Chapter 118: New Earth-Digging Realm, Improved Mining Efficiency [Combined Three]

Clang… clang… clang…

On the third day of moving into the new residence, in the blacksmith room on the second floor.

Xia Hong, bare-chested, relentlessly hammered a massive block of iron before him.

On both sides of the iron block were semi-circular shapes, each with a radius of about seventy-five centimeters; the center was a circular piece, roughly ten centimeters thick, hammered thin on both edges—clearly blades.

Beneath the furnace lay a two-meter-long black iron rod, its head bearing a groove that clearly matched the central portion of the iron block being hammered.

Xia Chuan hurried over with Yuan Cheng; upon seeing the nearly finished giant iron piece on the furnace, both men’s eyes lit up.

Seeing Xia Hong still hammering, they did not interrupt, merely standing and waiting.

Hssssssss…

Only after Xia Hong finished forging and submerged the iron block into the water beside him, sending up a plume of white steam, did Xia Chuan step closer and begin speaking.

“Big brother, everything’s arranged. The camp’s current total population is 1,096; adults over fifteen number 642; those between six and fifteen total 322; children under six number 132.

Households allocated housing: only 182, accounting for roughly 70% of the population—about 702 people; seven households on the third floor, ninety-two on the second, eighty-three on the first.

The remaining 394 people: 293 adults, 101 minors.

Among the adults: 204 male, 89 female. Among them, only sixteen are Woodcutting Realm—twelve men, four women—all assigned to the ten-person rooms on the second floor; the rest were placed in ten-person rooms on the first floor.

As for the minors, I’ve followed your instructions: the fifty-two children under six, unable to care for themselves, have all been placed with Woodcutting Realm families for adoption; the forty-nine over six, who can manage basic self-care, were offered adoption if willing; those unwilling were all placed together in ten-person rooms on the first floor.

Currently, on the third floor, apart from your room, eight rooms have been assigned: seven single households, one five-person room; 92 rooms remain.

On the second floor, ninety-five rooms assigned: ninety-two single households, three ten-person rooms; 185 rooms remain.

On the first floor, 111 rooms assigned: eighty-three single households, twenty-eight ten-person rooms; 249 rooms remain.”

Though Xia Hong was fully focused on polishing the giant iron piece in his hands, he heard every word Xia Chuan said.

Hearing Xia Chuan methodically report each figure, Xia Hong’s eyes filled with approval.

Reciting these numbers was easy; but gathering them required extensive, meticulous investigation.

With the system, he always knew the camp’s total population, but the demographic structure—how many adults, how many minors—depended on Xia Chuan and his team to sort and verify.

“How many people do you estimate this wooden building can hold?”

Xia Hong suddenly asked; upon hearing the question, Xia Chuan paused briefly, then answered immediately.

“Only a third of the rooms have been assigned so far. Based on current space usage, this building can comfortably accommodate at least five thousand people; if packed tightly, doubling or even tripling that number wouldn’t be impossible.”

Tightly packed, it could handle twenty thousand, maybe even forty or fifty thousand—just extremely cramped and uncomfortable.

Until the Rodent Swarm issue is resolved, the Xia Camp’s population won’t surge again for a long time.

This single wooden building is more than enough for them for a long while.

Though the Rodent Swarm diminished the original significance of the new residence, after half a year of preparation, seeing it finally completed, Xia Hong let out a deep breath.

Even if we can’t stop the Rodent Swarm, we can at least defend against other cold beasts!

The new Contribution Point system has officially taken effect. All camp members above the Woodcutting Realm have been registered; the Supply Office has expanded to ten staff members, each day assigning dedicated personnel to record everyone’s Contribution Points. Starting tonight, anyone above the Woodcutting Realm must exchange Contribution Points for cold beast meat or other supplies.

Hearing the new Contribution Point system was fully implemented, Xia Hong finally smiled and asked: “Have you calculated whether camp cold beast meat consumption has increased or decreased since the new rules?”

Xia Chuan had clearly thought about this; he smiled and replied: “Logically, it should increase—but based on the past two days, it’ll decrease.”

Previously, Woodcutting Realm members received five jin daily; under the new rules, if they don’t slack off, earning three Contribution Points daily is easy—equivalent to six jin of cold beast meat. If they’re allowed to exchange freely, overall consumption should rise.

But Xia Hong instantly understood Xia Chuan’s meaning.

“Over the past two days, many have been asking Mu Dong about custom prices for wooden and iron goods, and clothing. I’ve observed—almost all are married, with high demand for items. I heard Luo Yuan’s wife is forcing him to buy a ready-made outfit; we all laughed.”

“Hahahaha…”

Hearing about Luo Yuan’s predicament, Xia Hong burst into laughter.

Women are naturally powerless against clothing.

It’s not vanity—they simply now have the means. The Contribution Point system was designed to let them earn these goods through legitimate contributions.

Since contributions vary, class distinctions and competition are inevitable; this system’s original intent was to motivate them to contribute more.

“But they must understand: strength is the foundation. Without sufficient strength, no matter how fine your clothes, food, or gear, it’s all illusion—like fishing with a basket.”

Hearing Xia Hong’s serious tone, Xia Chuan fully agreed:

“Of course. I think this is just the novelty phase—within a few days, they’ll realize the truth.”

Xia Hong nodded. The cruelty of the Bingyuan World wasn’t just known to him; his warning was almost redundant. Even children under six in the camp knew the importance of strength.

As Xia Chuan said, this surge was merely the novelty phase.

Once it passed, they’d naturally understand what mattered most.

“Chief, is this giant axe your new weapon?”

Throughout their conversation, Xia Hong’s hands never stopped working.

Seeing him slot the polished semi-circular iron block onto the two-meter-long black iron rod, Yuan Cheng—who had been staring for ages—finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

In Xia Hong’s hands now stood a two-meter-long double-edged giant axe, its blade clearly marked with ten silver forging patterns; both edges glimmered with a faint silver chill, already razor-sharp.

Huh…

Xia Hong raised the axe and swung it casually in front of him; instantly, a fierce wind roared, nearly knocking him backward several steps—evidencing the axe’s immense weight.

Seeing Yuan Cheng’s undisguised admiration for the axe, Xia Hong chuckled and teased: “Like it?”

Yuan Cheng instinctively nodded—he did prefer heavy weapons—but remembering the axe’s size, the vast iron ore it must’ve consumed, and that Xia Hong forged it himself for a critical purpose, he shook his head.

Xia Hong saw right through him; he laughed heartily: “Like it? I can’t give it to you now—I have a major use for it. Besides, even if I did, your strength couldn’t swing it.”

Xia Chuan froze, a strange expression crossing his face.

Yuan Cheng’s face twisted into a similar look; he grinned: “Chief, don’t underestimate me. Let me try?”

Now he’s got spirit?

Xia Hong couldn’t resist teasing him; he nodded and handed the axe over.

Yuan Cheng grasped the haft; the moment Xia Hong let go, Yuan Cheng lurched forward, stumbling two meters before barely steadying himself. When he looked up, his face was flushed crimson with shock.

“Chief, this axe… is it even real?”

“Hahahaha! Two thousand eight hundred jin. How’s that? Can you swing it?”

Hearing Xia Hong’s teasing, Yuan Cheng scowled, then steadied himself, gritted his teeth, and lifted the axe—actually swinging it over ten times.

Poom…

When Yuan Cheng’s arms gave out and he dropped the axe to the ground, Xia Hong was utterly stunned.

Yuan Cheng’s stumble upon grabbing the axe wasn’t from inability—he’d simply been careless, unprepared for its weight.

Xia Hong knew this well: Woodcutting Realm base strength was five thousand jin; lifting a two-thousand-eight-hundred-jin axe was no issue.

But lifting it and swinging it were entirely different.

Weapon weight and user’s base strength were deeply linked.

Too light: insufficient kinetic energy, reduced lethality, and risk of breaking under the user’s own strength. Too heavy: burdensome, slows speed and agility, risks exhaustion, turning combat deadly.

Xia Hong had tested: the ideal weapon weight was one-tenth of the user’s base strength.

This axe was forged to the limit of Earth-Digging Realm strength—he himself struggled to wield it. To swing it continuously ten times required over ten thousand jin of strength.

The thought struck him; seeing Xia Chuan’s smirk beside him, he turned sharply to Yuan Cheng.

“Good lad, you broke through?”

“Chief, I planned to tell you when I arrived, but never got the chance.”

“Hahahaha! You’ve given me a real surprise!”

Xia Hong’s spirits soared. Remembering Yuan Cheng’s longing gaze at the axe, he felt a surge of grandeur and declared loudly:

“When your strength exceeds twenty-five thousand jin, this axe is yours.”

Hearing this, Yuan Cheng’s pupils dilated with joy; his face lit up with excitement as he bowed deeply to Xia Hong.

“Thank you, Chief! From now on, I’ll train harder than ever!”

The seventh Earth-Digging Realm breakthrough? It was Yuan Cheng.

This had utterly surprised Xia Hong.

At the formation of the hunting team, the eight from the former Luoge Camp clearly outclassed the rest; later, Luo Yuan and the Zhao brothers were first to break through, confirming this.

Xia Chuan broke through first only because he inherited the Wood Puppet Spirit’s legacy; Yuan Cheng had no such advantage.

Xia Hong had expected the next breakthrough to come from the former Luoge Camp members—never imagined Yuan Cheng would beat them to it.

“Big brother, this axe is for hunting Tengjiao, right?”

Seeing Xia Chuan instantly deduce the axe’s purpose, Xia Hong didn’t hide it; he gave a slight nod.

The Tengjiao they’d seen last time was over thirty meters long, with a waist diameter of sixty to seventy centimeters—larger than the biggest Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep they’d encountered.

And due to its immense length, combined with the towering trees of Hongmu Ridge, the Tengjiao could coil and slither among branches—massive as it was, it moved with astonishing agility.

Most critical: its venom mist.

Due to the mist, the window to kill a Tengjiao was at most thirty minutes; if not slain within that time, retreat was mandatory. If you failed and were chased, the window shrank further.

Larger body = greater vitality. High agility = hard to chase. Short kill window = absolute necessity.

To successfully kill a Tengjiao, you couldn’t drag it out—you had to inflict maximum damage in the shortest possible time.

The camp’s current greatswords and bows were clearly inadequate.

“Even the greatswords are too light and small—bows are worse. Even pure iron arrows would barely scratch the Tengjiao. Let’s see if this axe can make a difference.”

As he spoke, Xia Hong picked up the greatsword beside the furnace—the very one he’d forged himself: Jinghan Dao. The blade and hilt totaled one point five meters; the spine alone was twelve centimeters thick, weighing six hundred and twenty jin.

To an outsider hearing Xia Hong call it “too light and small,” they’d think he’d lost his mind.

But the truth was, it was accurate.

“Too light and small”—compared to whom?

Compared to Snowmane, Frost Wolves, or Demon Sheep, the greatsword was no small thing. But before the Tengjiao? Those four words were perfectly apt.

Seeing the Jinghan Blade, Yuan Cheng’s eyes lit up.

For this period, Xia Hong had not forged any new weapons.

The camp currently still had only five great swords.

Jinghan was naturally in Xia Hong’s hands; the other four had first been held by him, Luo Yuan, Zhao Long, and Hong Gang.

But as Zhao Hu and Zhao Bao broke through to the Digging Earth realm, the two great swords in his and Hong Gang’s hands naturally passed to those two.

If they had never existed at all, Yuan Cheng wouldn’t have been so desperate—but having them and then losing them was unbearable.

=9+shu_ba

His recent effort to break through to the Digging Earth realm was partly motivated by the desire to reclaim the right to use the great sword.

He had originally intended to reclaim his old sword, but upon seeing Xia Hong’s Jinghan, Yuan Cheng immediately changed his target.

This blade had been personally forged by Xia Hong and used by him for some time; moreover, it was the first weapon ever made in the Xia Camp—its significance was immense, far more valuable than his old one.

If he could wield it, it would be so…

Xia Hong, having long noticed Yuan Cheng’s yearning expression, deliberately swung the great sword a few times to tease him; seeing Yuan Cheng’s gaze follow the blade’s motion, he burst into laughter and tossed Jinghan directly to him.

“Enough, enough—I know you want it. Take this great sword for now; I’ll use this great axe for a while.”

Yuan Cheng caught Jinghan, his face glowing with joy, but after a moment’s thought, he raised his head again, hesitating, and offered the blade back.

“Leader, this great axe was just forged—you haven’t even learned to use it yet. Why not let you keep Jinghan for now? I’ll wait until you’re comfortable with the axe before taking the great sword.”

Xia Hong raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and did not take the blade back.

“Don’t worry about me—come with me to the mine tunnel first!”

Saying this, Xia Hong pulled another long ram’s horn chisel from behind the furnace, led the two downstairs, and headed toward the southern mine tunnel.

All supplies in the mine tunnel had been moved to the second-floor warehouse; it was now much more spacious.

Clang… clang… clang…

Barely five or six meters inside, rhythmic chiseling sounds echoed, accompanied by the idle chatter of Luo Yuan and the other three.

“Luo Yuan, how heavy’s your chunk?”

“Around sixty jin.”

“That much? Mine was only forty.”

“Sixty jin per chunk? Lucky! Six contribution points can buy twelve jin of Cold Beast meat—another chunk today and I can get over twenty jin.”

“You can’t exchange everything for Cold Beast meat—I’ve got no furniture at home; my wife’s been nagging me. A wooden bed, bucket, chair, and everything else—total cost is seventy-five contribution points. I need to save up first, then exchange it all at once later.”

“Same with my wife—she took the kid to the Craftsmen’s Workshop, saw the wooden bed, came home, and immediately demanded it. Twenty-five contribution points. I’d need to mine for two or three days just to afford one.”

“Expensive, sure—but comfortable. That bed’s got a beast-skin pad; lying on it’s soft as clouds. Not just women and kids—I tried it myself and wanted one too.”

“The Logging Team, Foraging Team, Craftsmen’s Workshop, and Supply Office all have their own ways to earn contribution points—only our Hunting Team doesn’t. When will the Leader announce our method? Logging Team gets one point per outing; we should get at least two per hunt, right?”

“Definitely higher than theirs, but we don’t know how it’ll be divided. The Leader will allocate based on individual contribution—we’ll find out soon enough.”

“I’m just waiting for the Leader to announce so I can go hunting and earn points. Every night I come home, my wife and kids complain about missing this or that—it’s annoying!”

“No choice. Cold Beast meat can’t be cut. To get those things, you just have to earn more contribution points.”

“Hahaha, the Craftsmen’s Workshop really has too many things. Mu Dong must’ve figured out some trick—women and kids see them and can’t walk away, then come home to torment us.”

…………

Hearing their conversation, Xia Hong couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Funny enough, among the seven Digging Earth cultivators in camp, only he, Xia Chuan, and Yuan Cheng were unmarried; Luo Yuan and the three Zhao brothers all had wives and children.

And besides Luo Yuan, who had only one son, Zhao Hu and Zhao Bao each had two sons; Zhao Long, the eldest, was extreme—his wife bore him four children: three boys and one girl.

Alongside the new contribution point system, the camp began officially dividing households by family unit. With the Craftsmen’s Workshop launching various wooden, leather, and customized tools, and the Supply Office offering material exchanges, these families had enormous demand for contribution points.

Due to current material shortages and scarce craftsmen, prices for all items remained high—even Luo Yuan and Zhao Long struggled to afford them, let alone families of Logging Earth cultivators.

But as materials grow plentiful and craftsmen increase, prices will gradually drop, and accessibility will naturally rise—eventually, everyone will have access.

“Leader, you’re here!”

“Greetings, Leader.”

Seeing Xia Hong enter, Luo Yuan and the other three immediately stopped talking, set down their ram’s horn chisels, and bowed respectfully.

Xia Hong nodded slightly, drew out the ram’s horn chisel he held, walked to the rock wall, found an untouched spot, and began mining.

Ding…

At the first strike, Luo Yuan and the other three, along with Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng who had followed, froze in surprise; all six eyes locked onto the chisel in Xia Hong’s hand.

“Why does this chisel make such a crisp sound?”

“Isn’t this chisel made of iron?”

“No, it’s white—isn’t that…”

“It’s the rodent’s teeth!”

Xia Chuan spotted it first.

The other five instantly realized.

The shaft of Xia Hong’s chisel was still iron.

But the head was made of the rodent teeth they’d brought back earlier.

Ding… ding… ding…

The six did not disturb Xia Hong, watching instead as he struck only a hundred times—when the iron ore began to loosen, their faces lit up with joy.

Crash…

Half an hour later, as the iron ore chunk fell to the ground, Xia Hong exhaled deeply and released his grip on the chisel.

“Leader, can these rodent teeth be used for mining?”

“With ordinary iron picks, we need over two hours to mine one chunk—this tooth chisel doubles our efficiency?”

After catching his breath, Xia Hong picked up the iron ore, his face beaming.

When he fought the rodents, he’d noticed their teeth were harder than iron—he’d already considered using them for mining, but never expected results this good.

It had doubled efficiency outright.

A single Digging Earth cultivator could now mine up to four hundred jin of iron ore per day—or eight hundred jin of coal!

“Leader, can these rodent teeth be used to make weapons?”

“Too light—useless for weapons. Cold Beast bones are brittle and can’t be shaped. Once the tip wears down, it’s permanently ruined. Best used as disposable bone tools—only mining gives maximum return!”

Before Xia Hong could speak, Xia Chuan answered Luo Yuan’s question.

Xia Hong nodded. So far, all Cold Beast bones he’d encountered could only be used as disposable bone tools or ground into powder for medicine—none could be smelted like iron.

“Each rodent has two incisors; four teeth make one chisel. We killed four rodents earlier—we can make one more. From now on, the camp will use these tooth chisels for coal and iron mining.”

Hearing this, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the other six instantly brightened.

With ram’s horn chisels, they mined at most a hundred jin of iron ore per day—ten contribution points. With these tooth chisels, they’d earn forty contribution points daily.

“We only have two now—take turns using them. Once we kill more long-tailed rodents, we’ll make more!”

Xia Hong understood exactly what they were thinking.

After speaking, he looked at the iron ore in his hand and sighed slightly.

“Too bad—Logging Earth cultivators still can’t participate in mining!”

Though the tooth chisels improved efficiency, they couldn’t reduce the ore’s rebound force—in other words, without over ten thousand jin of base strength, one still couldn’t withstand the recoil, and thus couldn’t mine at all.

Xia Hong shook his head slightly. He’d been searching for a way to let Logging Earth cultivators mine.

“Is this a material rule? No wonder it’s called Digging Earth Realm—unless you reach this cultivation level, you can’t extract subterranean resources.”

At this moment, he finally extinguished that thought.

“Good. All six of you are here—prepare. Tonight after dark, come with me into the inner reaches of Redwood Ridge to hunt the Jiao!”

The six instantly brightened.

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan had seen the Teng Jiao before. Though the Teng Jiao looked terrifying, both understood its true strength—and instead of fear, their faces showed eager anticipation.

Zhao Long and his two brothers, along with Yuan Cheng, were simply ignorant and fearless, driven purely by curiosity—curious about this new species, and equally curious about the inner reaches of Redwood Ridge, never before entered.

Please, I beg for monthly votes—I feel we might make the rankings. More exposure would mean so much—thank you!

(End of Chapter)