I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chief Zhan assigned Bai Ling twenty-five tribesmen, seven of whom were young, while the rest were no longer young beastmen.

As Bai Ling requested, these beastmen were all skillful, and Yue's good friend Xiao was among them.

Bai Ling divided these people into two groups. Four young and strong tribesmen were sent to cut down trees. Bai Ling asked them to cut down the harder trees as much as possible. The cut trees were transported to a riverbank.

The rest of the people went to that riverbank; he had to find as much iron ore as possible.

All the large beastmen transformed into their animal forms, their backpacks filled with food and animal hides. The smaller beastmen sat on their people's backs. Bai Ling let out a long howl to the sky and then set off with his people.

That riverbank is too far from the village. If they had to return to the village every day, most of their time would be wasted on the road. So they will be staying there for the next few days.

Bai Ling was also carrying a basket on her back. They were not moving very fast. In addition, they set off relatively late today, and by the time they arrived at the riverbank, it was already past noon.

Most of the tribesmen who came with Bai Ling were very familiar with the tribe's territory. After stopping at this shallow beach, without Bai Ling saying anything, several experienced orcs pointed to two caves and said that they could spend the night there.

Bai Ling eventually chose a cave that was relatively close to the shallows. After having a quick lunch, he left one of the orcs to guard the cave and led the rest of his people to search for iron ore.

The iron ore on this riverbank wasn't plentiful, but it wasn't scarce either. Twenty orcs were scattered across the riverbank, each carrying a basket on their backs, and began searching for iron ore.

Bai Ling led his people upstream. These iron ores were all brought out by the river. There must be an iron mine upstream of this river, but Bai Ling did not look for it for the time being. He was not a geology student and did not know how to find iron mines. He wanted to collect the iron ore on the riverbank first, so that he could collect iron ore and try to find the location of the iron mine.

Besides iron ore, Bai Ling also asked them to find special stones. If they saw any unusual stones, they were to bring them to him, as there might be useful ores among them.

Twenty people, carrying baskets on their backs, spread out on both sides of the riverbank and began searching for iron ore.

Whether their luck had run out or there wasn't much iron ore in this area, they spent the entire afternoon finding only a little over two baskets of iron ore.

Bai Ling wasn't discouraged. As long as they had some, that was enough. They could just search for a few more days and find even more iron ore.

*

After searching for three days, the group found eight baskets of iron ore. Bai Ling decided to transport the iron ore back to the tribe. He figured the other four people had already cut down a lot of trees, so he could try to make charcoal.

To smelt iron ore, wood is not suitable; charcoal is required. Charcoal burns at a higher temperature and for a longer time, making it more suitable for iron smelting.

Before leaving, Bai Ling instructed the four tribesmen who were cutting down trees to split the felled trees into pieces about the thickness of an ankle and the length of an arm. The tribe had stone axes, which were not as convenient as iron axes, but they were still good for chopping firewood. Apart from being a waste of axe weight, they had no other disadvantages.

The chopped firewood was neatly stacked next to the pottery kiln.

The Gaoshu tribe also has its own kiln, which is used to fire some pottery. The smaller pottery used in the tribe is fired in this kiln, while the larger pottery, such as pottery pots and jars, is obtained by trading with the Dahe tribe. The pottery made by the Dahe tribe is the best among the nearby tribes. Every spring, the Dahe tribe opens its kiln to fire pottery for exchange with other tribes.

The pottery kiln was not large, less than a person's height. Orcs couldn't even take a step inside. Bai Ling and her tribesmen put the chopped wood into the kiln, arranging it neatly and then closing the kiln door.

To facilitate charcoal production, Bai Ling specially added two more smoke vents to the pottery kiln. These vents were evenly distributed across the kiln, resembling small eyes.

The villagers couldn't understand why they put firewood in the kiln to burn, and why they filled it to the brim. Wouldn't the firewood burn to ash in the kiln?

If the firewood really burned to ashes, then why did they go through all that trouble to cut down so many trees?

The tribespeople had questions, so they asked them. Bai Ling explained to them, "To smelt iron, you must first burn charcoal."

The tribespeople didn't know what charcoal was, so Bai Ling explained, "When you're cooking, if there's leftover firewood, it all turns into something black, right? That's charcoal."

"Charcoal burns better than freshly cut firewood, and the flame temperature is also higher. Iron has a high melting point, so wood won't work. We have to burn coal or charcoal. Our tribe doesn't have coal, so we can only use charcoal."

After Bai Ling's explanation, the tribespeople understood what charcoal was. Xiao Qiang said first, "Ling, I know this. Sometimes when cooking, there are leftover firewood that hasn't burned completely. That firewood has turned black. This kind of black firewood burns better than new firewood. It can be lit with just a little dry grass."

Other members of the tribe also chimed in, with one saying, "So this kind of black firewood is called charcoal. Charcoal produces very little smoke when burned, and it's not as pungent."

Bai Ling said, "Yes, this is charcoal."

After explaining to the tribespeople, Bai Ling started the fire. He placed dry grass, leaves, and small twigs a little inside the kiln opening and lit the fire himself. Before long, wisps of smoke began to rise from the kiln's vent.

The wisps of smoke drifted erratically, as if they could break off at any moment. Bai Ling dared not be careless and kept adding small twigs into the kiln. Before long, the wisps of smoke from the top of the kiln turned into wisps of smoke, and the firewood closest to the kiln was slowly ignited.

Bai Ling had been staring at the kiln when suddenly a gust of wind came and a plume of smoke rushed toward him. Bai Ling quickly dodged, but it was too late, and he was choked by the smoke.

He coughed repeatedly from the smoke, and tears welled up in his eyes. Fortunately, the smoke came and went quickly and was soon dispersed by the wind.

The firewood had already been put into the kiln, and Bai Ling arranged for other tribesmen to continue chopping wood, leaving only three beastmen to guard it with him.

Bai Ling will not be using the fire in the pottery kiln for the time being; he plans to use this time to make the bellows.

You can't smelt iron without a blower, but since the world can't make blowers, you have to use bellows instead.

The bellows were not difficult to make. Bai Ling found several pieces of animal hide in his cave. These hides were already cleaned and cut, and could be used directly to make the bellows blades.