Divine Tang Era

The boundless sky, the endless blue, is like the love of a pure young girl, without any impurities.

On the grassland under the sky, the grass was just sprouting, glistening with dewdrops, and under the distant morning sun, it emitted streaks of iridescent light.

Two adorable rabbits frolicked and nibbled on the tenderest blades of grass.

Suddenly, a round head popped up from the side.

The word "groundhog" popped into the two rabbits' minds. They'd never seen a groundhog this big before, so they couldn't help but look at it curiously for a few moments. As soon as the round head emerged from under its body, the two rabbits immediately fled for their lives. "It's a two-legged person! Mom said if you see a two-legged person, you have to run!"

"Consider yourselves lucky."

Looking at the rabbit's silhouette in the distance, Xu Dan thought to himself.

If he hadn't been carrying a lot of stuff, he definitely would have chased after him; heaven knows how long it had been since he'd eaten rabbit meat.

There was a pile of things below. He first threw the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, which he was carrying vertically, to the ground, then walked out of the cave and pulled up the luggage hanging behind him. It was a big miscellaneous pile, including mushroom-skin sheets, pots, pans, spoons, chopsticks, needles, thread, beads, as well as smoked dragon salamander jerky and leftover vulture meat from yesterday.

These things are not important except for food, but it would be troublesome to make them again when we get there, so we have to bring them with us.

Xu Dan pulled these things up and then crawled back into the cave.

The next moment, it emerged again and buried the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer in the ground to prevent it from being seen and stolen.

He still had the five Enlightenment Fruits he'd stolen from the Dragon Salamander Cave in the underground cave, so he had to go down there no matter what, and while he was at it, check if the large dragon salamanders were still there. If not, he could catch a couple of small dragon salamanders and bring them up. He had to celebrate in this new place; a stew of small dragon salamanders and dried mushrooms would be perfect.

Back in the cave, Xu Dan didn't rush to take the Wisdom Fruit, but instead headed towards the Dragon Salamander Cave.

The stalactites blocking the entrance to the Dragon Salamander Cave are still intact. To be on the safe side, he first peered into the small holes left in the stalactites.

Suddenly, a pair of menacing, cold, and ruthless eyes appeared at the other end of the cave.

Xu Dan was terrified and turned to flee for his life. A giant dragon salamander burst out of the rock and gave chase, followed closely by a series of enormous dragon salamanders. Each one was expressionless and exuded a murderous aura.

Xu Dan refused to believe that there was a giant salamander guarding the other side of the cave, and that he had been caught red-handed.

He was well aware of everything he had done in the Dragon Salamander Cave, and dared not ask for forgiveness; he simply ran with his head down.

He used every ounce of his strength, moving incredibly fast, like a whirlwind, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

He didn't look back, just ran for his life, quickly returned to the stone house to get the Wisdom-Enhancing Fruit, then ran towards the stalagmite leading to the well, and leaped into the well. The giant dragon salamander then sprang up and pounced on him.

Xu Dan could see the sharp teeth inside the giant salamander's gaping maw.

If that person falls, it will definitely end badly.

Xu Dan didn't want to test the waters, so he landed on the steps and continued to leap.

The giant salamander missed its bite and landed. Seeing a step nearby, it tried to chase after it, but the step Xu Dan had dug was too narrow to withstand the weight and collapsed. Xu Dan leaped several times and ran far away, out of sight of the giant salamander, which could only roar furiously at his retreating figure.

"That was close."

Xu Dan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Luckily I ran fast enough, otherwise I would have become the giant salamander's meal.

This incident taught him a lesson: one shouldn't be too greedy. If he hadn't wanted to catch the baby dragon salamander to eat, this wouldn't have happened. He glanced into the cave; the big dragon salamander wasn't chasing him. It definitely couldn't catch up; the cave was so small, and the big dragon salamander was too big to chase.

Ignore it.

Xu Dan unearthed the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, shouldered his luggage of various sizes, and began walking towards the foot of the mountain ahead.

"People say, 'Looking at a mountain can make a horse run itself to death,' but today it was looking at the mountain that almost killed me." Xu Dan originally thought the mountain he saw yesterday was very close, but he didn't expect it to be incredibly far when he actually started walking. It was right in front of him, but he just couldn't get there.

I refuse to believe it.

Xu Dan refused to believe it, tightened his clothes around his neck, and started running wildly.

"call out"

A pair of groundhogs had just poked their heads out of their burrow when a sudden gust of wind swept by, disheveling their hair. The two mice remained silent for a long time before the female mouse asked, "Brother Mouse, did something just fly by?"

"That's not anything special, it's what our ancestors called 'two-legged people,' and they're very rare these days," the male rat said coolly, looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.

"Wow, Brother Mouse, you're so amazing! You even know about this kind of thing." The female mouse's eyes sparkled with admiration.

"That's right." The male rat tidied his messy hair, trying to look as dashing as possible.

Xu Dan runs incredibly fast, like a wild horse, an old ox, or a tiger. When he starts running freely, he realizes how fast he is—faster than a bicycle or an electric scooter. Looking at the grass rushing past on either side, he feels he's even faster than a typical motorcycle, because he's never been faster than someone who's traveled over 100 kilometers on a high-speed train.

Don't say there aren't any high-speed trains that travel over 100 kilometers; he has actually ridden one.

They sped up, and the mountains ahead were rapidly approaching.

After running for a while, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. Xu Dan was amazed to find that he still had energy, and he wasn't even out of breath. This body was too strong; if a child could do this, what would he be like as an adult?

After indulging in fantasies for a long time, I've woven countless beautiful dreams of punching the heavens and earth and shattering mountains and seas with my feet.

Xu Dan finally came to his senses and continued carrying his luggage up the mountain.

This mountain isn't anything special, maybe a few hundred meters high at most, but fortunately it's covered in dense vegetation and has tall trees.

He found a recessed spot halfway up the mountain to build a treehouse. First, he found four trees growing in a square shape. Then he began clearing away the weeds and trees that blocked his view and within ten meters to prevent wild animals from jumping into the treehouse or encountering snakes and insects when it was built.

With the help of the Eight-Degree Sword, which can cut iron like mud, these things are done with ease.

After clearing these things out, we began building the treehouse.

The treehouse is built ten meters high to protect against wild animals and snakes.

To prevent wild animals from jumping up the branches, Xu Dan cleared the branches below ten meters, though he left some to use as ladders. He's small, but he can jump very high and climb nimbly, so pruning the branches was easy for him.

After finishing these tasks, he dug a square hole at a 90-degree angle from a height of ten meters above the tree trunk to build the foundation for the wooden house.

After digging, a piece of bark was used as a measuring ruler. Then, large trees that were in proportion were found one by one. The two ends were cut into wooden stakes that were almost square. These stakes were then inserted into the square holes, and the wooden bases of the four corners of a treehouse were completed.

This thing is called a "mortise and tenon joint".

The main structural method in traditional architecture, furniture, and other implements is a connection method that uses protruding and recessed parts on two components. The protruding part is called a tenon (or tenon head); the recessed part is called a mortise (or tenon hole, mortise groove).

Xu Dan had never studied it, but he had seen temples built in the village when he was a child, and he had also seen people make chairs and cabinets.

He doesn't know how to do meticulous work, but he can do simple, rough work.

After preparing the treehouse's wooden foundation, he cut the felled tree trunks into thick slices, placed them on the four corner bases, and then weighed them down with another piece of wood—all without nails. It was just a pity for the surrounding trees, which had been dug into numerous holes; they probably wouldn't survive.