Castle of Black Iron

In the pitch-black hinterland of the mining cave, everybody was immersed in the mysterious atmosphere built by Zhang Tie. The entire mining cave was so quiet that even the sound of a needle dropping onto the ground could be heard. In this place, only Zhang Tie’s words were reverberating in the air in a singing voice, which resonated in the ear of every person, shocking them down to their souls...

By then, Zhang Tie had already gained control over everything in his presence...

“When God wants to give you resilience, he will bring pain to your soul. The innocent and foolish humans are like those farmers who only know how to sow yet not knowing how to reap. They experience pain, yet they forget to reap resilience!”

“When God wants to give you strength, he will make you work hard. The innocent and foolish humans are like those farmers who only know how to sow, yet not knowing how to reap. They experience hard work, yet they forget to reap strength!”

“When God wants to give you intelligence, he will make you experience difficulties. The innocent and foolish humans are like those farmers who only know how to sow, yet not knowing how to reap. They experience hard work, yet they forget to reap intelligence!”

“The blessing of the God is always displayed in some other outward form. This is the top secret in the world. For the people who are familiar with this top secret, all the difficulties are the sweetest of fruits given to you, as they are God’s blessings. Show your gratitude and welcome all of the blessings from God. Take the King’s Mark on your forehead as your contract, and you finally will gain the freedom!”

Although the sutra Zhang Tie had said earlier was puzzling, everyone was able to understand the latter paragraph. Hearing Zhang Tie’s benediction, everybody suddenly realized and was shocked to their souls. It turned out that such a huge secret was hiding behind the guise of just digging in the mines. While others saw this job as difficult labor, the Enlightener has been constantly receiving the blessing of the Gods in this mining cave. In loneliness, he received resilience, and through hard work, he received strength. He might even have been practicing his fighting skills by repetitively waving his mining hoe...

Zhang Tie used his finger to draw three horizontal lines in the air above his forehead. Seeing Zhang Tie’s actions, those guys thought about the next move as they also piously drew three horizontal lines on their own foreheads using the blood on their finger.

“This is the King’s Mark. The first horizontal line symbolizes the difficulties of the sky, the second horizontal line symbolizes the difficulties of the land, and the third horizontal line symbolizes the difficulties of human beings. After receiving the blessing of the Big Blessing Skill, you will learn how to show your gratitude to the blessings hidden behind difficulties. I will break through the King’s Mark by drawing a vertical line using the fresh blood of your brothers. This represents that all your difficulties will be broken through. In the future, each of you will have an unusual achievement. You will gain freedom through experiencing all types of difficulties, as these difficulties will be the source of your strength...” As he said this, Zhang Tie dipped his finger into the fresh blood in the stone pit and drew a vertical line on the forehead of Potter, who was kneeling in front of him very devoutly, forming the Chinese character “王”[1] on his forehead

When Zhang Tie’s finger touched Potter’s forehead, that young person became so excited that his body began to tremble all over.

“From now on, the King’s Mark has been engraved in your mind. Every time you encounter difficulties, it will remind you that you should think like a king and that you should face all difficulties, as they are simply just outward forms. Only those who have truly acquired the King’s Mark could receive the blessing from the Gods that have been hidden behind these outward forms. As a fire-bearer, you will also gain the Mark of Light, which will enable your mind to be filled with light. Even in the darkest of places, the light in your mind will never die out...” As Zhang Tie solemnly and seriously said that, he dipped his finger into a bit of the fresh blood and used his finger to draw a painting on Potter’s head, one which was in the shape of the Chinese character “火”. After drawing it on the left side of Potter’s forehead, Zhang Tie found that it was not symmetrical, thus he drew another one on the right side of his forehead, making the two symmetrical with each other. Together, the three Chinese characters truly seemed to be full of mystery.

Others stared at Potter with eyes full of admiration.

Following Potter was the second person, the third person, the fourth person… Every one of the youths knelt down in front of Zhang Tie on one knee, letting Zhang Tie, who was pretending to be mysterious, draw a vertical line on their foreheads using their fresh blood, leaving behind the Chinese character “王” on their foreheads.

The “fire-bearers” then became the object of admiration for everyone. Aside from the commonly shared “王” on their foreheads, there were also the two “火” characters, which Zhang Tie had said was the Mark of Light, something that could fill even the darkest places in one’s mind with light.

After doing such a series of steps, although Zhang Tie had tortured himself a lot and had even used his own blood, upon seeing the expressions of happiness and hope and the special, shining brilliance in their eyes, which was completely different from before they had entered the cave, he realized that what he had done for them was worth it.

It was not important whether or not it was true. After such a long prank, as long as these guys could live happily while filled with hope, Zhang Tie would have already achieved his goal. However, in the case of emergencies, Zhang Tie added the following explanations.

“Remember, the key factor of the Big Blessing Skill is that you must remain grateful and filled with joy in your heart when facing any difficulties or challenges. If you don’t want to face them, you can choose to leave and come back when you are ready. However, you should never complain and doubt your belief. If you begin to complain and doubt your own beliefs, then you will lose the power of belief and the effects of the Big Blessing Skill will never appear. The Gods will not give any blessings to a person who frequently complains about everything. If you complain, then you will truly encounter difficulties. Remember this in your minds! Complaining and doubting are blasphemous to the Big Blessing Skill!”

Everybody nodded.

“Revered Enlightener, if we are lucky enough to hear it, could you please tell us as to which party or school does such a perfect Big Blessing Skill come from? After receiving such an inheritance, do we have to assume some obligations?” A guy walked out of the crowd and bowed in front of Zhang Tie before respectfully asking. At this moment, Zhang Tie looked both tall and mysterious in the eyes of the public.

The Age of Black Iron was brimming with a mysticism. Hidden groups and schools emerged one by one everywhere as many people even considered it to be an honor to be able to join those groups or schools. The guy walking out of the crowd had aroused the curiosity of the others as all their eyes were shining and remained fixed on Zhang Tie.

At this moment, even if Zhang Tie had told them that everything that has happened so far had been fabricated, the others would only regard it as a joke and nobody would believe him. Thankfully, Zhang Tie had long been prepared for this problem.

“The Big Blessing Skill is a mysterious knowledge from the Ancient Gods Church. For those who have received the Big Blessing Skill, aside from keeping this confidential, having mutual affection with your brothers, and providing assistance to your brothers when in need, you have no other obligations. You are all free now. The Ancient Gods Church will not request you to do anything!” Zhang Tie calmly explained. At this time, even Zhang Tie started to admire himself. ‘Zhang Tie, you are truly a natural-born, damn priest! Just by opening and closing your mouth, you have already built the Ancient Gods Church.’

“Revered Enlightener, can we join the Ancient Gods Church?” This question was really what many other people had wanted to ask. Many people then cast their eyes full of desire onto Zhang Tie. Ancient Gods Church—its name sounded great, and it seemed to contain a great amount of mysterious knowledge. “We, the Ancient Gods Church, only allow the most devoted of followers who have the firmest of beliefs and have obtained the blessing from the Gods to join us. In truth, the Big Blessing Skill was a standard used to select followers for the Ancient Gods Church. Everyone who has obtained the blessing of the Big blessing Skill has received the favor of the Gods. In the future, some among you will deeply sense the majesty of the Big Blessing Skill and will absorb the great strength from all difficulties and troubles. When this great strength combines with your awe, your devotion will come into being. Only the most devoted people can join the Ancient Gods Church after obtaining the consent of the Enlightener!” Hearing Zhang Tie’s words, many people became slightly disappointed; however, after thinking for a short while, they looked more decisive and held more expectations. Just like what Donder had said, Zhang Tie was very clear that only things that could not be gained or could be gained only through hard work were the best. If he became soft hearted and let those guys feel as if it was easy to join the Ancient Gods Church, then the church would have no future, thus Zhang Tie decided to not waste any time.

……

After completing the inheritance ceremony of the Big Blessing Skill, when Zhang Tie and the group of people reappeared in front of Wood, Jones, Gandhi, and Franca, the “sacrifices” who stood at the entrance of the cave, the four people immediately felt a great change in the people behind Zhang Tie. Since they all had a water bottle, the blood stain on their foreheads had already been cleaned off, but after undergoing that “baptism”, everyone looked completely different than before, both in spirit and in bearing. In the eyes of Wood and the other three “sacrifices”, the motley crew who were noisy when they entered this entrance now looked mysteriously calm, decisive, and very devoted.

Zhang Tie walked ahead of them and the calm people followed behind him. In this way, a group of people walked out from the darkness, much like a scene where a priest had led his followers out of the abyss of hell. It was truly a shocking scene.

Walking beside Zhang Tie was still Potter, who was holding a torch for Zhang Tie. Wood remembered that Potter, before entering the cave, was someone who was self-abased and didn’t even dare to look straight into the eyes of others. Amazingly, after such a short period, Potter had already had an exceptional bearing that it even amazed him. That was a firm and unspeakable crazy personality. At this moment, Potter did not only look straight into Wood’s eyes, but he had also calmly smiled.

With a sound of “Ding”, Wood, who had fixed his eyes on Zhang Tie and his followers, unconsciously loosened his grip, causing his dagger to fall onto the ground.

Was this because of the Big Blessing Skill? The four sacrifices exchanged glances as they saw the burning flames and shock in the eyes of the others. This was truly a great mysterious knowledge...

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[1] 王 Chinese character for King.

[2] 火 Chinese character for Fire.