There’s no need to smash it at all! 

While he was roasting the sand, he saw Zhuo Mu standing beside him, holding a walnut in his hand. With a single squeeze in his palm— 

Crack! 

The walnut split open! 

And this was a tough mountain walnut, not some flimsy shell! 

Wen Ze was so shocked that he forgot to stir the sand in the pan. 

Fortunately, he hadn’t added the pine nuts yet, or they would have burned. 

After cracking the walnut, Zhuo Mu looked down, brushed aside the broken shells, and said calmly, “I used too much force. This one is crushed too finely—I’ll eat it myself.” 

Then, he sifted out the shattered shell and put the walnut pieces into his mouth. 

Taking another walnut from the basket, he focused seriously and squeezed again. 

Crack! The shell shattered into four pieces, revealing two intact halves of the walnut inside. 

Under Wen Ze’s watchful gaze, he discarded the shell and held out the walnut to him. 

“This is for you.” 

Wen Ze was momentarily stunned before breaking into a smile. 

So the good ones were saved for him, huh? 

“No need, you two eat first. I’ll focus on roasting the pine nuts,” Wen Ze said. 

“Just eat. I’ll keep cracking them.” 

Seeing Zhuo Mu insist, Wen Ze didn’t refuse. Using the hand that wasn’t holding the wooden spatula, he took the walnut, and popped it into his mouth. 

“Mmm! So fragrant!” The raw walnut had an intense, natural aroma, rich in oil yet not greasy. The more he chewed, the better it tasted. 

As expected, nuts had a deep, satisfying taste! 

Zhuo Mu smiled faintly and continued cracking walnuts beside him. 

The perfectly shelled walnuts—some went into Wen Ze’s stomach, while the rest were placed in a clean clay bowl, set aside for roasting later. 

As for the ones that didn’t come out whole, Zhuo Mu ate them himself. 

Yin He found the walnut cracking interesting and decided to give it a try. 

However, his strength wasn’t as great, so he had to use both hands and even clenched his teeth while squeezing. 

When he finally cracked one open, he excitedly held up the walnut bits and proudly said to Wen Ze, “Brother, look! I cracked one too!” 

At first, Wen Ze praised him, “Not bad! You’re pretty strong!” 

But the praise got to his head, and he ended up ruining more than a dozen walnuts in a row. 

Wen Ze felt a pang of heartache and quickly suggested, “Uh… maybe you should just use a rock to smash them instead?” 

While eating the walnut pieces that Zhuo Mu handed over, Wen Ze continued talking. Meanwhile, the fine sand in the pot had been heated thoroughly. 

He picked up the prepared syrup beside him and decisively poured it into the hot sand with a whoosh, immediately stirring it rapidly. 

This syrup was made from the honey of the yellow fruit. Since they weren’t short on sugar at home for now, he was able to use it so generously. 

At this stage, he needed to focus. 

He stopped eating walnuts and kept stirring without pause, his eyes locked onto the pan. 

The moment wisps of caramelized sugar smoke rose, he quickly grabbed the pine nuts in the clay basin and poured them in. 

With a few vigorous stirs, the pine nuts were soon mixed evenly with the hot sand. 

To ensure even heating, he kept stirring non-stop for the next few minutes. His arm began to ache, and his face turned red from the effort. 

Seeing this, Zhuo Mu stopped cracking walnuts and reached out. “Let me take over.” 

“Hoo…” Wen Ze didn’t bother wiping the sweat dripping down his forehead. “This batch should be almost done. It’ll be ready soon.” 

A few minutes later, he scooped up a steaming hot pine nuts from the sand, blew on it, and popped it into his mouth. 

“Hiss—hoo—so hot!” 

Luckily, his teeth were strong. Even though the pine nut was large and had a hard shell, he easily bit through it, skillfully extracting the shell with his tongue before chewing. 

“Mm! It’s done! Any more and it’ll be overcooked. Zhuo Mu, can you help me lift the pot out?” 

“Alright.” 

Zhuo Mu used a piece of animal hide as insulation and effortlessly lifted the stone pot, placing it on the ground. 

Wen Ze used the woven grass sieve he had made earlier to filter out the sand, leaving behind the dry, slightly blackened, and crisp pine nuts. 

“They’re still very hot, so be careful when eating them. I’ll start roasting the next batch.” 

Yin He rushed over. “Got it!” 

Following Wen Ze’s instructions, Zhuo Mu roasted another batch of plain pine nuts and then used the same sand to make a salted version. 

Three full piles of roasted pine nuts were placed in front of them, filling the air with a rich, nutty fragrance that made Wen Ze’s mouth water. 

Plopping down on the ground, he grabbed a handful of sugar-roasted pine nuts and grinned. “Time for a proper taste!” 

Crack, crack! He munched away like a squirrel, happily breaking the pine nuts shells until they were scattered all around his feet. 

The batch of nuts from the Snow Sea Tribe was of exceptional quality. Each pine nut was larger than any sunflower seed he had eaten in his past life, with plump, fragrant kernels inside. 

After finishing a small handful, he commented with a smile, “They’re really fragrant, but the sugar flavor didn’t fully soak in. Next time, I’ll soak them in sugar water before roasting.” 

Yin He switched between sweet, salty, and plain pine nuts, occasionally munching on some walnuts, thoroughly enjoying himself. 

With a satisfied expression, he said, “Brother, I think they taste amazing already! I’ve never eaten so many nuts so freely before!” 

In his excitement, he even let out two bear-like grunts. 

Zhuo Mu also nodded. “I think they taste great—really fragrant. But you can make them however you like.” 

Seeing how fully supportive the two were, Wen Ze became even more motivated. His mind raced with ideas for different recipes. 

Then he thought of yogurt and sighed. “Ah, too bad the yogurt didn’t ferment properly. It would’ve been perfect with nuts.” 

Zhuo Mu: “…” I spent all night distracting you from that, and now we’re back to this again. 

A faint smile flashed in his eyes, and he said warmly, “Keep trying, you’ll get it right eventually.” 

Yin He was too focused on eating to catch their conversation, but he still chimed in loudly, “That’s right!” 

Wen Ze burst into laughter. “Right about what? Did you even hear what we were talking about?” 

By now, it was already late at night. The embers in the stove were still glowing, and the temperature outside had dropped significantly. 

But as the three of them sat around the fire, eating the hot and fragrant stir-fried pine nuts, the warmth spread from their hearts, flowing through every part of their bodies. 

*** 

The next morning, after finishing breakfast and completing their household chores, the three of them got ready to head to the tribe’s altar square. 

Zhuo Mu reminded, “We’ll be staying at the pottery kiln for a long time today. Make sure to bring extra water in your water pouch.” 

Wen Ze replied, “Got it.” 

Every morning at home, they would boil a large amount of water, setting some aside to cool down for drinking. 

After getting used to this habit, they no longer drank raw water from outside. 

In addition to the water pouches they usually carried; Wen Ze found two more inside the cave. 

He opened one and held it up while Zhuo Mu poured water from a basin into it. 

The two worked together seamlessly, and soon, only two pouches were left unfilled. 

Wen Ze casually picked one up, opened it, and was about to pass it to Zhuo Mu when his nose suddenly twitched. 

“Hmm? What’s that smell?” 

The scent came from the water pouch in his hand—it had a slightly sour and faintly alcoholic aroma. 

Zhuo Mu also turned to look at the source of the smell and asked, “What was stored in there before?” 

Wen Ze brought the pouch closer to his face, took a glance inside, and then poured out some of its contents. 

A thick, milky-white substance with tiny bubbles came out… It looked suspiciously like over-fermented yogurt. 

“Did you put milk in this before?” he asked Zhuo Mu. 

Zhuo Mu thought for a moment. “I think so. At first, we used these pouches to store milk.” 

Wen Ze nodded. “Right, but later we switched to using buckets.” 

Zhuo Mu sighed, “Looks like we forgot to wash it after using it, and now it’s gone bad.” He reached out his hand. “I’ll go get some water to clean it.” 

“Wait, wait,” Wen Ze quickly stopped him. “This smell doesn’t seem like it’s spoiled.” 

To confirm his suspicion, he grabbed a clean chopstick, dipped it into the white substance in the bowl, and put it in his mouth. 

Whoa! So sour! And there was a faint hint of alcohol! 

Somehow, the milk had sat in the pouch long enough to naturally ferment into yogurt! 

“It’s not spoiled at all!” Wen Ze said excitedly. “Zhuo Mu, this is going to be really useful for me!” 

His attempt at making yogurt yesterday had failed, and he had been worried about it—but now, he had a ready-made starter! 

With fresh milk and this yogurt, he was confident he could successfully ferment a new batch! 

Hahaha, what was that saying? You try to plant flowers, but they won’t bloom; yet a willow tree grows in the shade without effort! 

Since they were busy firing pottery today, he temporarily set the pouch aside, storing it in his space for later. 

The three of them hurried toward the tribe’s altar square. 

By the time they arrived, the small square was already packed with people. 

They didn’t try to squeeze inside, but familiar faces kept coming over to chat with Wen Ze. 

With a smile, he reached into the pouch slung across his chest, took out a handful of fragrant pine nuts, and handed them over. 

“I roasted these myself. Have some.” 

Nuts were a rare and valuable treat anywhere, especially pine nuts, which were particularly troublesome to gather. 

The pine nuts Wen Ze offered were large, plump, and had an intense aroma—clearly high-quality. 

Sang Hui examined them closely and asked, “These aren’t from our territory, are they?” 

Wen Ze grinned and nodded. “No, I made an exchange with the Snow Sea Tribe.” 

Sang Hui remarked. “Makes sense. Their tribe is well-known for good nuts and pear fruits.” 

Wen Ze looked curious. “Pear fruits?” 

“Yeah, they’re a kind of pear with spotted skin. When they ripen in autumn, they taste average, but after freezing in winter, they become sweet, refreshing, and incredibly delicious. You know how everything freezes in winter, and there’s barely any fresh food? That’s why several nearby tribes go to the Snow Sea Tribe to exchange for pears.” 

Wen Ze nodded, taking in the information. 

“Then have you ever thought about exchanging some fruit trees and planting them in our territory?” 

Sang Hui chuckled. “We tried, but pears grown outside their land always turn out small and sour, so everyone gave up on the idea.” 

Standing nearby, Bai Ling spat out a pine nut shell and said, “Don’t be fooled by how much colder the Snow Sea Tribe’s winters are compared to ours. Every autumn and winter, they exchange their nuts and pears with other tribes and make a fortune in supplies.” 

Wen Ze thought to himself—no wonder the Snow Sea Tribe could thrive in such harsh conditions. 

Sang Hui took a handful of pine nuts and passed more than half of them back to Wen Ze. 

“I just wanted to taste a few,” he said. 

Wen Ze knew that he was being considerate, thinking the pine nuts were rare. But for him, sharing food with friends is where the real joy lies. 

Pushing Sang Hui’s hand back, Wen Ze smiled and said, “Uncle, I exchange a lot with the Snow Sea Tribe. Just enjoy them.” 

“Besides, I was hoping to ask for your help with something.” 

Sang Hui immediately asked, “What do you need? Just say it.” 

Wen Ze explained, “The foundation for my house is already done, and I’ve gathered about half the wood I need. After we finish firing this batch of pottery, I want to start making clay bricks to build the walls.” 

Sang Hui nodded in understanding. “Ah, the clay bricks you mentioned when you cleared the land? I remember they’re made from red clay and straw, right?” 

“Yes,” Wen Ze confirmed. “These materials aren’t hard to find—the real challenge is pounding and shaping them.” 

Sang Hui waved a hand. “That’s no problem. With so many of us, we’ll get it done quickly.” 

Bai Ling chimed in, “Exactly! We’ll all help out!” 

“Great! Then I’ll thank you all in advance! And when it’s done, I’ll treat you to something good!” Wen Ze said enthusiastically, pulling out two more handfuls of pine nuts to share with them. 

He continued handing out pine nuts to the adults, saying similar things to each of them. 

Meanwhile, the scent of roasted nuts had already drawn a group of little ones around him. 

Like a walking treasure, Wen Ze used the fragrant, sweet pine nuts to win them over. The kids cheered, each one exclaiming, “Brother Wen Ze, you’re the best! We love you!” Even when their parents came over, they had to wait their turn. 

The adults couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. 

The fluffy little bear cubs were irresistibly cute, and Wen Ze took the chance to ruffle their fur as much as he could, feeling instantly recharged. 

Yin He, feeling greedy, had brought some pine nuts with him when he left home. 

Now, acting like a little team leader, he used them to gather a whole bunch of cubs around him. 

While the adults worked in groups to collect clay and shape pottery, Yin He led his group of little helpers like a proper boss. 

The group carried various types of clay to the empty space near the kiln and began molding them carefully. 

And since this was the first time the tribe was using a kiln to fire pottery, it was a significant event, and everyone in the tribe was involved. 

However, the space inside the kiln for placing pottery is limited, so each household can only shape one or two pieces of pottery. 

Wen Ze made a pickle jar, while Zhuo Mu made a bowl to cover the jar. 

After placing the pottery, it was still early. Most people left, leaving only the core members of the tribe, including Wu Ye, Sang Hui, and Zhuo Mu. Wen Ze was tacitly included with them. 

They stacked the firewood and lit the fire. The kiln quickly heated up, and warmth radiated from the mountain. 

Wu Ye tilted his head back for a long time, his unsettled gaze revealing the excitement and nervousness in his heart. 

He sincerely said, “May the Beast God bless us.” 

The firewood burned from day to night before gradually dying down. 

The scorching kiln then cooled from night until morning. 

During this time, Wen Ze took a moment to work on yogurt. 

He boiled everything at high temperatures to sterilize the utensils, 

Then, he heated the milk and added the yogurt starter. 

Since he had to sleep, he simply left the mixed milk in the cave, covered it with leaves, and let it ferment naturally. 

The yogurt in the pouch was an excellent fermentation starter, and he didn’t use it all. 

He carefully stored the rest and put it back into his space. 

The next morning. 

Sang Hui led a group to check the mountain’s heat and announced to the gathered tribe members, “The kiln can be opened!” 

A wave of cheers erupted from the crowd. 

Wen Ze didn’t rush to open the kiln with everyone else. He silently stood at the front of the crowd, watching as the kiln was opened and the pottery pieces were brought out one by one. 

After several rounds of work, all the fired and unfired pieces were placed in an open area. 

A few careful half-beastmen moved through the pottery, quickly counting them. 

Finally, after verifying their numbers, they determined that 321 pieces had been successfully fired. 

This number was like hot oil splashing into boiling water, instantly setting off an uproar in the crowd. 

“Beast God! We actually fired 321 pieces!” 

“How many pottery pieces did we put into the kiln?” 

“Almost 400!” 

“Firing over 300 pieces at once, that’s really good!” 

“Exactly! It’s much better than pile burning!” 

Hearing “over 300” sounded impressive, but Wen Ze calculated the loss in his mind and frowned. 

The firing success rate of the Rainbow Sun Tribe’s kiln was significantly higher than theirs. 

“What about the quality of the pottery? How does it compare to pile firing?” he asked. 

This time, Sang Hui personally went to check. 

He picked up a few pieces, tapped them lightly, and carefully examined them inside and out. 

Seeing his serious expression, someone immediately asked with concern, “Sang Hui, how is it? Don’t tell me we went through all this effort only for it to be worse than pile burning!” 

Sang Hui gently set down the clay bowl and shook his head with a smile. “It’s better than pile burning, but compared to the pottery fired by the Rainbow Sun Tribe, the difference is huge.” 

Immediately, voices of disappointment rang out. “How could this be?” 

“Didn’t we learn this kiln-building method from the Rainbow Sun Tribe? Why is there such a big gap?” 

“Sigh, after all that effort to fire the kiln, and this is the result?” 

Actually, if people hadn’t had such high expectations, they might have been pleased with the pottery, which was better than pile burning. 

But now, the disappointment was overwhelming. 

Instead of celebrating, many people lowered their heads and complained unhappily. 

The somber mood quickly made the atmosphere heavy. 

“What’s wrong with this result? Isn’t it still better than before?” Suddenly, a deep yet authoritative voice came from behind the crowd. 

Everyone turned their heads in surprise. “Leader, you’re here!” 

The elderly leader, Yi Yan, leaned on his cane and slowly made his way through the people who stepped aside for him. He stopped beside Sang Hui and turned to face the crowd. 

He tapped his cane on the ground and spoke sternly, “When we used pile burning, could we fire this many pieces at once? All we did was spend a few days building a kiln and a day gathering firewood, yet you act like it was such tiring work. Was it harder than hunting or gathering supplies?” 

As the most respected elder in the tribe, his words immediately woke everyone up. 

“The tribe leader is right. We were thinking about it the wrong way,” someone said with shame. 

“Yes, the Rainbow Sun Tribe has been firing pottery for years. They’ve become the strongest tribe in the region because of it. We only fired a kiln once—of course, we can’t compare to them yet.” 

“Let’s figure out what went wrong and improve it.” 

“That’s right! Like Wen Ze said, we’re not afraid of failure! Besides, this doesn’t even count as failure!” 

“Having our own kiln is already a great achievement. We’ll definitely be able to fire high-quality pottery in the future!” 

Yi Yan’s deep gaze swept over the crowd. Finally, he smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction. 

“Alright, everyone, get back to work. Leave these pots here, and we’ll take a closer look at what went wrong.” 

Most people left, while Wen Ze stayed behind with Zhuo Mu. 

Wu Ye quickly walked up to Yi Yan and asked in a low voice, “Father, how is your health…” 

Yi Yan waved his hand, signaling that now wasn’t the time to talk about it. 

“Come, let’s all take a look.” He gestured to everyone. 

Wen Ze stepped forward and, following Sang Hui’s example, inspected a few pieces. His gaze fell on some broken shards in the corner. 

He picked up one of the pieces and tapped it with his finger, saying, “Huh?” 

The shards were quite hard, but they had tiny air holes, so they made a muffled sound that was oddly familiar, though he couldn’t quite remember where he’d heard it before.

“What is it?” Sang Hui and the others asked. 

Wen Ze handed the shard over. “Why does this feel like it wasn’t burned or blown up?” 

Before Sang Hui and the others could figure it out, the well-experienced Yi Yan spoke up.  

“That’s right.” 

Everyone immediately looked at him. 

“When firing pottery, we use intense heat to dry out the moisture inside the clay. This type of breakage happens when the moisture escapes too slowly, causing the piece to crack before it has fully hardened.” 

Wen Ze suddenly understood. “No wonder there are so many holes inside.” 

Zhuo Mu asked Sang Hui, “Are there many pieces like this?” 

Sang Hui replied, “Not many, just a small portion. I’ll bring people to repair the ventilation passage there later.” 

Seeing Wen Ze reaching out to him, Sang Hui handed the shards back and continued discussing how to improve the kiln with Yi Yan and the others. 

From shaping the pottery to repairing the kiln, everyone shared their thoughts. Wu Ye even suggested that, if nothing works, they could ask the people from the Rainbow Sun Tribe to come and take a look. 

Only Wen Ze, holding the fragments, muttered, “Firing pottery, hard, full of tiny air holes, with slow evaporation of moisture…”

He was certain—absolutely certain—that he had seen something similar before. 

It felt like the answer was right on the tip of his tongue. 

“We’ll fire it again. If it still doesn’t work, we can ask someone from the Rainbow Sun Tribe,” Yi Yan said. 

Sang Hui replied, “Alright. Let’s change the kiln first according to what we just discussed.” 

Wu Ye nodded. “I’ll inform the tribe so they can help move the pottery.” 

Zhuo Mu added, “Then I’ll take Wen Ze back first.” 

Hearing his name, Wen Ze snapped out of his thoughts. 

His pickling jar hadn’t fired properly, but Zhuo Mu’s clay bowl had turned out fine. 

At that moment, the tall, stern man approached him while holding the bowl in his hand. 

Sang Hui waved at them. “Wen Ze, once you decide when to make the clay bricks, come find us!” 

It was like a jolt of electricity ran through Wen Ze’s mind—suddenly, everything became clear! 

“I’ve got it!” he exclaimed excitedly. 

Everyone’s eyes instantly turned to him. 

Sang Hui asked, “Got what?” 

Wu Ye was just as eager. “Did you figure out how to improve the pottery firing process?” 

“Ah…” Wen Ze scratched his cheek. “Well, I do have an idea about that, but I didn’t just think of it now.” 

“What idea?” Yi Yan’s tone was full of encouragement. 

Wen Ze said, “Has anyone ever ended up with charcoal when burning wood?” 

Sang Hui responded, “Of course. But what does that have to do with pottery?” 

Wen Ze explained, “Charcoal burns longer than regular wood and produces more heat. So if we replace the firewood in the kiln with charcoal, the pottery might turn out even better.” 

Whether it was modifying the kiln or using charcoal, the goal was the same—to increase the firing temperature. 

If the temperature was high enough, they might even be able to produce porcelain. 

Of course, this was all just theory. How it would actually turn out in practice remained to be seen. 

After finishing his explanation, he quietly observed the others. 

Their expressions shifted—from blank stares to shock, then to sheer joy. 

Yi Yan was the first to break the silence, his face flushed with excitement. “Great, great, great! This is an excellent idea! I think it’ll work!” 

The others chimed in. “Yes! I feel the same!” 

“Wen Ze, you’re amazing!” 

Sang Hui grinned at him. “You had such a great idea—why didn’t you say it earlier?” 

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