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The Pack-Pack Beast animal cubs were kept warm and all survived.

Seeing this, Wu Jiong led the beastmen up the mountain to cut down a lot of hardwood when he had free time, and Jian Mo led everyone to burn several batches of charcoal.

They've become more and more experienced with firing, and now they don't need to water it anymore. When the temperature is right, they seal the kiln with mud, which has greatly improved the quality of the charcoal produced.

That day, looking at the newly cut trees, Jian Mo said to Wu Jiong with some concern, "Why don't you replant a few after you've finished cutting them down? I'm worried that if you keep cutting them down like this, the tribe's hardwood forest will soon be depleted."

Wu Jiong: "New buds will sprout in spring, and it will grow again."

After a pause, Wu Jiong added, "Planting more seeds is also an option; it will be easier to harvest them in a few years."

Jian Mo: "Yes, we need to take the path of sustainable development, and not actually cut down the mountains near the tribe."

Wu Jiong roughly understood what he meant and nodded.

While the tribe busied themselves burning charcoal, Jian Mo and her companions applied a layer of glaze to the pottery.

Winter is dry, so the glaze dries quickly.

That day, after Qing Kuo inspected the pottery blanks, he asked the little ones to come and call Jian Mo, saying that the pottery was ready to be fired.

Everyone had been waiting for this batch of pottery to be fired for quite a long time, and everyone was very excited when they heard that it could be fired.

Seeing this, Jian Mo told everyone to prepare for firing the pottery the next day.

There's no time today; he needs to make a simple hand-cranked fan that can be fixed to the ground, but it's not finished yet.

Zhou Fu and the others were puzzled. "Does it have to be this complicated? Last time we didn't make a fan, and the pottery we fired was still quite good."

Jian Mo: "Last time we used wood to fire it, this time we're using charcoal, so it's a bit different. Also—after doing so many steps before, doing this step well will increase the success rate of firing the pottery."

Qing Kuo: "How do we make a fan? Let's do it together."

Jian Mo didn't refuse and led them to find wood to make hand-cranked fans.

These little things are quite simple to make once you understand the principles behind them.

They spent a day making two hand-cranked fans, one main fan and one spare.

The next morning, they brought over the charcoal and began building the kiln to fire the pottery.

This time they used nine parts charcoal and one part firewood, and again they made one opening at the top and three openings at the bottom.

This time, a fan has been added, and the three openings at the bottom are divided into one main opening and two auxiliary openings.

Too many openings are also not good, because although they facilitate air circulation, they will accelerate the loss of heat.

Everyone took turns cranking the hand fan, and the charcoal in the kiln burned fiercely, thanks to the increased oxygen supply.

Even someone who isn't very experienced can clearly feel that the temperature inside the kiln is higher than when burning wood.

Qing Kuo wiped the sweat from his brow and said to Jian Mo, "If it weren't for you, we might never have discovered that we could make charcoal."

Jian Mo replied modestly, "It's not that bad. Perhaps this new technology will be transmitted over sometime."

Qing Kuo patted him on the shoulder but didn't say anything.

Since it was the first time firing pottery with charcoal, none of us had much experience, so we could only follow the method we had used before when firing with firewood, firing it all day long, from morning till evening.

When the fire was stopped at dusk, Jian Mo could clearly see that the wet clay used to seal the kiln had sintered and was faintly fired into the texture of pottery blocks.

This shows how high the temperature is inside the pottery kiln today.

Fortunately, the temperature was low in winter, and when they got up the next day, the kiln had cooled down considerably, and the kiln walls were only warm to the touch.

Everyone eagerly opened the kiln.

The simplicity of disposable cave dwellings lies in the fact that opening the cave only requires removing the cave walls.

The orcs and sub-orcs present were all very strong, and they completed the step in just a few moves.

When the kiln was opened, pottery shards were scattered all over the ground.

Amidst the fragments, the pottery pieces that were still intact or not so thoroughly cracked radiated a warm, lustrous sheen, almost dazzling in the morning sun.

The crowd froze, and many people involuntarily opened their mouths.

"This is so smooth!" Zhou Fu's already round eyes widened even more. "I never knew clay could be fired like this!"

As he spoke, he reached out to touch the pottery shard, but when he touched it, he was so burned that he flinched.

His partner, Jiu Yin, quickly grabbed his wrist. "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing," Zhou Fu, showing his undamaged hand. "It's just a little hot, hotter than a clay kiln fired with firewood."

Qing Kuo snapped out of his daze and said to Jian Mo, "You're amazing."

Jian Mo waved her hands repeatedly. "It's not my achievement; it's the technology we've accumulated there."

Qing Kuo put his arm around his shoulder. "Thank you for bringing the technology to our tribe."

Those around him echoed his sentiments.

Jian Mo felt a little embarrassed by the praise around her.

Ban Ming chimed in, "We also want to thank the clan leader for bringing Jian Mo back."

De Jiang laughed and said, "Thank you too, kid, for running into Jian Mo, right?"

Ban Ming grinned, "I have no objection to the tribe thanking me, but it would be even better if I could get some reward, like this pottery... or ceramic shards."

He quickly changed his tune, dodging his father's hand.

After giving his son a slap, Qing Kuo turned to Wu Jiong and asked, "How do you categorize pottery?"

While they were talking, everyone had already counted the number of pottery pieces.

There were 77 intact pottery pieces in the kiln, and 123 usable pieces, mostly small and medium-sized pottery.

Wu Jiong, who already had a plan, said directly, "Each potter will take two pieces, and the rest will belong to the tribe. If anyone wants pottery, they can trade it with the tribe for food or other supplies."

Before he could finish speaking, Ban Ming immediately raised his hand. "Chieftain, I need to change! I'll go get the animal hide right away."

Ye Luo: "I'd like to change the plates. I'll change them after the makers have finished choosing. Just tell the tribe how many supplies you need."

Once someone started, many interested people followed suit, vying to exchange their pottery for the pieces.

Wu Jiong directly let those involved in pottery making choose first. After they had chosen, those who wanted to change could come and change. Those who contributed more materials chose first, until all the materials were chosen. This was another way of rewarding the highest bidder.