Chapter 142: Resource Gap, Camp Changes [Combined Three Parts]

“Leader, is it hard to break through the Cold-Resistant Rank?”

“Leader, is it hard to break through the Cold-Resistant Rank?”

Xia Chuan asked twice in a row before Xia Hong snapped out of his thoughts; seeing the curious gazes of everyone, he didn’t hide anything and directly told them the method to break through the Cold-Resistant Rank.

Of course, it was the normal method—using small, incremental amounts of cold beast blood—not like him, who just dumped a hundred catties at once; these people didn’t have a system like he did.

“Small amounts? Then Leader, what about yours…?”

After hearing Xia Hong’s method, Luo Yuan immediately looked puzzled and pointed at the large wooden tub in the room.

The others also realized it, their expressions matching his.

Xia Hong had just said that only a small amount of cold beast blood could be used at once—too much, and the pain would be unbearable for a normal person.

So what was he doing, using over a hundred catties at once?

Xia Hong didn’t know how to explain it to them; he couldn’t just reveal the system. After a moment’s thought, he said: “My physique is unusual. When you reach your thirty-thousand-catty limit and test cold beast blood, you’ll understand.”

Though everyone’s eyes were full of confusion, seeing that Xia Hong clearly didn’t want to elaborate, they didn’t press further.

Xia Hong’s mind was still filled with five thousand catties of beast blood and the massive resource gap it created, but in the end, he could only let out two bitter laughs and sigh deeply with helplessness.

The blood content of other mid-tier cold beasts was unknown.

But based on the snow-maned beast killed last night—one yielded only about sixty catties of blood—five thousand catties of beast blood would require at least eighty mid-tier cold beasts.

Eighty mid-tier cold beasts?

Using over a hundred catties of beast blood once consumed ten thousand units of wood, over five thousand iron, and over eight thousand coal. Add it all up—if resource consumption stays constant each time—then to break through to the Cold-Resistant Rank, he’d need to do this…

Fifty times?

“I thought once I started breaking through, things would get easier—but now there’s an even bigger resource gap. This is just…”

Xia Hong didn’t know what to say. He stared out the window at the bitterly cold sunlight and shook his head helplessly.

Breaking through the Cold-Resistant Rank was far harder than he’d expected—and would take far more time.

But…

Xia Hong clenched his fists tightly, his heart stirring slightly; he looked at his own fists, and a spark of determination slowly lit his eyes.

“The corresponding increase in base strength is also terrifying!”

He turned slightly and saw Xia Chuan and the others still standing at the door, watching him curiously. His mind shifted slightly; he walked to one side of the room and casually lifted the double-bladed great axe leaning against the wall with one hand.

Lifting the great axe with one hand wasn’t impressive—Xia Chuan and the others all had base strengths over ten thousand catties; lifting it wasn’t hard.

But the double-bladed great axe, weighing two thousand eight hundred catties, felt weightless in Xia Hong’s hand—he didn’t just lift it with one hand, he even gripped the haft and swung it freely around the room.

Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh…

The axe’s edge sliced through the air, filling the room with a howling wind; the immense kinetic energy from each swing made the wooden floor tremble violently.

Several times, as Xia Hong’s axe nearly struck the floor, everyone held their breath, fearing the third-floor floor would crack outright.

Even though he swung it with one hand, every strike from Xia Hong unleashed enough force to send wild gusts of air surging through the entire room.

“A single swing from the Leader—I couldn’t even block it…”

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and everyone else felt the wind from the axe strike their cheeks, and all of them thought the same thing.

After a long while, Xia Hong finally set down the great axe and stopped.

Even after putting it down, he didn’t even take a single breath.

“The increase should be about two thousand five hundred catties—this is only two percent progress. If I complete the entire skin-renewal stage, how high will my base strength rise…?”

Without needing to test strength, Xia Hong clenched his fist slightly and, sensing the changes in his qi-muscle, knew exactly how much base strength he now had.

“Xia Chuan: fifteen thousand, Luo Yuan: fourteen thousand, Zhao Long: thirteen thousand…”

Not just himself—Xia Hong turned and looked at Xia Chuan and the others; after a brief glance at their qi-muscle movements, he instantly sensed their base strengths.

“After skin renewal, perception has improved dramatically—especially in sensing biological qi-muscle changes.”

Discovering this side benefit of skin renewal, Xia Hong was overjoyed.

This wasn’t some useless function. Previously, during hunts, he could only confirm a prey’s strength through direct combat; now, he didn’t need to fight at all—just observe. This wasn’t just convenient—it also avoided many risks.

Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to Xia Chuan:

“By the way, the essence blood of that snow-maned beast…”

The moment Xia Hong mentioned essence blood, Xia Chuan knew what he was asking. Before he could finish, Xia Chuan responded immediately:

“Leader, don’t worry. Three days ago, when we processed the kill, we extracted the essence blood and recorded it with the Wooden Dummy. I already instructed Tong Xinglong and the others: from now on, any new beast we bring back must be recorded this way.”

Hearing this, Xia Hong nodded and felt a wave of relief.

No—not just relief.

A flicker of excitement even appeared in Xia Hong’s eyes.

When they brought back the snow-maned beast three days ago, he’d been too eager to test the cold beast blood and forgotten about recording essence blood with the Wooden Dummy. Fortunately, Xia Chuan now understood the camp’s structures well enough to handle these tasks without being told.

The base strength of a mid-tier snow-maned beast should be around ninety to one hundred thousand catties. Without metal weapons, humans with bare hands had zero chance of killing one.

Based on my progress in skin renewal, the Cold-Resistant Rank’s base strength should exceed one hundred thousand catties—only someone at the Cold-Resistant Rank could kill a mid-tier cold beast alone.

That means the Wooden Dummy, when it transforms into a mid-tier snow-maned beast, can function as a Cold-Resistant Rank warrior within the smelting furnace’s range.

Leaving aside my own breakthrough, the biggest gain from this hunt was the Wooden Dummy’s transformation.

“Moreover, unlike cold beasts, the Wooden Dummy won’t tire as long as enough coal is supplied—and since it’s a system structure, it likely can’t be damaged. That means…”

The Great Xia Camp now had a tireless, unbreakable, mid-tier snow-maned beast with strength rivaling a Cold-Resistant Rank warrior!

Xia Hong’s expression grew more excited as he checked the Wooden Dummy’s description:

Wooden Dummy (Level 1): Training tool. Activate by consuming coal to greatly accelerate cultivation and enhance martial insight.

Special Function 1: Can record cold beast species via essence blood, transform into any cold beast, and manifest its adult-level strength.

Special Function 2: When activated within the smelting furnace’s range, can follow commands and fight autonomously.

Consumption: 5 coal per hour

Upgrade Condition: 3000 wood, 6000 iron

Seeing the upgrade condition at the bottom, Xia Hong’s interest surged.

Three thousand wood was nothing; six thousand units of iron equaled sixty thousand catties of iron ore. At the camp’s current mining rate, they could gather it in just seven or eight days of full effort.

“Upgrading the Wooden Dummy should bring some big surprises!”

Remembering how the small fire pit’s upgrade to the smelting furnace had vastly expanded its functions, Xia Hong now felt genuine anticipation for the Wooden Dummy’s upgrade.

In fact, if not for this unexpected breakthrough, he’d planned to upgrade not just the Wooden Dummy, but also the decoction pot, polishing stone, and smelting furnace.

Even the three structures requiring only wood, coal, and iron—the green bamboo fence, marker stone, and yellow earth—he intended to build them all.

“But now, with things as they are, I have no choice. Judging from how the small fire pit’s upgrade transformed its functions, the Wooden Dummy must be upgraded first!”

The most urgent issue now was the unpredictable threat from the Mirror Immortal Camp.

Though he’d let Yuwen Tao go, Xia Hong hadn’t relaxed his guard against the Mirror Immortal Camp. Whether Yuwen Tao’s words were true or false remained uncertain; Xia Hong let him go mainly to avoid major conflict with the Mirror Immortal Camp.

After all, the Mirror Immortal Camp was a massive settlement with over ten thousand people and a Cold-Resistant Rank warrior standing guard. Though Xia Hong had threatened Yuwen Tao, he knew those words meant little.

In the Ice Abyss world, strength always ruled—between individuals, and between camps, it was no different.

But he couldn’t back down either. From He Meng’s first probing behavior in the Arrow Bamboo Grove and their arrogant, domineering attitude, it was clear: if Xia Hong had shown even a hint of weakness, the outcome would’ve been disastrous.

With his system, Xia Hong was destined never to merge his Great Xia people into any other camp.

So it was better to be forceful—confuse the enemy first, buy more time. That’s why he’d let Yuwen Tao go, telling him to carry a message back.

That time, he’d been buying time—for his breakthrough.

Xia Hong had originally assumed that once he reached the Cold-Resistant Rank, combined with his system structures, the Mirror Immortal Camp’s threat would vanish.

But he hadn’t expected the breakthrough process to be this complicated.

Not only complicated—it required a colossal amount of resources.

Breaking through in the short term was impossible.

So he could only rely on his system structures.

Previously, with severe resource shortages and pressure from the rodent swarms, nearly all the camp’s coal and iron had been poured into those.

But now it’s different. Even without Xia Hong, fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators, if working at full capacity, could mine twelve thousand coal and six thousand iron per day. With a little time saved up, they could upgrade all these structures.

“Upgrade the Wooden Dummy first. If that’s not enough, there are other structures—solving the Mirror Immortal Camp’s threat shouldn’t be hard. Keep mining resources, and keep hunting mid-tier cold beasts!”

In fact, a Wooden Dummy that could transform into a mid-tier snow-maned beast had already indirectly resolved the Mirror Immortal Camp’s threat.

If Yuwen Tao was telling the truth and the Mirror Immortal Camp had two Cold-Resistant Rank warriors, even if they found Great Xia’s base, the Wooden Dummy would give them a brutal lesson—let alone the camp’s many people and metal weapons. “They wouldn’t bring the entire Mirror Immortal Camp across the Arrow Bamboo Grove to attack us here in Redwood Ridge, would they?”

Thinking of this, Xia Hong shook his head, immediately dismissing the possibility.

In the Ice Abyss world, large-scale troop movements were never wise—especially into unfamiliar territory. At least, the Mirror Immortal Camp’s strength wasn’t enough to justify such a move.

From his two encounters with them, it was clear.

He Meng’s group had fifteen men—originally only active in the Arrow Bamboo Grove, they’d only emerged after being startled by the rodent swarms.

Yuwen Tao’s group was larger—over twenty—but they’d lost many men hunting the demon goat.

From these two incidents, it was obvious: the Mirror Immortal Camp knew little about Redwood Ridge, so they always sent small teams—only elite Foundation Establishment hunters.

Moreover, the two camps had no deep grudge. He Meng’s provocation was clearly the instigator; the only current dispute was over the territory once held by Lu Shang’s camp.

“The best case is that the threats I had Yuwen Tao carry back actually worked, and they’ll stay away from Redwood Ridge for a while. But the likelihood of that…”

Xia Hong shook his head. That possibility was virtually nonexistent.

=9+Book_bar

“Without doubt, the Mirror Immortal Camp will ignore my words. Their people will keep hunting in Redwood Ridge—and judging by He Meng’s previous behavior, they’ll likely keep crossing the border, provoking conflicts, and extracting greater gains from Great Xia.”

After all, their strength speaks for itself…”

“Strength rules”—this “rule” doesn’t just mean status.

Xia Hong frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and made his decision.

"Avoid them. Leave Lu Shang’s territory alone for now. Focus all efforts on resource extraction, upgrading structures, and ensuring the safety of our base—secondly, accelerate your own breakthrough progress."

Upgrading structures can at most secure the base, but we can’t just huddle inside the camp. To drive the Mirror Immortal Camp out of Redwood Ridge entirely, we must speak with strength.

Having clarified his thoughts, Xia Hong turned around and found everyone gone except Xia Chuan.

"Where’s everyone else?"

"They were spurred on by you, Brother. Some are training, others are mining—they’ve all gone about their own business."

"Hssss……"

Xia Hong was about to reply with a smile when a bone-chilling cold suddenly prickled his skin.

Glancing down at his skin, now beginning to turn blue, Xia Hong quickly shut the window and pulled on his coat.

Since he hadn’t yet broken through to Cold Resistance, he couldn’t stay in the sunlight indefinitely. Though it felt like a long time since he opened the window, only five or six minutes had passed.

With two percent of his skin membrane reshaped, waiting five or six minutes meant that when the progress reached one hundred percent, he could remain exposed until dawn—four full hours.

Xia Hong calculated this result in his mind, glanced out through the still slightly open window slit at the sky above, and frowned with a strange expression.

This felt too calculated—was there some connection between the sun and the human body?

Such a complex question was beyond his current strength to understand. Unable to figure it out, he let it go and instead turned to Xia Chuan.

"By the way, how are Zou Yuankai and Zhu Shun’s injuries?"

During the hunt for that mid-tier Snowmane, when it feigned death and shot out its back spines, everyone got wounded—but Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai were unlucky, each pierced through the body by a spine, collapsing instantly.

Three days have passed. Their condition remains unknown.

"Zhu Shun is doing better—he was pierced in the leg. He can walk now, but still limps. He’ll need another three or five days. Zou Yuankai was pierced in the waist—his condition is worse. He’s still lying down; without half a month, he won’t be able to get up."

Xia Hong’s face darkened. Though humans in the Ice Abyss possess physical strength far beyond ordinary people, and their self-healing doubles after reaching Woodcutting and Earth-Digging realms, the cold beasts’ power is even greater!

Anyone who goes out returns wounded. The gathering and logging teams are no exception—hunting teams suffer the worst.

Worse still, the camp has nothing but Golden Wound Powder for healing. No matter how severe the injury, all they can do is apply the powder and wait for self-recovery.

Even he himself still hasn’t fully healed the scar from the Rodent’s tail on his face—it’ll take more time.

"By the way, tell Cheng Feng the gathering team can now enter beyond five hundred meters into Redwood Ridge to search for more medicinal materials. Also, since coal is now plentiful, have every hunted beast taken to the decoction pot for analysis—see if we can synthesize more medicine formulas. Relying solely on self-healing won’t do!"

Xia Chuan nodded, then added, "By the way, Brother, I’ve already begun expanding the gathering and logging teams."

Xia Hong suddenly remembered—he had previously set the logging team at eighty men and the gathering team at forty. Now, with more and more Woodcutting Realm cultivators in camp, the forge and supply depots couldn’t absorb them all. Expansion was indeed necessary.

"By the way, how many Woodcutting Realm cultivators are there in camp now?"

At this question, Xia Chuan immediately perked up, answering enthusiastically:

"Three hundred and twelve!"

Xia Hong, hearing this, instinctively gasped.

He remembered clearly—around the 20th, when he was forging the ten-stone iron bow in the forge, he’d heard the number was 283. Only seven days have passed, and they’ve gained twenty-nine more.

"The pace is still accelerating. Woodcutting Realm has no real threshold. The first group to break through were mostly around twenty. This second group has all broken through as well. Now, the new wave—mostly aged fifteen to eighteen, and twenty-five and above—has just begun. I estimate they’ll all break through within a month. Total Woodcutting Realm numbers will reach over five hundred."

The current breakthroughs are the second group, mostly aged fifteen to eighteen, and twenty-five or older; this batch has just begun, and I estimate it won’t take a month before all of them break through—by then, the total number in Woodcutting Realm should reach over five hundred.

Five hundred Woodcutting Realm cultivators? A year ago, back in the dirt hill cave, they’d never dared dream of such a number. Now, it was about to become reality.

Though Woodcutting Realm cultivators can’t hunt, their roles in gathering and logging are vital. In critical moments, they can still play a huge part—like during the Rodent swarm incident.

"By the way, has anyone broken through to Earth-Digging Realm yet?"

Of course, compared to Woodcutting Realm, Xia Hong cared more about whether anyone had reached Earth-Digging Realm—but clearly, his hopes were overreaching.

Xia Chuan shook his head slightly. "Not yet. But I’ve observed: Cheng Feng, Bai Dongying, Bai Wuting, Lin Kai, Lu Sheng, Xu Ning, and Lu Yang—all have base strength exceeding nine thousand jin. They’re the first tier. Without exception, they’ll be the first to break through."

"The second tier below them are weaker—maximum strength around seven thousand jin. They’ll need about two more months to break through."

Hearing the names of the first-tier seven, Xia Hong’s face showed surprise.

The first four were all former Loggers from Luo Ge’s camp—they already had a foundation, so their quick breakthrough wasn’t surprising. But Xu Ning, Lu Yang, and Lin Kai—three of them—caught him off guard.

All three were among the earliest Woodcutting Realm cultivators of Great Xia. Their rapid growth wasn’t unexpected, but to rank alongside the first four? That was no small feat.

Xia Chuan clearly read the astonishment on Xia Hong’s face and smiled. "It’s not just Lin Kai and the other two. Brother, do you know what percentage of the current three hundred-plus Woodcutting Realm cultivators were from Great Xia’s original group?"

Xia Chuan clearly read the surprise on Xia Hong’s face and smiled: “Not just Lin Kai and the other three—Brother, do you know how many of the current three hundred-plus Woodcutting Realm cultivators were from the original Great Xia?”

"Seventy-two!"

The number made Xia Hong pause, then his face twisted into disbelief. "You mean… aside from the children, all of them have broken through to Woodcutting Realm?"

Xia Hong hadn’t forgotten: after the disaster, Great Xia had only 154 survivors. Subtract the 76 too young, 78 remained. Remove himself, then the five hunters—exactly seventy-two left.

Xia Hong hadn’t forgotten that after the disaster, Great Xia had only 154 people left; subtracting the 76 too young, 78 remained; excluding him, then subtracting the five from the hunting team, exactly 72 were left.

"With you leading, they dare not slack off. I’ve watched them—they train harder than anyone else. Thanks to their drive, others have followed suit. That’s why so many have broken through recently."

“With you leading, they dare not slack off at all. I’ve observed these people—their dedication to cultivation is far wilder than anyone else’s. It’s thanks to this group leading the way that others have followed suit, which is why so many have broken through in this period.”

He hadn’t realized he’d played such a role. Xia Hong fell silent for a moment, then shook his head—he understood now.

These men, as Great Xia’s earliest members, carried a sense of superiority from having followed him. And superiority must be proven through strength—so they trained with far greater frenzy than others.

"That’s good. Their drive inspires others to train too."

Xia Hong paused, thinking. Earth-Digging Realm wouldn’t grow quickly now—he could only wait patiently. This couldn’t be rushed.

Since he couldn’t rush it, he’d prepare for other matters.

"Handle the expansion of the gathering and logging teams yourself—I won’t interfere. Tell Bai Dongying: from now on, unless there’s an emergency, the entire logging team must go out every night to maximize felling speed."

“Handle the expansion of the gathering and woodcutting teams yourself—I won’t interfere further. Notify Bai Dongying that, unless there’s a special circumstance, the entire woodcutting team must go out every night to maximize their felling speed.”

Xia Chuan immediately sensed the implication. Resources were always needed in camp—it wasn’t unusual. The sudden appearance of structures, the way wood, iron, and coal vanished whenever touched—all pointed to it.

"Yes. Not just timber—I need iron and coal too. A lot. It affects how fast I break through Cold Resistance…"

Here, Xia Hong paused, then continued:

"Double the logging team’s workload. If there’s no emergency, the gathering team joins them in logging."

"Also, from today, the hunting team halts hunting low-tier cold beasts. They’ll go out only once every three days—under my command—to hunt mid-tier cold beasts. All other time is dedicated to mining coal and iron."

"That’s the plan—until I break through Cold Resistance!"

Hearing that resources affected Xia Hong’s breakthrough speed, Xia Chuan’s expression turned solemn—he began mentally planning how to boost resource collection efficiency. When Xia Hong finished, he nodded, a look of approval on his face.

The threat from the Mirror Immortal Camp loomed. Xia Hong’s breakthrough to Cold Resistance was now the most critical matter for Great Xia. He, and everyone else in camp, would understand that.

"Alright. Go notify everyone—start now. And let me know when Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai recover."

“Alright, inform everyone now, starting immediately. Let me know when Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai have recovered.”

(End of Chapter)

(End of Chapter)