I Became The Chief Of A Primitive Village

Chapter 308, Making Iron

Translator: Silavin

“Get more,” Su Bai smiled.

Magnetic Sand, or iron sand, was essential for producing iron. The more the better. Each time, only a small amount could be collected, so it would take quite a while. However, as time passed minute by minute, three hours went by, and their large wooden barrel was filled with plenty of iron sand.

A full barrel’s worth, though black, still gleamed under the sunlight.

“Shaman, we got so much!” Yan Hua poured the iron sand from her hands.

The cow horned girl’s forehead was covered in sweat, but she did not look tired.

“Is this enough?” Yu Ying was different, appearing quite exhausted.

She was not a Warrior after all. Repeatedly bending over to pick up the iron sand inevitably caused her back to be a little sore.

The fox eared girl was panting heavily, wiping away the sweat from her forehead.

“Haha…” Su Bai laughed seeing the fox eared girl’s state, “It’s enough. Let’s rest a bit before returning to the Tribe.”

He had also bent down to collect lots of iron sand, but with his Physique improving each day, he did not feel tired at all.

Hearing they could rest, Yu Ying completely relaxed and quickly ran to sit by the shore.

Yan Hua and Sha Lan remained standing in the river, enjoying the cooling flow of water past their feet. After all, with the Sun so strong overhead, playing in the water was the only way to cool down.

After resting for half an hour, everyone washed their faces in the river before preparing to return.

By the time Su Bai and the others walked back toward the Tribe, it was already half an hour later.

“Shaman, now that we’ve brought these materials back, how do we make iron?” Yan Hua asked. She crouched by the barrel, poking at the iron sand with fascination.

“Can we just squeeze these together?” Sha Lan used her Magnetic Stone to attract some iron sand.

“We still need charcoal. Once we have that, we’re good.” Su Bai added.

“Charcoal? That’s simple, the Tribe has lots! I’ll go get them now.” Yu Ying immediately said.

Yan Hua blinked her red eyes curiously, “Shaman, we just need charcoal? Is it that simple?”

“What do we do after getting the charcoal? Mix it with the iron sand from the river?” Sha Lan was also curious.

“Yes, mix the iron sand and charcoal in a 4:1 ratio. That means four scopes of iron sand and one scope of charcoal. After mixing, we will heat it.” Su Bai nodded.

“Oh, that’s simple then.” Yan Hua said.

Su Bai’s lips curved upward as he added. “This is not so simple. It is very different from making ceramics.”

“Different? Aren’t we just burning it in fire?” Yan Hua scratched her head.

“Burning wood only reaches 700 degrees, but to turn iron sand into iron requires 1500 degrees. In other words, I need the temperature to be more than two times higher than if we burn wood.” Su Bai explained.

“In that case, I don’t think we can produce a temperature that is hot enough.” Sha Lan put down her Magnetic Stone.

“We just need to heat it properly. As long as we continuously pump oxygen – that is, air – into the kiln, we can raise the temperature up to 1500 degrees.” Su Bai said.

Yan Hua nodded thoughtfully and clapped her hands, “Leave it to me! That’s simple to do!”

“It’s not simple at all! You’ll see in a moment. Let’s start the fire in the kiln.” Su Bai smiled.

After having them start the fire in the kiln, he began making a few bellows (a pump or fan system that can blow air out).

The original kiln already had many small holes, and the bellows Su Bai made also had a small hole. The hole aligned and fit perfectly with the kiln’s holes. Continuous pumping of the bellows would provide a steady stream of air.

The bellows was quite simple to make, just using an animal hide and two wooden sticks. The overall appearance was like a coin purse, with wooden sticks tied to both sides of the opening like a bag, leaving a small hole on one side.

“Shaman, the charcoal you wanted is ready,” Yu Ying’s soft announced, with plenty of black charcoal placed on the ground.

“Good.” Su Bai began mixing the iron sand and charcoal in a 4:1 ratio in a ceramic basin. Then, he placed the basin in the kiln and had people add firewood before lighting it.

*Crackle crackle…*

The fire started burning in the kiln, with the bellows blocking the surrounding holes.

Except for Su Bai, Yan Hua, Sha Lan and the others each crouched by a bellows, desperately pumping them.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…* As the bellows kept pumping, the flames in the kiln grew larger.

After over a minute, the flames in the kiln had turned bright red, but the girls were already exhausted by then.

The fox eared girl was the first to collapse, her arms too tired to pump anymore. She could only lay on the ground, sprawled while panting.

The others lasted five or six minutes at most. Their foreheads were sweating, but they were better off than the fox eared girl, who only lasted for a minute.

“I told you it wasn’t easy, right?” Su Bai smiled.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…* Yan Hua gritted her teeth and kept pumping, refusing to give up even though her arms were weak!

“When you’re tired, let others take over. We need to maintain a constant flow of air .We cannot stop.” Su Bai put his hand on the cow horned girl’s shoulder.

If he had not said anything, she would have kept pushing herself until she was completely exhausted.

The girls continued pumping for another minute before they could not move anymore and had to let others take over.

“This is true hard work. We need to keep rotating people. Otherwise, we will never be able to reach 1500 degrees.” Su Bai said.

“Shaman, how long will this take?” Yu Ying asked curiously.

“It will take quite a while. It’s very hard work,” Su Bai smiled.

They needed to pump air into the kiln for dozens of hours, so people had to rotate frequently. One group alone could not possibly sustain it.

“Making iron is really not easy…” Yu Ying kept shaking her wrists, truly exhausted.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…* Smoke continuously rose from the kiln’s top opening, and the intense heat could be felt from outside.

“Looks like it will take quite a while longer,” Su Bai turned around, “Let’s do something else while we wait.”

“Shaman, what are we making? Is it related to iron?” Yan Hua asked.

When the cow horned girl first heard it would be used to make a very powerful weapon, she had maintained focused attention. So, when pumping the bellows earlier, she was especially hardworking. It was the same as when she was collecting iron sand in the river.