Chapter 82: Preparing to Build the Tribe!

Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Preparing to Build the Tribe!

Having acquired twenty pieces of prey without lifting a finger, Ophelia felt immensely pleased with herself. Before the sky turned completely dark, she and Tyler returned to the stone houses on the Golden Dragon Clan’s mountain. The clansmen who had recently arrived from the Snow Wolf Clan had been staying there.

"Ophelia, you’re here!" A male roasting meat over a fire in the clearing outside the stone houses looked up, pleasantly surprised.

The young females who had been chatting idly in the corridor quickly gathered around her, their eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Ophelia, what brings you here? Is something the matter?"

"My mate has saved up some prey over the past two days. I’ll have it sent over to you shortly," she replied.

The young females immediately began falling over themselves, offering to give her things in return, but Ophelia raised a hand to stop them.

"The City Lord of Ten Thousand Beasts City has already approved my application to establish a tribe. The territory has been selected as well. Starting tomorrow, you can all begin building your stone houses."

After a brief silence, the males erupted into joyful cheers, and bright smiles blossomed on the young females’ faces. Although living in the mountain’s stone houses was convenient, it wasn’t their own property, which always left them feeling a bit unsettled. Now that they could finally construct their own stone houses, they would have homes to call their own.

"Tomorrow, Tyler will take you there to familiarize yourselves with the location, and I’ll ask the Golden Dragon Clan males to help you with the construction."

As she delivered one piece of good news after another, the males grew increasingly thrilled.

Maya nodded, her amber eyes shining with excitement. "Ophelia, what will our tribe be called?"

Ophelia curled her lips into a smile. "It will be called the Fu Clan. It signifies that we will all live happily and prosperously from now on."

In her vision for the future, the tribe would gather all kinds of people from various backgrounds, unconstrained by a single identity. Since the clansmen would come from a diverse mix of Beast Clans, it wouldn’t be appropriate to name it after just one specific race. That was why she had chosen the name Fu Clan.

"The Fu Clan..." Maya repeated softly. "It’s a beautiful name."

"Yeah, absolutely! I love that name."

"It just sounds so joyful."

"I’m definitely going to pick a great spot tomorrow and build myself a massive stone house!"

The Snow Wolf Clan members—no, they should now be called the Fu Clan members—excitedly discussed matters regarding their new tribe, their hearts brimming with hope for the future.

Early the next morning, Tyler led the Fu Clan members to the residential site Ophelia had reserved for the tribe. Before leaving, he kissed Ophelia as she was drinking her porridge. "No rush, take your time eating. I’ll take them for a stroll to get a feel for the area first."

"Mhm."

After Tyler left, Ophelia finished her breakfast and brought out a piece of treated beast skin. Using a charred branch, she began sketching out some designs. She had actually gotten the idea to use beast skin as paper from Moye’s Sheepskin Scroll. She had somehow forgotten that early paper was made from animal hides before evolving into bamboo slips, rough straw paper, rice paper, and finally modern paper.

Since she was going to build a house from scratch, she wanted to draw the home of her dreams. It would have three stories, a garden, and a separate bathroom and shower.

Just as she was nearly finished with her sketch, the sound of chaotic footsteps echoed from outside the door. Laxus had arrived with ten elderly males. Though they were considered elderly, they didn’t look too old—probably only in their forties or fifties.

"Ophelia, they are all willing to help build the stone houses. See if they’re a good fit," Laxus said.

A gray-haired elderly male stepped forward, his eyes filled with hope. "Princess Ophelia, although we are old and can no longer hunt, we do have some experience in building stone houses. We hope you will consider us."

"I’m already incredibly grateful that you’ve come to help," Ophelia replied. "I don’t know if Laxus mentioned this, but I don’t have any extra prey to pay you right now. However, I will definitely provide three meals a day. You certainly won’t go hungry."

These older males could no longer hunt, but they were still perfectly capable of doing light work like building stone houses. Ophelia naturally wouldn’t look down on them.

"We don’t mind at all," the elderly male said, waving his hand. They simply didn’t want to waste away in idleness. Being able to find purpose in building stone houses, while also having their meals covered, already made them very happy.

"Alright, then let’s head over to the Fu Clan’s territory and take a look."

"I’ll go with you," Laxus quickly offered. He knew the general direction but hadn’t seen the exact location for himself yet.

Ophelia led the group toward the Fu Clan’s territory. After passing through the forest, the path ahead of them gradually opened up. As the elderly males furrowed their brows slightly, Ophelia knew exactly what they were thinking and offered an explanation.

"I plan to plant rice in the future, so I chose an area with more flat land."

"Is that so?"

Seeing that she had an explanation and noting that Laxus’s expression remained perfectly normal, the elderly males didn’t press the matter further.

When they arrived at the territory, Tyler and the Fu Clan members were already waiting for them. Ophelia pointed to a patch of land near the stream. "That area is close to a water source, and the ground is solid. I plan to build the residential zone right there."

Most importantly, the terrain there was elevated, providing an unobstructed view. If there was any movement, they would be able to spot it immediately. They wouldn’t have to worry about flooding when it rained, either. It was practically a perfect piece of real estate.

An elderly male stroked his beard. "Yes, this is quite good. It would be best to enclose the stream within the tribe’s boundaries. That way, it’ll be convenient for the clansmen to get water."

Ophelia’s eyes lit up. "Mhm, that’s a great idea."

Ophelia selected a vacant plot of about three hundred square meters. With a stream right outside the door and high mountains backing it, it was very secure. Furthermore, it was situated far enough from the designated center of the tribe to remain peaceful and quiet. She then marked out two empty patches of land beside the courtyard with the intention of growing vegetables. It truly was an ingrained trait in the DNA of Hua Country’s people—no matter where they went, they simply had to plant vegetables.

After she made her choice, the other Fu Clan members also began picking their spots, with Tyler taking charge of drawing the boundary lines to divide the land. Meanwhile, Ophelia took out the blueprint she had drawn earlier and showed it to her brother.

"Laxus, I want to build a three-story stone house."

"A three-story stone house?" Laxus and a few of the elderly males were quite surprised.

"Princess Ophelia, only experienced males from Ten Thousand Beasts City know how to build three-story stone houses. At most, we only know how to build two-story ones," an elderly male admitted honestly after a moment of hesitation.

"Then we’ll just hire an experienced male to come over and provide some guidance," Ophelia said dismissively.

She had thought she would need to figure out how to build a three-story building all by herself, but it turned out someone had already mastered the technique. That saved her a lot of trouble; she wouldn’t have to rack her brain over it anymore.

Laxus scratched his head. "They work as a team, and their asking price is one Orange Crystal Stone."

Ophelia offered a faint smile and unhooked a small Beast Skin Bag from her waist. Opening the pouch, she pulled out three Orange Crystal Stones and weighed them in her hand.

"I still have some Crystal Stones. Don’t worry, Laxus."

Laxus gasped sharply, picking up one of the Crystal Stones to examine it closely. "How come these Orange Crystal Stones of yours don’t have a single impurity?"

Ophelia feigned confusion. "Is there something different about them? These are all part of the payment the White Tiger King gave me. He pre-ordered a year’s worth of rice."

In the future, she would be shipping out massive quantities of grain from here. To avoid arousing suspicion later, she needed to lay the groundwork early.

"So that’s how it is. Klein is a Mine Master, so it’s not surprising that he has such pure Crystal Stones." Laxus easily accepted her explanation.