Castle of Black Iron

At the sight of Zhang Taixuan, Zhang Tie had found that Lan Yunxi was similar to him.

To be honest, if Zhang Tie was requested to select a middle-aged man who was the most charming to women, Zhang Tie would choose Zhang Taixuan first.

Given his look, this man was between 40 and 50 years old. Besides, he had a pure white and flawless face, well-combed hair, sparkling eyes and the dignity as the head of a major clan and a gentleman.

Although Zhang Taixuan didn’t look strong, he had an extremely powerful qi field among those elders in this room. After sensing it carefully, Zhang Tie was slightly shocked as he felt that the knight qi of Zhang Taixuan was even more powerful than that of the demon general.

Zhang Tie sensed that Zhang Taixuan was going to promote to an earth knight, ’No wonder he dares compete for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province.’

Zhang Tie and Zhang Taixuan just watched each other.

Among the clan disciples of Huaiyuan Palace, Zhang Tie didn’t have an outstanding look. He was not as handsome as Apollo. He just looked straight and frank. However, Zhang Tie’s age made him very special among all the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace.

Even Zhang Tie didn’t know why he maintained his look of 16-17 years old. His look was 10 years younger than his factual age.

”Clan head!” Zhang Tie crossed his hands and bowed towards Zhang Taixuan.

Zhang Tie was very polite as it was his first time to meet Zhang Taixuan. As for this man who might be his father-in-law, Zhang Tie wanted to leave a good impression on him. If he made this man feel that he was too arrogant and fickle, this man would be a high mountain between him and Lan Yunxi in the future.

Watching Zhang Tie’s good performance, Zhang Taixuan revealed a bit smile and uttered kindly, ”Elder Mushen, please take a seat!”

Zhang Tie then sat next to Elder Muyuan.

”Elder Muen, as Elder Mushen has just arrived, he might be confused about something. You can introduce what we talked to Elder Mushen!”

”Yes, sir!” Elder Muen replied before briefly introducing what happened in Youzhou City lately to Zhang Tie.

As the competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province was going to start, all the details about the competition gradually became clear.

This competition would indeed proceed in the virtual battlefield of Treasures Ball.

There were 9 candidate clans, only 2 of which could match Huaiyuan Palace, namely Lu Clan of Spiritualmaple Prefecture in Youzhou Province and Gu Clan of Easternriver Prefecture in Youzhou Province.

With 10 knights, Lu Clan was a noble clan in Youzhou Province. Its clan head Lu Dingzhi was a hereditary count, who had a high reputation in Youzhou Province. He once promoted to the coin-building officer of the Ministry of Finance. With a deep background, he could probably win this competition.

Gu Clan of Easternriver Prefecture was also a local major clan. Although being not a hereditary noble clan, Gu Clan was also well-known across Youzhou Province. Gu Clan had 8 knights, the most able ones of which were the clan head and the young master. Gu Dashou the head of Gu Clan and Gu Qingyun the young master of the clan, were both knights, which were unique in Youzhou Province and were always praised by people. Gu Dashou had Gu Qingyun at an old age. Among knights, Gu Dashou was not tough, Gu Qingyun was much more talented than his dad.

In Youzhou Province, Gu Qingyun ranked first in cultivation talent. Gu Qingyun had promoted to a battle spirit at 16. Closely after that, he learned from the elders of Heavens Holding Pavilion, one of the top 7 major sects in Taixia Country. After entering Heavens Holding Pavilion for 6 years, he had promoted to the black iron knight at 22, when his name shocked Youzhou Province. It was said that Gu Qingyun was pretty appreciated by the elders in Heavens Holding Pavilion. He would have a limitless bright future for sure.

Lu Clan and Gu Clan were better than Huaiyuan Palace which had just settled down in Youzhou Province in all aspects.

Besides the above two clans, the other 6 clans were Yan Clan of Chaoyang Prefecture, Liu Clan of Changshan Prefecture, Simon Clan of Xingbei Prefecture, Sun Clan of Guide Prefecture, Guo Clan of Sanquan Prefecture and Li Clan of Miyun Prefecture.

All of them were local major clans. With special forces on their back, they were most powerful in their prefecture. Each of them had at least 3 knights. They had also prepared well for this competition.

Given all aspects, Huaiyuan Palace could only rank 3rd. Huaiyuan Palace had a poor chance to win. Among those onlookers, none of them thought that Zhang Taixuan could win the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province. The odds for Huaiyuan Palace in the gambling house of Youzhou Province was 1: 1.35, which meant that most of the people thought that Huaiyuan Palace only had a chance of less than 30% to win the battle. Those who were keeping their eyes on Huaiyuan Mansion included those who were dispatched by Huaiyuan Palace’s competitive opponents and those in the gambling house of Youzhou Province; especially the latter who were concerned about Huaiyuan Palace’s actions very much.

After hearing the brief introduction of Elder Muen, Zhang Tie turned solemn too. Youzhou City was really full of talents and powerhouses, who were all drooling about the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province.

After saying that, Elder Muen paused before continuing, ”This is the situation facing Youzhou City which had been told by the Clan head. After that, when the Clan head was talking about Heavens Ball with the other elders, you arrived!”

Zhang Tie nodded. After hearing the Heavens Ball, he became spirited once again.

After Elder Muen’s introduction, Zhang Taixuan coughed twice faintly. When the other elders moved their eyes onto him once again, he uttered, ”Heavens Ball is a marvelous treasure. As it was excavated from the underground world, it was not exclusive to the Heavens Fortune Sect. It is not unique as I’ve seen such an item in the Taihang Fortress of Earth-elements Realm during these years when I fought in the Earth-elements realm. I have even experienced inside it. Therefore, I knew how it works. I will tell you about that for your reference...”

...

After over 20 minutes, the conference came to an end. After bidding a farewell to Zhang Taixuan politely, all the elders left the room one after another while feeling gloomy.

Zhang Tie’s mind had been filled by the Heavens Ball. After listening to Zhang Taixuan’s introduction, Zhang Tie was not thinking about this competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province, but the mysterious Earth-elements Realm.

Zhang Tie didn’t notice that Count Long Wind was stroking an odd-looking brilliant jade ring and watching his back while a sorrowful look flashed by Zhang Taixuan’s eyes.

...

”Elder Mushen!” Elder Muyuan stopped him when he was leaving the pavilion.

”Elder Muyuan!” Zhang Tie stopped as he faintly bowed towards Elder Muyuan.

”Did your mother get better?” Elder Muyuan asked out of concern.

”Thank you for your concern, Elder Muyuan. My mother felt very pleasant on the way here. She has almost recovered!”

”Hmm, that’s good!” Elder Muyuan let out a sigh of relief, ”This competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province is of great significance, Elder Mushen should think more about it!”

”I know, I will exert my full efforts for sure!”

Elder Muyuan nodded as he touched his mustache and asked Zhang Tie suddenly, ”I wonder what do you feel about Gu Qingyun, Elder Mushen?”

Zhang Tie became confused about Elder Muyuan’s intention. After being silent for a couple of seconds, he uttered, ”He’s talented. Additionally, he relies on Gu Clan and the 7 top major sects of Taixia Country. He lives up to his reputation.”

”Everybody in Youzhou Province knows about Gu Qingyun, don’t you want to replace him?”

’Replace him?’ Zhang Tie was startled by Elder Muyuan’s words. To be honest, he had really not thought about such a domineering opinion.

Watching Zhang Tie’s dumbfounded look, Elder Muyuan revealed a wisdom and experienced smile, ”When we could strive for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province for Huaiyuan Palace in the Heavens Ball, why not strive for yourself, Elder Mushen? Haven’t you learned something from Gu Qingyun who became famous across Youzhou Province at 16 and grew more and more famous from then on? Humans would always belittle the weak ones and praise those stronger ones. Aren’t reputation, wealth and power circling around vanity? After promoting to a knight, your cultivation road forward would grow narrower. It would be more difficult for you to reach a new level. You need greater strength to reach a new high. Whether in Waii Sub-continent or Taixia Country, have you seen any one form 2 or 3 chakras silently?”

Zhang Tie became stunned as he felt that Elder Muyuan’s words were very meaningful.

”Retrospecting to the past 5,000 years, you would find that very few people became something silently! Whether it was because they were not making their full efforts? Whether it was the God’s will or humans’ will?” After leaving this sentence, Elder Muyuan sighed with emotions before leaving.

After standing still for a few seconds, Zhang Tie deeply bowed towards the back of Elder Muyuan...