When Li Ye and Yellow Leopard came to ask Yu Su for help, Yu Su was planning to assist Jian Yunchuan.
"Lord Yu Su, let us help too," Li Ye volunteered.
Yu Su: "Well... you've already helped us a lot."
Li Ye: "Our teacher told us before we came not to rush back. He said to help as much as we can."
Yellow Leopard added, "We all have great strength; we can work quickly."
Without further hesitation, Yu Su let them join the team from Yu Village to help with the road construction.
...
After finishing the tasks in the fields and cotton fields on the Great River Plain, the village chief and River Qing took care of overseeing them. Yu Su didn't need to worry about these matters anymore.
After instructing others to help with the road, Yu Su went to see the results of Lu Yan's horse taming.
The taming of the barbarian horses went smoothly. Lu Yan first found a group of wild barbarian horses in the northern wilderness. With the pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, these barbarian horses all submitted without resistance.
Including the Horse King, they brought back more than thirty barbarian horses.
These horses were temporarily kept in a pen near the slave camp. When Yu Su came to see them after finishing his tasks, he found that the quality of these barbarian horses was excellent.
They were well-fed, robust, agile, and of large breeds.
"Very good." Yu Su patted the back of a horse and asked Lu Yan, "How fast can they run?"
Lu Yan: "Quite fast. Want to try?"
Yu Su nodded.
Lu Yan released a few barbarian horses and let them run. Once they felt Lu Yan's urging, they immediately sprinted, kicking up dust in the process, and soon disappeared from sight.
Yu Su watched with surprise, "They run really fast."
This batch of barbarian horses ran much faster than the few barbarian horses Yu Yong and the others had accidentally formed a contract with. Horses from this era couldn't compare to them.
If used as a means of transportation, it would significantly reduce travel time.
After a whistle from Lu Yan, the horses that had run far away obediently turned around and ran back, obviously having been tamed by Lu Yan.
When they got close, they even nuzzled Lu Yan affectionately, showing that they really liked Lu Yan.
Yu Su, watching them, felt delighted. After interacting with them for a while, these barbarian horses also nuzzled him affectionately, indicating that they liked Yu Su as well.
Seeing that they kept nuzzling Yu Su, Lu Yan's face darkened a bit. After patting the buttocks of these horses, they obediently returned to the pen.
Yu Su felt a bit reluctant to see them go back to the pen.
"Why let them go back?"
"These barbarian horses smell bad."
Hearing this, Yu Su lowered his head and sniffed his own scent. There was a faint smell, but it wasn't too severe. It was something he could tolerate.
But seeing that Lu Yan didn't mean to release the horses again, he had to give up.
Next, Yu Su spent some time figuring out what these barbarian horses ate and how to feed them properly. Then, he planned to build a large stable next to the slave camp.
He drew up blueprints and assigned carpenters from the village to start construction.
"Lord Yu Su, are these feeding troughs installed here?"
"Yes."
Under the current relatively simple conditions, the overall setup of this stable was relatively simple. Its main function was to provide shelter from wind and rain, allowing these horses to have a slightly more comfortable place to rest and eat.
After everyone worked enthusiastically for seven or eight days, the stable was completed.
More than thirty barbarian horses were herded from the crowded open-air pen to the stable. The spacious space and the feeding troughs filled with forage made these barbarian horses much more relaxed.
Yu Su assigned ten loyal slaves to take care of these barbarian horses. He also told them the details of taking care of the horses and what they must pay attention to, specifying their daily tasks.
"These horses are very important. Those who do well will have the opportunity to be promoted in the future."
Upon hearing that there would be a chance for promotion in the future, these ten slaves became excited. They knelt down, expressing that they would definitely take good care of these barbarian horses. Even if they were sick, they wouldn't let anything happen to the horses.
Yu Su said solemnly, "If any issues arise, you must report them as soon as possible."
The ten slaves agreed with fear and respect.
After solving the problem of the horse herd and stable, Yu Su based on the characteristics of these barbarian horses drew up a set of harness blueprints, including saddles, stirrups, a complete set of rein accessories, and so on.
This professional matching set surprised Lu Yan and others.
"We also need to equip these things?"
"This saddle seems good; you don't have to sit with your buttocks separated."
"Lord Yu Su, how should this be made?"
After Yu Su carefully explained to them, everyone suddenly understood. When they learned the specific functions of this set of horse equipment, their eyes lit up.
Lu Yan said, "Are you planning to have Iron Casting Village forge these iron pieces?"
Yu Su nodded, "Ordinary iron is sufficient for these. Our Red Iron Stones are quite precious; there's no need to waste them on this."
Lu Yan replied, "I'll talk to Iron Casting Village."
Yu Su agreed and handed him detailed blueprints for each iron component. He also added an order for a batch of iron components needed for making carriages.
Yu Su reminded, "Remember to negotiate a profit-sharing contract with them."
Lu Yan nodded.
Now that Lu Yan could fly with a sword, he quickly went to Iron Casting Village with the blueprints.
The other Five Element Warriors, seeing him disappear in the blink of an eye, expressed envy on their faces.
"Leader Lu has also reached Foundation Establishment. When will I achieve it?"
"I want to fly in the sky too."
Seeing them gazing at the direction Lu Yan flew off with admiration, Yu Su raised his hand and tapped one on the head.
"Enough of that. If you want to reach Foundation Establishment, practice diligently. How many acupoints have you opened?"
The Five Element Warriors left in the village hadn't opened all their acupoints. Hearing this, they shrunk their necks.
Yu Su continued, "There's no need for you to do village work now. Focus on practicing, don't wander around aimlessly. If I catch you, you'll be in trouble."
The Five Element Warriors, hearing this, hurriedly ran back to practice.
...
After Lu Yan went to Iron Casting Village, Yu Su worked with the craftsmen to study the production of saddles.
Half a month later, Lu Yan brought back the first set of iron components. After combining them with the components made by Yu Su's team, the first set of horse equipment was finally completed.
They tested it on a horse and found it fitting well.
Yu Su happily said, "Building according to this set is fine."
Once things were settled, Lu Yan went to Iron Casting Village again.
Yu Su also instructed the craftsmen to continue building the remaining components according to the template.
With a successful template, the craftsmen gained experience and could work independently. After assigning the tasks, Yu Su went to the northern wilderness.
There, Jian Yunchuan led a team to open a smooth road to Iron Casting Village.
Jian Yunchuan and the others were responsible for clearing the way, while villagers from Iron Casting Village and along the way followed to repair the road, placing stones where needed to prevent soil erosion.
The soil road constructed by Jian Yunchuan and the other Earth Root cultivators was solid and firm. It consisted of thick chunks of compacted earth, resistant to water accumulation and sinking on rainy days. Although not as high-quality as future cement roads, it was much stronger than regular dirt roads.
In the current conditions, this road was considered quite advanced.
Seeing Yu Su approach, many people put down their work and respectfully greeted him.
"Lord Yu Su."
"Greetings, Lord Yu Su."
Yu Su told them to continue working and not to mind him, then walked towards Jian Yunchuan and the others.
As soon as he approached, he felt that Jian Yunchuan's aura had become more condensed and stronger than before, brightening his eyes.
"Ah, Dad, has your cultivation improved?"
Jian Yunchuan joyfully said, "I just advanced to the ninth level this morning."
Since the beginning of spring, Jian Yunchuan had almost daily interactions with soil, diligently cultivating through the night until morning. With progress every day, his advancement speed was a bit faster than expected.
Influenced by Jian Yunchuan, Yu Meng and Yu Shan also stayed up every night, meditating until dawn.
As dual-root cultivator Yu Meng had almost touched the edge of Foundation Establishment. He estimated that after this road was completed, he would be able to advance to the eighth level.
Yu Shan and the other three were triple-root cultivators, so their cultivation progress was a bit slower. But currently, they had reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement.
So, they enjoyed working with the soil every day.
"Brother Yu Su, when this road is complete, let us open the road to the Barbarian Tribe too."
"Yes, let us open the road, Lord Yu Su."
Yu Meng and the others looked at Yu Su with shining eyes.
Yu Su naturally wouldn't refuse. As long as they were willing, no one else could snatch this job.
Currently, only about half of the road to Iron Casting Village was completed, and the other half needed to be finished. It was estimated to take a little over a month.
After chatting with Jian Yunchuan and the others, Lu Yan also returned from Iron Casting Village.
Seeing Yu Su with the road construction team, he descended with his sword.
The people in the road construction team had seen Lu Yan descend with a sword once before, but seeing it again, they couldn't help feeling awe.
Li Ye and Yellow Leopard, who had come to help, watched this scene, eyes filled with admiration.
"Heard Master Yun Chuan say this is the power of cultivators." Li Ye expressed his longing.
Yellow Leopard added, "It seems like Lord Yu Su taught them. Everyone in Yu Village can learn, but currently, there are only about thirty people in the whole village with spiritual roots."
After saying this, he couldn't help but add, "Why doesn't our Great Shaman have this ability? It would be great if the Great Shaman could teach us."
Li Ye glanced at him.
Yellow Leopard realized he had misspoken and quickly shut his mouth.
But in reality, Li Ye was also thinking the same. It seemed that his teacher was somewhat lacking.
...
"Sneez—"
In the Beast God Temple, the Barbarian Tribe's Great Shaman sneezed violently.
"Who's the brat gossiping about me behind my back?" The Great Shaman angrily asked.
Unable to calculate anything, he continued facing the Beast God totem, devoutly muttering, hoping the Beast God could impart some special skills.
After finishing, he spread out the divination tools with hope, analyzing them eagerly.
To his surprise, it was an ominous sign.
Barbarian Tribe's Great Shaman: "..."
This had happened several times. Every time he asked the Beast God to impart some skills, the Beast God's response was this.
He suspected he had been talking too much, making the Beast God unhappy.
Dejectedly, the Barbarian Tribe's Great Shaman put away the divination tools and sat down with a gloomy face.
After a while, he suddenly lifted his head with bright eyes.
If the Beast God refused to teach, he could go ask Lord Yu Su!
He didn't need Lord Yu Su to be as powerful as he was, just imparting some supernatural skills would be enough.
However, the letter from Li Ye said that Lord Yu Su was quite busy lately...
Maybe it would be better to wait for some time before asking.