Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Jade Artifacts

“Shen Rong, do you think now that the shaman has returned to the Kanasha Holy Mountain’s shaman hall, the Lion and Bear tribes have sent people to meet with her?”

Chang Xia set the twin cubs down, letting them roll and play in the clean courtyard.

With the courtyard swept clean, it was much easier for the cubs to play on the ground. They never sat still in her arms anyway, always wanting to get down.

Shen Rong asked, “Craving spicy food again?”

He couldn’t think of any other reason.

Chang Xia just grinned, neither denying nor confirming it.

Craving food was part of it, but more importantly, she was eager to know if her and Su Ye’s ideas could come to fruition. She’d risked embarrassment to train, all for the hope of entering the forest someday.

“When training is over, where do you want to go?” Shen Rong asked curiously.

“I want to go to Green Mountain and see the green trees the chief mentioned,” Chang Xia replied. “Green oil is important. If we can harvest it like we do with red maple, it would be a huge benefit for the tribe.”

Lightstones were too rare and only available from the bird tribe, which meant the tribe couldn’t trade for them in large quantities.

Nighttime lighting was crucial, and green oil could make torches burn brighter, so it was worth the effort. Gen was strict, so when the first rains stopped, he’d probably send people to Green Mountain to try harvesting green oil.

It had already been two days since Su Ye and Bai Qing returned to the shaman hall.

Chang Xia hadn’t seen Gen at the training ground, nor had Nan Feng mentioned him, which meant Gen hadn’t returned to the tribe yet.

Kanasha Holy Mountain wasn’t far from the tribe.

But Gen and the totem warriors who escorted Su Ye and Bai Qing still hadn’t come back.

Its purpose, of course, goes without saying.

After escorting Su Ye and Bai Qing back to the Wizard Hall on Mount Kana, they would surely head to Green Mountain. Harvesting green oil is different from collecting red maple sap—the green oil flows much more slowly and takes longer to collect.

However, the green trees produce oil for a much longer period.

It can last for several months, which more than makes up for the slow flow rate. Over time, the amount adds up, so Chang Xia estimates that this time, their harvest will be quite good.

“When your training is over, let’s take a trip to Green Mountain,” Shen Rong said with a smile.

He had originally thought Chang Xia would choose Green Mountain Rock, but to his surprise, she mentioned Green Mountain instead. As expected, the female he had his eye on was truly extraordinary.

“Shen Rong, can you make me a set of tools out of millennium ironwood?” Chang Xia suddenly asked. She remembered that carving and polishing jade ornaments required proper tools. With her current strength, she wouldn’t be able to work jade with her bare hands.

“What kind of tools?” Shen Rong put down the straw broom in his hand and asked gently.

When Shen Rong asked for details, Chang Xia was a bit at a loss.

The idea of making jade ornaments out of the glassy jade she’d found at the Rocky Shoals had just popped into her head.

She didn’t actually know how to carve jade.

Asking Shen Rong to make tools from millennium ironwood was simply because she knew she couldn’t polish jade by hand, but as for what kind of tools she needed, she really had no clue.

“I want to carve the two pieces of jade you and Maple Leaf found into ornaments. Then maybe we can talk to the Bird Tribe about it—” Chang Xia didn’t hide her little scheme, looking at Shen Rong with an innocent expression.

Most likely, this job would fall to Shen Rong.

After all, Chang Xia herself only knew a little about everything. When it came down to actually doing things, her skills were far inferior to Shen Rong’s.

“What kind of ornaments do you want to make? There are indeed jade items in the Western Lands, but the nobles there prefer natural pearls, coral, agate, and tourmaline,” Shen Rong said.

He used to have quite a few jade pieces, mostly white jade. This was the first time he’d seen emerald green jade like this. Of course, it was possible that the Western Lands simply hadn’t discovered green jade yet, which was why he’d never seen it.

Hearing that the Western Lands had jade items,

Chang Xia was delighted.

She’d long known from Shen Rong that the Western Lands were much more developed than the Eastern Lands.

Still, she hadn’t expected that even jade ornaments existed in the West.

“If we can make ornaments that the Bird Tribe likes—things they can wear, like headpieces, necklaces, earrings… that sort of jade jewelry,” Chang Xia gestured as she spoke.

At the Normandy Grand Market, Chang Xia had seen the Bird and Fish Tribes from afar.

But she’d never really interacted with them.

She didn’t know much about their specific customs, only piecing together bits and pieces from what Su Ye and the other tribe members had told her.

Still, the love of beauty is universal.

Jade is beautiful and exquisite—surely the Bird Tribe wouldn’t say no to such lovely ornaments.

“I understand what you mean. The tribe should have some millennium ironwood in storage. I’ll ask the chief about it,” Shen Rong replied. As for what kind of tools to make, he planned to try carving a few jade pieces himself to figure it out.

“Millennium ironwood—”

“Shen Rong, what do you need millennium ironwood for?”

Just then, Nan Feng and a group of people came back from White Lake, carrying fish and chickens. As they reached the courtyard entrance, they overheard Shen Rong talking about asking Gen for millennium ironwood, and Nan Feng couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

Chang Xia explained, “I want to make jade ornaments from the jade that Shen Rong and Maple Leaf found, and I’ll need special tools to work with it. As you know, jade is very hard—ordinary ironwood probably won’t do.”

“What are jade ornaments?”

“Are they like bone tools?”

“No, not at all. The jade ornaments I want to make are wearable accessories—like bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.”

At this, Nan Feng and Nuan Chun’s eyes lit up.

Maple Leaf, on the other hand, didn’t seem very interested. Apparently, since you couldn’t eat or play with jade ornaments, she figured they weren’t very useful.

“Chang Xia, you could ask the chief and the elders for a few pieces of broken keystones. If you can combine the keystone fragments with millennium ironwood, it’ll make carving jade much easier. But even the smallest keystone fragments are extremely precious. If your jade ornaments can’t impress them, they won’t give you any.”

Even though Maple Leaf didn’t really know what jade ornaments were for,

She still dutifully told Chang Xia what she knew.

The tribe’s two broken keystones were still kept by the elders.

When they broke, they scattered into gravel-sized fragments. Of course, no one wanted to throw them away, but for now, no one knew what to do with them either.

At this moment, Maple Leaf’s quick thinking came in handy.

If it had been Nan Feng or the others, they probably wouldn’t have thought of this.

“Keystones, broken keystones?” Chang Xia was overjoyed and asked in surprise, “Maple Leaf, what’s the story with the keystone fragments? Tell me more—”

“I mentioned before that the tribe originally had ten keystones, but now only eight are left. Two of them broke from overuse. But the tribe couldn’t bear to throw away the broken ones, so they’re stored in a cave,” Maple Leaf explained.

Anyone who paid attention would know about this.

After all, the tribe never tried to keep it a secret.

“Nan Feng, has the chief returned to the tribe?” Chang Xia asked excitedly.

Thinking of how hard keystones were, Chang Xia felt more confident about carving jade ornaments. No matter how tough the jade, it would surely yield to a keystone.

Nan Feng replied, “Father didn’t come back last night. According to Mother, after escorting the witch and Bai Qing to the Wizard Hall on Mount Kana, they’ll head to Green Mountain.”

Chang Xia looked like she understood.

She’d guessed right—Gen was a responsible chief. After hearing about the green trees, how could he not go to Green Mountain to check things out himself?