[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades":3,"chapter-endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-172":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Endless Winter: My Camp Infinitely Upgrades",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2266598,4425,"Chapter 172: Trade, Bamboo Silk, Gathering Hearts","endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-172",172,"\u003Cp>In the Ice Abyss world, though camps rarely interact, there are clear similarities in certain item standards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weapons are a good example.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Great Xia, the Mirror Immortal Camp’s weapons roughly follow two weight standards: over five hundred jin and over one thousand jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The iron-tusk bow is even more obvious: though the bowstrings differ, the draw strength is divided into two categories—five thousand to ten thousand jin, and over ten thousand jin—with the bow body weighing about three hundred jin for the former and six hundred jin for the latter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This matches Great Xia’s current standards almost exactly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason is simple: weapons are ultimately made for human use; while individual talent leads to variations in blade, spear, sword, and halberd designs, their weights certainly won’t differ too greatly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the five-thousand-jin threshold for Woodcutting Realm and the ten-thousand-jin threshold for Digging Realm are the same in every camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over 4,700 weapons, the lightest iron-tusk bow weighing over three hundred jin, the heaviest spear reaching over three thousand jin—even if averaged at one thousand jin each, they total at least four million jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight’s contingent of Digging Realm cultivators numbers barely a hundred; though all are Digging Realm, it’s impossible to carry all these weapons back empty-handed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the Mirror Immortal Camp has iron-wheeled carts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the sight of the iron carts, not just Xia Chuan and the others, but even Xia Hong’s eyes flickered with surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Xia has had carts for some time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But aside from iron axles and critical parts, the main material is almost entirely wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one ever imagined crafting one entirely from iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet here, the Mirror Immortal Camp has three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What deep pockets, what extravagance!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the snow north of the Arrow Bamboo Grove, three giant double-wheeled carts rolled in a straight line southward, each pulled by over twenty men tugging thick iron chains; as they walked and talked, not a trace of strain showed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the front of the column, over ten others continuously cleared snow from the path, carving a smooth route for the three carts behind—so the carts moved swiftly, soon reaching the Arrow Bamboo Grove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This cart weighs fifty thousand jin total, can carry up to five times its own weight, and requires only twenty or so Digging Realm cultivators to move. We used to use them to haul goods for trade with the Beehive Camp.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong’s group, who had been focused on the carts, couldn’t help murmuring at Yuwen Tao’s explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cart stretched over ten meters long; they’d guessed it was heavy, but fifty thousand jin far exceeded their expectations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Xia Hong showed little surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iron in the Ice Abyss world is far denser than in the ordinary world—a fist-sized piece weighs forty to fifty jin; for a cart this size, fifty thousand jin is reasonable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But hearing Yuwen Tao’s next words, he immediately asked with interest:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Trade with the Beehive Camp?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuwen Tao nodded, remembering Great Xia’s small size and Xia Hong’s limited knowledge of other camps, and explained: “Most camps, restricted by location, possess only limited and singular resources, so they must trade with others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, camps deeply distrust each other;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>second, distance is a problem—camps without strength can’t even travel far, let alone trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, successful resource exchanges usually occur between two camps that are neither too distant nor too unequal in power—exactly the case between Beehive and Mirror Immortal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This resembles the situation at Redwood Ridge before Luo Ge’s camp existed; other small camps traded wood and crystal fruit for small amounts of iron weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong thought for a moment, then asked: “You were short on cold beast meat and cold beast blood, right? You traded iron and coal with the Beehive Camp for those?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the recently inventoried supplies, cold beast meat and blood were the scarcest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Xia Hong guess so accurately, Yuwen Tao nodded:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Correct. Cold beast meat is one of Mirror Immortal Camp’s most scarce resources; we mostly trade for that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At what ratio?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why only meat and not blood? Xia Hong didn’t need to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood is essential for breaking through from Digging Realm to Cold-Resistant Realm, hard to obtain; any sensible camp keeps it for themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Beehive Camp, being equal in strength to Mirror Immortal, certainly isn’t rich enough to trade such a resource.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Xia Hong ask about the exchange rate, Yuwen Tao sighed and shook his head: “Forty jin of iron ore or seventy jin of coal stone gets you one jin of cold beast meat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Xia Hong could speak, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, Yuan Chuan, Yue Feng, and the rest of Great Xia’s group all drew sharp breaths, eyes wide, faces stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong was no exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So now you understand why we were so covetous of Redwood Ridge?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuwen Tao didn’t need to add anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of Great Xia’s group realized it instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had been sitting on a treasure land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong was speechless—if he’d known cold beast meat could fetch so much iron and coal, he’d never have dragged his camp’s Digging Realm cultivators daily into the mines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, no.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is just an exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You need to stumble upon a camp lacking cold beast resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that camp must not lack iron or coal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And both camps must be roughly equal in strength; otherwise, it won’t be exchange but conquest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong quickly grasped the core issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t treat this as a true exchange ratio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xia Hong also realized the importance of communication with other camps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In the Ice Abyss world, unequal exchanges are normal. Regardless of strength, every camp is bound by geography; to obtain things from elsewhere, you must trade—and the exchange ratio ultimately depends on who needs it more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Yuwen Tao, not just Xia Hong but Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and others nodded slightly, their earlier excitement calming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold beast resources are essential for Woodcutting, Digging, and Cold-Resistant Realms—universal hard currency for every camp;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iron and coal are important too, but their extraction threshold isn’t high; any medium-sized camp with Digging Realm cultivators can mine them if they find a coal or iron deposit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Beehive Camp, equal in strength to Mirror Immortal, surely has its own coal and iron mines, and doesn’t lack cold beast meat either—so this unequal trade was inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, we also have things the Beehive Camp wants: raw bamboo silk and snow bamboo are the two most important.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Raw bamboo silk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong’s eyes brightened as he pulled out a strand of translucent white thread from his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d seen this white thread before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first time he killed He Meng and He Gang, he’d seen it on the longbow they carried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This silk is used for bowstrings, correct?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuwen Tao nodded, then shook his head, drew his knife, cut off a small piece of his own clothing, and handed it to Xia Hong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not just for bowstrings. When roasted over fire, raw bamboo silk becomes much softer yet retains its toughness; cloth woven from it is comfortable to wear, highly insulating, and even offers some defense—it’s our camp’s most vital resource. We trade five jin of raw bamboo silk for one jin of cold beast meat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Paper, cloth, silk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong touched the fabric, felt its softness and comfort, tugged gently, noted its resilience, and his eyes lit up—three concepts flashed in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leader, raw bamboo silk’s uses aren’t limited to this. The bow we made for you uses bamboo silk blended with mid-grade Tengjiao sinew and fired—this method was developed by Xiang Mudong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Xia Chuan, Xia Hong nodded. Seeing Yuwen Tao’s curiosity, he tossed his back bow to him. Yuwen Tao took the great bow, examined its string, confirmed it was Tengjiao sinew mixed with bamboo silk, then pulled hard—couldn’t even draw it halfway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This bow can withstand a hundred thousand jin of draw force; aside from Brother, no one can use it yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Xia Chuan’s explanation, Yuwen Tao’s pupils contracted sharply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he remembered something, ran to the front cart, retrieved a bow, and handed it to Xia Hong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong immediately recognized it—the bow Yuwen the Guardian had used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My father’s bow doesn’t use ordinary raw bamboo silk—it’s snow bamboo silk, extremely rare, appearing only slightly during the cold beast tide each year.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Yuwen Tao finished, everyone understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bamboo silk in Xia Hong’s bow came from He Meng and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant ordinary raw bamboo silk blended with mid-grade Tengjiao sinew, when fired, matched the toughness of snow bamboo silk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What if snow bamboo silk were blended with Tengjiao sinew and fired?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Xia Hong felt unsettled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His base strength now reached nine hundred thousand jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>=9+Book, okay\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This hundred-thousand-jin bow? He still had to hold back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he could make a bow that could withstand his full strength, that would be perfect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’ve arrived—Hong Tian and Hong Guang are here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking only a short while, they reached the edge of the Arrow Bamboo Grove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Hong Guang and Hong Tian from afar, Yuwen Tao signaled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Led by the two, the group advanced toward the grove’s edge, where behind a small mound, bonfires and a dense crowd slowly came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the three thousand-plus people, Xia Hong paused slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So did Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason was simple: a quick glance revealed over half of the three thousand were children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adults formed the outer ring; inside, older children held infants; those under ten huddled together for warmth—easy to distinguish by crowd structure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noticing Xia Hong’s expression, Yuwen Tao assumed displeasure and quickly explained: “Adults understand the Ice Abyss’s cruelty better, so they’re more easily swayed by Mirror Immortal; these children, knowing little of the outside world, survived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong nodded, smiling: “No problem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Xia Hong’s calm tone, Yuwen Tao relaxed, gesturing Hong Guang, Hong Tian, and others to organize the migration to Great Xia’s valley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Tian must have already informed Hong Guang and discussed joining Great Xia before arriving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So though everyone’s expressions were sorrowful, no one objected to the move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only some adults showed resistance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the children had red eyes, their faces filled with confusion; some were clearly still sobbing, though the sounds were faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the very young occasionally glanced at Xia Hong, their expressions mostly curious and exploratory—this matched their nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by the death ratio at Mirror Immortal’s camp, most of these children had likely lost their parents—meaning they were orphans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emotionally, Xia Hong naturally sympathized with them; but rationally, such children, if nurtured carefully by Great Xia, would integrate into the camp fastest and develop the strongest sense of belonging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Xia Chuan, return to camp first and organize a team to pick up these children. Walking like this is too slow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Chuan glanced at the sky, its dark hues fading, then nodded and hurried southward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wooden huts had collapsed from last night’s cold beast surge and battle; the valley was in ruins, and the encampment was still under reconstruction. At this hour, few could be spared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Xia Hong still ordered Xia Chuan to go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, to leave a good impression on these children and the Mirror Immortal survivors;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>second, dawn was coming—just the arrow bamboo forest alone stretched ten li, and beyond it to the valley lay another six or seven li. If this crowd didn’t hurry, daylight would bring disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Third, Great Xia’s losses last night were almost entirely material; casualties among personnel were minimal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong had monitored everything from start to finish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a single Earth-Digging cultivator died; all the children reached the third floor in time; only the Wood-Cutting cultivators on the first floor were briefly struck by the cold beasts at the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Casualties totaled no more than ten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to what Mirror Immortal’s camp endured last night, Great Xia—whose only loss was the destruction of wooden huts—was extremely fortunate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hurry the front group along! Drivers, move faster! Take turns. Dawn is near—everyone, move quickly!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Xia Hong’s command, Hong Guang, Hong Tian, Luo Yuan, Yuan Cheng, and even Yuwen Tao—all Earth-Digging cultivators—went to pull the carts; those not pulling went ahead to urge the column forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone knew dawn was near, so their pace quickened steadily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the sky began to lighten, the lead group finally caught sight of the distant outline of Twin Dragon Mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simultaneously, a force of three to four hundred people, pushing over a hundred wooden carts, approached from the eastern outskirts of Redwood Ridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Children, climb aboard—we’re taking you back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can take twenty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve got room for thirty no problem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All of you, come on! Children who can’t walk, come here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Those injured too—hurry, dawn is almost here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>………………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warmth of Great Xia’s people left Yuwen Tao and Hong Guang stunned; their eyes flickered with quiet emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The adult survivors from Mirror Immortal’s camp—regardless of whether they were Wood-Cutting cultivators—immediately joined Great Xia’s team, helping the children onto the carts, then either pulling alongside or staying behind to push.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The children, urged or lifted onto the carts, first looked bewildered—but as the carts moved and they saw the busy figures around them, warmth slowly spread across their faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the rear of the column, watching Great Xia’s people, Xia Hong’s face lit with deep approval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That kid Xia Chuan is getting better at this!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without doubt, Xia Chuan had taught them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Chuan’s abilities were growing stronger by the day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This alone wouldn’t make them instantly accept Great Xia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at least, it had opened a good beginning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, the few adults who had shown resistance earlier now looked considerably more relaxed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some had even begun chatting with Great Xia’s people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were clearly probing for details about Great Xia’s situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2306,"2026-06-19T20:30:15.201Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1e9c81d03963901fe35424ead7eb93d1a67660a7922a623c48beed938a4a1324","endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-173","endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-171",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fendless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-cover.jpg"]