On the Importance of Proficiency

Evening.

A gentle breeze blew across the clear and quiet sky as the final glimpse of the sun gradually hid in the horizon, like the corner of an opened legendary scroll—incomparably mysterious and fascinating.

Not even a single demon could be spotted within a few kilometers of the forest. What made one dubious was whether this was still that same crisis-ridden fantasy world.

The reason was simple. The deer lord should have been the overlord of this region before its death. After it was killed by Zhang Yang, none of the demons dared to find trouble with him, as if there were no more powerful demons around.

But Zhang Yang was clear that the current state of calmness was an illusion. Even if he would soon have 14 captains, this really had nothing to do with a well-trained and powerful army.

That was why although he felt urgent, he didn't dare act on impulse for fear of missing something.

"Wu Yuan, the eagle feather arrows that Qin Yidao and the others made will still take some time, but it will be done by tomorrow evening. The training of the new recruits will take another three days, and once the training is done, I will use a perfect demon soul to promote them to elites, so if there are any unexpected events, they can cooperate with the captains to guard the village.

"The imp's exploration of the underground will probably take about 20 days. After all, it's too weak and needs time to cultivate. For now, it can only search a small area every night, but this matter isn't as urgent, so we can put it on the back burner.

"The upgrade of the Village Building Order still has 74 hours to go, which means it will be completed in three days. But first, I should build a temple of whatever faith and with that, I can exchange for a Level 3 Concealment Talisman, Level 3 Defense Talisman, and Level 3 Detection Talisman; these talismans will greatly improve the soldiers' chance of survival in the wild.

"The castle and city walls must also be built; otherwise, there is no way to ensure the survival of the villagers. Wait, I also have to strengthen my air forces to deal with demons like the red eagles. If they show up, they will surely cause huge casualties to my farmers, so an arrow tower is essential. But its construction requires craftsmen, and the construction of the temple also needs craftsmen. Damn, I only have three recruitable spots, and that's only if that temple doesn't require a priest.

"Well, let's start by recruiting two, no, one craftsman."

After some careful calculations, Zhang Yang solemnly used up one recruitment quota.

In a flash of white light, a muscular man appeared in front of him. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be about 25 to 26 years old. He stood upright and had a healthy complexion with sharp-looking eyes. He wore a sackcloth top and held an axe in his hand, curiously sizing up the surroundings. He didn't seem like a wishy-washy person at all.

This was the first time Zhang Yang had recruited a craftsman since he bound the Village Building Order. That was why he didn't rush to talk to him, but opened the village interface and pulled up the craftsman's attributes for inspection instead.

[Name: Zhao Tiezhu

Rank: Basic Craftsman (Can only build basic buildings, repair, and manufacture basic tools, weapons, equipment, machines, etc.)

Strength: F+

Agility: F+

Defense: F+

Soul Strength: E+

Talent: None

Craftsman Equipment: (Axe). (Empty). (Empty). (Empty). (Empty).

Main Skill:

Secondary Skill:

Note: Main skill proficiency requires the support of secondary skill proficiency. After the proficiency points of at least two secondary skills increase by 5, main skills proficiency will increase by 1 point each.]

This craftsman is really elementary, but it's also interesting because he actually has a very small chance of creating gray items that come with attributes.

I've found myself a treasure!

One has to know that an elite's weapon is of gray quality but without attributes, categorized under the worst of the worst.

It takes a captain-grade weapon to be of white quality with attributes.

The moment this thought cropped up in his head, Zhang Yang made a decision. He decided to train this craftsman as much as possible in every aspect. He was determined to turn him into a master craftsman.

He didn't have a choice because in other villages, there were hundreds of dozens of craftsmen. But here, he only had one.

At that moment, Zhang Yang was in high spirits. But he also couldn't afford to be in low spirits because he had to ensure that this village would survive for 300 years.

So what if I don't have a huge population? Can't I farm without farmers?

I won't believe in heresy!

Next, not only do I need to plant the fields, but I also have to handle infrastructure work and build a large castle.

At that moment, Zhang Yang showed a charming smile and asked the junior craftsman, Zhao Tiezhu, kindly: "Have you eaten? Are you hungry?"

"Uh, Village Chief, I-I'm not hungry yet." Zhao Tiezhu was a bit flattered by this seemingly nice village chief.

"Not hungry, huh? Good!"

Zhang Yang gave a cheeky smile, turned toward the group of people who were busy making feather arrows not far away and shouted, "Wu Yuan, come over and take this brother to make arrows. Teach him everything he doesn't understand and let him sleep in the Tree Demon Tower when he is tired. Get him some roasted meat when he is hungry and the sweetest mountain spring water when he is thirsty. Serve him like a young master, but the arrow making process cannot stop. For starters, let him make 10,000 of them!"

While the dumbfounded Zhao Tiezhu was being enthusiastically dragged away by Wu Yuan and the rest, Zhang Yang didn't idle around either. He got someone to call for Wang Mumu, who was resting.

It was currently night time, and the patrol team didn't need to patrol as large an area as before. Zhang Yang instructed the patrol team to mark the distance between the Tree Demon Tower, which was in the middle, and the training ground that was farthest away, and use that distance as the patrolling radius.

Song Dachui and the other three soldiers were the patrol leaders. In the night, the four of them would split into two squads. Song Dachui and Zhou Datou were in the same team, leading four soldiers. Same went for Wang Mumu and Duan Kuan, leading another team of four more soldiers.

Soon after, the tall Wang Mumu carried his enormous tower shield and walked over, shaking the ground with each footstep.

"Village Chief, you were looking for me?"

Standing by the bonfire, Wang Mumu respectfully saluted.

"Yes. I want to create a battle mark with the blood of a demon. The battle mark of the black hill demon on your body should be defense-oriented, which explains your 'Iron Wall' talent. So, can you tell me your opinion about this battle mark? Do you know anything about it?" Zhang Yang patiently asked.

Currently, he had accumulated a large amount of demon blood and materials. However, these things could neither be sold on the golden scale nor eaten. It would also be a pity to throw them away, which was why he felt that they should be put to use. For example, if he could imprint Wang Mumu's 'Iron Wall' battle mark on a piece of leather armor, wouldn't it be the same as instantly increasing the defense of his leather armor by a large margin?

Not only that, but the battle mark could also be engraved on the castle, city walls, and gates to increase overall defense.

As long as Zhang Yang successfully settled the matter regarding the battle marks, there would be endless potential and opportunities in the future.