On Friday, after school, Zhang Tie once again went to the Iron-Thorns Fighting Club to be the lowest-level human flesh bag. However, compared to two days ago, Zhang Tie, who had already become a LV 1 warrior, was much more relaxed in dealing with the arrogant little guy called Andrew Benet. During the whole process of sparring, Zhang Tie could even slightly control the rhythm and purposefully let Benet's attacks fall on the parts of his body that he had chosen. Of course, most of the time, Zhang Tie would pretend to be knocked down by the brat so as to satisfy his vanity. After standing up, he would shout, "Ka Man, you're despicable!", which stimulated the brat to rush towards him with red eyes.
In the eyes of others, the part-time job in the Iron-Thorns Fighting Club was a hard job. However, for Zhang Tie, this hard job gradually became a fun game. Not only could he earn money, he could also accelerate the ripening of the Iron-Body Fruit. Additionally, during the process of being constantly beaten, Zhang Tie found that his fighting instincts were constantly improving. His footsteps became more flexible, and his reactions became more agile. He could also judge the opponent's attacking intentions more accurately. As the one who was purely being beaten, sometimes he could even take the initiative to control the rhythm of the fight.
"That one-eyed guy really did a good deed!" Zhang Tie was very happy.
Perhaps because he had performed well in the past two times and didn't faint again, Zhang Tie felt that his status in the Iron-Thorns Fighting Club had slightly improved. At least the two bastards in the equipment room didn't gamble on when he would faint again. When he left the Iron-Thorns Fighting Club, Director Becker even encouraged Zhang Tie and gave him this week's salary — 3 silver coins and 40 copper coins in total. This was the first amount of money that Zhang Tie had ever earned in his life.
Zhang Tie tightly stored this sum of money in his pocket. When he returned home, it had already started to heat up. When he handed this sum of money to his mom, Zhang Tie felt extremely satisfied when he saw their surprised expressions. Although this sum of money was very small, his mom only gave him two silver coins in the end, saying that she would save it for Zhang Tie's own expenses. However, as this was the first contribution that Zhang Tie had made to the family through his sweat and labor, Zhang Tie was filled with happiness and pride.
On Saturday, Zhang Tie continued to help his mom make rice brew at home. With the addition of his future sister-in-law, Zhang Tie had much less work to do. This future sister-in-law of the Zhang family was very diligent and smart. She was good at managing the family and didn't have any rumors about her bad behavior. During the past few days, she was gradually accepted by the Zhang family and integrated into the family.
Watching his mom teaching his future sister-in-law the craftsmanship of rice brew, Zhang Tie felt sentimental. Mom was getting older and older, while he was spending less and less time in this family...
Ordinary people's lives were always mixed with too many ups and downs. On the same Saturday, when Zhang Tie rode that ugly tricycle to the rice shop, he found that the price of rice had increased again — a 25 kg bag of ordinary rice had increased by 3 copper coins, becoming 4 silver coins and 61 copper coins per bag. What's more, Zhang Tie found that the prices of other foods had also slightly increased, especially sugar. Compared to rice, the price of coarse sugar had increased by more than 10% per kg this week. It had already exceeded 1 silver coin and 10 copper coins per kg...
Zhang Tie had no choice but to buy it. The Zhang family's rice brew business had to increase in price. Once the price increased, the sales volume would definitely not be as good as before. As a result, the family's rice brew business would not be able to support the family.
After hearing the news of the rising price of grains, although his mom's expression didn't change much, the wrinkles on her eyebrows deepened in Zhang Tie's eyes.
On Saturday evening, Zhang Tie planted a large area of pumpkins in the Castle of Black Iron. The pumpkin seeds were dug out from the pulp of pumpkins that his mom had bought a few days ago. His thrifty mom didn't want to throw them away, so she washed them and dried them in the courtyard. After drying them, she fried them in a wok, turning them into fragrant and tasty pumpkin seeds.
This time, Zhang Tie planted a lot of pumpkins, two handfuls of 200-300 pumpkin seeds. One reason was the rising price of grains; the other was that Zhang Tie found that the Castle of Black Iron was really suitable for the growth of plants. Only after a week, all the seeds in the Castle of Black Iron had sprouted, including those gifted by Grandma Teresa. All the plants grew very well, especially the potatoes and corn, which he had planted the earliest. They grew even faster, and the bare Castle of Black Iron started to show a bit of vigor while the aura value in the Castle of Black Iron rapidly increased every day. By this Saturday, the aura value in the Castle of Black Iron had already surpassed 70.
After throwing a bag of garbage into the Pool of Chaos, Zhang Tie gained a pitiful 0.1 point of basic energy. After reclaiming the wasteland in the Castle of Black Iron, Zhang Tie checked the situation of the small tree. The Iron-Body Fruit had already reached half of its maturity. It seemed that he would be able to enjoy it after two more beatings. The second Leakless Fruit would also become ripe next Thursday evening. This small tree had become Zhang Tie's biggest source of confidence in this age.
After exiting the Castle of Black Iron, the moment Zhang Tie returned to his room and wanted to cultivate, he heard a long and sharp alarm from outside the window. At night, this kind of hand-operated fire alarm could transmit very far. Zhang Tie hurriedly came to the side of the attic's window, opened it, and looked outside.
In the pitch-black night sky, a bright flame illuminated the distant sky red. Judging from the source of the flame, it seemed to come from the old residential area of Blackhot City near the railway station, where people from all walks of life mixed together. Faintly, boisterous voices drifted over...
"Whose house is on fire?" Regarding the fire near the railway station, the only question left to Zhang Tie was that he had forgotten about it in the blink of an eye. Afterwards, Zhang Tie closed the small window in the attic and picked up the crystal on the windowsill. Sitting on the bed, he started to cultivate.
After lighting the Shrine burning point, the moment Zhang Tie entered meditation, he could feel a "small point" vibrating on the coccyx near his anus, which faintly resonated with the Shrine burning point. That was the next target that Zhang Tie had to conquer — the first burning point on the spine. According to the introduction of the history teacher on Friday, this burning point was the second number in the Fibonacci Golden Sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8... There were 34 burning points on the spine, which were connected with the 34 vertebrae of the human body. There were many mysteries about the Shrine burning point, which nobody could explain. However, the effect of the burning point on the spine was the support and source of one's strength. Each burning point on the spine could greatly increase one's physical strength and strength. This was also why Glaze's physical strength was better than that of all the other students at school...
After Zhang Tie entered meditation, the energy gathered by the crystal was transferred to the burning point on the coccyx through the Shrine burning point. After more than two hours, Zhang Tie only managed to slightly brighten the burning point, revealing a rice-grain-sized red light in his consciousness. Compared to the burning Shrine burning point, it was like the difference between a small firefly and a bonfire. For most people, the process of cultivating each burning point was time-consuming and exhausting...
At noon on Sunday, Zhang Tie stayed at home to look after the store as usual. Meanwhile, his dad and mom put on new clothes and bought some things before leaving home with his future sister-in-law. Needless to say, Zhang Tie already knew what they were going to do. In the evening, when his mom and his future sister-in-law came back, they both looked relieved and relaxed. Zhang Tie knew that the identity of his future sister-in-law had basically been confirmed. From today on, the rice brew of Zhang family had increased by one copper coin per bowl. Although it had been announced in advance, the business in the store was still cold. The daily turnover was only a bit more than half of that before.
"Mom, where's dad? Didn't he come back with you?" Seeing only two women coming back, Zhang Tie asked curiously.
"Your dad has something to deal with. He will come back a bit later!" Mom's tone was a bit mysterious.
In the evening, when it was time for dinner, Zhang Tie's dad came back with a long object wrapped in cloth. At the sight of Zhang Tie, Zhang Tie revealed a smile and opened the wrapping of that long object, revealing a slightly curved long sword wrapped in a pitch-black sheath.
"Ah, Black Flame Sharpening Sword..." Zhang Tie exclaimed loudly. As if he had seen a treasure, he immediately jumped over and grabbed the long sword from his dad's hand. With a 'clang' sound, he pulled it out of the sheath, revealing a sharp two-handed sword in his hand. Zhang Tie exclaimed as he saw his name on the sword near the hilt — — Zhang Tie. This was a gift from his dad.
"After next week, you will participate in the school's field survival training. This is a gift from your dad, ahem... ahem..." His dad looked a bit embarrassed. "This is a common fine steel sharpening sword produced by the arsenal in Blackhot City. Its craftsmanship is a bit worse than the military's standard equipment in Blackhot City. The sheath is also made of common ironwood. You know your dad doesn't have much money, so I can only..."
"I'm very satisfied with it. Thank you, dad!" Zhang Tie immediately hugged his dad, interrupting his dad's words and kissing him on the cheek. Zhang Tie was already very satisfied with this gift. Zhang Tie clearly knew that the price of such a common sharp-edged sword produced in Blackhot City was more than one gold coin, which was already a big expenditure for his family.
Seeing Zhang Tie being so happy, Zhang Tie's dad also revealed a comfortable smile...
"You two, if you don't come over, the food will get cold..." Mom shouted discontentedly, trying her best to dilute or dilute the atmosphere...
In this era, many people's first sword was gifted by their father or elder brother. Receiving a sword from their father or elder brother, apart from being filled with the blessings and concern of their loved ones, there was also another meaning. The person who received the sword would have to rely on the sword to fight for his own life in the future. This was the irresistible fate of many men and families in this era!
In the last week before he left school, 15-year-old Zhang Tie calmly accepted his fate and got his first sword with his name engraved on it...
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