Chapter 128

After the celebration feast, Yu Su and Luyan entered the refining room.

While Luyan led the team to Snake Village, Yu Su made some modifications to the spirit fire array in the refining room.

"I made some adjustments to the formation, using spirit stones to provide energy. It can enhance the flames and double the speed of material refining compared to before."

"I also organized a basic runic pattern manual."

Yu Su showed Luyan what she had prepared in these days.

Luyan tested the power of the spirit fire array and found it indeed much more efficient than before, saving his own spiritual power.

"How is it, convenient?" Yu Su asked him. "If it's not, I can make further changes."

Luyan: "No need to change, it's very convenient."

Yu Su: "That's good. Help me refine a medicine cauldron then."

Luyan knew that Yu Su planned to establish an alchemy room, so he nodded, "Sure."

...

Half a month later, Luyan successfully refined the first medicine cauldron.

Yu Su tried it and found it quite handy.

In this half month, he had already built an alchemy room.

Similar to the refining room, he also prepared a spirit fire array.

Previously, the Return Yuan Pills were handmade, and now he could officially refine them.

Learning how to control the medicine cauldron and the spirit fire took him quite some time. After several failed attempts, he successfully refined the first batch of Return Yuan Pills.

Yu Su compared the Return Yuan Pills she refined with those she manually made before, discovering that the ones she refined not only had a more restrained medicinal nature but also had twice the efficacy.

After this comparison, Yu Su felt a bit regretful about the previously wasted Return Yuan Grass.

Fortunately, there were still many in the eastern mountains, and she could harvest them anytime.

Now, even the low-level demonic beasts in the eastern mountains knew how formidable she was. Upon seeing her, they swiftly hid, making it convenient for her to gather herbs.

After tasting success, Yu Su went on to refine many other pills, depleting most of the stored herbs before stopping.

Apart from taking out some stored in the steward's warehouse, the rest were stored in the comprehensive spirit space.

...

After some time, they entered the harvest season.

Today's harvest was much better than the previous year, with significantly higher yields.

The village square was paved with flat stones, and grains were spread out to dry. Yet, this wasn't enough, so Jian Yunchuan led a few Five Elements Warriors with earth-attribute roots to open several spacious squares, also covered with flat stones, for drying rice and other items.

As loads of rice were transported to the squares and spread out, a golden color covered the area.

"We've been cultivating rice for so many years, and I've never seen grains so plump. The rice ears are almost bending over." A villager from the original Hedong Village exclaimed, looking at the rice spread across the square.

"All thanks to Lord Yu Su's arrangement of the Gathering Spirit Array in the eastern part of Hedong. Not only the rice fields, but crops like hemp and beans also have exceptionally high yields. Even the fruits and vegetables in the vegetable fields are fresh and vibrant. We've never had to worry about food this year."

"More than just not worrying, we almost couldn't eat it all."

"I heard Lord Yu Su say that tomorrow they will establish a breeding ground on the eastern foothills. We'll be able to raise livestock ourselves, like pigs and chickens."

"But aren't those wild pigs and mountain chickens fierce? Will they be obedient when fenced?"

"I don't know about that, but Lord Yu Su surely has a way."

"True, by then, we can not only eat our fill of white rice, fruits, and vegetables but also meat whenever we want."

Speaking of eating meat whenever they wanted, everyone couldn't help but salivate.

The cooking methods in the village were much richer than before, including frying, deep-frying, stewing, boiling, and steaming, coupled with the discovery of various exotic seasonings, refreshing everyone's taste buds.

At mealtime, the iron pots in each household made sizzling sounds, and the aroma wafted from every corner, making it the most enticing time of the day.

After finishing work one day, everyone headed home eagerly, looking forward to what their wives would cook.

"I wonder what dishes my wife will make today."

"Yesterday's stir-fried pig intestines were so delicious; I almost swallowed my tongue."

"You're lucky. My wife stewed trotters yesterday."

"Stop talking; my stomach can't take it anymore. Let's hurry home."

The men, tired from a morning of labor, couldn't help but drool and quickened their steps home.

On the other side, the slaves in the slave camp also couldn't help but hasten their pace.

Even though they ate a communal meal in the slave camp, the slaves who prepared the food put effort into it. Even with ordinary ingredients, they could produce tempting aromas, and the meals were satisfying.

Sometimes, to compete for food, these slaves would end up fighting.

The slaves who got their food would quickly seize the opportunity, grab their bowls, and wolf down the food.

"I harvested almost an acre of land alone this morning," one slave exclaimed.

The slave in charge of serving food glanced at the nearby Hedong soldiers. The soldier nodded, and the serving slave swapped the man's bowl with a larger one, providing more white rice, vegetables, and meat.

The slave, overjoyed, grabbed the bowl and sat down to eat.

Other slaves looked at him with envy, but their physical strength didn't match his, so they couldn't harvest as much. They could only watch as he had much more meat in his bowl than the others.

...

The trade caravan of the Barbarian Tribe arrived at the pass during this time.

Leading the group were the chief of the Barbarian Leopard Tribe and the disciple of the Barbarian Tribe's Great Shaman. They brought various items from the Barbarian Tribe's forest and sought to exchange them for grain and salt in Hedong Village.

After confirming their identity at the pass guard camp, they were allowed through.

"Follow this straight road, and you'll reach the village," a guard at the camp said, leading the Barbarian Tribe's trade caravan toward the village.

"Praise the Beast God! I've never seen such a well-maintained road."

"Look over there, is that rice!"

As the Barbarian Tribe's caravan moved along the road toward Hedong Village, they marveled at everything they saw along the way. When they saw the golden rice that hadn't been harvested yet, their eyes widened.

Going upstream along the river, there were tall waterwheels bringing water from the river to the high fields. Intersecting canals, murmuring water flows, and vast rice paddies divided into patches were all visible.

"What's that thing?" A Barbarian Tribe member who had never seen a waterwheel was amazed.

"It's a waterwheel, made by Lord Yu Su," the leading soldier proudly said.

"And what about that?" A keen-eyed Barbarian Tribe member spotted a foot-operated thresher in the rice fields. It could be operated easily with manpower.

"That's a thresher."

"And that, on the square over there?"

"A windmill, used to clean impurities from rice."

The members of the Barbarian Tribe stared wide-eyed at these things they had never seen before, blinking in disbelief.

The chief of the Barbarian Leopard Tribe and the Great Shaman's disciple exchanged glances, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

They expected Hedong Village to be wealthy when they came, but they didn't anticipate not only wealth but also so many novel and unique things.

Looking at the golden rice spread across the square, they were truly amazed.

When they saw that even the slaves in Hedong Village could eat meat, they couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Are those really your village slaves? They can eat meat too?" The chief of the Barbarian Leopard Tribe couldn't help but ask.

"Lord Yu Su said, giving them some meat gives them strength to work. The more they work, the more meat they get to eat. Those who slack off go hungry," the soldier explained.

But there were no slaves slacking off because no slave wanted to go without meat.

With one astonishment after another, the chief of the Barbarian Leopard Tribe, the Great Shaman's disciple, and the Barbarian Tribe caravan arrived at the entrance of Hedong Village.

Yufeng stood at the village entrance to welcome them.

"Lord Yu Su asked me to welcome you all. Please come in."

The Barbarian Tribe caravan was welcomed into Hedong Village, and it happened to be mealtime. Yufeng treated them to a hearty meal.

White rice and well-prepared meat dishes left the Barbarian Tribe members stunned. These

warriors, accustomed to the barbaric lifestyle, forgot how to use chopsticks and ended up washing their hands to eat with their hands.

At first, the chief of the Barbarian Leopard Tribe and the Great Shaman's disciple could still exchange a few words with Yufeng while eating, maintaining some etiquette. However, as they continued to eat, both of them forgot about manners and dug into the food with their hands.

Praise the Beast God! They had never eaten such delicious food!

Both of them, one being a tribe chief and the other a disciple of the Great Shaman, held high positions in the Barbarian Tribe's forest. They had access to the best the forest had to offer, but they had never seen anything like this.

Thinking back to when Yu Su and her group stayed in the Barbarian Tribe's forest, they had treated them with the Great Shaman's level of hospitality. They believed they had done their best, but now, after eating the food in Hedong Village, they suddenly felt that what they did was not good enough.

What was the level of hospitality Yu Su received from Hedong Village? They couldn't even imagine.

Looking at the clean and luxurious guest hall, exquisite decorations, and the usually ferocious Barbarian Tribe members who now seemed somewhat uncertain and hesitant, Yufeng, who had seen many outsiders bewildered by the village's advancements, quickly enlivened the atmosphere with a few words.

"Which goods did you bring with you?" After some casual conversation, Yufeng asked.

The chief of the Barbarian Leopard Tribe listed the types of goods they brought.

"We hope to exchange for salt and grain with you."