Chapter 790: Wax?

"I am not very certain about this either. The Chinaberry Trees over there are still quite large, but I found that the quantity is really not too high, and they are scattered very thinly. However, since their territory is so vast, they should not be lacking in them."

Baifeng shook his head: "Things aren't calculated that way. It's not just us who need to use them; the Xuanyuan Tribe needs to use them, our descendants will need to use them, and every tribe of the entire human race will need to use them as well. Those wild tribes might not have anything to do with us right now, but what about in the future? We still have to have some ambition, right?"

"Forget it, I will discuss this with Xuanyuan tomorrow. For such important things, they can plant Tea Trees, and they can also plant Chinaberry Trees; just consider it a cash crop. In any case, those barren lands are of no use anyway."

Changle did not dwell on this issue with Baifeng any further. Since his father could resolve it, he would not participate much. His status and ability had not yet reached the level where he could discuss such matters with Xuanyuan; even if he took the initiative to discuss it, Xuanyuan might not necessarily acknowledge him.

"Is it just this one? Are there any others? You were there for so long this time, you must have found other things, right?" Baifeng pushed the Chinaberry Tree specimen further away on the table.

"Yes, yes, I will look again." Changle was also excited and had neglected it.

Having already found one very useful thing, Baifeng was very content now. Even if the subsequent things were of no use at all, he could accept it calmly. How could there be so many good things in the world falling into his hands?

Sure enough, Baifeng did not recognize any of the few specimens Changle took out again, and from every aspect, they did not look like they could have any use. Regarding this, Baifeng had only one sentence: "Send them to the Ministry of Medicine and let them study them further. I cannot see anything here."

Changle naturally felt a little disappointed inside, but for him, this was already the norm. Yulong felt incomparably anxious in his heart because the direction of things seemed to have gone off track. Did the two brothers really come here just to have their father identify these flowers and grasses? Was Changle too focused on his own affairs and had forgotten the main purpose? He should have followed the lead and spoken according to his own ideas, but he did not dare to interrupt.

Changle took out a specimen that he had specially marked on a piece of paper while outside: "Oh, this one, Father, I feel the seeds of this thing are a bit special. You take a look; this might have some use."

"Oh, is that so? Let me take a look." Baifeng took the paper package with interest, but upon opening it, there were only a dozen small white seeds; there was nothing special about them, and he had never seen them before either.

But since Changle said they were special, it shouldn't be as simple as it appeared on the surface. As soon as he touched them, he immediately noticed something wrong: "Hey, Changle, did you coat this thing in wax?"

Changle smiled and said: "Father, what I meant by special is exactly this. The wax wasn't coated by me; it is there by itself. I feel that its exterior is just like having a layer of beeswax. I am thinking, if it really is a layer of wax, then if we boil it out, wouldn't we be able to have more wax? Candles would become more common. The yield of this tree's seeds is particularly large; a whole tree is covered in them."

Baifeng used his fingernail to scrape the wax on the seed and felt that it really could be scraped off. With no other tools at hand, Baifeng had no choice but to pull out the Small Knife he carried with him, use the tip of the blade to pierce a seed, and then place it over the flame of the Oil Lamp.

The seed immediately crackled, just like the feeling of a candle wick popping.

"Hey, interesting, interesting." Baifeng suddenly patted his head and said: "That's right, why didn't I think of that? The ancients used so many candles, and the price wasn't high, but beeswax is a very precious thing. If there wasn't some other convenient place to obtain it, how could everyone be able to use candles? This is a viable project, a viable project."

Yulong suddenly interjected: "Father, what ancients? Which tribe is that?"

One sentence disrupted Baifeng's train of thought. This meant he had to make up a story again, but Baifeng didn't want to explain too much, so he said casually: "People from the past are called ancients. After we die for a few hundred years, the people living in the future can call us ancients. When a person dies, it can also be said that they have 'become ancient'—it's a bit more elegant."

"Then you said the ancients also used candles; were there already people using candles before us?" Yulong persisted.

"As for that, you combine it with what I told you today and think about it slowly. I won't say much more." Baifeng gave a perfunctory reply.

Since his father didn't want to talk, Yulong had no choice but to give up and stop asking.

Baifeng was able to pick up the conversation: "Changle, how many of these seeds did you bring back? It can't just be these few, right? Did you try them out at the Xuanyuan Tribe?"

Changle pointed to a large bag in the corner: "Father, I had prepared such a large bag in advance, but the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe, in order to prevent the seeds from leaking out, smashed them all. There are only these few left, and it was only after I pleaded with them that they let me keep them. They have also guessed by now and feel that this fruit might be very useful."

"I haven't done the experiment yet; the Xuanyuan Tribe doesn't have the conditions for it, so I brought them back, prepared to do it here. Once it's successful, we can purchase them in bulk from the Xuanyuan Tribe."

Baifeng was very satisfied. Although it was not certain whether wax could really be extracted, Changle's ideas were completely correct, and the results were also very significant. This trip Changle took to the Xuanyuan Tribe was very worthwhile. He hoped that Changle could bring back more good things from the Xuanyuan Tribe in the future.

Baifeng wrapped up those few seeds: "Alright, I've seen them. I'll talk to Xuanyuan about the rest tomorrow. Do you two have anything else? If not, hurry up and go get some rest."

Both Changle and Yulong found it hard to speak; they didn't know how to bring it up. They hadn't used the items to bridge the topic earlier, and now speaking so directly felt a bit too blunt.

Of course, Baifeng was just teasing the two children. He had already made up his mind: "Alright, stop worrying blindly. I won't go to Kongtong Mountain; I will stay in Huaxia. That kind of thing about becoming a god is too ethereal, and besides, apart from the 'Knife', I know other methods."

"Besides, if I really wanted to know what the 'Knife' is and how to become a god, couldn't I just ask Xuanyuan directly? And since Xuanyuan is willing to take me with him, it shows that what Guangchengzi will teach is not that important. Otherwise, how could Xuanyuan tell such a good thing to an outsider like me? He should tell no one at all; that would be the right thing to do."