Castle of Black Iron

Before they arrived at Xuanyuan Fortress, the north wind and snow had grown stronger while great drifts of snow had blown towards them…

Knights were not afraid of extreme weather. Such weather, although being bad, didn’t affect knights at all, not to mention Zhang Tie.

In the sky, Zhang Tie felt a bit gloomy when he saw the ground and the distant Weishui River through strong wind and snow. Bad weather didn’t affect knights; however, it could severely affect the ordinary ground forces; especially when Weishui was not far from being frozen in this first heavy snow at the advent of winter.

The three people moved faster than the airplane. Only after a short while, they had already finished the travel of about 180 miles and seen the giant Xuanyuan Fortress in front of them.

In the heavy snow, Xuanyuan Fortress and the other human battle fortresses were still standing to tower in the sky, distantly confronting with the army of demons and the demon battle fortresses. On the battlefield covering 120 miles, battle qi tornadoes and smokes were twisting wind and snow, indicating ceaseless fight…

Teams of human knights were patrolling around Xuanyuan Fortress and the neighboring battle fortresses while casting covetous eyes on the demon camp. More human knights were accessing Xuanyuan Fortress and the neighboring human battle fortresses. Fighters’ camp was on the ground while knights’ camp was in the sky.

When Zhang Tie approached Xuanyuan Fortress, he had already rapidly exchanged his military uniform with a boa silk robe. No matter what, it would be too eye-catching if a knight in the uniform of major of air cavalries appeared in Xuanyuan Fortress which was no different than fishing for fame.

“The news that the general was assassinated has just reached Xuanyuan Fortress, which shocked those knights in Xuanyuan Fortress very much. There’re various gossips about your assassination around Xuanyuan Fortress. Many knights are discomposed about that. As general has returned safely, you’d better do something to attract their attention…” The shadow knight on Zhang Tie’s side reminded Zhang Tie.

“Your Excellency, it’s easy for me to attract their attention, hold a minute please…” Zhang Tie instantly released his battle qi tornado. Closely after that, a huge fiery dragon appeared in the sky while flapping its wings and skyrocketing. Its roar rocked hundred of miles…

In Taixia Country, this virtual image of a fiery dragon almost became Zhang Tie’s sign. Except for Zhang Tie who could imitate the virtual image of Fiery Dragon Sutra using “Chaotic Treasure Body” that he fabricated, nobody else in Taixia Country could manifest the virtual image of a fiery dragon.

The moment they saw this virtual image, everybody knew that Zhang Tie had returned.

The virtual image of a fiery dragon almost drew the attention of all knights nearby Xuanyuan Fortress.

Zhang Tie didn’t enter Xuanyuan Fortress immediately; instead, he watched the battlefield in the distance for a few seconds. Closely after that, his eyes gleamed as he rushed over there as fast as a lightning bolt.

Zhang Tie didn’t rush towards the battlefield in the sky, but that on the ground. After flashing dozens of miles away, Zhang Tie released his Engulfing Dragon, which instantly expanded into a huge fierce dragon. Closely after that, the Engulfing Dragon changed into an immortal weapon and fell into Zhang Tie’s hand. With Engulfing Dragon in hand, Zhang Tie slashed towards the ground from over 500 m high in the sky.

The berserk and sharp sword qi instantly lurked into the earth like a lightning bolt, causing a huge pit around dozens of meters in diameter. Right from the huge pit, a badly mutilated earth spider demon knight shot into the sky while spewing out blood. 3 of its 8 feet had been broken by Zhang Tie’s sword. After being severely wounded, the spider demon was escaping towards the demon camp. However, only after hundreds of meters’ flight, it had been split open by a sword light. Zhang Tie then flew back lifting the spider demon’s bloody head, whose fangs were exposed.

Right under the gaze of everyone, Zhang Tie rapidly killed an earth demon knight who was lurking on the battlefield.

The shadow knight then gazed at Zhang Tie with widely opened eyes. It was not shocking for Zhang Tie to kill an earth spider demon knight as Zhang Tie had already displayed his ability to fight a shadow knight after he got the essence of sword song in last large-scale battle between human knights and demon knights. What shocked him was how Zhang Tie knew a spider demon was hiding beneath the earth.

“How do you know that a spider demon was hiding beneath there?” The shadow knight asked.

“No matter how it hides, it would always leave some clues. You can discover it using your mind!”

Zhang Tie put it simply, which shocked the shadow knight as he felt Zhang Tie was really profound.

Holding the bloody head of the earth spider demon knight, Zhang Tie entered Xuanyuan Fortress with that shadow knight.

“Qianji Hermit, Qianji Hermit is back…”

“Ahh, wasn’t Qianji Hermit assassinated…”

“I’m sure about that. The virtual image of the fiery dragon is a sign of Qianji Hermit…”

At the entrance of Xuanyuan Fortress, a group of strange knights hurriedly gave way to Zhang Tie respectfully at the sight of that bloody head of demon knight in his hand.

Zhang Tie had already hidden his virtual image of the fiery dragon.

There were many knights inside Xuanyuan Fortress. There was a square near the entrance. Many knights on the square had seen Zhang Tie entering with a bloody head of a spider demon knight in hand. Since he showed off his ability in the last large-scale battle and got the essence of sword song, almost everybody had been familiar with his look in Xuanyuan Fortress even though he didn’t release his virtual image of a fiery dragon. Across Xuanyuan Fortress, only Zhang Tie was a comely 17-year-old earth knight whose look formed a sharp contrast with his battle strength.

The bloody head of an earth spider demon knight in Zhang Tie’s hand was more convincing.

“Ahh, Zhang Mushen is back…”

“Wasn’t Zhang Tie ambushed and killed by a heavenly demon knight according to the news from Xinglin Prefecture, Military Province…”

“Sh*t, I’ve just sent the news back to my clan. Who’s cooking the rumor…”

…

Spider demons could secrete venom; especially those above LV 10 could already cause extra wounds to human fighters using their venom in fight. The toxicity of spider demons could barely be eradicated by common drugs. The best antidote was a gland in the mouth of a high-level spider demon. The higher level the spider demon was, the more effective and precious it would be as an antidote. The gland of earth spider demon was a war rarity which could hardly be bought in the market.

Under the gaze of all the others, Zhang Tie came to the front of a counter on the square. Closely after that, he dropped the spider demon’s head onto the counter before heading for Zuoqiu Mingyue’s office…

Only after a short while, the news of Zhang Tie’s return had spread over Xuanyuan Fortress. The panic that filled the entire Xuanyuan Fortress disappeared in a split second. The same news soon spread over all the 4 provinces in the theater of operations. Therefore, the discompose caused by Zhang Tie’s death gradually subsided…