Chapter 64 The Outside World

  The summer of the ninth year of Wu De came so hastily, leaving Yang Heng somewhat at a loss. He had something on his mind, and time was passing quickly, but if he wished for it to pass even faster, it would instead slow down. Now, however, the opposite was true: as Yang Heng pondered how to intervene, time hastened by.

  "Brother Yang, the outside world is really vast." Yang led the children out of the valley for the first time, and they felt a sudden sense of openness in their hearts. Yes, before this, these children had always lived in a large valley, it was not an exaggeration to say that they were like frogs in a well, gazing up at the sky. Even Yang himself had never left the valley since entering it, although he had come to the exit along the river during winter, but hadn't set foot on the outside land. On the contrary, Old Father and the uncles would often use bamboo rafts or directly transport cattle carts over the ice.

  The children cheered as they saw the vast sky, but Yang Heng was thinking that in a few months, this open land might become a battlefield, and perhaps his father's promotion would begin from here. But how to seize this opportunity?

  "Little uncle, what kind of tree is this?" Yang Heng asked the little uncle in disappointment, bending the branch in front of him. "This... could it be a white wax tree? And a rather unusual one at that. Its trunk is usually used to make handles for long weapons, and can even be used directly as a combat staff." The little uncle said uncertainly.

  "No way, little uncle, look at how brittle it is. How can it be used as a club or even the pole of a long weapon? Once you take it to the battlefield and make a move, the person hasn't even been hit yet, but the pole will already have broken." Yang Heng directly didn't believe it.

  "Now that you mention it, I'm certain this is the white wax rod. Let me take a look. My old carpentry master once told me that there are many types of trees in the world that can be used to make weapons, but only the white wax rod is the most suitable for making weapon handles. However, there's a strict time limit for cutting it down, and even during this time, very few people can manage to cut it down because the white wax rod is at its toughest and most resilient state at that time. Without a divine sword or a sharp axe, it's difficult to cut it down. But I see that the knives and axes in your house are all capable of cutting it down. Ah, yes, including the knife you're holding in your hand."

  Since then, Yang Heng has been inseparable from his knife, because he had to think of a way, especially when choosing a weapon, and naturally he had to bring this knife with him. He even often swung the knife around, thinking about coming up with a knife technique that would allow him to charge in and out seven times among thousands of horses and soldiers. However, he wasn't Zhao Zilong, so he couldn't think of such a technique, not even a simple one-in-one-out technique. All he could think of was randomly swinging the knife around. Why didn't he study knife techniques more carefully in his past life? What about Bagua Knife, Hu Family Knife Technique, Five Tigers Knife Technique, or something like Hu Yidao? If only he had done that, then he wouldn't have to worry now. But what technique can he use now? Let's just call it the "Random Self-Killing Knife" technique.

  Wielding a knife and randomly slashing in the midst of thousands of soldiers is no different from seeking death, so it's naturally called a reckless suicidal blade.

  Yang Heng suddenly remembered the tree he found on the mountain in winter, its diameter and length were just right to be used as a stick. If it was suitable, he could use this tree as a stick and weave branches into a rattan shield, maybe barely usable as a weapon. However, when Yang Heng looked at the tree, he found that it was too brittle. Using this tree as a weapon would be no better than directly committing suicide. But after his younger uncle's explanation, this tree had some unexpected uses, but what were they and when could they be used?

  "Little uncle, what time is it when it's the most resilient?" Yang Heng asked anxiously. "Huh, let me think... Master said something like that back then. Since I didn't want to be a general and naturally didn't want to make weapons for sale, I wouldn't remember too much." Obviously, little uncle remembered, but seeing Yang Heng's anxious look, he started playing dumb instead.

  "Alright, little uncle, you can take your time to think about it. If you really can't remember, I'll just train a new carpenter. Maybe Da Ge can learn from him too. If you still can't figure it out, I'll build a house here and let Da Ge live in it. Every day, he'll chop at the wood with an axe, and naturally, he'll know when the wood is most solid.

  You're not threatening me? Well, I'll counter-threaten you! I'll train another carpenter, and from now on, little uncle, you won't be allowed to participate in making some of my things."

  "Ah, nephew, now that you mention it, I remember, you don't need to bother your brother Da Ge anymore. You know, little Da Zi is very busy now, he still has to help with farming and plowing the fields, really can't take on more things. His work, just looking at it makes me dizzy." Little uncle became anxious, "No way, little uncle, I think Da Ge is quite idle, of course, let him learn some carpentry too, you know if I were to train him into a master-level carpenter maybe not possible, but a master level that's within reach." Yang Heng continued to tease little uncle, who made you sell me out? What master-level carpentry, you know little uncle is only an intermediate-level carpenter at best.

  Master-level carpentry, this is an unheard-of thing. According to my nephew's words, there is also a Grandmaster level above it, so this Master level is the second tier. According to Yang Heng's classification, it should be at the Earth level. I wonder what level I am at now, can I reach the Yellow level?

  His younger uncle thought to himself that his thoughts were not bad, wasn't this intermediate level corresponding to the yellow level? Yang Heng divided learning into five levels: heaven, earth, xuan, huang and kong, but in terms of technology, he was divided into five levels in his heart: primary, intermediate, advanced, master and grandmaster.

  "Nephew, I'll tell you, I just remembered too. This deformed white wax rod, it's at its strongest on the swing, probably around early August. As for when exactly, that depends on how the white wax rod behaves. If a layer of wax appears on its surface, that's when it's at its most flexible and strongest." (By the way, let's temporarily create a kind of weapon for the sake of the plot.)

  "In the beginning of August, this is just the right time." Yang Heng said in a low voice. "What's the right time for, nephew? Are you going to do something or have some new ideas? Don't leave your uncle behind, okay?"

  Young uncle got anxious, if Yang Heng really let Da Ge learn carpentry, wouldn't that be the end for himself? "No worries, no worries, young uncle, I thought about it carefully, Da Ge doesn't even have time to learn carpentry."