Chapter 3: Bronze
Eagle People live among the mountains, dwelling on them for generations, greatly favoring cliffside locations.
They carve out caves around the mountain peaks using stone tools for their residences.
Gao Man Mountain is merely a common small mountain in the ancient Felland World.
And the rumored Eagle People Royal Court resides on a majestic tall mountain named “Heavenly Mountain”!
That is a vast and magnificent tall mountain, with tens of thousands of Eagle People residing on it; it is the ancestral court of the Eagle People, and the Eagle People of the Gao Man Mountain Tribe also originated from there.
After Jiang You became the Clan Chief of the Gao Man Mountain Tribe, he began to improve the living environment of the Eagle People.
Although the stone caves were safe, after many generations of Eagle People living in them, the smell inside was very difficult to bear, and hygiene had always been a problem.
First year.
He ground stone axes, cut down trees, and led his clansmen to build dozens of wooden houses and wooden beds within a year, which became their new residences.
The original caves, fitted with wooden doors, made excellent storage places.
The Eagle People's wooden houses had two doors, one on the roof and one near the cliff, for convenient access.
After building the wooden houses, he gathered the clansmen again to dig a pit and carve a pond in the center of the tribe, to serve as a source of drinking and daily water.
Jiang You would arrange for clansmen to specially fetch water every day.
Then, he used wooden walls to encircle the cluster of wooden houses, and thus, a small village was formed.
The wooden house village might be slightly less secure than the caves, but as Jiang You looked at the village before him, for the first time in this wild land, he felt the breath of civilization.
At this, his heart found peace.
Second year, winter.
Jiang You led the Eagle People youths to take advantage of the heavy winter snow to find and kill several hibernating black bears in the Whispering Forest.
His strength and skill had grown, and he himself changed into bear skin clothes.
It was very warm.
Third year.
Jiang You discovered a Demonic Beast to the east of the Whispering Forest.
Fortunately, this Demonic Beast was a deer-type Demonic Beast; although strong, its temperament was considered gentle, and it stayed within its own territory, which put Jiang You and the others at ease.
But his desire to obtain extraordinary power grew even stronger.
Fourth year.
When Jiang You led the hunting party out hunting, chasing wild oxen, he flew three thousand meters further west.
Here, he discovered an open-air copper mine!
This filled him with unexpected joy!
Copper!
This was something that could allow them to transition from the Stone Age into the Bronze Age.
If they had copper tools, the strength of the Gao Man Mountain Tribe could be greatly enhanced.
But soon, an Eagle People youth on patrol flew in from further away, telling him that there was a Snake People tribe here.
The Snake People are also a subordinate race of the Titan Giant.
However, they and the Eagle People have been at War for generations, their living areas intertwined, and they have been natural enemies since ancient times!
In ancient times, before the four-legged eagles evolved into Eagle People, they often captured and ate the ancestors of the Snake People, the two-legged snakes.
But when they almost simultaneously received the gifts and enlightenment from the Titan Giant and evolved into intelligent races.
The Eagle People's suppression of the Snake People disappeared.
The Snake People have stronger reproductive capabilities, and they are skilled in using bows and arrows.
Although the Eagle People have the advantage of flight, their eagle claws are too sharp, which does not support them well for archery.
Otherwise, a type of soldier that can shoot arrows in the sky, even if they are just ordinary mortals without extraordinary power, would have a great advantage.
After a moment of consideration, Jiang You's desire for copper overcame his concern about the Snake People tribe.
He pondered and asked.
“Liang, how many Snake People are in that Snake People tribe, and are there any extraordinary Snake People?”
“Clan Chief, I didn't look closely.”
Liang awkwardly rubbed his head.
“It's alright, we'll go take another look.”
Jiang You did not blame him, after all, it was difficult for an Eagle People youth to have such awareness; discovering the Snake People tribe was already quite good.
He took a team of Eagle People youths into the air, and after flying a few miles, they indeed discovered a small Snake People tribe beside a small river.
Jiang You circled and observed from the sky, realizing that this small tribe was actually in a similar situation to theirs.
Years of War had exhausted their Origin Qi, and the tribe was basically made up of the old, weak, women, and children.
That's right, the Snake People's survival rate on the battlefield is even worse than the Eagle People's; they are cannon fodder among cannon fodder!
However, the number of Snake People in this tribe was slightly more than that of the Gao Man Mountain Eagle-Man Tribe, with about three hundred Snake People living there.
Jiang You decisively decided to annihilate this Snake People tribe.
So that night.
Jiang You led the battle-ready clansmen of the Eagle People tribe, and under the cover of night, while they were asleep, annihilated this small Snake People tribe.
Afterward, they mined copper and smelted bronze.
Jiang You knew some of the simplest ancient copper smelting methods from his previous life, and after several attempts, he successfully refined bronze.
Fifth year.
After a year of accumulation.
Almost every battle-ready Eagle People in the tribe had a piece of bronze equipment.
With bronze equipment, they could hunt larger and more ferocious prey.
Even some weaker Demonic Beasts, Jiang You and others dared to test them if they encountered them.
The clansmen mostly used bronze spears, while Jiang You forged a bronze sword for his own use.
Sixth year.
As the tribe's bronze reserves increased, Jiang You took the excess bronze and cast a large bronze tripod!
From then on, food could always be cooked in the tripod.
Later, some other bronze utensils were also crafted.
Bowls, basins, pots, spoons, and so on.
Only at this point could Jiang You declare that the Gao Man Mountain Tribe had left the Stone Age and entered the Bronze Age.
They were more civilized than most races in the Felland World.
Seventh year.
Jiang You was 16 years old, considered an adult among the Eagle People race.
His physique became more upright and agile, and his wings became tougher and more powerful.
This year, in order to face the impending War, Jiang You began to cast armor from bronze!
Because the Eagle People have wings, their backs are difficult to cover with armor, and to maintain light flight, the armor should not be too heavy.
Jiang You only cast armor plates for protection on the chest, arms, and head.
More than a dozen sets of this simple bronze armor were made, to be worn by Jiang You and the strongest Eagle People in the tribe.
They were all companions who grew up with Jiang You, like brothers.
As time passed.
This autumn.
As golden autumn leaves fluttered.
The envoy from the Eagle People Royal Court arrived as scheduled!