Castle of Black Iron

Revisiting the Castle of Black Iron

Truth be told, Zhang Tie felt that he is being overly sensitive. Even when there is no one at home now, he still checked every corner of the house before locking the stairs and shutting the windows in his lodge.

Only when he felt every corner is sealed tight, did he prepare to enter the Castle. After all, the experience is too unique and Zhang Tie still isn’t sure if there will be any weird light effects when he enters the Castle.

The Castle of Black Iron has not only brought him shock and surprises, it also made him bear the burden of keeping it a secret. Therefore, it is better to be careful and take certain precautions.

After doing another round of checks, Zhang Tie has a nagging feeling that he seems to be missing something.

As he thought deeper, he suddenly patted his head, “How can I forget such an important detail!”.

Immediately after he finished talking to himself, Zhang Tie left the lodge and went to the courtyard near the kitchen. Hanging on a wall in the courtyard are two sticks of dried corn, Zhang Tie took one and went to the kitchen after some thought.

At the corner of the kitchen is a sack, Zhang Tie searched through the sack and discovered two sprouting potatoes inside. He took them with him before returning to the lodge.

When he returned to his lodge in the attic, Zhang Tie went to the storage area and retrieved the two pieces of yellow iron ore he kept this morning and a one meter long reinforced sc.r.a.p metal before going to the drawer beside his bed and took out the dagger gifted to him by Zhang Yang.

After he collected everything and ensure the items are securely attached to his body, did Zhang Tie stand in the center of his room and closed his eyes, sensing the arch door within his mind.

Not sure if it is because of his previous two experiences, the process of sensing the door had become faster than his earlier tries.

Not more than twenty seconds pa.s.sed after Zhang Tie closed his eyes and slowed his breath, when the door became clear and displayed itself in front of him.

“Enter!” Zhang Tie spoke in his mind before feeling the lights in his surrounding area flashed by. When he opened his eyes, he is already standing within in another dimension.

The familiar communication panel is displayed in front of him for a few seconds before disappearing.

“The Handsome and Stalwart Castle Lord” “Welcome”, being called by these words can’t help but make Zhang Tie feel a special and proud feeling welling up inside of him.

Zhang Tie began to check his “equipment”, the one meter reinforced sc.r.a.p metal on his right hand and the dagger on his waist are still there while the potatoes and corn on his left is also present, his bulging s.h.i.+rt pocket also meant the two pieces of yellow iron ore are within.

If anyone were to see the current state of Zhang Tie, they will definitely think that he has gone mad, who would have expected that he will be so happy and be laughing out loud.

Indeed, Zhang Tie is currently jumping up and down on the spot, giving two large shouts of excitement as he did. This is great, I can really bring items from the outside in here.

Even though he currently hasn’t discovered the other functions of the Castle, knowing this ability has excited Zhang Tie greatly.

This is because being able to bring items in here meant that he will be carrying a secret warehouse and no one will be able to discover this mobile warehouse and its contents.

Although this ability currently has limited use but it will definitely s.h.i.+ne on a greater stage and will become an important function in the future.

“Jackpot, this is jackpot…” Zhang Tie excitedly turned many circles on the spot before finally calming down and sort out his thoughts.

Since the first function of the Castle has been confirmed, it is time for him to the test its other functions. After some thought, Zhang Tie threw all his “equipment” on the ground before setting his b.u.t.t down also.

Zhang Tie picked up the stick of dried corn and began to slowly pluck out the kernels on it, eventually collecting close to two hundred kernels. As he chucked the empty corn core to a side, he picked up the reinforced sc.r.a.p metal and began to search around the area.

The dimension looks the same as yesterday, the flowing seven colored mist is still gently twisting about, the strange small tree is still in the center and the black mud pit is still at the same location, nothing has changed.

After walking a round on this wide expanse of land, Zhang Tie finally chose a location and fiercely stabbed the reinforced sc.r.a.p metal in his hand into the ground.

As the metal went in 20 centimeters, he paused. ‘It seems a bit too deep, I think the teacher said about 10 centimeters should be enough.’

Upon noticing his mistake, Zhang Tie embarra.s.singly scratched his head before pulling out the metal.

Upon checking the condition of the soil and finding it has moisture underneath boosted Zhang Tie’s confidence.

He once again stabbed the metal into the ground, this time controlling his strength and aiming to insert half of its previous depth. After taking out the metal, he digs into his pocket and took out a dried corn kernel, planted it into the newly created hole before covering the hole up.

This is the simplest method of corn planting and caused Zhang Tie to be filled with joy at his first successful attempt. With the experience from his first time, he repeated the process.

*Stabs*, plant a seed, cover the hole….

*Stabs*, plant a seed, cover the hole….

*Stabs*, plant a seed, cover the hole….

*Stabs*, plant a seed, cover the hole….

More than ten minutes has pa.s.sed before he has emptied the corn seeds in his pockets, creating seven to eight slant rows on the ground.

After finish planting corn, Zhang Tie begin his next project without stopping for a rest. He ran back to where his items are laying and used his dagger to cut the sprouting potatoes into five six pieces before returning to corn patch.

He chose a spot beside the corn patch before using his dagger to scoop up the earth, throw a piece of potato into the hole created and cover up the hole. After repeating the process a few times, a row of planted potatoes is created beside the corn patch.

Zhang Tie felt satisfied at his work as he dusted off the dirt from his hands, after giving a round of silly ‘he he he’ laughs, he stabbed the sc.r.a.p metal in front of the planted field intending to use it as a mark for his ‘reclaimed’ land.

On the left of the metal are the corn while the right are the potatoes, whether or not they will germinate and grow, only heaven will know.

When he has completed his second mission of coming into the Castle has placed Zhang Tie in a good mood. After arranging the items he brought, Zhang Tie headed for the black bubbling mud pit.

Zhang Tie noticed that everything in this dimension has a purpose, therefore, the black mud pit will also have its uses.

This time round, Zhang Tie approached the mud pit and got closer than where he was yesterday but he still kept an arm’s length away from the mud pit.

Zhang Tie isn’t a fool that will use his hands to touch the mud pit, the place is emitting a life-threatening feeling which made him understands that if he were to touch the mud, it is very likely he will become extremely miserable.

After circling the mud pit twice, Zhang Tie still did not understand the purpose of this thing. Suddenly, in a flash of inspiration, an idea came into his mind.

Although he did not know whether he is right or wrong Zhang Tie decided to try and test the idea. He ran back to his “equipment” and brought the two yellow iron ores with him, as he approached the mud pit, he took one ore in his hand and threw it into the mud pit when he was about ten meters away.

The moment the ore went into the mud pit, Zhang Tie quickly call up the Castle Management Panel and selected the top most item on the menu “Castle of Black Iron Basic Attributes” and gave it a quick check.

Castle of Black Iron

1 Merit? Strange, when did I acc.u.mulate a merit? Before Zhang Tie can think further, he saw the “Basic Energy Stored” attribute increased its value from “0” to “0.1”.

The moment the number jumped to “0.1”, the attribute “Basic Energy Stored” also lights up, changing from its original pale black color into a blue color protruding word.

The raised word looks like the “Confirm/Cancel” b.u.t.tons he seen before in the system. Therefore, with his curious heart, Zhang Tie tried pressing on the attribute “Basic Energy Stored”. Another translucent panel appeared.

Within the panel that looks like a log, two entries could be seen.

So, this weird looking black lake is called the Lake of Chaos and has the ability to convert anything thrown inside into Basic Energy.

Isn’t this the same as an incineration plant? The incineration plant burns waste and use the heat energy produced to provide home heating for the people. The Lake of Chaos is similar and seems to be even more powerful!

After learning something new about the Lake of Chaos, Zhang Tie felt a rush of excitement. Although he feels that the first entry seems to be very important but Zhang Tie decided to ignore it for now because it is still beyond his understanding.

What frequency, matter, s.p.a.ce, all of these words seems like bulls.h.i.+t to him. Feeling that his IQ is being challenged caused Zhang Tie to frustratingly rebuke. Isn’t this just a dirty lake, just another trash incinerator, why does it have to be so complicated? Crazy thing!

After closing the panel, Zhang Tie moved on to the “Merit” attribute. When he last visited, he remembered his “Merit” is 0 but it became 1 today. On top of that, the color of the attribute also changed and protrudes out like the “Basic Energy Stored” attribute, meaning it can be checked, therefore Zhang Tie pressed on it without hesitation.

Like the previous time, a log pops up with two entries.

The contents in the first entry shocked Zhang Tie greatly, as he read, unknowingly tears began to form in his eyes. When he continues to the next entry, tears rolled down his face.

To think, there is no need for any world-shaking achievements. All he needs, is to do these simple acts and his parents will feel very happy!

Although the “Spirit Energy” attribute is still locked but the harvest he gained today has gone beyond his expectation, a complicated feeling wells up in him as Zhang Tie leaves the Castle.

Upon returning to his lodge, he stood looking blank for a moment before rus.h.i.+ng out of his room like a mad man……

Two hours later, when Zhang Tie’s parents returned home. The whole house, from its walls to the floor, from the floor to the furniture, every corner has been cleaned. Even some of the less conspicuous trash that are hiding in corners and gaps are cleared, everything was tidy and neat. Zhang Tie’s parents stood at their door step, unable to react at what they have seen.

“What happened to the house, we only went out for two hours and it has transformed. Did we enter the wrong door?” Zhang Tie’s father asked from his surprise.

Zhang Tie’s mother had her mouth wide, no words are said as she begins to suspect her eyes are playing tricks on her. At this moment, Zhang Tie walked down the stairs holding on to a bucket of water in one hand while a mop in another, the couple immediately understood.

“Son, did you do all this?” Zhang Tie’s father looked at him as though he had seen an alien.

“Yup!” Zhang Tie replied with a smile as he wiped the sweat on his forehead.

“Dear, did you receive some sort of trauma? Please don’t scare mother” Zhang Tie’s mother nervously reached out her hand to touch his head, although Zhang Tie did sometimes initiate doing some of the household ch.o.r.es but he has never done it so actively and diligently before.

Hearing his mother’s words, Zhang Tie felt both embarra.s.sed and touched at the same time, “Mum, Dad, I am okay. I have nothing else to do today, so I decided to give my folks a surprise. How is it, are you guys happy?”

A surprise from our son? Zhang Tie’s parent looked at each other before releasing a sigh of relief as the they replied together with smiles, Happy!”

Zhang Tie also smiled, he feeling very satisfied……

When it was time to sleep and he’s alone in the lodge, Zhang Tie visit the Castle again. After throwing the remaining piece of yellow iron ore into the Lake of Chaos and destroying the last evidence of the Castle’s existence in this world, Zhang Tie opened the Attributes panel.

Castle of Black Iron

Not only did the Basic Energy increased by 0.1 as expected, his Merit also increased, a new entry was added into the log.

As Zhang Tie went to sleep, a satisfying smile could be seen on his face……