Chapter 102: Life Is Improving

Zou Yuankai’s wounds were new from last night; originally wrapped only in animal hide for basic bleeding control, they hadn’t even scabbed over—the raw flesh still hadn’t closed.

But after applying Golden Wound Powder, just minutes later, the flesh had already sealed—and the necrotic tissue was visibly bubbling, then hardening into scabs.

This Golden Wound Powder is simply miraculous!

On the other side, Zhu Shun was also hissing in pain, his leg wound healing just as rapidly as Zou Yuankai’s.

“This medicine is too powerful!”

“Did the leader develop this formula himself?”

“With this medicine, we won’t fear injuries anymore!”

“I just saw the materials the leader put in—they seemed ordinary, except that blue herb, which looked rare.”

…………

The onlookers, having witnessed this miraculous scene firsthand, were stunned silent; the logging and hunting teams were ecstatic—unlike others, they clearly understood the importance of this powder.

“Cheng Feng, from now on, collect more Blue Gel Grass. If possible, figure out its growth patterns—and that blue tree too; just mark its location, never cut it down.”

“Yes, Leader!”

This Golden Wound Powder is absolutely life-saving.

The Golden Wound Powder formula uses mostly common ingredients, except Blue Gel Grass.

Realizing the importance of Blue Gel Grass, Xia Hong immediately gave Cheng Feng several orders; had conditions allowed, he’d have transplanted that blue tree straight into the valley.

After confirming the Golden Wound Powder’s effects, Xia Hong’s gaze toward the decoction pot grew even hotter.

He’d already recognized its importance when he unlocked the decoction pot, but the first formula producing such powerful results still exceeded his expectations.

This is just for healing—and it’s already this strong. What if one day, enough medicinal materials are recorded to generate formulas for pills that enhance strength and cultivation? Wouldn’t that be even greater?

Thinking of this, Xia Hong’s heart burned hotter. Remembering Cheng Feng didn’t yet understand the decoction pot’s function, he quickly called him over and explained everything.

Others could use the decoction pot by consuming coal stones to identify medicinal items, but the recorded herbs and formed formulas appeared only in the system—known only to him.

Earlier, when he’d told Cheng Feng to watch for potentially medicinal items during outings, he hadn’t explained why. Now, he spilled it all out—and Cheng Feng finally understood, his gaze toward the decoction pot instantly burning as hot as Xia Hong’s.

“So from now on, pay close attention during logging—any unusual item with possible medicinal value, bring it back for testing.”

Cheng Feng nodded firmly, etching this into his memory.

Xia Hong packed all remaining Golden Wound Powder from the decoction pot into a wooden box, estimating five catties. Recalling the formula and the materials just consumed, he immediately grew anxious again.

Blue Gel Grass’s yield is still unknown, but according to Cheng Feng, that blue tree is extremely rare in Redwood Ridge—or he’d have noticed it before.

Black Thorns grow only where iron ore is present, so they’re valuable, but plenty still grow on the southern edge of the valley—enough for some time.

Golden Frost Twigs, coal stones, and Frost Wolf Bones aren’t rare, and each use requires only small amounts—manageable.

The hardest components in the Golden Wound Powder formula are Blue Gel Grass and Black Thorns, followed by coal consumption—each batch requires ten units of coal, or two hundred catties of coal stone.

During the test, he hadn’t minded much, but seeing his system’s coal drop from 160 to 150, he instantly felt the loss.

The excitement from witnessing the powder’s power faded quickly—two hundred catties of coal plus all those materials to produce five catties of Golden Wound Powder? Profitable, yes—this stuff saves lives.

But the problem is, Great Xia seems unable to afford it.

Judging by the hunting team’s injury rate, if used freely, these five catties would last barely half a month.

Producing one batch every half month would soon exhaust the camp’s coal reserves—not to mention coal is used for other purposes too.

“Looks like we’ll have to use it sparingly. Until coal is plentiful, minor injuries must be endured—Golden Wound Powder is only for life-threatening wounds.”

Xia Hong shook his head. The scarce resources were maddening. Given the decoction pot’s power, he should lead expeditions to gather medicinal materials—after all, one formula for a pill that boosts cultivation would be a fortune.

But even just for identification, the camp’s current coal supply is insufficient.

And according to past patterns, the rarer the item, the more coal it consumes to identify—true medicinal treasures capable of boosting cultivation would likely demand astronomical coal amounts.

Thinking of this, Xia Hong tucked the wooden box away, then turned to glance again at Luo Yuan and the others meditating outside the wooden hut.

He could only hope they’d break through soon and join him in mining coal.

“Big brother, Mu Dong made a few things—come take a look!”

Xia Hong was holding the wooden box, pondering where to store it.

Xia Chuan ran over from inside the hut, calling him over.

Seeing Xia Chuan’s mysterious grin, Xia Hong followed, pushing through the crowd to the back, where he found many surrounding Mu Dong, occasional gasps rising from the group.

“Leader’s here! Make way, make way!”

Xia Chuan shouted ahead, clearing a path. Xia Hong stepped forward and saw what the crowd was staring at—his expression froze.

The crowd was gathered around a chair.

The chair stood about one meter sixty-seven tall, with a seat height of fifty centimeters and a width of one meter forty. Its circular backrest was carved with small knives into images of Snow Mane, Frost Wolf, and Demon Sheep—three cold beasts snarling, claws bared, terrifyingly lifelike, making Xia Hong involuntarily admire.

The chair was clearly made of Golden Frost Wood, glowing faintly gold in the firelight, but the armrests were cleverly crafted from Zhu Shuang Wood, polished smooth, exuding unmistakable quality.

On both armrests were embedded nine fist-sized carvings of bone, shaped like white jade—depicting cold beasts, trees, weapons, even the camp valley, each unique, clearly for ornamentation.

Xia Hong walked over, his expression odd, noticing the clean, washed blue Frost Wolf pelt laid over the seat. He looked up at Mu Dong and the others, opening his mouth several times but holding back.

Chairs weren’t new—Luoge’s camp had many before, but all were destroyed during the Wooden Puppet Incident.

Though the camp now had excess wood, no one had mentioned chairs, and since they weren’t essential, everyone had grown used to sitting on the ground.

Mu Dong making a chair? Xia Hong didn’t object.

But this chair clearly wasn’t casually made—just the cold-beast carvings on the backrest must have taken days, not to mention the curved armrests and all the intricate engravings.

Though he instinctively wanted to scold, Xia Hong held back.

The reason was simple: Xia Chuan had already pushed him into the chair.

After nearly a year of sitting on the ground, the moment he sank into the chair padded with cold-beast pelt, Xia Hong felt true, bone-deep bliss.

“Leader, during preparations for new huts, we had leftover Golden Frost Wood—too good to burn, so I carved this chair for you in spare time. How’s it?”

The wickedness of hedonism!

He knew using such a luxurious chair now was inappropriate.

But Mu Dong’s logic was sound.

He’d used surplus Golden Frost Wood—and carved it in his spare time.

Xia Hong nodded. He thought long and hard about scolding him—but couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Sensing Xia Hong’s thoughts, Mu Dong grinned, then pulled another item from behind his back and handed it to Xia Hong.

Xia Hong took it, unfolded it, and his face lit up again with delight.

(End of Chapter)