Qiao and En did not, like the others, go to the water room to wash themselves. Instead, they had slaves fetch water for them to clean up and even changed into new clothes.
The new clothes were clearly much more refined than the previous set. The craftsmanship was more exquisite, with beautiful dark patterns woven into the fabric, and the tailoring and design showed great effort.
The style resembled an ancient Chinese robe, though more form-fitting, with the round collar layered and folded over and over, looking extremely complicated.
Their waists were bound with broad belts, made of colorful and exquisite gemstones, splendid and dazzling.
On their lower bodies, they wore long pants, bound below the knees with cloth strips, tucked into leather boots.
At their waists hung swords crafted from diamonds and gold. Over their backs, they wore light and splendid cloaks, fastened with ornate brooches.
Around their necks, fingers, and wrists, they also wore striking, precious jewels, making their entire beings shine brilliantly.
The two’s attire distinctly set them apart from the others, their entire bodies exuding a sense of being different from the rest.
At this moment, people of the Spark Tribe knocked on their door, ready to lead them to the reception hall.
Qiao and En tidied their outfits, only then signaling for the slave to open the door.
The Spark guide glanced at him once, his expression unchanged, merely making a gesture of invitation, his attitude no different from before.
Heh, these savages really don’t know how to appreciate!
Qiao and En felt quite displeased in their hearts. In other tribes, as long as they wore such outfits, people would show astonishment and admiration.
Their eyes would be filled with longing every time, greatly satisfying their own sense of superiority.
But this time, it actually didn’t work?
It must be because of this person, who didn’t know how to appreciate good things.
Yet they quickly discovered that along the way, while there were people who glanced at them, their expressions were calm and composed, as if nothing was unusual.
It was only because they were outsiders that people instinctively looked at them once.
As for their attire, as for the wealth they displayed, everyone turned a blind eye.
Were these people all blind?
Or was it that the clothes they wore today were wrong?
But when other tribes who had also come to attend the celebration brushed past them, the envy and yearning in their eyes restored their sense of superiority once more.
The reception hall was on the first floor of the temple building, which also allowed Qiao and En to come into close contact with this towering structure. Something that, in the Eastern Continent, was regarded as almost a miracle.
First, one had to ascend the tall stone steps. In the center of the staircase lay a large stone, carved with exquisite pictures of garments.
On it were stars and fire, symbols of the Spark Tribe.
Aside from this carving, the staircase itself had little decoration, serving only its function.
“What is this?” Qiao asked, pointing at something he had never seen before.
At the end of the staircase was an expansive platform, and on it sat a stone disc with a wooden pole standing upright in its center.
On the stone disc were carved patterns they could not understand, somewhat resembling writing.
“This is a sundial, specially used for telling time. In our tribe, you will hear the bell ring at every full hour. However many times it strikes, that is the current hour. But after ten o’clock at night, the bell stops ringing, and it doesn’t start again until five o’clock the next morning.”
“You’re saying this thing can be used to tell time?!”
En and Qiao were utterly shocked. What kind of monstrous tribe was this, that they even knew how to measure time?!
And what was more, they even spoke of ‘ten o’clock’ and ‘five o’clock’, as though with great precision.
In the Western Continent, the common way of marking time was nothing more than vague concepts like sunrise, early morning, morning, or noon.
“Yes, the sundial can measure precisely down to fifteen minutes. One minute is counted by going ‘1, 2, 3…’ at such a pace, until you reach sixty. Which means fifteen minutes requires counting that way nine hundred times.
The Divine Envoy said, Only when time is made clear can people better control their activities, and thus be more precise. Right now, we are still developing more accurate timekeeping devices, ones that will not be affected by sunlight.”
En and Qiao’s faces both grew somewhat ugly, for they realized that these so-called savages, who supposedly couldn’t even count, actually had such advanced mathematics!
In the past, they had often exploited the fact that many in the Eastern Continent could not count properly, using tricks during trades to exchange fewer goods of their own for more from the other side.
Although what was being said might have been memorized and recited just for the sake of explaining it to people like them, it still proved that there were individuals in this tribe who were truly knowledgeable.
Though they did not want to admit it, they had to acknowledge: even in the Western Continent, there was nothing like this kind of timekeeping device.
They also couldn’t bring themselves to claim, against their conscience, that this thing was useless. For with a single glance, they could see its value, and had already made up their minds to learn it and take it back.
If they presented such a timekeeping device, they would certainly be rewarded by the king. This contribution was far greater than any ordinary trade of goods.
Qiao and En were led into the reception hall on the first floor. As always, the style here was plain and simple. One could sense that this tribe had only just begun to develop, focusing more on practicality, with fewer decorative elements.
Still, it was clear that thought had been put into it. In the center of the room stood a rectangular table, surrounded by carefully woven rattan chairs.
Black pottery vases holding flowers were used as decorations, while beautiful paintings hung on the walls.
The entire room was spacious and bright, its simple decoration not giving off the feeling of barrenness.
Inside the room sat an elderly woman. Seeing them walk in, she rose from her rattan chair and lifted a smile toward them.
“Welcome, my honored guests. I am Jiao, the shaman of the Spark Tribe. Thank you for coming from afar. We feel deeply honored.”
Qiao and En’s expressions darkened, and En’s voice sank:
“Where is your chief? Do the two of us not even have the qualifications to meet him? Is this how your Spark Tribe treats its guests?”
In a tribe, the position of a shaman was not low, equal in importance to that of a chief.
But the Spark Tribe was different. They also had a Divine Envoy. Qiao and En believed that this weakened the shaman’s role.
Furthermore, with Hei Lie’s style of rule, he held absolute control and would not, like other tribes, be swayed by a shaman. His status would naturally be higher.
And now, to have sent only a shaman to receive them, this was truly an intolerable affront!
Jiao did not grow angry at this, but instead smiled and said:
“At dinner, he will personally host you. Before that, however, some miscellaneous matters must be handled, and those fall under my responsibility.”
Qiao and En remained deeply displeased, their expressions extremely unsightly. Never in the Eastern Continent had they been treated in such a way!
Wherever they went, both chief and shaman would personally receive them, fearful of showing the slightest neglect.
But here in the Spark Tribe, not only was the Divine Envoy nowhere to be seen, even the chief himself had yet to make an appearance!
At this moment, Jiao was in no hurry to begin. She shook a small bell, and a young, beautiful girl entered carrying a tray.
On it were a black pottery pot, black pottery teacups, and other items.
“The weather is hot; it is easy for one’s fire to rise. Please, have some tea to ease your temper.”
The girl picked up the large kettle filled with hot water and poured it into the more delicate black pottery teapot to warm it, driving out the coolness inside. Then she poured that water into a side basin.
Next, she opened a small jar nearby. Lifting the lid revealed green tea leaves within, from which drifted a faint, refreshing fragrance.
En, who had originally been about to express his anger, suddenly felt his fire suppressed by that delicate scent.
What is this?!
The girl then used bamboo tongs to pick up some of the tea leaves and placed them into the teapot, pouring in boiling water to rinse them. She quickly discarded this first infusion into the basin, then poured in boiling water once more.
After waiting for about a minute, she finally poured the tea from the pot into the small cups, distributing them to everyone present.
The whole process of brewing tea was not complicated, yet the girl’s movements were so graceful that they were indescribably pleasing to the eye.
“These are the most precious tea leaves of our tribe. There isn’t much of it, and it is reserved especially for honored guests like you.”
Jiao remained calm and unhurried, her face carrying a faint smile.
In truth, she was not very old, but in the Eastern Continent, a place with an extremely high rate of elimination, she was already considered an elder.
During this time, with good food to eat and sound sleep to enjoy, although her days were very busy, they were deeply fulfilling. Her whole demeanor had changed.
She looked more radiant, revealing a beauty unlike before.
And after becoming a shaman, she had grown gentler as well. With her deliberately moderated manners, the roughness she once had was shed away.
Among her own people, she was seen as someone who gave others a sense of calm and reassurance. But in the eyes of those from the Western Continent, she appeared elegant and composed.
Especially when she lifted the teacup and slowly savored the tea, that feeling became particularly strong. One would not dare raise their voice before such a lady, for fear of offending her and making themselves seem unbearably vulgar.
Within such an atmosphere, Qiao and En’s attitudes also softened quite a bit, their attention fully drawn by the clear, emerald-green tea before them.
They picked up their cups, intending to imitate Jiao’s way of savoring the tea. But by accident, each of them swallowed an entire cup in one gulp.
Both their eyes lit up!
This taste was truly extraordinary—smooth on the tongue, leaving a lingering fragrance after drinking. What was more, it was incredibly refreshing!
Qiao and En, after a long and exhausting journey, though their stamina was excellent and much of the time they had been carried by horses or porters, were still very weary.
After drinking that cup of tea, they both clearly felt much more refreshed.
The sensation was wonderful. Even though it was only a small cup, with their sharp merchant instincts, they could already tell how extraordinary this beverage was.
They could now be certain. These tea leaves would absolutely take the entire Western Continent by storm!
Before they even asked, the girl, with keen attentiveness, refilled their cups.
Although Jiao and the girl showed no particular expression, Qiao and En still felt ashamed of their earlier rudeness. This time, at last, they began to slowly savor the tea.
“I want to trade for this tea!”
En cast aside all of his previous principles. Right now, all he wanted was to obtain this tea.
The shock of iron was indeed tremendous, but he knew well that iron could be forged into weapons. Thus, it would not be easy to acquire through trade.
Even though these people had extravagantly used it to forge a large cauldron, that did not mean they were ignorant of iron’s value.
On the contrary, it was precisely because they understood its worth that they made such a large cauldron to serve as one of the symbols of the temple.
At other times, these savages were easy to deceive. But when it came to weapons, things that could preserve their lives and help them find food, they were extremely shrewd and careful.
A greedy man like Chief Blackstone might be willing to exchange his tribesmen to get what he desired, but he would never easily trade away his blackstone weapons, nor would he ever reveal to outsiders where they found the blackstone.
But this tea was different!
He was a merchant. Although he valued iron, something that could change the fate of a whole city, profit was what he considered first and foremost.
Jiao was not surprised that he would say this, but her expression became somewhat troubled.
“Our tea leaves are not plentiful, especially these ones. Once they are finished, there will be no more. New tea leaves will not begin to appear until next year, and even then, we cannot guarantee whether their taste will be the same as these.”
The Spark Tribe had planted many tea trees, but at the very least, they would have to wait until next year before harvesting could begin. And even then, the yield at first would likely be small. Only after three years could it become substantial.
At first, the people of the Spark Tribe could not fully appreciate tea. Although they felt it was good, they still thought it could not compare with sweetened water.
But once their bellies were no longer suffering hunger as before, they gradually began to recognize the value of tea.
Tea had medicinal properties. It could refresh the mind and clear internal heat.
The Spark people loved chili peppers. Spiciness could drive away dampness in the body, but consumed in excess, it inevitably causes internal heat.
Thus, tea became one of the best remedies for cooling that heat.
Especially now, as the weather grew hotter and hotter, tea not only cleared away heat but was also invigorating, quenched thirst easily, and with long-term drinking even helped sharpen the eyes.
Yang Yi had not brought much tea with him, so the number of people able to enjoy it was limited.
But Yang Yi firmly believed that, over time, everyone would come to appreciate the benefits of tea, just as tea had developed back on Earth. And so, later on, Yang Yi expanded the planting of tea trees.
“Next year you will have more, won’t you? Wouldn’t it be perfect to use those for trading with us? You should be well aware that the Western Continent possesses many things the Eastern Continent does not. Or, if there is something in particular you want, we can also bring it specifically for you.”
Qiao and En’s caravan not only traded goods between East and West, but also exchanged items from different regions as they traveled across the Eastern Continent.
The Eastern Continent was vast, and conditions varied greatly from place to place. Exchanges between different regions happened often.
However, travel was inconvenient for many tribes, and the Western Continent’s caravans had seized upon this opportunity. In addition to trading goods between East and West, they also engaged in trade within the Eastern Continent itself.
This was one of the reasons why Western caravans were so well-known across the Eastern Continent. They roamed everywhere and always carried what others wanted.
And even if they didn’t have it at the moment, they would bring it the next time.
Jiao was clearly tempted. After a long hesitation, she finally spoke:
“These tea leaves cannot be stored for long. They must be consumed before the cold season, otherwise their taste will become very poor.”
That timeframe was indeed not long, especially considering how long the journey from here to the Western Continent would take.
But En still agreed without hesitation: “That is not a problem.”
“Then what do you intend to use in exchange?” Jiao asked.
Receiving this confirmation, Qiao and En were instantly overjoyed. They could already imagine what a storm these tea leaves would stir up in Western noble circles!
Even putting aside the taste and effects of the tea itself, just the girl’s elegant tea-brewing movements would be enough to make noblewomen scramble to imitate.
This would surely become a mark of refined elegance, a symbol of nobility and distinction!
At this moment, Qiao and En had completely forgotten the lofty sense of superiority they carried before arriving. Unknowingly, they had actually been influenced by the very “savages” they had once looked down upon.
Not only did they want to take away the tea leaves, but they also wanted to learn how to brew tea, as well as exchange for the entire set of tools used in tea-making.
En took a small sip of tea, suppressing his excitement and forcing himself to remain calm.
“This is a gift for the Divine Envoy. If he likes it, we can use it in trade.”
A servant brought forward an exquisite wooden box and placed it before Jiao.
Jiao opened the box. At that moment, En and Qiao both curled their lips into faint smiles, their eyes fixed intently on Jiao’s expression.
The loss of composure they had shown earlier had left them vexed. They needed to see shock in someone else’s eyes to ease their own embarrassment.
Inside, Jiao saw a crystal cup. The craftsmanship was fairly delicate, but it wasn’t very clear, with a somewhat dull, grayish look.
Of course, such a thought arose only because Jiao had already seen transparent glass cups, some even in brilliant colors. Compared to those, this crystal cup did not seem like a fine piece, so she became slightly critical.
Still, she kept the faint smile on her face. No matter what the gift was, one must never show disdain. This was the most basic courtesy.
Though she did not find it remarkable, she knew it was precious.
“Thank you very much for your gift. I believe the Divine Envoy will be very pleased.”
That’s it? Nothing more?
Where was the shock? The amazement? The longing so strong that one would want to hold it to the chest and never let it go!?
This was a natural crystal cup!
Granted, not of the finest quality, but still very rare and precious.
Whether in the Western Continent or among the so-called savages of the Eastern Continent, no one could resist the sparkle of jewels and crystals. Everyone always wished to possess them.
The more prosperous the tribe, the more fervent their desire for such luxuries.
Even impoverished tribes found it hard to resist their allure. It was only that they could not, and did not have the means to, possess them.
Qiao and En tried to find some trace of hidden reaction in Jiao’s expression, wanting to prove she was merely suppressing herself. But they were disappointed.
Jiao was truly very calm, not in the least surprised by these things.
It was not ignorance, not a lack of awareness of their value, but simply that she had seen too much for it to be considered remarkable.
And especially with the words she spoke next, their last shred of hope was extinguished.
“If you wish to trade using these, I can only say I’m very sorry.”
Qiao was unwilling to give up: “Even if you don’t like it, perhaps your Divine Envoy will. Maybe he would appreciate them.”
Perhaps this woman simply didn’t know how to admire such things!
But Jiao only smiled and shook her head: “The Divine Envoy is not interested in such things. He is a well-traveled, knowledgeable man. He does not like objects that, to him, have little use.”
“I think you have no right to decide for him!” Qiao couldn’t help but raise his voice. “He brought miracles to your tribe. You cannot, because of your personal desires, prevent him from having what he wants.”
“I think you should instead consider whether you have other things that would be better suited for trade with us.”
Jiao’s manner was exceedingly firm. Though her face still bore a gentle smile, no one could mistake her for someone easy to compromise with.
“For example, the short-legged horses you brought. We are very interested in those.”
Qiao still wanted to argue further, but En stopped him.
“As for the details of the trade, we will discuss them later with your chief and Divine Envoy directly.”
Jiao had no objections. Trade with the Western Continent did indeed need to be overseen by Hei Lie and Yang Yi, as it concerned the future development of the entire tribe.
Although these people from the Western Continent were arrogant, they truly could bring many things that other tribes could not.
“You’ve brought many people into our tribe. To ensure order within the tribe, you must keep your people under control and follow our tribe’s rules.”
“Of course.”
“In a while, I will be registering all of you. Please make sure your people cooperate.”
“Registering?”
Jiao nodded: “Many people will be coming for this festival. To ensure no evildoers sneak in, we must collect information on every individual.”
Qiao and En both thought they must not have learned the Eastern Continent’s common tongue well enough. Why did this sentence sound so awkward and hard to grasp?
Jiao didn’t explain further. She simply took out a folder.
“Let’s start with you two. You are staying in Guesthouse Building 1, Rooms 301 and 302. Gender: male. May I ask, what are your names? Where are you from? And what are your positions within your team?”
???
What was this supposed to be?!
What kind of strange rule was this?!
“You two will be registered by me. As for the others, there will be dedicated people to ask and record their information. Since some of your people might not speak the Eastern Continent’s common tongue, I hope you can assign a few who are fluent to cooperate with our staff.”
Jiao spoke again. This was the result of Yang Yi and Hei Lie’s discussion.
To enter the Spark Tribe, registration was required, just like checking into a hotel in modern times.
They had to have the information of every individual. Through this, they could also gradually learn about the general situation of the Western Continent or other tribes.
This was both to ensure safety and a way of collecting information.
As for those who thought it troublesome or refused to cooperate, this was their territory!
On my land, I make the rules. If you’re not satisfied, then leave, and no one will stop you.
Besides the questions asked directly, the registrars would also observe and record the person’s main physical traits, such as height, weight, facial features, or body build.
It was also required that once staying in the guesthouse, they could not change rooms without submitting a request.
This made it easier for inspections and prevented anyone from sneaking in and mixing with the rest.
The Spark Tribe was still a newly established tribe. Many other tribes were eyeing them covetously.
The Blackstone Tribe had already tried to use the Fang Tribe against them. Who knew if they still had another move left?
And tribes like the Fang Tribe were by no means unique on the Eastern Continent. The Spark Tribe still had gaps everywhere. If they wanted to secure safety, they could not afford to neglect even the smallest detail.
This was also about cultivating a habit among the people, laying the groundwork for future management.
“Why do we have to do something like this?!” Qiao was furious.
“There was once a tribe,” Jiao explained, “that suffered because members of another tribe disguised themselves as their allies, killed their people, and caused them to mistake the wrong tribe as their enemy. In the end, both tribes were destroyed, while the impostors’ tribe easily took over their land.
We are also protecting our relationships with others, to prevent such things from happening.”
As she spoke, Jiao narrowed her eyes slightly, a trace of threat in her gaze: “Or is it that among you, there are people whose identities must not be revealed?”
“Of course not!”
Qiao felt that ever since coming to the Spark Tribe, he had encountered more strange, incomprehensible things than in all his life combined. He felt his dignity was being insulted, making it hard to maintain his usual elegance.
He turned toward En, wanting to resist such treatment together, but saw En staring blankly at the thing in Jiao’s hand.
Pointing at the folder Jiao was holding, En asked, “What is that?”
![Professional Red Thread Cutter [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_6298.jpeg "Professional Red Thread Cutter [Quick Transmigration]")
