Chapter 54

Don't cry, don't cry, guard the Ancient Divine Armory well.

Wu Tie stood at the edge of the big pit at the exit of the Ancient Divine Armory's passage, lightly patting Big Iron.

Three meters tall, its shape a pallid white skull, Big Iron whimpered 'woo woo', its huge head lightly rubbing against Wu Tie's chest.

Over a thousand meters away, on a small dirt mound, a squad of Mist Blade assassins gazed eagerly this way.

Big Iron's appearance is shocking. Such a huge metal head—how big must his body be? Even the largest stone giants raised by Mist Blade don't have heads this big!

Enough, acting like a woman." Old Iron impatiently slapped a claw onto Big Iron's forehead.

Guard this place well, we'll return." Old Iron barked, urging Big Iron to hurry back.

Big Iron whined 'woo woo' as it slowly sank into the Ancient Divine Armory's passage. Then the entire passage entrance rippled like water, blue electric currents surging silently, the entrance becoming like mercury spilled on the ground, quickly disappearing underground.

Mud boiled on the surface, the passage entrance vanished, leaving only a large pit five or six meters deep.

Let's go, parting between life and death—men ought to experience such things more." Old Iron raised his claw and patted Wu Tie's shoulder.

A man, when just born, is a tender little sapling, no different from those flower-like girls.

Parting between life and death, flesh blurred, corpses strewn across the wild—after experiencing such things often, it's like an old pine clinging to a cliff, battered for thousands of years by wind and rain, acquiring a man's flavor.

Old Iron turned and walked toward the upriver direction of the great river.

Wu Tie nodded, following behind Old Iron, walking while listening to Old Iron's lament.

Setbacks, a man must have setbacks." Old Iron chuckled: "Have you seen the burls on old trees? The burls that form on injured trunks are much harder than ordinary wood.

The more wounded, the stronger—this is what a man is.

Think about it, why must we separate from Big Iron? Why?

Because our strength isn't enough. If we stay here, you'll be killed, and I might be torn apart and recycled… the Ancient Divine Armory will likely fall into their hands.

We lack the strength to protect what we want to protect, so we can only leave.

So, power, little one… power!

Wu Tie wore tight armor, on his back a spear forged by Old Iron from materials stored in the Ancient Divine Armory, newly made for him.

The White Tiger Fissure was properly worn on his arm, but such a divine weapon… should not be lightly used, and Wu Tie currently lacks the strength to unleash its full might.

Hearing Old Iron repeatedly stress 'power,' Wu Tie instinctively gripped the spear with his backhand and glanced toward the Mist Blade assassins scouting in the distance.

They seized our territory, they're also eyeing our Ancient Divine Armory… now we're leaving because of them?" Wu Tie exhaled irritably: "I'll settle the score with them.

Old Iron grunted: "Wait until we can truly leave their control safely. If I'm not mistaken, a fierce battle awaits us… but if we just flee, it should be fine.

A fierce battle? Why?" Wu Tie looked at Old Iron, puzzled.

When the fight truly starts, you'll understand." Old Iron said solemnly: "This is the human heart…

Shaking his head, Old Iron looked back at Wu Tie, bewildered: "Strange, I used to only fight and kill, never doing these taxing mental calculations…

Weird, how did that Yang Jian guy assign me to the medical squad… my head was stuffed with medical rescue techniques… plus these strange things… when I was punished and locked up… what else did they cram into my brain?

Wu Tie strode two steps forward and knocked on Old Iron's protruding streamlined occiput: "You don't even know what's in your own head?

Old Iron grunted, saying nothing.

His eyes flashed with Blood Light, obviously unable to answer that question.

Wu Tie curiously regarded Old Iron… listening to Old Iron's words, Old Iron is clearly a powerful weapon forged by ancient people.

To create such a marvelous weapon as Old Iron, nearly indistinguishable from a living being, is truly remarkable.

'Wisdom'… the hairs on Wu Tie's body instinctively stood up, recalling what Grey Master had said about the legend of 'Wisdom.' Is 'Wisdom' truly stronger than pure strength?

One before the other, Wu Tie and Old Iron arrived outside the Mist Blade stronghold.

A huge chain as thick as a water tank was firmly fixed outside the stronghold; a group of Mist Blade assassins directed a band of Stone Dwarf slaves, busily moving large quantities of production and living supplies from the wagons.

Seeing Wu Tie and Old Iron approach, the Mist Blade assassins instinctively gripped the straight swords on their backs.

The Stone Dwarves dared not stop their work, but their gazes toward Wu Tie and Old Iron were full of gratitude.

These small, weak fellows clearly remembered that when the flood dragon with several giant pythons ravaged the camp, the Mist Blade assassins fled at once, and it was this 'strange' youth Wu Tie who saved them.

The lives of Stone Dwarves are worthless.

Not only do the masters of the Stone Dwarves think so, the Stone Dwarves themselves have formed this belief within their clan.

Wu Tie could risk his life for a bunch of lowly Stone Dwarves…

The Stone Dwarves' eye sockets glistened with moisture; as they worked, they occasionally turned their heads to look at Wu Tie, firmly imprinting his appearance in their hearts.

A silhouette silently passed through the mist and appeared before Wu Tie.

Still thirty-odd meters away, cloaked and with faces hidden by hoods, a Mist Blade elite halted, gazing at Wu Tie and Old Iron, and said in a low voice: "You two, are you leaving? Do you want us to provide you with a vessel for departure?"

Wu Tie and Old Iron exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

The Mist Blade elite chuckled 'ke ke': 'Thus, I wish you both a smooth journey… also, our Chief Steward said we don't want you two to come back… this place is our Mist Blade territory.'

Come on, let's go!" Old Iron didn't reply to that fellow; he slightly crouched, then leapt up, jumping over a hundred meters and landing lightly on that great chain.

Wu Tie also sprang into the air and landed lightly on the chain.

He looked around; on both banks of the great river, shadows flickered at the two outposts, countless slaves busily toiling.

On the great river, fishfolk and frogfolk warriors wandered back and forth, occasionally harpooning large fish and tossing them onto the riverbank.

The warriors belonging to Mist Blade formed expedition parties of various sizes, now advancing into the entire secret realm; this basin of a thousand-li radius, plus the even vaster Gobi beaches around it, gives them plenty to explore for a long time.

Furthermore, a thousand li away, the faint red glow of a great magma fissure could still be seen.

Above the celestial dome, the 'False Sun' that the Changsheng Sect had built at great expense was emitting a warm red light, endless vitality filling the air, while a light mist drifted over the river below.

We're leaving." Wu Tie waved at the Mist Blade assassins not far off.

The Mist Blade assassins stood motionless; a few elites among the crowd regarded Wu Tie and Old Iron with cold eyes.

Old Iron laughed 'ga ga'.

Wu Tie drew from the large animal-hide bundle on his back a thin iron chain, wrapped it around his waist, and tied the other end to Old Iron's neck; this twenty-some-meter chain bound them together as one.

Old Iron sprinted nimbly along the water-tank-thick chain.

Wu Tie closely followed and started running.

One end of the chain was fixed to the ground outside the Mist Blade outpost, while the other end was driven straight into a waterfall tens of li wide and seven or eight li high.

Before long, Old Tie and Wu Tie arrived one after another before the huge waterfall.

Old Tie's four legs emitted a faint electric current, his four legs firmly gripping the metal chain, he let out a low, happy 'woof-woof' twice, then plunged his head into the waterfall.

The terrifying water flow struck Old Tie's body; a layer of extremely faint electric light surged on his body's surface, and the water slid past before even touching him. The impact of this terrifying great waterfall on Old Tie was negligible, and he easily steadied himself.

Wu Tie also plunged headfirst into the waterfall.

His tight-fitting armor enveloped his whole body, likewise with a faint electric current flowing over the armor's surface.

The water flow could not touch Wu Tie's body; the armor's visor emitted a faint rumbling sound, and strands of air in the water were drawn out by the visor, directly supplied to Wu Tie, allowing him to breathe underwater.

This armor is not only strong in defense.

In the next instant, Wu Tie's left palm bone violently trembled, a mass of heavy dark light surged on his palm, the water flow around him suddenly vanished, and a small space about two meters in diameter appeared around his body.

"Hey!" Old Tie turned his head and just saw Wu Tie's palm emitting dark light to push back the water.

He exclaimed in surprise: "Grandpa, I now know how you got here without being shredded by the dark current… the nature of Chiyou's Tooth has been perfectly inherited by your palm bone!"

Wu Tie recalled falling into the water in the mine shaft of Wu Family's Shibao, and then safely appearing in the secret realm beforehand and afterward.

He instantly understood: it was truly Chiyou's Tooth protecting him all the way, allowing him to arrive here unharmed.

Unexpectedly, his fingers fused with that bone fragment; after the fragment absorbed Chiyou's Tooth, it even inherited the effect of being impervious to water.

"Great treasure!" Wu Tie raised his now somewhat heavy left hand, infused a strand of primal gang into his palm, and the space around his body instantly expanded to a diameter of ten meters.

"Grandpa, I can conserve some strength." Old Tie retreated a few steps with a satisfied grin, came to Wu Tie's side, and spat out a bottle of foundation-establishing elixir: "Then let's just keep going this way… if primal gang runs low, we'll take medicine."

These days, Wu Tie hunted massive beasts on a large scale, stockpiling nearly ten thousand bottles of foundation-establishing elixir. Old Tie's belly capacity is huge, and he swallowed all the elixir, storing them in his stomach.

Taking the elixir bottle from the tongue Old Tie had spat out, Wu Tie smiled, and they proceeded one after another upstream along the long chain.

The chain is as thick as a water vat, but extremely long.

I really don't know where Mist Blade got this chain; following it, Wu Tie and Old Tie quickly advanced over a hundred li.

In the Yin River, twists and turns abound; at several places where waterways intersect, huge iron nails are driven deep into the strata, firmly fixing the chain in place, so that despite the dark currents surging, the chain remains utterly still.

Proceeding upstream in this manner, following the chain forward they advanced another two hundred plus li, and ahead a faint glimmer could be seen.

Thousand Fish City.

This is a fairly renowned city in the Cangyan Realm, originally belonging to the Shi Family.

Thousand Fish City got its name because it backs onto a large lake with a diameter of over a hundred li; the lake's aquatic products are abundant, and besides various fish and shrimp, even the clams nurture colorful pearls.

With this great lake as its reliance, Thousand Fish City produces abundant aquatic products; plus the fertile lakeside land, they opened up vast fields, various mushrooms grow well, so the Shi Family of Thousand Fish City thrives, also raising a large corps of family warriors and tens of thousands of slaves of all kinds.

In the Cangyan Realm, Thousand Fish City is also considered a fairly prominent upper-middle clan; even on the banquet tables of the realm's greatest Lu, Yan, and Shi clans, Thousand Fish City's aquatic products are indispensable.

It's just because they offended Luo Lin, who hails from Mist Blade, that Thousand Fish City was exterminated in just a few days; now flying atop the main fortress tower of Thousand Fish City is Mist Blade's 'Black Mist Straight Blade Banner'.

A False Sun with a diameter of 150 meters hangs high above the dome, its red light illuminating a vast expanse of land.

In the great lake behind Thousand Fish City, deep in the lake's center lies a Yin River entrance nearly a hundred meters in diameter; that day, when Shi Lingqing was pursued and killed by Luo Lin and others, driven to desperation, heedless of danger, he used a usual pearl‑gathering diving boat and recklessly charged into the Yin River.

Now a massive chain is driven diagonally into this huge Yin River entrance, the chain slantwise passes through the lakebed, and finally is fixed to the pier behind Thousand Fish City.

Several stone giants seven or eight meters tall, wearing armor, sit beside the chain gnawing on roasted meat.

Dozens of ox‑tribe warriors wield great battle‑axes, strutting about as they patrol the surroundings.

Besides them, Thousand Fish City is utterly silent, with not a hint of sound or movement; even the flag on the castle's main tower hangs limp on its pole, completely still.

Wu Tie and Old Tie walked out along the chain, trekked across the lakebed on foot, and landed on the shore far from Thousand Fish City.

Just as they were about to surface, Wu Tie clenched his left fist; with a thought, the dark light emanating from his palm bone vanished, and lake water rushed in, soaking him and Old Tie.

Dragging mud and water ashore, Wu Tie and Old Tie vigorously shook their bodies, flinging off the mud and droplets until they were clean.

A few li out, the rock wall bears several conspicuous passageway entrances, dry and unguarded; this is the route Thousand Fish City uses to reach other territories.

Old Tie and Wu Tie proceeded one after another toward the nearest entrance, gradually moving away from the great lake.

After walking seven or eight li, Old Tie suddenly halted: "If we don't come out now, we'll really be leaving, huh?"

Thus, the Mist Blade Chief Steward appeared like a ghost, gradually materializing from the air over two hundred meters ahead of them.

On the lake shore behind them, a large group of Mist Blade assassins and servant warriors silently appeared, cutting off their retreat.

"Only the dead will not leak the existence of that secret realm." The Mist Blade Chief Steward looked at Wu Tie and Old Tie and spoke very gently.