Castle of Black Iron

The gold coin was placed in a transparent rectangular crystal box on the desk of the study room. It appeared to be an ornament. Since it was a bit special, it was put in the crystal box.

Zhang Tie was very familiar with this gold coin because it was one of the standard gold coins that the government of Taixia Country authorized Pangu Bank to produce. The positive side of this gold coin was the vivid and delicate image of Rate Bridge, one of the 12 bridges across Goldenwater River of Xuanyuan Hill while the back of it was an image of an open peony and the words “Pangu Bank”.

In Hua culture, rats could gather wealth. Water of Goldenwater River and open peony also meant wealth.

In Taixia Country, there were over 100 kinds of legal gold coins. It was one of them. Zhang Tie got a large number of gold coins of the same kind.

It was definitely not counterfeited by someone in Motian Realm as a whim occurred to him. Because there was no gold mine in Motian Realm at all; instead, in Motian Realm, currencies were made of special metal crystals that Zhang Tie had not seen before. Therefore, currencies here were also called crystal coins.

Zhang Tie was shocked inside, but he didn’t display it.

Taking that crystal box on the desk, Zhang Tie took a look at it out of curiosity. Then, he asked Hong Yukong who was holding some books of articles, “What’s this? I’ve not seen it before.”

“I don’t know either!” Hong Yukun replied as he shook his head.

“Don’t you know why it is here?”

“Over 300 years ago, it was said that Force Emperor had someone send this gift to Dragon Emperor at a ceremony of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. It was obtained by Force Emperor from the Mountain Ruins. Nobody knows what it is. It’s said that Force Emperor sent the same item to Star Emperor. However, as Dragon Emperor had not appeared for many years, it was just kept here…”

‘It’s obtained in Mountain Ruins by Force Emperor?’

When Mountain Ruins and gold coins of Taixia Country were connected with each other, a whim occurred to Zhang Tie——Mountain Ruins in Motian Realm might contain a space-teleportation tunnel leading to Taixia Country; otherwise, how could gold coins of Taixia Country appear here?

Since he came to Motian Realm, Zhang Tie had been looking for means to return to Taixia Country; pitifully, he couldn’t find any clue no matter how much he asked around. Therefore, Zhang Tie became a bit restless. He didn’t expect to see a bit of hope in the study room of Dragon Emperor.

This gold coin made Zhang Tie thrilled.

Zhang Tie had not discovered that a common gold coin could be so endearing. The light over the gold coin was really full of hope. This gold coin represented the possibility that he could return to Taixia Country. If not being watched by Hong Yukun one side, Zhang Tie even would like to exclaim and dance with joy. Those who didn’t enter an alien world could not understand how excited was Zhang Tie at this moment.

Additionally, it carried a special meaning for Force Emperor to gift a gold coin that he discovered in Mountain Ruins to Dragon Emperor and Star Emperor respectively. He might want to pass a message. As for powerhouses on the top of this world like Force Emperor, the message that he would like to pass to the other top powerhouses was absolutely significant. From the perspective of those top powerhouses, what would arouse their interests?

The answer was evident.

Before this, Zhang Tie had not thought about the connection between the disappearance of the Dragon Emperor and the world where he came from. However, the possibility indicated by this gold coin reminded Zhang Tie of one thing——Dragon Emperor has disappeared for over 900 years; however, the Catastrophe in the world where he came from broke out 907 years ago. Is there any connection between them?

“Oh, I was told that His Majesty has disappeared for over 900 years. Do you know how long it is in detail?” Zhang Tie asked Hong Yukun.

As Hong Yukun had been working here for over 200 years, he was in charge of many belongings and materials of Dragon Emperor. Although his battle strength was poor, he was the one who knew Dragon Emperor the most in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace.

“Director, you got the right man!” Hong Yukun said with a humble smile, “It’s said that His Majesty has disappeared for over 930 years; because His majesty always took actions secretly, very few people knew his schedule. Sometimes, His Majesty entered secluded cultivation or some bizarre lands when the others couldn’t see him at all. On this occasion, the others still thought the Dragon Emperor disappeared. Actually, it’s not that long. Last time His Majesty showed up was in Dragon Emperor Pavilion on the 2677th year of the calendar of Emperor NvWa when he entered secluded cultivation for over 1 month here. Then, he left with a lot of belongings. I read the records of “Dragon Emperor’s Daily” left by the former official. Therefore, precisely, His Majesty disappeared 907 years ago. In a few months, it would be 908 years…”

‘907, 907, that’s it…’

When Zhang Tie got the answer, he was dazed at a stroke.

After a short while, when Zhang Tie started to recover his composure, one word occurred to him first——f*ck! Then, f*ck again!

Of course, it might be a coincidence. However, the odd was too low. Therefore, the fact probably was that the Catastrophe and the Star of God in the world where Zhang Tie came from were related to Dragon Emperor.

‘It’s more like the Star of Dragon Emperor than Star of God.’

“Erm…before His Majesty left, did he say where he was heading for?” Zhang Tie asked as he swallowed his saliva after a short while.

“He didn’t mention it concretely; however, according to the record left by the former official, His Majesty might have discovered something great in Mountain Ruins. He went back to make preparation so that he could return to Mountain Ruins…”

“Where’s the former official? Where’s he? Is he still in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace…”

“The former official was a supreme immortal general in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace, also the No. 1 powerhouse in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace after His Majesty. He was loyal to His Majesty and followed His Majesty for many years. As a trusted subordinate of Dragon Emperor, he stayed in Dragon Emperor Pavilion for a long time after His Majesty disappeared. As he couldn’t get any message about His Majesty, over 300 years ago, he entered Mountain Ruins at the risk of his life to look for His Majesty and Nine Heavens Immortal Spring. Unfortunately, he perished in Mountain Ruins…” Hong Yukun explained as he shook his head, revealing a mournful look, adding, “What a pity…”

“Is there any image of His Majesty?”

“There’s no image of His Majesty here. Previously, His Majesty didn’t like to hang his own image; however, there were some memory crystals in Dragon Emperor Pavilion which contained some images of His Majesty!”

“Where’re they? Show me!”

“Right on the 2nd floor of the study room. Director, wait for a moment, I will get them back soon…”

“No need, let’s go upstairs together…” Zhang Tie couldn’t wait to check them.

On a shelf of the 2nd floor, there were some jade boxes, which contained some memory crystals about the images of Dragon Emperor left by the former official.

Hong Yukun opened the jade box which contained four memory crystals. Zhang Tie casually picked one as he penetrated his spiritual energy into it.

One person in the memory crystal was playing guqin, a seven-stringed plucked instrument in the garden under the bright moonlight.

Eyes half closed, that man was tall, classic and handsome with tender and kind eyes. He was watching the guqin and plucking it by his slim and powerful fingers which looked like sculptured jades. Even though he was just sitting there quietly, he still could barely cover the ethereal qi field of an emperor. This person could easily rank first among the people whom Zhang Tie had seen.

In the piece of music, the falling moonlight started to twist as it became alive. Gradually, the moonlight became luminous butterflies and various small birds started to fly around that player. It was really a dreamland.

Undoubtedly, the player was Dragon Emperor.

The image was very clear. The audience was right on one side, from where Zhang Tie could clearly observe the look of Dragon Emperor——The image in this piece of memory crystal was absolutely Dragon Emperor himself. Undoubtedly, it was real.

Dragon Emperor’s look was completely unfamiliar to Zhang Tie. After watching Dragon Emperor’s face for a short while, Zhang Tie moved his eyes onto Dragon Emperor’s ears.

One’s ear carried much information about bloodline. In many situations, the ear was more important than one’s look.

Therefore, Zhang Tie directly compared the ears of the Dragon Emperor with that of Xuanyuan Changying in his memory.

After comparing some specific points, shapes and geometrical relations of their ears, Zhang Tie was petrified once again.

Dragon Emperor didn’t leave any descendant in Motian Realm; however, Xuanyuan Changying, the royal prince of Taixia Country was the descendant of Dragon Emperor…

‘Is Emperor Xuanyuan Dragon Emperor?’

‘No, of course not, Dragon Emperor is above sage-level knight; however, Emperor Xuanyuan is just a sage-level knight. What’s more, the whole legendary life of Emperor Xuanyuan who has saved the humans and founded Taixia Country is recorded.’

‘Therefore, the correct answer is that the entire royal households of Xuanyuan clan across Taixia Country are the descendants of Dragon Emperor. This might be the top secret of the royal households of Taixia Country!’

‘The most mysterious Xuanyuan Deity Sutra in the legendary life of Emperor Xuanyuan got its origin then.’

‘Where’s Dragon Emperor?’

‘He’s dead!’

‘This is closest to the fact. If Dragon Emperor, as an existence above sage-level knight, was still alive, Zhang Tie should have heard about him; nor would all the human knights across Taixia Country lose their targets after becoming a sage-level knight. If the Dragon Emperor was still alive, the history of over 900 years’ Black Iron Age of humans and Taixia Country would be rewritten.’

‘Dragon Emperor is also a human, not a deity. Despite being powerful, he would die too.’

‘The great price of crossing two worlds, the unknown dangers brought by Star of God and the Catastrophe or his experience in Mountain Ruins might do irreparable harm to Dragon Emperor.’

‘However, before leaving the world where I came from, the Dragon Emperor left his descendants and Xuanyuan Deity Sutra . Additionally, he created hopes for people in that world to continue to fight demons in Black Iron Age…’

‘Dragon Emperor himself ended demons’ hidden rule over humans and opened Black Iron Age.’

In the study room of Dragon Emperor, Zhang Tie unveiled the biggest secret about the world he came from. Zhang Tie was not thrilled inside; instead, he felt frustrated as many whims occurred to him…

“This calligraphy was left by His Majesty before leaving. It’s the only calligraphy that Dragon Emperor left in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace!”

When Zhang Tie was in daze, Hong Yunkun found a box and took out calligraphy meticulously.

After opening it, Zhang Tie felt an overwhelming qi which made him almost breathless.

Dragon Emperor only left four words——I die, people survive!

Taking the calligraphy and watching the four words, Zhang Tie’s heart pounded all in a sudden as his hands couldn’t help quivering.

“Dragon Emperor barely left calligraphy except for this one. Nobody knew why His Majesty would leave such calligraphy before leaving. When His Majesty disappeared, the humans in Motian Realm were not on the brink of death…” Hong Yukun said as he pointed at the calligraphy. All of a sudden, he found that a point of the calligraphy became wet as it started to spread over the blank space. He was shocked as he turned around and found that Zhang Tie’s eyes had turned red silently as he watched the calligraphy in shock…