"Lin Er, how is it?"
Yang Yu looked at Lin Er as she approached, a trace of undisguisable tenderness in his eyes.
Lin Er was his childhood sweetheart.
"Yu, we were unable to find the thing you mentioned."
Lin Er shook her head slightly.
She had led the young people of the tribe out, but they still had not found the ore Yang Yu had mentioned.
"You didn't find it?"
Hearing this, a flash of disappointment crossed Yang Yu's eyes. He came to Lin Er's side, gently brushed her long black hair over her shoulder, and said tenderly, "It's all right. One day, we'll find it."
"Yu, what kind of stone is it?"
Lin Er enjoyed Yang Yu's gentle caress and asked curiously.
"That stone..."
"It can increase the hardness of our clan's weapons." Yang Yu smiled. "If we can find that kind of stone, refine it, and forge it, we'll enter an entirely new era."
Copper Ore.
It was the key to the Yang Clan's advance into the Bronze Ware Age.
The Primitive Tribe era was the origin of civilization.
Bronze Ware, meanwhile, bore witness to the rise of civilization.
"Could it really be harder than stone?" Lin Er looked up at Yang Yu, who was half a head taller than her, and asked.
"More or less." Yang Yu nodded. "Our weapons are wearing down far too quickly. Flint weapons lack resilience. If we want to strengthen the clan, we must find Copper Ore to replace the flint deposits."
"If we have Bronze Ware, we'll never again need to fear the ferocious beasts of the Wild Wastelands."
"At the same time, we can rely on our advantage in powerful weapons to explore this vast Wild Wastelands, leaving the footprints of our people across it."
Listening to the clan chief's words,
the two young men also yearned for that future.
Under the clan chief's leadership, the tribe grew stronger by the day.
Thus, they were filled with reverence for the clan chief and trusted him unconditionally.
Even if the clan chief ordered them to die,
they would obey without hesitation.
"So that's how it is."
After hearing Yang Yu's words, Lin Er's eyes were filled with the same longing.
They still did not dare to set foot in the vast Wild Wastelands.
Even without the clan chief saying much, they knew all too well how dangerous this land was.
"It's fine. Let's return to the tribe first!"
Yang Yu spoke softly.
"Yes."
Back in the tribe,
they walked along the tribe's street, with thatched huts lining both sides.
Through the efforts of the tribespeople, the street had been paved with stones. It was quite comfortable to walk on.
At the end of the street,
stood the clan's most sacred Ancestral Hall, built from trees.
"Clan chief."
Along the way,
the villagers who saw Yang Yu approaching all bowed and greeted him and the others.
Yang Yu nodded to each of them in return.
"Clan chief, Yan is dead."
Just after entering the Ancestral Hall,
an elderly, white-haired man in hemp clothing, leaning on a wooden staff, bowed to Yang Yu.
"Yan is dead?"
Yang Yu looked at the old man in surprise. This was Yang E, one of the elders of the Yang Clan.
But who was Yan?
Aside from him and Lin Er, Yan was the cleverest person in the Yang Clan.
"Yan is still living in seclusion for now. Should he be buried in the ancestral grave?"
Yang E asked tentatively.
The Yang Clan had an unwritten rule.
As long as one's father was alive and one's mother had not passed away, one could not enter the ancestral grave.
"Let's go take a look." Yang Yu did not agree immediately. Instead, he strode toward Yan's home.
The elder hurried after Yang Yu.
When they arrived at Yan's home,
Yan's father and mother wore solemn expressions.
After all, he was their only child.
"Clan chief."
Seeing the clan elder and the clan chief arrive,
Yang Feng and his wife hurriedly bowed to the clan chief and the elder.
Yang Yu waved his hand slightly and went to the boy lying on the ground. He looked only twelve or thirteen years old. Yang Yu placed a finger beneath his nose, but there was no breath. He then felt the boy's neck, but there was no pulse either.
Seeing this,
he abandoned all the dignity of a clan chief and bent down, pressing his ear to Yan's chest to listen for a heartbeat.
There was still a heartbeat.
It was simply incredibly weak—so weak that it was almost impossible to hear.
Fortunately, his body had been strengthened by the Star System. Otherwise, he would not have been able to hear that nearly imperceptible heartbeat.
Yang Yu immediately began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Yan.
Everyone watched the clan chief's movements in confusion, not understanding what he was doing. However, they knew their place and did not dare disturb him.
"Cough, cough!"
As the resuscitation continued, Yan, who had seemed as good as dead, suddenly coughed.
"Water."
Yang Yu immediately gave the order.
Hearing the clan chief,
Yan's father hurriedly took a bowl made of mud and fetched water from outside.
Yang Yu helped Yan sit up and carefully poured the water into his mouth.
"That's enough."
Seeing the boy awaken, Yang Yu let out a sigh of relief and said, "Once Yan is feeling better, have him come to the Ancestral Hall."
With that,
Yang Yu left Yan's home with the clan elders.
"Father, Mother."
After waking up, Yan softly called out to Yang Feng and his wife.
"Yan!"
Yan's mother immediately embraced her child, tears filling her eyes.
Yang Feng, meanwhile, turned to look in the direction the clan chief had left.
Why did he have a twelve- or thirteen-year-old child when the clan had implemented a system of monogamous marriage?
It was because he had been one of the strongest men in the previous generation of the clan and was also the captain of the Hunting Team. Thus, he had mated with his wife and fathered Yan.
Later, when the clan chief implemented the system of monogamous marriage, he formed a family with his current wife and applied to the clan to reclaim Yan.
Once Yan had fully regained consciousness,
he went to the Ancestral Hall under the guidance of Yang Feng and his wife.
Yang Yu was already waiting inside the Ancestral Hall.
The older clan elders sat on either side, watching the family kneeling inside the hall.
"Tell me, why did you end up in this condition?"
Although Yang Yu had only recently reached adulthood, he already possessed the dignity of a superior.
"I, I..."
"I've seen many livestock fall ill and even die from their illnesses."
"Many of the clan's warriors have also been injured while hunting and died from infection. I remembered how the clan chief used herbs to treat the clan's warriors and livestock, so..."
Under Yang Yu's scrutinizing gaze, Yan began explaining why he had fainted.
He did not understand why those wild grasses had such miraculous effects, so he tried them one by one, hoping to find a way to treat the injured warriors and the livestock.
Listening to Yan's words,
Yang Yu's eyes filled with helplessness.
Could you be planning to taste a hundred herbs and become Shennong?
Shennong had tasted a hundred herbs to treat his people and nearly died from it, relying on his powerful willpower...
Wait.
At the thought of Shennong, a bolt of lightning flashed through Yang Yu's mind.
Yan?
Shennong was supposedly the Yan Emperor, wasn't he?
It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
What if the boy before him really was Shennong?
Could the tribe he was in actually be the Yan Emperor's tribe?
Then where was the Yellow Emperor's tribe?
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."
Before you continue