Chapter 080

Two months later, a flat road appeared between the east bank of the great river and the northern wilderness.

Yú Sū, using oxen to pull a cart, rushed from Yú Village to Ironforge Village.

After spending more than a month in Ironforge Village, he brought back a furnace covered in array runes.

The entire village gathered to observe.

"What is this thing?"

"It looks quite peculiar."

"I heard Lord Yú Sū say it's a furnace used to smelt Red Iron Stone."

The villagers surrounded the furnace, marveling at the idea that this thing could smelt such a particularly hard stone. Could it turn that stone into water?

Even Jiǎn Yúnchuān had some doubts.

Back when Ironforge Village could smelt Divine Iron, it was because they had a peculiar source of fire. Yú Village didn't have such a thing, so how could they smelt with just a furnace?

Yú Sū had someone move the furnace into the previously built refining room.

Because various conditions were not up to par, this refining room appeared relatively crude.

Without a source of fire, Yú Sū covered the room with an array drawing in the condensed fire spirit energy.Place the furnace at the center of the refining room's array.

He instructed Lù Yàn to try infusing fire spirit energy into the array beneath the furnace.

Lù Yàn followed suit.

With a boom, a cluster of golden-red flames ignited beneath the furnace.

"Let's take it slow, first see if it can melt," Yú Sū said.

Lù Yàn nodded, feeling the particularly dense fire spirit energy in the room concentrated below the furnace. "You can put it in now."

Yú Sū threw in a fist-sized piece of Red Iron Stone.

The furnace bottom heated up, and the Red Iron Stone began to warm.

Yú Sū instructed Lù Yàn not to supply too much fire spirit energy at once. Following the alchemical method he explained earlier, guiding the flames to burn the furnace was sufficient.

Lù Yàn nodded, doing it diligently, his gaze exceptionally focused.

Back when Ironforge Village melted Divine Iron with a unique source of fire, Yú Village didn't have such a thing. Could they melt the Red Iron Stone with just a furnace?

After a while, the Red Iron Stone in the furnace sizzled and melted.

Yú Sū was surprised; it seemed to be working.

He looked at Lù Yàn, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and asked, "Can you hold on?"

Lù Yàn nodded, "I can melt another piece."

Yú Sū threw in another piece of Red Iron Stone.

In total, Lù Yàn melted two pieces of Red Iron Stone. The molten iron flowed from the groove, filling the molds prepared by Yú Sū for Jiǎn Yúnchuān and others.

This was just the beginning; the next step involved forging.

Lù Yàn raised the iron hammer, and with the first strike, childhood memories involuntarily surfaced in his mind. It seemed there was something stored in his mind, and just when it was about to be forgotten, it gave him a chance to wipe away the dust on these memories, making them vivid again.

Yú Sū watched, surprised at how well Lù Yàn grasped the technique on his first attempt.

He asked the elf, "Isn't it amazing? Is this guy naturally talented to such an extent that he knows how to forge on his first try?"

The elf replied, "Well... isn't he from Ironforge Village? Maybe he knew these things before?"

"He was quite young back then."

"Perhaps he remembered how to forge, but after so many years, he still remembers. Good memory."

Yú Sū asked Lù Yàn tentatively, "Did you recall how to blacksmith?"

Lù Yàn nodded, "Yes, I remembered. My grandfather was the best blacksmith in the village, and he forged Divine Iron. I've seen it."

Yú Sū thought, no wonder there's an inheritance here.

Suddenly, Lù Yàn added, "Thank you."

Yú Sū was puzzled, "Thank me for what?"

Lù Yàn said, "If it weren't for you, I would have forgotten these memories completely after a few more years."

Yú Sū understood, "It can only mean that you were destined not to forget."

While they talked, Lù Yàn had already shaped the things under the hammer into a basic form—a knife.

This knife might not be as mature as those forged in Ironforge Village, but at least it had taken shape. It was the first successful step, and with more practice, forging the first magical tool wouldn't be a dream.

Of course, forging a qualified magical tool wasn't easy. Red Iron Stone was the main material, but to make the tool more attuned to the cultivator's attributes, corresponding materials needed to be added. Additionally, special materials would be used to inscribe runes, enhancing the power of the magical tool.

Lù Yàn listened eagerly as Yú Sū explained various knowledge about alchemy.

"Then let's go find those materials," Lù Yàn said.

Yú Sū replied, "We'll definitely look for materials, but we should wait until after the first harvest this year before venturing outside."

"Then we'll wait after the harvest."

The harvest wasn't far off. Early ripening crops had already been harvested once, and rice was about to be harvested, along with the planted hemp.

Yú Sū's arranged spirit gathering formation proved effective; the crops were flourishing.

However, the rice grains were not numerous, and some were still empty inside. There were plenty of improvements needed.

Calculating the time, Yú Sū planned to gather the whole village for harvesting in three days.

"Lord Yú Sū, there are people trying to steal our rice!" a patrol member hurriedly reported. Several villages to the south noticed the abundant rice in their area and intended to raid.

"How many people are coming?" Yú Sū asked.

"At the moment, only about a dozen have been discovered, and we've captured them all," the patrol member replied.

"Go take a look."

The captured individuals, seeing Yú Sū approaching, showed surprise.

Yú Sū dressed too well, quite out of place with these people.

It wasn't just Yú Sū; everyone in the village dressed well, with rosy complexions and strong bodies. There were also many things that made them widen their eyes in amazement.

They couldn't figure out why River East Village suddenly changed so much.

At this point, Hé Qǐng and others also arrived. Seeing the dozen people pinned down, they exclaimed, "It's them again!"

Yú Sū asked, "Do you know them?"

Hé Qǐng indignantly said, "Lord Yú Sū, these people are from the southern A'Man Tribe. They rely on their large numbers and come to rob our village's food every year. They even run into our territory to steal our prey!"

Yú Sū understood; these were habitual offenders.

He thought for a moment. Besides the original Big Tree Village, there were other villages to the south, such as the A'Man Tribe. Some were larger, some smaller, all built along the great river.

They had been moving east and north, somewhat neglecting the south.

It seemed he needed to find time to investigate these southern villages.

Hé Qǐng continued, "People from these tribes are particularly cunning and troublesome. If they fail once, they will definitely come for a second and third time."

"Is that so?" Yú Sū stared at the dozen people from the A'Man Tribe, rubbing his chin, his eyes gleaming with calculation.

Those dozen people, seeing Yú Sū staring at them meaningfully, felt a bit scared.

"Respected Shaman, please don't listen to him. We absolutely won't come to steal things from River East Village again," one of them, mistaking Yú Sū and the others for River East Village residents, pleaded.

Hé Qǐng, worried that Yú Sū might be displeased, quickly said, "What nonsense are you talking about? This is our esteemed Shaman from Yú Village."

Yú Village? The A'Man Tribe people didn't know much about Yú Village. For a moment, they were a bit confused. Regardless of the village, the people here seemed difficult to deal with, especially this Shaman who appeared hard

to provoke. They had to get away from these people as soon as possible.

"Sorry, esteemed Shaman from Yú Village, I misspoke. Please don't blame us," one of them said.

"Please forgive us this time. We absolutely won't offend again," another added.

Yú Sū didn't believe them. He saw greed in the eyes of these A'Man Tribe people. As Hé Qǐng said, they wouldn't just let it go.

So, he wouldn't let them go either. Not only that, he planned to take the initiative to visit the southern villages.

If the A'Man Tribe noticed the abundant food in River East Village, wouldn't other villages?

Who knew if, without the A'Man Tribe today, another tribe, like the A'Sha Tribe, might come tomorrow? Before he and Lù Yàn left the village to travel, they had to eliminate these obstacles around them.

"Lord Yú Sū, do you mean we should attack those villages?" Yú Fēng asked.

Yú Sū replied, "I hope to persuade them to join Yú Village. Of course, for tribes as cunning and greedy as the A'Man Tribe, we'll attack directly and subdue them."

"Make them all join Yú Village?" Everyone was a bit surprised.

Yú Sū nodded, "Yes, our village is still too small, insufficient compared to large tribes. I hope Yú Village can attract more people to join and strengthen our own power."

The village chief said solemnly, "I understand your intention, but to let them join Yú Village, there are concerns about both grain and preventing chaos caused by those people in the village."

Yú Sū nodded, "Your concerns are also mine. We need to examine who can join our village and who cannot. I'll go to the south first and then see."

"That's good," said the village chief.

Before going south, Yú Sū organized the villagers to harvest the rice.

Using the threshing machine to remove the grain, then using the windmill to sift, and finally using the water mill to remove the husks—this entire process not only solved the grain issue, but also cultivated a group of skilled hands among Yú Sū's carpenters.

The former slaves from Big Tree Village also played a significant role. Whether it was harvesting rice or subsequent work, they did quite well.

Seeing them doing well, Yú Sū didn't hesitate to reward them.

These people from Big Tree Village were so enthusiastic about working because they were aiming to become formal villagers like Xīn Dōng. Afraid of performing poorly, after receiving Yú Sū's praise, they were even more delighted and worked more diligently.

Holding onto the thought that if they continued to perform well, with Yú Sū's approval, they could avoid being slaves, they all scrambled to work.