Chapter 140: Attempting to Break Through, Dispute [Three-in-One]

"Hiss..."

"Such a big Snow-Mane, how could it be so big?"

"This is a mid-level cold beast!"

"A mid-level cold beast, they really hunted a mid-level cold beast..."

"Why is the Leader covered in blood and flesh?"

"He must be injured. Zou Yuankai and Zhu Shun are also unconscious."

At the Great Xia base, as soon as Xia Hong brought the people back to the valley, it immediately caused continuous exclamations from those who had stayed outside the valley.

As they shouted, the people in the wooden houses also rushed out one after another.

Everyone surrounded the massive Snow-Mane corpse, their eyes full of shock and emotion.

The Snow-Mane's two eyes had already been shot blind, and it was clearly in a state of complete death, motionless, but everyone still couldn't help but feel a bit of hair-raising fear in their hearts.

The two or three-meter-long fangs stained red with blood;

the body full of saber wounds and holes;

and the Snow-Mane's head, riddled with holes;

all manifested what kind of heart-stirring battle the hunting team had experienced just now.

Most people knew that the hunting team had gone to look for a mid-level cold beast tonight.

When they went out, quite a few people in the camp were very worried.

"Whether it is killing people or persuading, that Great Xia camp, I don't care what method you use, as long as you collect all of them into my Mirror Immortal camp. This matter, I will trouble you, Second Brother, to take more heart!"

Who could have thought that they would actually try to hunt a mid-level cold beast...

And, they had succeeded!

Everyone's gaze shifted from the Snow-Mane to the hunting team, and finally, they all looked at Xia Hong, who was in the lead, their eyes full of worship and respect.

Even, carrying a trace of fanaticism.

Of course, some people also noticed Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai, who were heavily wounded and unconscious, as well as the Leader Xia Hong, who was unrecognizable and somewhat terrifying because his skin had been burned by the beast blood.

"Don't surround this place. Carry Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai inside and treat their wounds first. Xia Chuan, take people to carry the prey up and process it. The rest of the hunting team who have injuries, all hurry back to rest. Mu Dong, hurry and make a wooden barrel with a diameter of two meters and send it to my room."

As soon as Xia Hong finished speaking, he carried the bag of blood and rushed upstairs directly.

The others were still somewhat confused, only Xia Chuan and the hunting team members looked up at him, a trace of worry appearing on their faces.

Previously, the light in the Red Wood Ridge had been dim, and they had been in a hurry to get back, so they hadn't noticed. It wasn't until they left the Red Wood Ridge that they saw clearly the miserable state of Xia Hong's exposed skin, which had been burned by the cold beast blood.

"Will the Leader be alright?"

Luo Yuan couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

Xia Chuan thought for a moment and shook his head, "He should be fine. If something were really wrong, he couldn't have held on for so long just now. Hurry up and let the blood out. Big Brother should be attempting to break through to the Frost-Resistant level immediately!"

The worry on Luo Yuan's face disappeared immediately, replaced by a trace of excitement.

The Leader was going to break through to the Frost-Resistant level!

"Hiss..."

On the third floor, Xia Hong returned to his room.

As soon as he sat on the chair, he reached out and touched the skin on his face.

With just a light touch, intense pain immediately surged into his mind.

"The skin has all been burned off. This time, it really is unrecognizable!"

Xia Hong walked to the small wooden barrel in the room, glanced at his face in the water, and a look of horror appeared in his pupils.

His face had large areas of burns, and he couldn't find a single piece of good skin, only flesh. His five senses were just exposed like that. If it weren't for being stained red by blood, it would only be several times more ghastly.

"Although it hurts, I can clearly feel that my skin-membrane is constantly recovering, and the speed is getting faster and faster. It's just that this burning sensation hasn't subsided at all, and it's getting more and more serious..."

Xia Hong looked down at the skin on his body, where a few tiny white spots had appeared. Although the speed was very slow, the white spots were in a clear state of spreading.

And as the white spots spread, he could clearly perceive that his base strength was also constantly improving.

Xia Hong clenched his fists, feeling the improvement in strength, and a trace of excitement flashed across his painful expression.

"Sure enough, strength can continue to improve. Luo Ming once said that the standard for the Frost-Resistant level is to be able to be completely exposed to the sun. 'Completely' should refer to those four hours during the day. In other words, the breakthrough to the Frost-Resistant level is not achieved in one step, but requires using mid-level cold beast blood to constantly reshape the skin-membrane until it is finally complete.

And the standard for completion is to be able to stay for those four hours during the day!"

This was not Xia Hong's random speculation. Just now, when he saw Director Yu Wen Tao in the Red Wood Ridge, this guess had already popped into his mind.

At this moment, feeling the reshaping process of his skin-membrane, which was still stuck in the initial stage, he was even more certain of his guess.

Director Yu Wen Tao's base strength should be above his, but he was still hunting at night and hadn't broken through to the Frost-Resistant level, which already explained the problem.

"This bag of blood has thirty-some jin, plus that Snow-Mane, there should be nearly a hundred jin of cold beast blood. I wonder how much it can reshape my skin-membrane!"

Although the pain was gradually subsiding, there was no joy on Xia Hong's face, and he even felt empty in his heart.

Because along with the subsidence of the pain, the feeling of strength improvement was also fading.

That refreshing feeling—as long as one had practiced, no one could refuse it.

"Leader, the blood has been placed, and the wooden barrel has been made."

"Come in!"

Xia Chuan and Mu Dong carried a large wooden barrel and walked in.

The wooden barrel was two meters in diameter and over a meter high, and it was already filled with more than half of bright red blood, clearly from the Snow-Mane they had just brought back.

The two were afraid that the blood in the wooden barrel would splash out, so their movements were very light and slow. They slowly carried it to the main hall of the room before putting it down gently.

"Big Brother, are you alright?"

Xia Chuan put down the wooden barrel and looked at Xia Hong. Seeing that his face was normal, although he felt much more relieved, he still couldn't help but worry.

"I'm fine. You all go busy yourselves. For these few days, unless there is an unavoidable matter, no one should come to disturb me."

"Yes, Leader!"

Xia Chuan nodded in agreement and led Mu Dong out.

After the two left, Xia Hong also carried the leather bag to the side of the wooden barrel, opened the bag, and poured all thirty-some jin of Demon Sheep blood inside.

Xia Hong reached out and put his hand into the wooden barrel, and immediately felt a burning sensation, but at the same time, the numbness and soreness caused by the reshaping of the skin-membrane also emerged.

During this process of numbness and soreness, the improvement in muscle strength was exceptionally obvious, even more violent than the improvement after taking cold beast meat and volatilizing it.

A look of intoxication even couldn't help but appear on Xia Hong's slightly painful face.

"This is probably pain and happiness together. A hundred jin, let's see to what extent it can reshape my skin-membrane!"

Secretly saying this in his heart, Xia Hong couldn't hold back anymore and stripped off his clothes and jumped into the wooden barrel directly.

"Uh... ah..."

Jumping into the wooden barrel, the moment his body was soaked in blood, intense pain surged into his mind. Xia Hong only felt that the skin all over his body was being cut open by someone with a knife, and his veins immediately bulged.

From low roars to screams, and finally to twitching and angry roars.

His painful roars immediately resounded inside and outside the wooden house.

Xia Chuan, who had just gone down to the second floor and hadn't stayed long, and the other members of the hunting team heard the sound, their expressions changed, and they all rushed up immediately.

"Big Brother, what's wrong with you?"

"Leader, are you alright? We're coming in!"

Xia Chuan only shouted once and was just about to slam the door.

Inside, however, came Xia Hong's intermittent low roars.

"No... need... no need... uh... ah... don't come in, I... am... fine... ah..."

A large group of people surrounding the door immediately looked at each other.

"Don't... worry, I... am fine, all go busy with your own..."

Although Xia Hong's voice was much calmer than just now, Xia Chuan and the others outside the door could still hear the pain and suppression in his voice.

Everyone had worry on their faces, but they didn't dare to break in rashly, so they could only shift their gaze to Xia Chuan, who was at the very front.

"The Leader said he's fine, so he's fine. All go back and busy yourselves. I will stay here alone. If there is a situation, I will notify you again."

Xia Chuan dismissed the crowd, while he continued to stay outside the door.

Although everyone was worried, they couldn't help much, so they could only leave.

"Uh... ah... hiss..."

Xia Chuan, who stayed outside the door, heard Xia Hong's painful roars inside. Although he understood that he was using cold beast blood to attempt to break through to the Frost-Resistant level, he still couldn't help but worry.

"There is no precedent to follow, and I haven't heard of the correct way to use mid-level cold beast blood. Big Brother attempting to break through so rashly is just too risky. If it weren't for that damn Mirror Immortal camp..."

Xia Chuan clenched his fists, and a trace of hatred gradually emerged in his eyes.

If it weren't for this abruptly appearing Mirror Immortal camp, making Xia Hong anxious to break through to the Frost-Resistant level, he wouldn't have been so risky.

If there was enough time, he could have gone to the Beehive camp to find out the method of breaking through first before attempting it.

Thinking this way, Xia Chuan naturally had no good feelings for that Mirror Immortal camp.

But no matter how much he hated it, he had no way, so he could only wait for Xia Hong to end.

"Hiss... ah..."

Although as time passed, Xia Hong's voice seemed to be weakening and the frequency was decreasing, the painful and suppressed low roars always continued without stopping.

From dark to dawn, and then to nightfall.

Until the twenty-sixth day of the first month of the Great Xia Era.

The screams that lasted for two days finally stopped.

As soon as the sound stopped, Xia Chuan was still a bit worried.

But when he put his ear to the door and heard Xia Hong's rhythmic breathing inside, he immediately relaxed.

Even, feeling that Xia Hong's breathing was longer and steadier than before, a look of expectation even appeared on his face.

It was a pity that Xia Hong didn't come out immediately.

Xia Chuan could only continue to guard the door.

North of the Arrow Bamboo Forest, it was generally a boundless plain.

But on the east side of the plain, there was an oval-shaped basin that recessed inward.

The basin was about five or six li in radius, and the drop from the ground was about ten meters at its deepest point. It was surrounded by a circle of densely transplanted arrow bamboo, enclosing the entire basin airtight.

On the front and back sides of the basin, a road leading directly to the ground had been built, only two meters wide, and the sides of the road were also surrounded by arrow bamboo, enough for at most two or three people to walk side by side.

Clearly, there was a human base in this basin.

The facts were exactly so. Inside the basin, dozens of houses built of a mixture of green bamboo and round wood were located in sequence. The houses were divided into left and right sides, four rows each, five houses in each row. Roads had been built in front, behind, left, and right of every five houses, in orderly fashion.

People were coming in and out of the wooden houses, talking and laughing, and there were quite a few of them.

And in the very middle of these wooden houses stood a giant bamboo building about twenty meters high. Unlike the green bamboo used in other wooden houses, the bamboo used in this building was snow-white.

Snow-white bamboo sounded a bit eerie.

Judging from the structure outside this bamboo building alone, it was indeed so.

These bamboos were about one or two meters in diameter. Not only was the color snow-white, but the surface was also densely covered with a layer of fine, dense spikes more than ten centimeters long, just because the snow covering them was too thick, it wasn't so obvious.

The bamboo building was about ten meters wide and divided into three floors. A giant iron pillar with a diameter of more than three meters was inserted in the center, leading directly from the bottom to the top of the building.

A hole slot was opened at the bottom of the iron pillar, and the coal stones inside were burning vigorously, providing a continuous supply of heat to the interior of the entire bamboo building through the iron pillar.

The sealing of the bamboo building was also very good. No heat leaked out. Outside, it was clearly covered with thick white snow, but inside it was as warm as spring, not cold at all.

The third-floor hall of the bamboo building was currently packed with hundreds of people.

The group from Director Yu Wen Tao who had returned from the Red Wood Ridge had finished telling everything that had just happened. Several people beside them immediately stood out, filled with righteous indignation.

=9+Book_Bar

"Second Leader, that Xia Hong is so arrogant, are we still going to endure it?"

"A mere Earth-Digging Realm dares to be so rude to my Mirror Immortal camp. It is unbearable. Their base should be on the east side of the Red Wood Ridge. What are we waiting for?"

"Young Master Tao also said that Xia Hong had already had the thought of killing people. If we still endure it like this, it's simply cowardly!"

"That Great Xia is at most a large camp. In my opinion, no need to say so much, just go directly to their door, kill that Xia Hong, and collect the remaining population."

"The Great Leader has already said that we must constantly expand the camp and increase the population. Meeting this Great Xia camp just after passing through the Arrow Bamboo Forest shows that heaven favors us. Second Leader, opportunity knocks but once. Don't miss it!"

"Alright, shut up first. Your tempers have been getting bigger and bigger lately!"

Directly above the hall, there were two large snow-white bamboo chairs.

The one in the middle was empty at the moment, while the one on the left, slightly lower, was occupied by a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man had thick brows and a broad face, his expression calm. He was also dressed in black, and a giant broadsword was even resting beside him. His appearance was seventy percent similar to Director Yu Wen Tao's.

From his appearance, as well as his behavior of scolding the crowd to shut up, it could be seen that he was clearly Director Yu Wen Tao's father, the Second Leader of the Mirror Immortal camp in everyone's mouth, Director Yu Wen Hu.

Director Yu Wen Hu scanned the crowd of people who were excited and indignant below, focused on He Meng, who was in the lead, his brows knitted slightly, then looked at his son Director Yu Wen Tao, pondered for a moment, and asked in a low voice:

"Are you sure that Xia Hong's strength is not even as good as yours?"

Director Yu Wen Tao pondered for a moment and nodded, "Although I was injured at the time and my perception might not be accurate, his qi-muscle movement was indeed not as good as mine in my prime, at most just over the thirty-thousand-jin limit.

Later, I sent out half of the cold beast blood, and he accepted it immediately. This behavior is also enough to prove that he should still be in the stage of reshaping his skin-membrane, and his progress should not be as good as mine!"

Director Yu Wen Hu shook his head, his face showing confusion, "At the Earth-Digging Realm limit, just started reshaping the skin-membrane, with such little strength, he dared to let you bring words back, saying he wanted to live in peace with my Mirror Immortal camp?"

Director Yu Wen Tao heard this, and there was also some confusion on his face, guessing:

"Maybe, he doesn't know the strength of our Mirror Immortal camp?"

After speaking, he turned his head and glanced at the angry He Meng, and continued: "Didn't He Meng say last time that the Great Xia camp has over a hundred Woodcutting Realm members, and everyone is equipped with bows and arrows? Maybe their Great Xia camp has sufficient ironware, and there are quite a few Earth-Digging Realm and Woodcutting Realm people."

Director Yu Wen Hu shook his head immediately upon hearing this.

There are many Woodcutting Realm and Earth-Digging Realm members, but can they compare with the Mirror Immortal camp?

On the other side, He Meng couldn't help but sneer:

"Young Master Tao, you are too ambitious for others. With such little strength, how can Great Xia compare with my Mirror Immortal? Never mind a hundred Woodcutting Realm members; even if they had a hundred Earth-Digging Realm members, in front of my Mirror Immortal camp, they would just be crumbling dogs."

"In my opinion, he is just a fool who has gained some ambition and has no knowledge, and doesn't recognize himself. Didn't Lu Shang say that on the east side of the Red Wood Ridge, there was originally only one mid-sized camp, Luo Ge, and that Great Xia was just a small camp at the beginning.

I guess it was the Wood Puppet Ghost matter before, that Xia Hong contributed, took advantage of the heavy losses of the Luo Ge camp, and annexed it, which allowed Great Xia to gain power on the east side of the Red Wood Ridge in one fell swoop.

That Xia Hong gained power overnight, it's inevitable that he is arrogant and doesn't recognize himself!"

The person who spoke after He Meng was called He Gang, and he was also one of the fifteen people who had passed through the Arrow Bamboo Forest with him last time.

As soon as he said this, many people nodded immediately.

This guess seemed to be the most reasonable.

Even Director Yu Wen Hu couldn't help but agree somewhat.

Only Director Yu Wen Tao, after listening, shook his head directly, looked at his father, and said:

"Father, that Xia Hong acts in every way, his personality is extremely cautious, and he is not arrogant at all. He is definitely not the kind of person He Gang said!"

He Gang showed a trace of anger on his face upon hearing this and wanted to refute, but he didn't expect Director Yu Wen Tao to add another sentence behind him:

"Moreover, in my opinion, Leader Xia Hong is definitely not an arrogant and domineering person. He even deliberately explained to me that the Gnawing Rat pack matter was a misunderstanding, so what Captain He said last time should also be biased!"

This time, He Meng couldn't sit still either.

"Young Master Tao, that Xia Hong almost killed you tonight. I am helping you speak, but you, on the contrary, are so protective of that Xia Hong. Did you receive any benefits from his Great Xia camp?"

He Gang's eyes brightened upon hearing this, and he followed closely behind him, sneering:

"I said, how did Young Master Tao run out to hunt privately in the middle of the night without saying hello to the leader? It turns out he had a ghost in his heart?"

After listening to the words of He Meng and He Gang, Director Yu Wen Tao, who had originally been calm, immediately changed his face. He looked at the two, suppressing his anger, and said in a deep voice:

"I went out to hunt because I didn't want to take up too much of the camp's cold beast blood share, so as not to be mocked by you people, saying that I can only rely on my father for everything;

Whether I received benefits from the Great Xia camp, you can go and ask the people who went out to hunt with me. There are also your people in there.

Oh, by the way, you are framing me in the first place, so naturally, you can't go and ask!"

Director Yu Wen Tao said the last sentence with slight sarcasm. He walked to the side of He Meng and his brother, ignoring the wound on his shoulder, pointed at the two with his broadsword, and said angrily:

"Also, I warn you, call my name from now on. Whoever dares to call me 'Young Master Tao' again, even if the Great Leader is present, I will definitely pull him onto the ring and discuss life and death!"

"Young Master Tao" was not a graceful title; it was a nickname He Meng deliberately gave Director Yu Wen Tao, mocking him for relying on his father, Director Yu Wen Hu, for everything.

At first, this nickname was only called in private. Although Director Yu Wen Tao didn't like it, he had no way. But tonight, He Meng and the others actually shouted it out publicly. How could he endure it?

Director Yu Wen Tao's voice was very loud, and the anger contained within was even greater. No one doubted that he would really follow the camp rules and pull you onto the ring to discuss life and death if you dared to call that nickname again.

Normally, in a normal discussion, the scene would be so stiff that even if He Meng wasn't intimidated by Director Yu Wen Tao's anger, he wouldn't be able to say anything more.

But he didn't shut up. Instead, he caught Director Yu Wen Tao's anger with great spirit and didn't give an inch: "You think I'm afraid of going onto the ring? Director Yu Wen Tao, who are you scaring? Why don't we go onto the ring now?"

Although he said he wasn't afraid, He Meng didn't dare to say the three words "Young Master Tao" again. It was just that his confrontational attitude made Director Yu Wen Tao subconsciously stand out.

Just as he was about to agree to He Meng's proposal to go onto the ring, Director Yu Wen Tao turned his head, saw his father above shaking his head at him lightly, immediately calmed down, pondered for a moment, and finally didn't speak, taking a step back.

"Heh..."

Director Yu Wen Tao's posture, in the eyes of He Meng and others, was naturally admitting defeat. He immediately sneered triumphantly.

"Alright, say one less word!"

Director Yu Wen Hu above, after speaking to terminate the quarrel, continued:

"Regardless of what trump cards or strength that Great Xia camp and that Xia Hong have, it is impossible to occupy the Red Wood Ridge for no reason.

Since we have already dealt with them, let's speak with strength.

Regardless of what entanglements Luo Ge and Great Xia have, and what agreements they have had, the territory of the Lu Shang camp belongs to my Mirror Immortal camp, without a doubt.

All hunting activities proceed as normal, and the Red Wood Ridge will continue to be entered.

When you meet that Xia Hong again, just bring these words to him. Tell him, if he really wants to occupy the Red Wood Ridge alone, then speak with strength!"

Hearing these words, a smile appeared on He Meng's face immediately.

Speaking with strength was originally what he meant.

Thinking of something, He Meng showed a trace of ruthlessness on his face and stepped forward to ask:

"Second Leader, Great Xia's population is not small. The Great Leader previously said that we must expand the population quickly. Why not just kill that Xia Hong and collect all the people in this Great Xia camp into my Mirror Immortal camp?"

Director Yu Wen Hu heard this, didn't answer, but first turned his head to look behind the bamboo building, and a trace of hesitation flashed across his face.

"There is no need to kill people directly. Persuade them first, let that Xia Hong take the initiative to bring people to merge into my Mirror Immortal camp. That is the best..."

He Meng didn't wait for Director Yu Wen Hu to finish speaking, interrupted him, and asked again:

"What if they can't be persuaded?"

Director Yu Wen Hu looked at He Meng, his brows knitted. He naturally knew what answer He Meng wanted to hear, but this was inconsistent with his philosophy, so he didn't answer.

Seeing that Director Yu Wen Hu didn't answer for a long time, He Meng became more and more impatient and was about to speak.

At this moment, a warm, jade-like voice came from behind the bamboo building.

"Tao'er did well tonight, leading the team to hunt two mid-level cold beasts. In a heavily wounded situation, he was still able to circle with people and successfully bring the two pieces of prey back. He has courage and strategy. Second Brother, you have given birth to a good son!"

Everyone in the hall, upon hearing this voice, knelt down respectfully.

"Thank you, Leader, for the praise!"

Facing the praise from behind the bamboo building, Director Yu Wen Tao responded hurriedly, his expression calm, and there was no change in his expression on his face.

It was He Meng beside him who clenched his fists, his face full of jealousy.

Director Yu Wen Hu, who was sitting at the very top, also stood up directly at this moment, facing the direction the voice came from and bowing his head slightly.

"Leader, you overpraise!"

The voice behind the bamboo building was silent for a moment, then spoke again.

"Starting today, the camp will add another mid-level hunting team, to be led by Director Yu Wen Tao, tasked with hunting mid-level cold beasts."

The crowd in the hall heard this and immediately erupted into a heated discussion.

The Mirror Immortal camp's hunting teams are divided into three levels: high, medium, and low.

As the name suggests, whatever level of hunting team deals with what level of cold beast.

Low-level goes without saying; there are quite a few low-level hunting teams in the Mirror Immortal camp.

High-level currently has only one, with twelve members, led personally by the leader and the second leader, two Frost-Resistant level experts. The other ten are the ten strongest Earth-Digging Realm experts in the Mirror Immortal camp.

Mid-level previously had only two. Those who could enter were also a batch of relatively strong Earth-Digging Realm experts in the camp.

He Meng was the captain of one of the hunting teams.

And now, another one was to be newly established, led personally by Director Yu Wen Tao.

It seemed like just a mid-level hunting team captain, but the increase in the right to speak, the leader's importance, and even the improvement in treatment—these three things could be said to be what all Earth-Digging Realm members in the camp dreamed of.

With one word from the leader, Director Yu Wen Tao had it all!

Everyone turned to look at Director Yu Wen Tao, unable to help but show envy in their eyes.

He Meng, who was already full of jealousy, had an even more distorted face at this moment.

And Director Yu Wen Tao clearly didn't expect that Leader He Yuanhun would value him so much, and his expression was somewhat stunned.

"Whether by killing or by persuasion, I don't care what method you use, as long as you incorporate the entire Great Xia Camp into my Mirror Immortal Camp. Second Brother, I leave this matter to your hard work!"

He Yuanhun finished speaking this last paragraph. Without waiting for Director Yu Wen Hu to respond, there was a clear feeling of silence behind the bamboo building.

"Yes, Leader!"

Director Yu Wen Hu responded with a bow, and the crowd also bowed respectfully. After a long time, realizing that the leader was no longer paying attention to the hall, the crowd slowly raised their heads.

"Alright, the leader's meaning, you two, understand, right?"

Hearing Director Yu Wen Hu's inquiry, He Meng and Director Yu Wen Tao nodded at the same time.

The two turned their heads to look at each other, with thick gunpowder smoke in their eyes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 141 =====