"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ye Duo is really in for it now."

Qingcao suddenly spoke up from the side.

Wu Yue watched as the tribesmen dragged Ye Duo away and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

’She completely ruined her own bright future.’ Not long ago, Ye Duo had been the most popular female in the tribe with the Pure Human males.

But the mere status of a Witch Disciple went to her head.

She used to feign weakness and play the victim in front of the tribesmen, but in the end, she couldn’t even be bothered to keep up the act.

Back then, just so she could have a Beastman Warrior as her first mate, she had actually schemed to get rid of the child of that Half beastman Warrior in the cave.

Now that he wanted nothing to do with her, she was pestering him again all because she’d lost her status as a Witch Disciple. ’What’s the point?’

’If she spent that time properly cultivating her witch power to become a powerful Witch Queen, what kind of Beastman Warrior couldn’t she have?’

But everyone has their own way of thinking. Besides, her relationship with Ye Duo had always been terrible, so she wasn’t about to give her any advice.

And Ye Duo wouldn’t have listened anyway.

After dealing with the mushroom poisoning incident, Wu Yue and her group returned to their courtyard.

After teaching the slaves how to identify the different mushrooms, everyone washed them and set them out to dry.

Since the drying oven wasn’t ready yet, Wu Yue had the slaves prepare simple, small stoves to dry the mushrooms.

With all the slaves, the Beastman Warriors, and even Qingcao and Aya helping, they had only processed half of the mushrooms by the time dinner came around.

After distributing the food, Wu Yue sent the slaves back to rest.

As for herself, she washed up and began her cultivation. Perhaps due to practice, the length of time she could remain in a state of meditation was increasing.

Waking from her meditation, Wu Yue looked at the fat furball beside her, which was drooling with its belly exposed. "System, how long was I meditating just now?"

The System wiped the drool from its mouth. "Host, your meditation time today was three hours. Please keep up the good work."

Wu Yue nodded, satisfied. ’Good. At least my uninterrupted meditation sessions can be measured in hours now.’

It was still early, so she lay down in her straw bed and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Yuan Lang, who had also just finished his cultivation, frowned heavily. He stared at the three glowing beast tattoos on his arm, his deep eyes dark with frustration. "Still not enough."

But at this moment, his hands were empty.

He needed the aid of Crystal Cores to advance again, but he had already used up all the ones he’d received from the last hunt for Fierce Beasts in the deep forest.

’At this rate, hunting only once a year, it would be incredibly difficult to reach a higher Rank.’

The Beastman’s low voice faded into the cave. "I have to go again."

「The next day.」

Just as Wu Yue came out after washing up, she could already hear footsteps in the courtyard.

She stepped outside and saw the slaves skillfully processing the remaining mushrooms. Judging by the amount they had already finished, they must have been at it for a long time.

Wu Yue smiled and waved Chang Ye over. "I need a few females to help with the food. Can you recommend two?"

’With so many slaves, she’d be worked to death if she had to cook all their food by herself.’

Soon, Chang Ye brought two gaunt females to Wu Yue’s side.

They looked extremely nervous. They kept picking at their fingers while Wu Yue questioned them, and their voices trembled as they spoke.

It was just as Wu Yue had expected. The two females only knew how to make simple vegetable balls. As for stir-frying or stewing meat, the very concepts seemed to confuse them.

’Isn’t meat from a hunt meant to be eaten directly? What was this "stir-frying" and "stewing"?’

Wu Yue had only brought them over to handle the slaves’ meals. Food was relatively abundant now, so she had no intention of sacrificing her own palate.

She handed some wild vegetables to the two females, then made a simple meal for herself.

"Yue, come out and take a look, the chicken coop is done."

Teng Qian’s boisterous voice echoed through the courtyard, and Wu Yue finally remembered that she had asked him to build a chicken coop the day before.

She hurried outside to see three tall Beastman Warriors sitting on the stone bench in the courtyard, their eyes fixed menacingly on the working slaves.

The slaves, who had been working so efficiently just a moment before, were now trembling.

Wu Yue couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the sight. She walked over, grabbed Teng Qian by his Beast Skin tunic, and pulled him aside. "Stop causing trouble. They were working perfectly fine. Why are you trying to scare them?"

Teng Qian chuckled and quickly changed the subject. "Come on, let’s go see how the chicken coop turned out."

In an empty plot in the backyard, a surprisingly classical-style chicken coop came into view.

The coop before her had proper walls and a roof. If it were any larger, you could have called it a house, and the people of the tribe would be fighting to live in it.

’For some reason, Wu Yue felt like giving the Beastman Warriors a thumbs-up, especially Teng Qian.’

’This chicken coop was surprisingly high-class.’

’If the slaves saw this later, wouldn’t they get depressed?’

’Even the chickens had a place with walls, while they were still living in drafty straw shacks.’

’Even Wu Yue had to admit that if she hadn’t improved the straw huts the Pure Humans lived in, her own living conditions wouldn’t be much better than these chickens’.’

After being crammed in the baskets overnight, she had thought some of the chickens might have died.

But when she opened the baskets, not only was she nearly knocked out by the overpowering stench of chicken droppings, she was also met with the stares of many beady eyes. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

’These little guys were doing just fine. Just look at their beady little eyes—so full of life!’

For the sake of her domestication project, Wu Yue had to assign a small team of slaves to care for the chickens.

Now in a new place with dedicated caretakers to feed them, the chicks couldn’t have been happier. They were chirping so much it was like they were at a rave!

They clucked as they ran around, familiarizing themselves with their new environment.

The slaves had never known that prey, which was meant to be eaten, could actually be raised.

But... since Lady Wu Yue had ordered it, it must be the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, Wu Yue was looking at Teng Qian in shock. "You’re going to the deep forest to hunt Fierce Beasts?"

After they confirmed the chicken coop needed no further modifications, Teng Qian had broken this news to Wu Yue, taking her completely by surprise.

The heavy rainy season was about to arrive. Hunting in the deep forest at a time like this was an extremely dangerous undertaking.

"A lot has happened in the tribe recently," Teng Qian explained. "Our strength is still too weak, and we’re all on the verge of ranking up. If we don’t go now, we’ll waste the entire rainy season."

Wu Yue frowned. ’He’s right...’

For a witch, it was enough to accumulate the free-floating witch power of the world through meditation. But for Beastman Warriors to upgrade their Beast God’s Power, they needed the energy within Fierce Beast Crystal Cores to temper their bodies.

If they tried to rank up without the support of a Crystal Core, the chance of a successful breakthrough was miniscule.