Castle of Black Iron

“Why does Prince Changying favor Jinwu Hall so much? You would understand it given the people who come to attend the ceremony of Jinwu Palace.”

“Why?”

“To establish a close relationship with Jinwutang means to rope in Heavenly Fortune Sect, Demons-Killing Valley, Iron Dragon Sect, Lord Guangnan’s Mansion. It means Royal Prince Xuanyuan Changying establishes a stable relationship with Jinwu Palace for the trade of firey oil and all-purpose medicaments. He could increase his wealth internally and control people externally. By treating Immortal Qianji’s Clan generously, Royal Prince Xuanyuan Changying is actually showing his favor to tens of thousands of Hua knights and the air cavalries over the sky in the Western Theater of Operations and stabilizing the country. In the opinion of the important ministers and senior officials in Xuanyuan Hill, this is what a wise emperor should do. In this way, the royal prince’s throne couldn’t be shaken by anybody. I think someone in Xuanyuan Hill will persuade His Highness to remove the position of regent and officially ascend the throne. Compared with Meng Shidao and the Engulfing Party, Immortal Qianji is the one who really helps His Highness to ascend the throne.”

When Princess Peacepursuing’s airboat slowly landed in Xuantian City, an elder in Lord Xuanwu’s Mansion was whispering to a younger brother of Lord Jingtian secretly at the wedding ceremony.

At this time, among the guests and the crowd, a great number of knights and heroes were communicating with their friends using their battle qis. Almost all of them were talking secretly with the people around them or with the people they knew. The difference between their talks was in the topic, even on the same occasion.

It was also the first opportunity for many representatives of major clans who came to Youzhou first to observe Jinwu Palace from such a close distance.

“Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness would send his daughter here. It’s really a high payment!”

“If I were His Royal Highness, not to mention one princess, even if I have 100 princesses, as long as Immortal Qianji agrees, I would send all of them here. Royal ladies are especially used to play a great role at this critical moment. Unfortunately, the God envies Immortal Qianji and brought him away in the Yinhai Desert in Sand Province; what a pity! If Immortal Qianji was still alive, 20 years later, Taixia Country must see an utterly different situation…”

“That’s right. It’s said that Fiery Dragon Bounty Territory is preparing to build some Class A cities at the same time!”

“Not preparing, but already in progress. Xuantian City is said to be used for wedding temporarily. Given the wealth of Jinwu Palace, of course, it’s impossible for them to stay in such an ordinary small town.”

…

“I wonder how the three major sects will feel when they see this scene!”

“Needless to say, the three major sects have already been too restless to take care of themselves. The Heavens Holding Pavilion has lost a sage-level knight. The mountain gate of Taiyi Fantasy Sect is still in a mess. The case of the collapse of Great Wilderness Sect was said to be transparent. Some people have come to the Supreme Court to testify that knights of Qionglou Pavilion were involved in this case. What’s more, the conspiracy of the black invites of the three major sects has been revealed to the public, arousing a hot discussion among the people…”

“I have also heard that the three major sects have long known that the space above the Yinhai Desert is very unstable. The crack in the space was caused by people. Previously, the three major sects wanted to kill Immortal Qianji; however, because Immortal Qianji is a gentleman with a high reputation across the country, to kill him in the public will make the three major sects completely passive and cause great public anger. Therefore, they came up with the idea——using black invites to lead Immortal Qianji to the Yinhai Desert; then, they would kill Immortal Qianji using the space crack above Yinhai Desert, by making it look like an accident, they didn’t have to shoulder the condemnation from the rest of the country. Unexpectedly, there might be some problem at that time. As a result, even Heavenly Hunyuan was killed by the space crack, which was a great loss for Heavens Holding Pavilion…”

“Karma…”

…

“I heard that Immortal Qianji’s children were born a few days ago…”

“You bet; look at those babies in the cradle of those females of Jinwu Palace. It’s said that they are all boys; besides, there are also a pair of boy-girl twins!”

“They’re too poor. The babies were born with no father!”

“Even if they only have mothers, they’re not too poor. Look at those women cradling their babies, the princess of Lord Guangnan’s Mansion, Yan Feiqing, who presides over Iron Dragon Sect, and Guo Hongyi. The mothers of these babies are not ordinary people!”

“That’s true. The babies of Immortal Qianji will have a bright future…”

“With such great parents, influential clan background and excellent relatives and brothers, these babies would definitely have a bright future!”

Unlike those men, a few female guests on the auditorium were concerned more those special females who were cradling babies of Jinwu Palace.

…

Yan Feiqing, Bai Suxian and Guo Hongyi were all in plain white gorgeous thick mink velvet overcoat today. Because they had given birth to babies, the three women were more graceful and plump. Each of them was cradling a baby in their arms while attending Zhang Chenglei’s wedding ceremony as his seniors.

Those babies had already opened their eyes and were watching everything around them quietly out of curiosity.

“Mom said that these babies are still young and would easily catch a cold outside. Ladies, you could take a rest in the parlor with babies for the time being…” Zhang Tie’s sister-in-law walked to them as she suggested them in a low voice.

“These babies are Zhang Tie’s descendants even if they are young. They could experience what their father has experienced. Such cold weather doesn’t matter for them at all.” Yan Feiqing calmly replied, “It’s their eldest brother’s wedding ceremony. All the people of Zhang Clan are present. As members of the Zhang Clan, they cannot be absent. If Zhang Tie was here, he would never let them hide in the house!”

After hearing Yan Feiqing’s words, Zhang Tie’s elder sister-in-law sighed slightly and did not speak anymore; but those people nearby were shocked by her words in their hearts.

As the VIPs and guests were whispering to each other, the grand and luxurious airboat of the imperial households of Taixia Country had already arrived at the exclusive airport. The hatch door of the airboat was then opened when the gangway ladder was declined. Closely after that, the first man stepped out of the airboat.

The person who came out first was not Princess Peacepursuing, but an elder of the Clansmen Affairs Department of royal households in Taixia Country. The first one who came forward to welcome him was not Zhang Chenglei, but his elder uncle Zhang Yang. The two men greeted each other in a low voice at the hatch door of the airboat. As the music sounded, Princess Peacepursuing, in auspicious clothes, came out of the airboat surrounded by some female officials and imperial maids. Zhang Chenglei then walked towards her calmly escorted by Zhang disciples. After holding Princess Peacepursuing’s hand, Zhang Chenglei took Princess Peacepursuing to the old lady and old master of Zhang Clan sitting on the main seats.

The wedding ceremony officially kicked off.

The loud sound of trumpets was accompanied by booms in the sky as a neat formation of air cavalry planes began to appear in the sky above Xuantian City, leaving rainbows across the sky above the wedding site while the entire Xuantian City was filled with deafening cheers.

At the same time, the ceremonial bells began to ring in other big cities, Jinwu City and towns within Fiery Dragon Bounty Territory where hundreds of millions of people of Jinwu Palace gathered. In the bells, squads of planes flew through the main streets of these cities at a low altitude, leaving colorful smokes, in which process, their hatch doors opened, dropping countless red purses which contained gold or silver coins like a red flower rain. When they fell on the icy streets, squares, roofs, all the cities and towns within the territory were instantly in revelry.

Jinwu Palace used tens of thousands of airplanes to sprinkle red purses containing tens of millions of gold coins over Fiery Dragon Bounty Territory. It favored tens of thousands of households and enjoyed the festive atmosphere with its people, which shocked the rest of the country.

No other force could be compared with its generosity. Representatives of major clans in Taixia Country exchanged glances with each other silently while all the envoys from other countries who attended the wedding ceremony changed their faces out of shock…

There was a proverb on the Western Continent that read “Pies did not fall from the sky.” However, in Taixia Country today, people saw gold coins falling from the sky.

…

“Look at the undertakings you leave here, b*stard. Your son is getting married, but you escaped…” In the heavy snow, Donder shouted on the top of the highest brand-new tower in the Blackhot City within Fiery Dragon Bounty Territory with the other brothers of Hit-Plane Brotherhood, such as Bali, Sharwin, Bagdad, Leiter and Hista. Drinking alcohol, facing the north wind, they were commemorating Zhang Tie in their own way.

Looking at the airplanes sprinkling countless red envelopes and Blackhot City which was in jubilation as a whole, Donder’s eyes turned blurry as if he was drunk. He continued to shout towards the sky at the top of the tower, “Do you remember what you said in the grocery store? You said that one day you would have enough money that couldn’t be used up for ten generations, and if your son got married, you would sprinkle countless gold coins from the sky so that everyone else could have fun with you. You said you would invite the orphans in the orphanage of Blackhot City for a luxurious steak dinner. Now you have enough money that can’t be used up for 100 generations; one of your sons is getting married, and Jinwu Palace is sprinkling money. All children in numerous Jinwu Orphanages across Taixia Country can enjoy a luxurious dinner today. But where are you? Why are you not here to have a drink with us, b*stard…”

In the exclamation, Donder sprinkled the alcohol from the top of the tower. The alcohol instantly turned into snow and mist when it met the cold air and the north wind.

“You liar, you said you were going to be my son’s master. I’ve got a lot of sons; we rebuilt Blackhot City in Taixia Country, which belongs to us. But we couldn’t find you. Where are you enjoying yourself? You liar, liar. I will never believe you anymore.” Doug burst into cries.

When residents in the new Blackhot City were in the carnival, Bali and the others of Hit-Plane Brotherhood on the top of the tower burst into tears.

…

At the same time, when the territory of Jinwu Palace in Youzhou Province was covered with joy, the atmosphere in the mountain gate of Taiyi Fantasy Sect was slightly depressed.

Taiyi Old Man, in black and white Taoist gown, eyes half closed, was listening to the report about the business of Taiyi Fantasy Sect in latest months, together with several dignified figures of Taiyi Fantasy Sect from an elder in charge of the secular business of Taiyi Fantasy Sect.

Although Taiyi Fantasy Sect looked something with so many knights, its foundation was still inseparable from the most basic secular things, such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, and treasures. Without these necessities, Taiyi Fantasy Sect couldn’t survive at all.

“In recent months, the revenue of all the eight major business groups being affiliated to Tiayi Fantasy Sect have declined. Many customers who originally cooperated with our business groups have now chosen other business groups; especially the business between our subordinate business groups and the prefectures and governments of Taixia Country which have almost been replaced by other business groups of Gold and Power Law after Zhang Yang became the leader of Gold and Power Law in recent months. As for the business of fiery oil and all-purpose medicaments, our business groups are completely excluded. We can’t touch it at all. The Jinwu Business Group have completely blocked our supply channels and prohibited any business groups or clans from supplying us with fiery oil and all-purpose medicaments. Our Heavenly Craftsmen Business Group has been making airplanes since last year and has fixed sales channels. But a few months ago, those clans which would like to accept our airplanes suddenly violated the contracts by paying us liquidated damages. We asked them privately; they said that they couldn’t get a drop of fiery oil if they dared buy our airplanes; otherwise, they could only take the airplanes as ornaments as they could never fly.”

“Even in the traditional fields of cloth, tobacco, tea, medicinal materials, mineral deposits, high-end ordnance and grain trade, we are also facing a sudden number of competitors which are closely related to Gold and Power Law or Jinwu Business Group. As a result, many businesses of ours have been replaced by others…”

“Over the past few months, the revenue of the business groups being affiliated to our sect has dropped by more than 20% in total…”

The other heads of Taiyi Fantasy Sect just listened to the report quietly; none of them revealed a smile anymore. Instead, they just looked at Taiyi Old Man quietly.

Everyone knew the reason for all these but they didn’t say it.

In less than one year since the battle at Yinhai Desert broke out, the bright silver hair of Taiyi Old Man seemed to have become a bit grey.

After sending out three black invites to Zhang Tie, although Zhang Tie was supposed to die, the three major sects also suffered an unexpected, great loss.

The death of the Heavenly Hunyuan was beyond everyone’s expectation.

The fact that Xuanyuan Wuji the third prince of Emperor Xuanyuan was assassinated was even more unacceptable.

Everyone at present had a feeling of coming out empty-handed. No one knew why. It seemed that there was an invisible hand in charge of all these, which made people feel chilly.

Was the case of black invites closed? No, it was just going on in another way.

Zhang Tie was dead, but Zhang Tie’s sons and wives were still alive; so was Jinwu Palace. Therefore, this case had not come to an end.

“In the past six months, the number of people who wanted to be the outside disciples of Taiyi Fantasy Sect has also decreased a lot…” The elder said in a low voice, and then looked at Taiyi’s ancestor secretly again.

The room was then in silence. Taiyi Old Man was sitting there with half-closed eyes. Nobody knew what he was thinking about at this time. After a short while, Taiyi Old Man opened his eyes completely. After taking a look at all the others at present, he said leisurely, “I underestimated Immortal Qianji and Royal Prince…”

It was the first time for Taiyi Old Man to admit his “error” in public since the battle at Yinhai Desert. For a time, the people in the room remained silent as they didn’t know what to say.

However, Taiyi Old Man kept talking himself which shocked all the others at present.

“But we’ve not been defeated yet; nor is it a time to admit defeat. Just like the holy war between Taixia Country and demons, it’s just a start. This little difficulty can’t shake Taiyi Fantasy Sect at all. Our goal will certainly be achieved. No one can stop it.” Taiyi Old Man said as his eyes turned sharp as if his eye light could pierce through the void at a stroke. Looking at the distance with profound and cold eyes, he added, “Three years, in just three more years, demons will create opportunities for us…”

Ah, demons? Why demons? The leaders of the Taiyi Fantasy Sect asked as they looked at each other.

“Do you think demons have mobilized all of their force in this battle? Do you think the Western Theatre of Operations of Taixia can really stop them?” Taiyi Old Man asked as he smiled coldly, “If you think so, you must have looked down upon demons too much. It’s not come to the moment when Taixia Country is completely collapsed yet; but… It is not far away…”