Volume One: First Arrival Chapter Thirty: Popularization
Page (1/3)
Li Changfeng nodded, “No problem.” He then began discussing with Meng Xingchen the selection of personnel to accompany him into the mountains.
The kobold leader Ye Feng and his close friend Xiao Yun were definite choices to go along; apart from Li Changfeng, these two were the strongest combat support.
Next was Wei Siyuan; without him, neither the Brute Bull nor the kobolds could communicate effectively.
After some consideration, Meng Xingchen decided to bring Tongtong and her mother He Qingwan along as well. Tongtong needed no introduction—her combat ability even surpassed Li Changfeng’s.
He Qingwan, after last night’s battle, had also increased her spiritual attribute to ten points, enhancing her supernatural power. Her portable storage space expanded from three to four cubic meters, and her existing spatial awareness ability developed into spatial teleportation.
Spatial teleportation—simply put, an instantaneous movement or blink—once again earned Meng Xingchen’s genuine admiration.
Four cubic meters was already ample for storage; with her accompanying, more ore could be transported back. And with the teleportation ability, her self-defense improved significantly.
Besides these few, others could volunteer; anyone willing could go into the mountains to adapt.
Seeing their plans settled, Liang Junyi approached, “I’ve learned the tune ‘When Will the Moon Appear?’ Should I go find that native child to verify it now?”
Meng Xingchen nodded, then turned to Li Changfeng, “I want to fully popularize these three basic skills—not just among the travelers from our world, but including the villagers of Li Family Village. What do you think?”
Li Changfeng replied, “I think the same. To survive better in this other world, relying on just our hundred or so travelers isn’t enough. We definitely need to recruit more natives to join us.”
Since they agreed, they immediately set the plan in motion and split up. Li Changfeng went to summon all the villagers, while Meng Xingchen took Liang Junyi to find Li Meng for the final verification.
Li Meng, a boy halfway through adolescence, had already started helping with household chores within his capacity. When Meng Xingchen and Liang Junyi arrived at his home, he was weaving a bamboo basket in the courtyard.
This was likely for the travelers. Whether digging clay kilns to make bricks or transporting ore, containers were necessary. Xu Jingya traded potatoes, grown by Yuan Jinglong, with villagers in exchange for bamboo baskets.
Potatoes, whether boiled or roasted, tasted much better than the native crops, making them popular among the villagers. The porridge eaten for breakfast, with grains resembling sorghum, was also exchanged with villagers for potatoes.
Seeing Meng Xingchen enter with a stranger, Li Meng put down his basket and asked, “Brother Li, is there something you need?”
Meng Xingchen said, “May I borrow your instrument for a moment?”
Li Meng went inside and brought out a bamboo flute.
Liang Junyi examined it and said, “This is handmade from bamboo, but it’s definitely a flute.”
After trying a few notes, Liang Junyi began to play the tune ‘When Will the Moon Appear?’
As the melody started, Li Meng’s eyes widened. Before Liang Junyi could finish, he excitedly said, “Uncle, you can play this tune too!”
Though Li Meng had long been convinced that the renowned Su Hero was a traveler from Earth, his reaction removed any last doubt.
Meng Xingchen asked, “Can you confirm that what he played is exactly the same as what the Su Hero played?”
Page (2/3)
Li Meng nodded repeatedly, “Definitely the same, exactly alike.”
With confirmation, Liang Junyi returned the bamboo flute to Li Meng.
Li Meng asked eagerly, “How do you know this tune? Do you know the Su Hero?”
Liang Junyi replied, “No, I don’t know him personally, but he should be from the same place as us, our kin.”
Li Meng was about to ask more when Meng Xingchen interrupted, “Let’s go. We’re gathering at the village square. There’s an announcement.”
When Meng Xingchen and the two others arrived at the central village clearing, both travelers and villagers were mostly assembled.
Seeing them arrive, Li Changfeng exchanged an inquiring glance with Meng Xingchen, who nodded slightly.
Li Changfeng understood immediately and addressed the crowd loudly: “Everyone must be aware of what happened yesterday at noon and night. We’ve confirmed there’s a goblin camp across the river with over two hundred goblins.
To prepare for any possible attacks, we have decided to open three basic skills—Basic Meditation, Basic Battle Qi, and Basic Internal Energy—to everyone free of charge.
You can choose to learn whichever skill suits your interest and ability. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Brother Meng.”
Meng Xingchen continued, “Basic Meditation and Basic Internal Energy rely mostly on personal insight, so it’s hard for others to provide effective guidance. For now, you need to remember all the content of these three skills well.
Whether you can get started depends on your physique and comprehension. In my view, Basic Battle Qi has the lowest threshold and is the one that others can effectively teach.
After dinner today, in this same place, I will lead you all in practicing Basic Battle Qi. If you forget any movements or perform them wrongly, I can help correct you, but you must memorize the breathing method yourself.”
When Meng Xingchen finished, everyone began to murmur excitedly. The villagers of Li Family Village were especially thrilled when Li Changfeng announced that all three skills would be offered freely.
After a while, Meng Xingchen pressed his hands down to quiet the crowd and said, “Later, you can also learn these three basic skills from Xu Jingya and the others.
Captain Li will lead a team to the kobold nest to transport ore back. Anyone interested in joining can sign up with Captain Li.”
In truth, it would be more convenient for travelers to study the skill manuals themselves. This arrangement was mainly for the villagers, most of whom were illiterate.
The ore transport team was quickly assembled. Besides Li Changfeng and Tongtong, those volunteering were familiar faces who had fought last night.
There was the berserk trio, two other fire controllers besides Ye Feng and Xiao Yun, and one earth controller, Guo Yu.
With such a team, each equipped with a crossbow, operating in the nearby forest by day was virtually foolproof.
Actually, all three earth controllers wanted to join the ore transport team, but the camp’s construction required their skills. After negotiation, Zhao Lei and Chen Yang stayed in the village.
After last night’s battle, Guo Yu, Zhao Lei, and Chen Yang each raised their spiritual attribute to ten points, enhancing their earth control abilities. They could now manipulate rocks and release earth spikes, gaining some offensive power.
The ore transport team gathered swiftly and prepared to depart. Tongtong still sat atop the Brute Bull named Da Man by Wei Siyuan, holding metal pieces and using her powers to forge crossbow components.
Page (3/3)
Meng Xingchen gently patted the head of this sensible and hardworking girl and cautioned, “Be careful on the road. Don’t focus too much on forging metal parts. Stop if your mana falls below fifty points and meditate to recover.”
Sitting on the bull’s back, Tongtong lowered her head to make it easy for Meng Xingchen to pat her, squinting her eyes softly in agreement, “Mm!”
After sending off the transport team, Meng Xingchen found himself unexpectedly idle.
He couldn’t leave the village far due to the threat of goblin attacks, and other matters were handled by designated people, leaving him nothing to do.
Suddenly, he recalled that after completing the mission last night, his bioenergy should be enough for a level-up. Amid all the events, he had forgotten to upgrade.
Checking his status panel, indeed, his bioenergy was 2105 out of 2000. After reaching level 1 stage 3, the next upgrade required 2500 bioenergy.
He spent the single free attribute point on Constitution, raising it to twenty points. However, unlike the expected significant physical boost at every ten-point mark, no notable change occurred.
Ultimately, he decided to visit the brick kiln reportedly already built.
He instructed the travelers and villagers on patrol to immediately raise the alarm if they spotted goblins.
Taking a deep breath, Meng Xingchen leapt forward, covering seven to eight meters in a single step, speeding toward the brick kiln.
This was both to travel swiftly and to improve his Phantom Body Movement skill.
The brick kiln was just over a thousand meters from Li Family Village and soon came into view.
Upon arrival, the scene was bustling with activity. Zhai Yao, Liang Junyi, and the two earth controllers Zhao Lei and Chen Yang were present. Many travelers and villagers were busy as well.
Some were mixing clay and pressing it into brick molds. Others gathered firewood near the already excavated kiln.
Zhai Yao and Liang Junyi stood nearby, consulting on something.
Seeing Meng Xingchen, Liang Junyi explained, “We plan to build a blast furnace here for smelting iron, but there’s disagreement whether to build a converter next for steelmaking or have Tongtong use her powers to convert the iron directly into steel.”
Meng Xingchen, unfamiliar with the subject, asked, “What is the main purpose of smelting iron or steel now? How much do we need?”
Liang Junyi answered, “One purpose for smelting iron is to provide raw materials for making cement, which requires limestone, clay, and iron slag.
Currently, we have almost no demand for pig iron. As for steel, demand isn’t very high yet—mainly for making weapons and for building the fortified village.”
Meng Xingchen inquired, “Is building a converter very difficult?”
Zhai Yao replied, “Compared to the blast furnace, the converter has higher technical requirements. Given our current conditions, it can only be built by the river to use water power for stirring and blowing air into the molten iron.
Usually, blast furnaces require coke, but we haven’t found coal mines, so we use charcoal and aviation fuel as fuel, supplemented by fire control powers.”
Meng Xingchen said, “In that case, let’s hold off on building the converter. We’ll smelt pig iron first in the blast furnace, and have Tongtong convert it into steel.”
Page (3/3)