Attic Cabin

The only natural light in the small room came from the triangular window at the foot of Zhang Tie's bed. Windows in attics were never very large, and while it was better during the day, it was quite dim at night, just like now.

Using the faint light from outside and his familiarity with the room, Zhang Tie fumbled his way to lighting the oil lamp. To save oil, he had turned the flame down to the smallest setting, so after lighting it, only a bean-sized light flickered within the lampshade. Still, the room finally had some light and warmth.

After lighting the lamp, Zhang Tie lay down on the bed without taking off his shoes, staring blankly at the pointed roof of the small room. In the dim light, he noticed a spider had spun a small web in a corner of the roof beam. Looking at the pathetic spider web, which might never catch a single fly, and the spider that spun it, Zhang Tie instantly felt a sense of shared misfortune.

The sound of the bed boards creaking in his brother's room downstairs became even clearer when Zhang Tie lay down, making it harder for him to settle down and cultivate. Zhang Tie could only lie on the bed, tossing and turning, feeling restless like a cat scratching at his insides. Eventually, out of boredom, he started counting the creaking sounds from downstairs. When he reached over 700, the rhythm of the sounds downstairs suddenly quickened, and after a few dozen seconds, everything fell silent. When it was quiet downstairs, Zhang Tie often let out a sigh of relief, finally finding peace. Then, to his alarm, he realized his right hand was somehow gripping his restless lower body, which was now exceptionally hard and erect, as if he had been engaged in a "manual single-cylinder piston movement" for quite some time without realizing it.

Had he joined the Airplane Brotherhood and been infected by their perverted hobbies?

Zhang Tie's right hand shot out of his pants as if he had touched a red-hot iron. He panted heavily for a while before his breathing slowly calmed down. Perhaps for others, this was no big deal, but for Zhang Tie, it was different. His father had spoken to him very seriously about this when he was twelve. His father had told him that because the Hua Clan's physique was inherently smaller than other races, ordinary people lacked a physical advantage in the most crucial warrior indicators: strength, speed, and endurance. In this era, significant differences in physical fitness were often fatal, especially among low-level Battle Soldiers of levels 1 to 3 and those who had not yet developed into warriors. Take Zhang Tie, for example. While his physique was considered well-developed among the Hua Clan, at school, his height and stamina ranked him in the lower-middle. In the Airplane Brotherhood, Zhang Tie's height was only comparable to that of Fatty Barry and Shavin, but Barry was much broader and clearly stronger than Zhang Tie. The physical differences between the Hua Clan and other races were very apparent before becoming true warriors. Although higher-level warriors could ignore these innate physical differences, in the early stages, these gaps were like insurmountable chasms.

His father had told Zhang Tie very seriously that in Black Flame City, as a member of the Hua Clan, to equalize the physical gap with others and secure a place for himself in this era, the most important thing was to become a Battle Soldier as quickly as possible and improve his Battle Soldier level. The higher the level, the smaller the gap would appear, and the wider his future path would be, giving him more capital to survive. To become a Level 1 Battle Soldier and continuously improve his professional level, the most crucial step was to ignite the Thought Fire in the various Bright Points of the body. This was a hurdle everyone had to overcome. In this era where strength reigned supreme and myriad races contended, this was the most important measure of a person's worth. And to ignite the Thought Fire in the body's Bright Points, the body's condition was paramount. "Manual single-cylinder piston movement," once released, caused invisible damage to a young person's body each time, consuming a lot of energy and vital essence, making the effort to ignite the Thought Fire more difficult and the body and spirit more fragile.

"This is the most insidious process of slow suicide. Therefore, no matter what others do, you must never develop this habit in the future. We Hua Clan even have some secret legends about this: anyone who indulges in it, besides harming their body, also ruins their luck, and their life will be filled with misfortune!" This was the last thing his father said. After making Zhang Tie swear that he would never develop this bad habit, his father finally breathed a sigh of relief...

Of course, as his father explained, something like what happened last night was "excess vital essence overflowing" in young men, a natural phenomenon that did not cause much harm to the body.

Recalling his father's admonition, Zhang Tie quickly withdrew his hand, thinking how close he had come to breaking his vow without realizing it. A wave of fear washed over him, and it took a while for him to calm down. Once calm, Zhang Tie sat up on the bed and walked to the window. He happened to see his brother and a woman walking away from their house. His brother was already wearing the uniform of the Black Flame City Guard and was escorting the woman home. From their backs, the woman seemed to be the daughter of Boss Wang, who owned the tailor shop on this street.

As if sensing he was being watched, Zhang Tie's brother looked back from downstairs and smiled at Zhang Tie, who was standing at the window. He nodded his chin, and Zhang Tie angrily shook his fist at his brother before watching the two figures disappear into the dim street.

On the windowsill sat a small dish of crystal sand, in which lay an ordinary Double-Headed White Crystal. The crystal was natural, and its quality barely met the requirements for a low-grade Grade 2 crystal. Placing it in the crystal sand on the windowsill allowed it to recharge naturally, somewhat like the devices called batteries before the Great Cataclysm, but much more convenient. A Grade 2 Double-Headed Crystal was far inferior to the Grade 3 Pyramid Shadow Crystal Zhang Tie had sold today, but this was the highest-grade cultivation material he possessed at the moment.

Holding the crystal, Zhang Tie took off his shoes, ignoring the slightly peculiar smell on his feet, and sat cross-legged on the bed in a meditative posture. He placed his hands in front of his lower abdomen, pointed one end of the Double-Headed Crystal at his navel, and closed his eyes to begin cultivating...

The cultivation process was simple and tedious. First, slow down your breathing, making it long and thin. Then, let your spirit and will follow your breath, descending with the inhaled "breath" to the navel area. Repeat this process over and over until you feel the existence of the Bright Point called "Divine Palace" at your navel. After sensing the "Divine Palace" Bright Point, use your spirit and will to continuously "polish" this Bright Point in rhythm with your breathing, focusing on it without moving, like a fly on rotten meat, until one day a "flame" ignites within this Bright Point, igniting the Thought Fire—the mark of becoming a Level 1 Battle Soldier and a symbol of "adulthood" in this era.

In this era, if a man cannot even ignite the Thought Fire in the most basic Bright Point, the "Divine Palace," he is essentially equivalent to being crippled or mentally deficient. This is the law of survival in the Black Iron Era.

In Zhang Tie's perception, the Bright Point at his navel was like gold hidden beneath sand, and his state of deep meditation was like a broom, first sweeping away the sand to reveal the Bright Point. His will was like sandpaper, constantly rubbing and polishing this piece of gold until one day, like friction generating heat to start a fire, it would ignite. Then, he would succeed...

The cultivation process was taught in school, starting from primary school. It was a cultivation method that could be learned for free. According to the school teachers, Bright Points were the greatest secret of the human body. Besides the visible Bright Point called the Divine Palace located at the navel, all other Bright Points in the human body were hidden and could not be sensed without certain conditions. As for how many Bright Points the human body had and what their mysterious functions were, no one had fully explained them to this day. How to discover and sense more Bright Points in the body and how to accelerate the cultivation of these Bright Points were secrets for everyone, everywhere. Powerful sects, cults, temples, and legendary powerful warriors were the guardians and beneficiaries of this secret.

In Black Flame City, approximately one-fifth of people could only ignite the Thought Fire in the Divine Palace Bright Point in their lifetime, forever revolving around a single Bright Point...

For ordinary people like Zhang Tie, the process of entering meditation was very difficult and could only be achieved by constantly adjusting his breathing. After about half an hour, Zhang Tie, in a meditative state, finally sensed the Divine Palace Bright Point at his navel. He then began to continuously pour his spirit and will into this Bright Point. In Zhang Tie's perception, his navel began to warm up, and the Divine Palace Bright Point gradually appeared. Finally, under the constant "polishing" of his spirit and will, it slowly began to light up, from a faint glow to complete transparency, eventually becoming a rice-grain-sized existence in his perception, shining with a cyan brilliance. At the same time, the crystal in his hand slowly established a faint connection with the Bright Point after it lit up. A trace of energy, absolutely imperceptible in a normal state, was slowly injected into the Bright Point from one end of the crystal. The faint blue light on the Bright Point, under the dual action of his spirit, will, and the crystal, gradually became more solid and bright. The brilliance emanating from the Bright Point began to illuminate the dark space around it, little by little, like a star in the dark night sky. Although faint, it always gave a sense of hope.

After an unknown amount of time, when Zhang Tie felt his spirit and will were being overdrawn and depleted, making it difficult to continue the "polishing" task, he finally emerged from his meditative state. Hours of cultivation each day yielded almost imperceptible progress. For Zhang Tie, this progress would only be noticeable after accumulating over weeks or months. Among the noticeable progress, the most obvious was the color of the light on the Bright Point. Over the years, starting from cultivating the Divine Palace Bright Point, Zhang Tie had gone through red, orange, yellow, green, and now reached the cyan stage. Next was blue, then purple, and finally igniting the Thought Fire. Completing the latter two stages would take at least another year and a half, according to experience. This cultivation speed was neither fast nor slow, basically on par with most people. The vast majority of people ignited the Thought Fire in the Divine Palace during their first year in the army after graduating from school, thus crossing the most important hurdle in life.

There will be another chapter tonight. The tiger is adjusting his writing rhythm and state. He will try to write more each day. You won't have to wait long for this book.