Chapter 968: Price and Achievements
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
After cultivating in the pyramid for almost half a year, Zhang Tie’s cultivation base advanced by leaps and bounds. He had made great improvements in the battle skills of “Fire Dragon Sutra” and forming his earth chakra.
Half a year ago, Zhang Tie had just reached 1 change black iron realm; however, he had already entered the 4 changes black iron realm now.
Half a year ago, Zhang Tie could only simulate the battle skills of “Fire Dragon Sutra” according to the powerful emperor-level classic “King Roc Sutra”; however, now, Zhang Tie had been able to combine his gnosis with the deduction of those powerful secret battle skills such as “Fire Dragon Heavens Burning Spear Battle Skill”, “Big Sun Fire Dragon Palm Skill” and “Fire Dragon Light Concealment Skill”, which were very powerful.
Zhang Tie gradually mastered the essence of those secret battle skills of “Fire Dragon Sutra”.
“Fire Dragon Golden Body” was a secret skill of “Fire Dragon Sutra” which was used to improve one’s protective battle qi and body defensive capability. Over the past half a year, Zhang Tie practiced cultivation every day and made the fastest progress in “Fire Dragon Golden Body” while being besieged by so many battle puppets.
Although “Fire Dragon Golden Body” was a protective secret skill of “Fire Dragon Sutra”, it was relatively independent compared to “Fire Dragon Heavens Burning Spear Battle Skill” and “Big Sun Fire Dragon Palm Skill”, etc.. The cultivation of “Fire Dragon Golden Body” posed no special requirement on the battle qi of “Fire Dragon Sutra”. Any knight who had lit all of his or her surging points could cultivate this secret skill.
When Zhang Tie started to cultivate “Fire Dragon Golden Body”, he directly used his king roc battle qi to nourish and warm up his surging points. The effect was unimaginably good.
Additionally, the process of cultivating “Fire Dragon Golden Body” was similar to that of gaining iron-body fruits, which both emphasized on strengthening his defensive capability through bearing strikes. Therefore, after combining the effect of iron-body fruits; especially the firm foundation that Zhang Tie laid in the early stage, Zhang Tie made progress by leaps and bounds in cultivating “Fire Dragon Golden Body”.
Over the past half a year, Zhang Tie had been used to eating one iron-body fruit every day to strengthen his body defensive capability. Sometimes, if the battle puppets’ strikes on that day could not stimulate the production of an iron-body fruit, Zhang Tie would enter Castle of Black Iron and continue to practice his battle skills under the waterfall of the immortal mountain while stimulating the production of the iron-body fruit on that day.
After taking iron-body fruits one after another and making rapid progress in the battle skill “Fire Dragon Golden Body”, Zhang Tie felt the strikes of battle puppets in the lobby becoming lighter and less destructive. Meanwhile, he suffered fewer injuries from the same strikes.
One day, when Zhang Tie returned to Castle of Black Iron in an extremely fatigued state, the small tree was still there; however, no iron-body fruit could be seen on it.
Zhang Tie even rubbed his eyes as he thought that his eyes had deceived him. However, after circling around the small tree, he indeed didn’t find any iron-body fruit on it.
‘What’s wrong?’
The battle today was very fierce.
Today was a symbolic milestone for Zhang Tie because he stayed in the lobby for over 10 hours for the first time. Compared to when he came to the pyramid at the beginning, this was already a great progress.
In the 10 hours, he bore ceaseless strikes of so many battle puppets. All the 31-layer protective battle qi that he formed through cultivating “Fire Dragon Golden Body” collapsed. He had suffered bone fractures in at least 16 places over his body. Besides, his guts were greatly shocked. Until he spurted out blood did he stop all the battle puppets with bloody eyes through his crystal ball. He panted over half an hour and drank a lot of all-purpose medicament before trudging out of the lobby.
When he moved out of the lobby, he had been wet all over by sweat like being scooped out of the water. Even his footprints contained his sweat…
Then, Zhang Tie slowly went up the main peak from a strange path with a fluke mind while gradually recovering his body. After entering the hall on the top of the main peak of Weapons Mountain, Zhang Tie returned to Castle of Black Iron.
If he was lucky enough, he might meet a virtual image of the silver secret item when he went up the mountain. Therefore, he would go up and down the mountain everyday to seek for treasures.
Over the past half a year, Zhang Tie had been used to treat the hall on the top of the main peak of Weapons Mountain as his portal from Castle of Black Iron to this world.
Pitifully, since he gained the “Battle Wolf”, Zhang Tie had hard luck in recent two months, except for seeing two virtual images of secret items from afar.
That day, besides having not seen any virtual image of the secret item, Zhang Tie didn’t even see any iron-body fruit on the small tree.
Although each iron-body fruit required more striking strength than the earlier one, Zhang Tie was pretty sure that the strikes and harms today could stimulate the production of an iron-body fruit.
Therefore, Zhang Tie felt strange and depressed.
The moment he wanted to ask Heller about the reason, Heller had already appeared below the high platform of the small tree as if he had known that Zhang Tie would like to ask him about that.
“Heller, what’s wrong? There should be an iron-body fruit today, but I don’t see it!”
“Castle Lord, do you remember what I told you when you asked me why the small tree could not produce any fruit of demon knights?”
“What?” Zhang Tie became confused.
“Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree is the reflection of rules. It’s not almighty. Its abilities were limited according to rules. It could not create things out of its limits!” Heller watched Zhang Tie as he continued steadily, “Castle Lord, actually, you’ve already taken the last iron-body fruit that this small tree could produce yesterday!”
“What, last one?” Zhang Tie was shocked…
“Yes, last one!” Heller nodded, “Over the past half a year, Castle Lord has made progress by leaps and bounds. You have taken so many iron-body fruits; especially after cultivating the “Fire Dragon Golden Body”, Castle Lord’s anti-striking capability and defensive capability have surpassed the upper limits that could be brought by iron-body fruits. Therefore, you will not make any progress with iron-body fruits anymore. That’s why the small tree would not provide iron-body fruits to Castle Lord from today on!”
After hearing Heller’s explanation, Zhang Tie felt more complex. He didn’t know whether he should be happy or sad about this news.
It should be a pleasure for him to grow more powerful; however, Zhang Tie felt empty and melancholy as he could not eat the familiar fruit anymore.
Likewise, your parents would finally pass away and your friends would finally leave you. Starting with Blackhot City, this small tree had been accompanying Zhang Tie like his best friend and relative. It didn’t abandon him at any critical moment; instead, it helped him grow up and tide over all sorts of difficulties with marvelous fruits. Zhang Tie had not imagined that the small tree could not catch up with his progress when his ability broke through an upper limit. He had not imagined that those familiar fruits would leave him one day.
Iron-body fruits and leakless fruits laid a solid foundation for Zhang Tie. He had not imagined that the iron-body fruit that he ate yesterday was the last one in his life. If he had long known it, he would never take that iron-body fruit. He would leave it on the tree as a souvenir of the experience between him and the small tree.
Zhang Tie felt complex as he stroked the small tree’s trunk, twigs and leaves and said, “Thank you…”
The leaves of the small tree rustled as if they were responding to Zhang Tie.
After stroking the small tree silently for a short while, Zhang Tie turned around and asked Heller, “Whether other fruits such as leakless fruit would run out too?”
Now that iron-body fruits had run out, leakless fruits which almost appeared at the same time with iron-body fruit and were closely related to his physical functions might also reach the upper limit with his gradually increasing overall strength.
Since he promoted to a black iron knight, he had sensed that leakless fruit was gradually inneffective to him. This was the premonition of the disappearance of this fruit.
“Castle Lord, after you form emperor-level earth chakra and promote to an earth knight, the energy inside your body would stop leaking. By then, the small tree would stop producing leakless fruits!”
Heller’s answer was within Zhang Tie’s expectation.
Zhang Tie let out a long sigh…
…
After half an hour, Zhang Tie immersed himself into an aura warm spring in the immortal mountain and slowly nourished his body and recovered his fatigueness.
There was some herbal medicine in the warm spring, which was necessary materials for building “Fire Dragon Golden Body”. When Zhang Tie traversed across the world, he sowed many plant seeds in Castle of Black Iron. Those herbal medicines grew well in Castle of Black Iron; plus the special aura warm spring in the immortal mountain, Zhang Tie felt very convenient for recovering his injuries and building his “Fire Dragon Golden Body”.
In the mist of the warm spring, Zhang Tie was swallowing liquor of fiery-flame lotus seeds and eating the soft fiery-flame lotus seeds.
Although being in the warm spring, Zhang Tie felt pretty cold inside after taking those fiery-flame lotus seeds; especially his eyes. Warm outside and cold inside, how comfortable it was.
‘From then on, I have to depend on myself!’
When he thought about the missing iron-body fruits, Zhang Tie’s chest undulated unconsciously.
After coming to the hieron, Zhang Tie had taken fiery-flame lotus seeds for over half a year. Zhang Tie didn’t remember how many fiery-flame lotus seeds had he taken. He just regarded it as snacks. As long as he was free, he would chew them.
According to Heller, Zhang Tie had almost taken all the 1149 fiery-flame lotus seeds which had been stockpiled in Castle of Black Iron over these years.
After eating so many fiery-flame lotus seeds, Zhang Tie felt his eyes turning increasingly brighter with an increasingly better vision. He could see farther and farther…
When he ate fiery-flame lotus seeds today, Zhang Tie’s eyes felt a bit different than before. As the surging points over his eye sockets felt pretty cold. It seemed that something was jumping and was going to erupt from the surging points.
Zhang Tie didn’t pay attention to it. Whatever, those fiery-flame lotus seeds were harmless. He just drunk a bit more liquor of fiery-flame lotus seeds today. After taking all the liquor and lotus seeds, he gradually felt drunk. He then fell asleep comfortably in the warm spring with a bit fatigueness…
In a daze, Zhang Tie felt his eyes shocking. Closely after that, he saw colorful blazes as if there were two colorful windows in the sky.
Zhang Tie opened his eyes and felt that the world was much more colorful than before…
All the flowing nutrients and moisture that trunks absorbed from underground in the distance were all presented in his eyes.
Everything became transparent…
There was no block in front of his eyes anymore. Everything was redefined.
After being immersed in such a realm for quite a long while, Zhang Tie became startled abruptly while all the abnormal phenomena disappeared in a split second.
‘Is it an illusion?’ When Zhang Tie gazed at that tree in the far, the tree became transparent once again while the nutrients and moisture circulation routes reappeared in Zhang Tie’s eyes like a huge net.
Zhang Tie looked at the ground while the groundwater routes appeared in his eyes clearly too.
‘It’s not an illusion!’
‘But a higher realm of color temperatures which was mentioned by Heller…’
Substances had different and clearly hierarchical color temperatures.
After staying in the warm spring for a short while, Zhang Tie suddenly recalled something. With a sudden shriek, he sprung out of the warm spring and left Castle of Black Iron naked and reappeared in the bloody sacrifice hall on the top of the main peak of the Weapons Mountain.
Zhang Tie instantly rushed out of the bloody sacrifice hall and came to a cluster of crystals on the top of the main peak, which contained some pearls of secret items.
…
Only after a few minutes, Zhang Tie suddenly roared like a wild wolf who had taken too many viagra due to extreme excitement.
“F*ck, they’re all mine; f*ck, they’re all mine; I’m rich; f*ck, I’m rich…”
That day, a naked guy jumped and screamed in a cluster of crystals in Weapons Mountain like being driven mad…