The next morning, Kaelen dropped by the place of Priest Nyx, Cael, and Elian.

Compared to when they just woke up yesterday, their spirits were much better today.

His two friends kept hugging Kaelen tightly, crying non-stop. Nyx also had tears in his eyes, holding his hand and patting it. It could be seen how much they had worried about him.

Kaelen sat and ate breakfast with them, chatted for a while, then went to the land reclamation area. Cassian was present very early, helping everyone repair their farming tools. Mossi was putting his head together with some Striped Tiger and Mouse clan beastmen, seemingly discussing digging an irrigation ditch.

"Kaelen, come here quickly, is this edible?"

Susan waved his arm, calling Kaelen over to his side, holding out a plant with many small tubers the size of bird eggs. Kaelen focused his special ability on his eyes, examining the strange white fruit. Seeing only a bright green color, Kaelen shook his head: [It’s poisonous.]

"He says it’s poisonous, throw it away quickly. Kaelen, look, these vegetables look very tender, are they edible?" Sorin came carrying a heaping pile of weeds, placing it in front of Kaelen. Kaelen rummaged through the pile, and indeed found purslane and dandelions, which were edible. Sorin and Susan immediately took the sample plants and told the Sub-Beast group to pick out only these two types.

There were actually quite a few types of edible wild vegetables on this wasteland. The beastmen went first, using pitchforks to turn over the soil; the Sub-Beasts followed behind, picking up rocks and grass to put into baskets, then carrying them together to the compost pit and dumping them in. This pit was dug by Mossi and some Mouse clan members; after all, they had done it before back in the Obsidian tribe. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The warrior beastmen group split into half to go into the magical beast forest to hunt and gather strange plants, while the other half was responsible for guarding the tribe. Regular beastmen and Sub-Beasts divided themselves into groups to reclaim land, forage, and gather beast manure, decayed leaves, etc.

Everyone was busy; Mie watched anxiously. He also wanted to contribute something.

Seeing Mie like that, Randy burst out laughing and said: "You can’t do those jobs yet. If your hands and feet feel idle, come over here and help us strip grass fibers."

And so Mie joined the fabric-making team.

While it was a busy scene on this side, things were also very tense on Sane’s side.

"Right here, I smell the strongest sharp scent right here." A Curved-Horn Goat clan beastman and an Antelope clan beastman constantly sniffed the ground, not missing even the places with hard rocks. These two clans were very sensitive to salt, so when going to look for the salt mine, Jaxon had called them to follow.

Collins tensely told Barton and Anthony to dig where the two of them had just pointed, the dark circles under his eyes unable to hide his anticipation. Two tigers, one red and one white, stuck their rumps in the air as they dug. After digging down about half a person’s height, each of them came up with a sparkling crystal in their mouths, placing them on the grass. Even though it was so salty in their mouths that their tongues cramped, both of them didn’t dare to swallow, afraid the salty taste would wash away.

Jaxon took a deep breath, picked up a crystal, and without minding that it was covered in his son’s saliva, stuck out his tongue and gave it a lick. Collins asked softly: "How is it?"

"Priest, it’s very salty, it is definitely salt."

Joy flashed across everyone’s face; the two Goat clan beastmen continuously tapped their hooves on the ground to express their excitement. Collins said:

"This matter absolutely must be kept secret. Every time we boil salt, we just need to secretly come and take a few chunks. Barton, select a trustworthy group to stand guard here, say that this side is a dangerous swamp, and don’t let anyone get close."

At this time, Sane spoke up: "Kaelen said that eating this salt directly like this is not good for our health; it’s best to refine them first. He knows how to do it, let’s go back and discuss it further."

"Alright."

Everyone came stealthily and left stealthily; no one knew this place hid a heaven-shaking secret.

At the same time, Kaelen was being carried on the back of a Striped Tiger clan beastman, followed by several beastmen of the Obsidian tribe. The reason they left the farming area was that this Striped Tiger beastman had accidentally discovered that on the right side of the valley, there was a larger valley, even more fertile than their current location.

Kaelen liked this place at first sight. The terrain on this side was much higher than the other side, and the soil was all loam. There was also a river running across it. The river on this side didn’t flow as rapidly as the river near their current settlement; the water was clear and blue, and there were also many fish. The valley was surrounded by gently sloping cliffs, offering excellent drainage. He also discovered a lot of surrounding bamboo, feeling incredibly familiar. If they built brick houses in this place, nothing could be better.

The other side of the river was also a rich land, with a familiar hollow. Kaelen told a tribesman who had participated in making bricks before to jump to the other bank and try digging the soil in that hollow to see if it was the clay they used for firing bricks.

This beastman immediately leaped over, dug around for a while, and immediately scooped up a layer of familiar dark yellow clay, shouting: "Kaelen, there really is clay used for firing bowls here!"

The corners of Kaelen’s mouth couldn’t help but curl up, and he waved his hand: [Let’s go! Let’s go back and report the news to everyone.]

He had made up his mind: the new tribe would be in this place, and all the houses would be built with bricks!

When Sane met Kaelen, his body was covered in the scent of another beastman. The large snake was extremely displeased; without giving his Sub-Beast time to report the good news, he hugged him and took him away to mark his territory. When Kaelen returned, his mouth had been kissed until it was red and swollen. Everyone let out good-natured teasing sounds; Kaelen blushed and secretly pinched Sane’s waist. This pinch was neither painful nor itchy to the thick-skinned beastman; the stinky young snake grasped his hand instead, kissing it a few times.

"Ahem." Jaxon coughed softly, saying sternly: "Kaelen, today we indeed discovered a salt mine. However, this matter cannot be revealed; in your opinion, what should we do?"

Kaelen thought for a moment, then said: [We can mine an amount of rock salt at the salt mine, then take it to another secret location to refine. This is also what I wanted to tell everyone; we discovered a place perfectly suitable for living. There are also raw materials for making fired pottery there.]

"Re... Really?" Collins was hit by one piece of news after another until he was dizzy. He felt that ever since meeting Kaelen, their Crimson’s luck had increased a hundredfold.

[That’s right.] Kaelen took a wooden stick, found an empty spot in the tent, and began sketching out his plan on the ground: [First, use the newly discovered place as a secret location for firing pottery and making salt. Next, we need a team with good house-building skills, like Grandpa Mossi of the Badger clan, to build houses here. Once built, move the tribesmen over there to live, and this side will be changed into a place for growing yellow tubers and making salt...]

Everyone squatted on the ground, observing each drawing and symbol on the ground, the more they looked, the more they admired Kaelen’s organized methods. At this time, Sane beside them spoke up:

"Previously, you all intended to go pick up people of other clans from the other side of the magical beast forest, right? Now that the tribe has so many secrets, we can’t just casually accept anyone, otherwise, we will end up in a situation like the Obsidian tribe."

As soon as he spoke these words, Jaxon sheepishly rubbed his nose. He truly had never thought of this matter; he just didn’t think that much right now. He was truly not a qualified Chief.

Collins thought for a moment but still couldn’t think of a good strategy, so he sent someone to invite the oldest beastman in the tribe here. When this tiger beastman arrived, Sane recognized him as the old man who had stood up to offer his opinion at the meeting the night before. After hearing everyone explain the dilemma, the old beastman tapped his fingers on the table, thinking for a long time. Only then did he speak slowly:

"I have a proposal like this. We will bring them back, but not let them join the tribe immediately. Let them stay on the grassland where we used to live, providing them with a meager amount of food. Then, arrange a job for them, saying that this is a test bestowed by the Beast God for everyone who wants to join the Crimson tribe. During this process, ’carelessly’ reveal a few of the tribe’s resources, then secretly observe them; those with malicious intentions will definitely expose themselves immediately."

The group suddenly realized: so it could be done like that. Worthy of being someone who had lived through many generations of Chiefs; his insight was always more thorough than their younger generation’s. For the second half of the meeting, the old beastman participated with them, occasionally giving some sound proposals. Throughout the process, he also secretly observed each person’s capabilities and temperament, keeping them in mind.

After the meeting, the old beastman spoke privately with Collins, giving his overall assessment of each person. Barton was too straightforward, not good at hiding his emotions. Jaxon was truly a failed leader, acting indecisively in everything. Among them, he was only satisfied with Sane and Kaelen.

"Kaelen is very smart, and moreover, very good at winning people’s hearts, but he is too kind-hearted, unsuitable to take on the role of a leader. If the tribe absolutely must have a Chief, I advise you to consider Sane. This kid’s mind is meticulous; when it’s time to be soft, he’s soft, and when it’s time to be ruthless, he’s very ruthless. I can see his latent potential. What he lacks, certainly, is experience."

Collins also nodded, saying: "To tell you the truth, I also had this intention. However, they just arrived and haven’t had much interaction yet; I’m afraid the tribesmen will not be satisfied."

"That’s why he needs to be polished. After all, I used to be the teacher for the first three generations of Crimson’s Chiefs. From now on, you just let that kid follow me; I will teach him what I can teach."

"You have worked hard." Collins bowed deeply to this old beastman. At his age, he should logically be resting and playing with his descendants, yet he still had to constantly bustle about and worry for the tribe bit by bit. Collins felt that even if he lived a few hundred more years, he still might not be even a fraction of the person in front of him.

The old beastman waved his hand. He felt that the day of returning to the Beast God’s embrace was not far away; whatever help he could give the youngsters was good enough.

He hoped that before closing his eyes, he could see Crimson step onto the pinnacle, revered by ten thousand people.