Chapter 124: Everything is Ready, Start Acting [Three-in-One]

Although everyone was full of drive, bow-making was a handicraft after all, with complex processes and cumbersome procedures.

Casting bow bodies, forging bow arcs, opening hole slots, installing bowstrings, testing draw weight—no matter which item, it required extreme seriousness and meticulousness.

Being in a hurry was more likely to cause mistakes, resulting in material loss, which was not worth the gain.

Those practicing archery outside could be enthusiastic, but those making bows couldn't. Enthusiasm was fine, but they still had to be serious and meticulous, must ensure the finished product rate, and avoid unnecessary loss.

Installing bowstrings and testing draw weight weren't actually difficult. Mu Dong had successfully installed bowstrings on thirty-six iron-fetal bows, and his experience was already extremely rich. Basically, as long as the bow body arrived, it wouldn't take half an hour to install the bowstring well.

The most difficult process in bow-making was casting the bow body.

Firstly, forging iron itself was a difficult, cumbersome, and time-consuming task;

Secondly, there were only seven people in the whole camp with forging ability, and three had to be split off to mine, leaving four to forge. The efficiency was naturally extremely limited.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long had just come into contact with forging. Although they had improved a lot in the previous ten days, they could forge at most one bow a night;

Xia Hong's experience was richer than the three, and his basic strength was also higher, so the forging efficiency was naturally faster, and he could forge three bows a night.

The four added up to six bows a day, while Yuan Cheng and the other two in the mine could only mine 1,200 jin a day with Gnawing-Tooth Chisels, which was only enough to cast four bows.

As long as the progress of iron ore was almost unable to keep up, Xia Hong would take Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan to the mine to replace Yuan Cheng and the other two in mining.

His mining volume could now reach eight hundred a day; Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan's strength was also slightly stronger than Yuan Cheng and the other two, so the mining efficiency was naturally slightly faster.

Yuan Cheng and the other two used Gnawing-Tooth Chisels, at most 1,200 to 1,300 a day, while the three of them could reach about 1,800 jin a day.

They went down to replace mining, and Yuan Cheng and the other two went upstairs to replace forging. In this way, the progress of bow-making almost didn't exist, and for several consecutive days, it was extremely smooth.

The seven people only rested for one or two hours every day. Under such an overloaded operating state, the efficiency of bow-making naturally climbed step by step.

Especially the forging skills of Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long improved rapidly in this process. From the beginning of one bow a day, later, with the cooperation of the three, they could forge one to two more bows every day.

First day, six finished products;

Second day, six finished products;

Third day, seven finished products;

Seventh day, eight finished products;

Ninth day, just as dawn was breaking.

In the valley, everyone who had practiced archery all night was tired, returning to the wooden house one after another, preparing to sleep.

Shi Ping came down from the second floor with a happy face. After leaving the wooden house, he hurried toward the mine.

Clang... Clang... Clang...

Walking ten-plus meters into the mine, a crisp chiseling sound came from the front.

Shi Ping quickened his pace, saw Xia Hong and the other two who were excavating, immediately bowed and saluted, and said excitedly: "Leader, there were six finished products yesterday!"

Clang...

Six?

Xia Hong thought he had misheard and hurriedly stopped and looked at Shi Ping.

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan on the other side also stopped and looked at him.

Stared at by the three, Shi Ping was a bit nervous, but still nodded and said:

"It's six. Lord Zhao Long was the first to forge one, and then took turns helping Lord Yuan Cheng and the other two forge. As of just now, six have already been produced."

"Zhao Long's forging level has improved a bit fast!"

Xia Chuan, who had already stopped, couldn't help but praise upon hearing this.

Xia Hong nodded, but after thinking about it, he immediately understood.

During this period, if you asked who made the most bows, it was definitely him, but if you asked who had the longest forging time, it had to be Zhao Long.

Because there were only three Gnawing-Tooth Chisels, once the iron ore couldn't keep up, he only took Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan down, leaving Zhao Long to continue forging above. So in these eight consecutive days, the six of them had taken turns mining, only Zhao Long had always stayed above to forge iron, so his skills naturally improved fast.

"How many iron-fetal bows does the camp have now?"

Xia Hong signaled Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan to bring the iron ore over, while turning his head to ask Shi Ping about the number of iron-fetal bows.

"In the first eight days, a total of forty-nine were forged. Added to the previous thirty-six, and the eleven originally in the camp, there are currently ninety-six iron-fetal bows."

"How many meters of Teng Jiao spine tendon are left?"

"Twenty-seven meters."

【Resources: Wood 42102, Coal 560, Iron 188, Silver 0, Gold 0】

When entering the mine, the iron resources had already been exhausted.

In one night, the three mined a total of 1,880 jin of iron ore.

There were already 96 iron-fetal bows.

After Xia Hong calculated in his heart, he asked Shi Ping:

"How many iron arrows does our camp have now?"

All materials related to weapons were managed by the camp supply office. Xia Chuan had been busy during this period, so these things were all handled by Shi Ping. Hearing Xia Hong's question, he immediately gave the answer.

"There were 550 before. Added to the 500 iron arrows the leader made five days ago, there are a total of 1,050 now."

Arrows were different from bows. Forging arrow blanks wasn't difficult, and the process of sharpening could be completely left to the Woodcutting Realm cultivators, so the forging efficiency was very fast. Five days ago, learning that there weren't enough iron arrows, Xia Hong immediately opened a furnace.

He was responsible for forging arrow blanks alone, and then called twenty or thirty people to sharpen them together.

In two or three hours, 500 iron arrows were made.

"One bow needs to be equipped with 50 arrows, which means there aren't enough arrows!"

Xia Hong's expression darkened slightly. Thinking of the iron ore in his hand, which was at most enough to forge six hundred iron arrows, he felt a bit helpless in his heart.

Just calculate it and you'll know. During this period, whether it was their bodies or iron ore, the seven of them had basically been squeezed to the limit.

It was fortunate that the luck of mining was good, otherwise it definitely wouldn't have kept up.

In these eight days, their two groups, his group mined for four days, Yuan Cheng's group mined for three days, and there was one day when all seven went down to mine.

With the system, he knew the total mining volume clearly.

His group, in four days, the mining volume was 7,920 jin.

Yuan Cheng's group was a bit less, the mining volume was 3,850 jin.

On the day the seven people mined simultaneously, there was 2,300 jin.

That is to say, in eight days, the total mining volume was 14,070 jin. Added to the 3,300-plus jin left before, it was 17,370 jin in total.

Forty-nine bows used 14,700 jin, and 500 iron arrows were forged in the middle, totaling 2,500 jin. Calculated, it was exactly 17,300 jin.

The mining volume and consumption volume matched exactly. In these ten days, almost as soon as the iron ore was mined, someone immediately took it to the furnace for them to forge, which was why Xia Hong said that their bodies and iron ore had basically been squeezed to the limit.

"The number of iron-fetal bows is sufficient, no need to continue forging. Arrows can be appropriately equipped with fewer, but too few won't work either. It's almost dawn. Today during the day, everyone go back and rest well first. After nightfall, the seven of us will continue to dig. The subsequent iron ore will all be used to make arrows."

"Yes, leader!"

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Although the physical fitness of the Earth-Digging Realm cultivators was beyond ordinary people, they weren't made of iron. In the previous eight days, they only slept for one or two hours every day, and the rest of the time, they were either mining in the cave or forging iron upstairs. They had long reached their limit.

It was hard to have four hours of rest, so the two naturally cherished it, immediately dropped the Gnawing-Tooth Chisels, and returned to the wooden house to rest.

Xia Hong was no exception. He went to the second floor, took a look at the smithy, knew that Yuan Cheng and the other four had already gone to rest, and he also hurriedly returned to his room to sleep.

Although the four hours of daytime passed in a flash, Xia Hong and the seven people had slept soundly, and their vitality had recovered by more than half.

Xia Hong didn't drag his feet, took the six people, and went directly to the mine.

However, he only dug for half a day, mining about ten-plus pieces, about four hundred jin of iron ore. As soon as the second half of the night arrived, he handed the Gnawing-Tooth Chisel in his hand to Zhao Long and left himself.

After less than an hour, Xia Hong returned with a solemn expression.

"I'll go and rush to make iron arrows first. You continue to dig. After digging iron ore, let someone send it up immediately. In one day, make as many as you can. The Gnawing Rat pack is still moving south, can't drag it anymore!"

Hearing this, the six knew that Xia Hong had just gone to the north slope of the mountain wall again, and their expressions immediately became solemn, turning around to accelerate the speed of excavation.

Xia Hong didn't drag his feet anymore, collected all the iron ore the crowd had excavated, and walked out of the mine with a heavy face.

In the previous nine days, he naturally wouldn't just stay in the camp to make bows. He would go to the north slope of the mountain wall every other day to see the movement of the Gnawing Rat pack.

Following the migration nine days ago, the Gnawing Rat pack had moved south twice more, and the distance was even greater than before, already exceeding four hundred meters.

The valley was less than two kilometers away from there. That is to say, the activity range of the Gnawing Rat pack was only a little over one kilometer away from the camp.

The time left for them was already not much.

At the entrance of the wooden house, the one hundred-plus Woodcutting Realm cultivators in the camp were still practicing archery crazily as always. Compared with twenty days ago, the camp was obviously much more affluent now. Ninety-six iron-fetal bows—everyone having one couldn't be done, but for practice, it was more than enough.

"Greetings, leader!"

"The leader is here."

"Greetings, leader!"

"You continue to practice, don't worry about me."

Xia Hong reached out to let everyone not worry about him, stopped and watched for a while, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

For the hundred-meter target, almost no one could be seen shooting crookedly, all were ten rings.

For the two-hundred-meter target, the hit rate was also one hundred percent, only the number of people hitting ten rings wasn't too many for the time being.

Compared with nineteen days ago, the archery level of these people had obviously risen to a major level, which showed that during this period, basically no one had been lazy.

It was also normal, after all, it was a matter of life and death.

These people all knew that the Gnawing Rat pack was right on the edge, and they also knew why Xia Hong wanted them to improve their archery. If they were still lazy, their hearts would be too big.

Without disturbing everyone practicing archery, Xia Hong went directly to the second floor.

Before going to sleep yesterday, iron ore had been hoarded for 1,880 jin. Added to the half day after waking up, the seven people had dug another 1,100-plus jin, totaling over 3,000 jin.

"These three thousand-plus jin can forge six hundred-plus iron arrows. Added to the existing ones, there are a total of 1,650. Every bow, fifty arrows definitely can't be equipped. Even if reduced by forty percent, if each bow is equipped with 30 arrows, then at least 2,880 arrows need to be prepared. Still short 1,230 arrows. Each arrow is five jin, then another 6,000-plus jin!"

In the previous nineteen days, the thing Xia Hong did the most was calculating accounts.

No way, who made Does Da Xia's strength not good, resources not enough, and even worse, the speed of mining was so slow.

"6,000-plus jin, fortunately, I can finally see hope. Xia Chuan and the other six can mine about 1,500 jin a day. Added to mine, it can reach 2,200. The arrow-making speed is very fast. If iron ore is gone, I'll go down and mine with them. It shouldn't take three days!"

Compared with bows, the production process of arrows was much easier.

Xia Hong only needed to forge arrow blanks, and the arrowheads could be handed over to others to sharpen. He had already made them once before, and it only took two or three hours to forge five hundred.

Learning that Xia Hong wanted to make arrows, Mu Dong immediately called the people from the artisan workshop, all ready on the side. He forged one, and someone below immediately took it over and started sharpening. In this way, the efficiency was instantly pulled to the max.

Six hundred arrows were all completed in less than three hours.

Seeing that the mine hadn't sent iron ore for a long time, Xia Hong went down again; accompanied Xia Chuan and the other six to dig for two days, hoarded nearly 4,500 jin of iron ore, went up and practiced nine hundred in one go. After practicing, he went down again.

Xia Hong was like a machine that didn't know fatigue. Of course, not just him, Xia Chuan and the other six, and even Mu Dong and others who were only responsible for sharpening, were the same.

And seeing them so crazy, the one hundred-plus Woodcutting Realm cultivators in the camp were even more afraid to slack off when practicing archery; ordinary people, besides cultivation, were also doing things within their power.

Up and down the whole camp, everyone seemed to be holding back a breath.

On the third night, the last batch of three hundred arrows was forged. Xia Hong still didn't walk out of the smithy but called Shi Ping and asked him to go to the mine to notify Xia Chuan and the other six to stop mining, and by the way, send the last batch of iron ore up.

Shi Ping left the smithy with three hundred-plus arrows. However, after a while, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the other six, who were soaked and tired, walked in.

"Phew... Big brother, are the iron arrows enough?"

Xia Chuan put a bag of iron ore in his hand by the furnace, took a deep breath, and sat directly on the ground.

Luo Yuan and the other five behind him were also the same.

"Enough, these three days, you're tired, right?"

=9+Book_Bar

Xia Chuan and the other six didn't need to answer. The fatigue on their faces was the answer.

For three consecutive days, they even ate in the mine, rested for one hour every day, and also lay inside to sleep. The degree of fatigue could be imagined.

"No need to dig anymore later. You five, go and rest first!"

A trace of fatigue also flashed in Xia Hong's eyes, but looking at the twenty-plus pieces of iron ore that Xia Chuan had just put down on the ground, he still forced himself to cheer up and let Luo Yuan and the other five go to rest first.

The five had long been exhausted. Getting Xia Hong's order, they immediately got up and returned to their rooms to rest, leaving only Xia Chuan in the smithy.

"Big brother, something up?"

Clearly, Xia Chuan also wanted to rest, but knowing that since Xia Hong kept him, there must be something, he asked first.

Xia Hong nodded and asked: "How many Woodcutting Realm cultivators does the camp have now?"

Xia Chuan had been mining during this period, but the situation in the camp, Shi Ping and other people from the camp supply office, would report to him in time, so he was definitely clear.

"There are already 212."

Hearing this number, Xia Hong's taut nerves immediately relaxed a bit, and a long-lost excitement gradually appeared on his face.

When the new house started construction, the camp had 140 Woodcutting Realm cultivators. Later, 18 were lost due to accidents when going out. In less than two months today, it had suddenly surged to 212.

"It seems that the pressure brought by the Gnawing Rat pack is not just felt by us. Those in the reserve force have also been practicing very hard during this period."

Xia Chuan nodded and smiled: "Another reason is that they all want to touch bows. Now the number of iron-fetal bows in the camp is enough, but only those in the Woodcutting Realm can practice. Added to the archery competition every ten days, they naturally want to participate more urgently."

Hearing this, Xia Hong's eyes lit up slightly.

Right, people are social animals. The atmosphere of practicing bows in the whole camp is so strong, added to the contribution value rewards of the archery competition, those in the reserve force can't participate, so naturally they will find ways to break through quickly.

Following this line of thought, can the camp set up more weapon competitions in the future? That should be of great help to improving overall strength.

No, now is not the time to think about these things.

Xia Hong suppressed the thoughts in his heart, looked at Xia Chuan, and talked about the main business.

"You go and rest for a while later. After resting, start selecting people. Select the ninety-six people with the best archery. After nightfall tomorrow, we will start acting."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan nodded, and his expression became a bit more solemn.

The overloaded operation of the camp for the previous twenty-plus days was, in the final analysis, to prepare for the Gnawing Rats on the north slope of the mountain wall. The preparatory work had all been completed, and next, they had to start facing them directly.

"Big brother, only select ninety-six people? Why not let other Woodcutting Realm cultivators..."

"Useless!"

Xia Hong directly shook his head and interrupted Xia Chuan, saying in a deep voice: "Even if Gnawing Rats are hit by Teng Jiao poisonous mist, their speed and strength are still above the Woodcutting Realm. Without bows and arrows, they basically can't exert any effect when they go over. Not only will they die in vain, but they are also very likely to affect others."

Xia Hong had already considered this problem before.

Except for bows and arrows, there was no other way to cause long-range damage to Gnawing Rats, even for Gnawing Rats poisoned by Teng Jiao mist, it was the same.

Moreover, currently, besides ninety-six bows and arrows, the remaining iron weapons were only one great axe and five big knives, which were fundamentally insufficient to equip the remaining people.

You can't let these people engage in close-quarters combat with Gnawing Rats, right?

Whether Woodcutting Realm cultivators carry weapons or not, engaging in close-quarters combat with any cold beast is an act of seeking death, unless you use human lives to pile it up.

What's more, this time the main attack method was archery. You can't have these ninety-six people shooting arrows in the back while those one hundred-plus people are engaging in close-quarters combat with Gnawing Rats in the front. That would be even more unreasonable.

"If time allowed, I would also want to forge more bows, but the situation no longer allows it. Over a hundred bows, nearly three thousand arrows, added to the seven of us, as long as we operate properly, dealing with that pack of Gnawing Rats shouldn't be difficult."

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he signaled Xia Chuan to go and rest first, while he stayed in the smithy alone, looking down at the last batch of iron ore that Xia Chuan and the other six had brought up just now.

"Someone, call Mu Dong."

"Yes, leader!"

There had always been people guarding the door. Hearing Xia Hong's order, someone immediately went.

Xia Hong fiddled in the room for another whole night, during which Mu Dong was also there the whole time.

It wasn't until dawn was approaching that the movement in the smithy stopped.

"Hand these three bows to the Zhao Long three brothers, I'll go and sleep for a while."

"Yes, leader."

Mu Dong nodded and obeyed, looking at the three sets of bows and arrows placed on the ground, his face full of a thick sense of achievement.

The three sets of bows and arrows on the ground looked a full circle larger than the previous ordinary iron-fetal bows, and the bowstrings were also installed with several more strands than before. Clearly, they were not just a little bit stronger than the bows forged before.

"Mu Dong, the leader called us?"

Soon, the Zhao Long three brothers, who were watching the archery selection on the first floor, heard the news and immediately came up.

As soon as the three entered the smithy and didn't see Xia Hong, they first asked suspiciously.

But immediately after, the three's gazes were hooked by the bows and arrows on the ground.

"This..."

Zhao Long directly picked up one, then reached out and pulled the string, feeling the powerful draw weight of the bow body, his eyes full of brightness, and looked back at Mu Dong, a look of expectation appearing on his face.

Mu Dong smiled and nodded, saying: "These three bows should be specially forged by the leader for you three, each equipped with fifty arrows. The leader said to let you take them and adapt first."

The three nodded excitedly. Zhao Hu took the bow and didn't forget to ask: "Where is the leader?"

"The leader hasn't closed his eyes for almost thirty hours, he has already gone to rest."

The three nodded upon hearing this, and a sense of reverence rose in their hearts.

"The leader is more tired than all of us, he should have a good rest."

In these twenty-plus days, it was no exaggeration to say that they and Xia Chuan and the other six took turns mining and forging until they were exhausted.

But if you had to say who was the most tired, it had to be the leader, Xia Hong.

Mining, forging bows, making arrows—not only did he have to do everything, but because his efficiency was far higher than theirs, he did even more.

It was precisely because they were infected by Xia Hong's drive that the six of them, and everyone else in the camp, could persist in completing such high-load tasks.

"Ninety-six bows, plus these three, are enough for that pack of Gnawing Rats to have a good time. Xia Chuan is already selecting archers. I estimate that after nightfall, we will go to the north slope of the mountain wall to deal with that pack of Gnawing Rats. Let's find a place to practice first, so as not to disappoint the leader when the time comes."

Mu Dong nodded and hurriedly went downstairs as well.

He was also a Woodcutting Realm cultivator and also hoped to pass the archer selection and go to the north slope of the mountain wall with Xia Hong to deal with the Gnawing Rat pack.

When Xia Hong woke up, the sky had already turned completely dark.

Realizing that he had overslept, Xia Hong hurriedly got up and went downstairs.

When he arrived at the second-floor main hall, the place where the camp discussed matters, he found that it was already full of people.

The group of people at the very front were all holding longbows and carrying arrow quivers. After a rough scan, Xia Hong immediately understood that this was the ninety-six people Xia Chuan had selected.

Except for these ninety-six people, the one hundred-plus people standing on the periphery all had expressions of frustration on their faces, clearly not having recovered from the frustration of not being selected.

"Leader, ninety-six people, all ready!"

Xia Hong walked to the front of the crowd. Hearing Xia Chuan's words, he turned to look at the crowd below, his expression slightly stern.

"Logically speaking, you are only in the Woodcutting Realm and don't have the qualifications to go out and hunt cold beasts, but the situation is special now. You all know that the Gnawing Rat pack is right on the edge. To ensure the safety of the camp, we must take the initiative to attack!"

After saying these words, Xia Hong scanned the ninety-six people in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"First of all, I want to congratulate you for being able to stand out from over two hundred people.

You are very lucky to have the opportunity to go out with me tonight;

But at the same time, you are also unfortunate,

Because that pack of Gnawing Rats, whether in number or strength, far exceeds your imagination. Taking the initiative to attack tonight, although I have a certain degree of confidence, I dare not ensure absolute safety.

If any accident occurs, being injured is considered lucky, and losing one's life is not impossible, so I say, you are also unfortunate at the same time."

Xia Hong's gaze flickered slightly, finding that among the ninety-six people in front of him, not one had a look of fear on their face, and he asked in a deep voice: "Are you not afraid?"

"Not afraid!"

"I'm not afraid. For the camp, even if I die, I'm not afraid."

"Not bad, we people have always been eating the cold beast meat hunted by you, leader. We haven't made any contribution on weekdays. It's hard to have the opportunity to do something for you, leader, and still be timid—is that appropriate?"

"For Does Da Xia, I'm not afraid of anything."

"If it weren't for the leader, I would have died long ago. How could I live the life I have now."

"That's right, thanks to the leader, I've lived a good life for so long. Even if the leader lets me die now, I'm willing."

"Who among you is afraid? Let me go. My archery is not good, otherwise, how could such a good thing as dying for the leader be your turn!"

"That's right, my basic strength is not low, it's just that my archery is not good. Whoever doesn't want to go, let me go, I'm willing to exchange with you."

For a time, not only the ninety-six people selected, but many Woodcutting Realm cultivators who weren't selected, and even some in the reserve force, all spoke up, expressing their willingness to exchange with those who didn't want to go.

"Good! With these words from you, I can rest assured."

Xia Hong had a rough idea of how high his prestige was in the hearts of these people in the Does Da Xia camp, but hearing these words with his own ears, his emotions couldn't help but fluctuate.

The unconditional trust of everyone in the Does Da Xia camp, these hundreds or thousands of people, in him, even to the point of not caring about their lives, wasn't that the result of his hard work over the past half year!

Xia Hong had always been a person who put himself in others' shoes. He knew clearly how much he had paid for these people in the camp. To say he didn't seek return was a lie.

The return he wanted was the unconditional trust of everyone at this very moment.

"I won't say much. You just need to remember one thing: all actions when going out tonight must obey my orders. Also remember what you just said yourself. Tonight, no matter who it is, even if I tell you to die, you have to grit your teeth and take it. I don't want anyone to have problems, understand?"

"Understood!"

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, the Zhao brothers, Yuan Cheng, and the ninety-six Woodcutting Realm cultivators selected all raised their heads and answered in unison. Instantly, the sound shook like thunder, and the eaves trembled incessantly.

Xia Hong also felt a sense of heroism rise in his heart and said loudly: "Good, the momentum is not bad. I haven't told you before, the contribution value of one Gnawing Rat is 200 points. You ninety-six people shouldn't have the opportunity to earn so much contribution value on weekdays. Tonight is an opportunity. Let's see who among you can grasp it!"

Hearing this, the ninety-six people below became excited.

Even the six Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, had their eyes light up.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 125 =====