But he is a wanderer, temporarily having no connection with the Vine Tribe.
The young wanderers got anxious. They wanted to speak up to plead, asking Jiang Xuan to let the old man stay.
However, the old man once again reached out to stop them and walked over to Jiang Xuan himself, saying: "Chief Xuan, I can make stone tools. I won’t eat for free."
"Yes, yes, Chief Xuan, Grandpa Blackstone makes very beautiful stone tools."
The young wanderers echoed, striving to tell Jiang Xuan how good and durable the stone tools made by the old man named "Blackstone" were.
Jiang Xuan asked in surprise: "Are you a Stone Artifact Master?"
Old Blackstone asked the young wanderers to put down two beast hide bags, untied the bag openings, revealing a large amount of stone tool polishing equipment inside.
Such as stone hammers, stone nails, stone chisels, stone drills...
Jiang Xuan felt his eyes widen, having never seen so many professional stone tools before.
The Vine Tribe’s stone tool crafting was simply crude smashing, beating, then vigorous grinding.
Someone equipped with such a large number of tools was incredibly rare.
Jiang Xuan suddenly realized that the tribesmen in this world had existed for a very long time. Although still in the primitive age, they had accumulated much technology and experience.
For instance, witch doctor techniques, skills in polishing stone and bone tools, etc., far deeper than he imagined.
The Vine Tribe is currently lacking these professional talents.
Noticing this heap of professional tools and the thick calluses on Old Blackstone’s hands, Jiang Xuan immediately said: "The Vine Tribe can temporarily shelter you, but whether you can join will depend on your performance."
"Thank you, Chief Xuan, for taking us in."
Jiang Xuan’s words let the young wanderers breathe a sigh of relief. The old man’s expression was relatively calm, obviously having experienced a lot and becoming quite composed.
"Let’s go, follow me."
Jiang Xuan led these seven wanderers into the forest, proceeding along a specific route. Passing the Cage Vine area, they even crawled through a tunnel.
On this journey, at Jiang Xuan’s casual directions, these wanderers saw numerous terrifying traps and horrific plants.
This made them very grateful for not recklessly venturing in.
When they emerged from the forest, a vast expanse of farmland came into view, where many Vine Tribe members worked.
More than a hundred houses, of various sizes, neatly arranged.
Most astounding was the enormous Divine Vine winding around Stone Mountain and the giant dragonflies that occasionally flew by, stirring up fierce winds.
They were shocked to find this small tribe was unlike any other tribe, feeling incredibly powerful.
Old Blackstone, upon seeing the Vine Tribe, was finally moved as well. Though not large in scale, it was definitely the most unique tribe he had ever seen.
Jiang Xuan took them to a newly built empty room on the right side of the tribe and said to them: "You will stay here for now. Rest today; food will be delivered. Work starts tomorrow."
"Additionally, atop Stone Mountain is our Vine Tribe’s Guardian God. Remember, you must not offend the god, or you will be expelled from the tribe."
The wanderers nodded, indicating they understood.
Jiang Xuan then said to Old Blackstone: "Old man, if you can show me your stone polishing skills, I will consider letting you live alone in a house, allowing you to focus on stone tool making without needing to do other work."
Old Blackstone nodded without hesitation and said: "Sure, but I’ll need to select a piece of stone material first."
Jiang Xuan instructed Nan Xing: "Go get some good stone materials!"
Nan Xing, accompanied by two Warriors, immediately ran to the Vine Tribe’s stone material storage, picked out several stones of varying sizes, and delivered them to Old Blackstone.
Jiang Xuan said: "Old man, now that we have stone materials, can you demonstrate your stone tool polishing skills?"
Old Blackstone squatted on the ground, selected a palm-sized flat stone, and said: "Polishing large stone tools takes a lot of time. Since Chief Xuan wants to watch, I’ll polish some arrowheads."
Jiang Xuan found a wooden stump to sit on beside him, preparing to watch how Old Blackstone polished stone tools.
Old Blackstone opened the two beast hide bags and then took out a stone hammer, a rather rough stone, and several tools Jiang Xuan couldn’t understand the function of.
"Chief Xuan, can we start a fire in the fire pit now?"
Jiang Xuan nodded: "Of course, Nan Xing, go get some firewood and tinder."
Nan Xing immediately brought people to a nearby inhabited house, collected tinder from the fire pit, and brought a pile of dry firewood and bamboo.
Then, they started a fire in the fire pit in the center of the room.
The young wanderers also eagerly came to help. Starting a fire was a familiar task to the tribespeople, and most could do it well.
Old Blackstone carefully rubbed the palm-sized stone material, observed the patterns on it, then threw the stone into the fire pit to burn.
Watching the stone in the fire, he explained to Jiang Xuan: "This stone material is quite hard. Striking directly would break it into pieces. It’s difficult to chip useful stone flakes."
"Burning it with fire makes it a lot easier."
Jiang Xuan nodded, remaining silent, motioning for him to continue.
Old Blackstone used an end charred yet very hard wooden stick to occasionally turn the stone in the fire.