Castle of Black Iron

Zhang Tie carefully watched A’gan, Edward and Aziz who were kneeling down in front of him. The three people all appeared to be between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. Among human beings, with the exception of the Chinese, men of other races would look older when they became mature. In the words of Donder, they would age faster than those of the Chinese race. Therefore, A’gan, Edward and Aziz looked older than their actual ages.

A’gan was black with thick lips. Even his hair was black. Edward was white with stout limbs, giving him a strong build and appearance. Azia was a bit delicate with curled hair, who looked a bit younger than the other two people. They all wore common linen undershirts and looked like farming servants in manors. [1]

Compared to Heller whose look made others bashful, the three people looked a bit more like commoners. Therefore, Zhang Tie slightly released a sigh of relief.

"What were you doing just now?" Zhang Tie asked.

"We were hoeing. Steward Heller instructed us to reclaim a good field of 60 mu [2] in the Castle of Black Iron." The three replied in unison showing that they have been well trained.

"Can you till the land?"

"Of course!" The three answered in unison once again.

"With the exception of this, what else can you do?"

"We’ve have many skills that can be used!" The three answered in unison for the third time.

"I’m also a carpenter and manson. I’m good at building houses!" A’gan answered firstly.

"I’m also blacksmith and cook. I can make delicious food and create items!" Edward answered.

"I can look after flowers, grasses and livestock. I can also brew various alcohols!" Aziz answered.

Well, I’m a land lord now. Hearing the three spirit servants’ answers, Zhang Tie felt that the Castle of Black Iron was becoming more like a manor. He was the lord; Heller was the steward. He also had his spirit servants. But this was also great, at least he didn’t have to till land any more.

He waved his hand towards A’gan, Edward and Aziz. They then obediently went back to till the land.

"Can I take three of them into my world?" Another question suddenly flashed across Zhang Tie’s mind.

"No, like me, all the lives formed in this space can’t leave here as we are a part of the Castle of Black Iron!" Heller shook his head.

"Erm...do you need to eat?"

"We also need to consume food and have proper rest. Our living and energy receiving patterns are no different from those of people in your world. Therefore, I hope Castle Lord could allow us to use the houses that you have built and all the materials inside. I’ve got a plan. If you agree to my plan, I will greatly change the Castle of Black Iron. It’s really too simple and crude." Heller said with great ambition while his eyes radiating shrew lights, dreaming of a beautiful future in the Castle of Black Iron.

"No problem. You can allocate all the items here at your will!" Zhang Tie wove his hand.

"I will definitely not let Castle Lord down!" Because of Zhang Tie’s trust, Heller showed a smile for the first time.

"Will my fruits on the small tree be safe?" Glancing at the small tree beside him, Zhang Tie thought of an important problem. If the ripe fruits on the small tree were picked and eaten by the 3 guys in advance, that would be a great loss.

"Don’t worry. For all the lives in this space, the Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree is a top existence in this space, which enjoyed the strongest protection from the space rules. Except for Castle Lord, nobody else could pick the fruits. Any living beings that are hostile to the small tree will be excluded by the laws of this space and turned into ashes!"

Speaking of the small tree, Zhang Tie thought back to the trip into the Castle of Black Iron before Heller was formed. He was told that Heller might able to answer some questions about the small tree. In a split second, Zhang Tie questions about the small tree reappeared.

"Can you answer my questions about that small tree?"

"It’s my honor and the meaning of my existence!"

"Well, my first question is that why can I not get the Fruit of Brilliance until I kill those heinous people. Why can’t I receive such a fruit by killing others, even on the battlefield?"

"According to one of the universal laws, gathering the lives of sentient species cannot make an individual grow stronger by promoting self-destruction and fighting against each other. If any one killed by you could lead to a Fruit of Brilliance or other fruits, the foundation and universal law to balance the survival of this race would be broken. Therefore, you could only get a Fruit of Brilliance by eliminating the ones whose souls have been corrupted and would influence the survivability of your race. This reflects the universal law."

"What about the Fruit of Judgment?"

"Those people’s souls have been corrupted. Additionally, they were still profaning the gods in the name of celestials and doing evil things in the name of gods. Such actions are seen as horrendously evil. Therefore, you can get both the Fruit of Brilliance and the Fruit of Judgment by eliminating those people! They are also the only two fruits that you can get from killing human beings"

Zhang Tie’s eyes suddenly brightened up as he thought about a possibility, "Do you mean that the I can get more fruits from those species which pose a greater threat to human beings?"

"Not quite. It’s not that you could get more fruits from them, but you could get more from them. You could get the halo of their souls, namely their spiritual energy from those people who have corrupted souls; you could also get the seven strengths from wild wolves while the Seven-Strength Fruit formed by the seven strengths also include the spiritual energy of those wild wolves!"

Zhang Tie suddenly became enlightened.

"Speaking of the Seven-Strength Fruit, I’ve got one more question. What are the conditions to form Seven-Strength Fruit? I can get this kind of fruit from other animals except for wolves?"

"The animals that could bring you Seven-Strength Fruit have to meet the following conditions: first, this animal must be mammal. Only a mammal’s seven strength could integrate with yours. Secondly, this animal must be hostile to human beings. Third, it has to be free both physically and spiritually when it’s killed. Only when the above three conditions are satisfied could you get the Seven-Strength Fruit!"

"What do you mean by ’this animal is hostile to human beings’? How could I judge whether an animal is hostile to human beings?"

"That’s very simple. There will be many records on this species killing and eating people!"

Heller’s explanation immediately solved Zhang Tie’s many questions on the wild wolf Seven-Strength Fruit. Previously, he thought that he could get Seven-Strength Fruit from killing many kinds of animals. There were even a lot of weird thoughts in his mind, such as buy a great number of livestock and kill them to get Seven-Strength Fruit accordingly. Now, he knew that the Seven-Strength Fruit could only be formed by killing animals which met the above three conditions. Only a few animals could meet these conditions. It was really a matter of luck to gain Seven-Strength Fruit.

Zhang Tie had already been thinking about heading for the New Crescent Prairie again. If he could get some huge wolf Seven-Strength Fruits, it would definitely improve his real strength a lot. However, based on the current situation, he might not have such a chance in a short period.

"I will participate in the subordinate auction for selling golden uangs in the afternoon. Can you tell me how many golden uangs I need to set free before I gain a Fruit of Redemption?

"2584!" Heller answered.

Hearing Heller’s reply, Zhang Tie’s heart raced as 2584 was just the number on the 18th place of the Fibonacci Numerical Array. "Is there any relationship between the forming of Fruit of Redemption and the Fibonacci Numerical Array?" Thinking of this, Zhang Tie spoke it out.

"Of course, the number of lives to be saved to form Fruit of Redemption accordingly changes with the species. It’s related to many factors!"

"What about people? If I save people, will I also get the Fruit of Redemption accordingly?"

"Yes, you will!"

"What kind of Fruit of Redemption would I get if I save people?"

"I cannot answer this question, because it belongs to the most mysterious domain. With the exception of you, nobody could give you the answer!" Heller watched Zhang Tie in an interested way.

"I remember that I’ve saved a person when I attended the survival training in the Wild Wolf Valley. Why is there no Fruit of Redemption on the small tree? Even if it’s not ripe, it should have formed at least!"

"Because all the fruits have to meet the lowest conditions to manifest. The more advanced the fruit is, the stricter conditions it will require. As the conditions to manifest the Fruit of Redemption have not been reached at all, therefore, you’ve not seen it."

"Can you tell me how many people should I save to manifest a Fruit of Redemption accordingly?"

"1346269!"

Zhang Tie was dumbfounded. A fruit that could not be manifested before saving more than 1,300,000 people. What the hell! Additionally, it’s just the standard to manifest it. How many more people should he save to make it ripe?

’All right, just forget this question!’

With his current ability, if he continued to ask, it was nothing different than seeking for insult and reducing his own enthusiasm. A guy who was still wanted had to be careful at all times so he should better forget this great undertaking by saving millions of people. Would this be considered by the emperor of the Norman Empire as a reason to pardon him?

"Fine, the last question. Are there really gods?"

"I can not answer this question!"

"Why?"

"Because I don’t know either!"

Zhang Tie became speechless...