11: Chapter 11 Everything is in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt

On the first day of the Bright Tribe's founding, Wang Sheng discovered that being a chieftain was far more exhausting than being a warrior.

Early in the morning, with a thin mist covering the surface of the Lingxi River, Shen Xun'er arrived carrying a bowl of Savage Beast meat soup.

Her long, jet-black hair was simply tied behind her head, and her almond-shaped eyes held a look of concern: "Eat something first; there's a lot to do today."

Wang Sheng took the bowl and gulped down two mouthfuls. When Shen Xun'er took the empty bowl back, her fingertips lingered on the back of his hand for a moment before she walked away as if nothing had happened.

Once he left the Chiefs Tent, he realized Mist Valley was in even more chaos than he had imagined. The spirit fields hadn't been plowed, the Savage Beast meat would only last three days, and they were relying on Su Mengyao's intuition to identify spirit fruits.

Sixty-two people were crammed into temporary tents; the spirit cloth woven by Pei Yanzhi barely kept out the wind; thirty-seven people had no change of clothes, and eleven had their shoe soles worn through.

"Chieftain," Shi Gen trotted over. "About the spirit fields, the soil at the bend of the Lingxi River is the most fertile. The river floods it year-round, making the soil soft."

Wang Sheng nodded: "Lead the way."

At the bend of the Lingxi River, there was a stretch of riverbank land about half a mu in size. The soil was indeed soft and fertile, and the river's current slowed down here, allowing spiritual energy to accumulate.

Wang Sheng took the spirit field blueprint out of his system space and laid it flat on the ground.

"Su Mengyao, I need your help."

Su Mengyao had been waiting. Her emerald-green side braid hung over her chest, and her jade-colored eyes were like a lake in spring.

She squatted down, pressed both hands into the soil, closed her eyes to sense it, and smiled: "The soil's spiritual content is quite good; it can be urged to grow. But the area is too large. I can only urge one-third of it at most; the rest will need irrigation with spirit water."

"Do as much as you can."

Su Mengyao pressed her hands to the ground, and emerald light surged into the soil. The riverbank land seemed to be infused with life; the soil churned, dead roots decomposed into nutrients, and the soil layer became soft and elastic.

Wherever the emerald light spread, the spirit potato seed pieces sprouted, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Beads of sweat formed on Su Mengyao's forehead, and her voluptuous figure trembled slightly from the exertion of casting the spell, her jade-colored eyes filled with joy.

Her skirt spread out on the dirt and was lifted by the river breeze, revealing her fair calves and mud-stained bare feet. She was completely unaware, focused only on urging every inch of the spirit field to grow.

Wang Sheng watched the half-mu of spirit field glowing with the emerald light of life in the morning sun, and the stone in his heart finally dropped. The spirit potatoes could be harvested in twenty days, so they wouldn't starve.

"You've worked hard." He walked over, squatted down, and handed Su Mengyao a handkerchief that Pei Yanzhi had just woven.

Su Mengyao took the handkerchief to wipe her sweat and looked up at him, her emerald eyelashes dotted with sweat beads.

Wang Sheng brushed a stray leaf from her hair, his fingertips grazing her ear. Su Mengyao's ears turned red, and she lowered her head, smiling.

"It's not hard work... I'm very happy to be able to do something for the tribe."

Good news also came from Hua Jieyu's side.

Hua Jieyu led the medical team to search for herbs along the Lingxi River. As the Hundred Herb Medical Immortal, she had a perception of plants that far exceeded ordinary people. She only needed to touch the leaves to understand their attributes, toxicity, and medicinal effects.

"This purple-stemmed leaf can stop bleeding and reduce swelling; it's called Purple Continuation Herb."

Hua Jieyu squatted by the river, her slender, fair fingers lightly touching a short plant with purple stems and leaves. Her almond eyes curved with a gentle smile, and her dimples were faintly visible.

"This one with silver-white stamens is Frost Spirit Flower. Combined with Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's Frost Spell, it can be made into an ice-poultice ointment, doubling the effect. And this one..."

Her fingertip moved to a cluster of red berries, and her expression became serious.

"Red Flame Fruit contains fire-attribute spiritual energy. Consuming a small amount can dispel cold and increase strength, but an overdose will scorch the meridians, so the dosage must be strictly controlled."

Warm Sun Warlock Wen Qingxue, who was following her, carefully recorded the characteristics and uses of each herb. The gentle light of the Warm Sun Warlock flowed from her fingertips, marking Hua Jieyu's identification results one by one.

By mid-morning, Hua Jieyu had organized a wild herb garden under the rock wall on the east side of the camp, transplanting twenty-three types of usable herbs and marking their medicinal properties and usage one by one.

She stood in front of the herb garden, looking at the newly rooted herbs with a smile in her almond eyes, as if looking at children she had settled down.

"This is enough," she said softly to Wang Sheng, her fingers twisting the corner of her clothes. "Common external injuries and colds can be treated. We can expand it later when we find more varieties."

Wang Sheng looked at her quiet and gentle appearance, feeling reassured in his heart.

Hua Jieyu was always the type of person who did things silently, never fighting or competing, but without her, the tribe would lack a pillar of stability.

"The herb garden is under your full responsibility," he said.

Hua Jieyu was slightly stunned, then smiled, her dimples deepening: "Okay."

Zheng Liuli's alchemy experiments were not so smooth.

The cave on the west side of the camp had been temporarily turned into an alchemy room. Zheng Liuli had moved a few Savage Beast bones to act as a stand, and the spirit fire danced in her palm like a lively little beast.

Her lively, chatterbox personality turned into focus at this moment. She stared at the medicinal liquid rolling in the spirit fire, her brows slightly furrowed, and a smudge of black medicinal residue stuck to her forehead.

"It burnt again!" She slapped the ground in frustration and spread her hands, extinguishing the spirit fire. A bitter, burnt smell filled the cave.

Nalan Ruo, who was watching from the side, said expressionlessly:

"The heat was too intense. The spiritual energy of the Red Flame Fruit prioritizes fire attributes at high temperatures; it burned away before it could fuse with the healing components of the Purple Continuation Herb. You need to lower the temperature of the spirit fire and refine it slowly with a gentle flame."

Zheng Liuli widened her eyes at her: "How do you know?"

Nalan Ruo glanced at her coldly, and a green flame ignited at her fingertips. The flame of the Green Fire Alchemist was nearly half the temperature of Zheng Liuli's spirit fire, but it was much more stable.

"Green Fire Alchemy is all about the word 'stability'."

Her tone was flat, and her fingertip movements were as precise as a scalpel, the spirit fire forming a green light shield above the medicinal liquid, controlling the temperature evenly.

Zheng Liuli was dumbfounded, then instantly became excited: "Nalan Ruo, you're so amazing! Teach me, teach me!"

She grabbed Nalan Ruo's arm, her voice fast and urgent.

"How do you do that Green Fire temperature control? What is the frequency and rhythm of the spiritual energy output?"

Nalan Ruo's mouth twitched. She tried to pull her arm back but couldn't break free.

Her cold, beautiful face rarely showed a hint of helplessness. Facing Zheng Liuli's sincere thirst for knowledge and chatterbox nature, even her ice wall couldn't hold up.

Wang Sheng passed by the cave entrance and saw Zheng Liuli pestering Nalan Ruo with questions. Nalan Ruo looked indifferent, but her hands were patiently demonstrating fire control techniques, two flames of different colors reflecting each other. He didn't disturb them and continued walking forward.

For the entire day, Wang Sheng's footsteps never stopped.

The spirit fields needed irrigation channels planned, and Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan used runes to reinforce the channel walls;

The temporary tents were too crowded, so Pei Yanzhi led the production team to rush the weaving of spirit cloth, her fingers flying like butterflies dancing among flowers;

Qin Luoxi added three layers of warning formations on the outskirts of the camp;

Xiao Yuqing led the combat team in training at the valley entrance, the sound of silver armor clashing and bowstrings vibrating echoing through the valley.

Every place he went, Wang Sheng could feel those gazes.

It wasn't fear, it wasn't dependence, but something more subtle.

By the spirit fields, when Su Mengyao handed him a cup of spirit flower tea, her fingertips touched his palm intentionally or unintentionally, then quickly retracted, her ears slightly red.

Beside the herb garden, when Hua Jieyu bent over to identify herbs, the fabric on her slender waist strained into a beautiful curve.

She seemed to sense Wang Sheng's gaze; when she straightened up, her face turned slightly red, and she lowered her head to pretend to organize the herbs.

At the entrance of the alchemy room, when Zheng Liuli ran out to report progress, she got too close. Her lively face had medicinal residue on it, yet she smiled brightly, her full figure leaning in front of him, her breath carrying the bitter-sweet scent of herbs.

Even the usually indifferent Frost Mage Lin Shiyun took an extra look when he passed the training ground.

Her ice-blue pupils followed his back, her silver-white hair blown by the wind, and her figure under the mage's robe was exceptionally tall and slender in the sunlight.

Murong Xue put away her long spear nearby, bumped Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's shoulder, and whispered something with a playful smile.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's face flushed red, and she turned and left, the frost aura freezing Murong Xue until she laughed out loud.

The system's thirty percent attraction didn't make the women lose their minds; rather, it was like a breeze, planting seeds of "wanting to be close" in their hearts.

Every time their eyes met, they lingered an extra half-second; every time they brushed past each other, there was a little more palpitation; every time they were cared for, their heartbeats accelerated.

Those changes were subtle but firm, like the spirit fields Su Mengyao urged to grow; silently and imperceptibly, tender shoots had already sprouted.

Zhao Linger was the most undisguised. In the evening, she ran to find Wang Sheng carrying a large bundle of spirit vines. Her petite body hung in the vines like a small beast caught in them, her baby face full of pleas for help: "Chieftain! These spirit vines are too heavy, I can't move them, help me!"

Wang Sheng took the spirit vines, and Zhao Linger's hand naturally rested on his arm, refusing to let go. Her soft body pressed against him, the curves of her devilish figure pressed tightly against his arm through the thin clothing, and she looked up with a sweet smile: "Thank you, Chieftain~"

Shen Xun'er walked by, her jet-black hair fluttering in the evening breeze. Her almond eyes swept over Zhao Linger's hand hanging on his arm, and the corners of her mouth curved—not in anger, but with the composure unique to a primary wife. She naturally linked her arm with Wang Sheng's other arm: "Chieftain, it's time to inspect the spirit fields."

Zhao Linger widened her eyes: "Sister Xuner, you..."

"I will have someone come to collect the spirit vines." Shen Xun'er smiled and "led away" Wang Sheng. Zhao Linger stamped her feet behind them, her baby face puffed up like a pufferfish.

At nightfall, in the Chiefs Tent.

Wang Sheng sat by the fire pit, with a map woven from spirit silk by Pei Yanzhi spread out in front of him. The terrain of Mist Valley, the location of the spirit fields, the distribution of water sources, and the coverage of the warning formations were all clearly marked.

Shen Xun'er sat opposite him, her jet-black hair draped over her shoulders, the warm light of the spirit stone reflecting on her skin, which was as smooth as congealed fat.

She held the spirit cloth list and checked it item by item: "The spirit cloth reserve is enough to make twenty sets of change-of-clothes, with priority given to the combat team and the medical team. The spirit potatoes are expected to be harvested in twenty days, which, combined with the Savage Beast meat, will temporarily alleviate the food shortage. As for herbs, we have a complete set of common trauma medicines, but we lack high-level antidotes. Currently, Savage Beast poison can only be handled by grinding crystal cores for emergency use."

Wang Sheng listened while marking the map, his brows sometimes smoothing out and sometimes furrowing.

When Shen Xun'er mentioned "lacking high-level antidotes," he looked up at her:

"Shi Gen said there is a type of jade heart herb in the depths of the Savage Beast Forest, which is a top-grade medicinal material for detoxification. Once the spirit fields and herb garden stabilize, I will lead a team to harvest it."

"That's too dangerous." Shen Xun'er put down the spirit cloth list and looked at him with serious almond eyes. "There are at least Rank 5 Barbarian Warriors among the Savage Beasts in the depths of the Savage Beast Forest. You are only a Rank 2 Barbarian Warrior."

"That's why I need to become stronger." Wang Sheng held her hand, his thumb rubbing her knuckles. "If this tribe wants to survive, just defending is not enough. We must go out, obtain resources, and improve our strength."

Shen Xun'er was silent for a moment, then pressed his hand against her cheek and rubbed it gently: "Then go. But you must promise me that every time you go out, you will come back in one piece."

Wang Sheng looked at the light of the spirit stone reflected in her almond eyes and her undisguised concern, feeling a warmth in his heart. He reached out to brush away the stray hair from her forehead, his fingertips grazing from her eyebrows to her temples.

"I promise you."

Outside the tent, the sound of the Lingxi River water gurgled. The moonlight shone through the skylight of the tent, casting a layer of silver gauze over their clasped hands.

The first full day of Mist Valley had come to an end. Everything was waiting to be restored, but the Bright Tribe already had a foundation, a direction, and people willing to fight for it.