Castle of Black Iron

Translator: WQL  Editor: Aleem

In the process of heading for Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, Zhang Tie and a lot of people were sitting or standing around a long table in a large luxurious lounge on the top of the airboat while drinking and talking about a map on the table.

The map was sent by the land resources administer of Northeast Military Region before the airboat left Jinwu City today along with a lot of doc.u.ments and contracts about the owners.h.i.+p of the land in Youzhou Province.

This time, the official efficiency was pretty high. After confirming that Zhang Tie was Cui Li, all the formalities had been dealt with in less than a week; additionally, the land resources administer of Northeast Military Region sent them to Zhang Tie himself.

Zhang Tie"s land in Youzhou Province was composed of 4 parts: first, Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, which was rewarded by the imperial court of Taixia Country; second, the rest part of Yangui Mountain Range which was gifted by Guan Clan after he won the bet with Guan Qianchong; third, Zanggu Plateau in the north of Youzhou Province that he bought; fourth, 1.2 million square miles" land that was gifted by Gold and Power Law in this rotating chakra ceremony.

On the map, Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory was connected with Yangui Mountain Range; Zanggu Plateau was over 1,200 km away in the north of Yangui Mountain Range, which was a barren land. However, the land gifted by Gold and Power Law was right in between Yangui Mountain Range and Zanggu Plateau. As a result, Zhang Tie"s private land in Youzhou Province became one piece.

Given this point, Gold and Power Law had carefully selected the gift for Zhang Tie. Based on the relations.h.i.+p between Gold and Power Law and the imperial court of Taixia Country, it was as easy as winking for the former to look up the private land of Zhang Tie in Youzhou Province. When Gold and Power Law saw the open land between Zhang Tie"s two pieces of land, of course, they selected the open land as their sincerest gift.

Zhang Tie marked his private land in Youzhou Province red on the map.

It was an irregular half-moon shaped region. The upper part of the region was Zanggu Plateau, which had the highest terrain; the middle part of the region was gifted by Gold and Power Law, which was mainly plain; the lower part of the region was Yangui Mountain Range.

This red region on the official map of Northeast Military Region covered about 5.35 million square miles, which was much larger than 5 million square miles as was imagined by Zhang Tie. There were two reasons for this: first, 1.4 million square miles" land that Gold and Power Law"s representatives reported on the spot of Zhang Tie"s rotating chakra ceremony was only to correspond to the quant.i.ties of the other gifts in the list of presents. Actually, such a large area of land had to be divided according to the topographic features such as mountains and rivers within the territory. Therefore, it was hard to get an integer. In fact, Gold and Power Law gifted him 1.35 million square miles" land; second, the precise land areas of Zanggu Plateau and Yangui Mountain Range were slightly greater than that estimated by Zhang Tie.

According to Zhang Tie"s request, the total 6.25 million square miles" land area was called Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory.

“I remember that there were large batches of green unpopulated areas within the territory of Youzhou Province 5 years ago. It"s really out of my imagination that most of such regions have disappeared…” Zhang Tie let out a sigh with emotion.

Since this map was taken out, Zhang Tie had been standing beside the table and watching this map seriously. He felt a bit thrilled and satisfied as if he was watching the building structure plan of a house or a villa like how commoners usually did. The red region on the map belonged to him as his foundation in Taixia Country.

Zhang Tie was very happy. The lounge was in a relaxing atmosphere too.

Zhang Tie was really good at getting along well with people from all walks of life. There were royal highness and princess of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion, able apprentices of top 7 sects of Taixia Country, a couple of knights who had founded a sect in Taixia Country, managers who had experienced hards.h.i.+ps since they were young like Donder and Zhang Tie"s elder male cousin. As Zhang Tie"s friends, all of them could get along well with each other easily. Zhang Tie treated all of them on equal terms. None of them felt uneasy on Zhang Tie"s side; therefore, Zhang Tie became the core figure of this circle unconsciously.

Zhang Su and Donder integrated into this circle a few days ago. In the beginning, they were still a bit restrained. Whatever, all the others in this circle were knights. After staying with the others for 2 days, Zhang Su and Donder didn"t feel restrained any longer; they could even chat with Bai Suxian and her elder brother after having a drink.

“Youzhou is a lower province which has just been established. As long as it is pacified, land resource in Youzhou Province could be easily sold out. Additionally, the earlier, the cheaper. Those major clans within Northeast Military Region which come to Youzhou Province for development bring a great demand for land. As it is in the holy war, these major clans would not put all the eggs in one basket. Look at the territories of those provincial governor"s clans within Northeast Military Region on the map. All of them have bought land in Youzhou Province. Actually, major clans in Taixia Country are growing up step by step in this way. Not only the major clans within Northeast Military Region, even the land of local major clans in Youzhou Province such as Gu Clan in Eastriver Prefecture, Lu Clan in Spiritualmaple Prefecture, Guo Clan of Threespring Prefecture, Yan Clan of Sunny Prefecture, Liu Clan of Changshan Prefecture, Ximen Clan of Xingbei Prefecture and Sun Clan of Guide Prefecture have expanded greatly respectively. Gu Clan and Lu Clan expanded their land mostly, followed by Guo Clan of Threespring Prefecture. The total land area of Eastriver Prefecture and Spiritualmaple Prefecture almost reaches 1.8 million square miles; the land area of Guo Clan of Threespring Prefecture also reaches about 1.2 million square miles and connects with Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory…by contrast, Huaiyuan Palace doesn"t expand land too much over these years…”

After Zhang Tie finished his words, Donder wagged his head as he drunk theearly suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow; meanwhile, he pointed at the map and said,

“Mountain Lifting Hermit nodded on one side as he also took a gla.s.s of early suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow .”

When the alcohol entered the mouth, it tasted sweet and cold; however, its strength was lasting, deep and unique like taking suns.h.i.+ne and snow which further turned into plum blossoms and brought the drinker a warm feeling. Only after having two gla.s.ses of early suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow, Donder and Mountain Lifting Hermit had blushed while the air that they exhaled carried the chilly fragrance of plum blossoms.

Early Suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow was produced in White Deer Building on the top of Long Dragon Mountain outside Youzhou City. It was said that the brewing method was utterly different than that of common liquors. The water of this liquor came from the annually first drops of snow water on plum petals of Long Dragon Mountain. Therefore, White Deer Building could only build less than 100 jars of early suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow each year. In Youzhou Province, even Zhang Taixuan couldn"t drink it as long as he wanted. In Zhang Tie"s rotating chakra ceremony, White Deer Building sent Zhang family 30 jars of 10-year elder early suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow . These days, those guys who liked drinking had taken the greater part of these liquor. Feng Cangwu and Bai Suxian"s elder brother drank most, followed by Lu Zhongming and Donder. Mountain Lifting Hermit and Zhang Su ranked third; Bai Suxian and Lin Huanxi"s drinking capacity were ordinary. By contrast, Zhang Tie ranked last.

On the map, Zhang Tie"s Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory was originally neighbored that of Li Clan of Miyun Prefecture; now, the private land of Guo Clan of Threespring Prefecture closely neighbored the land which was gifted by Gold and Power Law.

The Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory covering about 5.35 million square miles had been the largest private land in Youzhou Province, which was even larger than the total land area of Gu Clan and Lu Clan.

When it came to Threespring Prefecture, Zhang Tie recalled how Guo Hongyi turned around and looked at him after the rotating chakra ceremony came to an end that day.

Zhang Tie felt that Guo Hongyi would never leave if he invited her to stay that day. However, Zhang Tie didn"t; neither did he say anything. Guo Hongyi"s gloomy eyes made Zhang Tie"s heart pound at that moment.

Watching the border area between Threespring Prefecture and Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, Zhang Tie stroked his jaw as he thought, ‘Is that G.o.d"s will? Otherwise, why would the land which was gifted by Gold and Power Law neighbor Threespring Prefecture? I hope nothing would happen; otherwise, it would be boisterous on my side. ‘

Zhang Tie could always sense an invisible sense of gunpowder between Bai Suxian and Guo Hongyi after they met in the opening ceremony of Iron-Dragon Sect. If the two female knights were both on his side, Zhang Tie would be giddy for sure.

Zhang Tie turned around and threw a glance at Bai Suxian who was sitting on his side. Coincidentally, Bai Suxian threw a glance at him at the same time.

“Are you missing that woman?” Bai Suxian asked in a secret way.

‘F*ck, woman"s intuition is too terrifying."

Of course, Zhang Tie denied it. He couldn"t pretend to be muddle-headed as he replied in a secret way too, “Which woman? Didn"t I stay with you at home these days?”

“Harrumph, liar, I saw you ogling at each other on your rotating chakra ceremony…” Bai Suxian replied out of jealousy.

“You"re thinking too much…” Zhang Tie replied with a solemn look.

“Hahaha, young brother Zhang Tie and young sister Suxian are really intimate. You"re talking romantic words even at this moment…” Lu Zhongming burst out into laughter as he discovered that Zhang Tie was talking with Bai Suxian secretly. As a result, Bai Suxian became a bit embarra.s.sed.

However, Zhang Tie burst out into laughter too, “Haha, women are hard to convince, not to mention a female knight. As I"m a junior on this aspect, I have to learn from Elder brother Lu. You and elder sister Lin are really immortal couples!”

Lu Zhongming burst out into laughter; however, Lin Huanxi blushed as she said, “How could you say such words as an earth knight?”

“Well, it"s my fault, men are hard to convince, not to mention male knights. It"s not Elder brother Lu who convinces you, but it"s you who convinces Elder brother Lu. How about that?” Zhang Tie put up his hands at once, making Bai Suxian and Lin Huanxi laugh at the same time.

Bai Suxian"s elder brother had been a bit drunk who was leaning against a long couch in the lounge and killing time with Zhang Su by playing the game of go. They were on even. On the checkerboard, they were really well-matched. Zhang Tie"s Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory was indeed very large; however, in the eyes of the royal highness of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion, he was really not excited about Zhang Tie"s private land which was even smaller than 6 million square miles. Therefore, he didn"t feel like looking at the map. Among the borderless region in the south border of Taixia Country, any mountain cave, a mountain peak or a mountain range under the rule of the king of beasts would be much greater than his land.

After boarding the airboat and drinking a half jar of early suns.h.i.+ne after the small snow , Feng Cangwu had been sleeping soundly on the soft bed on the other side of the lounge. It was said that it was a bizarre cultivation method of Heavens Fortune Sect, which was really admiring.

The atmosphere was tranquil in the lounge. All of a sudden, the royal highness of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion turned around and looked at Zhang Tie before saying, “You said you wanted to broaden our horizon in Iron-Dragon Sect, what on the earth do you want to show us?”

“Haha, you will know when you arrive there. Elder brother, you can bring back some souvenirs to the south border of Taixia Country. It"s good if the corps in the south border could use it; if they don"t need it, elder brother, just take it as a business!”

Zhang Tie didn"t put on his airs. As for these men who were treated as friends by him including royal highness of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion, he would call them elder brother regardless of their cultivation base as long as they were evidently elder than him. These men also liked that. Only after a few days, they had been used to that.

After hearing that Zhang Tie wanted to gift him a business, the royal highness of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion burst into laughter as he asked while being a bit drunk, “Do you want to gift me the business of all-purpose medicament in the south border? It"s a big business. We can talk about it carefully. I will not have you suffer a loss. Except for this business, I"m really not interested in those businesses that could only make millions of gold coins a year. Although I have to feed a lot of subordinates and over 10 corps which means a great consumption per year, if the business that I"m involved in couldn"t bring me a big profit, I would lose my face in the south border of Taixia Country; someone would think that I have poor insight and ability. If so, I"m afraid that some brothers would think that I"m not qualified to be the royal highness of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion…”

“The business of millions of gold coins is indeed too small. It"s not about all-purpose medicament. Elder brother, you"ve already seen how we produce all-purpose medicament in Jinwu City…” Zhang Tie replied with a smile, “Based on the power of Lord Guangnan"s Mansion in the south border, if elder brother really wants to do this business, you could easily make hundreds of millions of gold coins a year. So could elder brother Lu and elder sister Lin. You couldn"t sustain Minling Swordsmans.h.i.+p Sect without money. You won"t live well only by the annual tributes of your disciples and the land rent. Therefore, I called elder brother Lu here to see whether you would like to do this business in Guzhou Province. If you feel you could, we can make fortunes together…”