Culinary God in Wilderness

The next strike was on a raised spot at the edge of the concave surface. After repeating this a few times, he flipped the stone axe over and repeated the step.

By chipping away at both sides, countless small indentations overlapped, creating a sharp, jagged edge.

"I’m not sure if this method exists in other countries, but in our ancient Great Xia, it was known as the Acheulean technique. Back then, people would strike stones against each other this way to create a thin edge, allowing it to function as an axe."

"But we’re in the modern era. We can process it further with other methods to make the axe even sharper."

He stood up. Instead of lingering by the creek, he headed toward the beach.

This was his first time down at the shore. From a distance, he could see a large, strangely shaped Mangrove Forest growing at the edge of the river valley. It looked like countless tree spirits had hiked up their pant legs to stand guard on the coast. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The roots were dense yet slender, with countless forks, and every single root grew above the water’s surface.

Though they were roots, they looked more like many small, forked branches.

"That’s the Mangrove Forest over there. The water beneath the roots is like a coral reef, teeming with hidden seafood. I’ll come back to explore later; it’s still too early right now."

Marine animals, like most wildlife, are nocturnal. During the day, they hide in their dens and rarely show themselves.

Only when the tide comes in and the sea level rises do these cunning little creatures come out to play.

Lin Chen walked straight to a stretch of beach, found a rock to squat by, and scooped up a handful of fine sand, piling it at his feet. He then took a pinch and sprinkled it evenly over the rock’s surface.

He scooped up a handful of seawater and poured it over the sand, then wet the stone axe as well before starting to grind the blade.

Unlike the knife-sharpening technique he used back in Alaska, this time he adopted a fixed, back-and-forth motion.

"Viewers who’ve seen me sharpen knives before might be wondering why I’m using a different method this time."

"It’s quite simple, really. The face of the blade isn’t flat enough yet, so I need to use this grinding method to smooth out its uneven surface."

"The sand is to increase friction. It’s the same principle as using sandpaper to finish furniture."

He sat patiently on the rock, grinding the stone axe with steady strokes, occasionally scooping up more seawater to pour on it.

As he continued to grind, the clear seawater grew cloudy, and a slurry of white and gray stone dust flowed into the ocean.

He picked up the stone to inspect it. The zig-zag curve on one side of the blade was noticeably flatter, its arc greatly reduced.

This discovery made him breathe a sigh of relief. It was, after all, his first time ever doing this, so he’d been a little nervous.

He flipped the stone axe over, poured on some fresh seawater, and continued grinding.

He continued this process—grinding each face for four or five minutes, inspecting it, flipping it over, and grinding again—until the blade’s edge was finally honed into a straight line.

Far to the west, a red semicircle was slowly sinking below the horizon, dyeing the sparkling sea a dazzling golden-red.

He ran the pad of his finger along the blade. It definitely felt like a proper edge now, albeit a dull one, like a knife that hadn’t been sharpened in a long time.

"This should be sharp enough to chop wood. My only concern is that this type of stone isn’t hard enough. If I make it too sharp, one good swing could shatter the axe right along with the wood it hits."

After working hard all afternoon, his hands were aching and numb, and he could barely straighten his back. He promptly gave up any thought of continuing to work and, stone axe in hand, returned to his shelter in the river valley a kilometer away.

Just as he approached, two dark figures shot out from his shelter. In a flash, they were several meters away, watching him warily from a distance.

"Monkeys??"

Lin Chen’s expression froze. A sudden sense of foreboding washed over him, and he rushed into the shelter.

The two large mangoes he had hidden under the moss before leaving were long gone, vanished without a trace. The moss he had laid out was tossed about, scattered here and there.

"FUCK!!!"

He stormed out of the cave in a rage. The sudden commotion startled the two monkeys, who turned and fled, disappearing into the dim forest in the blink of an eye.

[HAHAHAHAHAHA!!]

[I never thought I’d see the day the ever-lucky Lin gets hit with this! I’m dying! LOL!]

[No wonder they say you shouldn’t build your shelter under a mango tree. Looks like even being *near* one isn’t safe. You risk getting robbed at any moment.]

[I think it’s because the shelter isn’t finished yet. It doesn’t even have a door right now, how’s it supposed to keep out wild animals?]

[I really want to know how fragrant that ripe, hundred-year-old wild mango was. It attracted greedy monkeys from hundreds of meters away.]

Watching the gloating comments flash across the screen, Lin Chen closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

There was nothing he could do. Hunting wild animals was forbidden here, so he was completely helpless against these annoying, cunning creatures.

’Damn it. So they dared to steal from me, huh? Fine. Just you wait!’

Fueled by a surge of immense anger, the exhaustion in his body vanished in an instant.

He grabbed his stone axe and charged straight into the river valley forest. His goal was clear: find small trees or branches about the thickness of his arm.

This part of the forest grew in the upper-middle section of the river valley, a good distance from the bottom. It was in the region between the mountainside and the valley floor, relatively dense, and boasted a rich variety of species.

Not far from the mango tree, a grove of relatively slender but densely packed trees caught his attention.

Although he hadn’t redeemed the points for a complete tree encyclopedia, the moment he saw this grove of straight trees with whitish bark and brown spots, he recognized them instantly.

Light Wood!

Building a shelter without proper tools was critical, so during his pre-competition prep, he had specifically researched the tree species found in the Panama Forest.

And Light Wood was, without a doubt, the most suitable kind.