Castle of Black Iron

The vehicle driven by the flying lizard was not heading for the prosperous core region of Dragon Emperor City, but a village outside the city.

It took them about 2 hours to arrive at a manor at the foot of a mountain in the east of Dragon Emperor City at dusk by the wonky vehicle.

The manor was very large. Leaning against a high mountain, it was facing a village with a river in between. It was the suburb of Dragon Emperor City while a large area of farmlands was neighboring that village.

After getting off the vehicle, they were all stunned by the manor and the wisps of smokes that rose from some households in the village on the opposite of the river.

At the same time, an old man was passing by with a herd of sheep on the path leading to the manor, leaving so many fresh excrements which were like black pine nuts.

With a different state of mind, Zhang Tie felt that everything here was interesting; instead of feeling embarrassed at all. By contrast, given Liu brother’s looks, Zhang Tie almost burst into laughter. They were like travelers being cheated by illegal guides.

A stern water immortal general within a dragon pattern of seven red threads in white robe was standing on the stairs outside the manor and waiting for Huang Baimei’s group, hands on his back. Although he had seen them get off the vehicle, he didn’t mean to approach them; instead, he just threw a glimpse at them.

“Head Huang, it’s Flyingdragon Manor, if I’m not needed here, I better get going…” The humble deacon bade farewell to Huang Baimei.

“Hmm, thanks!” Huang Baimei forced a genial smile towards this deacon, adding, “How are those wind immortal palaces doing in Dragon Emperor City?”

“Don’t you know about that, Head Huang? It’s said that those wind immortal palaces in Dragon Emperor City have been sold to the Emperor NvWa Palace by the church…” The humble deacon wanted to speak more; however, after taking a look at that person in white robe, he stopped. “As for others, Head Huang would know it after staying in Dragon Emperor City for a period of time…”

“Thanks!”

“See you!”

The deacon then drove away. After taking a look at the others, Huang Baimei entered the gate of the manor, followed by the others.

“Are you Huang Baimei’s group from Heavenly Square City of Nine Heavens Big Domain?” That person didn’t stop talking until Huang Baimei’s group came to his front.

“Yes!” Huang Baimei replied calmly.

“Follow me then!” That person turned around and entered the manor, followed by Huang Baimei’s group.

“These days, you will be living in Flyingdragon Manor. The daily lifestyle here is nothing different than that in the immortal palace. Two meals a day, right in the canteen of the manor. No food after noon. Each one of you will have a room. New immortal generals should especially bear in mind the awards and punishment rules in the immortal palace. Anyone who dares violate the rules would be punished two times more severely! In addition, some immortal generals from other domains have already lived in Flyingdragon Manor. Brawl is forbidden between immortal generals here. Once being found, you would be severely punished.” that person said coldly as he turned around and looked around the others with a warning. After noticing the silver dragon pattern of seven threads at Zhang Tie’s wristbands, he slightly frowned.

“General Deacon Leng, where does this scumbag come from? Why do I feel like we owed a lot of money to him in our former lives…” Zhang Tie asked Leng Manxue using his battle qi.

“Supervision Department!” Leng Manxue answered Zhang Tie straightforwardly.

‘This is the Supervision Department?’ Zhang Tie shook his head. ‘No wonder he’s cold to everyone else.’

At the sight of Huang Baimei’s group, all the servants in the manor hurriedly moved aside, waiting there and showing their respect to them. They didn’t raise their heads and return to the aisles until Huang Baimei’s group passed by.

Watching their deeds, Zhang Tie knew that it was even more hierarchical in Dragon Emperor City than Heavenly Square City.

They were soon led to a courtyard by the person in white robe. The moment they entered it, they had heard broken sounds from a room along with one’s curse, “What the f*ck is this place? There’s not even a single cultivation room. This father didn’t join Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace to suffer from this mistreatment, nor did I come here to take others’ orders. Damn it! We’ve been here for five days; however, we’ve not even got a job. Besides 10 element crystals a month, we got nothing else. What the hell does that mean? If I knew that Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace was such a sh*t place, I would never have joined it…”

At the same time, a fierce immortal general with whiskers slammed his door forcefully and left there, coincidentally encountered with Zhang Tie’s group. When he caught sight of the immortal general in white robe from the Supervision Department, he became stunned at once.

The immortal general in white robe looked straight into that person’s eyes distantly as he scolded, “As you’ve ruined properties of the immortal palace, you need to pay tens times more for that. The fine would be deducted from your monthly compensation. As you’ve already joined the immortal palace, if you betray the immortal palace, even if you survive the damage of the bloody pledge, you would not survive the chase of the killers dispatched by Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace!”

After saying these words, the immortal general in white robe ignored the fierce immortal general directly as he led Zhang Tie’s group through this courtyard and came to a neighboring courtyard, leaving that fierce immortal palace standing still with a flush, feeling being put on the spot.

After penetrating through this courtyard and detouring around a pond, they came to their own courtyard.

Their courtyard was neither large nor small. Covering 1,000 square meters, it was composed of two storeys and over 10 rooms. There were a lush huge tree and a pond in the courtyard. A butler was waiting there. After leaving some words to the butler and having the butler give a key to each of Zhang Tie’s group, the person in the white robe had left.

Playing with the key in hand, Zhang Tie slightly shook his head. Commoners could live in such a courtyard; however, it was really improper for immortal generals to live here as immortal generals needed the secret environment for cultivation. This courtyard didn’t have any isolated or preventive measures at all. Therefore, nobody would feel reassured entering cultivation here. As long as they were disturbed in cultivation, they might be possessed by devils. No wonder that guy with whiskers lost his temper.

“Zhang Tie, come to my room. I’ve got something to talk with you!” Before Zhang Tie returned to his room, he had heard Huang Baimei’s voice; therefore, Zhang Tie followed Huang Baimei to his room.

At that time, Zhang Tie saw Zhou Baifei, who got his key first, catch up with that immortal general in white robe outside the courtyard and talk to him with a big smile.

Of course, Zhang Tie was crystal clear about the contents of their talk even if he didn’t want to eavesdrop it.

As Zhang Tie listened to the talk between Zhou Baifei and that person in white robe, he entered Huang Baimei’s room.

“Take a seat…”

After entering the room, Huang Baimei took a glance at the room before sitting down ahead of Zhang Tie.

“Head Huang, go ahead if you have something to talk with me…” Zhang Tie smiled as he sat beside Huang Baimei.

Huang Baimei took a look at Zhang Tie, feeling sorry about him. After being silent for one second, he started the talk using his battle qi, “The current situation facing Dragon Emperor City is out of my expectation. I just heard about it. The five elders and two grand justices of the Church are all busy cultivating so that they could promote to supreme immortal generals as soon as possible. Therefore…therefore…the atmosphere in Dragon Emperor City is a bit…a bit subtle…”

Zhang Tie asked with an amazed look, “Head, what do you mean by ‘subtle’?”

“The five elders and two grand justices are all fire immortal generals. As long as one of them could promote to a supreme immortal general within one century, that person would become the immortal king and inherit everything of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace!”

Zhang Tie acted like he finally understood it as he replied, “Oh, I see. Head, you mean the relationship between the five elders and the two grand justices are not harmonious…”

“Alas, who could imagine that Dragon Emperor City would deteriorate to such a situation in such a short period of time!” Huang Baimei sighed as he added, “Last year, Dragon Emperor City was still fine. The relationship between the five elders and the two grand justices was not such intense yet. They were still working together for the sake of the immortal palace. However, during the past one year, the Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace has changed a lot. You’re smart, you know what I mean!”

“I see!” Zhang Tie let out a sigh too. ‘As the dragon emperor is missing, it would be strange if Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace, being such a large organization, was not a mess.’ Zhang Tie thought that the semi-sage knights in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace might have long started a fight if not being threatened by demons and being afraid of being shared by the other forces of immortal palaces. The action that Star Emperor Immortal Palace occupied Biyao City of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. The external stress led to the basic stability and divisions inside Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. Those elders and grand justices had their own plans. Even if they didn’t start a brawl in the public, as they were all striving for one title, it was impossible for Dragon Emperor City to run smoothly…

“I’ve not reported what you’ve done in Heavenly Square City to the Church. Previously, you should share those booties; however, if I told the truth to the Church, you might have trouble. Therefore…”

“Thanks for your concern, head, it’s just a bit otherworldly wealth. It’s meaningless to me. Just let the bygones be bygones. I would not care about it!” Zhang Tie said sincerely as he understood Huang Baimei’s concern. Additionally, Zhang Tie didn’t want to expose what he had done in Heavenly Square City to the public. As too many people were competing inside Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace and peoples’ hearts were most complex and unpredictable, in someone’s eyes, what Zhang Tie had done might be good; however, the others might not think so.

“Glad to hear that!” Huang Baimei smiled, feeling reassured, “I got the right man!”

“Previously I wanted to develop my undertaking in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. It seems that Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace is facing a more complex situation than I had imagined!” Zhang Tie said with a bitter smile, “Now that Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace is facing such a poor situation and didn’t welcome us, why did they determine to recruit more immortal generals in Nine Heavens Big Domain?”

“Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace is unstable. Previously, according to the Church, they wanted to recruit some more immortal generals so as to train a big formation of thousands of immortal generals after Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace contracted its force for the safety of the Dragon Emperor Big Domain. However, Elder Shi who masters the foundation of the big formation changed his opinion these days. As the other elders disagreed with him, they couldn’t make a decision; therefore, it’s a bit disordered in Dragon Emperor Big Domain now!”

Zhang Tie shook his head as he asked, “Head, are you ready to join those elders and the two grand justices? I’m afraid that someone you know would come for you earlier than tomorrow…”

After hearing Zhang Tie’s words, Huang Baimei quivered slightly as he watched Zhang Tie with sparkling eyes. Zhang Tie just watched him with a smile. The room became pretty quiet at a stroke.

After a short while, Huang Baimei hid his sparkling eye light as he revealed a bitter smile, saying, “It seems that you know everything. Would you believe that if I told you I don’t know either?”

“Of course!” Zhang Tie nodded as he added, “Head, you should belong to the centrist that were loyal to the Dragon Emperor before. You always kept a distance with those elders and the two grand justices. Otherwise, they would not dispatch you to Heavenly Square City which was far away from Dragon Emperor Big Domain for so many years. Facing the complex situation inside Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace, I understand why head couldn’t make a decision!”

“What would you do if you were me?” Huang Baimei asked Zhang Tie.

“On this occasion, if you choose to rely on an elder; of course you would be taken care of by that elder’s force. Meanwhile, you would be repelled by the other elders. If you don’t join any of them, you wouldn’t offend anybody; nor would you be favored by anyone. If I were you, head, I would choose the second way. I don’t care about them. I just do as same as before!”

“Why?”

Zhang Tie revealed a disdainful smile, replying, “They just care about profits. None of them could promote to a supreme immortal general after Dragon Emperor disappeared for 900 years. None of them could defeat the others and integrate the entire Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. Even if all of them promoted to supreme immortal generals in 100 years, they would also be defeated by immoral emperors. By following them, people wouldn’t see a bright future. If so, why do we waste our time keeping them company? Why not jump out of this circle and find a place for cultivation. Just reply to yourself! Even if you prepare to rely on someone in the future, you should find someone with a prospect. At least, you will look clean in their eyes at that time!”

Zhang Tie’s words shocked Huang Baimei for quite a while. After a few seconds, Huang Baimei asked Zhang Tie, “Now that you don’t look good at Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace, why did you join it?”

Zhang Tie shrugged, saying, “It’s a coincidence. Heavenly Square City was the first city that I visited after losing my memory. As everything was strange to me, I just joined the branch of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace in Heavenly Square City. It’s not bad to join an organization. I have not thought about getting anything from Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. If I came to Heavenly Square City a few days later, I might have already joined Unicorn Immortal Palace. If I came to Biyao City at that time, I might have already joined Star Emperor Immortal Palace…this might be God’s will!”

“What if Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace disappears in 100 years…”

“So what? Without Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace, the immortal generals in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace wouldn’t have to die for Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace; they would have other chances. Other immortal palaces would be founded in Motian Realm, and would assume their own responsibilities, fighting demons. Isn’t it good? It’s always better for human elites to fight demons under the leadership of talented ones than incompetent ones. A herd of sheep under the leadership of a lion is always more aggressive than a herd of lions under the leadership of a sheep!” Zhang Tie shrugged as if he didn’t care about anything, continuing, “After all, the current situation facing Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace is not caused by me. Those who should be responsible for it is Dragon Emperor or the Church. If the Dragon Emperor didn’t disappear and the Church was not incompetent, Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace would not face such a poor situation. I don’t feel sorry about it at all. I just live up to my monthly compensation and consciousness!”

Huang Baimei watched Zhang Tie, shaking his head, then nodding before revealing a bitter smile, “Whatever, I’ve promised you to recommend you to the Supervision Department. When I make my work report to the elders, I would fulfill my promise!”

“Just let it be…”

One minute later, watching Zhang Tie close his door, Huang Baimei was slowly in meditation as he murmured, “Just let it be…would such a person really lose all of his memory…”

…

When Zhang Tie left Huang Baimei’s room, Zhou Baifei had returned to the courtyard. At the sight of Zhang Tie, Zhou Baifei turned solemn at once as he returned to his room!

‘What a weirdo!’

Zhang Tie pretended to not know about it. On the way back to his room, Zhang Tie saw Jiang Ruoxin pulling Ji Yuelan out of the latter’s room with a blush. Ji Yuelan didn’t look good either.

“What’s up?” Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

“We couldn’t live in such a broken house…” Ji Yuelan lost her temper. At the sight of Zhang Tie, she instantly grabbed Zhang Tie’s hand, saying shamelessly, “Whatever, we two would not live in such rooms. I’m afraid that General Deacon Leng would not live here either. As the deputy head, you have to solve this for us!”

“Ahh? Is there a cockroach, rat or something else disgusting inside the room?” Zhang Tie took a cursory glance at Ji Yuelan’s room as he continued, “But I don’t see any!”

“Alas, you don’t understand…” Ji Yuelan stomped her feet.

After taking a look at Jiang Ruoxin who slightly blushed and hearing the splashes of water from Liu Yong’s room, Zhang Tie understood it at once——erm, the reason is a bit ridiculous. Although they had their own rooms, all the men in the courtyard could hear clearly about those girls’ “songs” in their own rooms given the sharp auditory sense of knights. It was so embarrassing!

Zhang Tie realized that Jiang Ruoxin might have not discovered this problem at the beginning; however, when she prepared to “sing a song”, she suddenly felt something wrong. Therefore, she stopped it with a bashful look…

After thinking through it, Zhang Tie burst into laughter at once.

…