Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Changxia’s Little Polishing Set

“I’m going to wash up. You should keep up with your tribe training. Once you finish your basic training, Gen and the others won’t stop you from going out,” Su Ye’s voice drifted gently through the night.

She wanted Changxia to live a smooth and peaceful life.

But she knew that a fledgling eagle must eventually soar. She couldn’t keep Changxia sheltered forever—this child longed for freedom and the world beyond.

Luckily, she had good judgment and found an excellent partner.

With Chen Rong by her side, Su Ye no longer objected to Changxia entering the forest.

Changxia stood there, clenching her fists, her eyes full of joy.

Su Ye had finally relaxed and no longer opposed her going out. It was all thanks to Changxia’s recent efforts that Su Ye now had confidence in her.

“What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?” Chen Rong asked softly.

He had come up behind her without her noticing.

Changxia turned and gave Chen Rong a bright smile, whispering excitedly, “Chen Rong, Grandma Su Ye said that as long as I finish my basic training, I’ll be allowed to go out...”

“Congratulations!” Chen Rong said.

This silly girl could be so happy just to be allowed outside.

Truly, the simpler one’s life, the easier it is to feel content. On the other hand, those who are greedy can never fill the bottomless pit of their desires, no matter how much power or wealth they have.

"I'm really busy! I want to go out, but I just can't find any free time right now,"Chang Xia sighed.

Before leaving tonight, Muqin gave her a beast pouch.

She said it contained something Chang Xia wanted. Chang Xia had been chatting happily with Su Ye just now and hadn't opened the pouch yet.

The wild grass roots in the southern wilderness of White Lake still hadn't been fully dug up, and she also needed to divert fresh water into the cave dwellings. Then there was the matter of Qingshan's green oil, and Gen would probably come looking for Chang Xia as well. On top of all that, there were countless other little things to take care of. When Chang Xia said she had no free time, she really wasn't exaggerating.

Chen Rong thought about it and realized it was true.

First off, the matter of the dry powder still hadn't been resolved.

She was trying to figure out how to bring water into the cave dwellings. The small river wasn't far from White Lake's caves—at least, not far if you were walking. But if you wanted to dig a canal or build an aqueduct...

Heh—

That was a whole different story.

It would definitely take a lot of time.

Especially since it was the rainy season. You couldn't dig a canal when it was raining.

With all the mud, how could you get anything done? Actually, digging the canal itself was the easy part—the real challenge was how to turn it into a proper waterway using pipes.

Should they do it like the drainage ditches in the caves?

Using resin to glue wooden boards together, or hollowing out logs.

Chen Rong rubbed his aching forehead, feeling a headache coming on. He'd seen green bamboo in the Western Lands—it's naturally hollow and perfect for channeling water, and you don't have to worry about contamination.

But unfortunately, there was no green bamboo in the Heluo tribe. He'd already asked Lili and Jie about it.

Apparently, there was no green bamboo in the mountains of the Lion and Bear tribes either.

So the shortcut was completely blocked.

Meanwhile, Chang Xia was sitting at the square table in the corridor. A luminous stone was set into the wall, shining brightly.

She untied the beast pouch Muqin had given her. The pouch wasn't big—

About the size of an adult beastfolk's palm.

But when she opened it and tipped it out—

To her surprise, a pile of small items spilled out. Soon, her gaze landed on a few short, finger-length wooden sticks. They were pitch black and looked rather unremarkable, but when she hefted them in her hand, they were surprisingly heavy.

No wonder the pouch felt so weighty.

Turned out, Muqin had put a few pieces of ironwood inside.

These black ironwood sticks had to be ten-thousand-year-old ironwood. And those tiny, fingernail-sized pebbles must be fragments of cornerstone.

Chang Xia had wanted to carve jade ornaments from jadeite.

She hadn't mentioned it to Gen or Muqin, but Maple Leaf and Nan Feng knew.

Muqin had probably prepared these things for her because Maple Leaf or Nan Feng had told Gen and Muqin about it.

There weren't many items.

But each one was precious.

While ironwood wasn't rare in the Twilight Forest, ten-thousand-year-old ironwood was extremely scarce—definitely a treasure.

Chang Xia guessed these little ironwood sticks were probably leftover scraps from when Elder Senda forged the black blade.

Thousand-year-old ironwood was easy to find, but ten-thousand-year-old ironwood was as rare as phoenix feathers.

A thousand years and ten thousand years might sound like just a difference in time, but their value was worlds apart.

The ironwood knives at Chang Xia's home were only a hundred years old. The thousand-year-old ironwood was kept by the tribe for making weapons. The ironwood used to build the cave dwellings was mostly just a few decades old.

No one would waste thousand-year-old ironwood.

On the other hand, the rosewood Chang Xia loved was often a hundred years old or more.

The beastfolk didn't have a particular preference for these woods, so they wouldn't cut them down recklessly. Living in the forest, no one loved it more than they did.

"Ten-thousand-year-old ironwood, and cornerstone,"Chen Rong murmured.

Chang Xia stroked the little wooden sticks in her hand, a smile on her lips. Happily, she said, "Chen Rong, do we still have any snowflake stone at home? I want to try my hand at it—"We do, it's all stacked in the corner,"Chen Rong replied.

As he spoke, Chen Rong walked over to the corner to pick out a suitable stone for Chang Xia to practice with.

"Chang Xia, try embedding the cornerstone fragments into these ten-thousand-year-old ironwood sticks. That way, it'll be easier when you grind the stones,"Bai Qing suggested from the side as Chen Rong went to get the rocks.

Bai Qing had heard Chang Xia talk about making jade ornaments.

Who wouldn't want the bird tribe's ice crystal grass?

Unfortunately, the bird tribe was extremely stingy. They would occasionally trade ice fruit, but as for ice crystal grass, they'd never traded it to anyone.

This time, the bird tribe had invited Su Ye to the Qinghai Plateau and, in a rare show of generosity, gave her some ice fruit as a gift. But as for ice crystal grass, they wouldn't even let Su Ye or Bai Qing see it.

They guarded it like a treasure.

"Embedding them? That's not easy,"Chang Xia complained.

Ten-thousand-year-old ironwood was so hard that Chang Xia's little beast paws couldn't even make a dent in it. As for the cornerstone fragments, forget it—she couldn't work those either.

So how was she supposed to combine the two?

Bai Qing moved closer to the table and tried to use his shamanic power to embed the fragments into the ironwood. Unfortunately, his power was still too weak.

"Maybe you could ask a shaman to help,"Bai Qing suggested.

He wasn't an adult yet, so his powers were limited. But if it were Su Ye, she could probably embed the cornerstone fragments into the ironwood sticks.

Just then—

Chen Rong came back carrying a few fist-sized pieces of snowflake stone.

He tried as well.

But like Bai Qing, he couldn't embed the fragments into the ironwood.

"If it were thousand-year-old ironwood, I could probably do it. But ten-thousand-year-old ironwood is just too hard—even if you could embed the fragments, it would take a long time..."The three of them gathered around the table and tried several more times.

But every attempt ended in failure.

In the end, Chang Xia gave up.

"Forget it. I'll just use these little sticks to practice for now. When I get some thousand-year-old ironwood, I'll embed the fragments then."Chang Xia settled for second best. The ten-thousand-year-old ironwood sticks were sharp enough for carving stone—even without the cornerstone fragments, they would work just fine.

Su Ye came out of the bathroom, drying her hair.

"Embed what—?"Seeing Su Ye come out, Chang Xia explained her idea.

Su Ye picked up the ten-thousand-year-old ironwood sticks and cornerstone fragments from the table, looked them over, and agreed with Chang Xia's plan. The ironwood sticks were sharp enough—there was no need to embed the fragments. If it were thousand-year-old ironwood, embedding the fragments would make them more durable for carving jadeite.

End of this chapter