Castle of Black Iron

Unlike water, it was bone-chilling and was about minus 100 Celcius degrees. Weirdly, it was not frozen; instead, it was still flowing. Meanwhile, the water could heavily erode one’s protective battle qi. Therefore, Zhang Tie had to fix his protective battle qi while swimming.

The tunnel inside the pond was as complex as a max. It was connected to many other ponds of different styles and sizes. Zhang Tie could see one pond in each a few minutes. There were odd black sands at the bottoms of those ponds which appeared to be used to plant something. Additionally, Zhang Tie saw some withered and broken roots which were thicker than 3 m in those black sands. As they had been there for so many years, they immediately turned into powders floating in the water after being lightly touched by hand.

The density of water was even several times greater than that of mercury; additionally, it formed a very high pressure at the bottom of ponds. As a result, they couldn’t swim fast even if they wanted. Each step forward would cost them great amount of physical strength. Ordinary fighters could barely move even an inch in the water even if they were not pressed to sh*t by the great water pressure.

If not Tang Mei who worked as his guide, even Zhang Tie didn’t know where were they heading for. Therefore, Zhang Tie just followed Tang Mei to turn left and right in water pipes.

After about 8 hours’ swimming, they entered the bottom of a greater pond from the maze-like pipe network.

Perhaps, it was more like a lake than a pond; because Zhang Tie found that the bottom of this lake covered tens of thousands of square meters and was deeper than 100 m. The entire lake was filled with that odd water. The water of those ponds should come out of this lake. The black sands at the bottom of this lake were thicker than those in other ponds. Meanwhile, the broken roots here were thicker. Many roots were thicker than 8-10 m. Swimming in this lake, Zhang Tie felt like wandering in a primitive forest which only remained its tree stools.

“Where are we heading for?” Zhang Tie asked Tang Mei secretly using his battle qi.

“Go to the opposite bank.” Tang Mei pointed at front. Closely after that, they swam towards the opposite bank.

When he reached halfway of this lake, Zhang Tie suddenly caught sight of a huge skeleton in the black sands and those broken roots.

The grimly white skeleton was longer than 100 m, which looked like a boa’s remains. However, there were four limbs under the skeleton; additionally, its head was like that of an ox with two antlers.

At the sight of this skeleton, Zhang Tie instantly became stunned. Even though he had not seen a real dragon, when he caught sight of this skeleton, Zhang Tie could immediately recover its look when it was alive. Undoubtedly, it was a dragon, a real dragon, an image in the totem of Hua people.

As a Hua people, it was Zhang Tie’s first time to see the real symbol of Hua people. Therefore, Zhang Tie was greatly shocked for quite a while.

By contrast, Tang Mei didn’t feel strange about it. Zhang Tie then swam to the side of that skeleton. Only by touching it had he teleported the entire skeleton of the dragon into Castle of Black Iron. After that, he continued to fly towards the opposite bank.

In Zhang Tie’s eyes, the dragon’s skeleton was also a treasure of great meaning.

After reaching the opposite bank, the two people floated up. Zhang Tie exposed his eyes out of the water and checked the situation on the bank secretly.

This lake was in a colossal space of the hinterland of Buzhou Mountain. There were some similar damaged buildings near the bank. All the buildings were higher than 40 m. With sharp-pointed roofs, they were like large conch shells. Additionally, there were looming runes over the main bodies of these spiral buildings. Many buildings had been heavily damaged like glasses being hit by huge iron hammers.

There was a closed gate near the place where they came out of the pipes under the water. When they reached the opposite bank, they were close to a patch of strange woods. All the trees in the woods were higher than 100 m just like skyscrapers. Zhang Tie could identify that they were trees; because almost all the trees had lain down or tilted in the same direction. Many trees even exposed their roots and huge pits over the ground.

The odd woods appeared to have encountered a destructive fire accident. All the trees had been burned black. Many trees were absolutely broken or fell down or tilted towards one direction. Few trees were still standing. None of the trees were still alive. It was as silent as a graveyard.

The key was that Zhang Tie didn’t see any traces of deities’ battle puppets or any corpses in those damaged buildings or this patch of destroyed woods.

It should be safe for the time being.

Zhang Tie directly jumped out of the water and stood on the bank, closely followed by Tang Mei. Watching this patch of pitch-dark woods, Tang Mei slightly knitted her brow as she shook her head and sighed slightly, “What a pity! I’ve not imagined this…”

“Nothing pitiful!”

“According to the records of Emperor NvWa’s Palace, all the trees are very precious Heavenly Sandalwoods. They have many marvelous effects. Previously I thought that there should be at least a couple of Heavenly Sandalwoods alive here. It seems that they’re all dead!” Tang Mei said with great pity.

“Where are we going?”

“Take a rest somewhere in this patch of woods today. We will pass through it tomorrow. There should be a tunnel leading upwards at the end of this patch of woods…”

“Good!” Zhang Tie nodded.

Starting from entering the core region of Mountain Ruins, Zhang Tie had been fighting fiercely. He almost didn’t have a rest. To be honest, it was not an easy experience at the bottom of water over the past 10-odd hours. Although Zhang Tie could still stick to it, when he considered that he might face fierce battles in the following, he also thought it was necessary to take a rest for recovery.

Dark should have already fallen outside Mountain Ruins.

After deciding to stay overnight in this patch of woods, the two people entered the woods to look for somewhere proper to stay.

There’s no soft soil on the ground. Perhaps, there was soft soil here. But now the ground had become so hard. The ground across the woods had been completely solidified like having been burned in a brickkiln or porcelain kiln for long. Those places which looked like slopes were actually as hard as iron. Even those irregular soil particles in the huge pits at the root of those collapsed huge trees which looked soft were actually as hard as granites.

The terrifyingly high temperature had already turned this patch of woods completely into a barren land like magic.

The huge trees were crossing like city walls in front of Zhang Tie and Tang Mei disorderly, also like fallen edifices after a terrifying earthquake. As a result, Zhang Tie and Tang Mei could only fumble in the gaps between those huge trees, surpass or detour many obstacles.

After a short while, Zhang Tie caught sight of a 1 m-higher huge hole in the middle of the trunk of a broken and fallen huge tree ahead. Additionally, the hole was covered by the trunks and twigs of the surrounding broken or fallen trees. It was a relatively hidden place, which couldn’t be discovered from afar. Zhang Tie then pointed at that place. Tang Mei nodded. Therefore, they walked towards that tree hole.

When they approached it, they found that the tree hole was very wide inside. The entire tree hole twisted and extended over 20 m deep in the trunk. Its entrance was small. However, on the back of that opening, namely the inside of the tree hole, it was a bump-sized space, which was available for two people to rest inside.

“Ha, it’s a nice place. If we set a fire inside, we won’t even expose the light…” Zhang Tie entered it, closely followed by Tang Mei who lifted her skirt.

The precious golden secret item Heavens-Separation Sword in Zhang Tie’s hand completely worked as a tool for chopping firewoods.

The core of the trunk had not been completely carbonized; however, it was also as hard as iron. With flying white sword light, Zhang Tie soon made two beds for two people on two sides. Those bits of wood became firewoods.

Zhang Tie piled up those firewoods. Closely after that, he flicked his fingers and sent a sparkle flying into those firewoods. Only after a short while, he had made a bonfire inside the tree hole. The bright light instantly drove the darkness away inside the tree hole. The entire tree hole instantly became warm and made them feel reassured.

Beside this bonfire, the cold brought by the bone-chilly water gradually disappeared.

“Brother, won’t we roast some potatoes?” Tang Mei winked as she told Zhang Tie.

After hearing Tang Mei’s words, Zhang Tie became temporarily stunned. Closely after that, he really took outside potatoes from Castle of Black Iron and threw them to the edge of the bonfire.

After setting a bonfire, Zhang Tie smelt a mysteriously special fragrance inside the tree hole. Only after taking a sniff lightly, Zhang Tie had felt being crystal-clear; meanwhile, his guts felt such cool and smooth. Even his spiritual energy and battle qi were greatly nourished…

“Ah, what’s that fragrance?” Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

“It’s one of the effects of Heavenly Sandalwood. Pitifully, these Heavenly Sandalwoods have been damaged for such a long time. As they’re already dead, only less than 1/10 of their effects persist. If you lit a burning incense with the wood of live Heavenly Sandalwood, you will find its fragrance could even improve the cultivation base of immortal emperors and is more beneficial to ordinary generals and immortal soldiers…” Tang Mei said with pity.

When he realized the value of this patch of woods, Zhang Tie finally understood why Tang Mei sighed for that. This thing was even more precious than element crystals.