Chapter 261: Architectural Bottleneck, Screening, and Thoughts on Building an Army

【Camp: Does Da Xia (Level 0)】

【Lord: Xia Hong】

【Cultivation: Mid-stage Frost-Resistance (22 Bristles)】

【Territory Population: 53,129】

【Resources: Wood 8.2 million, Coal 7.52 million, Iron 4.16 million, Silver 80, Gold 0】

【7 Unlocked Buildings: Cold Ruins Tripod (Level 4), Martial Arts Hall (Level 3), Alchemy Workshop (Level 2), Weaponry Workshop (Level 3), Black Soil Wall (Level 2), Heroic Spirit Monument (Level 3), Yellow Soil Land (Level 1)】

【2 Locked Buildings: Small Wooden Table, Thick Iron Chain】

…………

In the main hall on the top floor of the main building, Xia Hong sat alone on the high seat, reviewing the resource data within the system. His expression was a mix of joy and worry.

The joy, naturally, came from the explosive growth of all resource data in the system, including the population, over the past four months.

As for the worry, there was plenty of that.

First, the system's assessment of the camp remained at Level 0.

"If nothing goes wrong, it should be waiting for me to unlock all nine buildings before it determines my camp level."

Second, the unlocking conditions for the final two buildings were too difficult.

Small Wooden Table: Iron 10,000, Silver 3,000

Thick Iron Chain: Silver 1,000, Gold 5,000

Looking at the resources required to unlock the last two buildings, Xia Hong couldn't help but shake his head.

He had already converted the total of 400 jin of silver given by Longshan and Zhaoyang into system resource units. The conversion rate for silver was 5 jin for 1 point.

Judging by the increasingly lower conversion rates from coal and iron to silver, the future gold would likely be 2 jin or even 1 jin for 1 point.

Since it took 5 jin of silver to get 1 point, that meant he needed to save up at least 15,000 jin of silver to unlock the Small Wooden Table.

Under such dangerous circumstances, Longshan and Zhaoyang were only willing to part with 200 jin each to buy Fire-Condensing Oil from Does Da Xia.

This alone was enough to prove the preciousness of silver.

15,000 jin!

Without finding a silver mine, it was likely impossible to scrape that together.

If the Small Wooden Table was like this, then the Thick Iron Chain was even more out of the question.

"These two buildings still can't be unlocked. The Yellow Soil Land and Black Soil Wall haven't been fully redeemed, so the upgrade conditions aren't met. As for the remaining Heroic Spirit Monument, Martial Arts Hall, Cold Ruins Tripod, and Weaponry Workshop, they all need silver to upgrade!"

In other words, even though he had enough resources, the only things he could redeem were still just the Black Soil Wall and the Yellow Soil Land.

Without silver, these buildings could only remain as they were.

"The only thing that can be upgraded is the Alchemy Workshop!"

Alchemy Workshop (Level 2)

Upgrade conditions: Wood 200,000, Coal 200,000, Iron 400,000, 20 synthesis formulas

Xia Hong looked at the upgrade conditions for the Alchemy Workshop and finally checked its current 31 formulas, feeling a sense of relief.

"Silver, silver, I have to find a way!"

Xia Hong sighed, then waved his hand to place the Cold Ruins Tripod in the center of the main hall.

He had returned quietly, and many people in the camp still didn't know he was in the main hall. Releasing the Cold Ruins Tripod was a way to remind the others.

The fire of the Cold Ruins Tripod flared up, and a wave of warmth immediately radiated from the main hall. Its five-kilometer radiation range made the inner city, the outer city, and even part of the outer city warm up.

"Eh, why is the street getting warm too?"

"I didn't light the coal stove, but my house is getting warm."

"It's radiating from the main building. The Sacred Tripod must have been lit, right?"

"It must be. The leader is back."

"Last time the leader took the Sacred Tripod away, Lady Zhu made us light coal stones ourselves to keep warm. It must be that the leader brought the Sacred Tripod back."

……………

The heating effect of the Cold Ruins Tripod was immediate, and many people realized at once that Xia Hong had returned with the Sacred Tripod.

"Greetings, Leader!"

The first to arrive at the top-floor main hall was Qiu Peng.

"Greetings, Leader!"

Following him were Zhu Ling, who had been left to guard Xia City, Mu Dong, the Director of the Craftsman Department, and the Director and Deputy Director of the Logging Department, Cheng Feng and Bai Dongying.

"The Dew Plague in Longyou hasn't ended yet..."

Xia Hong didn't waste words and directly explained how the Dew Society invaded the human body. He then ordered Qiu Peng: "For the sake of safety, the Camp Supplies Department must notify everyone immediately. All 53,129 people currently in the camp, including yourselves, must be screened with the Cold Ruins Tripod. Once the screening is finished, I will place the Cold Ruins Tripod at the outer city gate. Everyone who comes from Mirror Valley afterward must be screened."

"Your subordinate will go do it now!"

Knowing the seriousness of the situation, Qiu Peng didn't delay. He bowed and exited the main hall directly to notify the others.

Only Mu Dong, Cheng Feng, and Bai Dongying remained in the main hall.

"Mu Dong, the Weaponry Workshop seems very lively. Did you forge something good?"

Just as he returned to the main building, Xia Hong heard loud noises from the Weaponry Workshop behind, guessing that something good must have been forged, so he asked.

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Mu Dong, as if prepared, drew a saber from his waist and excitedly showed it to Xia Hong.

The moment Xia Hong saw the blade, his eyes lit up immediately.

It was a horizontal saber with a hundred forged silver patterns on the side.

An ordinary hundred-forged horizontal saber naturally wouldn't make Xia Hong react like this.

The key was that the blade of the horizontal saber actually glowed with a faint, fiery red luster. Even from five or six meters away, Xia Hong could clearly sense the high temperature radiating from the blade.

"Previously, the leader told us that the Weaponry Workshop could forge weapons with beast-suppressing attributes. For so long, the Craftsman Department hadn't forged a single one, and I was feeling incredibly depressed. Today, it must be thanks to the leader's good fortune. As soon as you returned, the Weaponry Workshop produced one. Hahaha..."

Mu Dong was very happy. For so long, failing to forge the beast-suppressing weapons Xia Hong described had indeed made him feel depressed. He had never doubted Xia Hong, always thinking there was something wrong with his own forging technique. Finally producing one today resolved his inner knot.

Xia Hong shook his head and chuckled, not taking his flattery seriously. He took the horizontal saber he handed over, touched the scorching blade with his hand, and his gaze narrowed slightly.

Cold beasts, as the name suggests, are naturally fond of cold. The cold light of the day makes them more energetic and violent, which confirms this point.

So, do weapons with beast-suppressing attributes carry this strange heat?

Xia Hong stretched out his finger to touch the blade and found that its sharpness was no different from the ordinary hundred-forged weapons forged by Does Da Xia.

"Leader, this beast-suppressing weapon, like the Cold Blood Saber you carry, is born specifically for cold beasts. It doesn't have much effect on humans. If the hunting team members could all be equipped with such weapons, it would inevitably greatly improve their hunting success rate."

Mu Dong clearly saw Xia Hong's intention in testing the blade and immediately explained.

Xia Hong nodded. Thinking of the description of the Level 3 Weaponry Workshop, which said there was a one-percent chance of forging a beast-suppressing weapon, he asked curiously: "You've forged quite a few weapons before. Why did it take so long to produce one with beast-suppressing attributes? Do you have an answer yourself?"

Mu Dong also knew about the one-percent probability. He had clearly thought about this matter and replied with a guess: "I've thought about this question too. If I'm not mistaken, it's likely that only weapons of hundred-forged grade or higher can possibly have this beast-suppressing attribute. Recently, because of the war in Longyou, I've been leading the people in the Weaponry Workshop to mass-produce hundred-forged weapons."

Right!

Only hundred-forged weapons have a chance of having beast-suppressing attributes.

Xia Hong nodded and immediately agreed with Mu Dong's guess.

The Weaponry Workshop had forged thousands, if not tens of thousands, of ten-forged weapons. By probability, there should have been a few. He couldn't be that unlucky. Mu Dong's guess was clearly very reasonable.

"How is your efficiency in mass-producing hundred-forged weapons?"

Hearing Mu Dong mention that the Weaponry Workshop was busy with this, Xia Hong immediately became interested.

Not to mention, this time going to Longyou, he discovered that even without comparing with Longshan and Zhaoyang, the penetration rate of hundred-forged weapons in the Beehive Camp was much higher than in Does Da Xia.

Even now, among the 2,600 Earth-Digging Realm members of Does Da Xia still in Longyou, 90 percent were still using ten-forged weapons.

If weapons were like this, armor went without saying.

In terms of weapons, Does Da Xia really needed to improve quickly.

"Not just weapons, armor is also being forged urgently. The Weaponry Workshop currently supports up to fifty furnaces working simultaneously. The war is important, so we only left five furnaces to forge other items. The remaining forty-five furnaces, twenty are used to forge weapons and twenty-five to forge armor. Now the entire Craftsman Department is working in shifts, almost day and night without stopping. Converted, we can produce about five hundred-forged weapons and two sets of hundred-forged armor per day."

This efficiency was really slow!

Although Xia Hong sighed that it was slow, he knew that such things couldn't be rushed.

Does Da Xia's first ten-forged great saber, Jinghan, was forged by himself. He knew very well how difficult it was to forge weapons.

Forging iron wasn't difficult; the difficulty was continuously hammering out forging patterns. This process couldn't be skipped and could only rely on human labor to hammer continuously, so consuming a lot of time was unavoidable.

Armor was more cumbersome and complex than weapons, so the time consumed was naturally longer.

This was still with the bonus effect of Does Da Xia's Weaponry Workshop. The speed of ordinary camps forging hundred-forged weapons would only be slower.

"Leader, rest assured, as the number of Earth-Digging Realm craftsmen increases and forging skills continue to improve, this efficiency will also continue to rise."

Mu Dong clearly saw that Xia Hong was complaining about the slowness and immediately added a sentence.

"It's not slow. Just do your best. I remember at the beginning of the year, you said there were 580 craftsmen in total. How many are there now?"

"There are now 845 people, including 320 in the Earth-Digging Realm. I heard from Director Qiu that among the people who came from Longyou this time, there are also many skilled craftsmen, so there will be even more then."

Almost a thousand people!

Xia Hong nodded slightly. After this round of population explosion, the camp population would likely exceed 100,000. By then, the number of craftsman talents emerging would certainly be many, and breaking through a thousand should be easy.

"Cheng Feng, I have eleven types of medicinal herbs here. Take them to the Alchemy Workshop later to identify them and see if any new pill formulas can be generated!"

After asking about the Craftsman Department, Xia Hong immediately called Cheng Feng over, took out the eleven types of herbs for boiling jade bones, and handed them to him.

Seeing the dazzling array of herbs, Cheng Feng's eyes widened immediately.

He had been the Director of the Logging Department for a long time and had seen countless types of herbs. He could easily distinguish whether herbs were precious or not.

Just by smelling the eleven types of herbs Xia Hong took out, he knew how precious they were. Thinking that a few more new formulas could appear, he immediately brought Bai Dongying excitedly, took out wooden boxes, and packed the herbs separately.

"The three of you, you are all directors after all. Your cultivation should also be improved. Is the camp lacking beast blood recently?"

Xia Hong scanned the three of them and found that their basic strength had all reached the limit of 30,000 jin, but their skin-membranes were still the same, clearly having never used beast blood once. He asked curiously.

Among the six directors of Does Da Xia, there were only four who hadn't broken through to the Frost-Resistance level. Besides Shi Ping, the Deputy Director of the Garrison Department, it was these three in front of him.

"I saw Shi Ping in Wu Shuang. His basic strength is over 50,000, and it's estimated that he's not far from breaking through. You must not fall further and further behind."

In the Frozen Abyss World, it ultimately comes down to strength.

Although Xia Hong didn't stipulate that the six directors must be stronger than others, at the very least, they couldn't fall too far behind.

Including Peng Bo, Chen Yingyuan, and the other four, Does Da Xia already had over twenty Frost-Resistance level members. Moreover, with this round of territory expansion and strength growth, the number of Frost-Resistance level members would certainly increase more and more.

If these three didn't break through soon, it was hard to guarantee that others wouldn't have opinions.

The three clearly heard the subtext in Xia Hong's words, and their faces all showed a trace of shame. Finally, Mu Dong spoke to answer:

"Leader, beast blood is not lacking, but ever since the Secretary transferred a large number of people to Longyou, we also know that the camp is currently in need of people, so we tried our best to leave important cultivation resources like beast blood to others who were closer to breaking through."

Hearing this, Xia Hong remembered what Qiu Peng said about raising the price of beast meat when he was in Wu Shuang, and immediately understood.

A large number of hunting teams had gone to Longyou, and the supply of beast meat was already becoming tight, let alone beast blood. All 32 intermediate hunting teams had gone to Longyou, so it was estimated that the Camp Supplies Department had no beast blood coming in and was using all inventory.

Other ordinary people saw that the beast meat supply was going to have problems and started to panic-buy. High-level members of the camp like Mu Dong and Cheng Feng, as well as those with higher cultivation, clearly had a much longer-term view. Knowing they were far from breaking through, they gave up resources first to allow others to break through first.

From the tightening of these two resources, beast meat and beast blood, it could be seen that the war in Longyou had clearly greatly affected normal life in Xia City.

No, it wasn't just the Longyou war. From now on, any large-scale external war Does Da Xia had would have a serious impact on normal life.

There was only one way to change this.

"Establish a regular army that can be detached from production at any time!"

The vast military appearance of the Blood Guard Army and the Longyou Army appeared in Xia Hong's mind. As a trace of longing flashed in his eyes, his expression sank again.

It wasn't realistic!

First, strength must exceed the limit of 30,000 jin;

Second, each person must have a set of hundred-forged weapons and armor, plus a thirty-stone bow;

By the selection standards of these two armies, Does Da Xia certainly couldn't do it.

Even without looking carefully, Xia Hong could roughly estimate that Does Da Xia currently had at most two hundred Earth-Digging Realm members whose basic strength reached the limit of 30,000 jin.

And these people were all captains of hunting teams. Gathering them all together to form an army would certainly not result in low combat power, but the impact on the hunting teams below would be great.

"The most ideal state is to let them develop and grow together, using the hunting team as the basic unit, with multiple teams forming a large army. This not only saves a lot of time for coordination but also doesn't affect their combat power."

The battle in Wu Shuang only saw 23 deaths, which was the best proof of Xia Hong's idea.

"Time, still need time. I hope Longyou can be peaceful for a while longer. I hope Zhaoyang and Longshan don't cause me any more trouble!"

Not just time, resources must also keep up, especially beast meat and beast blood.

"Qiu Peng has already started screening personnel. You go help too!"

Xia Hong noticed the movement of people below and knew that Qiu Peng had started using the Cold Ruins Tripod to screen personnel. He immediately dismissed Mu Dong and the other two, then sat on the chair alone, constantly calculating how to quickly improve his strength.

"Those 1,800 people will be back from Longyou soon. The price of beast meat must be restored. In addition, cultivation resources like the Martial Arts Hall, medicinal pills, salt, and wine... must be prioritized for the Earth-Digging Realm, as well as some Frost-Resistance Realm members who are about to break through, to improve the quantity and quality of the camp's backbone as quickly as possible. The sooner the army is built, the sooner Longyou can be taken!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 262 =====