I've been transported to the orc continent.

The orcs from the Red Rock Tribe were there to deliver something to Bai Ling.

Bai Ling told them how to eat cassava, and the orcs of the Red Rock Tribe collected many seeds, along with the tribe's meat, hides, bone knives, decorations, and other items, and sent them to Bai Ling.

Since they had run into each other, they decided to travel together. Bai Ling and his group joined the orcs of the Red Rock Tribe and headed towards the High Tree Tribe.

As the sun was setting, they returned to their tribe.

*

This was Bai Ling's first time leaving the tribe. He was gone for more than ten days, and nothing had changed in the tribe. The elderly tribesmen were cooking in the square, while the young tribesmen returned from outside with baskets on their backs, and children and cubs ran around in the square. Wounded tribesmen sat on stones chatting, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on every beastman, making their expressions even more vivid.

Upon seeing Bai Ling and her group return, several orcs ran over. The younger orcs approached Yue, while the older orcs helped unload the baskets from the orcs' backs. Two orcs noticed the ginger in Bai Ling's basket and were curious about what it was.

Bai Ling walked behind the tree and transformed into human form. Holding ginger in her hand, she asked, "Ling, what is this? Did you find something good again?"

Before Bai Ling could speak, Yue emerged from behind a tree, his eyes shining: "This is called ginger. It's a good thing that Ling found in the Dahe tribe. Adding it when cooking meat will make the meat taste even better, and drinking water boiled with ginger and scallions will warm you up."

Yue is usually a man of few words in front of his clansmen, but today he spoke so much at once, which is enough to show his affection for Jiang.

Bai Ling continued, "The effect of ginger is the same as Yue said. When it gets cold, add it to the soup, and drinking a bowl will warm your whole body up a lot."

An orc, holding a bundle of persimmon saplings about the thickness of a thumb, asked, "What are these?"

Lan said from the side, "This is a red fruit tree. Ling said she brought it back to plant. Ling found a new way to cook red fruit, a kind of food called dried persimmon. Ling said it's very delicious. The beastmen of the Great River Tribe gave Ling a lot of red fruit, but we had too much to bring back, so we couldn't bring it back."

Some clansmen said it was a pity, and Bai Ling said from the side, "Clan Chief Li has allowed me to lead people to pick persimmons. Is anyone willing to go?"

Upon hearing that they could go to the Great River Tribe to pick persimmons, several young beastmen were eager to try. They discussed going in the next day or two, taking advantage of the good weather to dry the persimmons.

*

Bai Ling planted the persimmon tree she brought back behind her house.

His house was reduced to just four walls; the roof had been blown off on the day of the heavy rain, and all the family's belongings had been moved to a cave. Nothing was left.

They haven't been back for days, and the yard has already started to look dilapidated; weeds have begun to grow in the yard and inside the rooms.

Bai Ling dug a pit with a bone knife. His younger brother Chen helped him fetch water. Bai Ling placed a persimmon tree, about the thickness of a thumb, in the pit, filled it with water, and while waiting for the water to dry, he used the bone knife to turn over a small patch of land to plant chives.

Chen was very interested in what his brother was doing. He didn't mind the hard work and carried the earthenware basin to the river to fetch water again and again. After thoroughly watering the tree pit and the tilled ground, Chen began to wander around the tree pit and the ground.

He was very curious as to why his brother liked planting so much.

There are many persimmon trees and a lot of that kind of grass in the Dahe tribe. If you want to eat them, you can just go to the Dahe tribe to exchange them. Why did you go through so much trouble to plant them, brother?

My brother said that this kind of tree takes two or three years to start bearing fruit, and it produces very little fruit in the first two years. So why did my brother still plant it?

Chen couldn't understand it at all, so he asked Bai Ling directly, "Brother, why did you plant them? If you want to eat them, you can just go to the Great River Tribe to exchange them. Persimmon trees take several years to bear fruit, so you don't need to go through all this trouble."

Bai Ling sat on a rock and laughed, "Chen, there are no persimmon trees in the tribe. If we want to eat persimmons, we have to go to the Dahe tribe to exchange them. I planted a persimmon tree in front of my house. Once it grows up, we can pick them whenever we want. It takes several years for a persimmon tree to bear fruit after it is planted, but after we get through those years, we can eat persimmons every year."

"Chen, when I grow wheat next year, I'll make you lots of delicious food, and then you'll know what growing wheat really means."

Planting and raising are key to the maturation of a civilization. Only by mastering these two skills can a civilization truly take root and flourish.

If one doesn't know how to plant and raise animals, then this civilization is like a rootless duckweed, destined to disappear at any moment.

*

The tribes surrounding the Gaoshu tribe include the Hongyan tribe, the Yangui tribe, the Longjiao tribe, the Dahe tribe, the Lvmu tribe, and the Yuanhu tribe.

The Greenwood Tribe did not come because they did not have cassava in their territory. In addition to the Great River Tribe and the Red Rock Tribe, the chiefs of the Rock Turtle Tribe and the Long Horn Tribe also brought their people.

The Rock Turtle Tribe and the Longhorn Tribe brought gifts. Although Bai Ling said he only wanted seeds, the beastmen from other tribes still brought him meat, hides, pottery, and beautiful decorations. Now, Bai Ling's family is the wealthiest family in the entire tribe.

The ornaments and pottery were carefully collected by Feng and Cang, while the meat, hides, and seeds were placed in the cave, filling the entire corner.

Bai Ling first went to see the seeds sent by other tribes.

To his surprise, he found sorghum and soybean seeds among the seeds.

The sorghum seeds were sent by the Longhorn Tribe, filling an entire basket, which was simply piled up in a corner. The Longhorn Tribe consisted of beastmen who roamed with antelopes, sika deer, and reindeer. These beastmen all had horns in their animal forms, hence the name of their tribe.

The orcs of the Longhorn tribe love cassava. Unlike other tribes, their tribe prefers plant-based foods, and cassava, a new food, is more to their liking.

They brought a lot of gifts, including several hundred pounds of dried meat alone. In the past, Bai Ling's family couldn't even save up this much dried meat when they were getting through the winter.

Among the animal hides they brought were several white ones. The fur on those hides was short and dense, even smoother than that of snow hares. Even though the hides were processed using the most primitive methods, they were still extremely soft to the touch.

The Rock Turtle Tribe didn't send many seeds. Apart from sesame seeds and mung bean seeds, Bai Ling didn't recognize the rest. However, the Rock Turtle Tribe sent Bai Ling a lot of dried fish and some exquisite seashells.

Orcs have a habit of using seashells as decorations. The seashells of the Rock Turtle Tribe are the most beautiful among the nearby tribes. At the Chada Tournament, the Rock Turtle Tribe will use their exquisite seashells to trade with other orcs for items.

Feng said, "I've put the seashells with the other decorations. I'll show them to you later."