Castle of Black Iron

The first snow in Youzhou this year came a bit late than that in previous years. Not until December did the heavy snow come slowly in the midst of the overflowing north wind.

On December 26, the second day of the heavy snow, Dragon Bounty Territory of Youzhou Province became the focus of the world again.

Today, Zhang Chenglei, the eldest son of the late Immortal Qianji, would marry the princess of Taixia Country, the daughter of Xuanyuan Changying, which meant that Jinwu Palace of Youzhou Province formally established a relationship with the Taixia royal households through marriage and became the royal relatives.

This marriage symbolized that Jinwu Palace of Youzhou Province officially became a top sect and clan in Taixia Country.

Qianji Zhenjun had passed away, but Jinwu Palace had just started to give out its brilliance.

…

In the new ancestral hall of Jinwu Palace, Xuantian City, the flames were burning heavily and the bronze tripod was hot. Facing the dancing flames, Zhang Chenglei, in auspicious red costume, hands on his back, was pulsing his lips and clenching his fists. The young man stood quietly in front of the altar of the hall, raising his head and looking at the new statue of Zhang Tie which was tens of meters high.

The statue looked young and handsome. Standing with a sword, Zhang Tie was looking ahead with tender and firm eyes, looking pretty heroic and profound.

In front of the statue, the first ancestral tablet of the forebear of Jinwu Palace was set. The tablet was more than two meters high. Being made of pure gold, it was put in the middle of the sacrificial platform.

In the middle of the tablet, there was a line of conspicuous scarlet words—— the spiritual position of Zhang Tie Zhang Mushen, the hero of Jinwu Palace.

On both sides of the line, under the words “wives” and “sons”, there were dense rows of names. At the bottom of these names, there were words “stand weeping”.

In the battle of Yinhai Desert, Zhang Tie and Heavenly Hunyuan were involved in the space crack. On the same day, news came from Heavens Holding Pavilion that the life lamp of Heavenly Hunyuan being placed in Zhitian Pavilion died out which meant the death of Heavenly Hunyuan.

None of the people involved in space cracks could come back alive since ancient times.

Life lamp was very rare. Across Taixia Country, in addition to some sage-level knights, only first-class figures like Royal Prince could light their life lamps. Although Zhang Tie did not leave his life lamp, he had been considered to die after falling into the space crack together with Heavenly Hunyuan.

In the space crack, even sage-level knights could be killed instantly. It was impossible for Immortal Qianji to survive it even if he was something.

Everyone held this opinion.

According to the regulation in Taixia Country, after someone died for 49 days, his family members couldn’t stop worshipping them. Therefore, after the battle of Yinhai Desert broke out for 49 days, Zhang Tie’s family and disciples buried Zhang Tie’s clothes and made a tomb for him with great grief. At the same time, in the ancestral hall of Jinwu Palace, Zhang Tie’s statue and spiritual position were set.

Zhang Chenglei raised his head and looked at the familiar and slightly unfamiliar face of the statue in the hall while the past scenes poured into his mind at once, which made Zhang Chenglei’s eyes more determined and firmer in grief.

The statue was of his loving father who played with him in the water at home and let him ride around his neck and play madly. Outside the home, the man fought demons on the battlefield and saved numerous people. His father was absolutely the idol deep in his heart and the power that led him forward.

Zhang Chenglei did not cry, or had forgotten how to cry. Disasters were a catalyst for men to grow up. When he knew what happened to his father and was sent to Heavenly Fortune Sect to learn battle skills together with his two brothers, as Zhang Tie’s eldest son, Zhang Chenglei gradually forgot tears.

The blood debt must be paid for!

“Dad, rest assured. I swear, one day, I will destroy Heavens Holding Pavilion, Taiyi Fantasy Sect, and Qionglou Pavilion for you. I will take good care of my brothers and sisters. None of them would suffer a little grievance…”

On this special day, Zhang Chenglei made a silent oath in his heart in the face of Zhang Tie’s spiritual status and photo.

Hearing the familiar footsteps coming from outside, Zhang Chenglei burned three incenses for Zhang Tie after taking an oath. Then, he kowtowed three times respectfully towards his father’s statue before walking towards the gate of the ancestral hall.

Before he reached the gate of the ancestral hall, the gate had been pushed open from outside as Zhang Chengting came in.

“Eldest brother, the airboats of Xuanyuan Hill are coming soon. Eldest uncle asked me to inform you…”

“Okay, let’s go…”

The moment he walked out of the front gate of the ancestral hall, Zhang Chenglei had seen over 100 imperial airboats over the sky without even looking up. The fleet of airboats had already reached outside Xuantian City, which indicated the arrival of princess of Taixia Country. With the arrival of the flying boat team, a total of 108,000 welcoming trumpets sounded while the longhorns instantly covered the entire Xuantian City.

…

At this time, all the influential figures in Northeast Military Region from governor Cheng Honglie to the local major clans’ representatives within Fiery Dragon Bounty Territory had gathered in Xuantian City. In addition to the local major clans in the Northeast Military Region, Heavenly Fortune Sect, Demons-Killing Valley, the six main gates in Taixia, Bai clan of Lord Guangnan, Lu Clan of Lord Xuanwu, Sun Clan of Lord Jingtian, Cao Clan of Lord Dingxi and Qin Clan of Lord Yian had dispatched major figures to attend the ceremony. Besides, Zuoqiu Clan and Guan Clan also dispatched important people here. Even Meng Shidao had sent a congratulatory gift.

497 of 875 clans surnamed Zhang Tie across Taixia Country had arrived. Additionally, dozens of ambassadors of big countries in the western continent and other sub-continents arrived.

Because Xuantian City couldn’t accommodate so many guests’ airboats, these guests’ flying boats parked 200 kilometers away in the furthest so as to spare the place to the fleets of airboats which sent and brought the princess.

This was the wedding of the eldest son of Immortal Qianji and the coronation ceremony of Jinwu Palace for being a major clan. Taixia Country had not held such a large-scale and spectacular wedding for many years. This wedding was qualified to be the wedding of the century.

After Qianji Zhenjun’s death in the Yinhai Desert, Jinwu Palace’s influence did not fall; instead, it showed a flourishing trend.

In June, Zhang Yang, the elder brother of Immortal Qianji Zhang Tie, was formally appointed by Xuanyuanqiu as the leader of Gold and Power Law. He was in charge of Gold and Power Law and served as the secretary of the agricultural minister of Taixia Country.

In August, Xuanyuan Hill officially approved the establishment of Air Cavalry of Taixia Country. Zhang Tie’s cousin Zhang Su became the commander of the Air Cavalry in the Northeast Military Region, being formally responsible for the establishment of the Air Cavalry Corps in the Northeast Military Region.

In September, Zhang Tie’s parents gained special honors from Xuanyuan Hill. Zhang Tie’s mother was crowned as Yihe Taijun ¹ and Zhang Tie’s father LordGuanglu ² .

In October, Zhang Tie’s second son served as general of Youzhou Province while Zhang Tie’s third son entered the Northeast Military Region and became the secretary of Cheng Honglie.

The thriving Zhang clan of Jinwu Palace and the glories they had won made people envious and bloodshot.

But that was not all. In December, Xuanyuan’s daughter, Xuanyuan Bing the Princess Peacepursuing of Taixia Country married Jinwu Palace which pushed it to a peak and attracted the attention of people from the rest of the world.

Many people did not understand why Prince Xuanyuan Changying, who was far away in Xuanyuan Hill, relied upon and favored the deceased Immortal Qianji and Jinwu Palace so much…