Chapter 841: The Lion in Youzhou Province (XII)
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
It felt the same as leaving trouble-reappearance situations when he left the Heavens Ball. After returning to his body spiritually, Zhang Tie felt pretty quiet in the surroundings except for the sounds of breath.
After opening his eyes, Zhang Tie saw people watching him with various expressions.
The elders of Huaiyuan Palace, including Zhang Taixuan, were bowing deeply towards Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie hurriedly bowed deeply towards them too. After that, he returned to the team of Zhang Clan of Huaiyuan Palace while being treated as a pre-historical animal.
After quite a while, Commander Cheng finally let out a deep sigh.
"I've been fighting in real earth-elements realm for about 60 years and have seen numerous human and demon powerhouses; but I have only seen demons eat humans as hundreds of millions of humans would become the food of demons in each holy war; today, I found such a special knight who could be as fierce as a lion while fighting demons. At the critical moment, even though his limbs were broken, he still ate demon alive and drank demon's blood, how heroic he was!" Commander Cheng's swarthy face turned bright out of pride. He looked very excited. He then clapped his hands, which was as loud as a thunder, "If all the Hua people behaved like him, demons would be exterminated. Come on, bring me my dragon-marrow liquor!"
The moment Commander Cheng finished his words, his attendants had brought in two jars of liquor, one to Commander Cheng, the other to Zhang Tie.
All the people at present, officers or heads and elders of all the clans could only watch Zhang Tie with extremely "admiring" looks.
The biggest winner of this competition was Zhang Taixuan, Count Long Wind of Zhang clan in Yanghe Prefecture; however, the most brilliant one was this Zhang elder who looked just 16-17 years old. Being praised by Commander Cheng and gifted with dragon-marrow liquor, Zhang Mushen would definitely have a bright future in Taixia Country.
"This liquor was gifted by His Majesty when I went to Xuanyuan Hill many years ago. It could relocate your tendons and clean your marrow; maintain and improve your physical health and spirit; consolidate your chakra. Besides, it has many other benefits. One drop of this liquor would be worth 10 kgs of bright pearls. With one drop of this liquor, commoners would feel burning sensations all over their body with relocated tendons and broken bones. They would feel too painful and might even commit suicide. Therefore, only knights could drink such a liquor. Even though knights could barely become drunk after drinking 3 glasses constantly. I've preserved these two jars of liquor for so many years. As I feel pretty happy today, I want to share it with you. Dare you compete with me?"
The jar was purple with dragon patterns on it. It was as large as a ripe common pumpkin. It looked like being made of purple crystal; however, it felt very heavy. After weighing it by one hand, Zhang Tie felt it was about 50-60 kgs with a line of lower sealed small square characters on it——轩辕之丘少府太官秘制呈贡! Zhang Tie was stealthily glancing at this jar of liquor just now; after listening to the explanation of Commander Cheng and watching the thirsty eyes in the surroundings, Zhang Tie was sure that this dragon-marrow liquor was definitely a top drink. 'Evidently, Emperor Xuanyuan usually drank it. Even though Commander Cheng only has two jars. A drop of such liquor would be worth 10 kgs of bright pearl, who will miss such a precious chance?'
'Elder Muyuan was right. The moment I became famous, the benefits would arrive. Given the dragon-marrow liquor, I'm afraid that I could not buy it even if I had money.'
"Please, Commander Cheng!" Zhang Tie raised his jar and put it straight.
"Hahahaha..." Commander Cheng burst into laughter while he released his battle qi and opened the sealed cover of one purple jar, followed by Zhang Tie.
The moment they opened the sealed cover, an extremely rich fragrance of liquor had spilled out of the jars and filled the Heavenly Altar and entered people's brains. Besides the exotic fragrance, the dragon-marrow liquor was enshrouding while a dragon-shaped light floated out of each jar. Given such an image, they could imagine how precious was such liquor.
Among the elders of each major clan, especially those, who loved drinks so much, were forcefully sniffing the exotic fragrance while gazing at the two jars of dragon-marrow liquor like how hungry wolves watched fat sheep. At the same time, they forcefully swallowed their saliva.
Zhang Tie found that Elder Gu Qinglong, whom he met in the Heavens Ball couldn't move his eyes away from the jar in his hand. Gu Qinglong had swallowed his saliva for hundreds of times. He seemed longing to drink it on behalf of Zhang Tie.
Whereas, everyone knew that it was gifted by Commander Cheng. Even if they were drooling about that, they could only watch him drink.
Watching Commander Cheng raising his head and pouring the amber liquor into his mouth straightly, Zhang Tie imitated him and also controlled the dragon-marrow liquor to flow into his mouth by battle qi like drinking water under a water faucet.
After having it, Zhang Tie felt that he was not drinking a liquor, but a fire with exotic fragrance. The moment the liquor entered his mouth, Zhang Tie's qi, blood, bone, marrow, tendons and meridians all over had started to thunder. Closely after that, Zhang Tie's chakra started to rock while each pore across Zhang Tie's body started to release a flame-like heat like chimneys...
After drinking up that jar of liquor, Zhang Tie felt the flames all over while his face turned red. Feeling a bit dazzled, he slightly rocked for a short while and almost fell down.
"Thanks for your liquor, Commander Cheng!" Zhang Tie appreciated.
"Fine!" After drinking up a jar of liquor, Commander Cheng's swarthy face just turned red. He became more excited and liked Zhang Tie even more. 'He's good at fight and drink; he could defeat that brat of Heavens Fortune Sect, and be a gentleman. What a talent!' Commander Cheng sighed inside. He then asked in a genial tone, "I know you got Mushen as your characters after the rotating chakra ceremony, what's your former name?"
After hearing that Commander Cheng asked Zhang Tie's private name, the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace exchanged a glance with each other as they all felt that Commander Cheng spoke highly of him. The others' looks turned even more "admiring".
"My parents named me Zhang Tie!"
'Zhang Tie?' Everyone became stunned. This name was too common. Like the character Tie, the name Zhang Tie existed everywhere.
However, at this time, this common name became unusual.
"Fine, I will call you Zhang Tie from then on, I could bear it in mind easily!" After being silent for less than 1 second, Commander Cheng had expressed his opinion, "I lack a commissioned officer Duwei Sima, Class 5, General Eagle, would you like to take it?"
'Duwei Sima?' After thinking about it for a short while, Zhang Tie remembered its meaning——in Taixia Country, all the commissioned officers with Sima were related to the military. Major Sima, one of the top three chancellors in Taixia Country was mainly in charge of the war expeditions and military forces across Taixia Country. Duwei Sima was responsible for the imperial guards of Commander Cheng. Imperial guards of Commander Cheng was the most elite force of Northeast Military Region Commander in Taixia Country.
Even though the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province, a lower province in Taixia Country was just Class 5, the power of Class 5 Duwei Sima could be imagined. What was more, this position was on the side of Commander Cheng. It was closer to Commander Cheng than a common provincial governor of a province. If he could do a good job, he would definitely have an inestimable, bright future. To put it straight, even if Zhang Tie resigned later on, as long as he had made some military exploits and had some experiences in this position, he could easily promote to a provincial governor or become a general cheji at the same class.
Soon after hearing Commander Cheng's words, the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace and the elders of the other 9 major clans took a deep breath at the same time.
Without having to turn round, Zhang Tie had already felt the scorching eyes of the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace on his back. He knew what they were thinking about. If being not afraid of Commander Cheng's power and majesty, they might have long told him to accept it in a secret voice-transmit way. After taking this position, it would be no worse than winning the position of the provincial governor of Youzhou Province for Huaiyuan Palace. Additionally, with one person on the side of Commander Cheng, Zhang Clan would never be matched by the other clans across Youzhou Province.
If Zhang Tie was a real piece of iron, he might have been melted under the surrounding scorching eyes.
"I really appreciate your favor, Commander Cheng, but I'm afraid that I cannot accept this position!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's reply, the entire White Tiger Complex became quiet.
Commander Cheng faintly frowned while a dignified qi started to suffuse which brought a great stress to everyone at present.
"Why?" After Commander Cheng asked the reason calmly, everyone else felt that the White Tiger Complex turned cold.
Zhang Tie looked straight in the majestic eyes of Commander Cheng frankly as he replied in a depressed way, "I left home to join the army at 16, after fighting almost 10 years in Waii Sub-continent, during which period, I rarely united with my family members. After coming to Youzhou Province, I realize that my mother was concerned about my safety almost every day during the past decade and had turned sick due to that. When I returned home a few days ago, my mother became delighted and suddenly became ill. As the old Hua saying went, when the son travels 1,000 miles away, his mother will always worry about him. I really cannot stand my mother worrying about me day by day and growing increasingly elder. Therefore, please forgive me for that! I don't care about my bright future and honors. I only expect to stay in Youzhou Province and accompany my mother every day; I only hope that my mother doesn't worry about me and have a good dream every night.
After hearing Zhang Tie's words, all the surrounding looks became strange. Guo Hongyi's look was strangest.
Watching Zhang Tie's face and listening to Zhang Tie's explanation, Commander Cheng finally lowered his head and let out a deep sigh after quite a while, "Mother is kind, son is obedient, gentleman's virtue could never be taken away!"
"Thank you, Commander Cheng!" Zhang Tie bowed deeply towards Cheng Honglie.
In the next second, Commander Cheng narrowed his eyes while a qi shot into the sky. He opened his mouth, which reverberated around Youzhou City. Everyone could hear that.
"As Youzhou has promoted to an established lower province, Zhang Clan wins the competition by force and gains the position of the provincial governor of Youzhou Province, I appoint Zhang Tiaxuan the Count Long Wind as the first provincial governor of Youzhou Province!"
Without the assistance of any alchemist equipment and rune equipment, Commander Cheng's voice sounded in White Tiger Complex like a muffled thunder. Closely after that, it reached the clouds and was reflected onto the ground. Then, it spread across Youzhou Province in an extremely majestic way.
"Zhang Taixuan!"
"Here!" Count Long Wind strode out of the team of Huaiyuan Palace under the gaze of all the people at present.
"Get my seal!"
The seal of provincial governor of Youzhou Province which symbolized the supreme majesty of Youzhou Province flew off Commander Cheng's hand and landed on Zhang Taixuan's hands steadily which had been raised high above his head.
After receiving the seal, Zhang Taixuan instantly broke the tip of his tongue by his teeth and sprayed a mouth of blood over the seal. The seal then immediately radiated a strong light, which covered the entire White Tiger Complex.
'I've not imagined that this seal of a provincial governor is also a secret silver item!' A thought occurred to Zhang Tie's mind after Zhang Tie caught sight of this scene. Almost at the same time, Zhang Tie felt that a warm sense had flown across his body. The extremely overbearing feeling of getting drunk started to radiate. Feeling dazzled, Zhang Tie lost his consciousness at once.
...
"Congratulations, provincial governor!" The other commissioned officer of Youzhou City in the White Tiger Complex bowed deeply towards Zhang Taixuan.
After that, Zhang elders called Zhang Tie's name and received no response. They then found that Zhang Tie had already fallen asleep.
"The effect of dragon-marrow liquor is too strong. As Zhang Tie has just formed one chakra, after drinking up this jar of liquor, it will take him a few days to wake up!" Commander Cheng's genial voice sounded, making the other elders of Zhang Clan reassured. They felt circling around a treasure.
After throwing a few more glances at Zhang Tie, Commander Cheng appreciated Zhang Tie more. Finally, he let out a sigh, "Well, with this lion in Youzhou Province, citizens here would be safe..."
...
On the same day, Commander Cheng left Youzhou City towards southwards by airboat.
The fierce competition for the position of the provincial governor of Youzhou Province finally came to an end.
...
In the evening, Commander Cheng watched Youzhou City which was becoming farther and farther away from him, he felt a bit regretful.
At this moment, a strong wave of earth elements drifted from Youzhou City, an aurora appeared in the distant sky being marked with especially splendid changing light belts...
The elder of Heavens Fortune Sect had moved to Commander Cheng's side silently. Watching in the distance, he let out a sigh, "Zhang Taixuan is promoting to earth knight!"
"For the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province, he purposefully chose to not promote to earth knight. Zhang Taixuan is really single-minded. After promoting to earth knight, he will hold steadily his position in Youzhou Province. Lu Dingzhi is only a bit weaker than Zhang Taixuan!" Commander Cheng said with a wise look, "There's one point that I've not imagined. Lord Huaiyuan is so bad-tempered and straight-forward; however, his offspring is so shrewd. What a shock!"
"If Lord Huaiyuan was as half tolerant as Zhang Taixuan, he would not force to go to Waii Sub-continent and lay the foundation of Huaiyuan Palace in that uncivilized area. Offsprings of Lord Huaiyuan must have learned from their ancestor's deeds. However, when Huaiyuan Palace roots in Youzhou Province this time, they have to be involved in the former swirl!" The elder of Heavens Fortune Sect replied with a sorrowful look while his words contained endless meanings.
"F*ck, the northeast military region is this father's territory, Zhang Taixuan is this father's provincial governor, a class 5 imperial officer of Taixia Country. Anyone who dares find trouble in this father's territory, this father will beat out his sh*t for sure!" Commander Cheng turned his face with full killing intent, "Although this father didn't come from the God's Will Army of Emperor Xuanyuan, this father served Black Armor Army, which cooperated with God's Will Army to crack down demons at the cost of countless blood and demon lives. This father still has numerous comrades-in-arms in Black Armor Army now. I also have people to favor me in Xuanyuan Hill. If anyone dares find me trouble, this father will beat him at once!"
"I know. But, now that Zhang Taixuan has taken the position, you should not control everything for him. Everyone knows that you are black both inside and outside. Even if you want to lose your temper, nobody would like to spare a chance for you!"
"Zhang Taixuan's face is not that thin. As long as he could hold the position steadily and maintain Zhang's foundation in Youzhou Province, even if he was teased by someone, it's nothing serious!" Commander Cheng concealed his killing intent as he instantly changed a topic, "How's your disciple?"
"It's a mental obstacle. However, It's also a test for him. If not the break through it, he might be dangerous in the future!"
"You geezers would speculate everything, including your own people. I wonder whether you would speculate before going to bed with your women. If you treat everything so seriously, how do you feel any pleasure?"
"You would never know the pleasure. It's nothing different than playing the flute to a cow and telling about ice to summer insects. Don't speak dirty words to pollute my hearing!" The elder of Heavens Fortune Sect threw a despised look at Commander Cheng...
Chapter 842: The First Clan in Youzhou Province
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
In dizziness, Zhang Tie felt like waking up from a comfortable, indolent, long sleep in a spring morning.
He was woken up by the twitters outside the bedroom.
When the twitters turned clear, Zhang Tie finally woke up.
After opening his eyes, Zhang Tie found he was lying on the bed of a traditional and brilliant bedroom with full Hua characteristics. There seemed to be a courtyard just outside the bedroom, from where the twitters drifted into the bedroom.
Zhang Tie got up and found that he had put on a suit of soft and comfortable white night robe. He didn't know how long he had slept.
Sitting on the bedside, Zhang Tie felt like having a wholly new body. Each cell across his body was surging while his spine felt warm and comfortable. After sensing it carefully, he made some movements in the room and found that his physical strength, speed, resilience and the seven strengths of qi, blood, tendon, meridian, bone, marrow and spirit had increased in different degrees. His physical strength increased the most. What was more, his first chakra was running in a thicker and more steadier way, which felt like a huge steam flywheel being applied with lubricating oil.
'Dragon-marrow liquor is really a good thing. With a jar of dragon-marrow liquor, my battle strength has reached a new high.' Zhang Tie licked his lips as a question occurred to his mind, 'I have benefited so much from one jar of dragon-marrow liquor, I wonder how strong is Emperor Xuanhuan who drinks dragon-marrow liquor every day.'
Zhang Tie just asked himself about that. He knew that he was far from the realm of Emperor Xuanyuan, where there might be better things than dragon-marrow liquor. 'This question is like how a rustic wonders how many meat pies would an urban landlord eat after eating a tasty meat pie.'
With a self-deprecating smile, Zhang Tie pushed open the door of the bedroom and left.
There was indeed a courtyard outside the door. It was already about 10 am as the sun was hanging high. There were some spiritual banyan trees with green crowns and a pond. Some birds were singing on the trees while a shoal of golden fish was playing water cheerily below the lotus leaves.
This courtyard was very tranquil with great ambiance. However, it was not in Huaiyuan Mansion. Due to the tree shades and tall walls, Zhang Tie couldn't figure out his whereabouts. But he knew that he was in Youzhou City.
Elder Muen was in meditation with closed eyes in the pavilion under one spiritual banyan tree.
At the sight of Elder Muen, Zhang Tie realized that Elder Muen was especially working as a bodyguard for him here.
'Thankfully, I had an elder of Huaiyuan Palace to protect me after I got drunk. If I got drunk in another place, I'm afraid that any commoner could kill me.'
When Zhang Tie came out of the bedroom, Elder Muen opened his eyes.
"Erm, I'm really sorry. I've not imagined that the dragon-marrow liquor has such a strong after-effect. Sorry to trouble Elder Muen..." Zhang Tie scratched his head bashfully.
Elder Muen stood up. Watching Zhang Tie's bashful look, he burst out into laughter at once, "No trouble, no trouble, I could also enter meditation here, one stone for two birds!"
"Thank you, Elder Muen, how many days have I slept in here. Where are we?"
"You've slept 7 days. It's October 12 today. We're in White Tiger Complex, Youzhou City. Ohh, White Tiger Complex serves as the official mansion of the provincial governor of Youzhou Province now!" Elder Muen told Zhang Tie with a smile.
Compared to the majestic look of Elder Muen when Zhang Tie met him for the first time, Elder Muen looked much more genial now.
Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could sleep straight for 7 days. The competition had ended a week ago, the White Tiger Complex had been branded with the Mansion of Provincial Governor of Youzhou Province. It indicated that the result of the competition had fixed.
"How's everything going?"
"Everything is smooth. Youzhou City has been under the control of Zhang Clan, Huaiyuan Palace!" Elder Muen replied cheerily with a bit pride, "How do you feel now? I was told that the dragon-marrow liquor has a special effect!"
Elder Muen asked out of concern and curiosity.
"I feel very good now. My chakra runs more steadily. Besides, I feel that my physical strength has increased by almost 500 kg; even my battle strength has further increased!" Zhang Tie warmed up his limbs.
Elder Muen nodded with a bit solemn look, "That's great. As Zhang Clan of Huaiyuan Palace have just taken charge of Youzhou Province and our clan head has just ascended to the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province. We clan elders have to favor many affairs in Youzhou Province for Huaiyuan Palace so that Huaiyuan Palace could deeply root in Youzhou Province. As you've become well-known in Youzhou Province, each of your movements would be observed by many people. You should be incumbent upon duties! We elders of Huaiyuan Palace are outnumbered by Lu Clan and Gu Clan; additionally, our root in Youzhou Province could not match that of theirs, if you shirked your responsibilities, Huaiyuan Palace would be a laughing stock in others' eyes."
Zhang Tie forced a bitter smile, 'When I refused the invitation of Commander Cheng 7 days ago, the elders and head of Huaiyuan Palace had thought that we missed an extremely good chance. After I woke up, it looked that Huaiyuan Palace would never allow me to loiter outside anymore. I'm afraid that Elder Muen's words have been agreed by the other elders and Zhang Taixuan in advance. He told me about that so that I would not find any excuse to shirk my responsibilities.'
'Alright, it will indeed be improper if I just stay at home. I'm afraid that my parents would sustain a great stress about that. I'd better do something for the clan.'
"Where's the head of Zhang Clan? May you take me there, Elder Muen?"
After checking Zhang Tie's facial expression carefully, Elder Muen finally let out a sigh inside.
In the next minute, a group of female servants poured into the courtyard and started to help Zhang Tie cleanse up. After that, Zhang Tie ate and drunk some porridge. He then changed a new suit of black boa-silk robe before leaving the courtyard with Elder Muen for Zhang Taixuan.
...
The White Tiger Complex could match the imperial palaces of those countries in Waii Sub-continent. Zhang Tie's residence was just in a small corner of the residential area of the White Tiger Complex.
Walking in the White Tiger Complex which was branded with the Mansion of Provincial Governor of Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie felt that it had been utterly different than that 7 days ago.
7 days ago, those in the White Tiger Complex were all strangers for Zhang Tie. Now, a lot of people of Zhang Clan were walking in the White Tiger Complex with pleasant and spirited looks. In wholly-new official suits, they were walking hastily. At the sight of Zhang Tie and Elder Muen, they would hurriedly give way to them from a long distance away. Standing on both sides of the corridor and the aisle, they would bow to them respectfully.
Feeling their genuine respectful and admiring looks, Zhang Tie knew that his position in Huaiyuan Palace had been stabilized.
"How many people of Huaiyuan Palace are going to be officers this time?" Zhang Tie asked Elder Muen when he watched their official suits.
"Youzhou Province is too large!" Elder Muen let out a deep sigh, "Actually, Huaiyuan Palace's people are not enough. However, after managing in Waii Sub-continent for so many years, we've cultivated a lot of clan elites and disciples in all walks of life. Since Huaiyuan Palace rules Youzhou Province, our junior disciples could also work. We have selected over 1,000 clan disciples to be officers from class 1 to class 9 and over 20,000 people to be civil servants from exiled class 1 to exiled class 9."
The two numbers really shocked Zhang Tie. He finally realized how this competition greatly influenced Zhang Clan. After Count Long Wind ascended to the provincial governor of Youzhou Province, Huaiyuan Palace had over 1,000 officials and over 20,000 civil servants in Taixia Country. These people would enter from all walks of life in Youzhou Province. Therefore, the competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province was competing for the first clan of Youzhou Province. However, without a deep clan root and background, Zhang Taixuan might not hold his position steadily.
...
The provincial governor was handling public affairs in the Bright Palace of White Tiger Complex. Zhang Tie saw various people in the courtyards, side halls and corridors outside the Bright Palace who were waiting to present themselves before the new provincial governor.
Almost all those who could come here to present themselves before the new provincial governor were commoners.
Some were dressed like gentlemen; some were officers in official uniforms; some were businessmen in luxurious costumes, some were military officers in a suit of armor; some were heads and elders of minor clans in Youzhou Province. As Youzhou was so large, of course, its local major clans were more than the 9 major clans which had joined the competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province. Those weaker ones who knew that they had no abilities to compete for such a high position were scared off by the high-price ticket of the Heavens Ball. Of course, they dared not join the competition.
Among those people, Zhang Tie felt that some strangers were even knights.
'Taixia Country really has a lot of talents. Those who could at least be a No.1 knight in Waii Sub-continent could only wait outside the Provincial Governor Mansion to be received by the provincial governor.'
The arrival of Zhang Tie and Elder Muen attracted the others' eyes, causing a little change in their looks at once.
"Ahh, that excessively young guy is Zhang Mushen the lion in Youzhou Province who ate a demon knight alive!" Zhang Tie heard someone exclaiming in a low voice behind him. As that man was not a knight, he didn't know that Zhang Tie, as a knight, could hear his whisper as loud as hearing a voice from a loudspeaker although they were dozens of meters away from each other.
"Yes, he's the lion in Youzhou Province..."
"That junior is the lion in Youzhou Province..."
"That junior is Zhang Mushen, the lion in Youzhou Province who could sec-kill all the people below knights with his thunder-in-palm javelin throwing skill, the most powerful black iron knight..."
"I was told that Zhang Mushen was also a gentleman, he's too young!"
Zhang Tie heard all sorts of whispers on the way...
'Lion in Youzhou Province? Is that my nickname?'
'What a coincidence, my byname in the Mountain of Brightness was Chakra's Lion. And, I became the lion in Youzhou Province here...'
Chapter 843: The Dean of Supreme Court in Youzhou Province
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
White Tiger Complex had been hierarchical as the Provincial Governor's Mansion of Youzhou Province. Right outside the Bright Palace where the provincial governor worked, Zhang Tie and Elder Muen saw two rows of 72 guards of honor, who were tall in golden armors.
All the guards of honor were clan disciples of Zhang Clan of Huaiyuan Palace. Besides being tall and handsome, they were at least LV 9.
In golden armors and helmets, they were standing outside the Bright Palace in uniformed javelins, spears, ji, yue and shields with solemn looks, which was very deterrent.
With a tidy sound of "Hua", the guards of honor raised their arms and leveled their weapons at their chests at the same time at the sight of Zhang Tie and Elder Muen. Most of them stealthily glanced at Zhang Tie through the gaps of their helmets.
As guards of honor beside the provincial governor, of course, these people knew who was the biggest contributor in the competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province, who turned the tide in the dilemma and finally won the position for Huaiyuan Palace.
Elder Muen nodded towards them. Without sending someone to report to Zhang Taixuan, Elder Muen and Zhang Tie stepped onto the jade stages outside the Bright Palace and entered the Bright Palace.
The moment he was close to the Bright Palace, Zhang Tie had sensed a weird qi in Bright Palace. He found that the sound inside the Bright Palace would not leak out. After sensing it carefully, Zhang Tie found a faint, special feeling beneath the jade bricks. Being totally different than the function of alchemist's loudspeaker, the item beneath these jade bricks could constrain sound in this fixed space. Zhang Tie immediately understood something, 'F*ck, that's too luxurious. A super large alchemist's equipment is buried in the Lord provincial governor's office so as to keep the dialogue inside the Bright Palace confidential. Zhang Tie could never imagine that before.
This was the uniformed equipment in the Provincial Governor's Mansion of Taixia Country.
This Bright Palace was very large. Afer crossing the threshold and passing by the wall in front of the gate, they entered the palace, which was higher than 50 m. On both sides of the palace were two rows of Hua chimes.
After the chimes were rows of huge weapon stands.
Until he drew close to the rows of huge weapon stands did Zhang Tie hear a sound from afar in the Bright Palace.
"...Cangshan Prefecture is abundant in mining deposits. Among the mining deposits which have been ascertained, Cangshan Prefecture gathers 1/3 of iron ores, 1/4 of coal ores and 1/2 of copper ores, almost 70% of crystal ores and 40% of gold ores across Youzhou Province. Besides, it contains over 100 kinds of more mining deposits. Lu Clan in Spiritualmaple Prefecture, Gu Clan in Easternriver Prefecture, Sun Clan in Guide Prefecture and Guo Clan in Sanquan Prefecture share interests in Cangshan Prefecture. Ouyang Clan is a local major clan in Cangshan Prefecture. As Ouyang Clan only has one knight, its battle strength could not match that of the others; however, Ouyang Clan controls many mineral reservoirs. Over these years, under the stress caused by Lu Clan, Gu Clan, Sun Clan and Guo Clan, Ouyang Clan always behaved very meticulously and lived hard. This time, Ouyang Clan's head and elders came here for the position of the provincial housing minister of Youzhou Province. Perhaps, they even cast greedy eyes on the prefectural head of Cangshan Prefecture..."
After passing by the rows of weapon stands, Zhang Tie saw Zhang Taixuan sitting behind a table while some clan deacons in uniformed costumes were reporting something to Zhang Taixuan on his side.
All the positions in the Provincial Governor's Mansion such as librarian, utterance record officer, clerk, harem affairs officer, classics officer, music officer, guest reception officer, ritual officer, seal officer, costume officer, decoration officer, guards of honor officer, food and drink officer, drink brewing officer, medicine officer, wedding ceremony officer, furnishings officer, atlas officer, park officer, lantern officer, rules making officer, gems collection officer and property management officer were assumed by reliable deacons. The moment they arrived, they had gradually mastered the daily operations of the entire White Tiger Complex, the Provincial Governor's Mansion.
After throwing a glance at that clan deacon who was reporting, Zhang Tie felt he was a bit familiar with a shred look. Zhang Tie seemed to have seen him in the rotating chakra ceremony. After looking at his uniformed costume, Zhang Tie knew he was the utterance librarian in the Provincial Governor's Mansion. Although he could not match clan elders, he was definitely a necessary strength in the clan. Additionally, some people like them could always undertake tasks alone.
After noticing Elder Muen and Zhang Tie, Zhang Taixuan raised his hand to stop that librarian. At the sight of Elder Muen and Zhang Tie, the deacons hurriedly bowed deeply towards them. Before Zhang Taixuan told them to leave out of here, they had left silently.
Zhang Taixuan stood up with a smile...
"Clan head!" Zhang Tie uttered. Closely after that, he bowed towards Zhang Taixuan according to the seniority in the clan without any arrogance. After that, Zhang Tie raised his head and threw a glance at Zhang Taixuan carefully.
In a uniformed costume with mountains, rivers and a unicorn on it, a purple-jade upturned crown with a mysterious rune of the seal of provincial governor of Youzhou Province between his eyebrows, Zhang Taixuan looked perfectly dignified.
Besides his costume which was utterly different than that 7 days ago, Zhang Tie found that Zhang Taixuan's knight qi had also changed. He remembered that Zhang Taixuan was just a black iron knight 7 days ago when he was just a bit more powerful than the demon general; however, he felt Zhang Taixuan's qi was repressive now, which was utterly different than that 7 days ago. 'Has he...'
Noticing Zhang Tie's dubious look, Elder Muen explained, "According to the rules of Taixia Country, earth knight could not join in the competition for the position of provincial governor of a new province. Clan head has already been able to promote to an earth knight 2 years ago; however, due to this position, he had been constraining himself. After winning this position, he officially promoted to an earth knight. Even Lu Dingzhi had promoted to an earth knight after that competition!"
Zhang Tie's heart faintly pounded as he understood it right away, "Congratulations, clan head, you will have no obstacles in ruling Youzhou Province!"
"I have to appreciate Elder Mushen. Without Elder Mushen's assistance at the critical moment, I would not be able to take this position!" Zhang Taixuan smiled as he invited Zhang Tie and Elder Muen to take a seat with a genial and natural look. He looked kinder than before, "It seems that Elder Mushen has fully absorbed the effect of dragon-marrow liquor and made further improvement in the battle strength. This is beneficial for Huaiyuan Palace!"
Regardless of Zhang Taixuan's current position, Zhang Tie felt his words were very comfortable. While being modest orally, Zhang Tie warned himself that this provincial governor of Youzhou Province and the clan head of Huaiyuan Palace was really great. Otherwise, he would not have an excellent daughter like Lan Yunxi.
As there's no outsider at present, Elder Muen put Zhang Tie's intention straight.
After hearing Elder Muen's explanation, Zhang Taixuan replied before Zhang Tie opened his mouth, "There's a crucial position in Youzhou Province which could barely be handled by outsiders. I feel that it fits Elder Mushen pretty well. You will work in Youzhou Province instead of fighting outside in for the sake of your filial obedience. Meanwhile, you could be a deterrent to the other major clans and knights across Youzhou Province. I really could not find another person except for Elder Mushen. Would you like to take it?"
Hearing Zhang Taixuan's words, Zhang Tie knew that this position must have been fixed by all the clan elders and Zhang Taixuan when he fell asleep these days. 'Elder Muen and Zhang Taixuan are definitely putting on a play in front of me. I have no reason to refuse it. What else can I say?'
"What's that position?" Zhang Tie asked helplessly.
"Dean of Supreme Court in Youzhou Province!"
'Tingwei of Youzhou Province?' Zhang Tie was shocked as he had not imagined that Zhang Taixuan and the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace could grant such a position to him, 'Tingwei of Youzhou Province takes charge of the penalty, judgment and administration of justice in Youzhou Province. It's definitely a high position.'
"I feel Elder Muray fits this position better!" Zhang Tie hurriedly declined it.
"As Youzhou has just promoted to a province; additionally it's in the holy war, military affairs are most important; I've already appointed Elder Muray as the commander of Youzhou Province. He's responsible for the establishment of a new army in Youzhou Province. Elder Muray already has a heavy burden and could not accept this position anymore!" Zhang Taixuan sighed.
"Why not Elder Muyu or Elder Muen?"
"Elder Muyu is going to stay in Youzhou City. As the pivot of Youzhou Province, Youzhou City has to be protected by at least one clan elder of Huaiyuan Palace. Besides, Elder Muyu has to handle the position of chief procurator of the supreme procuratorate and aid me to rule Youzhou Province. Elder Muen is the new prefectural governor of Yanghe Prefecture. He has to stay in the foundation of Huaiyuan Palace, which is a very important position. Therefore, he could not accept it either anymore. Elder Muyuan is in charge of the rites and music of Youzhou Province; Elder Muan is in charge of agriculture of Youzhou Province. All these are critical positions which could not be handled by outsiders!"
Zhang Tie wanted to continue declining it; however, he suddenly remembered his weirdo Master Zhaoyuan. Therefore, he nodded slowly...
'Whether the God is kidding me or not? How could a disciple of a person, who ranks first on the wanted list in the Supreme Court, become the dean of the supreme court of a province in Taixia Country.?'
'Whether I'm colluding with the bandit on behalf of the government or not?' Zhang Tie asked himself inside...
Chapter 844: Leaving Youzhou City
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Zhang Tie woke up on October 12th. After staying in Youzhou City for less than 2 days, he had returned to Golden Light City by an airship of Huaiyuan Palace.
During the 2 days, as the new dean of the supreme court in Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie visited the supreme court and learned about his responsibilities and the obligations of his subordinate agencies although he took a passive attitude towards his work.
The position Tingwei was difficult to understand for those who came to Taixa Country from other sub-continents; however, as long as they knew the meaning of the two Hua characters respectively, they would easily understand the responsibilities of this position.
The character "廷" means fairness. Those being broad-minded fit the character "廷". Guards in armors were "尉". Literally, "廷尉" referred to those who safeguarded fairness. According to the explanation of Siberians, "廷尉" could also be translated into a fashioned term——messenger of justice. Zhang Tie thought that if a country could name the most solemn official position as the messenger of justice, this country definitely carried a deep-rooted romatic gene.
The supreme "廷尉" agency in Taixia Country was the supreme court; those on state-level were called court temple; those on prefecture-level were called court yamun; those on city-level were called court administration; those on county-level were called court branch; villages and towns didn't have "廷尉" agency. As the dean of the supreme court of Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie ruled all the court temples across Youzhou Province.
Court temple contained three subordinates: first, prison temple, which literally was in charge of the prison system across Youzhou Province; second, judgement temple, which was responsible for the judgment and litigation across Youzhou Province; third, penalty temple, which was responsible for arresting criminals, deterring evil forces and maintaining local security. Due to the three subordinate agencies, court organ was also named Three-Temple Yamun in Taixia folklore. The main officers of courts at different levels were called heads of three temples.
The dean of the supreme court in Youzhou Province was Class 5, who would be paid by 75000 kgs' grains a year and be awarded the silver seal and cyan ribbon.
The supreme court in Youzhou Province was located on an avenue 1.5 miles away in the west of White Tiger Complex. Although being smaller than that of White Tiger Complex, it still occupied about 200,000 square meters. Being solemn, it manifested the majesty of the supreme court everywhere.
When Zhang Tie asked about his compensation in the supreme court, he was shocked by the answer "1,000 shi 1 per year".
"Is Youzhou's fiscal income so poor? How could they just deliver grains to the dean of the supreme court?"
Zhang Tie knew that ancient Hua officers' compensations were not in terms of gold or silver coins; instead, they were measured in terms of shi of grains. Zhang Tie had not imagined that he would have such a day either. Zhang Tie became confused, 'Although Youzhou Province is the lower province of Taixia Country, its officers should not be that embarrassed. Does Taixia Country really treat officers as its civil servants? Referring to the historical facts, the so-called civil servants were nothing but the biggest humor in the human history before the Catastrophe.
After Zhang Tie asked that, he found that all those beside him in the supreme court looked weird while their faces turned red.
"Ahem...ahem..." An officer in the court coughed twice after a short while before replying Zhang Tie, "Lord, you might not know it's different here than many countries in other continents, although your compensation was about 1,000 shi a year, it's not grains, but golds! In this lower province, even the lowest Class 9 officer could enjoy 120 kg of golds a year."
'Golds? Is my compensation about 1,000 shi golds a year? 2,400,000 gold coins a year? It would take my father over 200,000 years to work in Blackhot City. How rich is Taixia Country? Officers' compensations could be measured by shi of golds? Perhaps, only Taixia Country could make it in the human world...'
When Zhang Tie occasionally heard the word "shi receiver", he was confused about its meaning. When he heard the explanation, he understood it right away, 'shi receiver is a graceful appellation to officers from Taixia folklore. Even the lowest Class 9 county magistrate could have 120 kg, namely 2,400 gold coins a year. It seems that Taixia officers live pretty well.'
However, although Taixia officers' compensations were high, all of them had to register their family properties from the chief procurator general, the prime minister and the premier of the state council to the village constable in their regimes. Taixia Country would punish those corrupt officers severely by letting them swallow the golds that they had accepted as bribes. If they were not dead, they would be set free; if they were dead, their family properties would be confiscated. Those who reported the corrupt officers could gain all the family properties of the corrupt officers. Therefore, very few officers in Taixia Country dared take bribes of over 10 gold coins.
Finding that Zhang Tie became silent, they thought that Zhang Tie was complaining that the compensation was too low.
"As Youzhou has just promoted to a province, the lord's compensation is indeed a bit low. But as the lord is still young, you will have an infinitely bright future. With the lord in Youzhou Province, the evil forces in Youzhou Province would be deterred. If Youzhou Province has a good social security, the lord will get a good comment. After that, the supreme court even the imperial court would present your annual bonus, which was usually several times more than that of your compensation, including priceless treasures. Even our subordinates could be benefited from it!"
...
After staying in the supreme court in Youzhou City for a short while, Zhang Tie had left Youzhou City on the second day.
Court agencies had existed in Taixia Country for over 800 years, during which period, all the regulations in these agencies had been established. All of their daily operations were referred to concrete regulations. Even if Zhang Tie was not there, the supreme court of Youzhou Province could also run normally.
As the dean of the supreme court in Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie had the right to appoint many officers in the courts across this province; however, Zhang Tie was not interested in it. Additionally, Zhang Tie didn't need any helper on his side; therefore, Zhang Tie just handed it over to the head and the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace. Zhang Tie didn't care whether the officers on different levels in the court temples were from disciples of Zhang Clan, through exchanges with other major clans in Youzhou Province or selected from local people. He knew that Huaiyuan Palace would consider it well for himself.
Those who loved power might rack their minds to consider about it; however, Zhang Tie didn't love power. He knew that the biggest power for a knight didn't come from outside but from long-term accumulation of his own power. Peaches and plums didn't speak, however, there were always paths under them which were caused by travelers who were attracted by their fragrance and beautiful scenery.
As the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province had just been fixed, everything was back on the right track. Zhang Tie estimated that he didn't need to concern about anything in the supreme court for the time being. After making some rules for the supreme court, Zhang Tie left for Golden Light City by airship.
...
On the noon of October 14th, soon after Zhang Tie left Youzhou City by airship...
"Clan head, Elder Mushen has already left Youzhou City by airship!" An officer bowed and reported to Zhang Taixuan in the Bright Palace of the Provincial Governor's Mansion.
"Hmm, I know!" Zhang Taixuan replied with a glassy-eyed look. After that, he put down a document and asked calmly, "Has Elder Mushen left any words in the supreme court yesterday?"
"Elder Mushen just requested the supreme court to make a brief report to him monthly. Elder Mushen said that he once encountered Zhu Liang the Fierce Wolf who was wanted by the supreme court in the open waters of Qiongzou Province before he came to Youzhou Province. Zhu Liang was being chased by two bounty hunters. However, he still didn't change his cruel and fierce personality. Therefore, Zhu Liang left a deep impression in Elder Mushen's mind. Elder Mushen requested the supreme court to pay special attention to those figures on the wanted list and the messages about them. He told us to prevent any figure on the wanted list from entering Youzhou Province to make troubles here. He would like to know every message about those figures on the wanted list the moment we received it."
After hearing this, Zhang Taixuan slowly waved his hands towards that officer. That officer then lowered his body and slowly left the Bright Palace by moving backward...
When that officer left the Bright Palace, Zhang Taixuan faintly rubbed that odd-looking, colorful finger ring once again. After thinking about it for half a minute, he picked up his document once again...
...
After boarding the airship, Zhang Tie didn't feel like enjoying the scenery below; instead, he directly entered his cabin and took out his earth crystals to cultivate.
Zhang Tie was greatly shocked by this competition for the position of the provincial governor of Youzhou Province. He also felt a bit sense of crisis; especially in the wrestle with the last demon knight in the Heavens Ball. That demon knight was so powerful that Zhang Tie almost showed his trump card. Therefore, as long as he was free, Zhang Tie would enter cultivation.
Previously, in order to reduce the consumption of his earth-element crystals, Zhang Tie spent half of his spiritual energy in consuming earth-element crystals while the other half of his spiritual energy in capturing those swimming multi-faceted crystals in the elements realm at the same time. After this competition, Zhang Tie had changed his cultivation method and realized the fault of his "frugality". He spent all of his spiritual energy in forming 18 hands so as to carry the earth elements from the earth-elements crystals at the same time. In this way, he would consume earth-elements crystals quickly at an efficiency which was almost two times higher than that before.
'As Taixia Country has numerous powerhouses, I might meet dangers in the future. I should absorb my present earth-elements crystals as fast as possible so as to reinforce my battle strength in the shortest period. As for the earth-elements crystals...I will consider about it after consuming all of my reserves...' Zhang Tie thought.
In such a high efficiency, it only took Zhang Tie 2 hours to use up one earth-elements crystal...
By contrast, it would take other knights 1.5 days to use up one earth-elements crystal. Zhang Tie's high efficiency was really shocking.
Chapter 845: A Solemn Reception
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After hearing the gentle knocks of the door, Zhang Tie moved his consciousness out of the elements realm.
After throwing a glance at the half-consumed earth-elements crystal in his hand, Zhang Tie ran his spiritual energy and teleported it into Castle of Black Iron immediately.
"What's the matter?" Zhang Tie asked.
"Elder Mushen, there's a greeting team dispatched by Huaiyuan Palace in the sky ahead of us, would you like to take a look outside?" The captain's respectful and careful voice drifted from outside the door.
'A greeting team?' Zhang Tie became stunned for a second. When he took out that earth-elements crystal 1 hour ago, he remembered that the airship was at least 500 miles away from Yanghe Prefecture, how could they meet the greeting team of Huaiyuan Palace here in the sky?
"Yes, I will take a look outside!" Zhang Tie replied as he stood up and opened the hatch door. Under the guidance of the captain respectfully, he came to the command module.
Watching the scene outside from the command module, Zhang Tie was too shocked that he became speechless for quite a while.
Right in the air ahead of them, numerous fury-level airships were suspending in the air in two rows tidily like fighters who stood there in awed silence, leaving a tunnel in the sky and greeting Zhang Tie.
Colorful greeting flags had been exhibited on the huge fury-level airships. The front two airships even put down two broad banners with huge red words on them. Each word on them was dozens of meters in size, which looked extremely brilliant in the air.
The left slogan was——Elder Mushen, the Lion in Youzhou Province!
The right slogan was——Elder Mushen, the Pillar of Zhang Clan!
"After knowing that Elder Mushen is coming back, Huaiyuan Palace dispatched 2,000 fury-level airships to greet Elder Mushen after flying 400 miles away from Yanghe Prefecture!" The captain of Zhang Tie's airship explained to Zhang Tie.
Honestly, Zhang Tie was really moved by such a solemn welcome ceremony. Even though he was always indifferent about such things, Zhang Tie's heart still pounded when he faced their sincerity.
"Send a signal by flags to them——Huaiyuan Palace is Majestic, Our Wills Unite Like a Fortress!" Zhang Tie told the captain after recovering his composure. Zhang Tie knew that he should never be cocky at this moment; otherwise, he might be reproached and cause an enmity between him and the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace. After all, he was not the only contributor to this competition. Unless he exposed his trump card in the competition, Zhang Taixuan would never gain such a position without the help of any other elders of Huaiyuan Palace, not to mention that Zhang Taixuan gained most points in the Heavens Ball on the side of Huaiyuan Palace. Of course, Zhang Tie dared not take credits.
Seeing Zhang Tie's response, all those in the greeting team became especially spirited. Many of them even cheered.
...
After 4 hours, Zhang Tie's airship landed in the airship base outside Golden Light City. The moment he got off the airship and stepped onto the red carpet, Zhang Tie had caught sight of his parents, elder brother, his elder sisters-in-law, his wives and Zhang's juniors. All of them were wearing formal suites. Standing in front of his mother, Zhang Tie found that his mother was looking at him with a thrilled expression. Besides these family members, Zhang Tie saw his elder uncles, cousins. Even Zhang Su was among them.
Additionally, he saw the major of Golden Light City, the heads of many clans in the branch of Golden Sea City and those celebrities in Yanghe Prefecture.
Zhang Tie had seen such a scene for so many times; however, at the sight of the brilliance on the faces of his family members, Zhang Tie felt like coming home with full of honors.
"Elder Mushen, after knowing that you're coming back today, all the people across Golden Light City are waiting for you here!" The major of Golden Light City moved one step forward and bowed towards Zhang Tie respectfully.
The major of Golden Light City was called Zhang Haicheng, the grandson of Elder Muyuan. He was on the same seniority with Zhang Tie's grandpa. After throwing a glance at the major of Golden Light City, Zhang Tie found that his face was indeed somewhat similar to that of Elder Muyuan.
'If I were not the clan elder, I'm afraid that he would not respond to me even if I called him grandpa. However, now that the social status between him and I are reversed, I don't have to be too modest.' He just nodded genially, "Thanks for your work!"
"It's my pleasure; it's my pleasure. After hearing that Elder Mushen overwhelmed all the elites of other clans across Youzhou Province and helped the clan head gain the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province, I made a decision myself to prepare such a welcome ceremony for Elder Mushen in Golden Light City. I hope Elder Mushen doesn't get offended with that!"
Being outstanding in the branch of Elder Muyuan and selected as the major of Golden Light City by Elder Muyuan, Zhang Haicheng must be a very meticulous figure. Watching Zhang Tie getting off the airship, he hurriedly moved out and greeted Zhang Tie, Closely after that, he left the rest time to Zhang Tie's family members.
"Papa!"
"Papa!"
"Papa!"
Linda, Beverly and Fiona lost their grips while Zhang Chenglei, Zhang Chengting and Zhang Chengpei rushed towards Zhang Tie like three little lions.
They were all wearing decent black formal suites like three little adults. With pink skins, they looked pretty cute. Watching them swarming up, hugging his legs and calling him papa, Zhang Tie felt much better at once with a big smile on his face.
Holding his three sons' hands, Zhang Tie walked towards his parents, "Dad, mom! Why are you here?"
"After being told that you will come back today, we couldn't stand to welcome you here!" Zhang Tie's dad replied.
Zhang Tie watched Zhang Ping and found his dad's eye corners were a bit wet. In such a scene, parents might be a bit thrilled. His parents missed his rotating chakra ceremony. This time, they were all at present and felt happy, proud and excited about Zhang Tie.
As it was not the right moment to chat with his family members, after simply nodding towards and exchanging glances with his elder brother, elder sister-in-law and his wives, Zhang Tie greeted his grandpa and Zhang Su briefly. After that, he held his sons' hands and exchanged a few words with those elders and celebrities in Golden Light City.
After waiting for Zhang Tie in the airship base for quite a while, they felt pretty honored to talk with Zhang Tie; especially after finding that Zhang Tie was so genial. The major of Golden Light City was introducing these celebrities to Zhang Tie, the greater part of whom were Zhang Tie's relatives of the same branch precisely.
Watching Zhang Tie holding Zhang Chenglei's tiny hand and exchanging words with these celebrities in Golden Light City, Linda instantly dropped off tears as she covered his mouth by her hand.
"Elder sister, what's wrong?" Fiona whispered.
"Nothing, I'm alright. I'm just too happy!" Linda recovered her composure as she hurriedly wiped off her tears.
After throwing a glance at Linda, Beverly stealthily passed a piece of facial tissue to Linda. Beverly could understand why Linda dropped tears more or less. Perhaps, only Linda, who had lost her father when she was young and experienced so many difficulties and frustrations in life could have a special feeling facing such a scene.
Watching Zhang Tie, Beverly suddenly realized that it was the most right thing that she had ever done by meeting Zhang Tie in the Wildwolf Valley in her life.
Who else could imagine that the civilian's daughter in Blackhot City could become a wife of the dean of the supreme court of a province in Taixia Country? Given her social status, those rich ladies of the major clans in Blackhot City were not even qualified to lick her shoes.
Beverly faintly raised her head and proudly showed her beauty...
...
"Elder Mushen, we've prepared a reception banquet for you in the Major's Mansion, erm..." The major of Golden Light City whispered to Zhang Tie after introducing the major figures.
"Now that you've prepared that, let's have a dinner then!"
Even though he had become a clan elder and the dean of the supreme court of Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie still had to establish human relationships although he disliked that.
After hearing Zhang Tie's response, the major of Golden Light City looked brilliant at once. He definitely felt pretty honored to have Zhang Tie join the banquet in the Major's Mansion.
Closely after that, they left the airship base for the Major's Mansion. Being surrounded by hundreds of people, Zhang Tie and his family members had a meal with the major of Golden Light City.
Before the banquet, the major of Golden Light City flattered Zhang Tie for quite a while in the banquet hall. He even invited Zhang Tie to give a brief speech. Zhang Tie stood up as he gave a brief speech.
Zhang Tie's first sentence was, "In this competition, the clan head gained most points and overwhelmed Lu Dingzhi, the head of Lu Clan. Thanks to the dauntless fights of the other elders of Zhang Clan in the Heavens Ball, Huaiyuan Palace made concerted efforts to win the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province and to lay a solid foundation in Youzhou Province for Huaiyuan Palace!"
Zhang Tie's second sentence was, "I'm hungry. Don't just sit there, pick your chopsticks!"
After Zhang Tie finished his brief speech, the banquet hall became silent for a couple of seconds. After that, a fervent applaud sounded in the banquet hall. Everyone praised that Elder Mushen was very modest and humorous.
...
After eating the supper in the Major's Mansion, Zhang Tie's family members, his grandpa Zhang Haitian and his elder uncles and cousins left the Major's Mansion and returned to Zhang's mansion in Golden Light City.
Everyone was okay except for Zhang Tie's grandpa, who was hyper today that he even got drunk in the banquet, which was really out of the imagination of his family members...
Chapter 846: Rapid Development
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After returning to Golden Light City, Zhang Tie became relaxed completely...
Since he joined Iron-Blood Camp and went to Selnes Theater of Operations, this was the only time when Zhang Tie felt reassured and relaxed after returning to Taixia Country and staying with his family members.
Zhang Tie had been running like an engine for so many years. After almost one month since he returned to Golden Light City on October 15th, this engine finally stopped running.
Zhang Tie even felt like having a winter holiday.
During the past one month, Zhang Tie didn't even enter Castle of Black Iron. He just stayed at home with his wives and his mother or played with his three sons in and out Golden Light City.
When Zhang Tie was at home, his mother looked more and more brilliant. Her mental disease was healed too. Through the nourishment of Zhang Tie, Linda, Beverly and Fiona looked more and more beautiful. Compared to the estrangement between his sons and him when they met each other for the first time, the three kids just wondered where they were going to play with their dad the moment they got up. Sometimes, as they were too excited about Zhang Tie in the daytime, they could not even sleep well. Therefore, Zhang Tie was always blamed by his parents and wives.
Over the past one month, Zhang Tie almost forgot that humans and demons were still in the holy war.
Not only that, over the past one month, since Count Long Wind promoted to the provincial governor of Youzhou Province, the entire Huaiyuan Palace, even the entire Yanghe Prefecture had been vigorous. Even though the winter had arrived, the sudden, cold current in the air could still not resist the great passion across Yanghe Prefecture.
Certainly, he was just reassured mentally and physically; it didn't mean that he had fewer affairs to handle. Actually, since Zhang Tie returned to Golden Light City, Zhang Clan had started to be busier as they started to welcome a great change.
Zhang Tie's grandpa's foundation was in the shipbuilding industry in Embracing Tiger City.
Over the past years, from Waii Sub-continent to Youzhou Province in Taixia Country, Zhang Clan's Milkway Shipyard finally entered its heyday due to the holy war. After moving to Youzhou Province, the Milkway Shipyard had been expanded by at least one times compared to that a few years ago.
Through negotiating with Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang, Jinwu Business Group injected 5 million gold coins into Milyway Shipyard and became a shareholder of Milkway Shipyard, which occupied 20% of the total shares of Milkway Shipyard. After Jinwu Business Group's investment, the Milkway Shipyard was renamed as Jinwu Shipyard directly.
Zhang Tie's elder uncle still occupied the greater part of shares of Jinwu Shipyard along with the control power of this shipyard. However, actually, Jinwu Shipyard had been affiliated to Zhang Tie.
Everyone across Yanghe Prefecture and Huaiyuan Palace knew that "Jinwu" was the brand of Elder Mushen. The meaning of renaming Milkway Shipyard into Jinwu Shipyard became evident——the other branches of Zhang Haitian, the old man of Zhang family were approaching Zhang Tie. It indicated that Zhang Tie officially became the pillar of Zhang Clan.
There was an old Hua saying, when the tree fell, the monkey would scatter. Zhang's Clan was facing the opposite situation.
Zhang Tie was like a huge tree, which was growing faster than that Zhang Clan could ever imagine. With luxuriant foliage and spreading branches, this huge tree had manifested its exuberant vitality. Its look would be inestimable in the future. It was already able to serve as a shelter for all the members of Zhang Clan.
Actually, when Zhang Tie held his rotating chakra ceremony and became a clan elder in Yiyang City, those relatives on the side of Zhang Haitian, the old man of Zhang family had intended to approach Zhang Tie. However, due to the reason of the holy war, plus Zhang Tie stayed in Waii Sub-continent for garrison, they didn't do that timely. After Huaiyuan Palace rooted in Youzhou Province, with the stabilization of Milkway Shipyard and Jinwu Business Group in Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie's eldest uncle's family gradually increased their exchanges with Zhang Tie. After Zhang Tie came to Taixia Country for a few days, he had already become famous across Youzhou Province as the dean of the supreme court of Youzhou Province. He even won the favor of Commander Cheng. Therefore, Zhang Tie's elder uncle's family accelerated their steps to approach Zhang Tie.
As for a big clan, such a thing was definitely indisputable. No matter whether a clan was rich or poor, it had to stick to one principle, namely, to be harmonious. The more cohesive the clan was, the greater achievements and brighter future it would have. No only Hua people, even many local major clans across Waii Sub-continent and Western Continent had traditions and domestic disciplines to maintain cohesiveness and influence. In some pervert, huge clans, in order to prevent their family wealth from being separated by outsiders, they even insisted on endogamy.
After Milkway Shipyard was renamed as Jinwu Shipyard, the happiest ones were not Zhang Haitian the grandpa of Zhang Tie, Zhang Tie's elder uncles, cousins, Zhang Tie or his elder brother but Zhang Tie's dad Zhang Ping.
Zhang Tie's dad had never been so proud even when Zhang Tie became a clan elder.
The disputes between Zhang Tie's dad and his family and between the last generation had been entangled in Zhang Ping's heart for dozens of years. This time, the burden in the heart of Zhang Ping was completely unloaded by Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang in this way.
The moment he unloaded his burden mentally, Zhang Tie's dad had been reassured. Benefited from this, he even lit the 8th surging point on his spine and promoted to LV 6 fighter at 60, which made Zhang family boisterous for a few days.
Zhang Tie's relatives on the side of his grandpa were busy approaching Zhang Tie's family while Zhang Yang was busy doing another thing.
After returning to Golden Light City, Zhang Tie realized that Zhang family needed to build a city independently...
'Although it's too early to describe the current situation in the proverb "Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain", Elder Muyuan's sense of existence has reduced a lot under my halos. Although it will not be a problem for a short time; but, after some time, Elder Muyuan's branch and my branch would definitely have conflicts in Golden Light City. I prefer to give way to Elder Muyuan at present than to wait for big trouble. By doing this, I could show my respect to Elder Muyuan's branch and leave a greater space for the development of Jinwu Business Group and my branch...'
Chapter 847: Purchasing Land
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
On November 27th, heavy snow, in the wilderness over 250 miles away in the southwest of Golden Light City...
This region was not affiliated to Yanghe Prefecture; however, it bordered with Yanghe Prefecture. As a wasteland in the territory of Youzhou Province, it's closer to Youzhou City than Yanghe Prefecture.
Zhang Tie, Zhang Yang and a group of people of Zhang family were watching this land in the command module of a fury-level airship in the sky.
Compared to Yanghe Prefecture, this land was undulating and untraversed. Such a land existed everywhere in lower provinces like Youzhou Province.
Due to heavy snow, the woods in the mountains were rimy while some rivers and brooks had been frozen. Zhang Chengze, Zhang Chenglei and the other little guys were lowering their bodies in front of an optical imaging device in the command module and adjusting the focal distance and display area in the optical imaging device. At the same time, they exclaimed due to the excitement.
Zhang Tie, Zhang Yang and Zhang Ping were standing on the other end of the command module and watched the land through the lower view porthole.
"Dad, how do you feel about this land?" Zhang Yang asked Zhang Ping.
Zhang Tie felt that his dad's crow's foot had disappeared greatly while his face had turned florid perhaps because he had promoted to LV 6 and felt cheerful lately.
"I just followed you here to take a look. As for the details, you brothers could make decisions by yourselves; I will agree with you!" Zhang Ping said cheerily.
"Dad, there's a herd of deer below us..."
Before Zhang Yang replied, those little guys had shouted and applauded as they found a herd of deer galloping in the wilderness.
"Follow the herd for a while for these little guys!" Zhang Tie issued an order to the captain of the airship.
"These little guys have already turned crazier after following you for only a few days. Other fathers are strict, look at you, you've spoiled our sons!" After hearing Zhang Tie's order, Linda, who was chatting with Zhang Tie's elder sisters-in-law started to blame Zhang Tie, causing the other women to giggle.
As it turned colder, the women of Zhang's family wore thicker clothes. With scarfs made of hides of sables and silver foxes over their necks, plus those expensive and delicate runes or alchemist's jewelry on their hands, these women looked more like rich ladies.
"After all, the airship has to travel in the sky, however, we need to please these little guys!" Zhang Tie explained with a smile. After that, he turned around and asked Zhang Yang, "What's the price of the land below?"
Although being the dean of the provincial court of Youzhou Province, Zhang Tie still didn't know too much about commerce. He rarely cared about money. It seemed to be the "Sequela of Gorath". Speaking of money, the first thought that occurred to Zhang Tie's mind was to rob Three-eye Association clans, which was the fastest way to make the most money.
"Youzhou Province is a lower province. All the lands below are wastelands being 140 miles away from cities. 2/3 of them was a mountainous area, while 1/3 of them was plain. According to the regulations, the land here is just Class C level II. Such a land is priced as 600 gold coins per square mile by the Land Resources Bureau in Youzhou City.
"So cheap!" Zhang Tie replied after being stunned for a few seconds.
"It's not cheap if you compare it to the wild provinces in the north. All the lands over there were ownerless. According to the laws of Taixia Country, as long as you build a city over there, you will have 3 square miles of land surrounding the city for free as the affiliated land. If mining ores were discovered in those wild provinces, the major clans would always build a city in the nearby so as to occupy the mining ores. Besides levying taxes, the imperial court would not interfere with them at all. Therefore, wild province reclamation is a big business in Taixia Country." Zhang Yang made a further explanation to Zhang Tie as his eyes glittered. It seemed that Zhang Yang was interested in land reclamation in Taixia Country.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Tie realized that what Zhang Yang said was true. The wild provinces in Taixia were truly in an anarchic state. Even though there were still people in these wild provinces. As long as there were people, there would be conflicts such as disputes about the right of attribution of mining ores being discovered in the wild provinces which different pioneering clans were involved in. As wild provinces could not hear litigation cases, according to the regulation of the judiciary jurisdiction in Taixia Country, the litigation cases in Liaozhou Province, which was near Youzhou Province in the north would be heard and tried by the judgment court under the court temple in Youzhou Province. Namely, Zhang Tie would take charge in such cases. Actually, the dean of the supreme court in Youzhou Province was also responsible for the litigation cases in Liaozhou Province before Liaozhou Province was established.
However, wild provinces also had their own rules of survival. Generally, conflicts in wild provinces would be handled inside the provinces. Bounty hunters and major clans in Taixia Country would manifest their power in wild provinces.
"How about this land? After a few days, we can fetch someone here to fix the border. Let's buy about 100,000 square miles of land first." Zhang Tie suggested calmly as if he was talking about buying 5-10 kg of white cabbages.
After saying that, Zhang Tie found that the command module became silent immediately. Zhang Ping and Zhang Yang were watching him with dumbfounded looks; even those women stopped their talks as they turned around to see him.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Tie touched his face with a confused look. His dad almost popped out his eyes while Zhang Yang looked bashful.
"Ahem...ahem..." Zhang Yang coughed, "Although Jinwu Business Group has developed really fast these couple of years, Jinwu Business Group only has over 60 million gold coins as floating capital. It might not be enough for such a big investment. We might need bank loans. If the loan amount was too large, Jinwu Business Group would have a greater financial stress."
"Wuh, I see!" Zhang Tie moved his hand onto his jaw. He almost forgot about the financial stress facing Jinwu Business Group and his family if they wanted to buy such a wide area of land.
"I've calculated it. I feel that we can buy about 150,000 square miles of land first. We can build a small Class D city with distinctive features. When these kids grow up in the future, we can further expand it if there's any demand!"
Stroking his jaw, Zhang Tie was thinking about those women and the babies in their wombs in Ice and Snow Wilderness. As he felt sorry about his mom, Linda, Beverly and Fiona, he didn't tell them about that. Zhang Tie was considering whether Zhang Chenglei, Zhang Chengting and Zhang Tingpei would feel that he didn't love them the most if they knew that their brothers who shared the same father yet different moms with them were left in Ice and Snow Wilderness which covered tens of millions of square miles.
Zhang Yang was right. However, when he considered about the future, Zhang Tie felt that they should buy as more lands as possible. It was just a matter of money. Besides those he deposited in Golden Roc Bank, he could afford the territory which was 5-10 times that of Yanghe Prefecture with the money that he had robbed from Three-eye Association clans and stored in Castle of Black Iron. Therefore, money was not a problem for him at all.
"I agree with you on building a small city, elder brother. As it's our family's first time to build a city, given the situation facing Jinwu Business Group and Youzhou Province, the city doesn't need to be too large. Just fix it within 70 square miles based on the requirements of a Class D city. However, I don't think that we should buy the surplus land in the future!" Zhang Tie stopped for a second, "Nobody could tell what would happen in the future. After 1-2 decade, Youzhou Province might change greatly. It's hard to say whether will we have such a good chance by then. We can buy the surplus land first. In this way, we can expand the city whenever we want. As there're so many wastelands, mountains and resources in this region, which have not been exploited yet; plus it neighbors Yanghe Prefecture, why not take them as our hereditary land. If Jinwu Business Group meets any trouble and goes bankrupt in the future, the juniors could also live a wealthy life without any concern!"
The word "trouble" reminded Zhang Yang something. As his brother, Zhang Yang knew that Zhang Tie referred to some unpredictable dangers that he might encounter. After all, the holy war had just broken out for a few years, knights might go to the battlefield in the future in Taixia Country. In this family, all the movable wealth might be lost except for this land. As long as Taixia Country and Hua people were not defeated by demons, nobody could take away this real estate.
"You're right, but..."
"I joined a bet with humans in Waii Sub-continent a few years ago and made more than 200 million gold coins. I deposited the money in Golden Roc Bank. I could have Golden Roc Bank transfer 100 million gold coins to the bank account of Jinwu Business Group. Elder brother, you can use the 100 million gold coins to buy the land!" Zhang Tie said.
Everybody in the command module was startled by Zhang Tie's words.
"How much have you made?" Zhang Tie's dad almost sprung up as he asked with an unbelievable look.
"Over two hundred million gold coins!" Zhang Tie said frankly.
Linda, Beverly, Fiona and Zhang Tie's elder sisters-in-law watched Zhang Tie with shocked looks at the same time.
No matter what, hundreds of millions of gold coins was definitely a terrifying figure. Although Zhang Tie's current annual compensation as the dean of the provincial court of Youzhou Province ranked top in Taixia Country, he should also work over 40 years to make 100 million gold coins. Try to imagine how difficult it was to make 100 million gold coins even in Taixia Country...
Chapter 848: Reunion of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Over these years, due to the holy war, the prices of commodities, especially grains had risen. In Golden Light City, a steam bun would cost 2 copper coins and 5 hao 1 . 1 kg's fine beef would cost about 1 silver coin and 20 copper coins; a 100 sq m house in Yanghe Prefecture would cost about 200 gold coins. If a common family of four could make 40-50 gold coins a year, they would live well in Golden Light City.
All of Zhang Tie's family members were once commoners. Although Zhang Tie's two elders sisters-in-law had better living conditions since they were young, they also knew the concept of "frugality". Therefore, when Zhang Tie mentioned that he had won over 200 million gold coins in a bet, he shocked everybody at present.
Although Zhang Tie's dad racked his mind, he could still not imagine how much was over 200 million gold coins. Zhang Yang remembered that Zhang Tie had mentioned that he made a pile by setting a trap in Ewentra Archipelago through remote-sensing crystals; however, he had not imagined that Zhang Tie made over 200 million gold coins.
When his family members became dumbfounded and didn't know what to say, Zhang Tie's mom pushed open the hatch door and entered the command module cheerily, followed by two female servants, who were pushing a dining trolley. The command module was filled with fragrance at once.
"Come on, I've just cooked the eight-treasures porridge 2 , it could nourish your body in winter!" Zhang Tie's mom said with a big smile.
Zhang Tie's mom treated cooking dinner for her family members as an enjoyment which could not be deprived by anyone else.
This airship was a private, luxurious one which was modified by a fury-level airship. It was also matched with a kitchen and a dining hall. Therefore, during these days, as long as the whole family went out by airship, Zhang Tie's mom would be the boss in the kitchen.
Seeing the porridge, they all put aside the previous topic and went to eat it. If anyone dared to violate Zhang Tie's mom's intention, it was nothing different than doing a crime. Even though Zhang family's kids had learned to flatter their grandma. However, when their grandma had the food prepared, they would instantly swarm up and cram the food into their mouth. The one who ate more would gain more favor from grandma.
"What were you talking about?"
Zhang Tie's mother asked them as he watched her grandsons eating eight-treasures porridge with a smile.
After exchanging a glance with each other, Zhang Yang told their mom what Zhang Tie said just now.
"Duang..." Zhang Tie's mother dropped her spoon when she heard "over 200 million gold coins".
"Grandma, grandma, you dropped your spoon. I will change one for you!" Zhang Shiyu wisely picked up that spoon; closely after that, she ran towards the dining trolley and brought back a new one.
"Guoguo, have you done anything bad in Waii Sub-continent?"
After hearing Zhang Tie's mother's words, Zhang Tie was almost chocked by the porridge...
"Mom, you're thinking too much. How could I be that bad? Although I've won it through gambling, each gold coin is legal. Golden Roc Bank even has a record of that. The other elders of Huaiyuan Palace also know about that." Zhang Tie explained to his mom after patting his chest.
"No way, how could you make so much?" Zhang Tie's mom continued out of concern.
"Your son is a knight. Mom, you don't know everything in the world of knights. Some knights could make over 100 million gold coins only by writing an article. It's nothing strange for your son to make some money by betting with others!"
"Some knights could make over 100 million gold coins by writing an article? Are you kidding me?" Zhang Tie's dad asked as he thought Zhang Tie was bragging.
When he recalled that article "The Comparative Analysis on the Battle Strength of Knights between Seven Major Sects in Taixia Country" in the Mountain of Brightness, Zhang Tie let out a sigh, "I'm telling the truth. It takes one knight 10,000 gold coins to read the article for one time. If over 10,000 knights read it, won't the writer win 100 million gold coins? One word for 1,000 gold coins is not excessive at all!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's reply, Zhang Tie's parents finally realized that Zhang Tie was not bragging.
However, after knowing that Zhang Tie was going to buy over 100,000 square miles of land in Youzhou Province, the whole family was greatly shocked. Actually, they were more excited than being shocked. Even Linda, Beverly and Fiona blushed due to the excitement.
Zhang family's feeling was like how a common family felt when they bought a super mansion which covered tens of thousands of square meters without having to pay by installment.
"Why do we buy such a mountanious area? Why not choose the plain area instead?" Zhang Tie's mom asked.
Zhang Yang replied, "Mom, I've had people surveyed this region. Besides being mountainous, this region doesn't lack water resource. Additionally, this region is abundant in fruits and medicines. Right in the land and mountain forest below us, there are over 70 fruits and over 1,000 medicines. I've negotiated with Zhang Tie. If we build a city here, Jinwu Business Group could pick raw materials from here so as to expand the production scale of all-purpose medicament rapidly. We will not have to worry about the supply of raw materials anymore."
"I mean, we can choose the mountainous area as the production base of Jinwu Business Group. We don't need to build the entire city on the plain. As a Class D city that covers 70 square miles is not large, half of it could be built on plain while the other half of it could be built on mountains. After the city is built, we can settle down with the best urban scenery and the best environment. Isn't it good?" Zhang Tie added, "When these kids grow up, they can also build their own cities on the surrounding land!"
The beautiful blueprint that Zhang Tie depicted for his family made all the women's eyes turn bright.
"How could you find such proper places so easily?" Zhang Tie's mom discouraged Zhang Tie although she was happy inside.
"Wow, deer are taking bath; deer are taking bath, and monkeys, monkeys are taking bath too..." Those kids had returned to the imaging device after swallowing up their eight-treasures porridge when the adults were chatting over there. Closely after Zhang Chengting, all the other kids exclaimed.
"It's winter, how could deer and monkeys take bath?" Zhang Yang smiled.
"Dad, it's real. You can take a look over here." Zhang Chengze told Zhang Yang.
The whole family then swarmed up and looked down by the imaging device...
It was a towering mountain peak below the airship, which was extremely magnificent. There was a deep and serene valley below the mountain peak. The mountain peak had been covered with snow. However, the valley was still surrounded with red blossoms and green willows, which looked pretty exotic. How amazing it was!
There was mist rolling in the valley, below which was a large area of warm spring. A lot of monkeys were immersing themselves in the warm spring cheerily; some of them were even holding wild berries. They just lay there like rich men on vacation. The herd of over 20 deer also entered the warm spring one after another and started to take a bath.
This mountain range and valley stretched over 7 miles and covered about 30 square miles. It was pretty nice and magnificent. Being abundant in water and grasses, they were surrounded by plain. Looking down at it from the airship, they found that it looked like a shoe-shaped gold ingot, the very kind of gold ingot that Zhang Tie's eldest grandma delivered to Zhang juniors at her birthday.
"Where are we?" Zhang Yang asked.
The captain hurriedly took out a map and pointed at a pale grey region which had not been precisely surveyed and drawn before replying, "Our airship is here. This region has not been developed yet. Few people come here during normal times. Therefore, it's not drawn precisely on the map!"
The captain was pointing at a place over 350 miles away from Golden Light City. Even the nearest railway and highway were over 300 miles away. Therefore, very few people would visit here. Even if there was, they would barely come here by airship.
"It's the God's will!" Zhang Tie let out a deep sigh as he drew a circle around the pale grey region which covered over 150,000 square miles on the map before pointing at that region with his pen forcefully and saying, "I like this region!"
...
After a few hours, the family finally returned to their mansion in Golden Light City by airship before dusk. The airship just landed in the airship port in the backyard of the Zhang's mansion.
"I will have someone register it in the urban area of Youzhou Province tomorrow!"
"Hmm, good. I will have Golden Roc Bank..." Zhang Tie suddenly stopped as he saw some familiar guys on the path in front of him. Those guys also noticed him with tears in eyes.
Beside them was Runo whom Zhang Tie had dispatched to Youzhou Province.
Before Zhang Tie figured out how could Runo bring them back so quickly, those guys had rushed towards him while waving their arms.
"Bighead..."
The horny fat shouted...
After hearing such a strange yet familiar nickname, Zhang Tie felt as if two decades had passed...
Chapter 849: Current Situation Facing Hit-Plane Brotherhood
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Only after more than 2 months, before Runo and his subordinates left the territory of Northeast Military Region, they had met Barley and the other members of Hit-Plane Brotherhood in Huizhou City, the capital city of Huizhou Province.
Huizhou City was the largest air hub in Northeast Military Region of Taixia Country. It took Runo and his subordinates over 1 month to arrive at Huizhou City by airship. When they were about to move to Guizhou Province, they met the group of Barley in the departure lounge of the airship base coincidentally.
According to Runo, the group of Barley was talking loudly about Huaiyuan Palace of Youzhou Province in the departure lounge. One of them even spoke of Jinwu Business Group and Zhang Yang. Out of curiosity, Runo inquired about their background and found that they were the very people whom he was looking for.
According to Zhang Tie's estimation, it would take Runo's team at least 3 months to come back with the group of Barley from Guizhou Province as it was a journey of 250,000 miles in total. He could not imagine that they would come back only in 2 months.
According to Barley, when they were in Guizhou Province, they heard about all-purpose medicament; through inquiry, they learned that Jinwu Business Group had been well-known across Youzhou Province; additionally, Huaiyuan Palace had already rooted in Yanghe Prefecture of Youzhou Province. Through negotiation, Barley, Doug, Sharwin, Hista, Leit and Bagad then determined to find Zhang Tie in Youzhou Province; at least they wanted to know Zhang Tie's whereabouts.
Since Zhang Tie sent them away from Blackhot City and disappeared from then on, he had always been the topic of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood. When they came to Taixia Country at the beginning, they had contacted Zhang Yang; however, after a period, they failed to contact Zhang Yang anymore due to various reasons. Of course, they lost the information about Zhang Tie.
Actually, before they met Runo, they were not even sure whether Zhang Tie was still alive. After hearing that Zhang Yang and Jinwu Business Group had rooted in Youzhou Province, they hurriedly came to Youzhou Province to ask about Zhang Tie's whereabouts from Zhang Tie's family members.
No matter how long had passed, what happened during the period when they called each other brothers had long become the deepest brand in their lives and would never fade away.
Without Zhang Tie, they even couldn't imagine the current lives facing them and their family members. They might have long been stranded in other continents or become one of those corpses in Waii Sub-continent.
In a sense, Zhang Tie was not only their brother but also their savior. Even their parents usually asked Zhang Tie's whereabouts, not to mention them.
At the sight of Zhang Tie, Sharwin, who used to be sentimental, turned his eyes red at first, closely followed by all the others of Hit-Plane Brotherhood including Zhang Tie. They called each other's name and tightly embraced each other and patted the other's shoulder forcefully without saying anything else.
...
Besides Zhang Tie, the other members of Hit-Plane Brotherhood had changed a lot physically. They were not that innocent juniors anymore; instead, they all grew tall and strong. After a couple of years, they would be 30 years old.
Bagad looked stronger than before; besides, he had dense whiskers...
Barley the Fatty's stomach was like that of a pregnant woman with twins...
Sharwin had grown taller. Previously, Sharwin was average in height in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood; however, now he was even 2 cm taller than Bagdad.
Doug was bald with a grim knife-cut scar on his left face. He really looked like an experienced hatchet man when he closed his mouth.
Leit had turned more adultly. In a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, he looked more like a scholar.
Hista looked still like a major d*ck. His face turned a bit pale. He was wearing a play-boy shirt and a pair of eye-catching white western style pants. What was more attractive was that 2 cm wide gold necklace.
In the study, Zhang Tie and the other members of Hit-Plane Brotherhood glanced at each other for quite a while. Finally, Barley let out a sigh as he rubbed his fat face, "Doesn't Hua people get old? How could you be so excessive? Why can I not see any trace of time elapse on your face? You look no different than that time when you left Blackhot City."
Sharwin and the other guys nodded forcefully at the same time.
Those who were always on Zhang Tie's side couldn't find that Zhang Tie was a weirdo. Only those who were very familiar with him and had not seen him for many years could sense Zhang Tie's terror——Zhang Tie's look almost remained unchanged since the last time they saw him.
"I have no idea. Maybe it's the sequela of thunder strike!" Zhang Tie could only fabricate it as he didn't know how to explain it to them at all.
"You know what, the moment I imagined that you could sleep with young girls at your 50s, I preferred to be stricken by the thunder on behalf of you!" Hista let out a sigh.
"What happened in Blackhot City? Why didn't you come back after leaving the airship?" Doug asked anxiously after Hista's words.
They had been puzzled by this question for so many years. On the way here, besides telling them that Zhang Tie was still alive and had just come to Taixia Country, Zhang Yang exposed almost nothing else about Zhang Tie to them. Therefore, they didn't know anything about Zhang Tie's current situation until now.
"I left the airship to kill Abyan the b*stard! Later on, due to some accidents, I was almost killed by Abyan. It's hard to describe the process. It took me a few years to get rid of that event completely and gain freedom. After the holy war broke out, I returned to Huaiyuan Prefecture and was told that you've already arrived at Taixia Country; therefore, I became reassured. I then stayed in Waii Sub-continent to resist demons for Huaiyuan Palace for a few years!" Zhang Tie explained it to them as he came to the gradevin of the study and got a bottle of liquor. After that, he came back and made a glass of liquor for each of them.
"Have you...promoted LV 10? So fast?" Bagdad had been gazing at Zhang Tie since he caught sight of the latter. As Bagdad failed to figure out Zhang Tie's qi, he just made a "brave" guess.
In Bagdad's opinion, based on Zhang Tie's cultivation speed, he should have a probability to promote to LV 10 during the past few years.
No wonder Bagdad would mistake it because even very few people in Huaiyuan Palace could break through LV 9 at the 20s. Additionally, Bagdad could never imagine what Zhang Tie had experienced in the past years.
Compared to Zhang Tie the weirdo, although Bagdad had been very diligent over these years, he had just promoted to LV 6 and lit 10 surging points on his spine. He was still 3 surging points away from LV 7 fighter.
After throwing a glance at Bagdad, Zhang Tie had kept all the information about Bagdad in his mind. Given the fine grains between the thumb and the index finger of Bagdad, Zhang Tie knew that Bagdad was practicing an extremely common saber skill "10-step constant saber". Bagdad had just become familiar with this saber skill. Additionally, as Bagdad practiced "Iron-blood Fist" at the beginning, even though he failed to make it, he had indeed spent some time in the basic movements of Iron-blood Fist, especially the Lying-tiger Movement, which could increase his strength and anti-strike ability. With Lying-tiger Movement as his foundation, given the features on Bagdad's back and neck and the faint, special smell of medicine over his body, Zhang Tie knew that Bagdad was practicing another anti-strike kungfu of Hua people——"Iron-back Skill".
With the strong knight's consciousness, Bagdad's information was almost transparent to Zhang Tie.
Bagdad was persistent and diligent, who was the typical representative of most of "excellent youths" at his age. Through his persistent efforts, he would soon promote to LV 7 as the strongest one among the other members of Hit-Plane Brotherhood but Zhang Tie.
"I indeed have broken through LV 9!" Zhang Tie replied with a smile. As he didn't want to scare them too much, he just shifted the topic, "How do you live in Guizhou Province?"
After hearing that Zhang Tie admitted that he had broken through LV 9, the others threw a glance at Zhang Tie as they thought that Zhang Tie had promoted to LV 10.
Speaking of Guizhou Province, all the other members of Hit-Plane Brotherhood looked bright at once, including Barley.
"We live pretty well in Guizhou Province. It took us a few years to adapt to the environment in Guizhou Province. God's Will Brotherhood opened 3 chain deluxe hotels and 5 dining halls. We have a good business here! We've already made over 600,000 gold coins using the 200,000 gold coins that you gave us at the beginning. You have 50% of the total shares of the 3 grand hotels and 5 dining halls!" Doug explained out of excitement as he patted onto Zhang Tie's shoulder forcefully and invited Zhang Tie passionately, "Bighead, if you're no longer able to carry on in Youzhou Province, work with us in Guizhou Province! As long as we stay with each other, we will have a bright future in Guizhou Province for sure."