Yang Yi was excited for quite a while about this discovery. He wanted to become stronger more than anyone else.
Even if he couldn’t compare with a monster like Hei Lie, or even match the warriors here, at the very least, he wanted to be on par with the ordinary people of this place.
Right now, his weakness could practically be classified as “disabled”, which was truly frustrating.
Although Yang Yi had gradually become a homebody starting from college, his physical fitness was still pretty good.
Before becoming a recluse, he used to enjoy playing ball games and other sports. He had also gone hiking and taken long-distance cycling trips. During his “chūnibyō” phase, he had even been good at fighting.
When walking down the street and encountering thieves or unjust situations, he had dared to step forward and intervene. It wasn’t only because he was warm-hearted, but also because he was full of confidence in himself.
But after coming here, he had actually become the lowest of the low.
Especially when the people arranged around him were each stronger than the next.
If he were to fight Mao now, he’d only end up being completely crushed.
Even Little White, who often nestled in his arms to act cute, could easily throw him to the ground.
At present, he doesn’t have safety concerns anymore. Ever since binding with Hei Lie, much of his previous fear had dissipated.
Especially when he saw the tribe developing step by step, with huge changes almost every day, it made him feel more and more at ease.
But this still couldn’t dispel his desire to become stronger. It was just not as urgent as before. If the opportunity came, of course, he wouldn’t let it slip by.
“Is this change the result of the accumulation and groundwork from earlier, or is it related to Hei Lie?”
That was the point Yang Yi was most puzzled about.
Since coming here, Yang Yi could also feel that his body had undergone changes.
He felt that his stamina was clearly better than before, though this was also related to the fact that he was exercising more than in the past.
Although most of the time he was just giving verbal directions while others did the actual work, compared to wasting away in front of the computer for several years, living with a reversed day-and-night schedule and irregular meals, this lifestyle was much healthier.
Every day, he felt refreshed and energetic, no longer experiencing chest tightness or other sub-health symptoms.
Especially after being able to sleep peacefully, the changes were quite obvious.
But even so, none of it was as exaggerated as after being “fed” by Hei Lie. His height, which hadn’t grown in years, suddenly shot up by five centimeters in a short time. No wonder his appetite had increased so much recently.
Yang Yi suspected this was most likely influenced by the environment. After all, the seeds and eggs he had brought here had all undergone mutations when they sprouted or hatched.
Whether Hei Lie was merely a coincidence or truly had some credit in this, Yang Yi couldn’t draw a conclusion yet. But because of that, he had even less reason to refuse Hei Lie’s goodwill.
If it really was related to that man, how wonderful it would be when he could both enjoy delicious food and grow stronger!
But Yang Yi quickly calmed himself down, not daring to keep thinking along those lines. He was afraid that if he filled himself with hope, the result would only be disappointment.
The appearance of iron tools made the entire tribe even more excited.
The Blackstone Tribe had originally been nothing more than a very ordinary tribe in terms of strength. Only after they began to possess Blackstone weapons did they reach their current scale.
Now, not only did they have weapons stronger than Blackstone, but they also had the most advanced knowledge brought by the Divine Envoy. Their tribe could only grow even stronger.
And this kind of strength meant that even the weak no longer needed to worry about being eliminated, as they could find their own place in the tribe more securely.
Not long after the iron tools were made, the chili peppers in the fields—not the ones accelerated by Qing—also ripened.
This time, the scale was much larger than before. A vast expanse of fiery red chili peppers dyed the land crimson. From a distance, it looked like clusters of blazing bouquets, turning the earth into a red carpet.
When leaving space between the plants earlier, they hadn’t had much experience, so the distance between each plant was too close. Many of them had grown together, completely merging into one continuous stretch.
These naturally grown chili peppers weren’t much different from the ones accelerated by Qing.
If one had to make a comparison, the naturally grown ones tasted better, with a purer spiciness.
For those who could handle the heat, they could even be eaten raw as a kind of fruit.
The warriors of the hunting team and the guard team especially liked to carry them in their pockets, using them to stimulate themselves. Either to become more excited and quickly enter a battle-ready state, or to stay more alert.
Quite a few members of the collecting team were assigned to pick the chili peppers. It took several days to finish harvesting all the peppers from the fields.
After being watered a few times, the harvested chili plants began blooming again, preparing to bear fruit a second time.
“This is really way too much!”
Yang Yi looked at the piles of chili peppers stacked up like mountains and couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.
The entire tribe was immersed in the joy of a bountiful harvest. Even the Green Python Tribe was grinning from ear to ear. After all, part of this would be traded with their tribe!
Those who hadn’t come to the Spark Tribe had never tasted this flavor before. They were eager to let their relatives and friends try it, too.
Everyone who had tasted it had nothing but praise for it!
This batch of crops planted by the Spark Tribe was quite large, with the single category of chili peppers already far outnumbering leafy vegetables. As for Yang Yi’s personal storage space, there was almost nothing left. Most of it had already been emptied.
They would still leave some behind, but only as a precaution.
Even though he had already been shocked the first time, the grandeur of this harvest still left him deeply excited.
Just this batch alone would be enough for their Spark Tribe to eat for a very long time.
“The plaza in front of the temple has already been cleared out. It’s perfect for drying the chili peppers!”
Qing’s whole face was glowing with joy, clearly very satisfied with this great harvest.
They had already eaten several rounds of leafy vegetables before, so everyone had tasted the benefits of planting. Now that their most beloved chili peppers had ripened, the entire tribe was immersed in happiness.
The earlier batch that ripened had long since been eaten up. Everyone’s eyes had been fixed on the chili peppers in the fields ever since.
Not to mention, the fact that chili peppers could now also serve as weapons made Qing value them even more.
“The jars are all ready, too. Some will be sealed, and some will be thoroughly dried.”
Yang Yi had already instructed the pottery group to make a large number of clay jars in advance, specifically for food storage.
By now, the pottery team had grown quite large. They specialized both in making relatively refined and artistic black pottery, which was convenient for trading, and in rough pottery for daily necessities.
After all, efficiency was limited. Some daily items didn’t need to be made so meticulously, like jars or large vats, which were harder to fire properly anyway.
As for black pottery, since it was more delicate, it made exchanges more efficient. During trade, fewer people were needed to transport it, yet it could be exchanged for a large number of goods.
At present, what the Green Python Tribe needed more of was the refined black pottery. As for rough pottery, ever since they had learned how to make tiles, they had also begun making it themselves.
But when it came to highly technical black pottery, especially the kind requiring specific types of clay, they were still completely at a loss.
Qing thought of the pickled chili peppers he had eaten before and couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
Especially that dish of chopped chili fish head. It had made them realize that even fish heads, which hardly had any meat, could taste so delicious!
“It’s all been arranged already, but the jars are still too small. The next batch of chili peppers will be even more. And it won’t just be facing heaven peppers, there will also be other varieties.”
The second batch of chili peppers included Erjingtiao, bell peppers, lantern peppers, and so on. The variety was much richer.
And when that batch matured, it would be accompanied by other fruit-type vegetables as well.
Qing predicted that once all the crops matured, they would definitely be able to set aside a portion for consumption during the cold season, enough to last until the next year’s harvest season after new planting.
Yang Yi nodded. “I’ll assign more people. We have warehouses now, so we can store large quantities.”
The tribe’s warehouses had already been built, right next to the temple.
The sturdiness of the warehouses was second only to the temple, and even more attention was paid to fireproofing and damp-proofing. Several wells had been arranged near the warehouse complex.
In front of each warehouse stood two large jars, both of which had to be filled with water.
Once the warehouses were completed, dedicated warehouse managers would be assigned. The tribe’s security patrol would also treat the area as a key inspection site.
At that time, the warehouses would be roofed together with the temple—one representing the protection of the gods, the other representing an abundance of food and goods.
“From the current situation, chili peppers, like leafy vegetables, can still produce several rounds. They’ll probably only stop completely once the cold season arrives.”
“Will the later quality decline?”
“The yield should be somewhat less than the first batch, decreasing by about ten to twenty percent. The final batch will probably only be sixty to seventy percent of what we have now. As for quality, there won’t be much change. Though the spiciness might increase a bit.”
Yang Yi was very satisfied with this outcome. After all, back on Earth, crops couldn’t produce so many harvests. Here, they only needed to be busy in the beginning, and later on, there wasn’t much to manage.
When it came time for harvesting, since the plants grew so closely together, the work of picking them also became much easier.
Moreover, these crops had very strong vitality. As long as the land was tilled and seeds were sown, then if it went too long without rain, they only needed to water occasionally and weed a little. Normally, there was hardly anything to worry about.
Of course, this was also thanks to having someone with Qing’s kind of talent in the tribe. She could sense what the crops lacked and needed, allowing them to target their efforts and thus improve efficiency.
At present, aside from Qing, several other plant-type gifted individuals have also been discovered in the tribe.
Though their abilities weren’t as strong as Qing’s, they could still sense the characteristics of plants. Now they were actively learning, combining Yang Yi’s agricultural books to improve themselves.
“How are the seeds from the chili peppers we planted growing?”
“For now, it’s hard to see much change, but I feel the yield probably won’t be as high,” Qing said regretfully.
Yang Yi’s heart skipped a beat. “How much less?”
“Probably about the same as a third harvest—around twenty percent less.”
“Will the next batch after that have even lower yields?” Yang Yi asked worriedly.
Qing couldn’t give a definite answer. “Personally, I don’t think there will be much difference, but the exact situation can only be known once they’re grown.”
Yang Yi pressed his lips together. “It looks like we still need to learn how to improve the seeds. Your planting team needs to strengthen its training. The previous pace was still too slow.”
“The books you brought are very helpful to us, but there are also many parts we can’t understand.”
Qing was quite anxious about this. Some of the specialized books were too obscure, and since they had only just begun learning to read, subjects like mathematics and biology were still far too difficult for them.
Right now, the planting group had split off a separate team as a research squad, consisting entirely of people with plant-related talents.
They spent a huge amount of time studying every day, all so they could learn to read those books as soon as possible.
“I’ll discuss with Lan Jian about arranging special classes for you.”
Yang Yi had always placed great importance on education. Now, he was even more concerned.
Because of his busyness, although he had still been teaching, the time and effort he put in had been far too little.
At present, most people are still at the stage of literacy and basic arithmetic, while the more outstanding ones have only reached about a middle school level.
Considering how little time had passed, reaching this stage was already quite an achievement.
But it was clear that many people had great potential. It was just that right now, they were still receiving only the most basic education, and self-study was far too difficult.
Yang Yi needed to devote some of his time to higher-level education so that they would gain the ability to study on their own, and the tribe could begin producing specialized talents as soon as possible.
“That would truly be wonderful!” Qing said happily.
The deeper she researched, the more Qing realized that talent alone wasn’t enough. They also needed abundant related knowledge.
Although the books Yang Yi had brought sometimes differed from their current crops because of mutations, the principles were the same, making them of extremely high reference value.
Looking at the tall temple that was about to be roofed, Yang Yi said, “Once the temple is completely built, we’ll need to establish a formal school. But before that, there’s another important task that must be put on the agenda.”
