Castle of Black Iron

In a blur, Zhang Tie felt the environment around him shift abruptly, much like emerging from a tunnel while riding a train. The temperature changed, his body grew warmer, and the air he breathed seemed different—fresher, carrying the scent of a park after rain. Zhang Tie opened his eyes, and upon doing so, his jaw dropped in astonishment, remaining agape until a trail of drool finally snapped him back to reality.

Before Zhang Tie lay a vast, square expanse of flat land. He stood in the center of this plot, which was many times larger than the entire Black Flame City Seventh National School. Standing in the middle, he estimated that each of the four sides stretched over 700 meters. It was incredibly desolate, containing almost nothing; the only protrusion was a small, human-height tree located not far from him. Beyond that, the surroundings were completely barren.

Filled with intense curiosity, Zhang Tie examined the small tree.

The tree was lush and leafy, each leaf seemingly flowing with a peculiar radiance that made it stand out. To Zhang Tie's surprise, the leaves displayed a multitude of different shapes and colors; almost no two leaves were identical. It gave off an extremely strange vibe, yet looking at these varied leaves hanging from the tree, one felt an inexplicable sense of harmony, as if this were the only way it could be perfect. As for the tree itself, its material was neither metal nor wood, and he could not quite identify what it was.

High above and all around this space, wisps of seven-colored mist twisted and shifted into various shapes. Merely watching those changing forms for a moment filled one with a sense of refreshment and tranquil detachment.

The scene he had seen inside the Crystal Egg a few hours ago was now fully presented before his eyes—that strange tree, that seven-colored mist...

Was he dreaming?

He checked his body; he was still in his sleeping attire, wearing nothing but his underwear, and he hadn't even changed his posture from when he was sitting on his bed before suddenly appearing here. Sitting on the ground, Zhang Tie pinched his little brother hard. Realizing he wasn't dreaming, he stood up barefoot. He had been sitting only about ten steps away from the tree. He walked over to the small tree, which seemed to have light flowing through its entire body, and circled it twice. For some reason, Zhang Tie felt a warm, blood-linked connection to this strange tree.

Being related to a strange tree—Zhang Tie felt like he was going crazy.

After circling the tree several times without discovering anything, he only found it strange that every leaf seemed different. Zhang Tie decided to explore the area thoroughly. The soil was fine, soft, and moderately moist, without a single impurity; stepping on it felt like walking on soft, damp sand. Zhang Tie simply went barefoot and took off running, exploring this space that was perhaps a little over 0.5 square kilometers—not large, but not small for an individual. At the edges of this space, he could see the seven-colored mist from afar. The mist churned at the boundaries, possessing a strange elasticity that prevented Zhang Tie from crossing it, no matter how much force he used. About 300 meters from the tree, Zhang Tie discovered a black, muddy pit covering over 200 square meters. The mud inside was as black as ink and constantly bubbled, yet it emitted no odor, which felt somewhat eerie. After looking everywhere, Zhang Tie realized that besides himself, there wasn't a single living thing in this space, not even an ant.

"Is anyone there? Where is this place?"...

"Can someone tell me where this place is?"...

"Is anyone there?"...

Zhang Tie shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one answered; there wasn't even an echo. After spending another ten minutes checking the space, Zhang Tie finally confirmed that, apart from the tree, he was truly the only living being here.

In the end, Zhang Tie decided to start by learning about this strange place from the tree.

Circling the tree twice more, Zhang Tie, who felt an increasing sense of intimacy, finally couldn't help but gently reach out and touch the small tree, whose every leaf seemed to flow with radiance. As he touched it, a translucent, pale blue dialog box suddenly appeared in his vision, with a line of text appearing within it. Zhang Tie was startled by the object that had suddenly manifested before him.

--Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree

--The Treasure Tree senses that the fusion subject's body energy is in a state of dissipation and leakage. Currently, these dissipated energies can be used to generate a Flawless Fruit. Generate?

--Yes...No

There were two option buttons below. Although Zhang Tie had never encountered this before, he understood it at a glance. Zhang Tie was dumbfounded. When he removed his hand from the leaf, the dialog box vanished; when he touched it again, it reappeared. He tried this several times with the same result. Although he didn't know what this thing was, Zhang Tie knew it was absolutely extraordinary...

Although Zhang Tie couldn't understand what energy in his body was dissipating or leaking, the choice didn't seem to pose any harm. After trying a few more times, he reached out and selected "Yes" in the dialog box. The sensation was strange; even though there was nothing in front of him, when Zhang Tie pressed his hand forward, he truly felt as if he were touching something—

--Flawless Fruit is being generated. Time remaining until maturity: 168 hours!

--Castle of Black Iron Space Management System Template creation initiated!

--Please name this space. Reminder: Once this space name is confirmed, it cannot be changed!

--Space Name:--------(A line of blinking dots followed)

The old dialog box disappeared and a new one appeared. Looking at the row of blinking dots where the space name should be, Zhang Tie stood stunned for a long while before figuring out what it meant. After thinking for a moment, he finally uttered four words—Castle of Black Iron!

As soon as he finished speaking, the four words appeared over the blinking dots: Castle of Black Iron. This situation left Zhang Tie stunned once again.

--Space Name: Castle of Black Iron!

--Confirm...Reselect

Zhang Tie reached out and pressed the Confirm button. After the button was pressed, the old dialog box vanished and a new one appeared.

--How would you like the system to address you?

--Your desired honorific is:--------(A line of blinking dots followed)

With his recent experience, Zhang Tie already knew what to do. He thought about it; since no one knew anyway, being a bit arrogant wouldn't hurt, and he wasn't afraid of anyone calling it disgusting. Thus, Zhang Tie decided to have this thing address him as—The Handsome and Magnanimous Lord of the Castle!

This should be fine, right? No one knows anyway! Zhang Tie thought weakly as he pressed the Confirm button. Finally, he hardened his heart and, with a thick skin, pressed the button.

--Castle of Black Iron name confirmed. Castle of Black Iron owner confirmed!

--Castle of Black Iron Primary Management System Template creation complete!

The dialog box vanished, and the view in Zhang Tie's eyes changed again. A pale blue, translucent icon with a small tree in the center and the words "Castle of Black Iron" beneath it appeared in the upper-left corner of his vision and began to blink. Growing bolder, Zhang Tie tapped the icon. The icon instantly enlarged before his eyes, and several lines of text appeared on the tree trunk, turning it into a tree-structured menu bar. It contained four major options.

--Castle of Black Iron Basic Attributes

--Space and Terrain Creation

--Biology and Species Management

--Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree Special Seed and Fruit Generation

Zhang Tie's hand tapped on the first option, "Castle of Black Iron Basic Attributes," located at the root and trunk of the functional tree. Instantly, a new data window opened.

Castle of Black Iron

--Length: 1 Krosha

--Width: 1 Krosha

--Spirit Qi Value: 0

--Merit Value: 0

--Basic Energy Reserve: 0

--Special Output: None

Length unit—1 Krosha? What kind of thing is that? How long is it? The length units Zhang Tie had heard of were millimeters, centimeters, decimeters, meters, kilometers, and even sound-seconds and light-seconds, but what was a "Krosha"? Was there such a unit of length? Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it. It was just a unit of measurement; as long as he kept it in mind, that was enough. He figured it wasn't that critical. Zhang Tie looked at the basic attributes that followed, and after reading them, he let out a long sigh of relief.

So it was a case of being penniless and empty-handed. Despite the lackluster data, Zhang Tie was brimming with excitement, feeling as though everything was starting from zero. Although he didn't quite understand some of the content, he closed the dialog box and tapped the "Space and Terrain Creation" button. To his surprise, a message appeared before his eyes after he pressed it.

--Due to the three major reserve values of the Castle of Black Iron being 0, the Space and Terrain Creation function cannot be used!

He then clicked on the next option, "Biology and Species Management," and a new window opened.

--Carbon-based Biology and Species Management

--Silicon-based Biology and Species Management

--Sulfur-based Biology and Species Management

--Other Biology and Species Management

This time, apart from the first button, "Carbon-based Biology and Species Management," which appeared available, the other buttons were grayed out. When Zhang Tie pressed the first button, a log dialog box popped up containing two pieces of information.

--By tilting system resources toward a specific biological population or organism, there is a certain probability of causing unexpected mutations and evolution in that species or organism.

--The system has detected carbon-based microorganisms carried by the handsome and imposing Castle Lord upon entering the Castle of Black Iron; the Microorganism System of the Castle of Black Iron is now activated.

After the dialog box automatically vanished, three new tabs were revealed.

Among the three sub-tabs—Animals, Plants, and Microorganisms—only the Microorganism button was currently active and available.

Zhang Tie tapped the Microorganism tab.

Then, under the "Microorganism" category, Zhang Tie saw the microorganisms he had "carried" into the Castle of Black Iron. They were some bacteria and yeast from his body. Bacteria were something everyone had to some extent; their effects could be good or bad, which wasn't strange. As for the yeast, he guessed it had been brought over from home when he was brewing rice wine; he remembered eating three bowls of rice wine downstairs just a moment ago, so he must have unknowingly picked some up. These things had then entered the Castle of Black Iron along with him.

He tapped on the yeast icon, which looked like a water droplet when magnified, and a new screen appeared.

To the left of the yeast icon was a red cross, and below the icon, the system provided three slider buttons similar to progress bars. These three sliders corresponded to three items in the basic attributes: Spirit Qi Value, Merit Value, and Basic Energy.

Since it didn't look too complicated, Zhang Tie gave it a cursory glance and roughly understood its meaning. The three sliders seemed to represent the system resources he was willing to invest in this organism. As long as he was willing to invest resources, the organism or species he selected would have a certain probability of undergoing evolution and mutation.

Zhang Tie then tapped the red cross next to the yeast icon!

--Does the handsome and imposing Castle Lord wish to use the Laws of Space to erase the existence of this organism? Warning: once erased, it cannot be resurrected.

--Yes... Cancel...

Zhang Tie was startled by these cold words and hurriedly clicked cancel, deciding to use this function as sparingly as possible in the future.

It seemed quite interesting. Closing this window, Zhang Tie tried another, but the "Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree Special Seed and Fruit Generation" function was currently inactive.

This Castle of Black Iron seemed to be filled with countless secrets. Just as Zhang Tie was preparing to study it more carefully, a system prompt dialog box appeared in his eyes.

--The system has detected that the handsome and imposing Castle Lord's mental and physical strength are nearing exhaustion, and various bodily functions are beginning to enter a negative state. Due to the system's Spirit Qi Value being zero, it cannot provide a favorable recovery environment. The system suggests that the handsome and imposing Castle Lord leave the Castle of Black Iron first and re-enter once physical energy has been restored.

At the same time, that special "gate" in his Sea of Consciousness emitted a slight fluctuation, letting Zhang Tie know that if he wanted to leave, he only needed to lock onto that "gate" with his consciousness in his mind and say "Return" in his heart...

Reminded of this, Zhang Tie suddenly realized he was already very sleepy. After a day of tossing and turning, with emotions swinging from great shock to great joy, he had exhausted his energy. Letting out a huge yawn, Zhang Tie thought for a moment and suppressed the urge to continue exploring. He locked onto the gate in his mind, said "Return" in his heart, and then experienced that same sensation of instantly passing through a tunnel. Even with his eyes wide open, he couldn't tell how he had come out; he only felt the archway in his mind vibrate, and then he was standing on the bed in his small room. The surrounding scene had completely changed, and everything that had just happened felt as if it had never existed. He had returned to where he came from. It felt just like when a photographer pulls a string on a background wall in a studio to change the backdrop while taking a family portrait.

It was fucking magical!

Afterward, before Zhang Tie could even think about the incredible things that had just happened to him, a wave of intense fatigue washed over him, and he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep...