I Became The Chief Of A Primitive Village Chapter 241: Making Cement from Wood Ash

*Crack, crackle…* The flas in the kiln burned ever more vigorously, and the large pile of dried grass was quickly consud.

After each batch of dried grass was completely burnt, the wood ash from the bottom of the kiln would be collected and placed in a wooden barrel.

After more than an hour, over ten barrels of wood ash had been placed beside the kiln.

“Shaman, all the dried grass has been burned, and the ash has been collected.” Yan Jiao reported.

“Have a group of people prepare so water, as much as possible. Fetch it from the storage tank.” Su Bai instructed as he stepped forward and reached into the wooden barrel to examine the ash. Fortunately, the perfectly burned ash contained almost no charcoal.

“Yes.” Yan Jiao imdiately had the slaves continue fetching water.

After about ten minutes, the slaves brought over more than ten barrels of water and placed them beside the kiln.

Su Bai said nothing. He just demonstrated what to do first, putting one barrel of ash together with one barrel of water.

He added all the ash from the barrel into the water, then took up a wooden stick and began stirring, trying to mix them as evenly as possible.

Yan Jiao and the fox eared girl stood quietly to the side, watching Su Bai stir with curiosity.

After mixing the wood ash and water thoroughly, Su Bai slowly lifted the barrel and began draining out the water. It was to drain out the potassium carbonate-containing water from the wood ash mixture, leaving behind insoluble calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate paste.

These two substances were the most important components for making wood ash cent. Without these two things, wood ash cent could not be made.

After Su Bai had slowly drained all the water from the barrel, he examined the paste inside to ensure it t his requirents.

After confirming it was what he wanted, he began grabbing handfuls of wood ash paste. He squeezed them tightly to remove any excess water.

He repeated this action several tis until he had properly processed all the wood ash in the barrel.

Yan Jiao looked at the balls of wood ash paste on the ground and curiously asked, “Shaman, is this cent now?”

“Not yet. I would still need to process it so more. I need soone to start the fire in the kiln.” Su Bai instructed.

Making wood ash cent was not that simple. They still needed to heat it until it glowed till a hot yellow.

The Chieftain knew nothing about these things, so he just followed Su Bai’s instructions. He imdiately had people continue fueling and lighting the fire, before putting all the wood ash balls inside the kiln.

*Crack, crackle…* The fire in the kiln burned fiercely, and the wood ash balls slowly began to glow yellow.

“Good. Now, take out all the wood ash balls and let them cool down.” Su Bai instructed.

“Yes.” The slaves nodded in acknowledgent.

After about ten minutes, when the ash balls had completely cooled, Su Bai put them into a new barrel of water.

He let the balls slowly dissolve in the water, then used a wooden stick to stir them.

This ti, Su Bai took out a barrel of sand and crushed stone, which he had them prepare earlier. These were important binding agents for the cent.

He gradually mixed the dissolved ash balls with the fine sand and stones, then began stirring.

At first, because there was not enough crushed stone and sand, Su Bai added a bit more and continued mixing evenly. After about ten minutes, all the ash balls and fine sand had mixed together, making the product look quite similar to the cent he rembered.

Next, Su Bai took two stones. He spread a good amount of the cent on the face of one stone, then placed the other stone against the cented surface.

After ensuring both stones were stuck together with cent, he went to wash his hands clean.

“Shaman, is the cent finished now?” Yu Ying asked, still really curious.

“It might look complicated but not too difficult to replicate. Is this paste for building houses?” Yan Jiao asked, puzzled.

He had watched all the steps, from start to finish. Aside from being confused as to why this or that was done, he had no other thoughts.

“Let’s wait for now. A whole afternoon would be best. If these two stones don’t separate, then we can say that the cent has been successfully made.” Su Bai explained.

Yan Jiao crouched down and curiously looked at the two stones. He examined them with great interest, red pupils full of questions. Though, in the end, he resisted the urge to touch them.

Ti passed minute by minute, and the Sun was setting in the west. The stones had been baking in the Sun all afternoon.

Su Bai ca back to the two stones and reached out to touch them. [Great! The stones had bonded together.]

He picked up the combined stones and said with satisfaction, “I didn’t expect to succeed on the first try.”

To be extra careful, Su Bai threw the two stones on the ground to see if they would imdiately break apart. Fortunately, they maintained their bond.

To be even more certain of success, he also put the two stones in water to see if the wood ash cent would dissolve.

The result proved positive as the two stones remained firmly bonded together, with no signs of dissolving in water.

“Great! Now, we can conclude that it has been a true success!” Su Bai nodded with satisfaction.

Yan Jiao watched all this unfold, and was quite shocked to see the two stones were still tightly bonded together.

He composed himself and asked, “Shaman, is this cent? It’s amazing!”

It was his first ti seeing two stones stick together with no Shaman Technique involved.

“This is cent, a magical tool for construction.” Su Bai explained with a smile.

“I thought it was Shaman Technique! Wow!” Yu Ying exclaid in surprise, her pink pupils blinking non-stop.

“This is the power of nature and science. No need for Shaman Techniques.” Su Bai smiled.

Yan Jiao kept staring at the two bonded stones, his red pupils full of amazent.

He kept holding the two stones and examining them, constantly muttering about how miraculous it was.

The others were equally entranced, watching intently, their respect for Su Bai growing even stronger in their hearts.

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