On his very first day away, Shen Wu found the diamond and immediately sent it to Wushan to make a glass cutter for Shen Yi.
The delay was caused by the slow installation of the glass; otherwise, the school, his small courtyard, and the brick houses of Hu Xiao and the other two would already have glass windows installed.
Yu Ji came along this time too. When Shen Nong heard that Yu Ji had come, she thought something had happened, so she put down the fruit tree she was cultivating and rushed back to the Mu tribe.
Yu Ji did come here on business, but not in the way Shen Nong thought. Rather, Yu Ji had heard about the coastal tribes; there were members of the Yu tribe there, and Yu Ji couldn't possibly be unaware of it.
After learning that, apart from the three major tribes, all the other small and medium-sized tribes in the coastal tribe had become subordinate tribes of the Wood Tribe, Yu Ji told Ying Xi that he also wanted the Yu Tribe to become a subordinate tribe of the Wood Tribe.
The two had been thinking about it for several days, worried that the Wood Tribe might disagree. Large tribes choose vassal tribes based on their usefulness and what they can bring to the larger tribe; otherwise, why would a large tribe protect a vassal tribe and help it develop together?
But Yu Ji also believed that the Feather Tribe was no worse than the tribes by the sea, and besides, they could fly, and they had always worked for the Wood Tribe. Becoming a subordinate tribe of the Wood Tribe shouldn't be a big problem.
In the end, Yingxi said that he had always thought there would be no result, so he might as well come to the Wood Tribe to ask. That's how Yuji appeared in the Wood Tribe.
Shen Nong breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the Feather Tribe was safe, and he was also quite pleased that the Feather Tribe had become their subordinate tribe. The value that the Feather Tribe brought to the Wood Tribe was currently unmatched by any other tribe.
Shen Nong was naturally happy that the relationship between the two tribes could be further improved.
Shen Nong originally intended to give one pill each to the priests of the Mountain Tribe and the Wind Tribe, and then select five of the purest spiritual cores from the ten tribes by the sea, so that the priests of the affiliated tribes could also take the Marrow Cleansing Pill to awaken their supernatural abilities.
The purer and freer the spirit core, the higher the aptitude for special abilities. Lu Shuang's spirit core is extremely pure, indicating a high aptitude for special abilities. Next is the Wind Tribe priest. Although he is older, Shen Nong previously used her special abilities to detect him, and his spirit core is even purer than that of the Mountain Tribe priest. If he awakens his special abilities, his cultivation speed will be very fast.
But Shen Nong obviously can't do that now, because the Mu tribe has too many subordinate tribes.
Shen Nong finally decided that when the Mu tribe held its autumn martial arts competition, it would also summon priests from various tribes to come, and at that time, among the many priests, those with high purity of spirit cores would be selected and given Marrow Cleansing Pills.
If a priest is unwilling to awaken their special abilities, then the order of succession should be passed down.
Just then, the base points reward for Mission 4 arrived. Since he no longer has the newbie gift pack bonus, and the original price of a Marrow Cleansing Pill is 100,000, he can only buy a maximum of seven pills with 750,000 base points.
Just in case, he can't use up all his infrastructure points. He can buy two or three more Marrow Cleansing Pills. If he encounters spirit cores with high purity, he can choose two or three more.
Shen Nong told Yu Ji in advance about the autumn martial arts competition in the Wood Tribe and asked him to come to the Wood Tribe on that day. Yu Ji nodded in agreement, stayed overnight in the Wood Tribe, and then returned to the Feather Tribe with the tribesmen.
A major event recently occurred in the military guard. Chief Tiger Roar and Deputy Captain Cat Cloud, who never liked to sleep back in the tribe and slept in the military guard every day, have started to go back to the tribe to sleep, just like Captain Ze.
However, since the military guard must have a captain, Chief Tiger Roar and Deputy Captain Cat Cloud take turns returning to the tribe every day.
During training, every time the beastmen passed Chief Tiger Roar and Deputy Captain Cat Cloud, they would hear Chief Tiger Roar making all sorts of excuses to beg Deputy Captain Cat Cloud to let him go back to the tribe for one more night's sleep.
This greatly surprised the orcs of the guard. What was it about the tribe that attracted the chief and deputy captain, who never went back, to want to go back to the tribe to sleep?
Nothing else, it's just that Shen Nong fulfilled her promise to Hu Xiao and the other two to install windows.
When the three of them were choosing glass, they were immediately drawn to it. It was an indescribable feeling; they felt that only the dwelling of the Beast God could possess something so beautiful.
The priest had surprisingly agreed to install such beautiful glass in their house, and the three of them handled it with extreme care. The priest had warned them that the glass was fragile and should be treated with utmost care.
But their excitement was palpable; the smiles and amazement on their faces remained unwavering after seeing the glass. Such a wonderful thing, and they actually had a share!
After selecting the glass, the three eagerly awaited the news that the priest would install it for them. The magical, beautiful glass windows replaced the wooden windows on the brick house, instantly illuminating the interior.
Even without opening the windows, it's still very bright. You can see the scene outside clearly through the glass. In winter, wouldn't it be wonderful to sit warmly indoors and watch the snow?
Lu Shuang chose patterned glass, which is not very transparent and looks a bit blurry, but it does not prevent the glass from letting in light and still looks very beautiful.
The glass in Shennong's courtyard is either completely transparent or patterned. The patterned glass is mainly for decoration, while all the glass in the school is transparent.
The installation of the glass caused a sensation in the Wood Tribe. The beastmen dared not approach Tiger Howl and Cat Cloud's houses up close, and they dared not approach Shen Nong's courtyard even more. Even if they did get close, the surrounding wall prevented them from seeing inside. They couldn't enter the school either, so if they wanted to see the glass, they all gathered outside Deer Frost's house.
Every morning when Lu Shuang wakes up, he can see crowds of people outside the window through the glass. He can't help but pat his chest, thankful that he had chosen patterned glass, unlike Hu Xiao and Mao Yun, where people can see clearly inside from the outside.
Otherwise, how could he possibly sleep with so many people watching him?
However, Lu Shuang was still somewhat affected. He always felt like someone was watching him from outside the window when he slept at night, and his sleep wasn't very good. During training, Shen Nong noticed Lu Shuang's increasingly dark circles under his eyes. After learning the reason, he had the orcs in the clothing team make a curtain out of fish skin and gave it to Lu Shuang. He told him to hang it inside the window and draw it when he went to sleep at night.
Shen Nong also sent a portion to Hu Xiao and Mao Yun.
The other tribal priests were amazed when they saw the glass, but surprisingly, none of them asked Shen Nong if she would trade it.
They knew without even asking that something so beautiful must be very expensive! It was definitely worth the meat! But they really didn't have any extra meat or hides to trade, yet they really wanted it!
To suppress their burgeoning desire to make deals, the priests dared not glance at the classroom windows while on their way to school each day, fearing they might lose control and try to make a deal with Shen Nong.
The glass factory has now started producing glass cups and bowls, but Shen Nong also knows that glass products cannot be traded in the Mu tribe for the time being, as they have already emptied their pockets to go to school.
Therefore, Shen Nong currently intends to use these glass beads for trade with outlying tribes.
Chapter 103
Lost Leaf
Summer has passed, and autumn has arrived quickly. Schools have been closed for the past two days, and the beastmen from various teams have also asked for leave to prepare for the upcoming beast tide.
While all the tribes were preparing for war, the Wood Tribe remained unchanged, except that there were fewer people in the tribe.
Leopard Autumn set off again with his caravan at the end of summer, for two reasons: to trade and to find new crops.
During Shen Wu's absence, they didn't find any gold mines, but they did find silver and copper mines, as well as various ores suitable for painting. Shen Shiyi was overjoyed and, unable to wait for Shen Wu's return, went out on his own and brought back a considerable amount of the necessary ores to the tribe.
The pottery team has now been split into two, with a new porcelain team added. Shi Lin is the captain of the porcelain team, while the pottery team has been handed over to Lang Wu.
Shen Shiyi quite liked Shilin, thinking that Shilin had a talent for painting. He could tell from watching Shilin make ceramics that he would have considerable artistic attainments.
Making pigments from minerals requires alum water. Shen Shiyi chose cow bone glue, and the food preparation team helped him simmer it for several days and nights to produce a glue that satisfied him. As for alum, Shen Shiyi had Shen Liu extract it from alum stone, and finally, alum water was made according to the specified ratio.
After acquiring mineral pigments, Shen Shiyi began teaching Shilin to paint. The Wood Tribe eventually made a brush, but not for writing, but for painting.
After mastering some painting techniques, Shi Lin began painting on porcelain. His work was worlds apart from Shen Shiyi's. However, Shen Shiyi greatly admired Shi Lin's paintings, especially those on porcelain.
According to Shen Shiyi, Shilin's works have a reverence for nature and a pure and simple style, making them rare works of art.
Shen Nong stared at one piece of porcelain adorned with exquisite and masterful designs, and another with lines that resembled those of a child's first attempt at painting, their strokes somewhat clumsy. She silently acknowledged that she was still too unsophisticated, unable to appreciate art or understand its nuances.
He still thought Shen Shiyi's painting was better.
The pottery team also started drawing designs on the pottery and then adding simple colors. The result was certainly not as good as porcelain, but it was much better than nothing.
Previously, Shen Nong had given some pottery jars to the Salt Department with simple patterns painted on them. However, at that time, plant-based pigments were used, and the simple patterns were painted on the pottery by dipping the pigment directly into the pigment with one's fingers.
However, its adhesion and color were not as good as modern mineral pigments, making it difficult to apply and prone to fading. So, we stopped bothering with it; we'd rather spend that time making more pottery.
Under Shen Shier's leadership, the cloth-making team had already begun dyeing the fabric. Fortunately, Shen Liu had extracted alum, and they were using alum water directly as a mordant. Combined with madder root, this would result in more vibrant and beautiful colors in the final dyed fabric.
The day of the beast tide migration is fast approaching, and all the orcs of the Wood Tribe's military guard are mobilized. The tribe now has enough salt. The beast meat can be made into cured meat and sausages, which can be preserved for a long time.
Hunting is now difficult in the surrounding area, so the Wood Tribe mostly eats various kinds of seafood. In addition, with the amount traded and the amount given to the working orcs, the Wood Tribe is quickly consuming both animal meat and various kinds of fish.
In short, the Wood Tribe can't possibly have too much meat. This time, the Beast Tide Army is all geared up, ready to fill all ten of the tribe's large warehouses to the brim in one go.
Dahei also needed to prepare meat for himself and Tuanzi to eat during the winter. The meat they needed was stored separately in Shen Nong's system warehouse. In order to have enough to eat during the winter, Dahei and Tuanzi, father and son, were putting in their best effort and preparing for a big feast.
At the familiar hunting grounds for the beast tide, the beastmen of the Wood Tribe looked on with anticipation, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the beast tide. The beastmen of other tribes, however, wore solemn expressions, unsure how many of their tribes would perish in this beast tide.
While waiting for the beast tide, the ant tribe's junior priest led thirteen orc warriors who had come to participate in the beast tide to the wood tribe's position.
Shen Nong quite liked this child. At the age of nine, he had already taken care of a tribe. Every time he watched from the outside during class, this child was the most attentive.
He mastered pinyin the fastest and learned characters faster than others. Shen Nong looked at the infrastructure points counted by the system; the child's name had dozens more infrastructure points than the other beastmen.
Seeing him approach, Shen Nong remembered that she had planned to reward the child with some candy as a reward for his good grades before they took leave to return to the tribe.
However, the day before these tribes requested leave, Lu Shuang advanced again during his training with him. While suppressing Lu Shuang's surging supernatural power, he was also affected, his spiritual core energy reaching its peak. The surging energy was vigorous and vigorous, seemingly about to break through, yet always separated by a layer of mist.
By the time Shen Nong had suppressed and calmed the energy of the spirit core and returned to the tribe, the beastmen from the other tribes had already left.
"Why did you come over here?" Shen Nong smiled and pointed to the side and behind. "Don't stand here, go to the back. When the beast tide comes, the giant beasts will pass through here, and your tribe can't be the vanguard."
The little priest of the ant tribe looked up at Shen Nong, his big, clear eyes full of seriousness. "High Priest, I know that being a meat shield means being at the front."
Shen Nong's smile froze as he remembered an unwritten rule for beast tide hunting: the weakest tribe would act as a meat shield, drawing the giant beasts to attack other tribes, thus making it easier for them to hunt more of them.
“No need.” Shen Nong squatted down and looked directly at Yi Feng. “Powerful tribes have to rely on weak tribes as meat shields in order to hunt prey. This is a disgrace to the large tribes and also a disgrace to the orc warriors.”
The Mountain Tribe and the Wind Tribe stood to the left and right of the Wood Tribe. Shen Nong's voice was not quiet; he was deliberately speaking so that the other tribes could hear.
Since it is a subordinate tribe of the Mu tribe, it must completely abandon the "meat shield".
The mountain tribe priest and the wind tribe priest heard the most clearly, and they quickly expressed their opinions: "The high priest is right. It is a disgrace for orc warriors to use weak tribes as meat shields in order to hunt."
Ant Wind's eyes widened in disbelief. His hands, hanging by his sides, curled up at the fingertips, a mixture of excitement and fear in his eyes, as if it were all fake.
With the pronouncements from the priests of the Mountain Tribe and the Wind Tribe, Shen Nong's message was also conveyed to the other tribes, large and small.
The small tribes were naturally overjoyed, while the large and medium-sized tribes couldn't tell whether they were truly willing to do so, but no one was going against Shen Nong's wishes at this moment.
"High Priest, can we really not be meat shields?" The childish voice trembled, timidly waiting for a definite answer.
Seeing Yi Feng's cautious demeanor, Shen Nong took out five candies wrapped in leaves that he had just redeemed from the system from his pocket and stuffed them into Yi Feng's hand. "Of course they're real. Take these candies. I heard from Teacher Shen Ba that you're learning to write very well, so this is a reward."
Ant Wind clutched the candy tightly in his little hands, a smile spreading across his face. When he was in school, he'd heard the children from the mountain tribe talk about something called candy. It was incredibly delicious, with flavors of various fruits, and very sweet. Back then, he'd thought how wonderful it would be to see candy himself.
Unexpectedly, the high priest not only refused to let the ant tribe be used as human shields, but also praised him for his good studies and rewarded him with the candy he had been dreaming of!
Ant Wind opened the large leaf wrapping and took a look. The round candies were all different colors. The sweet fruity aroma rushed to his nose, and just smelling them was delightful.
Ant Wind took a long breath of the air, which was filled with the sweet scent of candy, and then carefully wrapped the leaf back up. He handed the candy to Shen Nong and said with a smile, "High Priest, here's some candy for you."
Shen Nong was slightly taken aback, then pushed the candy back, stood up and said, "I don't like candy. Quickly take your tribe's orcs to the back, the beast tide is coming soon."
The beast tide was indeed fast approaching; the ground was already trembling slightly, and the roars of giant beasts could be faintly heard. The beastmen of each tribe were fully prepared for battle, their minds extremely focused. This time, without human shields to draw attention to them, they needed to be even more cautious.
Ze glanced sideways at Yi Feng, who was leading his tribesmen away. Recalling Shen Nong's gentle manner as she squatted down to speak to him, it was easy to see that his partner liked children.
Realizing the problem, Ze clenched his teeth, his cheeks puffed out, and he looked dejected. Shen Nong looked up at him, ran her fingertip along Ze's perfectly smooth jawline, and said softly, "Why are you unhappy?"
Ze Shun took Shen Nong's hand and asked, "Does the priest like children?"
Shen Nong didn't think much of it and nodded, "It's alright. I don't like bratty kids, the kind that are particularly unreasonable and mischievous."
Ze felt a sinking feeling in his heart, lowered his head to conceal his emotions, and hummed in agreement.
As the beast tide drew closer, Shen Nong knew that Ze had something on his mind, but now was not the time to talk to him, so she had to put it aside for the time being.
"Be careful, the beast tide is coming." Shen Nong warned, then she and Ze separated and quickly moved to a tree not far away to occupy a clear view.
The beast tide swept in, dust filled the sky, and the earth shook.
Shen Nong saw a cloud of dust rushing towards them with a hissing sound from afar. The beast tide moved very fast, and Shen Nong seized the opportunity to use her supernatural ability. Several vines and branches burst forth from the ground, and many giant beasts were tripped up and fell to the ground before they could react.
The giant beasts behind couldn't react in time, stepped on it, lost their footing, and fell. The Wood Tribe beastmen seized this opportunity to begin their hunt, gaining the upper hand.
Other tribes of orcs also had their own methods. Some would have several orcs team up to attack a giant beast, while others would lure the ferocious beasts to attack each other. They would simply dodge and wait for one side to win before reappearing to attack the giant beast that had already exhausted a lot of energy.