Duan Kuan's Blade

Early morning, the sun shone brightly.

It promised another clear day.

After breakfast, Zhang Yang solemnly announced that a stronger castle would be built on the foundations of the original Fortress.

All the conditions for construction were now ripe and ready.

He was quite proud of himself, actually. It had only been thirty-seven days since he arrived in this damned fantasy world.

But now,

He had one quasi-hero, forty-two infantry captains, all equipped with 5 Imprisonment Spears.

Twenty-four archer captains, all fully equipped with 35 Armor-Piercing Arrows or Wolf Fang Arrows.

Thirteen elite infantrymen.

One special unit (Ghost Priest).

One special profession (Mountain God).

One full-time artisan (Zhao Tiezhu).

Ten artisans with secondary skill proficiency reaching 200 points (third-generation residents).

Eight ordinary artisans with secondary skill proficiency reaching 80 points (second-generation residents).

One instructor (Qin Ge).

Thirty-four farmers.

Two cooks.

Eight lumberjacks.

Two butchers.

One Mountain God Temple priest.

Fifty-five ordinary villagers.

Additionally, there was a Level 2 Wood Demon Tower, a Level 1 Fortress, a Level 3 Mountain God Temple, Level 5 residences, three Level 3 residences, twenty-two Level 5 farmlands, a Level 3 Training Ground (expanded), a Level 3 Barracks (expanded), and a Level 3 Granary (newly built).

Reserved building materials included 5000 logs and 1500 units of stone.

Various tools.

Villager loyalty was 59, Village Prosperity was 125, and Livability Index was 12.5 (this data refreshed constantly).

The Village Building Order had 16,000 units of reserved monster meat and various other materials.

Various demonic blood exceeded 800 units.

Additionally, there were 100 units of Mountain Monster essence blood containing a large amount of Demonic Energy, 200 units of Great Horned Deer Essence Blood, and 500 units of Great Horned Deer Essence Flesh.

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

He could be considered quite wealthy.

"Start building!"

With Zhang Yang's command, the castle construction officially began. There were four main artisans responsible for the construction: Zhang Chunlei, Wang Qiuyu, Chu Beifeng, and Zhao Tiezhu.

The first three had built three Level 3 residences and one Level 3 granary in the past twenty-two days, and had expanded the Training Ground and Barracks. Thus, their proficiency in the secondary skill of building construction/repair had long exceeded 200 points, currently at 225, 220, and 215 points respectively. They were very strong; if not for the lack of materials, they could even build Level 4 residences.

As for Zhao Tiezhu, Zhang Yang was training him to be an all-rounder, making him switch jobs every five days. So, although his secondary skills weren't individually high, their average was the highest. His building construction/repair proficiency was currently 125 points, bow and crossbow crafting/repair was 125 points, and mining/smelting was 75 points.

This had led to his main skill proficiency reaching 75 points. It was estimated that if he continued this way, it wouldn't be long before he could create items with attributes.

Therefore, Zhang Yang had Zhao Tiezhu participate in this castle construction as well, as gaining proficiency was paramount.

Besides these four artisans, there were ten soldiers acting as laborers. Everyone else's work remained unchanged, especially stone quarrying, which could not be interrupted, as the castle construction relied entirely on this material.

"Village Chief?"

Just as Zhang Yang was about to find a place to begin researching the Iron Wall Battle Rune, Duan Kuan, one of the Four Berserker Bears, sidled over with shifty eyes, looking quite nervous and fidgety.

"What's wrong?"

Zhang Yang quickly asked. Frankly, among all the soldiers, besides Wu Yuan, the quasi-hero, the Four Berserker Bears were the ones he valued most. Although all four were classified as infantry captains, their individual combat strength was actually about twenty percent higher than ordinary infantry captains.

And this was in a one-on-one situation. If the four of them teamed up, they could easily defeat ten enemy infantry captains of the same level without using Imprisonment Spears.

Even Wu Yuan himself admitted that if he faced the Four Berserker Bears, his only outcome would be surrender or escape.

However, among the Four Berserker Bears, the one Zhang Yang valued most wasn't Song Dachui, the wild-handed berserker, nor Wang Mumu, the dull and silent one, nor Zhou Datou, with his sinister and evil aura, but Duan Kuan.

The reason was that Duan Kuan was very responsible and quite intelligent. During the Mountain God haunting incident, he almost uncovered the truth.

So Zhang Yang personally felt that the Four Berserker Bears had the best chance of advancing to heroes among all captain-level soldiers, and among the Four Berserker Bears, Duan Kuan had the best chance of becoming a hero.

"Please forgive me, Village Chief!"

Duan Kuan still stammered, hesitating for a long time before unstrapping his long saber and offering it to Zhang Yang with both hands. "I humbly ask, Village Chief, to nurture my long saber, just as you nurture trees to turn ordinary trees into Ironwood."

At this point, Duan Kuan's gaze was incredibly fervent, and Zhang Yang instantly understood his intentions.

However, this guy's idea was quite extraordinary; Zhang Yang hadn't even thought of it himself.

"Are you sure this will work? You know, your long blade is already captain-grade white quality, and it even has a +3 sharpness attribute. That's something other captain-grade long blades don't have. What if I damage it?" Zhang Yang asked cautiously. Indeed, since the Four Berserker Bears' weapons were all enhanced from the Mountain Monster's great hammer, Duan Kuan's blade was truly the village's most prized possession.

Normally, Duan Kuan treasured this long blade more than his own grandson—no, more than his wife and lover. He kept it by his side at all times, whether eating, sleeping, or even using the outhouse. He'd often pull it out and polish it repeatedly, his gentle, focused, and utterly absorbed expression making everyone's teeth ache. Sometimes, when Zhang Yang asked Duan Kuan to chop Ironwood that he had been nurturing, the man would be heartbroken. So why was he suddenly willing to take such a risk this time?

"Village Chief, I've made up my mind. I've been watching you nurture the Ironwood these past few days, and you truly have the ability to turn decay into magic. So, you can definitely nurture this blade of mine." Duan Kuan plopped down to his knees, speaking with genuine sincerity, though he didn't say, If the blade breaks, I won't blame you.

Zhang Yang's mouth twitched. He wanted to ask, What will you do if I break this long blade? But considering how cruel that would be to Duan Kuan, he held his tongue.

"I'll give it a try. I'll have an answer for you before noon today. Now go and take care of your duties." Zhang Yang finally agreed.

"No, Village Chief, I'll guard you." Duan Kuan looked like an utterly loyal lackey.

Zhang Yang pursed his lips, ignoring him, and went directly to the Wood Demon Tower. Duan Kuan followed closely, guarding outside the Wood Demon Tower, his eyes wide and fierce. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was incredibly loyal.

"What a fine blade!" Sitting in the Wood Demon Tower, Zhang Yang carefully examined the long blade and couldn't help but praise it.

This long blade was too long and too heavy for people of average height, weighing a full thirty kilograms. Only the Four Berserker Bears could wield it with ease. Moreover, this long blade was truly sharp. The Ironwood Zhang Yang had recently been nurturing was almost as hard as gray cast iron, yet this long blade could still cut and slice through it effortlessly. It truly cut metal like mud, no exaggeration.

A few minutes later, Zhang Yang collected his thoughts, cast aside distractions, and then activated his Soul Force Field.

In that instant, everyone within a sixty-meter radius felt a shiver, and their hairs stood on end. However, this feeling lasted only a moment. Zhang Yang quickly retracted his Soul Force Field, controlling it with ease. This was the result of rubbing wooden spears daily for the past twenty-odd days. Practice makes perfect!

When the Soul Force Field contracted to a five-meter diameter, Duan Kuan, who was still standing outside, intending to guard Zhang Yang, suddenly widened his eyes. His heart pounded uncontrollably like a drum. He only managed to endure for a few seconds before illusions swarmed his vision. He quickly left the area, his face filled with dread. It was terrifying.

At the same time, the Ghost Priest, residing in the Wood Demon Tower, fled into the ground as if its life depended on it, thinking disaster was imminent. Even the exterior of the Wood Demon Tower trembled slightly.

Fortunately, a few seconds later, Zhang Yang further contracted the Soul Force Field to a one-and-a-half-meter diameter, completely enveloping the long blade. Only then did everything return to normal.

In fact, Zhang Yang himself wasn't sure that compressing the Soul Force Field would have such an effect. In the past, he didn't need to do this when nurturing the Imprisonment Spear; a normal Soul Force Field was sufficient. But this time, Duan Kuan had given him a challenge, so he wanted to try a different method to see if he could succeed in nurturing it.