Datang City. When he saw the passenger train, he instantly lowered down and dove downwards from over 100,000 m high before landing on the staircase outside the end of the train.

Nobody was monitoring the back of the last carriage. The train just kept running on the rails with clacking sounds. However, nobody discovered the stranger at the end of the train.

As for passenger train, its last carriage was always used to store luggage. There was a door at the end of the train, through which, people could load and unload luggage. Additionally, the last carriage was also connected to other carriages. That was to say, he could enter the train through its end.

Although the door was locked, it was a piece of cake for Zhang Tie. Only after throwing a glance at the lock, Zhang Tie had unlocked the door. After pulling open the door, Zhang Tie entered the carriage.

Being filled with luggage, this carriage smelt like leather grease.

The carriage was isolated like a can. Therefore, it was a bit breathless. There was an ordinary fluorite lamp above the aisle in the middle of the carriage, which gave out dim light. On both sides of the aisle were two-story racks, which were occupied by leather cases and crates in various sizes.

Zhang Tie walked forward towards the other door along the aisle, during which process, he saw a corella. The moment the bird was going to chirp at the sight of Zhang Tie, Zhang Tie made a hand gesture as he said, "Shh…". Closely after that, the parrot closed its mouth and eyes.

The door in front was also locked. However, it opened itself like a humble servant when Zhang Tie came to its front.

At this moment a fat male train attendant in dusty blue was snoring on the seat near the door. After leaving the last carriage, Zhang Tie continued to move forward.

Most of the people were sleeping at this moment while all the curtains were closed. Few people were walking in the aisle. Zhang Tie could only hear monotonous and snoring sound from rails. The moment Zhang Tie passed through the two carriages, he had met the train conductor who was inspecting the train.

With an evident mark on his clothes, this train conductor was almost as old as Zhang Tie's dad.

Zhang Tie instantly caught the attention of the middle-aged man. The train conductor walked towards Zhang Tie with a bit alert as he wanted to say something…

"It's not comfortable here. May you take me to my compartment?" Zhang Tie watched and told the train conductor by battle qi as a bizarre light flashed across his eyes.

After receiving Zhang Tie's order, the middle-aged man's alert instantly disappeared as he revealed reverence and passion to Zhang Tie like meeting an old friend.

"Aah, childe Liu. Follow me please. I've been keeping the luxurious compartment for you. It's right in front of us. Please follow me…" After leaving the words, the train conductor turned around and led Zhang Tie to an empty compartment in front of them.

"Sorry to trouble you!" Zhang Tie turned around and put a gold coin into the train conductor's hand when he entered the compartment.

"You bet. Childe Liu…" the train conductor smiled brilliantly. After declining it for a second, he had taken the gold coin as he said, "Childe Liu, just let me know if you have any need…"

After closing the door of the compartment, Zhang Tie smiled and lay on the bed, eyes closed…

When the train conductor left the compartment with a smile, a train attendant asked him out of curiosity, "Aah, head, who's that guy…"

"It's Childe Liu!" the train conductor replied as he shook his head. After that, he foisted that gold coin into his own pocket under the gaze of that train attendant, continuing, "This childe from a rich clan is really special. When in Feiyu City, he wanted to try hard seat; however, he couldn't stand it anymore in midnight. Therefore, I led him back to his compartment…"

"Ohh!" the train attendant nodded as if he had understood it. At the same time, he admired that the train conductor acquainted with so many noble people. What a quick tip!

…

Three hours later, the day broke. Zhang Tie also got off the train at the station of East Datang City…

Chapter 1621: Fame

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

It was bustling at the station of East Datang City. Whistles of trains could be heard every once a while. With the sound "Tshh", the locomotive of the train was releasing the pressure of its boiler by blowing white steam. As a result, the rail and platform near the locomotive were suffused with white mist.

After daybreak, the entire city had woken up and recovered its vigor, including this railway station.

"Childe Liu, see you!"

The train conductor saw Zhang Tie off the exit of his compartment with a big smile. After hearing his words, Zhang Tie replied with "hmm" as he got off the train and left the railway station leisurely.

Not until he left the railway station and stood at the exit of the railway station among the people did Zhang Tie let out a sigh. He then started to squint at this city.

The exit of this railway station was composed of two stories of roads. The roads above were overline bridges made of steel structure, which looked like huge centipedes. After leaving the railway station, the travelers had to go to the overpasses for the taxi. Along the staircase of the overpasses, they would see over ten lines of yellow-green taxis waiting orderly in an exclusive station. Only after a short while, they would leave there by taxi.

The roads below were underground metro system.

Both two stories of roads were in order.

Among all the super large cities across the country, the underground metro system was taken as a symbol of the prosperous history of the city. As the underground metro system needed a pretty high cost, ordinary Class A cities didn't have underground metro system; instead, only those super large cities which had seen its prosperity for over 100 years and especially reached a great scale in commercial prosperity and population could have such underground metro systems, in which pattern, the underground space of these cities could be fully utilized.

It was said that Datang City grew more and more prosperous under the rule of Xuanyuan Wuji the third prince of Emperor Xuanyuan. Therefore, this city proved the administrative ability of Xuanyuan Wuji as it glittered like a medal on the third prince's breast.

It was of great significance for Zhang Tie to kill third prince. As long as it was revealed, many people would be involved. Therefore, the fewer people knew it, the better. That was why Zhang Tie didn't inquire intelligence about Xuanyuan Wuji through Jinwu Business Group or other channels. After leaving the station of East Datang City, Zhang Tie felt very strange about the place and its people. Zhang Tie didn't even know the trace of Xuanyuan Wuji; nor did he know how Xuanyuan Wuji look. Zhang Tie only knew that Datang City was the private city of Xuanyuan Wuji. According to the regulation, all the princes had their own cities. After growing mature, those princes were forbidden to leave their private cities without the consent or order of Xuanyuan Hill.

Although being noble, princes' freedom was limited. After gaining their private cities, many princes could only spend most of their time over there. If any prince violated the regulation, the censorate of Xuanyuan Hill would submerge that prince by impeaching him. Given this point, after growing mature, princes were not even as free as commoners.

However, they were much freer than emperors who were even forbidden to leave the chief gate of the imperial palace. As each bounty land would cover over 6 million square miles, as long as those princes were not too ambitious, it's enough for them to stay in their own city for their whole lives. Additionally, as most of their bounty cities were in prosperous prefectures or provinces, they would not feel bored at all. As bounty cities were the private properties of princes, they could manage it for free.

In peaceful time, many national ceremonies and campaigns would be held in Xuanyuan Hill and the Imperial Palace of Emperor Xuanyuan annually. During these periods, princes could attend parties over there. In addition, as royal members, princes were always invited to attend public events such as paying a visit to foreign countries; attending foreign events held by Foreign Affairs Ministry; even paying a tour inspection to the other places and showing their condolence to disaster areas on behalf of imperial households or attend special tasks at the order of Emperor Xuanyuan, etc..

However, as Emperor Xuanyuan had disappeared and the third holy war broke out, the current overall situation was rather sensitive. As a result, princes were forbidden to leave their own bounty cities or the prefectures where their bounty cities belonged to.

Not like other princes who indulged in sex and drinks all day, as a prince known as able and diligent, Xuanyuan Wuji spent most of his time in a deal within various affairs in Datang City. Even though he was not in Datang City, his private mansion was also located in Datang City, from where his schedule could be acquired. That was why Zhang Tie came to Datang City.

After standing at the exit of the railway station, Zhang Tie followed the others onto the overpass, then off it to the taxi station before getting on a steam taxi.

"Man, I am hiring your taxi for one day. Take me around today. Show me all the tourist sites and amusement centers. Keep the changes…" Zhang Tie gave a gold coin to the taxi driver like a playboy as long as he entered the vehicle from the back.

"That's great, childe. You've got the right person. As I've been a driver for over 20 years, I'm familiar with every nook and corner of this city!"

Facing such a person who treated gold coins as silver coins, the slightly bald driver at his 40s became spirited at once. After taking the gold coin, he answered Zhang Tie as he drove out of the station.

"Childe, is this your first time in Datang City?"

"Yes!"

The taxi driver glanced at Zhang Tie with a smile from the rearview mirror as he said, "Haha, childe, given your noble look, you must be full of knowledge. There's one place in Datang City that you have to see!"

"What is it?"

"Talents' Pavilion!" the driver instantly started to introduce it to Zhang Tie, "Childe, don't you know the famous Talents' Pavilion in Datang City? Across Jinghe Prefecture, Jiang Zhou Province even other immortal provinces, many erudite people would come to Datang City especially for Talents' Pavilion. As long as your poem, song, essay or a common administrative measure could rank the top of the list in Talents' Pavilion for one month, you might be able to see the third prince within one year and become his VIP. That's a shortcut to privilege. Third prince is the incarnation of the legendary deity of imperial examinations and literary affairs. The prosperous Datang City greatly benefits from third prince…"

Zhang Tie had not imagined that even a taxi driver admired Xuanyuan Wuji so much…

Chapter 1622: Talents' Pavilion

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

"The river comes from west in turns; I am startled by the featured scenery. Hundreds of houses gather here to form a county; although having no city walls, they lean against a mountain. The shadow of the sail is looming in the river not far away from the maple leaves. Water gurgled near my bed. In straw rain cape, I am close to Yan Ling; pitifully, I could only look at the crystal river and pass by…What a nice poem! This poem could at least stay in the list of Talents' Pavilion for one year. It's said that it was written by a talent surnamed Xu in Xintong City. Not bad! Not bad…"

"Look at this one. I feel this poem is more artistic. The wild wind blows my white coat; I move on the river by boat. As the sun sets in the distance, green contours of mountains undulate. Feeling cold, flowers drop their heads; being tired, birds twittered occasionally. After seeing smoke rising, I anchor my fishing boat and come to Zhuxi Temple…"

"I don't agree with you, brother Ou. If this poem appears in a remote hotel or a residence of a hermit in the deep mountain, it would be amazing. However, it appears in the Talents' Pavilion. Therefore, I think the poet perhaps want to show off his talent; instead of aiming to be a real hermit. I would not vote him…"

"You're right, brother Li; you're right…"

In the afternoon, after circling around the city for a few hours, Zhang Tie was finally sent to the Talents' Pavilion in Datang City cordially by the taxi driver. Through the constant introduction of the taxi driver, Zhang Tie gradually learned more about Datang City and Xuanyuan Wuji and acquired a lot of useful information.

Xuanyuan Wuji's position in Datang City was like that of Zhang Tie in Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory. Each action of him would be eye-catching. Therefore, Zhang Tie easily got the message that Xuanyuan Wuji was in Datang City these days from the taxi driver.

According to the taxi driver, at the end of each year, the adorable third prince would host philanthropic campaigns like providing porridge and money and giving condolence to soldiers, civilians and students in the city. Therefore, Xuanyuan Wuji would always stay in Datang City in the entire December. After hearing this message, Zhang Tie finally felt relaxed.

After making a plan to pay a secret visit to the third prince's mansion tonight and kill him when possible, Zhang Tie finished his lunch in a hotel before being led to the Talents' Pavilion by the taxi driver. With the attitude of doing as the Romans do, Zhang Tie started to wander in the Talents' Pavilion.

Talents' Pavilion was a vast octagonal traditional Hua building. Being located in the west of Datang City, Talents' Pavilion was in a hill not far from Datang Learning Academy. It was surrounded by beautiful scenery. No ticket was required to enter the Talents' Pavilion. Instead, each one could get a ticket for free at the entrance. As many people came here, after receiving tickets, they would vote for their most favorite works, political opinions, poems or essays of those "talents" by putting their tickets into the ballot boxes under the creators. In each fixed period, the ballot boxes would be opened and the tickets would be counted. Those with more tickets would rank higher on the list and would win chances to be promoted to high-level officials.

On the taxi, Zhang Tie had been told about the game rules in Talents' Pavilion. After entering it, Zhang Tie felt strange watching those literati concentrating on those works.

As for Zhang Tie, the so-called Talents' Pavilion was just a trick that Xuanyuan Wuji used to buy the hearts of people at the bottom of the society and control the public opinions. As he wanted to fight for the throne, Xuanyuan Wuji had to act like a "sagacious emperor". Such a trick would work more or less. However, the so-called talents in the Talents' Pavilion were actually some bottom literati in Datang City and nearby provinces or prefectures. What about those knights of Taixia Country if these people could be called talents? Real knights always neglected these things. A real knight didn't need to show off his literary talents for fame and wealth here.

These literati had a big say at the bottom of society, who could influence many people's opinions. That might be the reason that Xuanyuan Wuji played such a trick.

In a world dominated by knights, literati who only thought about reading instead of cultivating their battle strength would not enjoy high positions. Even if these literati could make some achievements in literature, most of them could at most be some grass-root clerks and officials. Very few of them could become the trusted subordinates of third prince like Fang Qingming on His Majesty's side. Right because of this reason, so many literati were longing for showing off their talents in the pavilion as they all dreamed to be the very trusted subordinate of the third prince and provide political suggestions to him.

Zhang Tie was not interested in poems and essays; however, he was clear about the function of Talents' Pavilion. Standing behind those literati and listening to their comments, Zhang Tie revealed a despised look as if he was watching some kids building a castle using sand.

"Bro, I wonder about your noble opinion…" One of the literati in front of Zhang Tie asked when he caught Zhang Tie's contemptuous look and became irritated. Hearing his words, all the other literati in front turned around and fixated onto Zhang Tie at a stroke.

"Haha, I have no noble opinion; I have no noble opinion. Now that these poems and essays could be displayed here, they are nice for real…" Zhang Tie replied with a big smile as he cupped his hands towards them and intended to leave. Because Zhang Tie didn't feel like wasting time with these humble literati at all.

"Bro, you're so presumptuous!" One of those literati was instantly driven mad by Zhang Tie's response, although Zhang Tie didn't have malicious intent. As a result, all of them were glaring at Zhang Tie as if Zhang Tie had insulted their belief. "These poems and essays are all top works among hundreds of millions of works. Bro, you might be erudite; how about showing us…We want to broaden our vision…"

"When I watched the snow last year, I got a poem by accident. Its name isFalling Snow . If you want to hear it, this humble man would read it for you…"

"Hmm, go ahead. I would like to appreciate your good piece…" a literati said with a sneer.

After looking around, Zhang Tie cleared his voice. After that, he read his poem under the gaze of all the others, "What is flying in the sky? There's a pile in the east, another pile in the west. Is the Jade Emperor building the Imperial Palace? Screening lime yo, screening lime!"

After Zhang Tie finished his poem, all the onlooking literati were petrified as their faces turned purple, quivering all over…

It appeared that Zhang Tie's interest was aroused. Before those people opened their mouth, he continued, "This humble man got another one when I watched the lightning bolt in the sky. Its name is Singing the Lightning Bolt . Glad to hear your comments about it. Ahem, ahem. I suddenly see a fiery chain in the sky as if the Jade Emperor is smoking; if Jade Emperor doesn't smoke, why is there a fiery chain…Eh, brothers, brothers, don't run away; I've got some more…"

Those literati who intended to make Zhang Tie embarrassed were severely injured by Zhang Tie's two poems. Soon after Zhang Tie finished his second poem, those literati had covered their faces with sleeves and left there as they didn't feel like talking with Zhang Tie any more.

Zhang Tie pretended to persuade them to stay; however, those literati paced up in case of being influenced by the bad luck brought by Zhang Tie.

Shaking his head, Zhang Tie smiled and was going to leave. Unimaginably, a burst of applaud sounded behind him.

"What nice poems! What nice poems…"

Zhang Tie turned around as he saw a hermit-like middle-aged literati in white robe clapping his hands.

"Young brother. Your poems look coarse; however, they're of great charisma. If charisma only is considered, your poems are much better than all the others in the Talents' Pavilion…"

After hearing the middle-aged literati's comment, Zhang Tie knew that he was not jeering at him. Given his personality, Zhang Tie started to like him.

"Haha, to tell the truth, the two poems are not created by me; instead, I read it from a book by accident. The writer is a rude soldier of Hua people before the Catastrophe…"

"Oh, I see!" the literati replied as he continued, "Young brother, now that you could admit it frankly, you must be a straight-forward man. It must be your first time in Datang City. Me too! Young brother, how about traveling around the city with me…"

"Nice…" Zhang Tie replied with a smile too.

Chapter 1623: Lord Fairysea

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

The human relationship was marvelous. Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could get acquainted with a friend in Datang City even after disguising himself.

The literati in white robe was Lin Yichen. After encountering with each other in Talents' Pavilion, the two people traveled around the pavilion together, then Steles Tower, Feathered Temple and Dragonhiding Cave. When the night was going to fall, the two people had a drink in Rainflower Building at the bank of Swordswashing Lake.

To be honest, Zhang Tie had read a lot of books and acquainted with many top figures in Taixia Country such as Meng Shidao and Zuoqiu Mingyue, ect.. However, the personality, rich learning and intelligence of Lin Yichen convinced Zhang Tie for real.

In the Talents' Pavilion, Lin Yichen commented those talents' poems and essays in a humorous, incisive yet modest way.

Among Steles Tower, Lin Yichen told all the allusions, anecdotes and inscriptions on the tablets. When it came to calligraphy, he became excited as he directly dipped the rainwater under eaves of the Steles Tower using fingers and performed 81 variants of one Hua character…

In the Dragonhiding Cave, Lin Yichen introduced the history of the explorations about the dragon, starting from the Hua totem before the Catastrophe to the image of a dragon on Western Continent, from the legends of the immortal dragon in far-ancient times to the virtual image of the dragon of knights in this age. Zhang Tie learned a lot from him and figured out many things…

After traveling around Datang City for half a day, although he couldn't figure out the background of Lin Yichen, Zhang Tie was sure that this person was unusual.

"Come on, Brother Lin, I will propose a toast to you…" Zhang Tie made a cup of spirit for Lin Yichen in the Rainflower Building. Closely after that, he took his cup and said, "Brother Lin, I know you're unusual. It's our fortune to meet each other in this city, cheers…"

"Hahaha, I'm unusual; young brother, you're unusual too. It's our great fortune to meet each other in Datang City among hundreds of millions of people across the country…" Lin Yichen burst into laughter as he threw a glance at Zhang Tie with a smile. Closely after touching his glass with Zhang Tie's, he bottomed up together with Zhang Tie.

"Brother Lin, why are you here in Datang City?"

"I'm here for a person."

"Oh, Brother Lin, do you have relatives or friends here?"

"Neither relatives nor old friends!"

"Then it must be your enemy!"

"Not enemy either!"

"You make me puzzled. Brother Lin, have you found him?"

"I made a prediction using Eight Diagrams last year. According to its implication, I would encounter the very person in Datang City. Therefore, I travel to Datang City from afar. Although I've met the person, he was far worse than that I imagined. Previously, I wanted to take him as my apprentice; unimaginably, that person shares the same branch with me and even have greater achievements than me. He would have a bright future. Therefore, I feel embarrassed proposing to take him as my apprentice…" Lin Yichen said as he suddenly heaved a sigh, "As for an emperor, it's easy to establish an army of thousands of people; but it's hard to get a good general. As for me, it might be harder to find a proper apprentice. Someone just waits there for his apprentice; however, I could only look for apprentice myself. If my apprentice lacks flair in cultivation, he would meet a bottleneck in the future and could barely break it. As a result, such an apprentice could only make limited achievements in his life and could inherit all of my profound learning…"

"What a pity!" Zhang Tie sighed with a smile, "I'm afraid that if that person could meet Brother Lin a few years ago and becomes your apprentice, he would laugh out in dreams!"

"Nothing to pity about. It's destiny. Although I don't have an apprentice, I feel also lucky having one more friend who could have a drink with me. It's nice if I have an apprentice; if not, I won't feel sad. Isn't it also a pleasure in our lives? Come on, cheers…" Lin Yichen burst into laughter as he cheered with Zhang Tie again.

Zhang Tie rented the entire top floor of the Rainflower Building, where they would not be disturbed by others. After drinking 18 jars of top-quality rain-flower liquor, it was already deep night. Lin Yichen then picked himself up while wavering his body. At this moment, one piece of bizarre secret knowledge crystal appeared in his hand. Closely after that, he gave it to Zhang Tie, saying, "I've not had such a drink with anyone for many years. I'm so happy to have a drink with an able young brother here today. Here's my little gift. Keep it as a souvenir…"

Zhang Tie didn't look into the crystal; instead, he took out a top-quality nanobead from his inner pocket. When he took that crystal, he gave the nanobead to Lin Yichen, saying, "As a vulgar person, I don't have anything valuable but this bead. Brother Lin, you can keep it as a souvenir too. There're some spears inside that I usually used and some home-made medicament. Hopefully, I could see Brother Lin again in the future…"

"I gift you a piece of crystal and you gift me a pearl. Thanks, young brother…" Lin Yichen instantly took the nanobead as he continued, "As each banquet would come to an end, before leaving, I've got one suggestion for you…"

"Brother Lin, please…"

"In the future, no matter which step have you reached, don't forget about your original intention. If you could make it, you would be the real hero!" Lin Yichen watched Zhang Tie with gleaming eyes as he continued, "All the billions of people in Taixia Country are the beloved ones of you and me. With such great abilities, if we couldn't safeguard these beloved ones, we would be surplus and be finally eliminated in accordance with the universal law…"

Zhang Tie was shocked as he instantly stood up and made a deep bow towards Lin Yichen, saying, "Brother Lin, thanks for your precious warning. I would bear it in mind for sure…"

"Hahaha, see you…" Lin Yichen bottomed up as he laughed and sang towards the sky, "Autumn wind the desolate; you wave the flowers and twigs; thin frost the white over the earth, you make cicada silent; swallows you leave north for south, flapping your wings towards the lingqiu Hill…"

In the long tunes, Lin Yichen dropped his glass and strode out of the Rainflower Building, white robe swaying in the wind. Then he entered the sky and disappeared in the distance, leaving his song reverberating in the sky…

Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could encounter such a great person in the Talents' Pavilion, who could have a drink and talk with him. That was fate! Zhang Tie watched the sky with eager leisurely. Who dared call himself a talent in front of Lord Fairysea?

Zhang Tie then threw a glance at the piece of crystal in his hand while some words instantly appeared in his mind explosively like a lightning bolt——Deities Killing Swordsmanship . It was unrivaled swordsmanship of divine dominator in which the user could directly break the void above the opponent's mind sea using spiritual swords…

In the nanobead that Zhang Tie gifted Lord Fairysea, there were ten jars of top-quality all-purpose medicament that he brewed in Castle of Black Iron and nine golden spears.

"Aah…knight…knight…" The waiter who served liquor stared at the disappearing Lord Fairysea as he stammered.

Zhang Tie turned around. The moment the waiter caught Zhang Tie's eye light, his dumbfounded look had disappeared as his memory about Lord Fairysea was erased by Zhang Tie. After being puzzled for a couple of seconds, the waiter had recovered his composure as he said, "Sir, here's your liquor…" When he put down the jar, the waiter looked at the empty chair and glass in the opposite and asked Zhang Tie, "Yi? Where's that guest…"

"He's got something urgent to deal with and has left. Check out…" Zhang Tie waved his hand while a handful of gold coins appeared on the table with clatters…

"Aah, it's too much, sir…"

"Keep the changes…"

After leaving the words, Zhang Tie walked out of the Rainflower Building.

…

The taxi driver had long left. Zhang Tie walked at the bank of Swordswashing Lake alone as he felt a bit confused. It was an accident for him to encounter Lord Fairysea in Datang City. When the two divine dominators stayed together, their strong qi fields responded to each other like two fierce tigers on both sides of a hedge. No matter how well both parties hid, they still sensed the identity of the opposite. As a result, Zhang Tie's plan of killing third prince met a bit of uncertainty.

'If I kill the third prince at this moment, the others might not know that; but Lord Fairysea would know it for sure. Perhaps Lord Fairysea had already noticed why I come to Datang City from Youzhou Province in another look in the current situation.'

'What should I do? Do I continue my plan?'

After walking around half of the lake, Zhang Tie gradually became determined as before. 'As long as Lord Fairysea is not on the same side of Imperial Alliance, it would be fine for me to kill third prince. Given the last words of Lord Fairysea, he might be warning me that I should stick to my bottom line——As long as I don't do harm to the country and the people, I would be his friend; instead of his enemy.

'Is it harmful to the country and its people by killing third prince? Of course not. In the holy war, third prince who wants to usurp and Imperial Alliance are the culprits who do harm to the country. Undoubtedly, domestic turmoils and consumption could be avoided by killing third prince and collapsing Imperial Alliance.'

'If Lord Fairysea wants to prevent me from doing something in Datang City, he would not give the Deities Killing Sutra to me. Now that he gives me Deities Killing Sutra, he must not want to interfere with my own plan.'

'In fact, Lord Fairysea has not asked me my purpose in Datang City even though I've asked him about his purpose here.'

Right then, Zhang Tie quivered all over for a second as he instantly thought about a possibility, ' Lord Fairysea might…might have long known the conspiracy of third prince and Imperial Alliance. He might have known everything, including the black invitation cards and why I come here in another look?'

'He has to die! But I have to make a good plan. No loophole is allowed!'

As Zhang Tie made his decision, he found he had already come to the front of a super high grand hotel at the bank of Swordswashing Lake…

Chapter 1624: Paying a Secret Visit to the Third Prince's Mansion

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

At midnight, Zhang Tie flew out of the window of a luxury room on Floor 38 of the grand hotel on the bank of Swordswashing Lake as a little black beetle towards the third prince's mansion in the center of Datang City…

In the daytime, the taxi driver had already shown Zhang Tie around the third prince's mansion. Under his lotus flower eyes, Zhang Tie had already seen through the entire mansion and bore the location and routes of the third prince's mansion in mind.

The entire Datang City had been in sound sleep. Besides the streetlamps and the lamplights in a few buildings, the entire city had been in silence, being utterly different than the bustling scene in the daytime.

It had been a long time since Zhang Tie used his little beetle as his incarnation last time. When he turned into a little black beetle again, Zhang Tie felt that sense of freedom coming back.

At above 100 m in the air, the little beetle loomed and flew towards the third prince's mansion like a speck of dust after being applied with super hiding rune. It only took Zhang Tie over 20 minutes to meet the third prince's mansion that he had seen in the daytime.

Located in the center of Datang City, the third prince's mansion occupied 2.4 square miles or so. With a camp on one side, the entire mansion was on very strict alert. In the air, Zhang Tie saw all the road lamps outside the mansion bright as teams of soldiers were patrolling around the mansion, leaving no dead angles across the mansion at all.

Of course, in Zhang Tie's eyes, these guards were nothing but decorations. What Zhang Tie worried most were those hidden powerhouses beside Xuanyuan Wuji. Given Xuanyuan Wuji's deeds, Zhang Tie didn't believe that this guy didn't have high-level bodyguards or had not considered about being assassinated. Before the move, Zhang Tie had to get hang of these messages for the sake of sec-kill. The more messages he acquired about the mansion, the calmer he would be in action.

Right above the heads of a team of patrolling soldiers, Zhang Tie easily entered the high wall of the mansion. Then, he slowed down and flew towards the residential area of servants in the periphery of the mansion.

Only after a short while, the little black beetle had already arrived there and entered one bedroom.

Two servants were in sound sleep on two beds. It was pitch-dark inside. After entering the room, the little beetle flew around the bed for a short while before disappearing. Zhang Tie then appeared in the room like a looming spirit.

The two servants were both tough guys. Zhang Tie then put his hand onto the forehead of one of them while reading his memory in recent months.

Soul reading skill would bring a side effect to the one being read. If Zhang Tie read all the memories of this person, this guy might become an idiot. If he only read two months' memory, the side effect of Soul Reading Skill could almost be ignored under his control. As for the person whose memory was read, he just made a bit longer yet spirit-consuming dream.

The first one being read was a gardener who had worked in the mansion for almost 2 decades.

After reading two months' memory from this gardener, Zhang Tie gained a lot of useful messages such as the topography of the entire mansion including the location of the inner court, the residential area of waiters and maids, the residence of guards, the residence of the family members and trusted subordinates of third prince, the residence of Xuanyuan Wuji and who in the mansion usually touched Xuanyuan Wuji.

Additionally, this gardener had encountered Xuanyuan Wuji when pruning flowers and plants in the garden. When he was pruning withered twigs, Xuanyuan Wuji and some followers suddenly negotiated from the back parlor. At that time, this gardener was so scared that he instantly bowed towards Xuanyuan Wuji on one side and remained still. Before lowering his head, he even threw a glance at Xuanyuan Wuji and bore his face in mind.

——Being tall and strong, Xuanyuan Wuji wore a light yellow boa silk robe, which felt very oppressive. He looked like Xuanyuan Changying except for slimmer eyes, thinner lips and higher cheekbones.

The above was the look of Xuanyuan Wuji.

After acquiring these messages, Zhang Tie didn't stay in this room any longer. As the other one was also a gardener, he would not gain more information from the first one. Therefore, Zhang Tie didn't waste time anymore. In a split second, Zhang Tie disappeared like a spirit, leaving no trace in the room. Closely after that, the little black beetle reappeared and flew out of the vent through the window of the room.

A few minutes later, Zhang Tie appeared in a residential area not far from this room, where lived maids who could move in the inner court.

As these maids could encounter Xuanyuan Wuji more frequently, they must know more information about the inner court and the people beside Xuanyuan Wuji. Like tonight, even though many people had fallen asleep, some maids were still on duty in the inner court, waiting for orders at any time.

Only after ten more minutes, the little black beetle had flown out of the residence of these maids before heading for the residence of those guards.

Guards in the mansion were in three shifts. While some guards were patrolling at night, the others were sleeping.

All the guards of Xuanyuan Wuji were above LV 10. However, they were just commoners in Zhang Tie's eyes. Each guard could have a single room like a dorm, which was much more advanced than that of gardeners. Zhang Tie easily entered those guards' rooms. After reading two months' memory of two guards and one LV 14 team leader of guards, Zhang Tie knew the mansion even better than elders who had lived in the mansion for dozens of years.

After integrating with this information, some problems that he had to face before killing Xuanyuan Wuji occurred to Zhang Tie's mind.

First, Xuanyuan Wuji was not a weak literati; instead, he was a powerful knight who cultivated the emperor-level Xuanyuan God Sutra ; of course, an ordinary black iron knight was trivial in Zhang Tie's eyes; however, a black iron knight who cultivated emperor-level secret knowledge must arise his attention. Zhang Tie was clear about that. Given his realm, Zhang Tie could defeat Xuanyuan Wuji in an overwhelming manner; however, he didn't know whether Xuanyuan Wuji had mastered any trump card to protect himself in an emergency.

Second, there were also powerhouses beside Xuanyuan Wuji, two shadow knights and two earth knights who were called Four Kingkongs by the guards in the mansion. One of the two shadow knights was employed by Xuanyuan Wuji, especially for his safety. The other three knights were arranged by Xuanyuan Wuji's mother, Madam Jiang in the Imperial Alliance of Emperor Xuanyuan, who was from the powerful Jiang Clan of Heavenly Stars Palace. Undoubtedly, the four of them were all loyal to him. When he launched a strike, he had to confront with these powerhouses.

The last but not the least, he had to consider the mysterious figure beside Xuanyuan Wuji——Xue Fucius.

This Xue Fucius had a strange background, which was also the hot topic of commoners in the city. According to the servants in the mansion, Xue Fucius' background was as follows——After being awarded Datang City, Xuanyuan Wuji had started to build Talents' Pavilion. After Talents' Pavilion was completed, the trivial Xue Fucius who wandered across the country for learning came to Datang City and became famous for his essay The Hymn of Jianghe River in the Talents' Pavilion. As a result, everyone across Datang City read it, raising the cost of paper. Because of this hymn, Xue Fucius directly became the VIP of Xuanyuan Wuji; he even became the latter's clerk, who was responsible for approving all the letters in the mansion on behalf of the third prince.

However, in Zhang Tie's eyes, the story of Xue Fucius could only cheat ordinary literati and servants in the mansion. Zhang Tie just took the legend as sh*t. It might be possible if Xuanyuan Wuji was a common prince who was interested in poems and essays; however, Zhang Tie was clear about Xuanyuan Wuji's target. How could a prince who keeps thinking about fighting for the throne of Taixia Country favor an old man who only excels at pieces and calligraphy?

Was there any story more fabricated than this one in this world? If it was real, all the demons might be vegetarians.

As Xue Fucius was always with Xuanyuan Wuji, Zhang Tie realized that this old man might be the largest obstacle for him to kill Xuanyuan Wuji…

Chapter 1625: A Semi-sage Knight

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

As Zhang Tie had arrived at the third prince's mansion and acquired the details about the daily life of Xuanyuan Wuji in his mansion, Zhang Tie would not leave here even if there was a lion on the road in front of him.

If he wanted to know the real battle strength of Xue Fucius, besides having a direct fight with him, Zhang Tie could also choose to observe or test him.

In a split second, Zhang Tie had worked out a method. It was time for Zhang Tie to show the power of his Great Wilderness Sutra .

There was only one animal in this world which could last over one hundred million years. It could always be found with people. It was cockroach who had a special name Xiao Qiang among Hua people.

Although cockroaches had wings like other insects, ordinary ones couldn't fly at all; instead, they could only glide. However, after the Catastrophe, as long as there were enough cockroaches, a few of them would experience a slight mutation. As a result, their flight ability would be strengthened as they could fly 300-500 m for a time. Additionally, the mutated ones were good at hiding themselves, which granted them greater viability. Some of them could even change their body colors or turn semi-transparent. Such mutated ones were called flying cockroaches. They were like special forces among cockroaches.

By applying the Great Wilderness Sutra, it only took Zhang Tie a few seconds to fetch some flying cockroaches after circling around the mansion for a while. After that, Zhang Tie applied a super hiding rune to those flying cockroaches so that they were hardly discovered. Then, the little black beetle led those flying cockroaches towards the residence of the third prince.

The residence of the third prince in the mansion was called Moonsviewing Pavilion. Everyone in the mansion knew that sometimes third prince would get off and view moons at midnight or deal with public affairs and documents in the Moonsviewing Pavilion. Therefore, the residence of Xue Fucius Guanlan Court was neighboring Moonsviewing Pavilion for the sake of the third prince.

Under the leadership of the little black beetle, some flying cockcroaches were flying across the tiled roofs and twigs. As they couldn't fly too long, they had to take a rest in each hundred of meters.

After using the leapfrogging tactic for a few times, Zhang Tie finally led some flying cockroaches to the periphery of Moonsviewing Pavilion.

The periphery of Moonsviewing Pavilion looked open. It was a bamboo wood 200 m away from Moonsviewing Pavilion, with an open grassland in between. They were connected with hollow, elegant corridors and a low, colorful parterre. In Zhang Tie's eyes, such a design was for the sake of assassination; especially in the evening, after Xuanyuan Wuji went to bed, if someone wanted to be close to Moonsviewing Pavilion, he had to pass such a distance in between. As a result, he had to expose himself especially to the powerhouses beside Xuanyuan Wuji.

There was only an accessible rockery between Guanlan Court and Moonsviewing Pavilion.

After arriving at the bamboo wood, Zhang Tie stopped. For the sake of safety, he silently drilled a cave on bamboo which had insects inside and had his little black beetle hide inside, only exposing its head to observe the situation over Moonsviewing Pavilion.

When Zhang Tie drilled inside the bamboo, those flying cockcroaches were all resting on bamboo leaves and ready for the coming task.

It was pitch-dark in Moonsviewing Pavilion. Xuanyuan Wuji appeared having fallen asleep. At this moment, at least two of the four Kingkongs would guard in Moonsviewing Pavilion. Xu Fucius's residence was also pitch-dark on one side.

Bamboo shadows began to sway on the ground by the hint of a breeze in the still night air.

Right now, Xiao Qiang special forces, go!

The first batch of two flying cockcroaches then bounced off the bamboo leaves at the same time as they extended their wings and glided in the nightscape with the help of the wind. They flew towards the Moonsviewing Pavilion and Guanlan Court, one after another dauntlessly.

Widening its eyes, the little black beetle hid in the bamboo as it observed the situation in Moonsviewing Pavilion and Guanlan Court.

The little black beetle was actually the best agent of Zhang Tie; however, as Zhang Tie had been used to it, if it was hurt, Zhang Tie would feel painful about that. Therefore, Zhang Tie fetched some cannon fodder to replace it. If these Xiao Qiang special forces were safe, it would not be late for him to use the little black beetle by then.

Under the gaze of Zhang Tie, the two flying cockcroaches soon flew over 100 m long in the night breeze. After a few seconds, when they were about 50 m away from Moonsviewing Pavilion and Guanlan Court, the two flying cockcroaches turned into ashes almost in 0.01 second as if they had flown into an invisible furnace, leaving two sparkles in the air. Closely after that, they had perished with the wind…

Zhang Tie was shocked inside.

It was a sage-level knight; no, it was a semi-sage knight. It was the strength of a semi-sage knight which was close to the realm. Zhang Tie had seen the same strength from the Sincerity Garden of Meng Shidao in Xuanyuan Hill.

There was a semi-sage knight beside Xuanyuan Wuji.

The moment the two flying cockcroaches perished, a shadow knight with sparkling triangle eyes in gloomy look and black robe appeared. After flying around Moonsviewing Pavilion as fast as a lightning bolt, the knight in black robe glanced around with gleaming eyes. After finding no abnormal situation, he disappeared again.

This shadow knight in black robe was Jiang Qianchou the grand elder of Jiang Clan of Heavenly Stars Pavilion, one of the four Kingkongs beside Xuanyuan Wuji.

Of course, the strength of semi-sage knight couldn't be executed by Jiang Qianchou. Nor could Xuanyuan Wuji and the four Kingkongs beside him would do that. That semi-sage knight must be Xue Fucius! As Zhang Tie thought, he fixated onto Guanlan Court which was in dark.

This person was a semi-sage knight beside Xuanyuan Wuji. Xue Fucius probably was a figure from the three top sects of Imperial Alliance who had changed his real name, look and identity. Besides protecting Xuanyuan Wuji, he was also responsible for communicating with Xuanyuan Wuji on behalf of the three top sects.

With the help of such a semi-sage knight, Xuanyuan Wuji even escaped from the chase of a sage-level knight.

After gaining such a discovery, it was unnecessary for Zhang Tie to investigate it any more. The little black beetle then came out of the bamboo hole and flew back to Zhang Tie's hotel while the remaining cockcroaches also flew away.

…

Over 20 minutes later, the little black beetle flew back to the room of that grand hotel on Floor 38 at the bank of Swordswashing Lake. After that, Zhang Tie appeared quietly. Standing by the window, he was watching the beautiful lake and mountains calmly.

What a competitor! Zhang Tie had not imagined that Xuanyuan Wuji could have such a great trump card in defense.

Zhang Tie was not afraid of Xue Fucius. In his opinion, Xue Fucius probably was one elder or deputy head of the three top sects who declared to enter secluded cultivation. It was normal for a knight to enter secluded cultivation for dozens of years in this stage. During this period, Xuanyuan Wuji favored him in the name of Talents' Pavilion, which didn't arouse people's doubt at all.

However, because of Xue Fucius, Zhang Tie's plan of assassination might alter.

Previously, Zhang Tie planned to kill Xuanyuan Wuji by a secret skill of Bloody Soul Sutra in this look and disappear. Given the current situation, it was almost impossible for him to kill Xuanyuan Wuji facing the protection of a semi-sage knight without using the ability of a divine dominator. However, as long as he revealed his ability of a divine dominator, even idiots would doubt him. As a result, Jinwu Palace, Iron-Dragon Sect and his relatives and friends would have endless troubles. That was not what Zhang Tie wanted.

'How could I kill Xuanyuan Wuji without arousing others' suspicion?'

Zhang Tie was thinking about it while squinting his eyes by the window. Only after a short while, a whim had occurred to his mind…

'I probably expose my ability of divine dominator if I kill Xuanyuan Wuji facing the protection of a semi-sage knight. If I don't want to arouse any suspicion, I have to be in an eye-catching place when Xuanyuan Wuji was killed. In this way, even if Xuanyuan Wuji was killed by me, nobody would doubt me. Of course, it's also not good if Lord Fairysea becomes the suspect. Perhaps Lord Fairysea doesn't care and has his way to prove his innocence; it's vile for me to do that. If I make him as a scapegoat soon after receiving his gift, it would be embarrassing for me to see Lord Fairysea later…'

'Therefore, the best moment to kill Xuanyuan Wuji is on the day of the duel in the Gobi Desert!'

'When my original being fights the sage-level knights of the three top sects on the Yinhai of Gobi Desert, I would seize the opportunity to kill Xuanyuan Wuji using my substitute.'

'I'd better die together with Xuanyuan Wuji.'

'I only need to alter the original plan a bit to make Han Zhengfang and his son and Heavens Reaching Church the scapegoat…'

'It seems that I should stay a few more days in Datang City and make a considerate plan!'

Zhang Tie gradually revealed an icy smile…

Chapter 1626: Time Flies

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

Time would not wait for anybody. The 906th year of Black Iron Calendar was a relatively peaceful year in Taixia Country since the third holy war broke out. This year, Since Immortal Qianji killed a heavenly demon knight and several shadow knights at the bank of Weishui River, the attack of demons on the east was curbed. As a result, the human army and demon army were in stalemate across the year. Although skirmishes still happened every day and the combat between ground troops in Helan Mountain continued, there were very few combats that over 1,000 knights joined.

Such a situation was relatively peaceful than that two years ago.

Although the fire ceased at the bank of Weishui River, fiery oil became hot across the country this year. Over 16,000 fiery oil production bases were increased this year. Across the country, Xuanyuan Hill, major clans and local governments all held great expectation and passion about fiery oil. As fiery oil production bases spread over the country, in the banner of combating demons and safeguarding Taixia Country, a tide of new industry represented by fiery oil planes and weapons officially came into being. The entire country started to burst its energy like a machine being started with fiery oil.

Only in one year, independent air cavalries corps had been established in each province, at least their framework had been formed. The top four armies of Taixia Country had been ready for establishing wholly new full-mechanized corps. Such a grand situation might only be matched by those industrial revolutions of humans before the Catastrophe. Many people would like to share profits from this pie, including rune alchemists and traditional mechanical engineers as they all racked their minds to invent fiery-oil instruments or weapons. Therefore, a myriad of fiery-oil weapons and machines appeared across the country…

Only in one year, there had been over 100 kinds of dual engines in Taixia Country. Besides, a large quantity of fiery-oil engines also appeared in order to fit various types and demands. The varieties of planes in the air also surged to hundreds from only a few. Even many provincial armies were matched with planes in local types. The top four armies which were well known by its powerful system and production ability started to develop new types of fiery-oil planes and weapons independently.

In order to unify the outfits and logistic supply system of provincial armies, Xuanyuan Hill had to deliver strict, unified supply standards about fiery-oil weapons and equipment to the top four armies. Provincial armies and top four armies were forbidden to use illegal fiery-oil weapons or equipment.

Nobody would deny the fact that Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory was the holy land of air cavalries. However, the industrial production capacity in Youzhou Province and Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory was poor. As long as the items produced by Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory were pushed into the market, they would soon be imitated by other provinces, prefectures and clans who had greater industrial production capacity. The latter might even bring more, better variants.

When the tide of the industrial revolution was in its climax, provinces and prefectures across Taixia Country started to face sharply different problems brought by famine.

In those provinces and prefectures being severely afflicted by famine, local governments had already opened the official storage to relieve the disaster while local officials were in panic. By contrast, the 2-year famine facing some provinces and prefectures had been relieved. Unimaginably, Youzhou Province and Fiery-Dragon Bounty gained an unprecedented harvest last year. Those official fields of Ninghe Prefecture that Zhang Tie rent brought a bumper harvest to the entire prefecture, which further stabilized and relieved the famine facing Yanzhou Province. As a result, all the forces across Northeast Military Region were gazing at Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory and Ninghe Prefecture. Before the grains of Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory and Ninghe Prefecture entered the warehouse, most of them had been purchased at high prices by people dispatched by major clans across the country.

Northeast Military Region recovered its vigor firstly from the famine that spread over the country. Therefore, Cheng Honglie the commander of Northeast Military Region was even awarded by Xuanyuan Hill and became a good model for the other military regions across the country.

In the same year, Zhang clan of Huaiyuan Palace was not peaceful. After Immortal Qianji recovered and returned to Youzhou Province from Xuanyuan Hill, his "disappearance" became a popular topic across the country. Closely after that, Zhang Taixuan the head of Huaiyuan Palace was possessed by a devil when in cultivation and committed suicide. Then, Huaiyuan Palace split up and Zhang family of Jinwu Palace became independent. After that, Immortal Qianji gained Dongtian of Great Wilderness Sect in South Border and three top sects of Taixia Country sent black invitation cards to Iron-Dragon Sect, which aroused the fury of the rest of people…

In such restless situations, the year 906 of Black Iron Calendar passed by silently and the 907th year arrived in an irresistible way…

…

On January 18, after the new year, it was still snowing heavily in Xuanyuan Hill. In the weapons testing field of the base of God's Decision Army, one of the top four armies of Taixia Country in the east of Xuanyuan Hill, Xuanyuan Changying, some generals of the top four armies and the commander-in-chief who came to Xuanyuan Hill for submitting his report were sitting in a rainshed temporarily built on a hill and watching the programs prepared by His Majesty…

In a royal prince's robe with dragon pattern and a cloak made of fiery fox's hide, Xuanyuan Changying looked pretty awe-inspiring in wind and snow.

"Your Majesty, they're coming…" After being warned by a general of God's Decision Army, Xuanyuan Changying took his telescope and looked at the sky in the north, followed by the some commanders of military regions. The others directly looked over there by gleaming eyes.

By the telescope, Xuanyuan Changying saw two lines of black points in the sky at over 10,000 m high flying towards them in heavy wind and snow. Only after a short while, the image in the telescope had been recognized as two lines of planes.

Being utterly different than the earliest air cavalry planes produced in Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory which had been matched for air cavalries at the frontline of Weishui River, these planes were absolute giants.

Each plane was longer than 70 m, wider than 60 m and higher than 8 m. On each wing, there were four high-power engines.

There were totally 8 planes. Like two rows of big birds, they were more shocking than airships. Undoubtedly, they could move faster than airships.

Watching the increasingly clearer planes in the sky, all the commanders at present changed their looks. As for these high-level officers of Taixia Country, they had been used to airboats and airships; however, it was their first time to see such huge planes.

Only after a short while, the two rows of planes had arrived above the Weapons Testing Center. In their earsplitting booms like trains running in the sky, everyone at present saw each plane opening an exit at their bottom and starting to lay eggs. The moment the eggs touched the valley between two mountains, fiery dragons had rushed into the sky while covering over 6 square miles' land…

The burning fiery dragon melted ice and snow and burned the land red. Some iron frames standing in the valley gradually turned red and soft as they started to melt. At the same time, a dark gray smoke started to suffuse over the entire region.

Even though it was far away, people on the top of the mountain could still feel hot waves from the burning fiery dragon.

Over 10 minutes later, when the fiery dragon and the dark gray smoke disappeared, the valley had been scorched black, leaving no vigor anymore.

All the commanders were petrified by such a drill. Each of them was clear about the significance of those planes. Each of them was estimated to carry over 50 tons of ammo, which was even higher than that of heavy airships. However, their speed was many times faster than airships. Such planes were definitely sharp weapons at the battlefield and would cause a great loss to the ground demon corps in only one air raid. No matter how fast ground demon corps could move, they could never match that of such huge planes. Therefore, such planes could fix the loophole of airships in an air raid. Even if they were not used for the air raid, they could also bring great convenience to logistic troops in transportation.

It was not an end yet. With the warning of a general of God's Decision Army, all of them transfixed onto the end of the valley in the far.

Right in the end of the valley, a square formation of forty odd-looking semi-caterpillar track heavy trucks was driving forth.

They were strange because of rows of huge pipes above them.

When they were about 20 miles away from this valley, the forty heavy trucks parked at the same time. Closely after that, they started to raise their pipes towards this valley.

After reaching an angle, their pipes stopped moving. After half a minute, huge "rockets" were shot out of those huge pipes with flames. They fell in the same region of the valley which had been burned black, covering it with high-temperature flames again…

"Commanders, how do you feel about the two sharp weapons?" Xuanyuan Changying put down his telescope as he asked those high-level officers with a smile…

Chapter 1627: The God's Will

Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem

After bidding farewell to those commanders and returning to the imperial palace, it was already dark while the snow turned lighter. With full ambition, Xuanyuan Changying felt pretty satisfied with what happened today.

It was his first time to ask the commanders of military regions to submit their work report to him since he was in charge of supervising the administration of the country. All the commanders had arrived, which meant that they rooted for Xuanyuan Changying to a certain degree. As a result, Xuanyuan Changying was very happy.

What was more, he revealed some trump cards in the Weapons Testing Center of God's Will Army. Watching those officers' awe-stricken looks, Xuanyuan Changying felt as cool as drinking iced sour plum soup in hot summer.

If he wanted to ascend to the throne, he had to win the sincere support of these high-level officers. If these officers didn't show enough respect and awe to him, it would be very difficult for Xuanyuan Changying to make it. Even if he could, his imperial decrees might not take effect at all. In history, from home and abroad, too many emperors were mere figureheads and always cheated by chancellors. Xuanyuan Changying didn't want to be such an awkward emperor. Otherwise, it would be meaningless for him to be an emperor; instead, he was just a puppet, which was not even as powerful and cool as a provincial governor.

In big and steady steps, Xuanyuan Changying passed by many winding corridors, on the way, all the guards, maids and female officials and butlers hurriedly gave way to him.

The plum garden had been covered with silver snow while plum flowers were opening brilliantly with a faint fragrance. However, Xuanyuan Changying didn't feel like enjoying the beautiful scenery. Only after a short while, he had come to his study room near the plum garden.

After waving his hands towards some bodyguards, Xuanyuan Changying took in a deep breath as he tried to remain a bit relaxed before pushing open the door and entering the study.

"Mr. Fang, as you've imagined, all the commanders were startled by the destructive effects of those new weapons. When I was bidding farewell to them, some of them even wanted to meet me alone…"

The copper crane was spurting out the faint fragrance of burning eaglewood while the brazier made the room much warmer. In long fur coat, Mr. Fang was browsing official documents behind a table. The moment he saw Xuanyuan Changying, he hurriedly sprung up as he bowed towards Xuanyuan Changying.

"The greatest virtue of an emperor lies in victory. Your virtue becomes more expensive in these chaotic times. All the commanders are the most practical and experienced high-level officers and the backbone of Taixia Country. As long as Your Majesty show them the hope of humans in this holy war and your efforts, Your Majesty would be a wise emperor in their eyes. All the commanders would prop for Your Majesty to stabilize the overall situation facing Taixia Country for sure…" Mr. Fang said with a smile as he had already seen through everything although being not at present.

"I was also petrified by the earth-shaking power of those new weapons. They could boil the mountains and rivers in a split second…" Xuanyuan Changying said as he took a seat. At the same time, he let Fang Qingming sit down too.

"Xuanyuan Hill is converged with many masters. Taixia Country has numerous able craftsmen and the best industrial production capacity. Given the overall national strength of Taixia Country, it's not difficult for us to develop these mass destructive weapons as long as we have fiery oil. Plus Your Majesty's concern, your subordinates would complete it carefully at a high speed. The top four armies shall be matched with such weapons step by step. Corps in Western Theater of Operations shall also share some of them. In a few years, the strength of ground demon corps would be offset by our new weapons. Even if Taixia Country couldn't establish such a corps of LV 9 soldiers, we don't need to fear demons. By then, the holy war would recover balance…"

"You're right, Mr. Fang. Fiery oil would definitely bring us long-term profits. As it could save people, it has great meritorious service!" Xuanyuan Changying commented as he made a cup of tea for himself…

Mr. Fang hurriedly stopped His Majesty as he said, "Your Majesty, the tea has been cold. I've drunk the greater part of it…"

"It's fine. I'm not that fragile!" Xuanyuan Changying said as he bottomed up the tea water. Closely after that, his facial expression became slightly frozen before turning vivid.

The tea water was not cold yet, but it tasted special. After drinking it, it tasted like ordinary tea leaves at the beginning. However, as it entered his throat, a flexible aura stayed at his mouth and tongue before suffusing over his body. Gradually it tasted sweet and aromatic endlessly…

Xuanyuan Changying was proficient in teaism while all the tea leaves in the imperial palace were of top quality provided by all the provinces with the territory of Taixia Country. However, this tea water tasted different than any others that Xuanyuan Changying had tasted. Its flexible taste was unforgettable.

Watching Xuanyuan Changying's look, Fang Qingming revealed a bitter smile inside as he realized that he couldn't keep those tea leaves anymore. He felt regretful bringing these tea leaves into the imperial palace. Since he came back from Youzhou Province, Fang Qingming would drink a few tea leaves gifted by Immortal Qianji every day. As a result, when he drunk other tea water, he always felt like lacking something. As he had been used to drink such a kind of tea, he brought them into the imperial palace to enjoy himself. Unimaginably, this secret was discovered by His Majesty.

"Sir, what kind of tea it is? There're totally 23 varieties of top-quality teas across the country. Each of them was unforgettable. However, this tea tasted utterly different than them. This tea is as unique as pure gold and jade. Despite its simple look, it had its specialty and flexible aura. With a long aftertaste, could intoxicate my spirit and lubricate my qi and blood. I wonder when did our country start to produce such a kind of top-quality tea?" Xuanyuan Changying asked Fang Qingming as he widened his eyes.

"Aah, it's gifted by Immortal Qianji when I paid a visit to Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory at your order, Your Majesty. It's said that it's planted by Immortal Qianji in Eighteen Xuantian Peaks. Only people in Iron-Dragon Sect could enjoy it. Therefore, it unknown to the public…" Fang Qingming could only make an explanation helplessly. After checking His Majesty's look, he could only say, "Your Majesty, if you like, I've got some more at home; I will bring 1 kg to Your Majesty…"

It was actually not planted by Zhang Tie; instead, this tea had long been existing in Eighteen Xuantian Peaks. It was not a top-quality tea either. After Zhang Tie had his disciples bury the ashes of Bloody Sacrifice Furnace under those tea trees, these tea leaves gradually evolved and became the favorite of elders and disciples of Iron-Dragon Sect.

His Majesty didn't know about its background. After hearing that it was related to Zhang Tie, besides being shocked, he became silent for a while before heaving a long sigh, "Is there any news about Immortal Qianji recently?"

"Since he received the black invitation cards, it's said that Immortal Qianji has been in secluded cultivation!"

"Really?" Xuanyuan Changying played with the teacup as he continued, "Air calvaries would be an independent force this year. If Immortal Qianji is here, he could be the commander of this air force, which would meet the expectation of the people. Pitifully, the three top sects are too presumptuous…" Xuanyuan Changying put the teacup onto the table forcefully. Closely after that, he watched Fang Qingming with a bit of hope as he said in a gloomy tone, "Mr. Fang, have you discovered which one do the three top sects root for through carding the reports from all parties these days, the third younger brother or the ninth younger brother…"

"I indeed discovered something; however, I need to verify it…"

"Oh, really?" Xuanyuan Changying was shocked by Mr. Fang's answer.

Fang Qingming then turned around and withdrew a report from a thick pile of documents before giving it to Xuanyuan Changying.

After taking it, Xuanyuan Changying found it was from Zhifang Palace of Youzhou Province. 'Youzhou Province again?' The royal prince frowned slightly…

The report contained over 10,000 words, which included all the events in Youzhou Province over the past two months, large or small. Xuanyuan Changying paid special attention to a paragraph which was marked in red by Mr. Fang. Huaiyuan Palace announced on January 17 that Lan Yunxi would marry Xuanyuan Wuji…

Datang City was the bounty city of Xuanyuan Changying's third younger brother. Xuanyuan Changying was also clear about the relation between Huaiyuan Palace and Zhang Tie. However, Xuanyuan Changying still didn't imagine that he could see the name of Huaiyuan Palace here. After Immortal Qianji left Huaiyuan Palace, Huaiyuan Palace was just an ordinary clan, which was not eye-catching anymore. Since Jinwu Palace was founded in the latter half of last year, Xuanyuan Changying had not heard about Huaiyuan Palace for a long time as everyone was paying heed to Jinwu Palace. They gradually forgot about Huaiyuan Palace. No matter what, there were too many ordinary clans like Huaiyuan Palace across the country. Although being a bit well-known in a local place, Huaiyuan Palace was nothing but sh*t as for Xuanyuan Hill. Nobody would care about such an ordinary clan.

Additionally, Xuanyuan Changying felt strange about the name of Lan Yunxi.

"Lan Yunxi was the daughter of Zhang Taixuan, the former head of Huaiyuan Palace. It's said that she has an exceptional flair. Later on, she joined Taiyi Fantasy Sect and became a popular candidate of the goddess of the sect. However, after the event of Zhang Taixuan, she left Taiyi Fantasy Sect and returned to Youzhou Province as the new head of Huaiyuan Palace. Now that Huaiyuan Palace has released this news to the public, it means that Taiyi Fantasy Sect has already agreed that Lan Yunxi had given up the chance to be the goddess of the sect…"

"It's my third younger brother behind the three top sects?" Xuanyuan Changying's eyes turned cold at once.

Shaking his head, Mr. Fang said, "It's still uncertain given this message. It might also be a puzzle made by the three top sects. They intend to influence our judgment by this female disciple. A few days later, Zhang Tie would fight the sage-level knights of the three top sects, I believe that the three top sects would expose some loopholes. Your Majesty, you only need to stay calm to make the preemptive move…"

"Yes, the date would come in 11 days!" Xuanyuan Hill said as he pinched the report. After being silent for a short while, he told Fang Qingming, "Mr. Fang, please go there on behalf of me again…"

"It's my pleasure, Your Majesty…"

…

At the same time, Zhang Tie was standing in his room at the hotel in Datang City and watching the heavy snow and the frozen Swordswashing Lake. He remained still for over one hour like a stone statue while the flying snowflakes and those happy ones skating on the lake looked lifeless…

One hour ago, he received the news that Lan Yunxi would marry Xuanyuan Wuji too.

What a ridiculous God's will!