Chapter 351: What a Big Pot!
“Roar?!”
The male Fire Dragon that had fallen quickly ascended again, warily eyeing the Flame Empress Dragon.
“Roar?”
The Flame Empress Dragon growled lowly, her line of sight shifting to the Flame King Dragon.
Jié Jié blinked, then rubbed against Nana, making her body carry his scent. He then gestured with his claw toward Iron Pot, signaling for it to descend.
Iron Pot hovered cautiously in the air, curious about the relationship between the two Sunfire Dragons, before slowly descending, hesitantly and carefully.
Jié Jié ignored its protests, getting dangerously close—beyond safe distance—which made the Fire Dragon somewhat tense.
His body rubbed against the Fire Dragon’s, transferring his scent onto it, then turned back to look at Nana.
Jié Jié marked one Male Fire Dragon.
Nana clearly understood his meaning and stepped closer to Iron Pot.
Iron Pot hid behind Jié Jié but was pushed out by the Flame King Dragon’s wings, giving him a pitiful glance.
The Flame Empress Dragon arrived, sizing up the Male Fire Dragon. She fluffed her wings, releasing powdery dust that marked Iron Pot.
Though she’d never done this before, from now on, she would remember this Male Fire Dragon as a companion.
“Hmm, isn’t this good? Let’s prepare the meal, huh~”
Jié Jié nodded contentedly as roaring flames enveloped the Savage Jaw Dragon. As a fire-attribute beast dragon, the Savage Jaw Dragon needed strong flames.
And Nana, watching the flames biting into the Savage Jaw Dragon, leaned in and blew flames too.
Iron Pot shrank back at the surging firelight but summoned heat within himself, wanting to join in.
The flames of the two Sunfire Dragons crossed, nearly carbonizing the Savage Jaw Dragon’s corpse until Jié Jié quickly reduced the flames, patting Iron Pot’s head to signal he should just watch.
Nana stopped blowing flames and stared at them.
“You keep going, but smaller flames! Smaller!”
Encouraging Nana to continue, Jié Jié used his claws to remind her to control the heat while cutting into the meat to check its doneness.
“Good! It’s cooked! It’s cooked!”
Satisfied with the roasted Savage Jaw Dragon meat, Jié Jié transformed into a Sky Dog Beast. His long tail stood upright in the air, and shiny powder sprinkled all over the meat.
Nana approached, standing on her hind legs to try and grab the seasoning, but he blocked her with one hand.
After sprinkling the seasoning, Jié Jié took the prime position to start dividing the meat.
Nana ate quickly, her gaze darting around until it landed on the meat in front of Iron Pot.
Iron Pot silently shielded the meat with his wings, blocking any looks.
“There’s more, don’t rush.”
He handed another piece of meat to Nana, watching both her and Iron Pot enjoy their food, growing increasingly pleased with his own craftsmanship (in the physical sense).
In no time, the Savage Jaw Dragon was reduced to only a third of its original size. After eating, it was time to work!
Digging a pit on the ground, they spread a layer of lime and powdered charcoalized bones as seasoning, then added Yanque Stones found during the second phase of exploration, which were said to increase metal strength.
The two Sunfire Dragons sat on either side of the pit, filling it with surging flames, causing the blue Yanque Stones to turn red and show signs of melting.
Jié Jié walked into the flames, physically pressing down on the melting Yanque Stones, embedding their molecules together to forge a large iron lump.
Despite several attempts under the fiery glow, the large iron lump didn’t behave well and wouldn’t shape into what he wanted.
He wanted to make a pot—a really big pot—and it was much harder than tinkering with that frying pan.
That frying pan was simply forged into an iron disc, surrounded by iron strips, satisfying the needs for roasting and stir-frying.
But such a frying pan would leak water; the iron strips and the iron disc weren’t a single unit. The big pot he wanted to make was for cooking soups and couldn’t leak.
A mold was needed, but where could he find one? The pot he envisioned would be considered a smelting vat even for humans.
Jié Jié pulled out the scorching hot iron lump and began pondering how to create a mold.
Before the Iron Age, wasn’t it the Stone Age?
He looked around and found a large rock, pushing it over.
He also needed a pestle.
Reheating some Yanque Stones, he pressed them into an iron rod. Transforming back into a Sky Dog Beast, he gripped the iron rod and repeatedly struck the rock, carving out a mortar.
Gradually deepening, expanding, and polishing the mortar, it finally resembled the shape of a big pot in his mind.
This mortar became the outer contour of the pot, the rock becoming the mold—or perhaps could double as the pot itself.
But he wanted to leap straight into the Iron Age! How could a stone pot handle high-temperature ingredients!
Decisively inserting the iron lump into the mold, he called Nana to help heat it from the mouth of the mortar.
The cooled iron lump softened again, and Jié Jié gradually squeezed and forged it to fit snugly against the inner lining of the stone mortar.
It worked!
“Crack!”
Before he could rejoice, the stone mortar shattered under immense force.
No problem; he hadn’t expected success on the first try. Looking at the iron lump that already showed the curve of a pot’s exterior, he confirmed its feasibility—that was success!
Transforming back into a Sky Dog Beast, he searched for harder rocks, one after another. Each mortar shattered, but the Yanque Steel pot gradually took shape amidst the rubble!
Adding a strip of iron as a pot holder afterward, Jié Jié grabbed the still scorching hot pot and threw it into the water.
Steam rose as the Yanque Steel pot reflected metallic luster underwater.
Pulling out a whetstone, he vigorously polished off the excess material on the pot’s exterior, revealing a smooth blue Yanque Steel gloss.
Looking at the interior, because it was pressed with claws, there were countless Flame King Dragon claw marks inside.
Ancient Dragon claw imprints—bonus points!
Jié Jié tentatively pressed the pot, then violently slammed it against a rock.
“Bang!”
The rock shattered instantly, but the pot remained unscathed.
Made entirely of Yanque Steel, even craftsmen would call it a waste of talent, and it could even serve as a weapon for Queen Mantis—reliable!
Watching Jié Jié transform repeatedly, holding the pot and flailing wildly, Nana and Iron Pot didn’t understand but had nothing better to do. Watching their husband/father busy somehow infected them, making them feel less bored.
But Jié Jié, having neglected sleep and food to craft this pot, had been underground for a long time. All the meat from the Savage Jaw Dragon had been eaten up.
Iron Pot looked at the Savage Jaw Dragon meat cleaned up by the Flame Empress Dragon and shed tears of委屈 (grievance) at the corner of its mouth.
It recalled the times living with its father in the Lava Field. The meat caught there would be roasted by its father.
Got it!
Before leaving to hunt for food, Iron Pot glanced once more. Its father was now transformed into a monstrous bug-like creature, holding the round object he forged, looking at it.
For some unknown reason, it suddenly felt a dull ache in its skull.
Chapter 352
