Chapter 158: Lone Warrior, Xinghe Pass

In the first year of Daxia, the seventh day of the third month

Six kilometers south of the central section of Hongmu Ridge, at a depth of approximately two kilometers

One man and a snow-maned beast were locked in fierce combat amid the dense forest

The snow-maned beast was over seven meters long, with a shoulder height of three to four meters; its muscular limbs resembled four colossal pillars holding up the sky; its two-meter-long tusks looked like two slender, curved knives hanging from its mouth, radiating a chilling gleam; its entire back bristled with thorny spines, each covered in a layer of frost, their tips sharp and translucent like hundreds of steel spears embedded backward into its flesh, sending chills down one's spine

Merely its imposing size was enough to inspire awe, let alone the dense, powerful muscles beneath, whose strength was unimaginable

Yet this terrifying intermediate snow-maned beast was now pinned motionless, its tusks gripped tightly by a single man…

A young man in a black cloak and a pale blue fur-lined cap gripped both of the beast's tusks with his bare hands, eyes blazing as he forced its head to the ground

The snow-maned beast stood over three meters tall at the shoulder; the young man was at most one point nine meters tall—normally he couldn't reach—but the beast's head was now lowered, clearly having just assumed an attacking posture before being seized and pinned down

Clink… clink…

The beast's head, pinned to the ground, could not move; its hind limbs thrashed wildly, yet no matter how hard it struggled, it could not break free from the young man's grip

"Roar…"

As the snow-maned beast opened its mouth to roar, its mouth revealed only the base of its tongue—the tongue itself, once a deadly weapon, had been completely severed and now lay beside a slender longsword on the snow over ten meters away

Though the young man carried a massive axe on his back, he never drew it, holding the beast solely with his bare hands—clearly, he was deliberately testing his strength against it

The snow-maned beast's size was more than ten times his own; it was like a tiger held fast by a kitten's two hands, straining with all its might yet unable to escape

Moreover, the longer it struggled, the more the beast began to weaken—its roars faded, and its movements grew slower

Any outsider witnessing this scene would think they were dreaming

The young man's eyes bulged, veins swelling as he held the beast down for over a hundred breaths; when he saw its struggles lessen and its strength ebbing, his gaze sharpened

He suddenly released his grip, swiftly drew his double-bladed great axe from his back, and as the beast scrambled to rise, he flipped over and swung the axe in a wide horizontal arc, slashing diagonally at the beast's right neck

The axe moved too fast; its trail solidified into a visible streak in the night air; the beast's head had barely lifted half a meter when it was struck

Crack… boom…

A crisp snap of shattering bone erupted from the neck first; the beast's massive head flew off like a kite with its string cut, hurtling leftward

Yes—it flew

The young man had cleanly severed the head, which was half a man's size

The force of that single strike far exceeded ordinary imagination

The snow-maned beast never even had time to launch the spines on its back

Its body stood frozen in place for over ten breaths before collapsing with a thunderous crash

Boom…

"Seventh one."

The young man, of course, was Xia Hong, who had left the camp alone

Hiss…

Seeing the snow-maned beast's neck spurt blood, Xia Hong quickly pulled a pre-prepared leather sack from his back and caught every drop

"Demon sheep, Tengjiao, snow-maned beast, Leikui, frost wolf—I've now hunted five of the seven common intermediate cold beasts in this outer zone; I can now hunt them all alone!"

On the third day of traveling alone, Xia Hong had moved from initial discomfort to habit, and now even began to enjoy it

Hunting with a team had many advantages

For instance, many tasks were handled by others, sparing him from doing everything himself; coordinated efforts increased hunting efficiency far beyond what he could achieve alone…

But the flip side was that Xia Hong had to divert attention to manage others

The strongest members of the hunting team, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, barely reached twenty thousand—still dangerously weak against intermediate cold beasts

If Xia Hong didn't watch over them, casualties would be high

"Efficiency is lower, but at least safety is guaranteed; and fighting these cold beasts alone has accelerated my combat experience and strength growth—being a lone warrior is fine for now; this is the only option!"

Earlier, when Xia Hong's skin layer hadn't advanced as far, leading a team, he could easily kill three intermediate cold beasts in a single night

Tonight was his fourth night hunting alone

Four nights, seven intermediate cold beasts—though part of the reduced efficiency was due to hunting unfamiliar species, the decline was undeniable

"Seven cold beasts, roughly four hundred jin of beast blood—only two thousand jin short; just thirty more intermediate cold beasts to go!"

Xia Hong calculated in his mind, a flicker of excitement passing through his eyes

When he first broke through the Cold-Resistant level, he'd calculated needing eighty intermediate cold beasts' blood—he'd felt a pang of despair then

But barely two months had passed, and his progress had already reached fifty-six

Most crucially, Xia Hong had learned from Gao Yu that his need for so much beast blood stemmed from his exceptionally high Battle Body talent—in other words, his potential was immense

With that knowledge, despair vanished; instead, his motivation surged

"I'll push hard now and fill the entire beast blood deficit!"

The Daxia ban had already taken effect; since the evening of the third, everyone in the camp—whether gathering, logging, or hunting—was forbidden to leave the valley by more than one kilometer

For now, the hunting team couldn't accompany him outside

Not just the team—even Xia Hong himself, on his first four nights out, had exited the camp from different points along its perimeter

After leaving the valley, he avoided even the northern part of Hongmu Ridge, let alone its center—he went straight to the southern side

Before breaking through the Cold-Resistant level, he must avoid any contact with the Jingxian camp

"Thirty intermediate cold beasts—at current efficiency, that's just over half a month; I hope nothing else happens during this time"

Xia Hong slung the collected beast blood over his back, then turned to gaze at the eastern perimeter, his expression shifting slightly

He was currently at the southern edge of Hongmu Ridge, six kilometers out, two kilometers deep; to the east lay the former Daxia encampment slope

That meant, continuing southward, he would enter unknown territory

After a brief pause, Xia Hong dragged the fallen snow-maned beast up into a tree to hide it, marked its location, then walked straight out toward the eastern perimeter of Hongmu Ridge

Beyond Hongmu Ridge, at the former slope encampment, Xia Hong hesitated not at all—he continued south

Originally, he'd planned for the camp's Digging-Level cultivators to expand southward; but with the Jingxian camp incident, he was now likely the only one with the ability to venture out

If so, he'd go ahead and scout first! Shuanglong Mountain was formed by two merged mountain bodies; Daxia's former slope was actually the southern extension of Shuanglong Mountain

From Gao Yu's information, he could infer that they were all located beneath the western cliff of Shuanglong Mountain

Shuanglong Mountain stretched over two hundred li east to west; its north-south length was unknown even to Gao Yu—its scale likely far exceeded imagination

Meaning the entire Hongmu Ridge, including the northern Pingxi Plain, the Arrow Bamboo Forest, and beyond, all lay beneath the western cliff of Shuanglong Mountain

Xia Hong walked only one kilometer south along the slope before the mountain began to curve inward—toward the east; to continue exploring, he had to turn left into the eastern interior

"The mountain isn't broken—it continues southward; at least a hundred li by sight—but to the south lies a river; meaning this river flows down from Shuanglong Mountain; I just don't know if we're in the middle or lower reaches…"

Xia Hong estimated the southern extension of Shuanglong Mountain, then gazed at the river one kilometer to the south—a river running east-west—and fell into thought

Even across a kilometer, the river's misty, chilling vapor was strikingly visible; though he couldn't see the water, based on the ice crystals coating the trees in Hongmu Ridge, the river's surface must be frozen with an unnaturally hard layer

In such an extreme cold, a flowing river was inherently illogical; worse, Luo Ming had mentioned no cold beasts were seen near the ice river

Xia Hong could confidently conclude: something terrifying lived beneath the water

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Even land-dwelling cold beasts were this powerful

A creature surviving beneath thick ice, terrifying others into staying away—its horror was unimaginable

"Aquatic creatures should be more valuable than terrestrial ones; water itself is an extremely scarce resource; and the river's flow could reveal terrain orientation and Daxia's current location"

"Too bad my strength isn't enough yet—I can't exploit this river now; I'll have to wait until I'm stronger!"

Xia Hong walked another seven or eight hundred meters south; as he neared the ice river, an inexplicable dread stirred in his chest

He could see only the misty vapor above the water and the emerald, crystalline aquatic grasses along the bank—yet the fear arose without cause

When only a hundred meters remained, his heart began pounding violently

This sense of extreme danger was stronger than when he'd first hunted the snow-maned beast and accidentally entered the four-kilometer depth of Hongmu Ridge

Xia Hong stopped, stared at the ice river's mist, took a deep breath, then turned left—toward the southern cliff of Shuanglong Mountain

"Flowing water, aquatic cold beasts, rare items beneath the surface—including those emerald crystalline grasses, undoubtedly treasures too—this river, if ever harnessed, would greatly improve the camp's survival prospects…"

As he walked, Xia Hong glanced back at the ice river, then pulled out his map and marked the river's location:

【Xinghe】

Luo Ming had likely approached this river before, but never named it; Xia Hong decided to name it himself

Of course, naming it was secondary

What mattered was Xia Hong's recognition of the river's value

"When I can harness Xinghe, Daxia's strength will likely dominate the entire Hongmu Ridge region!"

Xia Hong continued exploring along the southern cliff; after walking roughly four kilometers, the east-west stretching cliff resumed its north-south orientation

Simultaneously, a dense forest sloping upward from west to east came into view

Xia Hong looked south, then turned back toward the north—toward his own valley—and immediately grasped the full silhouette of Shuanglong Mountain

Shuanglong Mountain ran north-south; its exact length was unknown, but east-west, according to Gao Yu, stretched at least two hundred kilometers

From south to north, except for occasional indentations and protrusions, the mountain was mostly sheer cliffs over two thousand meters high; the only gap was where Xinghe flowed—right here, this slope before him

Meaning Daxia's valley, Hongmu Ridge, Arrow Bamboo Forest, Pingxi Plain—all lay within the western valley floor of Shuanglong Mountain; the only possible exit to the outside world was almost certainly this very slope

Xia Hong climbed to the top of a tall tree and surveyed the slope as a whole

The slope stretched no more than ten li north-south, half of it occupied by Xinghe

After a brief mental simulation, Xia Hong's gaze toward the slope changed entirely

"If I hold this slope and control Xinghe, I can completely sever the valley's connection to the outside world"

Such a vital strategic location lay right at Daxia's doorstep!

"Hahahaha—I'm thinking too far ahead…"

Xia Hong let out a self-deprecating chuckle; today's Great Xia's area of activity was confined to within one kilometer of the valley, and no matter how important this valley was, it had nothing to do with Great Xia as it stood now.

"When will Great Xia finally unite all the humans on the western slope of the Twin Dragon Mountains? Only then can we consider pushing eastward along this route, to see the real Mo'ao Mountains, and what Beishuozhen and the other eight towns are truly like, as the Yang and Li families described them!"

Xia Hong took a deep breath, calming his inner ambitions, then leapt down from the tree, unfolded his map, drew the slope's position, and marked it:

【Xing Valley Pass】

"There should be quite a few human outposts here, but they're surely scattered far from the northern and southern banks of the Xing River—unless some powerful camp has already learned to harness the Xing River's resources."

Xia Hong shook his head slightly; the probability of that was virtually nonexistent.

Even he, with Cold-Resistant-level strength, dared not approach within a hundred meters of the Xing River.

A camp capable of harnessing the Xing River's resources appearing here? Impossible.

The two most essential prerequisites for a human outpost are resources and naturally formed concealment.

Though Xing Valley Pass is a slope, that's only the overall terrain—the land rises slowly from west to east. Judging by the dense forest and undulating hills here, there must be numerous human outposts hidden within.

Without hesitation, after a moment's thought, Xia Hong plunged into the thick forest.

As expected, less than a li into the forest, he spotted footprints in the snow, makeshift firepits, scattered iron arrows, and even discarded leather goods made from animal hides.

A flicker of delight crossed Xia Hong's face; after closely examining the iron arrows and leather items, he immediately formed a preliminary understanding of the development level of the human outposts in this region.

"The iron arrow craftsmanship is poor, the hides all come from low-grade cold beasts—worse even than Luo Ge's camp. Over the next few days, I should come here more often. Unless something unexpected happens…"

Xia Hong climbed another tall tree, surveyed the surroundings, and soon identified five small hills, each no more than two or three hundred meters high.

Human nature is universal: no outpost lacking the Earth-Digging realm's power can realistically dig and build a city on its own.

Thus, weaker outposts always choose natural caves as their bases. An outpost like Luo Ge's, finding a uniquely perfect valley, is an anomaly among anomalies.

To say it was blessed by heaven would be no exaggeration.

Looking at the five small hills, Xia Hong's expression stirred—but he finally sighed and suppressed his thoughts for now.

"I'll just mark the location for now. The timing isn't right yet!"

Great Xia isn't even secure in itself—how could it possibly spare the strength to absorb other human outposts? Even if he found them, he couldn't possibly lead them all himself to the valley.

After marking the locations on his map, Xia Hong turned and left.

(End of Chapter)