Fire Monster

Chapter 11 The Road to the Future
Returning to his first-level imperial seal hut, Zhao Guanshan sat on the bed and fell into deep thought.

So far, he has successfully made his first pot of gold and also solved the first difficulty at the beginning. Everything is going well.

However, he himself knew that this did not mean that he could live happily in the future.

Now he is still a student at the Taoist Academy and enjoys various benefits, such as free rides on the Five Spirits Train, free food and water, and even a 20% discount on charging energy storage spirit stones.

But once you close the business, all these benefits will be gone.

First of all, you have to buy that kind of cake and the daily drinking water. The market price of that thing is two Taoist coins.

Secondly, if his workplace is nearby, he can walk there, without having to take the Five Spirits Train, and can save two Taoist coins every day. Otherwise, he would have to add another expense.

Third, according to the laws established by the Dao Palace, anyone who is not married by the age of nineteen will be forced to do so.

To get married, you need to prepare an extra first-level imperial seal hut. It doesn't matter if you don't have money, because the Taoist Palace will help pay half of the cost, and the rest will be an interest-free loan.

The total price of a first-level imperial seal hut is only ten Dao Palace coins, which is equivalent to the low-rent housing provided by the Dao Palace.

Otherwise, the actual market cost of a first-level imperial seal hut is at least sixty Taoist coins.

Then if you repay ten Dao Palace coins a month, you can pay it off in fifty months.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?
But that’s not the case, because there are still children to be born.

Before giving birth, one must take a marrow cleansing liquid of grade 80 or above, otherwise the child will be born with a % chance of having cerebral palsy or other strange abnormalities.

This is also available as an interest-free loan.

As for those who do not want to get married, the Demon Suppression Division will give them a warning. If three warnings are ineffective, they will be taken directly to the Imperial Seal Great Wall to be cannon fodder.

The general environment is such that there is no room for resistance.

If it were all these, it would be fine. At most, I could work hard like a social animal on Earth, support my family, and contribute my whole life to the Dao Palace and the future of mankind.

Who isn't an ordinary person?

But in fact, after the advent of divine punishment, the external environment has been very harsh. The evil demons often launch large-scale attacks on the city. Every attack is a catastrophe, and thousands or even tens of thousands of people die every time.

Then, during the siege, if a small group of evil spirits suddenly broke into the city, it would be a huge disaster for ordinary people.

Seven years ago, Zhao Guanshan's father in this world died on the Imperial Seal Great Wall, and he had just been promoted to a martial artist.

His mother was killed by an evil spirit that rushed into her workplace.

Including his being corrupted by evil spirits, all of that happened during that time.

You are always in danger and you don't know when your life will be lost.

"The advantages I have accumulated now are still not enough to change my fate. Half a year later, even if I pass the final examination with full marks, the best result I can get is to work as a laborer in a workshop, being squeezed until there is no surplus value left."

"So I have to take the path of a martial arts apprentice. Even though it's dangerous and I have to deal with evil spirits every day, at least I have the ability to slightly change my future destiny."

Zhao Guanshan thought about it, the general environment was like this, once one became an apprentice of a Qi Refiner and was hired by those workshops, the contract would start from at least ten years.

How many decades does he have in his life?

Although theoretically he could also save some money within the next six months, find a suitable wife, and get married early.

However, he still cannot choose to live without an identity.

Freelance?

Want to be idle and become a beggar?

Lie flat?

nonexistent.

According to the laws of the Taoist Palace, after the age of eighteen, everyone must have a job. Even if one wants to open a workshop or shop, one must first become a martial artist and serve in the Imperial Seal Great Wall for ten years before one is eligible.

Even if a Qi Refiner apprentice has the funds, he does not have the qualifications.

If you want to be free and easy, you must first accumulate enough contributions.

“This is the wartime system!”

Zhao Guanshan sighed secretly and made up his mind. The road ahead was extremely clear and he could not afford to take chances.

Individual strength is not enough to reverse the trend.

Does Zhao Guanshan also have to hope that the Taoist Palace will collapse and that the situation will not be able to be maintained?

That would be hopeless. Thinking of this, Zhao Guanshan recalled the various rules of the Taoist Academy. There was no restriction on switching from liberal arts to martial arts. In theory, as long as you were still a student of the Taoist Academy, you could apply at any time.

But you have to pass the assessment.

There are three assessment items.

The first one is a 50,000-meter run, which is 50 kilometers. The requirement is to start running before school starts and finish before school ends. The whole process takes about ten hours.

The second one was a test of will. The details were unclear, but the students who were eliminated and came back basically had red faces, weird expressions, flickering eyes, and avoided the question when asked.

Many liberal arts students even apply for multiple assessments for this purpose...

The third one is to refine Qi for twelve cycles and cultivate pure Yang Qi.

This is a rigid standard.

The Taoist Palace distributes and teaches the Qi-refining techniques free of charge.

After all children enter the Taoist temple, one of the first courses they learn is a special Qigong class.

Zhao Guanshan studied for three years and made good progress.

But after being invaded by the evil demon, his foundation was completely destroyed and he could no longer practice.

"With my current physical condition, I should be able to make it through the first test."

"Although I don't know the specific content of the second assessment, it's not a big problem for me."

"The only difficult part is the third assessment, because I only have half a year left."

"Besides that, even if I successfully transfer to the military department, I must pass the military department's final examination. Otherwise, I might as well stay in the liberal arts department."

As Zhao Guanshan thought about it, he felt a lot of pressure.

After last night, when he woke up today, he felt that he could continue practicing the Qi-refining technique. As long as he was given three to five years, he would surely be able to complete the twelve cycles of Qi-refining and cultivate a breath of pure Yang Qi.

This means that his body has recovered to normal level.

But this is far from enough.

"So, we still need to continue to improve our body fire, and the effect of practicing the Qi Refining Technique will be accelerated."

"Only one thing."

"That Imperial Seal Oil Lamp is my secret weapon, but a Level 3 Life Devourer is still too rare. Even if I go with Yang Mao to accept the bounty, do I dare to use the Imperial Seal Oil Lamp to devour the magic pill in public?"

"So, this matter still needs to be considered carefully. We can't be reckless and have to wait for the right time. Before that, I can start from other directions, for example, find a way to get more marrow cleansing spirit fluid."

As soon as he thought of this, Zhao Guanshan took out the sixty-grade marrow cleansing liquid that he had bought at a high price today.

This stuff is only about five milliliters, like a bottle of children's oral solution on Earth.

The only difference is that the liquid inside is a magical light golden color, with a faint glow and extraordinary agility. Even people who don't understand it can see the specialness of this thing.

There was some hesitation in Zhao Guanshan's eyes.

If he took this marrow cleansing spiritual liquid, combined with the blessing of the imperial seal oil lamp on his body fire, it should be able to improve his physical fitness a little bit.

Now he has three Dao Palace coins left in his hand. If he can't find a conscientious shop, he can only buy three more bottles of sixty-grade marrow cleansing liquid.

These certainly cannot meet his needs.

"It would be great if I could make my own marrow cleansing solution."

This thought flashed through Zhao Guanshan’s mind.

Among the six liberal arts courses in the Taoist Academy, the second compulsory course is the storage and disposal preparation methods of one hundred common hazardous materials. This course indirectly involves the preparation of the marrow cleansing solution.

Of course, it is not prepared directly, but some dangerous materials are used as part of the preparation of the marrow cleansing liquid.

However, this is not like assembling and manufacturing a spirit supply array. In this second course, there is not even a formula for the marrow cleansing spirit liquid, let alone how to make it.

Zhao Guanshan looked at the marrow cleansing liquid again, and a bold idea came to his mind, but he immediately rejected it. It was impossible unless he knew the formula, then he could try it.

"Forget it, don't aim too high!"

"Time is running out, and we can't waste any more time."

After persuading himself, Zhao Guanshan no longer hesitated. He opened the marrow cleansing liquid and drank it in one gulp.

(End of this chapter)