Chapter 90

With the secret manual in hand, Zhang Tie was so excited that he hardly slept all night. He spent the entire night flipping through the nearly 200-page manual. The manual was indeed a manual; even the paper used was waterproof and had a certain fire-resistant capability, made of silver board paper. According to Zhang Tie's knowledge, because silver board paper was expensive, it was only used for very important classics and manuals. Silver board paper could not be printed on; only a special pen dipped in a special material could leave marks on it. Therefore, all books made of silver board paper were handwritten, and this "Iron Blood Divine Fist" was no exception, including the hand-drawn illustrations inside. Although it was handwritten and hand-drawn, it was clearly not the work of an ordinary person. The text and illustrations gave a pleasing and comfortable feeling, even more so than printed material.

As a former royal manual of the Norman Empire, even though the content of this book had already spread widely, the content recorded in this manual from the East was absolutely not comparable to ordinary manuals. Holding the manual in his hands, Zhang Tie was immediately captivated by its content.

The manual contained a lot of information. After reading it for a whole night, Zhang Tie barely formed a rough understanding of the Iron Blood Divine Fist cultivation system in his mind.

The cultivation system of Iron Blood Divine Fist consisted of three parts.

The first part of the book was the桩法 (zhuang fa), which, according to the introduction, was the basic skill for cultivating and enhancing the power of Iron Blood Divine Fist. The book introduced three types of zhuang fa: the Tiger Lying桩 (Hu Wo Zhuang), the Dragon Coiling桩 (Pan Long Zhuang), and the Cross桩 (Shi Zi Zhuang). The Tiger Lying桩 required the practitioner to lie on the ground like a tiger, motionless, and be able to hold this position for more than half an hour before moving on to the next step. The Dragon Coiling桩 required the practitioner to coil their legs like a snake, with knees touching, a straight spine, and a raised chest, then continuously and slightly shake, repeating the actions of standing up and squatting, mimicking the movements of a coiled snake about to strike. The Cross桩 was a combination and variation of the Tiger Lying桩 and the Dragon Coiling桩, practiced after achieving a small success in the first two. The Cross桩 required the lower body to be coiled like a snake, the upper body to be like a tiger embracing, and the hands to hold two long spears, forming a cross...

The second part of the book was the 36 forms of Iron Blood Divine Fist and the five basic footwork techniques, along with their combinations and variations...

The third part of the book was a set of techniques called the Iron Blood Harmonizing Qi Formula, which could only be practiced after achieving a small success in the Tiger Lying桩. This technique used breathing methods to stimulate the bright point, combining the six forces of the body through the coordination of zhuang fa and fist techniques, to cultivate hidden strength and transformation strength. Compared to the previous content, this part was more difficult for Zhang Tie to grasp. The most frustrating part was the final section about the cultivation of Iron Blood Battle Qi, which was the most important content in the entire manual but also the shortest. This section contained only one sentence: "When the transformation strength is fully developed and the six forces are combined, continue to refine the fist intent with the divine method. Iron Blood Battle Qi will sprout after nine deaths and manifest after a hundred deaths."

What was fist intent, what was the divine method, what were the nine deaths, and what were the hundred deaths? These terms were extremely confusing. Fortunately, Zhang Tie had a deep foundation in Chinese, and he had memorized a large Chinese dictionary from a young age, which allowed him to accurately grasp the original meaning of the last sentence. If this sentence were translated into Cyrillic, it would be so frustrating that it might make someone want to commit suicide: "When the transformation strength is fully developed, use the divine fire to refine the essence of the fist. After nine deaths, the sprout of Iron Blood Battle Qi will grow inside the body, and after a hundred deaths, Iron Blood Battle Qi will manifest." Seeing this sentence, Zhang Tie understood why out of 100 people who cultivated Iron Blood Transformation Strength, more than 99 were stuck at the final stage. Damn, this sentence wasn't even meant for human ears. In the entire Blackson Human Corridor, probably only the royal family of the Norman Empire knew the secret of this sentence and understood its meaning. The royal family's secret transmission was indeed extraordinary; even if given to someone, not just anyone could learn it.

After reading the "Iron Blood Divine Fist" manual for almost a whole night, Zhang Tie's eyes were bloodshot. By the middle of the night, he had roughly read through the manual and mentally cursed the royal family of the Norman Empire. He then put the manual away and fell into a deep sleep. Since he was still recovering from his injuries, he had nothing to do the next day, so he didn't care what time he woke up.

The next day, Zhang Tie indeed woke up at noon. After washing up, he prepared to pack his things and leave.

There wasn't much of Zhang Tie's belongings at the recovery site. When it was time to leave, he packed the things in the room—there wasn't much, just a leather-made pioneer backpack that Bari had sent for his convenience. After putting some food, the seeds he had collected over the past few days, and the "Iron Blood Divine Fist" manual into the backpack, Zhang Tie left the small house where he had stayed for a week.

Before leaving, Zhang Tie went to the temporary supervision committee's office to complete the procedures for leaving the castle after recovering. He wanted to say goodbye to Captain Colin and Jerome, but was told that both were out on routine patrols. Zhang Tie had no choice but to give up.

During this trial, the teachers and instructors also had their responsibilities. For the teachers of the temporary supervision committee, ensuring that no powerful monsters or mutated creatures suddenly appeared in the Wild Wolf Valley to instantly kill a large group of students was their duty. Therefore, patrolling around the Wild Wolf Valley became a daily task for these teachers. For many teachers, this work was similar to an outing, with little pressure.

Since Captain Colin and Jerome were not there, Zhang Tie went to the ironworking workshop to say goodbye to a few people he had recently met there, and then left Wild Wolf Castle.

On the square of Wild Wolf Castle, by noon, the stalls were already densely packed. To his surprise, Zhang Tie found Pandora among the crowd of stall owners. Pandora's stall was always placed in a corner that didn't attract much attention, and the small, thin girl always sat in a corner, hugging her knees and curling up into a small ball.

When Zhang Tie walked to Pandora's stall, the thin girl finally lifted her head and looked at him, saying, "Sorry, I didn't pick any fruit today..."

In front of Pandora was only a small pile of ordinary wild vegetables. Zhang Tie looked at Pandora and noticed that her clothes were slightly damp, probably from the early morning dew. She must have gotten up early to look for wild vegetables and fruits. As the trial progressed, the wild fruits and vegetables near Wild Wolf Castle became fewer and harder to find. This objective situation forced the girls and boys to work together to complete the trial. Humans are social creatures, and as individuals, unless they were very powerful, it was difficult to survive alone in the wild.

The pitiful look of the small girl touched Zhang Tie's heart a little...

"Um... my injuries no longer affect my movement, and I'm leaving today. I came to say goodbye to you before I go!" Zhang Tie scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, I wish you a quick recovery!" Pandora smiled. This was the first time Zhang Tie had seen Pandora smile. The girl had beautiful blue eyes, and when she smiled, she looked very pretty. Zhang Tie looked at Pandora again, and yes, apart from being a bit thin, flat-chested, and having some freckles on her face, Pandora was quite delicate.

"Do you have time tonight?" Zhang Tie asked impulsively.

"What for?" Pandora immediately became alert upon hearing the word "tonight," quickly hiding her chest behind her knees.

"I... want to invite you to dinner and to visit our treehouse. I see that you are always looking for food alone. If you haven't joined a trial team yet, why not join us? We have seven boys, and they are all very easy to get along with!"

"Are you inviting me to be your trial partner?" Pandora's eyes lit up, but the light quickly dimmed. "But... I can't accept!"

"Why?" Zhang Tie was surprised.

"They say that people who are with me will have bad luck. I don't want to bring you trouble. The last time you bought something from me, you were chased by wolves and had to jump into a hole..." Pandora said weakly.

"Nonsense, how can that be your fault? Look, I'm fine now..." As he spoke, Zhang Tie flexed his arm muscles in a showy way, making Pandora giggle.

"Do you really not mind?"

"Of course not, don't listen to those people. I even think you're my lucky angel. Without you, I might have died this time..." Zhang Tie said boldly.

"Then... okay!" Pandora thought for a moment and finally agreed.

Seeing Pandora agree, Zhang Tie sighed with relief. This was his first time inviting a girl, and being rejected would have made him feel very embarrassed. As for the wolf incident, even Jerome had hinted that there might have been foul play behind it, so Zhang Tie would never blame Pandora. Moreover, when he was very young, his mother had taught him never to blame others for his misfortunes. A man should take responsibility, and Zhang Tie always remembered this.

"Then it's settled. I'll come to pick you up in the afternoon. Our treehouse is very fun. We all live in tree holes, and we have fish soup at night..."

"Live in tree holes?" Pandora's face showed a hint of longing. Seeing her expression, Zhang Tie was sure that fish soup and a treehouse were indeed a powerful combination for girls.

"Oh, right..." Zhang Tie took out some dry rations and dried meat from his backpack and put the wild vegetables Pandora had collected, which were wrapped in leaves, into his backpack. "I'll take these wild vegetables!"

The dry rations and dried meat Zhang Tie offered far exceeded the value of the wild vegetables, which made Pandora flustered. "That's too much, I don't need so much..."

"Ha, no problem. The rest can be considered my lunch for you..." Zhang Tie smiled, waved to Pandora, and then left...

Watching Zhang Tie's departing back, the girl's eyes became a bit misty, and she murmured to herself, "Can I really be someone's lucky angel?"

...

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