Duan Kuan's Blade

Early in the morning, sunlight bathed the land.

It heralded yet another clear day.

After breakfast, Zhang Yang solemnly announced that he would build a sturdier castle on the foundations of the original fortress.

All the conditions for construction had matured and been properly prepared.

Thinking about it, he was rather pleased with himself. From the day he had arrived in this damn Fantasy World to today, only thirty-seven days had passed.

And yet now,

he had one quasi-hero under his command, along with forty-two infantry captains, all equipped with five Imprisonment Spears each.

Twenty-four Archer Captains, all fully equipped with thirty-five Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows or Wolf Fang Arrows.

Thirteen elite infantrymen.

One special troop type (Ghost Priest).

One special profession (Mountain God).

One full-time craftsman (Zhao Tiezhu).

Ten craftsmen (third-generation residents) with secondary-skill proficiency of 200 points.

Eight ordinary craftsmen (second-generation residents) with secondary-skill proficiency of 80 points.

One instructor (Qin Ge).

Thirty-four farmers.

Two cooks.

Eight Lumberjacks.

Two butchers.

One Mountain God Temple priest.

Fifty-five ordinary villagers.

There was also a level-two Wood Demon Tower, a level-one fortress, a level-three Mountain God Temple, five level-five Residential Houses, three level-three Residential Houses, twenty-two level-five Farmlands, one expanded level-three Training Ground, one expanded level-three Barracks, and one newly built level-three granary.

The stockpiled construction materials consisted of 5,000 logs and 1,500 units of stone.

Various tools.

Villager loyalty: 59. Village Prosperity: 125. Livability Index: 12.5. (These figures refreshed at any time.)

The Village Building Order's reserves included 16,000 units of monster meat and various materials.

Over 800 units of various monster blood,

as well as 100 units of Mountain Monster Essence Blood, 200 units of Great Horned Deer Essence Blood, and 500 units of Great Horned Deer Essence Flesh, all containing abundant Demonic Energy.

Finally, there was a reserve of 35,000 energy points.

He could be considered quite wealthy.

"Get to work!"

With Zhang Yang's order, construction of the castle officially began. Four craftsmen were responsible for the main construction: Zhang Chunlei, Wang Qiuyu, Chu Beifeng, and Zhao Tiezhu.

Over the past twenty-two days, the first three had built three level-three Residential Houses and one level-three granary, and had expanded the Training Ground and Barracks. Their secondary skill, Building Construction/Repair, had long since exceeded 200 proficiency points. They currently had 225, 220, and 215 points respectively—a formidable level. If not for the lack of materials, they could already build level-four Residential Houses.

As for Zhao Tiezhu, Zhang Yang had been training him as an all-rounder, having him change jobs once every five days. Thus, while none of his secondary skills were particularly high, their average was the highest. Building Construction/Repair currently stood at 125 proficiency points, Bow and Crossbow Crafting/Repair at 125, and Mining/Smelting at 75.

This had caused his primary-skill proficiency to reach 75 points. If things continued this way, it probably would not be long before he could produce items with attributes.

Therefore, Zhang Yang had also had Zhao Tiezhu participate in rebuilding the castle. Raising proficiency was the most important thing.

Aside from these four craftsmen, ten soldiers were also doing hard labor. Everyone else kept to their usual work. In particular, the extraction of stone could not be interrupted—the construction of the castle depended entirely on this material.

"Village Chief?"

Just as Zhang Yang was preparing to find a place to begin studying the Iron Wall Battle Rune, Duan Kuan, one of the Four Berserker Bears, sidled over furtively, looking rather nervous and ill at ease.

"What is it?"

Zhang Yang hurriedly asked. Among all the soldiers, apart from the quasi-hero Wu Yuan, the people he valued most were the Four Berserker Bears. Although all four were classified as infantry captains, their individual combat strength was roughly twenty percent higher than that of ordinary infantry captains.

And that was under one-on-one conditions. If the four joined forces, they could easily flatten ten infantry captains of the same level without even using Imprisonment Spears.

Even Wu Yuan himself admitted that if he faced the Four Berserker Bears, his only options would be to concede or run.

Yet among the Four Berserker Bears, the one Zhang Yang valued most was not the two-handed berserk Song Dachui, nor the wooden and taciturn Wang Mumu, nor the sinister and evil-looking Zhou Datou, but this Duan Kuan.

The reason was that Duan Kuan was highly responsible and fairly clever. During the previous Mountain God haunting incident, he had nearly uncovered the truth.

Thus, Zhang Yang felt that among all the Captain-Level Soldiers, the Four Berserker Bears had the greatest chance of advancing to heroes. And among the Four Berserker Bears, Duan Kuan had the greatest chance of becoming a hero.

"Please forgive me, Village Chief!"

Duan Kuan continued to stammer. After hesitating for a long while, he finally untied his long blade and offered it to Zhang Yang with both hands. "I beg your pardon, Village Chief, but could you nurture my long blade, just as you nurture trees and turn ordinary wood into ironwood?"

By the time he finished speaking, Duan Kuan's gaze had already grown intensely fervent. Zhang Yang instantly understood what he was thinking.

But this fellow's imagination was truly extraordinary. Even Zhang Yang himself had never thought of that.

"Are you sure this will work? Your long blade is already a captain-level white-quality weapon, and it even has a Sharpness +3 attribute. It surpasses the captain-level blades in everyone else's hands. What if I damage it?"

Zhang Yang asked cautiously. Indeed, because the Four Berserker Bears' weapons had all been enhanced with that Mountain Monster's great hammer, Duan Kuan's blade was unquestionably the village's number-one treasured blade.

Normally, Duan Kuan treated the long blade like his own grandson—no, like his wife and lover. He never left it for even a moment while eating, sleeping, or going to the latrine.

Whenever he had nothing to do, he would draw it and polish it over and over. His tender, focused, utterly intoxicated expression made everyone else's teeth ache.

Sometimes, when Zhang Yang sent Duan Kuan to chop nurtured ironwood, the fellow would be heartbroken.

Why had he suddenly decided to take such a risk this time?

"Village Chief, I have made up my mind. These past few days, I have been watching you nurture ironwood. You truly possess the ability to turn decay into something miraculous. So you will definitely be able to nurture my blade."

Duan Kuan simply dropped to his knees with a thump. His words were sincere and earnest—though he never said, "Even if the blade breaks, I won't blame you."

The corner of Zhang Yang's mouth twitched. He wanted to ask, What will you do if I break this blade? But considering how cruel those words would be to Duan Kuan, he kept silent.

"I'll give it a try. I can give you an answer before noon. Go attend to your work for now."

Zhang Yang eventually agreed.

"No, Village Chief. I'll guard you." Duan Kuan put on the fawning look of a doggedly loyal lackey.

Zhang Yang curled his lip and ignored him. He went straight to the Wood Demon Tower, while Duan Kuan followed every step and stood guard outside the tower, his eyes wide and murderous. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought the fellow was incredibly loyal.

"What a fine blade!"

Sitting inside the Wood Demon Tower, Zhang Yang carefully examined the long blade and could not help praising it.

For someone of ordinary height, the long blade was simply too long and too heavy. Weighing a full thirty kilograms, it could only be wielded with ease by the Four Berserker Bears.

Moreover, the blade was truly sharp. The ironwood Zhang Yang had recently nurtured had nearly reached the hardness of gray cast iron, yet this long blade could still chop and slice through it with ease.

"Cutting iron as though it were mud" was no exaggeration.

A few minutes later, Zhang Yang gathered his thoughts and cleared his mind before activating the Soul Force Field.

In that instant, everyone within a sixty-meter-diameter area around him shuddered, every hair on their bodies standing on end.

But the sensation lasted only an instant. Zhang Yang immediately shrank the Soul Force Field back down, controlling it with ease.

That was the effect of spending the past twenty-odd days crafting Wood Spears day after day.

Practice made perfect, after all!

When the Soul Force Field contracted to a diameter of five meters, Duan Kuan, who had been standing outside and still planning to guard Zhang Yang, suddenly widened his eyes. His heart began pounding uncontrollably like a war drum. He endured for only a few seconds before hallucinations burst across his vision. He hurriedly left the area, his face filled with terror. It was too frightening.

At the same time, the Ghost Priest inhabiting the Wood Demon Tower also fled as though its life depended on it, plunging underground as if disaster were about to strike.

Even the exterior of the Wood Demon Tower began to tremble faintly.

Fortunately, a few seconds later, Zhang Yang compressed the Soul Force Field further, forming a fifty-centimeter-diameter sphere that completely wrapped around the long blade.

Only then did everything return to normal.

In truth, Zhang Yang himself had not known that compressing the Soul Force Field would have such an effect. Previously, he had not needed to do so when nurturing Imprisonment Spears; an ordinary Soul Force Field had been enough.

But this time, Duan Kuan had thrown him a difficult problem. That was why he had decided to try a different method and see whether he could nurture it successfully.