We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 86 Bronze and Bows

Holding the malachite, Xia Minghao examined it carefully for a long time.

It has very low hardness; it can leave a mark with just a slight touch from other small stones, and scraping it off will produce a bunch of green powder.

Moreover, it has a heavy, substantial feel in the hand, very similar to iron ore.

The entire body is green, with varying shades, but without any other colors.

Seeing Xia Minghao's interest, the members of the Divine Tree Tribe immediately knew that there was hope in exchanging salt, and they shouted loudly.

"This was given to us by the divine tree. With the power of the divine tree, you can become strong and powerful, and be able to kill..."

At this point, he seemed unable to think of anything for a moment, but after seeing the leopard on the ground, he continued.

"Yes, there is this. It can let you kill this."

Xia Minghao then looked up at the leader.

I don't believe you for a second...

Other primitive people might have been fooled, but Xia Minghao knew the true purpose of this thing and of course wouldn't believe such nonsense.

Moreover, from the very beginning, these people spoke incoherently, and sometimes even contradicted themselves.

This is clearly a lie, and a very low-level scam.

Having witnessed the wonders of this world, Xia Minghao dared not completely deny some things.

For example, as they say, malachite was a gift from the sacred tree.

What if it's true?

Speculation is meaningless; hearing is deceiving. You have to see for yourself to know. Seeing is believing.

"Lipa, give them a piece of jerky."

Xia Minghao turned to Lipa and gave him instructions.

Lipa, without hesitation, took out a piece of dried meat strung together with a thick rope and gave it to the people of the Divine Tree Tribe.

Seeing such a small amount of meat, the leader of the Divine Tree tribe took it with a hint of disdain.

But after taking a big bite, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

Seeing the way the people of the Divine Tree Tribe were eating, Xia Minghao chuckled inwardly.

This dried meat is naturally delicious; it was originally a special supply of "military rations."

Not only is it salted, but it's also the best part of the bear meat, with a perfect balance of fat and lean, which greatly satisfies the appetite and is also incredibly flavorful.

After taking a big bite, the leader of the Divine Tree tribe switched to small bites, seemingly realizing the deliciousness of the dried meat and cherishing it especially.

The others, seeing this, all started drooling.

I wanted to try some too, but the leader was very possessive of his food and wouldn't let anyone else have any.

Eat up, I'll give you a little treat, then we can get down to business.

Xia Minghao remained silent, while Damon beside him wore a strange expression.

Why did the Xia tribe chief not exchange the meat for this beautiful stone?
Could this stone really possess such magical power?

Previously, Damon and the Wise Man were skeptical of what the Divine Tree Tribe said, but now, seeing Xia Minghao do this, they believed the Divine Tree Tribe's words even more.

Because his father had said that the chief of the Xia tribe was very wise.

Xia Minghao only spoke again after seeing the person opposite him finish eating the jerky and start licking their hands.

"I can give you a lot of this salted meat. But I don't want to trade any of these things; I only want this."

"Also, I'd like to visit your Sacred Tree tribe."

Upon hearing this, the Shenshu tribe, who had initially looked reluctant to leave, immediately turned bitter.

They only have one of these beautiful stones; it was offered to the sacred tree by another tribe.

Where can I find other stones to exchange for?

Upon hearing the next sentence, the group immediately beamed with joy again.

If we come to the Sacred Tree Tribe, there is a way to make the chief of this Xia Tribe also believe in the Sacred Tree!
If the Xia tribe were to be like the other tribes that witnessed the "divine power" of the sacred tree, they would offer the sacred tree an inexhaustible supply of salt, and an inexhaustible supply of salted meat!
"You're coming with us to the Divine Tree Tribe, now?"

The leader of the Divine Tree Tribe immediately spoke, his tone tinged with excitement.

Xia Minghao didn't understand why the other party reacted this way, but he didn't ask.

Once we arrived at the Sacred Tree Tribe and saw it, everything naturally became clear and the truth came to light.

"No, we'll go to the Divine Tree Tribe tomorrow."

Pointing to the sky, and seeing that the sun was already setting in the west, the people of the Divine Tree Tribe nodded.

After agreeing to go to the Sacred Tree Tribe together the next day, the group leisurely left.

Xia Minghao also led his men back into the Da tribe's territory. Because of the pottery he had previously gifted, Damon offered to stay overnight on Da tribe territory, and Damon did not refuse.

After a few words of casual conversation, Damon left, seemingly to report the day's events to the wise man.

Now that only members of the Xia tribe remain, Xia Minghao looked at the distant riverbank and thought to himself, "It's definitely too late to go back and inform them now."

Fortunately, they didn't say they would return on the same day when they left, so they weren't worried about the Xia tribe.

Let's just accept our fate and wait for tomorrow to come.

At the same time, he couldn't help but take out the malachite in his hand again to examine it closely.

The trail of malachite has finally been found...

Finding copper doesn't necessarily mean you can smelt bronze. The reason bronze has the extra "blue" in its name is because it contains another metal, tin.

Pure copper is far inferior to bronze. First of all, it is soft, has low hardness, and is easily deformed.

This directly resulted in the inability to manufacture hammers and anvils for smelting iron.

The weapons and other items produced were far from meeting Xia Minghao's required standards in terms of usability.

Secondly, it has various disadvantages such as poor wear resistance and difficulty in shaping.

However, Xia Minghao was not troubled by not being able to find tin, naturally because of a little extra knowledge he learned when he was studying "Engineering Geology".

Where there is copper, there is a high probability that there is also tin, because copper and tin have a "geological symbiosis".

This is why, when the Bronze Age began, everyone was looking for malachite, not tin.

Of course, if by chance a low-probability event occurs, and the location of this copper mine happens to have no tin, then Xia Minghao can only consider himself unlucky and be a jinx.

A campfire was lit, but this time it was only for warmth and to barely heat the dried meat, so the area was much smaller than in the Xia tribe.

The Da tribe also became lively at this time, as many of the people who had gone out had returned, discovered the new faces of the Xia tribe, and took the initiative to come over.

Everyone looked at Xia Minghao and the others with curiosity.

Meanwhile, Xia Minghao was also observing the group of ordinary people from the Da tribe.

Those who have returned are not strong, muscular men; most are elderly, or teenagers, and there are also many women from the Da tribe.

The women all carried baskets on their backs, which were filled with taro.

The men, however, were all carrying bows and arrows, which greatly surprised Xia Minghao.

Most of these men carrying bows and arrows were empty-handed, with only a very few carrying one or two unidentified small birds.

It seems that hunting birds is the main way for these Da tribe men to obtain meat.

When Xia Minghao saw a boy carrying a bow and arrow looking at him, he waved.

Surprisingly, the child wasn't afraid and actually walked over.

"Let me see your bow and arrows, is that alright?"

Upon hearing Xia Minghao's words, the boy thought for a moment before handing over his bow and arrow.

Upon receiving the arrow, Xia Minghao first examined it.

The arrow was made from a tree branch that had been polished with a stone tool. The tip of the arrow was not very sharp, and there were no feathers at the end of the arrow.

Xia Minghao looked at the bow again, tried to pull it, and found it to be utterly terrible.

These crudely made bows and arrows seem to be of little use, and even then, not much.

No wonder the half-grown children and "elderly people" who returned with bows and arrows either brought back only one or two small, pitiful, unknown birds, or they came back empty-handed.

Although the main weapons of the Xia tribe are now javelins and wooden spears, it does not mean that Xia Minghao has given up bows and arrows.

The javelin had almost disappeared by the later stages of civilization, but the bow and arrow continued to be used.

This also shows that bows and arrows are far superior to spears.

Range suppression, increased carrying capacity, significantly improved accuracy, and low stamina requirements are all advantages that javelin throwers cannot match.

Of course, we need to add a qualifier to the bow and arrow: it must be a useful bow and arrow, not the shoddy contraption that the Da tribe currently possesses.

Xia Minghao had already devised a plan to create a truly useful bow and arrow. Now, all that was left was to wait for the tendons from the bear and wolf to be processed, so that the bowstring, the soul of the bow, could be formed.

This will also be the first batch of standard weapons for the Xia tribe.

They returned the clumsy bow and arrows to the children of the Da tribe, and Xia Minghao and the others began to rest.

After the onlookers from the Da tribe had had their fill of watching, they naturally left.

Xia Minghao also noticed that the group of people did not gather together, but instead went back to their own houses to eat.

Seeing this, Xia Minghao looked thoughtful, but did not say a word.

After setting up the tents, a few more people were assigned to keep watch before entering the tents themselves, awaiting the arrival of tomorrow to travel to the strange and mysterious Sacred Tree tribe...

(End of this chapter)