Chapter 770: Chapter 605: Wood and Iron
The next destination was the Wood Rock Tribe.
This tribe resided within an immense forest.
Prior to this, Long Yi had inquired three tribe elders, and the answers were astonishingly similar: "They all knew about the existence of Wood Rock Tribe, but none of them had ever been there, nor had they ever seen anyone from there. In fact, anyone who had tried to enter the Wood Rock Tribe ultimately ended up outside of the forest due to getting lost."
Such a mysterious tribe indeed piqued Long Yi’s interest. As someone who felt uneasy without a fight, visiting three tribes consecutively without any event happening made him feel that his fists were on the verge of rusting.
"This forest, it’s incredibly vast."
From atop a small hill, Long Yi gazed down at the forest. It span from his feet to beyond the horizon - a sight that could only be described as endless.
"I’m not confident navigating through this, I might as well fly."
While running through plains might be feasible, the same can’t be said for the forest. Flying seemed a more effective method. If nothing else, he could just let the female demon sisters wash his brain afterwards.
"Brainwashing won’t work, the moment their feet touch the ground, they will immediately recover."
The newly-joined fourth sister admonished without mercy.
"Whatever, I must fly!"
Ignoring her, Long Yi took to the air, swiftly traversing the seemingly boundless forest canopy. The forest was too massive, and the trees were all the taller and older the deeper he went.
Suddenly, a flash of light shot from below. Long Yi’s dormant instinct promptly kicked in as he swiftly rolled in mid-air while reaching out a hand to catch the object.
"An arrow?" Long Yi was puzzled.
"It even has an Elven style?" Long Yi was even more perplexed.
Accelerating, he dove downwards. He quickly spotted a few silhouettes darting through the forest, while more arrows were shot at him.
"Hey! Don’t run! I’m not the enemy!"
He shouted. Yet, needless to say, they only ran faster.
Ignoring them, Long Yi flew even faster, overtaking one of the elves and tackling them to the ground. Holding its arms firmly, he pinned the elf beneath him.
"Stop struggling! I’m not a bad guy! I just want to ask a few questions!"
The elf under him was a girl. Despite Long Yi’s attempts to look friendly, she remained expressionless and continued to struggle fiercely.
"Master, your current posture is very lecherous, no one would believe that you are not a bad guy." chuckled the sixth sister.
"What choice do I have? She won’t stop moving! And their strength is immense! If only Ai Lin were here, she looks more friendly."
Long Yi then let out a sigh. Almost immediately, the elf stopped struggling.
"You mentioned Ai Lin just now, might I ask your name?" the elf queried.
"I’m Long Yi."
"So you are Mr. Long Yi!" her voice heightened slightly. For an elf, this often indicated surprise and joy.
"Ha! So you do know me!" Long Yi promptly let her go.
"The Empress has informed all the elves about you. Everyone is searching for you!" the elf stated.
"Oh? The Elven Empress can communicate with all the elves in the Human Realm?"
"The Elven Empress is not in the Human Realm but in the Elven Forest. All the elves in the multiverse come from the Elven Forest!" the elf explained.
Only then did Long Yi widen his eyes. He had made an obvious mistake. He had thought he met the Elven Empress in the Human Realm. However, each time he met her, it involved teleportation. Obviously, the Elven Empress was never there!
"Alright then, did the Elven Empress have anything to tell me?" Long Yi inquired.
"The Empress asked me to tell you that everything in the Human Realm is fine. Ai Lin has reached the Upper Plane, although it’s unknown which specific universe or planet. However, the elves will find her. She said your companions are making all efforts to enter the Upper Plane and told you to hasten your progress. Otherwise, when your people cause chaos in the Upper Plane, it will be difficult for you to wrap things up. That’s all."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, that’s all."
"What about the Silver Dragon?"
"Ah, there hasn’t been any further news about the Silver Dragon, as the Phase space is still unstable, the World Tree doesn’t dare to recklessly return to the Elven Forest."
"Alright, I’d like to know, if I want to go to the Heaven Realm, what should I do?"
"The Heaven Realm is located in a higher Plane. You need to find a Teleportation Gate first, leave here to reach a higher-level planet, then find another Plane teleportation gate to get to a higher Plane, only then can you get information about the Heaven Realm."
Well, that information was basically nothing.
"Then... please come with me; Wood Rock and the third elder are both waiting for you." Without waiting for Long Yi to speak, the elf continued.
Long Yi smoothly obtained Wood Rock and the third elder.
Next was the Iron Rock Tribe.
The Iron Rock Tribe was located at the edge of the forest. The tribe had traditionally worked on mining iron and crafting metal tools. These tools were provided to almost the entire world. As such, the tribe barely hunted or farmed; they procured their food supplies through bartering.
Looking from afar at the bustling activities above the tribal area, Long Yi could only feel one thing - the budding of capitalism.
Visiting the village elder of the Iron Rock Tribe was relatively easy. The elder was responsible for distributing various materials to other tribes and collecting returns in the form of food and supplies. There were always many visitors.
Upon meeting the elder, Long Yi bluntly stated his intentions.
"I wish to get a closer look at your Iron Rock Sacred Rock."
The elder started laughing right away.
"Hahaha! Who’s this youngster who has thought of such a strategy just to get a Sacred Rock? Go on, shoo! Go home and practice blacksmithing properly! If you want a Sacred Rock, earn it by being within the top five at the blacksmithing competition! No one is going to get away with shortcuts!"
Long Yi felt helpless. Being labelled as a ’child’ was indeed troublesome.
"Is there no other way besides during the contest?" Long Yi asked.
"Well there is. You can challenge any elder you please. If your blacksmithing skill can defeat any one of them, you can obtain the Sacred Rock right then and there!"
"Even if I’m not from this tribe?"
"Hahaha, if you can defeat any elder, it means your blacksmithing skills are even superior to ours! What difference would it make whether you are from this tribe or not? Enough now! Go on and practice! No more daydreaming!"
The elder shooed him off.
"Fine! I challenge you then!"
Long Yi directly pointed at the elder.
The elder found this even more amusing.
"Kid, you mustn’t think I don’t practice just because I’m busy overseeing this warehouse. Fine, I’ll give you this chance! But remember, if you lose, you can’t participate in any challenges for an entire year. Knowing this, are you sure you want to challenge me?" the elder asked seriously.
"Certainly!"
A blacksmithing contest? Bring it on!
Challenges against elders were common, but a child challenging an elder was unheard of. Blacksmithing combined technique with strength. As a child, he lacked the strength and hadn’t accumulated enough skills due to lack of age. How was he supposed to win?
Long Yi’s challenge had attracted quite a crowd, and some who had come to collect goods also gathered around.
Two blacksmithing forges were set up at the site. One was large and meant for the elder, while the smaller one was for Long Yi.
"What are we making?"
Long Yi asked.
"Despite you challenging me, you’re still just a child. So you can decide what we make," the elder generously replied.
"Alright. Let’s make a knife then."
"A knife?"
"Yes, a portable all-purpose knife that would be handy in any situation outdoors," Long Yi replied.
Though the Iron Rock Tribe always obtained a large amount of food and resources through trading, hunting and gathering firewood were still necessary. Neither an axe nor a knife could be spared.
"Deal! Whatever you suggest, we’ll compete in! Let’s begin!"
To Long Yi, the blacksmithing test was still within reason. Basically, a knife should follow two principles in everyone’s eyes.
Durable.
Sharp.
Could there be anything else?
Starting the fire, taking the iron. Long Yi’s movements was very adept. Since his main profession for nearly ten years was blacksmithing, every task was quite easy for him.
The elder was silently nodding his head while watching Long Yi’s movements. This kid was definitely prepared; even a grown blacksmith wouldn’t be much better, right?
At first, both of their actions were almost identical.
Yet soon, people found Long Yi’s movements puzzling. He took out another piece of hard steel, added it to the previously selected piece, and then remodeled it into the shape of a knife. He then quickly polished it, made a hole in the handle, and oddly enough, took a basin of water to quickly cool down the red-hot form of the knife.
Despite the lack of any auxiliary tools, Long Yi was still making use of everything at hand to complete his work.
Meanwhile, the elder’s knife was already completed. But he didn’t disturb Long Yi, as he was curious to see what kind of odd thing Long Yi was making.
Finally, Long Yi used a leather strap to wrap around the knife handle. The intricate braiding won admiration from all present!
"Oh? I seem to have taken much longer than you."
Long Yi looked at the dull knife in the elder’s hand and chuckled. Comparatively, though he didn’t have polishing equipment making the blade not quite like a mirror, the smooth finish was much better than the elder’s knife.
"Kid, your knife’s shape is rather strange. Was this ugly curve on the tip intentional?" the elder asked, pointing at Long Yi’s knife.
"Yes, this curvature will ensure smooth skinning of beasts," Long Yi replied, demonstrating the skinning motion. An old hunter nearby took out his own modified skinning knife, and sure enough, it looked very similar.
"How about these tooth-like edges at the back?"
"That’s to ensure a neat, quick cut when sawing something." Long Yi picked up a piece of wood and demonstrated, cutting it swiftly.
"And this hole at the back?"
"That’s so you can retrieve it with a string after throwing it." (Story continues. If you like this novel, please feel free to vote and leave a comment at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
