After naming everything in the most convenient way possible, Zhou Xu subconsciously glanced behind him. At that moment, more than a dozen crude beast-hide tents had already been put up.
It really hadn't been difficult.
This is more or less what a primitive tribe looks like.
For the time being, he put that aside. At that moment, Zhou Xu's attention remained focused on the work before him.
That was starting a fire!
As luck would have it, Fei Que and the others returned just then, carrying branches.
"Put them here. Anyone who's free, come over and help. Tear off the bark, then find any suitable stone or weapon and start scraping these branches. I want the shavings."
Including Fei Que and the others who had just returned, the tribe members who received the order were hungry and exhausted, but they still obediently got to work.
He planned to gather some wood shavings first, which would make it easier to start a fire later.
During that time, Zhou Xu naturally wasn't idle either. He asked for a spear, then took it apart!
To put it plainly, the spears of this era were just a piece of wood with a fairly sharp bone tied to the end—what was commonly known as a bone spear.
This one was rather unusual. The bone tied to it was a long bone...
The original owner of that long bone must have been quite large, since the bone's thickness and length were basically comparable to his forearm.
Because one end had broken off into a relatively sharp point, it had been made into a bone spear.
"Take this bone and wash it. I'll need it later."
After casually handing the bone to a nearby tribe member, Zhou Xu took the beast-hide cord that had been used to bind it.
Then he found a branch of suitable length and flexibility, tied its two ends to the cord, and a simple tool for daily use was complete.
Needless to say, he planned to use bow drill fire starting. Compared with drilling wood by hand, Zhou Xu felt this method would be more efficient.
He piled some of the wood shavings everyone had painstakingly scraped off during this time onto the surface, then wound the carefully selected fire stick around the bowstring. The preparations were complete.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Xu felt a little nervous. Perhaps it was because so many people were watching him.
I absolutely can't screw this up!
This wasn't merely a matter of saving face. In this primitive world, if he couldn't start a fire, then once night fell, he would be plunged into absolute darkness.
And no one could guarantee how many terrifying threats were lurking in that darkness!
Without wasting any time, he pulled hard with both hands. Under the bowstring's ceaseless tugging, the fire stick wound around its middle quickly began spinning at high speed, drawing a chorus of gasps from the surrounding tribe members.
Although it was only an extremely simple structure, it lay completely beyond their common sense and gave them an entirely new shock.
Steeling himself, Zhou Xu maintained his high speed.
To be honest, this was genuinely exhausting work. After a bout of rapid pulling, his entire arm had already begun to ache.
But he didn't dare relax in the slightest.
Please, please. Burn already!
Compared with the tribe members, who looked utterly exhausted and were all skin and bones, Zhou Xu admitted that he was in better condition.
Now, just to start a fire, he was using every ounce of strength in his body.
Whether the heavens had heard his prayers or not, a wisp of green smoke rose, and Zhou Xu's heart suddenly began pounding faster.
His nerves taut, Zhou Xu removed the fire stick, then sprawled directly on the ground, holding his breath as he carefully stirred the surrounding wood shavings.
He looked as though he were tending to the most fragile treasure in the world.
Gradually, the smoke grew thicker. The tiny spark produced by friction finally came into contact with the tinder and transformed into a flickering flame.
Seeing this, Zhou Xu hurriedly transferred the flame to the stone hearth beside him, where firewood had already been piled and wood shavings scattered.
As he watched the flame rapidly spread and burn ever more fiercely, the excitement he had been suppressing finally burst out in a cheer.
His rapid breathing made his chest heave violently. Before this, Zhou Xu had never imagined that simply lighting a fire could give him such intense excitement and sense of accomplishment! It felt as though he had achieved some great feat!
After cheering, Zhou Xu seemed to remember something and subconsciously looked around.
At that moment, the tribe members gathered around him had already fallen to their knees. They knelt and cheered toward him, their faces filled with fanaticism.
To primitive people, obtaining fire meant praying for the gods to bestow it upon them.
In their common sense, humans were fundamentally incapable of obtaining fire through their own strength.
But Zhou Xu had done it!
Combined with his identity as the Chosen One, the tribe members now looked at him as though he were a god!
Taking a deep breath and calming himself, Zhou Xu was quite satisfied with the result before him.
"Everyone, get up."
As he spoke, Zhou Xu handed the largest gourd pot to Dashan.
"Go fill it with water."
At the same time, Fei Que had followed Zhou Xu's instructions and gathered all the insects they had caught in one place.
"For these insects, pinch off the heads like this. And these are the innards..."
Although this was his first time doing it as well, he somehow looked rather practiced.
"Don't throw away the heads and innards you've removed. Gather them all over by Fei Que. As for the remaining insect bodies, thread them onto these thin branches."
He had only just finished speaking when Dashan returned with a pot full of water.
By then, he had already set up a crude frame on the stone hearth. He also used Dashan's Beast Tooth Dagger to punch two small holes in the gourd pot.
A thin bone could be threaded directly through the two holes, allowing the pot to be suspended over the stone hearth to boil the water.
Of course, that wasn't enough. Even boiled salt-lake water couldn't be drunk. What he needed was to obtain freshwater through distillation.
But at present, he didn't have a single reliable piece of equipment and could only rack his brains for a solution.
He found a reasonably suitable bone plate, placed it on top, and kept it at a certain angle.
That way, as the water vapor rose, it would condense into droplets on the bone plate. Because the plate was slanted, the droplets would slide down toward its lower end.
At that point, Zhou Xu attached the washed long bone, using it as a water conduit. The distilled water flowing down would run along the conduit into the gourd bowl below.
The whole setup wasn't very efficient, but it was the best method he could think of.
Throughout the entire process, the surrounding tribe members were left utterly dumbfounded by the Freshwater Extraction Device Zhou Xu had cobbled together.
Although they couldn't figure out what this thing actually was, they were deeply shaken!
Before you continue