Chapter 665, Why Live Underground?

Translator: Silavin

 

Yu Ying had been expectantly blinking her pink eyes, wanting to see the result.

 

At the same time, Yan Hua and Sha Lan had also finished their training, and the two cheerfully returned to the Yong’an Building.

 

“Shaman, what are you going to do with so many stones?” Sha Lan asked curiously.

 

Yu Ying instantly became excited, waving her hands repeatedly and saying. “The Shaman said he wants to make ice, using these stones.”

 

Yu Ying was truly too excited, now as happy as a three-year-old child.

 

“Make ice? In this hot weather?” Sha Lan also doubted her own ears.

 

“Just using these stones? That’s too amazing.” Yan Hua was immediately hooked with curiosity.

 

Although Yan Hua knew this sounded rather fantastical, since it was something the Shaman said, it was very likely to be achieved.

 

“Making ice with saltpetre isn’t difficult, you’ll be able to do it too after watching.” Su Bai said calmly.

 

He began cleaning the stones, not wanting to say too much, and decided to just demonstrate for them to see.

 

Actually, the principle of making ice with saltpetre was simple. Saltpetre dissolves in water and absorbs large amounts of heat. This causes the water to cool down to its freezing point. Thus, there exists a method for making ice in summer, which often appeared in ancient times back on Earth.

 

After saltpetre dissolves in water, it can be extracted again through cooling crystallisation or evaporation crystallisation for repeated use.

 

Su Bai placed large amounts of saltpetre in the water. Originally, ice-making should be carried out in relatively low ambient conditions.

 

But the Flame Dragon Tribe did not have anything like cellars, so they could only make ice indoors.

 

He first had to put the water that would freeze in a large wooden barrel, then put the saltpetre in water in a small wooden barrel.

 

After the saltpetre entered the water, it began rapidly absorbing the heat from the water, and the temperature of the water in the small wooden barrel gradually decreased.

 

Yu Ying and the others all curiously crouched beside the wooden barrel watching, wanting to see how this miraculous scene would actually appear.

 

“Shaman, do you need to use a Shaman Technique?” Sha Lan asked.

 

Sha Lan felt that this step definitely required a Shaman Technique, otherwise it would be impossible to turn water into ice blocks using just stones.

 

“Shaman, is this Shaman Technique very difficult to use? How come we haven’t heard of you knowing it before?” Yan Hua asked curiously, blinking her red eyes.

 

“Ha ha ha.” Su Bai laughed heartily, continuing. “This doesn’t use Shaman Technique, this is the power of chemistry.”

 

In the girls’ eyes, almost all incredible phenomena were explained as ‘Shaman Techniques’.

 

“Like those experiments that Co Co did before?” Sha Lan guessed.

 

She seemed to have heard this term before, but she did not quite understand it.

 

“More or less, chemistry is a very interesting thing, you can also learn it if you want to.” Su Bai said warmly.

 

Having the girls supplement their knowledge was also good, after all, knowledge changes fate.

 

If he had Transmigrated here without knowledge or any common sense, he probably would not be alive now.

 

It was thanks to his rather extensive knowledge reserves that he could unfold his farming plan in this Primitive Era.

 

“Okay.” Sha Lan nodded with half-understanding.

 

Yan Hua brushed aside her scattered hair, saying in amazement. “I can already feel it getting a bit cool.”

 

Because the water temperature in the wooden barrel began gradually decreasing, and they were so close, they could naturally feel the change.

 

“We need to wait a while. Mainly because the environment here isn’t very cold. In a moment you’ll be able to see the difference.” Su Bai said while continuing to put saltpetre into the wooden barrel.

 

To make all the water in the large wooden barrel freeze, the amount of saltpetre put in definitely could not be small.

 

“Do we need to wait a while?” Yu Ying was getting somewhat impatient.

 

The three girls just watched around the barrel like this, none willing to leave, as if afraid of missing something.

 

“Don’t be in a hurry, it won’t be that fast. You can eat some fruit first and wait in the meantime.” Su Bai was amused by the three’s behaviour.

 

If the current environment were at the bottom of a cellar, the water in the barrel would freeze much faster. Moreover, it would be more conducive to preserving the ice blocks, preventing them from melting quickly.

 

Back on Earth, generally in ancient times, each saltpetre replacement time was ten days, while royal usage could manage replacement once every half month.

 

Whether ice blocks could be stored for long periods mainly depended on cellar selection. The lower the temperature, the longer the replacement cycle for saltpetre in saltpetre cooling containers.

 

“Shaman, you just said that if the surrounding environment were colder, it would be easier to make ice?” Yu Ying remembered this phrase.

 

“Yeah, having a cellar would be even better.” Su Bai nodded.

 

“Shaman, what is a cellar?” Sha Lan became curious upon hearing this new word.

 

Su Bai picked up his teacup, explaining leisurely. “A large space that we dug out underground. That is a cellar.”

 

“Shaman, what can a cellar be used for?” Sha Lan did not understand why one would dig a large hole underground. Wasn’t living on the surface good? This cellar surely could not be used for people to live in.

 

“The main function of a cellar is to store things. We can use it to preserve things.” Su Bai explained.

 

The function of cellars was not merely to facilitate ice-making. It could also be used to store quite a lot of vegetables.

 

Sometimes in winter when it snowed, harvested greens could be put in before the snow fell.

 

Storage time could reach one to two months. As long as the temperature inside was low enough, it was like a not-so-cold refrigerator.

 

“I see, so should we build a cellar?” Yan Hua became excited after hearing this.

 

Yan Hua always felt this cellar sounded rather impressive, wanting the Flame Dragon Tribe to also have one.

 

“It’s not impossible. We could store all the wine in the cellar later.” Su Bai said while sipping his tea.

 

Since the Flame Dragon Tribe had begun brewing large quantities of wine, storing that wine was now a very important issue.

 

The weather changed unpredictably. Simply placing it indoors might not be safe.

 

“That’s wonderful, the Flame Dragon Tribe can also have a cellar.” Yan Hua laughed out loud with joy.

 

“I’ll draw design plans later, Ah’Lan, you find people to look for a suitable place to dig.” Su Bai instructed.

 

Digging a cellar was not difficult. As long as there was suitable ground and appropriate labourers, it could be dug out in just a few days.

 

While everyone was chatting, time unknowingly passed for more than an hour.

 

“Shaman, the water is starting to turn into ice blocks.” Yu Ying shouted with delight.

 

Yu Ying, while chatting, had always kept her attention on the situation in the barrel, wanting to look from time to time.

 

Su Bai also walked to the edge of the wooden barrel to observe, saying with satisfaction. “Looks like we’ve succeeded.”

 

Perhaps because the saltpetre was relatively pure, even without approaching the wooden barrel, one could feel waves of coolness.

 

“Amazing, we also have ice in this weather.” Yu Ying smiled happily.