The next morning, before heading to the experimental tent, Kaelen brought the silk cloth Sane had brought back to Randy.

[This is fabric, woven from the silk of some kind of insect. Can you see if you can study it?]

Randy held the slightly yellowish fabric, which was much softer and lighter than the coarse cloth they were currently weaving, feeling endlessly amazed. He listened to Kaelen’s explanation about the insect silk, then passed the information down to everyone in the weaving team.

A Sub-Beast of the Manul Cat clan tilted his head slightly in thought and said, "Mie, do you find this cocoon familiar? I remember we’ve seen it before, haven’t we?"

Mie thought for a moment, then clapped his hands together with a smack. "Hey, isn’t that the bug egg sac on the red fruit tree? We often picked the fruit from that tree to eat or press for juice! But I don’t know if that kind of tree exists around here..."

Hearing their description, Kaelen immediately took a stick and drew a rough sketch of a mulberry tree on the ground, pointing at it and asking:

[Is it this tree?]

The two Sub-Beasts leaned in to look for a while, then confirmed, "Yes, yes, that’s the one. In the west of the Obsidian tribe back then, there were a few very large trees, shading a whole area."

Mie said sheepishly, "The fruit of that tree is very delicious, but it has too many bug eggs. Only a few of us dared to eat it..."

Kaelen nodded, silently calculating the prospect of planting mulberries to raise silkworms. Although the coarse cloth was already very suitable for everyone to wear while working, the fabric fibers would still rub against their bodies, causing itching and chafing. If silk could be woven, worn inside and then layered with the coarse cloth outside, this problem would be minimized. Furthermore, if they had silk, the skin of the tribe’s infants, especially the newborn Sub-Beasts, would be better protected.

In this season, the mulberry trees had long shed all their leaves; even if they went looking, they might not necessarily find them. Moreover, since Mie said the trees were located right in the west of Obsidian, a familiar terrain, why not just collect them for cuttings? There were also those "bug egg sacs" clinging to the dry branches; if brought back and kept warm through the winter, the tribe would have silkworms to raise next spring. Once Quinlan and Andre returned from scouting, if they could pass through western Obsidian undetected, he would send the scouts on another trip. There was no need to plant many mulberry trees; just bringing a few branches back for cuttings, combined with Kaelen’s ability, would be enough. When spring arrived, he would search around this area; there would definitely be some.

Having settled the silk matter, Kaelen eagerly turned and walked briskly toward the experimental tent area.

When he arrived, Theron had already been waiting there for who knows how long. Unlike his exhausted demeanor from last night, the jaguar’s eyes were now shining brightly. He rubbed his hands together, restlessly pacing around the cooling furnace wall. Seeing Kaelen approach, Theron hurriedly rushed over: 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Kaelen, you’re here! Hurry and see if it’s a success or not!"

As the one who directly used his lightning-attribute energy to create this bizarre thing, Theron was more eager to know how the final product turned out than anyone else.

Kaelen smiled, gesturing for Theron to calm down, then asked the jaguar to carry the two flat stone slabs out from inside the furnace. To avoid affecting the glass’s quality, Kaelen did not use ash or sand as a lining; however, the stone surface also had a non-stick effect, so he only needed to use a sharp knife to pry the glass off.

Clack!

A clear, crisp sound rang out, and the glass and stone surfaces immediately separated. Kaelen carefully inserted the knife’s tip while slowly lifting the glass plate. It wasn’t until the two contacting surfaces completely detached from each other that he used both hands to hold the glass plate up. It was a bit thick compared to modern glass, and the surface was not entirely transparent, still mixed with some air bubbles. However, this was already the best quality he could make.

Theron asked in surprise, "What is this thing? It looks a lot like the stone we crush to make clay, but it’s clearer."

Kaelen also didn’t know how to explain to Theron what this was, because the word "glass" did not exist in the dictionary of the Beastmen continent.

[Just call it a ’transparent plate’.]

Kaelen immediately demonstrated to Theron what the glass was used for. He walked to a fully constructed house and told the jaguar to go inside and look first. After Theron finished looking and came back out, Kaelen told the beastman to take down the house’s wooden window. Then, Kaelen personally pressed the glass plate against the window frame and jerked his chin, signaling for Theron to go back inside one more time.

Sounds of astonished gasps from Theron came from inside the house. The jaguar touched the glass plate from the inside, then ran outside excitedly:

"It’s so bright inside, as if no window has been installed yet. But you clearly used this thing to replace the window."

Kaelen smiled and nodded, carefully placing the glass plate down to lean against the base of the wall, then said: [That’s right, it is used to replace wooden windows. This way, whether it rains or snows, we can still look outside while staying indoors.]

"Is it that miraculous?" The one who spoke this time wasn’t Theron but Mossi. He looked curiously at the transparent plate on the ground, then asked Theron to demonstrate it for him again. After watching, Mossi clicked his tongue in praise:

"It really is bright. Can this thing be made with hinges to open and close like wood?"

Afraid that chiseling the glass would injure the beastmen’s hands, Kaelen said: [There’s no need to chisel it; just making a wooden frame around it will do. I will draw it out this afternoon. You can meet Uncle Cassian, and the two of you can make it together.]

In addition to the window blueprints, he could draw up plans for a greenhouse and its uses. Kaelen said to Theron:

[You choose a few people you can trust and have them help you make these transparent plates. First, make an amount as I instructed, and gradually increase it later. Remember well, only make enough and do not overdo it. You were already crippled once; I won’t be able to save you a second time.]

Once Theron could master the pressure and the heat emitted, Kaelen could also create a glass furnace, pushing the glass production volume up. Furthermore, as long as Theron grasped how his lightning-attribute ability worked, researching an electricity supply system would no longer be far off.

Theron nodded repeatedly, absolutely not daring to joke around with his own life.

Kaelen spoke a few more sentences with Mossi, then returned to the other valley and went to the papermaking area. Cassian had already begun researching the stone pestle stopper, so Kaelen didn’t bother the older beastman, only asking someone to help lift the heavy rocks pressing down on the paper pulp.

The paper pulp had been squeezed of all its water, becoming paper-thin but still possessing a certain degree of toughness. He carefully peeled off all the paper and brought it to the other side to dry. This process would take another day. Instructing the pottery kiln group to be careful not to step on and ruin his paper, Kaelen hurriedly ran over to the kaolin clay filtering area.

To filter the kaolin clay as cleanly as possible, Kaelen had come up with a method of soaking the kaolin in water to dissolve it, then filtering it through a loose-woven cloth sieve. After filtering it over and over again, he let the kaolin settle like starch, drained the water, dried it in the sun, and then ground it up.

He carefully inspected the kaolin powder that everyone had filtered, feeling it was much cleaner than the first batch. Just as he was preparing to make a new batch, Sane sent Chapman to deliver a message, telling Kaelen to quickly return to the other valley in a hurry.

Kaelen hastily dropped the work in his hands, jumped onto the snow leopard’s back, and quickly rode back. Sane had never sent someone to call him so urgently like this unless there was a truly pressing matter.

Chapman only had time to mention a few things he had seen before running off; the specifics were not very clear:

"Andre and Quinlan brought back a young Sub-Beast who is very heavily injured."

Kaelen’s heart skipped a beat.

Chapman’s speed was very fast. Before long, they reached the mountain cave connecting to the outer perimeter of Obsidian. The layer of dirt and rocks Sane had previously filled in was now cleared. Chapman carried Kaelen on his back and leaped inside. Upon reaching the narrow crevice, Kaelen quickly jumped down, crawling on his stomach to squeeze through. The metallic stench of blood and the scent of herbs assaulted his nose, making him slightly dizzy, but he didn’t have much time to think. He hastily ran to the side of Draven, who was desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Seeing Kaelen arrive, Draven hurriedly shouted, "Hurry, Kaelen, there’s too much blood flowing; I can’t stop it!"

Sane immediately ordered Quinlan and Andre to leave the area. The leader and Draven each blocked one end of the narrow crevice to keep watch. Seeing the child lying on the ground, Kaelen’s pupils instantly shrank. He quickly placed both hands on the wound that was spurting streams of blood on the little boy’s neck.

This was the child from the only Manul Cat clan family that did not migrate with Chief Jaxon’s group—Lucian. Kaelen remembered this child very well. Even though the boy’s two fathers forbade him from getting close to Kaelen, the little kid would still occasionally sneak out to follow his friends. Lucian loved lying on Kaelen’s lap so Kaelen could help him catch lice, and he let Kaelen touch his tail and ears.

Lucian, hold on! I am here, open your eyes and look at me!

The air in the cave thickened. Kaelen’s vision became blurry due to the excessive consumption of his ability, but he still tried to muster all his strength to channel energy into the child.

Amidst the air filled with the scent of flowers and grass, Draven, standing with his back turned at close range, felt slightly lightheaded. It was as if fire was running through his body, making his entire body radiate heat.

He propped a hand against the rock wall to steady his body, biting his lip tightly, not daring to make a sound that would affect Kaelen. His long ears were now also tinged with a layer of pink. A faint stream of energy from Kaelen’s position followed the crack in the stone floor, climbed up Draven’s leg, circled once, and then returned to Kaelen; the initial pale green color had become a bit darker.

Kaelen’s depleted ability was replenished again. He didn’t think much of it, only trying his best to control the ability to heal Lucian.

Thump!

Thump!

The weak heart inside the little boy’s chest gained more strength, gradually beating powerfully again. Lucian’s wax-pale face finally glowed with a hint of rosy blood, and the ferocious wound on the child’s neck slowly closed up.

Sane had always kept a portion of his attention on Kaelen. Seeing Kaelen’s body collapse, Sane quickly caught him, preventing the Sub-Beast’s head from hitting the rock wall. The other person wasn’t as lucky; Draven fell backward onto the ground with a thud, his complexion just as pale, as if his ability had just been drained dry like Kaelen’s.

"Quinlan, Andre, Chapman! Get in here quickly."

The three beastmen standing guard immediately used their beast forms to squeeze in, instantly making the space in the narrow crevice cramped. Sane assigned tasks to them:

"Chapman, you take this child to Priest Nyx. Quinlan, you run to the military camp and call Wofu to come take Draven back; Andre will stay here to guard Draven. We will assemble at Priest Nyx’s place, is that clear?"

"Understood!"

Sane transformed into his beast form and squeezed through the narrow crevice first, then carefully used his tail to pull Kaelen through. Quinlan jumped out right after, spreading his wings and soaring like a streak of golden light toward the military camp. Andre and Chapman brought Lucian through the gap together, then Chapman carried Lucian on his back, running after Sane.

"Oh, are those Sane and Kaelen? Chapman is there too? What’s going on?"

The working tribesmen were attracted by the group running for their lives. They stopped the work in their hands and craned their necks to watch.

A young beastman narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Who is Chapman carrying on his back? It looks like a child? How strange, I don’t remember him being close to the kids, right?"

A middle-aged Sub-Beast also looked over, but Sane’s group was too fast, so the older Sub-Beast couldn’t see anything. He clicked his tongue and said:

"Oh well, who cares who he’s carrying, hurry up and work. I heard there’s crispy fried water beast for lunch today; my stomach is already rumbling."

Hearing this, the young beastman wiped his mouth with his hand and asked, "Is there red-shelled water beast? I prefer eating that."

"Of course there is. When is there ever bone-spike water beast without red-shelled water beast? Work quickly, work quickly."

The whole group lowered their heads and diligently went back to work.

Over at the old Obsidian, two beastmen of the lion clan sniffed around, following the scent of blood to a patch of tall grass. One of them clicked his tongue and said regretfully:

"With so much blood, it must have been dragged away by a wild beast. What a pity, we didn’t even get to enjoy a bit of it."

"Yeah, I heard that the Sub-Beasts of the Cat clan are the softest, especially the young Sub-Beasts."

The two beastmen clicked their tongues a few times in regret, then headed back to the tribe, spouting obscene remarks as they walked. Not long after they left, a piece of tree bark nearby suddenly twitched, then slid gently down to the ground.

After reaching the ground, the tree bark once again changed color to perfectly match the surrounding flora, disappearing without a trace.