424: Chapter 240 Unexpected (Subscribe Please) 424: Chapter 240 Unexpected (Subscribe Please) On April 24th, a light drizzle shrouded Xiushui County in mist, the fog thick and pervasive.
People generally believed that the place chosen by Iron Madman for his promotion to Fourth Grade would either be at West Mountain or west of Shenxiu River, near Taishan, with more secluded locations being preferable.
After all, it was rumored that in order to advance to Fourth Grade, practitioners of the Mixed Element Iron Armor Skill from the Tie Armor Sect had to bury themselves in rock for three days and three nights.
No one had expected that Iron Madman would choose a flat little village two hundred and seventy miles south of West Mountain, right at the border between Xiushui County and Huiji County.
Songfeng Sword Lin Shi only learned of Iron Madman’s choice an hour before the event and was extremely surprised.
When he led his Xiushui Hall men and horses to the village, known as Mi Family Mansion, the next morning, he immediately surveyed his surroundings.
This was an endless plain, and the village, which was originally quite ordinary, now had a strengthened stone castle with Arrays embedded around it.
The walls of the stone castle were an astonishing four zhang thick, built with Xuanwu Black Rock and reinforced with iron juice.
Inside the castle, there were twenty arrow towers, each about twelve zhang high, equipped with Arrays that greatly increased the archers’ power and range.
By this time, nearly three thousand two hundred elite members of the Iron Banner Gang had entered, and the Tie Brothers had hidden another four hundred troops there, rendering the entire stone castle impregnable.
After seeing this, Lin Shi could not believe his eyes, “The Flag Leader chose to advance here?
Does this place also meet the conditions for advancing in the Mixed Element Iron Armor Skill?”
One could say that this place is one of the twenty-seven most suitable locations in Xiushui County.”
Tie Xiaosheng, clad in the War Armor named ‘Iron Futing,’ chuckled, “The world only knows that to advance to the Twelve Layers of the Mixed Element Iron Armor Skill, one must bury themselves in rock, but they are unaware of another crucial condition, which is the necessity for the rock to contain a large amount of golden energy.”
Lin Shi had guessed as much, as after all, they practiced the Iron Armor Skill and cultivated both the Gold and Earth Dual Elements within the Tie Armor Sect—
At this moment, Tie Xiaosheng pointed down at the ground: “Beneath our feet is a mountain, a branch of West Mountain.
The layers of rock below are identical to those of West Mountain, only buried in the soil instead of protruding.”
“In tens of thousands of years, as the landscape changes, this place might become a towering mountain.
But the key here is the Black Iron Mine underneath, which has remained undiscovered with thousands of stones of heavenly metal.
This suits the Madman well, as the mine remains unexploited, and its earthly and golden energies are both rich and pure.”
Bright lights shone in Tie Xiaosheng’s pupils, “We learned of this by chance years ago and decided to expand the Iron Banner Gang into Xiushui County.
Now, the time has finally come to make use of it.”
Songfeng Sword Lin Shi looked down, mildly shocked, “There’s a large amount of Black Iron Ore here?”
“Far more than you can imagine.
It extends for nine miles around, and at its deepest, it is only about seven zhang from the surface.
The depth of the ore vein is unknown, but it’s presumably very substantial, and the ore quality is top-notch.”
Tie Xiaosheng smirked, then pointed around, “The land deeds for this vast area are all in the hands of our Iron Banner Gang.
If we weren’t worried about affecting the local terrain’s energy, we could have Little Chu’s small canal dug all the way to here.
But we can continue expanding this canal after the Madman’s promotion to Fourth Grade.”
Waves of emotion stirred within Songfeng Sword Lin Shi.
If this were merely a large Black Iron Mine, the place would simply be worth some money.
After all, East State was not lacking in Black Iron Mines, and the location here was remote with inconvenient transportation.
However, if the canal could be connected to this place, it would turn into a huge business capable of bringing in hundreds of thousands of silver every month.
“Therefore, when Little Chu mentioned digging a canal, I was beyond excited.”
The expression of Tie Xiaosheng shifted, “Speaking of Little Chu, how are things on the side of West Mountain Hall?”
A strange light flickered in the eyes of Songfeng Sword Lin Shi, “Yesterday at noon, West Mountain Hall had already annihilated all the remnants of Jiudao Dock and White Cloud Village, then advanced southward.
Today, they have stationed troops between West Mountain Town and Xiushui City, setting up a temporary camp.
Later, he had his sorcerers cast spells to shroud the vicinity of Xiushui County with white mist.”
“White mist?” Tie Xiaosheng raised an eyebrow, “Playing that trick again?
What’s the reaction inside Xiushui City?”
“What else can they do?
Commander Shen Zhou is gathering sorcerers to dispel it.
But the timing is unfortunate, coinciding with the plum rain season.
Although they’ve raised gales above the county to disperse the fog, when one wave dissipates, another wave comes.
For now, the fog is just thinner.”
Songfeng Sword Lin Shi chuckled, “That’s why right now, the Sheen Family, Shangguan Family, and Long Family all dare not make rash moves.
Recently, didn’t Shen Zhou recall his brother Sheen Xiu, and didn’t Shangguan Shen Hao call over two of his relatives who had entered the Supreme Mystic Sect?
“Regardless of whether it’s the Sheen Family or the Shangguan Family, they have to gather their family members, house soldiers, and numerous experts within their estates in the city, unable to move a muscle.
The Long Family even had to join forces with the Shangguan Family, which goes to show that one powerful weapon can dominate the sky.
Even Shen Zhou and Shangguan Shen Hao are worried about the mystifying experts in the fog, that their families might be slaughtered.”
Tie Xiaosheng couldn’t help but laugh heartily, “Little Chu never disappoints.”
At this moment, Songfeng Sword Lin Shi looked again towards the center of the stone castle, “Where’s the Flag Leader?
Has he already gone deep into the mountain rock?”
“Since yesterday at noon, he’s been inside the rock, and right now—”
As Tie Xiaosheng was speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked into the distance.
In the far distance, approximately fifty-five miles away, seventeen columns of black smoke suddenly rose into the sky.