Chapter 143

"From now on, no contribution points will be added for all members of the camp when they go out.

Members of the woodcutting team must bring back at least ten thousand jin every night;

The gathering team, at least five thousand jin;

People from the camp supply station and the artisan workshop, as long as they have nothing on hand, all need to go out to cut wood;

Including myself, the fifteen members of the hunting team, from now on, except for hunting with the leader, all other time must be used for mining. Even if we eat and sleep, we must stay in the mine..."

After leaving Xia Hong's room, Xia Chuan immediately summoned Mu Dong, Cheng Feng, Bai Dongying, and all members of the hunting team.

Except for Zou Yuankai, who was seriously injured and couldn't get up, even Zhu Shun, who was temporarily inconvenient to walk, was present.

Hearing the new regulations announced by Xia Chuan, everyone had some confusion on their faces.

It wasn't that it was difficult. Although iron tools had not yet been popularized in Great Xia, there was no shortage of woodcutting tools like saws and axes.

Basically, every member of the woodcutting team had one.

Ten thousand jin of wood, calculated by the weight of the smallest tree in Red Wood Ridge, was only two trees.

Sawing two trees a night was not too difficult for the Woodcutting Realm.

The problem was that after cutting the trees, they had to be brought back. For a giant object like a tree, even if two people cooperated, they could only make two round trips a night at most. Ten thousand jin, even if it hadn't reached the limit of the Woodcutting Realm, was not far off.

"Lord Xia Chuan, isn't there no shortage of wood resources?"

Bai Dongying was the first to ask. He was the captain of the woodcutting team, and the decision announced by Xia Chuan needed to be conveyed by him to all members of the woodcutting team.

With this sudden change in the system, he naturally had to ask the reason clearly.

As soon as he spoke, Cheng Feng, the captain of the gathering team, also spoke:

"Lord, one tree for the gathering team is nothing, but according to the current woodcutting efficiency of the camp, with so many people cutting trees crazily, I'm afraid the valley will be completely piled up in a few days. Can we use up so much wood?"

Although the fourteen people in the hunting team didn't speak, the vast majority of them had confusion in their eyes, clearly not understanding either.

The camp was not short of wood, and there was no need for such crazy mining of iron ore and coal. The desperate mining a while ago was because of the gnawing rat swarm.

Recently, there was nothing going on. Was there a need for such desperate mining?

No, there was something recently.

Wasn't the leader breaking through to the Frost-Resistant Realm?

Thinking of this, the members of the hunting team were all stunned for a moment, guesses arose in their hearts, and they all looked up at Xia Chuan.

"Chuan, are these resources for the leader's breakthrough?"

It wasn't just Luo Yuan; thinking that Xia Chuan was the last one to come down from upstairs just now, everyone linked these resources to the leader's breakthrough.

Cheng Feng and Bai Dongying were a bit puzzled, but seeing that the members of the hunting team all looked serious, they immediately realized that the two might really be connected, and they also turned their eyes to Xia Chuan.

"That's right!"

Xia Chuan didn't intend to hide it from everyone, nodded directly, and continued in a deep voice:

"In addition to a large amount of mid-level cold beast blood, the leader needs massive resources to break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm—wood, coal, and iron are all needed. During this period, all other activities in the camp can be suspended, and we can just focus on gathering the resources needed for the leader's breakthrough!"

Hearing this, Luo Yuan nodded immediately, his expression solemn: "That's for sure. We have already become enemies with the Mirror Immortal Camp, and there are two Frost-Resistant Realm experts sitting there. The sooner the leader becomes a Frost-Resistant Realm expert, the straighter our backs can be!"

Yuan Cheng also nodded heavily and said in a deep voice: "If it's for the leader's breakthrough, then there's no need to say more. We in the hunting team can only act as assistants to him when we go out hunting with the leader on weekdays. Mining is also our main task. I am duty-bound to share the leader's worries."

The members of the hunting team all nodded, a look of approval appearing on their faces.

Not to mention, as long as they went out hunting with Xia Hong, these people could only act as assistants, and the most they could do was assist. The one who truly fought head-on with the cold beasts and took big risks was Xia Hong.

Even for hunting low-level cold beasts, Xia Hong waited until these people had grown up and confirmed there were no problems before letting go and handing them over to them.

Compared to hunting cold beasts, the role they played in mining was greater. Now that Xia Hong needed resources for his breakthrough, they naturally had to supply them with all their might. It was just being a bit tired; compared to Xia Hong fighting for his life with cold beasts, it was as easy as could be.

"We in the woodcutting team have never had much of a role. Previously, when wood overflowed, we were worried that we had no use. Now that we can finally play a role, and it's to help the leader break through, I'm sure everyone will be very happy when I notify them. Lord Xia Chuan, rest assured, the woodcutting team will definitely complete the task perfectly."

"My gathering team is the same. I am duty-bound to share the leader's worries!"

Bai Dongying and Cheng Feng both stood up, their tones quite excited.

Although the Woodcutting Realm in the camp was numerous, their status was actually a bit awkward, especially after wood overflowed and crystal fruits were useless.

During the gnawing rat swarm incident last time, they could still play a role with bows and arrows, but after such a long time, they couldn't help but feel a bit lost.

But now, Xia Chuan actually said that the wood cut on weekdays could help the leader, Xia Hong, break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm.

Cheng Feng and Bai Dongying didn't need to think to know that once this matter was conveyed, the members of the gathering team and the woodcutting team would definitely be full of enthusiasm and fight to go out to cut wood.

Not to mention two trees a night, even if they were asked to cut three trees a night.

I'm sure some people would try it.

"A soldier is kept for a thousand days to be used for a moment. The leader has paid so much for the camp on weekdays. It's not easy to be able to give back to him, so everyone must not drop the chain.

Besides, the leader breaking through to the Frost-Resistant Realm is also to resist the Mirror Immortal Camp and keep the territory of Red Wood Ridge. In the end, we can also benefit."

After Xia Chuan finished this last sentence, everyone nodded heavily.

Red Wood Ridge was not the only thing Xia Hong regarded as Great Xia's exclusive territory.

The people in their Great Xia camp thought the same way.

Wanting to keep the territory of Red Wood Ridge in front of the Mirror Immortal Camp, which had two Frost-Resistant Realm experts, it seemed that the only way to go was for Xia Hong to break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm quickly.

"Alright, go down and start notifying everyone. These new regulations will be officially implemented at nightfall.

During this period, everyone in the camp must move. No one is allowed to be lazy. When the leader breaks through, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.

I won't say any harsh words. You manage your own people. If something really goes wrong, even if the leader doesn't pursue it, I will hold you three accountable. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord!"

Mu Dong, Cheng Feng, and Bai Dongying nodded heavily, hearing the seriousness in Xia Chuan's tone, and couldn't help but attach more importance to it.

Watching Xia Chuan give orders directly to the three of Mu Dong, a strange look flashed in Luo Yuan's eyes.

Logically speaking, the official position Xia Chuan held in the camp was equal to the three of Mu Dong in status, but the actual situation was clearly not the case.

Xia Chuan's own strength, coupled with his relationship with the leader Xia Hong, naturally gave him an aura of a superior when facing others in the camp.

Especially after Xia Hong handed over more and more things to him, this aura became more and more obvious, and he had already become Xia Hong's spokesperson in the camp.

It wasn't that he had an opinion. Whether from the perspective of strength or the means of handling things, Xia Chuan was well-deserved as Xia Hong's spokesperson. No one was more suitable than him, and no one was more qualified than him.

It was mainly that Luo Yuan felt a bit jealous.

The leader was a person who valued ability and efficiency and also valued fairness. This could be seen from the public selection of the first batch of hunting team members using the wooden dummy method earlier.

Handing over more and more things to Xia Chuan to handle certainly had the reason that Xia Chuan was his own younger brother, but more importantly, it was clearly the value and ability Xia Chuan showed.

Looking back at when the camps were merged, his basic strength was above Xia Chuan's, and Xia Hong's guidance to him was not small. But as Xia Chuan's basic strength surpassed his, his strength also began to surpass his, and even the role he played in the hunting team began to be greater than his.

Along with this process of being constantly surpassed, whether within the hunting team or in the entire camp, his status was gradually being pulled away by Xia Chuan.

By now, Xia Chuan could openly give orders to the three of Mu Dong, while he was still just a small transparent person in the hunting team.

This made the proud Luo Yuan unable to accept it.

"I won't say much about the people in the hunting team. When the leader wants to go out hunting, I will notify you to rest well in advance. For the rest of the time, stay in the mine with me. By the way, the leader should come himself too!"

Everyone nodded, while Luo Yuan turned around without a word, picked up a gnawing chisel from the wall, went downstairs, and walked out of the wooden house, clearly intending to go to the mine.

"Can't let this kid get ahead, I have to go too."

"I'm going too, I'm going too, let's go, let's go."

"Don't grab, I'm going too."

"Everyone go, everyone go, hurry up."

Seeing that everyone was in a hurry to pick up their gnawing chisels and go to the mine, a smile appeared on Xia Chuan's face. He also took a chisel and followed behind.

………………

"The leader needs wood to break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm?"

"Really or fake?"

"It can't be fake. I once saw with my own eyes that as soon as the leader touched the wood, the wood disappeared. The leader must be able to absorb wood."

"Not just wood, iron ore and coal are all fine. I've seen it too."

"The captain wouldn't lie to us."

"Why didn't the leader say so earlier? If I had known, I would have cut more before. Before, I felt tired, so I only cut one tree every night."

…………

Under the notification of Cheng Feng and others, all the Woodcutting Realm members in the entire camp immediately knew that Xia Hong needed massive resources to break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm.

Just as Xia Chuan had expected, once the news spread, all the Woodcutting Realm members in the camp were stirred up.

For a long time, the contributions Xia Hong had made to the camp were obvious to all.

The entire Great Xia camp, from the Earth-Digging Realm members of the hunting team down to the ordinary children, could be said to be grateful and full of reverence for Xia Hong.

This emotion, after long-term fermentation, even gradually evolved into fanaticism.

Learning that Xia Hong could use wood to break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm, there was no need for Cheng Feng and Bai Dongying to remind them at all. The people in the woodcutting team and the gathering team didn't say a word. As soon as night fell, they picked up their saws and went out in droves in batches.

Even the people from the artisan workshop and the camp supply station went out together after finishing their work.

The people in the hunting team, needless to say.

As soon as Xia Chuan finished speaking that day, everyone went to the iron mine cave on the south side of the valley.

Thirteen people worked together, and the sound of mining continued, almost reaching outside the mine.

Zou Yuankai couldn't come for the time being, and Zhu Shun, dragging his injured leg, actually came to the mine. If it weren't for Xia Chuan and the others strongly refusing and letting him rest his injury before coming, I'm afraid Zhu Shun would have mined even if he had to drag his injured leg.

The entire Great Xia camp—cutting wood, mining. From the beginning of the night, everyone erupted with super-high mining enthusiasm.

Xia Chuan seemed to feel that this already extraordinary mining enthusiasm was not enough, so the next day he discussed with Shi Ping and came up with a mining competition.

During the period before Xia Hong broke through to the Frost-Resistant Realm, all materials mined by the Woodcutting Realm and Earth-Digging Realm members of the entire camp would be recorded to form a leaderboard.

The leaderboard was divided into three categories: wood, coal, and iron ore.

The top thirty were taken for wood, and the top five were taken for iron ore and coal respectively.

The first place in the wood list could get 800 contribution points; the iron ore and coal leaderboards were 2000 points, decreasing in order.

As long as you entered the list, there were high contribution point rewards, and the higher the ranking, the higher the contribution points you could get.

Once the mining competition was announced, hearing the high contribution point rewards, all personnel above the Woodcutting Realm in the camp were immediately boiled over.

Setting aside the importance of Xia Hong's breakthrough, the contribution point reward alone was enough to make everyone go crazy.

Taking the people in the hunting team as an example, they could at most hunt low-level cold beasts by going out hunting on their own, and it also required four to five people to cooperate.

The contribution point value of low-level cold beasts was generally between 200 and 400. Divided by five people, the per capita income was about 40 points. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan led the team personally, and they could hunt one or two at most in one night, which meant that at most, they could only earn 80 to 120 contribution points in one hunt.

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It was impossible for them to go out hunting every day, and hunting itself carried great risks. Gold-wound powder now also needed contribution points to exchange, iron-fetal bows were currently only owned by Luo Yuan and Zhao Long's three brothers, the rest still had to spend contribution points to rent, and consumables like iron arrows also needed contribution points to exchange.

The people in the hunting team calculated that in a whole month, counting 15 hunting trips, excluding the costs of renting bows and arrows and gold-wound powder, they could at most earn about 1000 points.

And this competition, the first place could get 2000 contribution points, which was almost equal to their two months' income.

The people in the hunting team were still like this, let alone the gathering team and woodcutting team, and even the artisan workshop and camp supply station, whose difficulty in obtaining contribution points was even greater. A one-time reward of 800 points was a good thing they couldn't find even with a lantern.

With a super-high incentive mechanism, coupled with the fact that it was related to the leader Xia Hong's breakthrough, these factors superimposed together, and everyone's mining enthusiasm suddenly turned up several times.

The atmosphere of the entire Great Xia camp immediately changed.

The thing everyone discussed the most every day was the daily mining volume;

Every night, everyone went out in droves in batches. For safety considerations and to avoid too many people gathering together, Cheng Feng and Bai Dongying even began to plan to split the woodcutting areas and disperse people as much as possible.

In order to improve woodcutting efficiency, many people racked their brains, and some new things gradually appeared in the camp.

The first to appear was the wheelbarrow.

A very important reason for the low woodcutting efficiency was that the transportation efficiency was too low. Although Red Wood Ridge was less than a mile away from the valley, those trees were all too big and too heavy. Even if several people lifted them together, it would take a lot of time to come back.

After someone raised this question to Mu Dong, the artisan workshop developed a human-powered wheelbarrow within two days.

Of course, the earliest version was very simple—wooden boards plus a single wheel. Following the continuous improvements of the problems raised by everyone, the wheelbarrow became more and more decent.

Further on, there were two-wheeled carts, and even some people cooperated to make trailers with more wheels and larger load capacities, which naturally required more manpower to drag.

In order to improve efficiency, everyone didn't just spend their minds on transportation, but also thought of ways on woodcutting tools. Soft saws, two-person saws, and three-person saws also emerged as the times required.

Seeing that woodcutting efficiency was getting higher and higher, the people in the hunting team also worked hard to mine, for fear of falling behind. Including Xia Chuan himself, everyone hadn't come out of the mine for four or five days in a row, and even cold beast meat was sent by others.

…………

Xia Hong, who had been cultivating upstairs, was naturally unaware of the changes in the camp.

It wasn't until the first day of the second month of the first year of Great Xia that Xia Chuan came upstairs to notify him that Zhu Shun's injury was completely healed. After going downstairs and using the system to collect a batch of resources, Xia Hong learned about this series of things Xia Chuan had done.

【Resources: Wood 11200, Coal 580, Iron 1220, Silver 0, Gold 0】

The order to convey to everyone in the camp to accelerate the mining of resources was on the 27th of the first month. Only three days had passed, and there were so many more resources.

The mining progress of coal and iron was actually still within Xia Hong's acceptable range.

With the gnawing chisel, the daily mining volume of a single Earth-Digging Realm member, whether it was coal or iron, was about 40 units or more. Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai were injured and couldn't mine. The remaining thirteen people mined a total of 1800 units of coal and iron in three days. It could be seen that they were all working very hard, but it was not too outrageous.

It was mainly the wood, which was a bit outrageous!

Three hundred-plus Woodcutting Realm members, calculated at the limit of two trees per person per night, was about eight thousand jin. The system converted one thousand jin of wood into one unit. Even calculating it this way, the wood resources obtained by the camp every day were at most 2500.

Counting three days, it was 7500. No matter how hard everyone worked, pulling it up a bit, it wouldn't exceed ten thousand. After all, the number of people was right there.

11200 units—how did this come about?

Xia Hong's confusion was immediately resolved as he was led by Mu Dong to the artisan workshop and saw the new iron saws and wooden wheelbarrows of various sizes that were being made.

"During this period, in order to improve woodcutting efficiency, everyone thought of many strange new ideas and racked their brains!"

Hearing Mu Dong's words, Xia Hong showed a bit of excitement.

After all, only pressure could stimulate motivation. Previously, when wood overflowed, no one could think of these things. Now that there was resource pressure, everyone brainstormed and immediately came up with quite a few new inventions.

Of course, besides being moved, Xia Hong couldn't help but feel a bit touched in his heart.

All three hundred-plus people in the camp above the Woodcutting Realm were mining resources so tirelessly and unsparingly. In the end, it was for him, so that he could break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm as soon as possible.

"Big Brother, you can collect resources at will. Can we let those who cut wood not bring the wood back, cut it and leave it in place, and then you go to Red Wood Ridge to collect it directly? Wouldn't that work?"

Hearing Xia Chuan have this thought, Xia Hong's expression was a bit strange. If it were so convenient, why would he need Xia Chuan's reminder now? He would have done it long ago.

"I already tried it before. When I collect resources, I must be within the radiation range of the iron-smelting furnace. It doesn't work anywhere else."

"Then move the iron-smelting furnace to..."

Xia Chuan subconsciously gave a new plan, but before he finished speaking, he realized it wouldn't work and stopped hurriedly.

Xia Hong shook his head. He had thought about this plan himself, and the answer was still that it wouldn't work.

Judging from the super-strong attraction of torches to cold beasts, once the iron-smelting furnace entered Red Wood Ridge, he didn't know what kind of impact it would cause. If it attracted a large number of cold beasts, the problem would be big.

Furthermore, the most important role of the iron-smelting furnace was to defend against strange monsters.

Once it moved, it meant that everyone in the camp had to move with it.

Even when there were no strange monsters, Xia Hong didn't dare to move the furnace at will, let alone at this moment, when the Great Xia camp had already been targeted by strange monsters.

Remembering that Wang He, who had disappeared inexplicably on the 17th of last month, came back and was burned to death by the condensed fire oil, Xia Hong's heart moved slightly, and he hurriedly asked:

"With so many people going out these three days, did they encounter any situation?"

Xia Chuan immediately shook his head and answered: "No. Although they were divided into batches when going out now, they kept at least ten people in a group, and everyone had to apply condensed fire oil before going out. Each group was equipped with three torches, which were not allowed to be lit under normal circumstances and could only be used when encountering strange monsters. There was indeed no situation in these three days, and the people who came back were all normal."

Three hundred-plus Woodcutting Realm members almost all went out in full force, and the strange monster didn't make a move even once. This was a bit strange...

Xia Hong lowered his brows, his expression a bit puzzled.

No one having problems was naturally a good thing.

But judging by the perverted murderous personality of the strange monster, the one that didn't make any movement was even more terrifying.

This proved that the strange monster very likely knew about the condensed fire oil, and its personality was even more cautious than that wooden puppet strange monster before.

This kind of person who hid in the dark and was extremely cautious was undoubtedly harder to deal with.

"Since it doesn't make a move, then continue to treat it as if it doesn't exist. With the iron-smelting furnace, it shouldn't be able to break into the camp. Just let everyone be careful when going out. If something really goes wrong, we'll talk about it then!"

This could be considered a helpless move. In a situation where he knew nothing, even if he wanted to deal with that strange monster, Xia Hong couldn't think of any way.

Not going out to mine resources was certainly impossible.

With the furnace, the camp was certainly safe;

After applying the condensed fire oil, the other party didn't dare to make a move;

Being able to confirm these two points was enough.

"Stay like this for now. Notify Zhu Shun and everyone in the hunting team that they don't need to mine during the day today. Rest well and go out with me after nightfall!"

"Yes, Big Brother!"

Three hundred-plus people were all working hard to mine resources just for him to break through to the Frost-Resistant Realm. Everyone was working so hard, so Xia Hong naturally began to feel pressure in his heart.

Zou Yuankai's injury was estimated to take another period of time. Missing one person shouldn't be a big deal. Having the experience of hunting a mid-level snow mane once, as long as he didn't touch other unfamiliar mid-level cold beasts, Xia Hong was still very confident.

"The gap of four thousand nine hundred jin of cold beast blood must be filled by improving hunting efficiency as much as possible. Traps, weapons, and hunting tools must all be improved..."

Thinking of the astronomical amount of cold beast blood he needed for his breakthrough, Xia Hong frowned slightly, and after a long time, he let out a heavy breath.

On the other side, all the members of the hunting team who were mining in the mine learned from Xia Chuan that Xia Hong was going to lead the team to hunt mid-level cold beasts after nightfall, and they were all excited.

Although mining could also obtain considerable contribution points, if compared with going out hunting, it was too little, especially going out with Xia Hong.

Last time hunting that mid-level snow mane, Xia Hong set it at 10,000 contribution points, and he didn't take any for himself, so the fifteen members of the hunting team each got 600-plus points.

Getting 600-plus contribution points at once—you have to know that the duration of this mining competition was unknown, and the first place only rewarded 2000 contribution points.

The temptation of going out hunting with Xia Hong was imaginable.

"Last time was the first mid-level cold beast, so the leader set it very high on purpose. This time it shouldn't be 10,000, but it won't be very low either. 8000?"

"I don't think so, it should be 6000!"

"You're thinking too much. The highest low-level cold beast is currently only 380 points for the Teng Jiao. I estimate that it would be capped at 5000 normally."

"5000 is also not bad. We have fourteen people this time, and each can get three hundred-plus points, hehe!"

…………

The hunting team discussed for a few sentences, then all put down their gnawing chisels and returned to their respective rooms to rest and prepare.

After nightfall, without Xia Hong's notification, the fourteen members of the hunting team were already fully armed and waiting at the door of the camp supply station.

"Are you all ready?"

"Ready, Leader!"

"Set off!"

Xia Hong didn't talk nonsense either. With an order, he took fourteen people, went directly out of the camp, and plunged into Red Wood Ridge.

It could be foreseen that in the period to come, the frequency of hunting would definitely get higher and higher. I just don't know how long the excitement of these hunting team members can last...

(End of chapter)