Chapter 61: Charcoal and Change

  Seeing the great Fire God attach such importance to this matter, Ape No. 1 involuntarily shook his big head and soon told everything he knew.

  After a long time, Chen Xu weighed the red copper knife in his hand, and the light in his eyes gradually rose. Unexpectedly, this red copper knife actually came from here, so it seemed that his next plan didn't need to be changed either.

  According to the Ape Man No. 1, this red copper knife was discovered by him when he last swept the battlefield, and it was accidentally found in the soil at the bottom of the pit. At that time, he just thought it was an ordinary stone tool and didn't pay much attention to it.

  But it was only after returning to the activity of cutting down trees that the sharpness of the red copper knife was fully revealed, which is many times more useful than the stone tools used by other apes, and its high efficiency has exceeded several apes combined.

  It wasn't until evening when they returned that the apemen started discussing this matter. It was only after Ape No. 1 took out the red copper knife that it caused a commotion among the apes, startling Chen Xu. That's roughly what happened.

  According to what Yuan Ren Yi Hao said, the apes of Hei Yan Zu seem to recognize this red copper knife, and that's why they started making a big noise.

  "Could it be that this crimson copper knife is something from the Blackrock Clan? Pitfall, pitfall!"

  After a moment's thought, Chen Xu ordered Ape No. 1 to leave and bring back Hei Yan Wushi, he had something to ask him.

  Before long, the black rock shaman stepped into the fire circle with a puzzled expression. As soon as his eyes saw the red copper knife, he couldn't move at all, apparently really recognizing this thing.

  He waved his hand to signal the Ape No. 1 to retreat first, and Chen Xu awakened the black rock witch doctor from his daze, starting to ask about the red copper knife.

  Later, Hei Yan's witch doctor told what he knew, and as a result, things turned out to be just as Chen Xu had expected. This red copper knife was indeed an object of the Hei Yan tribe, originally the personal weapon of the Hei Yan leader.

  According to Hei Yan's witch doctor, the status of Hei Yan's leader today is largely dependent on this copper knife. In the words of Hei Yan's leader, this is a heavenly sword with infinite divine power.

  The previous leader of the Black Rock clan had died, and the Black Rock shaman thought that this weapon had been lost in the jungle, but unexpectedly it appeared again, which really surprised him.

  Let the black rock shaman retreat, Chen Xu stroked the red copper knife in his hand, and he was more than half certain that this red copper knife should have come from somewhere near the Black Rock tribe.

  In that place, there was a rich open-pit copper mine. The Black Rock leader found this ghostly axe-like red copper knife by coincidence and used stone tools to chop it down, using it to intimidate the entire tribe and truly obtain absolute control over the tribe.

  "It seems that the plan to attack the Blackrock clan needs to be moved up, I didn't expect that there would be rich copper mines there, it's really unimaginable. But having copper mines is one thing, and actually smelting copper is another, for which one thing is essential: a highly reactive reducing agent - carbon!"

  His eyebrows slightly raised, Chen Xu confirmed the idea in his mind and began to consider what to do next. Wanting to smelt copper was impossible without carbon, wanting carbon, apart from digging coal underground, he had no choice but to burn wood into charcoal himself.

  In this Stone Age, there were mortal dangers everywhere, their activity range was not large, and the number of people was small, so it was undoubtedly more difficult to find an open-pit coal mine than to climb to heaven. Wanting to smelt copper, they could only focus on burning charcoal by themselves.

  "Making charcoal? What a troublesome thing! Grandma's, how exactly should I burn it?"

  After thinking for half a day, Chen Xu finally remembered some knowledge he had seen in his childhood. He knew that charcoal was produced when wood did not burn completely. It seemed that with the current means, to make charcoal, one only needed to set up a bonfire on the ground, then stack several layers of wood on top of the bonfire, and cover it completely with thick tree leaves. After that, just let the bonfire burn freely.

  It seems that this way can produce some charcoal.

  But after some thought, he still didn't feel at ease, this method seemed too unreliable, and if not controlled properly, the entire woodpile would likely burn completely.

  Finally, Chen Xu thought for half a day and decided to give it a try. Otherwise, just imagining things in vain wouldn't accomplish anything. Besides, in this Stone Age, he lacked everything except time.

  After a lot of trouble, it turned out that he was somewhat wishful thinking. Either the branches outside were directly burned, or the fire inside went out due to insufficient air.

  In the end, he finally understood that if he didn't give the exhaust gases a way out after burning inside, under such conditions, he would never be able to burn charcoal in his lifetime.

  After several days of hard work, after failing dozens of times, on this clear morning, Chen Xu finally burned out a few pieces of black charcoal. Looking at these unremarkable pieces of wood, he couldn't help but feel a surge of hot tears welling up in his eyes.

  "It's not easy, it's not easy, grandma, this is really not a job for humans, fortunately I finally succeeded, otherwise I would have really collapsed."

  Wiping the dust off his face, Chen Xu couldn't help but bite his lip, looking at the black charcoal below, his whole body trembling with unspoken excitement.

  After these days of exploration, his original mode of burning charcoal on flat ground has also changed completely, and it has become a hole-burning method. In a situation where he does not understand, step by step towards the simple kiln-style charcoal burning method, perhaps this is the best proof that practice makes perfect.

  The early-rising apemen looked at their leader, who was covered in black soot, and his antics with the pieces of charcoal. They all showed a hint of surprise on their faces, but after living like this for several days, they had grown accustomed to such things. After being slightly startled, they each went their separate ways to prepare for their daily labor.

  Charcoal successfully appeared, after experiencing several days of joint labor and facing the many dangers of the Stone Age together, more than 400 apes from the Fire God tribe also truly merged into one big family, no longer divided into fire gods and black rocks, this batch of captives thoroughly surrendered.

  Realizing this, Chen Xu couldn't help but look up at the clear sky, let out a slight breath, and thought to himself "The charcoal has appeared, the apes have merged, it seems like it's time to head back to the Black Rock tribe again. This time, not only will I absorb the remaining Black Rock tribe members, but also find that copper mine!"

  "Perhaps it's still too early to mine copper, but the location of the copper mine must be determined as soon as possible. As long as I annex two or three more tribes similar in size to the Blackrock clan, I will have the power to smelt copper."

  With narrowed eyes, Chen Xu withdrew his gaze from the distant horizon and let out a loud shout, gathering all the apemen together to announce their decision to head towards the Black Rock tribe.

  Upon hearing the news, the group of Black Rock Apemen showed no extreme reaction except for a slightly dim expression, which made Chen Xu nod secretly in his heart and finally confirm the effectiveness of the tribe's fusion.

  One hundred warriors from the Fire God tribe's hunting party, plus one hundred elite warriors from the Black Rock Ape people, all fully armed and under Chen Xu's leadership, formed this second hunting party.

  As for the other apes, they were left behind by Chen Xu to watch the house, and during his absence, under the command of the old ape, they continued to engage in various labors, most importantly, continuing to burn pottery and charcoal.

  These two things are essential in this Stone Age and are the most fundamental, they are the cornerstone of the entire Huo Shen tribe's rise to power, and cannot be taken lightly.

  Everything was ready, Chen Xu led more than 200 elite ape warriors, holding bamboo spears and carrying long bows on their backs, like soldiers going to the border, quickly rushing into the jungle and disappearing in the territory of the Fire God tribe.

  With the experience of last time, plus Chen Xu's deerskin map guiding them, this time everyone's progress was much faster than before. By the time they arrived at the pit near the big tree, the sun had not yet reached its peak.

  The cool forest wind blew, and the road that existed as a trap appeared before everyone. After so many days, the ashes of the fire still accumulated on the road, and with a gentle breeze, they rose up in a sheet, like a dark long snake lying in the thicket, trembling slightly.

  Upon closer inspection, many large footprints appear on the road surface, each one full of vigor and grandeur. For a moment, it seems as if you can imagine their powerful bodies through the footprints.

  "Let's go!"

  He let out a low shout, Chen Xu waved his hand at the soldiers behind him, and was the first to bend down and step onto this ash-filled path. This place was the nightmare of the Black Rock Ape Men, but it was his stepping stone.

  Believing that along this obviously traceable path, their speed will increase by one level. Through this dark and narrow road, Chen Xuan seemed to have vaguely seen the faintly visible black rock, and saw those lovely apes around the black rock.

  Two days later, a black figure flashed out of the jungle in the Blackrock tribe, and looked around on the mountain rocks in front of him with the help of the dim starlight.

  This man was naturally Chen Xu, who had come from afar. However, his journey did not go as smoothly as he had imagined. When he led the warriors to the nearby area, they discovered signs of another group of apes.

  To prevent any unexpected events, Chen Xu ordered the other soldiers to ambush in the jungle, while he himself used his agility to sneak out of the jungle and scout ahead.

  The scene before his eyes made his heart leap violently, and the ominous premonition was thoroughly confirmed.

  The Blackrock tribe, which should have been emptied by now, was surprisingly surrounded by robust warriors. These people were absolutely not the ones left behind in the Blackrock tribe, as they all carried exquisite stone weapons and exuded an aura of ferocity. In terms of atmosphere, they were even more powerful than the Blackrock warriors who had gone to the Fire God tribe before.

  Moreover, on the edge of the rocks, Chen Xu also noticed that some ape-man corpses were scattered all over the place, and in the dancing night wind, a faint stench seemed to emanate from them.

  (I've finished writing the thesis proposal and will submit it soon, another one might be a bit late, I'm going crazy!)