Chapter 38 The black and white charcoal metal ore was softened by burning.

Yu Yan perked up, stopped what she was doing, sprouted wings, and flew to the charcoal kiln with Cang Feng and the others.

Feng Gui and Lan Xiu also rushed over with him.

Charcoal burning was a closely guarded secret of the tribe, and influenced by his solemn attitude, everyone attached great importance to this kiln opening.

When Yu Yan landed, she saw that everyone who had participated in burning charcoal had arrived.

Xin Yu asked expectantly, "Yu Yan, are we opening the kiln?"

Yu Yan: "Open!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone went their separate ways.

The kiln is sealed with clay. To open the kiln, you have to break off the hardened clay shell that has been burned.

People wielded their fists and tools, and in no time, they opened up one charcoal kiln after another.

After the air circulated, the rich aroma of burning wood wafted out of the kiln, a pleasant smell that lifted one's spirits.

Everyone present had a very sensitive nose, and just by smelling it, someone excitedly exclaimed, "We must have made some really good charcoal!"

"I also think it's much cleaner and fresher than the charcoal used for cooking."

"I see it! It's black charcoal! Mostly in pieces, but very intact!"

"Yu Yan, where should we pile up this charcoal?"

Yu Yan replied, "After taking them out of the kiln, pile them up in front of their respective kilns. I need to check them one by one."

"Got it!"

The success of charcoal burning brought joy to everyone's faces.

They carried out bundles of charcoal and piled them on the ground.

Yu Yan looked up and saw rows of charcoal "hills" that appeared mysterious and deep black under the sunlight.

Some of the charcoal even reflected light faintly.

It really worked!

Yu Yan couldn't help but smile. He took out his notebook from his pocket, checked the piles of charcoal one by one, and wrote down the details.

The firing rates of these charcoal kilns are all about the same, around one-third. Some kilns use higher-quality wood, resulting in slightly higher firing rates.

He picked up a few pieces of black charcoal, which felt heavy in his hand, and then tapped them with his fingers, producing a rather crisp sound.

However, when you squeeze it in your hand, you can feel that the texture of charcoal is still relatively soft, and it cannot be compared with charcoal produced by modern processes. Of course, its calorific value is definitely higher than that of wood.

Overall, Yu Yan was quite satisfied with the result.

Everyone else was watching him closely. Seeing his brow relax and his heart be at ease, he dared to speak again.

Cang Feng picked up a piece of charcoal that Yu Yan had examined and tapped it, imitating Yu Yan's actions.

The clear, crisp sound reached his ears, and he widened his eyes slightly: "That sounds really nice."

Yin Qing held a piece of charcoal and turned it over and over.

He exclaimed, "The charcoal even reflects light! It's such a pure black, like metal. Could I have a piece so I can have it polished into jewelry?"

Feng Gui couldn't help but exclaim, "If we hadn't cooked it ourselves and cut off a small piece to show me, I probably would have thought it was metal."

Xin Yu couldn't put it down: "This kind of charcoal must get so hot when it burns..."

Everyone was immersed in joy, but Lan Xiu noticed that Yu Yan stood in front of a pile of charcoal and didn't move for a long time.

He walked over and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong, Yu Yan?"

Yu Yan turned her head and showed him the charcoal in her hand: "The color is different."

Lan Xiu looked closely and confirmed it was true.

The charcoal is black overall, but the surface and the internal texture of the wood are grayish-white.

Lan Xiu reached out and brushed the surface of it; the white stuff wasn't dust.

So, the same firing method produced two different kinds of charcoal?

Yu Yan saw what he was thinking and handed him the charcoal directly.

"Not only in color, but this white charcoal is finer, denser, harder to the touch, and produces a clearer sound when struck than black charcoal."

"Also, the two types of charcoal have different pore sizes; white charcoal has finer and more uniform pores, while black charcoal has a coarser pore size."

Lanxiu checked each point against his instructions.

"That's really true." A look of surprise flashed across his eyes.

Hearing the commotion, the others all came over.

After learning what had happened, they asked in bewilderment, "How could this be?"

Yu Yan shook her head: "I don't know either."

Cangfeng: "Perhaps the problem lies in the choice of wood."

Everyone nodded, agreeing that this explanation made sense.

Yu Yan didn't rush to express her opinion, but instead looked down and flipped through her notebook. It recorded that the wood that produced white charcoal was a type of elm wood from the Beast World.

“That pit over there was also made of elm wood. Let’s go take a look.” He pointed and led everyone over.

Upon arrival, Yin Qing said in bewilderment, "Huh? Why is the fire from this pit producing black charcoal?"

Cangfeng was also puzzled: "They're both elm wood, yet they produced two different kinds of charcoal?"

Yu Yan frowned. "Perhaps there are other reasons. Let's split up and search to see if there are any other white charcoal pieces."

"good."

After searching around, only the pit from before produced white charcoal. Moreover, the ratio of black charcoal to white charcoal in that pit was approximately two to one.

Cangfeng and the others were completely dumbfounded.

"This is a charcoal kiln, and it produces two kinds of charcoal!"

"Why? Was this particular pit lucky?"

Unable to figure it out, everyone turned their inquiring gaze to Yu Yan.

However, Yu Yan had no clue either, and said, "I don't know why yet, but I don't think it's luck."

Xin Yu: "Even you, who are usually so smart, don't realize that this problem is a bit troublesome."

Lan Xiu asked seriously, "Yu Yan, what should we do next? Burn it again?"

Yu Yan: "We definitely have to burn it, but before that, we need to test the quality of this batch of charcoal."

He looked at Cangfeng and said calmly, "Gather the clansmen and fire a batch of new pottery with charcoal."

Cang Feng's eyes lit up, and he agreed: "I'll go right now."

He transformed into his beast form and quickly left. Yu Yan, along with the others, moved the charcoal to the new pottery kiln.

"Fill the pottery kiln with black charcoal, don't use white charcoal," Yu Yan told everyone.

"Okay."

There was a lot of charcoal, not enough to fill one kiln, so the remaining charcoal was piled up on an open ground not far from the kiln.

Xin Yu asked everyone to pick large leaves to cover the charcoal so it wouldn't get wet in the rain.

Before the work was finished, the people from the tribe came over.

They were delighted to see the burnt charcoal, turning it over and over in their hands, exclaiming in amazement.

Seeing how much they liked it, Yu Yan took out some charcoal and shared it with them.

The crowd immediately erupted in cheers, with Yin Qing leading the sub-beastmen in shouting, "Yu Yan, you're so wonderful! We love you to death!"

"I want to use charcoal to polish the entire necklace!"

"I want my bracelet polished!"

Yu Yan smiled and said, "Do whatever you want, but let's get to work now."

Everyone listened to him and got to work enthusiastically.

Yu Yan's pottery-making skills were exceptionally poor, so she simply didn't participate. Instead, she stood with her arms crossed in front of the kiln's combustion chamber, lost in thought for a while.

Then he summoned several orcs with sharp claws, and together they used the wood the orcs had brought to make a simple bellows.

Pulling the lever will move the gasket inside the bellows, sending air into the combustion chamber of the pottery kiln.

However, he didn't use the bellows on the pottery kiln for the time being, but instead took two small piles of charcoal.

One pile is black charcoal, and the other pile is white charcoal.

No one understood what he was going to do, and they stared at him curiously.

Yu Yan first lit the charcoal. The charcoal produced far less smoke than burning wood, and the burning temperature was much higher.

He placed the bellows in front of the burning charcoal and pumped it.

As the wind speed increased, the surface of the charcoal immediately turned red-hot, and a wave of heat swept over us.

Several sub-orcs were startled and took a step back, exclaiming, "Beast God, why has it become so hot!"

"Charcoal plus bellows... what kind of pottery will we get from firing it?"

The pottery they have now is good enough; they can't imagine anything better... but they are really looking forward to it!

After confirming that the bellows was working, Yu Yan removed it and then lit the charcoal.

When two piles of charcoal are burned together, the first thing you feel is heat.

Upon closer inspection, white charcoal burns at a higher temperature than black charcoal.

Move the bellows back over, aim it at the two piles of coal, and keep pulling it; you can then clearly feel the temperature difference between them.

Yu Yan didn't dare get too close to the charcoal, as it would cause a burning sensation on her skin!

"Yinqing, come help me operate the bellows," Yu Yan called out.

"Here it comes! Is this frequency okay?" He played with great effort.

Yu Yan nodded in satisfaction, took out two pieces of gray ore that she carried with her, and threw one into the pile of black charcoal and one into the pile of white charcoal.

The ores that couldn't be smelted from wood before have all changed now!

Amidst the billowing, swirling white steam, the surfaces of the two ore pieces glowed bright red, and the ore in the pile of white charcoal even showed signs of melting!

Yu Yan's heart pounded wildly. Worried that she was seeing things, she called Lan Xiu over and asked, "Take a look, has the shape of the ore edges in the white charcoal changed?"

Lan Xiu narrowed his icy blue eyes, looked at him for a while, and then said with certainty, "It has changed."

"What? What?" Cangfeng and the others couldn't sit still any longer and all rushed over to watch.

Senbo took over the task of operating the bellows from Yinqing, his eyes constantly fixed on the fire, his heart pounding with excitement.

He traded animal hides for these two gray stones! When Yu Yan was about to go there, he had almost no hope of melting them.

Not long after, Yu Yan produced charcoal and even transformed the limestone!

He stared at the firelight for a while, his eyes were dazzled, but he still couldn't bear to look away.

He shouted, "I'm sure there have been changes on both sides!! Ahhh, someone take the gray stone out so I can take a closer look!"

Lan Xiu and Yu Yan exchanged a glance, and the latter gave him an approving look.

"I'll do it." After he finished speaking, he found two hardwood boards, quickly picked out the burnt ash stones from the pile of black charcoal, and placed them on the boards.

Yu Yan, who was prepared, carried the stone forward and slammed it heavily onto the gray stone.

"Bang!" Sparks flew everywhere, and the stone almost exploded.

Feng Gui, standing not far away, said in a trembling voice, "Yu Yan, be careful! Should we ask your father to come and smash it?"

Mo Ye looked up, took off his shirt, tossed it to Xue Fei beside him, and walked forward.

"Yu Yan, give me the stone, I'm strong."

Yu Yan had just used all her strength, and now, as she gripped the stone, her fingers trembled involuntarily.

He stared at the gray stone and said, "Wait a moment."

The burned ash stone cools rapidly in the air, the red color fades, and it turns back to gray.

He didn't feel the gray stone soften when he was hitting it, but now that he looks closely, the top of the ore has indeed been slightly deformed by his knocking.

This subtle change made Yu Yan's expression brighten.

Charcoal is useful! There's hope for ore smelting! That's great!!

Yu Yan couldn't help but smile, handing the stone in her hand to Mo Ye and admonishing him, "Be very careful."

Mo Ye nodded solemnly, signaling everyone else to step back.

After Yu Yan retreated to a safe distance, she said to Lan Xiu, "We can take out the other piece of gray stone now."

Then he said to Moye, "Moye, the gray stone cools down very quickly, you have to hurry up and smash it."

Mo Ye's eyes sharpened: "Understood."

The two powerful orcs exchanged a glance. Lanxiu took out the ore and pulled away the wooden plank. Moye shouted and hurled the stone down.

"Bang!"

"Snap!" Two sounds rang out simultaneously.

The stone in his hand cracked, sending fragments flying and shaking the stone slab below.

Xuefei's face paled, and she asked worriedly, "Moye, are you alright?"

Mo Ye reassured her, "It's alright, don't be afraid."

Unable to hide his excitement, he said to Yu Yan, "I can feel the gray stone softening. Come and take a look."

When Moye moved away, the changes in the gray stone were fully observed by everyone.

The ore, which was originally angular, was flattened after being hit!

"Oh my god..." Xuefei quickly rubbed her eyes, afraid that she had seen wrong.

Thankfully, it wasn't my imagination.

"You deformed the gray stone in one hit? How much force did that take?"

"Is the key strength? It's the charcoal that softens the limestone!!"

"By the Beast God, such hard metal ore has been softened by heat?!"

"I...I'm not dreaming, am I? Does this mean we can do metallurgy? Ahhh!"

"Metallurgy!! We can use metal tools now?!"

Metal utensils—things they could never have dreamed of! And now, they were right before their eyes!

The crowd erupted in a frenzy; some were even on the verge of tears, babbling incoherently.

They couldn't wait to rush to the altar plaza to thank heaven, earth, the beast god, and most importantly, Yu Yan!

Yu Yan was equally pleased after examining the changes in the gray stone.

Just as he guessed, charcoal burns at a higher temperature, and the substances produced during combustion can react with the ore, promoting smelting.

He can now confidently search for or trade metal ores with other tribes!

The metal object was waving at him from right in front of him!

"Yu Yan, it's a success, right? We'll be able to use the metal tools soon, right?" Senbai stopped what he was doing and asked excitedly.

Looking into the pairs of bright eyes, Yu Yan smiled and said, "It's a success."

The crowd immediately erupted in cheers: "Great!"

Their excitement was beyond words, so they rushed to Yu Yan's side, lifted him up, and tossed him into the air again and again.

Yu Yan was caught off guard and suddenly experienced the feeling of weightlessness: "Hey, what are you doing? Put me down!"

"Hahaha!"

People laughed and joked, tossing him back and forth many times, which made Yu Yan laugh helplessly and let them do as they pleased.

After everyone calmed down a bit, they put him back on the ground, and Feng Gui helped him tidy up his disheveled clothes and hair.

One of the orcs who hadn't participated in the charcoal burning asked, "Yu Yan, why does the same ash stone soften to different degrees in different charcoal piles?"

Yu Yan explained, "Because the two types of charcoal are different, black charcoal doesn't burn as hot as white charcoal."

"Let's use white charcoal to smelt limestone! It'll be easy to mold the limestone into the shape we want!"

Yu Yan sighed softly: "White charcoal is indeed better, but most of what we burn is black charcoal. I don't know how white charcoal is burned yet."

"Huh? How could this happen..." Many people became depressed.

Xin Yu clapped his hands, attracting people's attention.

He said helplessly, "What are you all so down about? Even without white charcoal, we can still smelt metal ores with black charcoal! It just takes more time and effort, but compared to before, this is already a huge improvement. Don't be so ungrateful."

His words were a wake-up call for everyone.

"That's right, Xin Yu is right. What we have in abundance is time and energy!"

"As long as it helps to smelt metals, what's a little effort?"

"I was wrong. Charcoal is such a good thing. I never had the chance to use it before. How dare I complain about it just now?"

"We don't know how to burn white charcoal, but we can have as much black charcoal as we want! Thinking about it, isn't that wonderful!"

With everyone chiming in, they perked up again and looked at Yu Yan expectantly.

Yu Yan smiled and encouraged, "Yes, with charcoal, we've taken the first step in smelting metals. When you go out to collect and hunt in the wild, remember to keep an eye out for metal ores."

Cangfeng added, "I will tell the nearby tribes that they can exchange metal ores with us for supplies."

Yu Yan: "Hmm, let's save them up first. If it doesn't work, I'll go to the Highland Tribe. They definitely have gray stones."

In short, there was no need to worry about the source of the ore. Everyone looked forward to a bright future and smiled especially brightly.

After looking at the limestone and charcoal for a while, Xinyu took most of them away to sculpt pottery and fire it. Their conversation, however, remained focused on charcoal.

Yu Yan kept Cang Feng, Mo Ye, Lan Xiu, Feng Gui, and other members of the tribe's decision-making team behind and told them about her decision.

"If I can't produce white charcoal, I'll just use black charcoal. But since there are better options, I can't get over it in my mind if I don't figure out how to make charcoal."

"So, I want to continue making charcoal and figure out how to make white charcoal. Are you all willing to cooperate with me?"

Everyone answered in unison: "Of course we'd like to!"

Moye: "I personally smashed the ash stone that had been burned by white charcoal with a stone, so I know all too well the difference between black charcoal and white charcoal. I fully support you."

Cang Feng: "Yes, Yu Yan, whatever you want to do, we'll cooperate until we burn white charcoal."

Yu Yan was deeply moved by everyone's trust, and felt a heavy responsibility on her shoulders.

He said, "This process may take a long time, and the worst outcome is that we will never figure out the cause."

Lan Xiu looked at him firmly: "I believe in you. You will succeed in anything you set your mind to."

"Yes! We believe in you. Success or failure, we'll do it!"

Yu Yan looked at everyone, a burning warmth surging through her heart.

His eyes welled up with tears: "Okay, let's work together."

Having decided to conduct the charcoal-burning experiment, Yu Yan took Cang Feng and the others away.

There are plenty of people in the tribe watching over the pottery kiln, so there's no need to worry. The bellows will remain at the kiln for future use.

Before leaving, he told the potters what kind of pottery he wanted and asked them to help him shape the clay.

Lanxiu was sent home to feed the sheep again, and Fenggui was asked to dry the mustard greens and radishes.

In this way, I can concentrate on the charcoal making.

Without much hesitation, he decided on the experimental method—the controlled variable method.

With the sun shining brightly, construction can begin immediately.

He sent the orcs to collect different kinds of hardwood. To save time, he also had people dig a number of small charcoal kilns.