Chapter 108: New Residence Breaks Ground, Strength Bottleneck [2-in-1]

At the beginning of the new house concept proposal, Mu Dong had proposed four difficulties.

Massive timber, massive iron material, a certain number of iron tools, and the most difficult eight-hundred-meter foundation piles.

The timber problem had long been solved; with the six Earth-Digging Realms in this final period, iron material and iron tools were no longer a problem; the most difficult foundation pile part only had the last hundred-plus meters left.

All four difficulties had been overcome, and the Does Does Da Xia new residence had officially broken ground and started construction.

Regarding the new residence, Xia Hong only proposed the concept. The specific construction certainly had to be guided by Mu Dong, the professional.

By the iron-smelting furnace, Mu Dong set up a giant wooden board and faced the crowd directly.

On the wooden board was carved a three-story wooden house; the roof of the house had four pointed corners, and inside were twelve circular pillars, creating an incredibly spacious interior.

Although because the wooden house only carved out the outline, it couldn't see too many details, a magnificent and atmospheric feeling still came to the face, making the eyes of everyone by the furnace involuntarily reveal a trace of yearning.

Seeing everyone's yearning expression, Mu Dong was also a bit excited in his heart. He pointed to the composition on the wooden board and explained the construction idea of the new residence to everyone.

"According to the Leader's concept, the four sides are two hundred meters long and fifteen meters high, and three floors of space need to be partitioned inside. Other things aside, just wanting to build such a large main body stably is not an easy thing.

So, I thought about it this way:

The four sides of the main body all use whole Golden-Lin wood. Because of the width of the foundation piles, the thickness of the Golden-Lin wood embedded in the ground can only be three meters, but the wall body above the ground can be doubled, to six meters;

The connection points of the four wooden walls, besides mortise and tenon fixing, use iron pillars to reinforce one layer inside and outside.

Under the foundation piles, use the iron chains the Leader forged during this period to string all four wooden walls together and then embed them into the ground to ensure stability;

Finally, inside the wooden house, erect twelve load-bearing pillars, with iron pillars of the same length embedded inside, connected to the roof beams to ensure the top won't collapse.

In addition, the internal space..."

As Mu Dong explained item by item, the composition on the wooden board gradually became clear and distinct in everyone's eyes.

And as they understood the construction of the new wooden house more deeply, the expressions on everyone's faces gradually revealed shock, and the yearning in their eyes was also a few points more intense than just now.

Even Xia Hong, who proposed the new wooden house concept, couldn't help but feel shocked by the other party's wild imagination while listening to Mu Dong's explanation.

According to Mu Dong, the outer wall of the new residence alone was six meters thick.

The four walls were fifteen meters high

This was only for the main four walls; if one counted the top, the bottom, the three levels, and the partitions for the individual rooms, the amount of timber used was countless.

Not to mention that other critical parts would also need to be reinforced with iron.

Of course, if such a huge investment in a new residence were merely to improve everyone's living conditions, it would be far too uneconomical.

When Mu Dong finished explaining the entire structure of the wooden house, Xia Hong's gaze remained fixed on him, clearly waiting for what he had to say next.

Xia Hong, who had proposed the concept for the new residence, naturally knew what he cared about most. He did not dawdle, and after a moment of contemplation, he immediately spoke:

"According to the design, once the new residence is built, given its sturdiness, no low-level cold beast will be able to break through. Even a cold beast with extremely strong impact force like the Snow Mane, unless it comes in a massive swarm—for example, hundreds charging simultaneously—would never be able to break through. Therefore..."

"So from now on, even during the day, we won't be afraid of light leaking out. We can light fires openly and honestly without worrying about cold beast attacks at all."

"Moreover, even if they do come, as long as the number isn't too large, we can use the wooden house's defenses to hunt them directly!"

Before Mu Dong could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan.

Hearing their words, Mu Dong thought for a moment, nodded, and replied:

"That's right. Furthermore, because the key connection points of the main body are all reinforced with iron, there is basically no possibility of it being destroyed. Even if other parts are damaged by impact, we can repair them with timber at any time."

As Mu Dong's voice fell, everyone below revealed joy and excitement on their faces, and quite a few even stood up in their excitement.

"Then what are we waiting for, Leader? Let's start building immediately!"

"That's right! Never mind this current wooden house; this new house is even better than the five large wooden houses of the original Luo Ge camp. Let's start construction!"

"Leader, let's start work immediately."

"Yes, let's break ground and start work. I can't wait any longer."

………

Xia Hong was not at all surprised by the scene of excitement among the crowd at this moment.

Comfort is certainly a common pursuit of humanity, but compared to safety, it is not important at all. The biggest reason the new wooden house took half a year to prepare was the consideration of safety requirements.

If they were only building the kind of large wooden house the Luo Ge camp had before, let alone half a year, even half a month would likely have been enough given the camp's current strength.

The reason so much iron was needed was that what Xia Hong wanted to build was a sturdy residence capable of withstanding the impact of low-level cold beasts.

The greatest threat around Red Wood Ridge is, in fact, cold beasts.

To be precise, it is the low-level cold beasts constantly expanding outward from within Red Wood Ridge.

As for specters, they hadn't appeared in the surrounding area for a long time since the death of the Wood Puppet Specter. The climate remained as freezing as ever, which wasn't a problem with the iron-smelting furnace. As for the terrain, Xia Hong could control the camp's range of activity; as long as they operated within this small circle of familiar environment, there was no problem for the time being. And as for humans, in the currently known environment, there were only the Lu Shang and Chen Ye camps, which posed no threat.

Excluding these, only cold beasts were the current sole and greatest threat.

Especially over the past six months, as the Does Does Da Xia's hunting ability continuously improved, Xia Hong noticed that under such frequent hunting, the cold beasts on the periphery showed no obvious signs of decreasing, which made him realize this point even more.

Although the Does Does Da Xia's current hunting range was controlled by him to only five hundred meters on the periphery, the north-south length had already expanded to five or six kilometers.

Over the past six months, although he hadn't counted carefully, he had at least hunted nearly three hundred low-level cold beasts.

Based on the size and density of cold beasts, it was impossible for so many to be entrenched in such a tiny area of five hundred meters on the periphery and five or six kilometers north-to-south.

There was only one explanation for this situation: the cold beasts in the inner circle were continuously expanding outward, and the speed of their expansion was even faster than the Does Does Da Xia's hunting speed.

This terrifying expansion speed of the cold beasts made Xia Hong feel panicked.

Especially the experience of being attacked by a swarm of Frostwolves on the night they migrated from the dirt slope to the valley some time ago, which often kept him awake at night.

Cold beasts are creatures with powerful strength and cunning personalities.

Once they form a swarm, the degree of danger is extremely terrifying.

Although the Does Does Da Xia's strength is no longer what it used to be, if they were to encounter that night's Frostwolf swarm again, the outcome would certainly not be so miserable.

But what if the next Frostwolf swarm they encountered was larger in scale?

Or if it wasn't a Frostwolf swarm, but a Snow Mane swarm, or even a group of stronger cold beasts?

Specters are also terrifying, but that stems more from the unknown. Fortunately, with the system's iron-smelting furnace, torches, and Condensing Fire Oil, Xia Hong finally had some reliance. But cold beasts are different; they are not only unafraid of these items, but actually quite fond of them.

Judging by how much cold beasts covet torches, once they discover the iron-smelting furnace, their level of madness would certainly be unimaginable.

The most fatal thing is that cold beasts generally move during the day, so it is highly probable that the iron-smelting furnace would be discovered by cold beasts during the day. Furthermore, because the temperature is too low during the day, the camp cannot extinguish the fire for long periods.

Therefore, if the cold beast population constantly expanding within Red Wood Ridge were to discover the iron-smelting furnace in the valley one day...

For the Does Does Da Xia camp, which lacks sturdy defensive fortifications, it would absolutely be a huge disaster, and the outcome would certainly be even more miserable than the Luo Ge camp that previously encountered the Wood Puppet Specter.

This is the reason why, over the past six months, Xia Hong refrained from adding any weapons to the camp, instead using nearly all the iron ore and coal, as well as a large quantity of timber, to prepare for the construction of the new residence.

Being prepared for danger in times of peace is a human habit. Xia Hong is not the only one pursuing a safe and stable environment; the others in the camp may not see as far as Xia Hong, but their fear and worry regarding cold beasts and specters are the same.

Therefore, upon hearing that the new residence about to be built could withstand the impact of low-level cold beasts, or even a large swarm of them, they were so excited and even impatiently demanded to break ground and start construction.

"Good. Starting tonight, we break ground and begin construction. Except for hunting, all other activities in the camp will cease. Everyone will participate, and we will build the new residence as quickly as possible!"

Amidst the clamor and the climax of the crowd's excitement in the camp, Xia Hong issued an order.

All members of the Does Does Da Xia camp, except for Xia Hong and the fifteen members of the hunting team, totaling over eight hundred people, threw themselves into the vigorous project of building the new residence.

The construction volume of the new wooden house was heavy and vast, and coupled with the fact that the timber and iron of the Frozen Abyss World were far heavier than usual, it would have been impossible to complete with manpower alone without machinery if it were in his previous life.

But it was different here.

Under Mu Dong's command and with the concerted cooperation of one hundred and thirty people in the Woodcutting Realm, giant Jin Lin trees, already cut to size, were raised from the ground and neatly embedded into the previously prepared foundation piles.

Those in the reserves who were not far from the Woodcutting Realm, although lacking in strength, exerted a force that could not be underestimated through their concerted efforts. They worked together to install and fix some small wooden or iron accessories that had been crafted into the main body of the wooden house according to Mu Dong's design.

Among the remaining five hundred-plus people, there were over a hundred able-bodied men over the age of thirty. Although they hadn't been allocated much cold beast meat due to age restrictions, their age meant their base strength was at least one or two thousand jin. While they couldn't serve as the main force for construction, assisting and helping out was no problem.

Even the three hundred-plus children under the age of thirteen were helping by passing tools, delivering water and food, and some who were slightly older and whose strength had begun to grow were also helping those able-bodied men.

With such high enthusiasm for construction, no one in the entire camp, except for those unable to work, was slacking off.

Even the members of the hunting team, when not out, would be infected by this enthusiasm and couldn't help but go over to assist.

Under such circumstances, the progress of the new residence's construction was incredibly rapid.

On the first night Xia Hong announced it, the west wooden wall was already erected; the second night, the south wooden wall was also up; the third night, the north side; the fourth night...

In the valley, almost every night brought a major change.

After all, it was Mu Dong's first time overseeing such a large project, and fearing that a lack of experience might lead to safety issues, Xia Hong personally supervised the first three nights.

After discovering that with the current physical fitness of the camp members, there would basically be no safety issues, he stopped supervising and instead turned his energy toward hunting and mining.

…………

On the periphery of Red Wood Ridge, at the five-hundred-meter boundary.

Xia Hong, accompanied by several people, was hiding in a tree, all of them staring down below.

There were five people under the tree. Four of them held large blades, while one held a black dagger in his hand. All five carried longbows and were surrounding a Snow Mane over four meters long.

The Snow Mane had a ferocious face, crimson pupils, and was panting heavily.

On its right leg was clamped a beast trap with a diameter of half a meter, and dark green blood had already flowed all over the ground along the trap, clearly indicating its injuries were not light.

Roar…………

With a roar, the Snow Mane charged violently toward the nearest person.

That person was the only one among the five who didn't hold a large blade but only a small black dagger. Clearly, in the Snow Mane's judgment, this person was the weakest, so it chose him.

However, the Snow Mane had clearly chosen the wrong person.

Seeing the Snow Mane charging toward him, the man didn't panic at all, nor did he choose to dodge to the side. He simply stood where he was, raised his dagger, and assumed a defensive stance.

A dagger, trying to block the impact of a Snow Mane?

If an outsider saw this, they would probably think this person was crazy.

But the four people present, Luo Yuan and the others, as well as Xia Hong and the ten others in the tree, all watched without changing their expressions, waiting for Xia Chuan's next move.

Boom…………

When the Snow Mane reached a position a little over a meter away from Xia Chuan, a "boom" sound suddenly came from its head, and it could not advance even a fraction of an inch further.

At this critical moment, Xia Chuan's pupils suddenly constricted. In an instant, he switched to a reverse grip on his blade and thrust it violently into the Snow Mane's pupil.

Puchi…………

Although the dagger was only three inches long, it was, after all, piercing the most fragile part—the eyeball. Stimulated by the intense pain, the Snow Mane's first reaction was actually not to scream or roar.

The fierce light in its remaining pupil intensified. It tilted its head violently, and two sharp fangs suddenly charged toward Xia Chuan's head. At the same time, its tongue also flew out of its mouth, wrapping around Xia Chuan's neck and limbs with extreme speed.

"Careful!"

"Oh no, be careful."

"Chuan, hurry and dodge!"

"Don't get wrapped up!"

…………

This Snow Mane was actually able to endure the pain of its eyeball being pierced and make such a crazy, desperate counterattack.

For a moment, whether it was the four people present, Luo Yuan and the others, or the people in the tree, all screamed repeatedly, shouting to warn Xia Chuan.

Only Xia Hong remained silent, just continuing to watch with his brows tightly furrowed.

Luo Yuan and the others, who were closest, reacted. While shouting reminders, they pulled the rope on the ground; the other end of the rope was tied to the beast trap on the Snow Mane's right leg.

The four of them pulled the rope with all their might, instantly pulling the Snow Mane backward, causing its attempt to attack Xia Chuan with its fangs to fail.

However, its long tongue was too close to Xia Chuan. Even though its body was pulled away, the tongue still wrapped around him rapidly.

At the first moment of the Snow Mane's desperate counterattack, Xia Chuan's eyes clearly showed some panic; he obviously hadn't expected it. But after being pulled by Luo Yuan and the others, having gained reaction time, he quickly raised his blade and retreated, avoiding the long tongue.

It was a pity that although his retreat was fast, he only managed to dodge it from his neck; one of his right legs had already been surrounded by the long tongue.

Seeing this, the Snow Mane's crimson pupils erupted with a fierce light, clearly intending to exert force, harden the long tongue, and sever Xia Chuan's two legs.

Xia Chuan flicked his left hand slightly, and several white lines frantically blocked the Snow Mane's long tongue, but the long tongue was already pressed tightly against his right leg, making it impossible to block.

At this very moment, a trace of tension finally appeared in Xia Chuan's eyes.

Bang!

Crack…………

At the critical moment, a broad figure suddenly leaped down from the tree, crashing onto the Snow Mane's neck and forcibly crushing its head into the snow.

Falling along with that figure was a swift and violent blade light.

The large blade entered as if there were nothing in its way, emitting only a faint "crack" sound, cutting off several of the Snow Mane's back spines and slicing vertically into its back.

This strike almost split the Snow Mane's body in two longitudinally.

One must know that this was cut into the Snow Mane's hardest back part.

The fierce light in the Snow Mane's pupils dissipated, and the long tongue that had wanted to harden instantly lost strength and hung to the ground, unable to even retract.

Bang……

The Snow Mane collapsed with a thud. Everyone present, looking at the huge blade wound on its back, couldn't help but swallow their saliva. When they looked up at Xia Hong again, their eyes were full of reverence and admiration.

But Xia Hong just expressionlessly pulled the long blade out of the Snow Mane, then turned his head, reached out, and slapped Xia Chuan directly in the face.

Slap……

This crisp sound of the slap made the expressions of Luo Yuan and the other three tighten.

Xia Chuan, who had been hit, lowered his head even further, his face full of shame.

"Do you know why I hit you?"

Xia Chuan looked up, his face showing no dissatisfaction, and replied in a deep voice: "I shouldn't have been careless. Even if a Snow Mane suffers a fatal wound, it won't just sit there and be captured; instead, it will become even more ferocious, and the strength it erupts with will be even greater. The battle wasn't over, yet I was careless and negligent. The Leader hitting me is to make me remember this lesson for the future."

Xia Hong nodded, then looked at Luo Yuan and the other three, sternly reprimanding them:

"And you four, the Snow Mane hadn't died yet, and you started spacing out, thinking that Xia Chuan's strength was high and he could block it, so it didn't matter. I have told you countless times that during hunting, any slight carelessness could harm yourself or others. Do you not remember, or do you not believe me?"

Luo Yuan and the other three immediately lowered their heads, their faces full of shame.

Slap, slap, slap……

After a full ten breaths, Luo Yuan was the first to raise his head, reaching out to slap his own face hard three times.

"Leader, I was wrong. I will definitely remember this in the future!"

"Leader, we were wrong too. We will definitely remember this in the future!"

The three Zhao Long brothers were the same, all three of them having expressions of shame on their faces.

Seeing the solemnity on the five people's faces, Xia Hong let out a heavy breath. After turning his head to glance at the inner side of Red Wood Ridge, he suppressed the irritation in his heart and said in a deep voice:

"With the current strength of you five, combined with the beast traps, hunting low-level cold beasts should have been more than enough. But now it seems that in the past six months, when you were hunting with me, you didn't learn anything at all.

Even hunting an adult Snow Mane requires the price of a leg. If I really handed the hunting team over to you now, I'm afraid that in a few days, the only person left in the entire camp would be me, an able-bodied person in the Earth-Digging Realm!"

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others immediately turned bright red.

Today's hunt was something they had proactively proposed to Xia Hong, with the original intention of letting Xia Hong see their hunting ability so he could feel at ease handing the hunting team over to them to be responsible for.

Now that it had turned out like this, and they were being mocked by Xia Hong like this...

The shame in the five people's hearts can be imagined.

"Extend it for another month. One month later, if you are still like this, then we will continue to extend it. I want to see just when you giant babies will be able to go out hunting on your own without me."

Even a clay figure has a temper, let alone the five most outstanding people in the Does Does Da Xia camp. Xia Hong's continuous mockery caused Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the other five to have their breathing quicken.

Seeing the reaction of the five after being provoked, although Xia Hong remained calm on the surface, he was quite satisfied in his heart.

The strength of the five was no longer a problem.

The only problem was their mindset.

It was probably because when they were hunting with him before, they didn't need to use their brains and weren't that nervous, so they were often careless and sloppy. And using this kind of mindset to face cunning cold beasts is the most dangerous thing.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others wanting to take over hunting matters was actually out of good intentions, wanting to make it so that he, the Leader, wouldn't have to work so hard.

Xia Hong, of course, was also eager to hand over hunting matters to them.

For one, he really didn't want to work that hard.

Secondly, he needed more time to study his own cultivation.

His base strength had already increased to twenty thousand jin.

I don't know if it's an illusion, but in the last few days, Xia Hong felt that his consumption of cold beast meat didn't seem to have as much of an increase in strength as before.

"Go back and try it first. Could it be that I've encountered a bottleneck?"

Greeting everyone to pack up the prey, a trace of contemplation flashed in Xia Hong's eyes.

The limit of the Earth-Digging Realm was clearly thirty thousand jin.

What was this twenty-thousand-jin bottleneck about?

Could it be that cold beast meat was no longer useful?

(End of chapter)