I am a Primitive Man

The firewood was brought in, and a fire was lit in one of the rooms of the slave quarters.

Han Cheng picked up the two smallest pieces from the pile of broken stones and threw them into the fire.

Under everyone's watch, the two green stones began to change color, turning black.

After a while, Han Cheng used a stick to scrape the two pieces of blackened stone out of the fire.

After being burned by the flames, the stones became fragile. During the scraping process, one of the pieces cracked.

Han Cheng placed the stick on the exposed stone and pressed it down lightly. With little effort, the stone broke apart.

After waiting for the broken stone to cool for a short while, Han Cheng crouched down, pinched a small piece of the blackened stone, and, with a flick of his fingers, it turned into powder.

Looking at the fine powder in his hand, a smile finally spread across Han Cheng’s face.

These green stones were malachite. Wherever malachite is found, an open copper mine must be nearby, as malachite forms from the long-term oxidation of copper in open mines.

The black powder is oxidized copper, and if heated with charcoal, copper can be extracted.

However, he didn’t do that because there was too little malachite.

Han Cheng's actions stirred the crowd around him. When he smiled, everyone around him breathed a sigh of relief and became excited.

“This stone can extract a metal,” Han Cheng announced. “It’s not as hard or sharp as iron but still very useful.”

Copper is soft and not suitable for sharp tools, but it’s excellent for making blunt weapons, as it’s easier to shape and has a toughness that stone lacks.

However, if tin or lead ores can be found, copper-tin or copper-lead alloys can be made, significantly improving the situation.

Because copper-lead or copper-tin alloys are bronze.

Bronze is hard and can be used to cast sharp weapons and farming tools.

Famous historical swords like Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were made of bronze.

Though they aren’t as sharp as steel knives from later times, they demonstrate the feasibility of using bronze for tools when steel has yet to be developed. 𝐑𝔞NỗβĘＳ

Tin ore is relatively more straightforward to solve, as tin often occurs alongside copper ore.

In fact, it makes a lot of sense that bronze appeared before steel in civilization's history because the metals needed for bronze have much lower melting points than steel.

After Han Cheng delivered this news, Shaman and the others were overjoyed.

The existence of iron knives and axes had made them keenly aware of how helpful metal tools are. Now that they heard the divine son announce that another type of metal could be extracted from these beautiful green stones to make tools, how could they not be happy?

As for Han Cheng’s remark about it not being as good as iron, they ignored it. To them, any metal was good enough.

“Where did you get these stones?” Han Cheng asked, turning to Chang Tui, who was far away.

Chang Tui still appeared somewhat dazed. No matter what, he never imagined that the stone he had used as a talisman could be used to extract metal.

He had seen metal before. The lame carpenter in the tribe carried an axe made of metal, although it was somewhat blackened.

Even though he had witnessed the lame man chopping wood with that black axe several times, Chang Tui was still amazed at how quickly he could cut.

Now, how could he not be stunned to find out that the talisman he had worn for so long could be used to extract metal?

"In... the tribe..." Chang Tui said slowly in broken Mandarin, explaining the origin of the malachite.

Han Cheng slowly began to understand.

On a mountain near the Flying Snake tribe, where plants were sparse, there were some beautiful blue waterholes. Chang Tui had found a suitable piece of malachite there. After polishing it, he tied it with a rope and wore it as a protective amulet around his neck.

In Chang Tui's recounting, Han Cheng also heard another piece of information.

That was, someone from the Flying Snake tribe had once drunk the water from those beautiful waterholes and ended up with severe stomach pain, eventually dying.

After that, they learned a valuable lesson: the beautiful water in those pits was not to be drunk.

This was the characteristic of the primitive age—much knowledge was acquired through death.

Han Cheng asked why the person drank the water from the pit. The answer he got was that the water was as blue as the sky, and some believed that drinking it would bring blessings from the gods.

Han Cheng couldn’t help but sniffle; truly, ignorance breeds fearlessness.

It was already dark when the rain, which had lasted nearly a full day, finally stopped.

The rain had ceased, but the air was still cool because it was night and the sun had not yet risen. It was the perfect time for sleeping.

At this point, Han Cheng wasn’t very tired. On the one hand, he had slept too much during the day; on the other, he was deep in thought about the surprising news he had received today.

"The shoes were worn out in search, but the treasure came without effort." This perfectly described his discovery of copper ore.

After searching everywhere for copper ore with no results, it was truly a pleasant surprise to find it right under his nose.

Han Cheng didn’t care much about the scale of the copper mine there because, given the current state of the Green Sparrow tribe, even the smallest copper mine would be sufficient.

He decided to visit the Flying Snake tribe’s lair to learn about the copper mine and wander around the area to find traces of tin ore.

Han Cheng decided after thinking about copper mines and anything related to copper.

After all, he was the only newcomer in the tribe familiar with these things, so it was his responsibility to go.

He also had to set off as soon as possible. On one hand, he wanted to confirm these matters quickly; on the other, Bai Xue would soon give birth.

He had to take care of this before her delivery and then return to the tribe as soon as possible.

No matter the customs of the time, Han Cheng knew he had to be with Bai Xue during her delivery.

It was the most vulnerable time for women and the most dangerous, even though Bai Xue, despite being pregnant, was still so agile, showing no signs of discomfort.

Another important reason was that he wanted to be there to witness the birth of his child.

This was his flesh and blood, his first child, combining both the future and the present. He didn’t want to miss such a critical moment.