Chapter 65: Cave within a cave

  With the help of Bird Feather Ape, Chen Xu quickly arranged the chaotic crowd, counted the specific number of people who merged into the tribe this time, and exercised his authority as the leader.

  After the crowd of apes accepted their fate and began to move according to his instructions, Chen Xu understood that this time the integration with the Black Rock tribe was thoroughly completed.

  All that's left is to bring them back to the Fire Tribe, and after a period of collaborative work, with a common foundation for living and emotions, they can be fully integrated, no longer distinguishing themselves from one another.

  However, before that, Chen Xu still had something very important to do. He hadn't forgotten the ultimate purpose of this trip after all. Compared to capturing these apes, finding copper mines was already a top priority for him who knew the legend of the infinite land.

  Whether it's to cope with the upcoming beast tide, or to cope with the next wave of attacks by the jungle beasts, or to prepare for rushing out of the jungle and heading towards the vast land, Chen Xu needs to quickly upgrade the combat power of the tribe.

  At this time, the short-term increase in manpower is unlikely, and if you want to rapidly enhance combat effectiveness, you can only focus on refining your weapons. The emergence of this copper mine has given Chen Xu a good opportunity.

  After arranging things in the tribe, Chen Xu and a group of apemen ate some beast meat and wild fruit, drank some boiled water, rested for a while, and after recovering their spirits, they called over the second leader of the Black Rock tribe.

  This guy's status in the Blackrock Clan is second only to the leader of the Blackrock, his muscular body doesn't look particularly robust, but his strength is extraordinary, even Chen Xu can't hold him down with one hand without using internal energy, so he knows a lot.

  Among them was the specific location of the copper mine that Chen Xu had been eager to know.

  This guy was quite aware of the situation, and had already been worn down by the Bird Winged Ape's previous attacks, then he saw the ferocity of the Fire God Tribe warriors, plus the teachings of his familiar hunting captain, this one quickly understood the strength of Chen Xu, the only doubt in his heart, after being knocked down by Chen Xu's punch, also completely dissipated.

  At this time, he and Niuzai were generally compatible, and they performed very well together, very easily. Chen Xu then got the information he wanted to know.

  Stroking the revived yellow glow of the inheritance crystal on his neck, Chen Xiang suppressed the urge to absorb it in seclusion and decided to check the situation at the copper mine first. After confirming everything and calming down, he would then absorb the crystal, which wouldn't be too late.

  He then ordered the second leader of the Black Rock to lead the way, while he followed with a dozen or so ape warriors. As for external matters, they were temporarily left to the Super Ape and the Ape General to manage. In addition, in order to prevent accidents, the clever Bird Feather Ape also gained some power to speak.

  After giving the order, Hei Yan's second-in-command slightly bowed and quickly walked into the cave under Black Rock. Chen Xu took a torch and led the soldiers to follow closely behind.

  The initial journey seemed flat, and what appeared in front of Chen Xu was a natural cave with a width of about 7-8 meters. The cave was about 6-7 meters high, surrounded by sharp-edged black rocks. Under the faint sunlight, it showed a unique luster, constantly emitting a sharp aura.

  Along the middle of the cave, a small path that had been trampled out led forward for four or five meters. On both sides of the mountain wall, many flat rocks appeared, and on top of the rocks were many withered grass clumps, with many dark burn marks on them.

  It seems this is where ordinary Black Rock Tribe people live.

  The further in you go, the more obvious are the signs of the macaques and the ancient humans who lived here. Of course, the sanitary conditions also get worse, with many foul-smelling animal bones scattered all over the place, piles of dried-up excrement blocking both sides of the mountain wall, blending with the stench of the animal bones to emit a suffocating odor.

  "My goodness, they can actually tolerate such a living environment, it's a miracle that they can live for so long in this condition. It seems that hygiene needs to be prioritized now!"

  Pinching his nose, Chen Xu walked while muttering to himself. Unconsciously, he thought back to when they had just arrived in the Stone Age and were living in a small mountain cave. It seemed that their living environment at that time was not as good as it was here.

  Now that he thinks about it, Chen Xu can't help but feel a lingering fear in his heart and doesn't understand how he managed to survive for over ten days in such an environment. Looking back, it seems like he couldn't bear it for even a moment.

  "Could it be that the leader of the Black Rock clan lives deep within this cave? Either his nose is useless or he has some weird habit!"

  Just as I was thinking about it, the spacious cave came to an end, and a new path suddenly appeared on the side with a sharp turn, while quickly shrinking to half its original size.

  But in this reduced cave, he didn't feel stuffy at all. Chen Xu even faintly felt a cool breeze blowing towards him, and the foul air that had accumulated inside the cave was gone.

  If it weren't for the fact that they had passed through a cave, due to the lighting issue, everyone's field of vision suddenly darkened, and Chen Xu almost thought they had walked out of the mountain cave and into the outside world.

  "What a great place to gather wind and hide one's aura, I suppose this must be where the Black Rock Chieftain resides?"

  Swinging the torch in his hand, Chen Xu stopped in his tracks, lit all the torches held by the apemen behind him, and only then carefully examined this small cave.

  It was unexpected that this small cave seemed to be not deep, vaguely, about ten or twenty meters long, and then there were some green rocks ahead.

  Holding the torch, he walked to the end of the cave and in front of Chen Xu appeared a neatly arranged pile of grass, on top of which were several animal hides. Judging from the appearance, this should be the bed of the Black Rock leader.

  With a glance around, Chen Xu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The leader of the Black Rock tribe's residence was indeed found, but the problem also arose - where was the copper mine? In his field of vision, everything was shrouded in flames, clearly revealing itself. To say nothing of the copper mine, not even a single strand of copper hair could be seen.

  "Is this green rock really copper ore? How can it be mined?"

  Several black lines popped out on his forehead, Chen Xu couldn't help but look at the leading Hei Yan Er Zong and shouted "Where is the copper mine? Why didn't I see anything?"

  Seeing Chen Xu's furious expression, the second leader of Hei Yan couldn't help but tremble all over and hastily pointed to the bed that looked very comfortable in front of the leader of Hei Yan, saying "Great Fire God, what you are looking for is under this pile of firewood. Originally, the leader's red copper knife was discovered here, but since then, the leader has blocked this place and no one is allowed to enter."

  Having heard this, Chen Xuan finally realized the strangeness of this place. Now standing at the end of the cave, he could clearly feel the cool breeze blowing over him constantly, and it was not his illusion. However, upon closer inspection, there were no ventilation openings around him, which made it even more strange.

  But after being reminded by Hei Yan Er's leader, he carefully investigated its source and found that the cool breeze was actually coming from this pile of firewood.

  "What a sly fellow, he actually knows how to keep secrets!"

  With a flick of his wrist, Chen Xu ordered the ape warriors behind him to move forward and clear away all these things.

  Before long, the huge pile of firewood in the cave was completely transported out of the cave, and the natural pit hidden under the firewood also appeared before everyone's eyes.

  Let Hei Yan Er lead the way with a torch, Chen Xu led the gibbon warriors closely behind, and soon they walked down the steep slope and came to a dark underground pit.

  Order the warriors to insert torches into the pit, and when the firelight illuminates the entire pit, Chen Xuan discovers that this pit is as large as a football field, with a depth of eight or nine meters from the ground.

  It turned out that at some point, the gathering place of this Black Rock tribe had become a hollow shell, with the rocks above supported by the surrounding cliffs, and the bottom had already become empty, and it was likely to collapse completely at any time.

  In the pit, rocks protrude sharply upwards, and on top of them stand towering sharp rocks. The entire underground cave has never been disturbed by external creatures, with no signs of any biological activity inside.

  Just looking at the surrounding brown-green and black intersecting rock walls illuminated by the flames, Chen Xu couldn't help but feel a hint of doubt in his heart. In this closed space, where did that gust of wind come from?

  However, at this time, the second leader of the black rock had already become excited, holding a torch and beckoning to Chen Xu, he walked forward first, and in a short while, he stopped his footsteps in the north, pointing to a corner in front of him and shouting loudly, his voice filled with excitement and agitation.

  "Is there really an open-pit copper mine?"

  Without time to feel puzzled, Chen Xu quickly took two steps forward, raised the torch and shone it into the corner. Suddenly, he felt a flash of red light in front of his eyes, and his field of vision was rapidly filled with a large amount of red light. Even with his composure, he couldn't help but exclaim out loud, the scene before him was truly beyond his expectation.

  What appeared before him was a heap of bright red metal, with faint green specks scattered around it, like a natural work of art.

  "Although copper is not very active, it can still be easily oxidized. How did such a large amount appear here?"

  Looking at the crimson metal in the corner, which was as rugged as a fake mountain, combined with the reaction of the two leaders of Hei Yan, he quickly judged that this was where the leader of Hei Yan got his copper knife. The identity of the crimson metal in front of him could be inferred, it was the rare natural red copper ore.

  "Is it really heaven's favor, what they call 'main character mode'?"

  He licked his lips, Chen Xu couldn't help but tremble and stretch out his hand, stroking the crimson-glowing copper, his eyes revealing a hint of intoxication.

  He understood that with these coppers, his future path would be much smoother. Originally, he was still worried about the smelting of copper, after all, although he had charcoal, it was still a very distant distance from producing copper, requiring a lot of time and effort, and what he lacked now was time.

  After all, with the hint of Bird Feather Ape, he understood that the days when the Fire God tribe could live a carefree life were numbered.

  But now that malachite has been discovered, everything is different; all he needs to do is have it cut down with stone axes and then make use of it.

  How could Chen Xu not be excited? But before he could even savor the thrill for a moment, what happened next made him almost pop his eyes out. It has to be said that life can sometimes be quite bumpy, with twists and turns emerging at any unexpected time. At least, this was the situation Chen Xu now faced.