Divine Tang Era

With the wooden base laid with wooden floorboards, the wooden edging added, and four massive tree pillars, each about two arm spans in size, the framework of a treehouse was complete.

Xu Dan specially extended the wooden floorboards two meters forward from the interior to create a platform.

It's convenient for people to jump up and down, and it can also be fenced off to enjoy the scenery.

Then, grooves were carved into both sides of the giant tree, and planks were inserted into them and placed on top of the tree, gradually raising the wooden wall. The wall was uneven, with two layers of planks laid on top to protect it from rain and sun. Holes were cut out with an octave sword, and wooden nails were driven in one by one, completing the simple roof.

Finally, he dug holes in the giant tree with branches extending from the left side of the front row and drove in pieces of wood to make wooden ladders.

Although a height of ten meters is nothing to him, he can't jump around all day.

After the treehouse was built, Xu Dan stood at a distance and looked at it; it seemed pretty good. This would be his temporary home.

He put the things he brought out from the underground cave into the treehouse, only to realize that he had forgotten to make a bed, as well as chairs, a table, and other small items. He had to make some more and arrange the things one by one before it finally looked like a home.

The treehouse wasn't big, about forty square meters, but it was enough for Xu Dan, who looked like a child.

After building the treehouse for a few days, the food was almost used up.

Xu Dan wasn't worried much; having seen so many wild beasts, he wasn't afraid of not having enough to eat. As for the underground cave, he dared not go down any further; if he did, he'd probably be torn to shreds by the enraged giant salamander. While he saw it as a matter of survival, to them it was a murderer who killed their offspring, disturbed their peace, and robbed their children of their intelligence.

Nature is a law of survival of the fittest, and no one is wrong.

The world itself is wrong.

On this day, Xu Dan got up early, ate some smoked dragon salamander meat, and then set off on a hunt with a short sword, a soul-devouring yin-yang hammer, a water bottle, and a backpack made of mushroom skin.

The kettle was made from the dried skin of a small salamander and was not very refined.

He originally wanted to sew one out of mushroom skin, but his skills were not good enough and it would leak, so he switched to using salamander skin.

The salamander skin water bottles came in various sizes, the large ones weighing ten jin (approximately 5 kg) and the small ones two jin (approximately 1 kg). This time, he used several of the larger ones to fill with water; otherwise, he probably would have died of thirst in the past few days. Of course, he only brought the small ones with him when he left.

Xu Dan did not go to the grassland in front, but instead went to the back mountain from the mountainside next to the treehouse.

These past few days I've been hearing pheasants calling and the sound of flowing water coming from behind me, so there must be a water source there.

Since we can't go to the underground cave, we need to find a new water source.

Turning around the mountainside, they arrived at a ravine nestled between the back mountain and another mountain. The vegetation here was much denser than on the front. Xu Dan pushed aside the weeds and bushes and walked forward. The sound of flowing water gradually became clearer, and after walking a while, a small stream appeared before them.

The main stream of the creek originates from a boulder at the foot of another mountain, while the smaller stream originates from the back mountain where Xu Dan lives.

Two springs converge in the mountains and flow slowly into the distance along the ravine.

Where the two springs meet, a pond is formed, with piles of rocks and gravel scattered around its edge. Several female pheasants are foraging by the stream, while several male pheasants strut around proudly in front of them, occasionally flapping their wings and calling out loudly.

The shouts that Xu Dan heard came from this source.

Spring is here, and it's mating season for pheasants again.

In nature, males always try to present themselves as bright, tall, and powerful in order to attract mates.

Xu Dan raised an eyebrow; lunch was sorted. Suddenly, a golden light flashed. Among the pheasants by the stream, one male pheasant vanished without a trace, and the others scattered in terror, giving him no chance to chase them.

What's going on?

Xu Dan was dumbfounded; he hadn't even looked closely.

Looking into the distance, my pupils focused, and a white cloud of mist sped away into the distance. I wondered what kind of beast it was, moving so fast. But that wasn't the time to worry about that. The important thing was that the cloud I'd seen on the grasslands a few days ago had reappeared.

Xu Dan felt there must be something wrong with his eyes, otherwise how could he see this?

I walked to the stream, found a sunny spot, and squatted down by the water to watch.

His eyes had all the necessary features—black pupils and white sclera—and didn't seem to indicate any problem. But Xu Dan didn't believe it. How could someone without a problem see clouds? He wasn't some peerless genius or chosen one of the planes, nor did he possess any supreme bones or true dragon bloodlines. Where would he get such innate supernatural abilities?

He stubbornly lay down by the water, staring intently at the black pupils.

After careful examination, he finally found the problem. He discovered that beneath the inner black pupil of the eye, there was another pupil hidden inside. This pupil was also black, but its surface had a purplish-gold luster.

"Double pupils!" Xu Dan thought to himself.

Double pupils, also known as extra pupils, were considered an auspicious sign in ancient times, symbolizing good fortune and wealth. Those who possessed them were often extraordinary individuals.

For example, Cangjie, Yu Shun, Cancong, Chong'er, and Xiang Yu all had double pupils. Among them, Xiang Yu was the most famous and was known as "Chu Chongtong" or "Chongtongzi". Wang Mang, Yu Juluo, and Li Yu also had double pupils.

In ancient mythology, people with double pupils were generally saints, but in modern medicine, double pupils are just a pupillary deformity, commonly known as "paired eyes," and are also a sign of early cataracts.

I don't believe you.

Xu Dan never believed the nonsense spouted by those experts.

These guys have one set of rules at a time, one after another, each linked to the next, and every single one has its own logic, so you can't really find fault with them. Take apples, for example. Should you peel them? The expert says, "Yes, because there are pesticide residues on them." But when you're about to peel one, the expert starts nagging, "Don't peel it, all the nutrients are in there."

Which sentence do I want to hear?

You might not be able to listen to any of it, because the apple is poisonous.

As for cataracts, that's impossible; there's no such thing as cataracts that have a purplish-gold tint.

But regardless of whether it's cataracts or not, the fact that you have double pupils must never be revealed, not even in your dreams, to avoid trouble. For some, this phenomenon might be a topic of casual conversation, but for others, it's an opportunity, an ambition.

Unfortunately, he was not the Supreme Heavenly Emperor and did not have the ability to kill a Celestial Emperor with a single glare.

Otherwise, one could establish oneself in the world based on this alone.

Xu Dan sighed for a moment, then got up and continued on his way. Realistically, it was almost noon, and he still hadn't found lunch. He shouldn't think about anything else; he needed to focus on the present and fill his stomach first.

Given that they possess such peculiar eyes, it's not surprising that they see strange clouds.

Based on descriptions in classical texts and novels I've read before, the clouds I see should belong to the category of fortune.

Luck is a very mysterious thing, and almost everyone has it. But this kind of luck is ethereal and cannot be seen by ordinary people. Xu Dan can see it, which, in other words, means that with his double pupils, he has already transcended the ranks of the general public.

The aura of fortune also has different colors, which foretell good or bad fortune, wealth or poverty.

The cloud above the thing in the forest earlier was white, just an ordinary thing. The saying "white-bodied, white-clothed, white-faced" just refers to an ordinary, unremarkable person, doesn't it?