Chapter 271

Bang…………

The dying Demon Sheep was clearly a bit hysterical.

It frantically shook its body, throwing away a small part of those who were grabbing its body mane first; then it lay on its side on the ground, constantly rolling and struggling to crush, trying to drive everyone else away.

Bang!

Pfft……

The Demon Sheep was five or six meters long, which was the largest type among low-level cold beasts. With such a toss, it immediately smashed those who were grabbing its mane on both sides of its body, causing them to vomit blood endlessly.

"Don't let go, all hold on for me!"

"Its strength can't crush us to death. If you can't bear the pain, eat the Blood-Exploding Pill."

"Hold on for a while longer, just a while!"

Seeing that more than half of the people were thrown away by the Demon Sheep, and less than forty people were left without letting go, Zhao Yuankong roared endlessly. He swallowed a Blood-Exploding Pill first, then his body moved and turned, and his legs were clamped on the Demon Sheep's neck.

"Ah…………"

Sensing that the strength of the Demon Sheep under him was still constantly weakening, Zhao Yuankong let out a roar, briefly freed his right hand, pulled out a short sword from his waist again, gritted his teeth, aimed at the Demon Sheep's left eye, and stabbed down fiercely.

Pfft…………

The short sword that had been inserted into the Demon Sheep's right eye had long been left with only the handle outside. The blood inside had flowed out. At this moment, what was overflowing was the milky white brain marrow after being smashed. The pain it suffered can be imagined.

The left eye was pierced again, directly exposing the brain pulp. The Demon Sheep's body twitched violently. The original tossing and struggling movements stopped abruptly, and the whole body instantly tightened, just like a deflated ball, collapsing toward the ground with a bang.

Bang…………

The Demon Sheep collapsed to the ground, and the whole square instantly fell silent.

It took more than ten breaths before someone successively let out an unbelievable exclamation.

"Did it!"

"Group 38 did it."

"Zhao Yuankong really killed the Demon Sheep."

"Someone advanced!"

…………

"Hahahahaha…………"

Above the city gate, Zhao Hu's hearty laughter instantly entered the ears of everyone on the square. Everyone then truly confirmed that Group 38, where Zhao Yuankong was, had really advanced and passed.

The thirty-plus groups that had just been eliminated still had some people left on the square. They looked at Zhao Yuankong in the iron cage, their eyes full of envy;

The people on the square who had not yet been assessed were also full of shock and nervousness on their faces;

As for the older Earth-Digging Realm people who surrounded the iron cages to ensure the safety of the competition, apart from gratification, the look in their eyes when they turned to look at Zhao Hu also carried a bit of sourness and envy. At the same time, after turning their heads to find their sons in the crowd, there was inevitably a bit more expectation in their eyes.

"Group 38, all advanced. The assessment continues, the fifth round of drawing lots begins!"

Above the city gate, after Qiu Peng shouted that 38 had advanced, his always tense expression finally relaxed. After signaling the assessment to continue, he turned his head and gave Zhao Hu a thumbs up directly, praising: "Sure enough, a tiger father has no dog son. Your kid can be considered not raised wastefully, he is a good seedling!"

"The Deputy Si Zheng is overpraising, hahahaha……"

Zhao Hu laughed very happily. His name just happened to have the word "tiger" in it. This sentence "a tiger father has no dog son" could be considered to have hit his heart at once.

"It's a pity that the leader went to Longyou. If this kid could show his face in front of the leader, that would be great, hehe……"

Hearing Zhao Hu's little thoughts, everyone chuckled a few times.

Zhao Hu was originally stationed in Han Qiong. Three days ago, Xia Hong went to Longyou and felt that there was no need to keep so many people in Han Qiong, otherwise he wouldn't have had the chance to come back.

"This group of stinky brats who can be scared stupid by cold beasts, I get angry when I see them. If the leader were here, I guess he wouldn't be able to finish watching one round before turning around and leaving."

Yuan Cheng's tone was unusually certain. After thinking for a while, the others nodded in unison.

They had all gone out hunting with Xia Hong. Xia Hong was the kind of character who had to plan before acting. Even if he could crush them with strength when hunting, he would take them to find the most time-saving and labor-saving method.

Even Zhao Yuankong's performance would probably be difficult to enter Xia Hong's eyes, let alone the others who were eliminated. I guess he wouldn't be able to watch a single round.

"Alright, the time is almost up. Director Yu Wen, you continue to watch here. Zhao Hu, Luo Yuan, Zhu Yuan, Lin Kai, Lu Yang, you five come with me to the inner city to prepare to preside over the preliminary selection of the Earth-Digging Realm groups!"

The five people named nodded and followed Qiu Peng into the inner city.

The martial arts tournament, in the final analysis, was just a mid-year cultivation inspection. If too much time was spent, affecting the camp's normal hunting life, it would be more than worth the loss.

The competition for the Earth-Digging Realm and Woodcutting Realm groups, Xia Hong only gave three days, so it must be carried out simultaneously, so that it can be finished as soon as possible.

On the outer city side, Yu Wentao took the remaining seven Frigid-level experts to continue presiding over the preliminary selection of the Woodcutting Realm groups.

………………

Longyou, Wu Shuang Giant Rock Station.

Wu Shuang only divided into 32 groups, and the manpower was not as abundant as in Xia City, so they only set up two iron cages, selecting two groups per round simultaneously. They could also finish the preliminary round in one night.

Facts proved that Yuan Cheng's inference just now was not wrong at all!

In the first round of selection for the Woodcutting Realm groups, seeing the two groups enter the iron cages, it was a mess, and they didn't even choose a team leader. Xia Hong shook his head, turned around and went back to the main building, and didn't look at it again.

Seeing Xia Hong turn and leave, Xia Chuan didn't look down either, followed him back to the main building, and seeing Xia Hong frowning, thought he was dissatisfied with the performance of those Woodcutting Realm people, and immediately said:

"Big Brother, the conditions here in Wu Shuang are not very good. In Xia City, our own Woodcutting Realm people should be a little better!"

Xia Hong sat on the main seat and shook his head, "Wu Shuang has a population of over thirty thousand, and it wasn't much worse than ours before. From the performance of these Woodcutting Realm people, we can basically infer the situation in Xia City. As soon as they see a living cold beast, they are all scared stupid. Not having any hunting experience is not counted, the key is that they don't even know how to use their brains. They are simply raised wastefully in the camp……"

Speaking of this, his tone paused, and he continued: "Just from this point of view, the situation in Xia City is not necessarily better than here. Xia City plus five stations, just from the situation of the 32 groups outside just now, I estimate that there are not necessarily 10 groups that can advance."

As Xia Hong spoke, his brows tightened.

One hundred Woodcutting Realm people join forces to kill a seriously injured low-level cold beast.

In Xia Hong's view, this is the simplest thing.

At first, when Qiu Peng proposed this assessment method, Xia Hong felt it was too simple, just use a normal low-level cold beast.

Looking back now, if Qiu Peng had really listened to himself, I guess no group would have advanced in the preliminary round, and the Woodcutting Realm group tournament would have directly failed.

"I have never paid attention to the Woodcutting Realm group in the camp. I only heard you say that the number of people has repeatedly broken new highs, and people in the Martial Arts Academy break age records every day. I thought these brats were all very powerful. It turns out they are all a bunch of silver-like pewter spearheads. If I'm not mistaken, in the past few months, the damage rate of the hunting department must be getting higher and higher, right?"

Xia Chuan's expression froze slightly upon hearing this, as if he thought of something. He first showed a sudden realization, and then nodded, his face full of shame:

"After the Cold Yuan Festival this year, the number of new squads in the hunting department has become more and more. In the first, second, and third months, the casualty rate of the squads going out hunting has indeed been getting higher and higher. I thought at first that it was normal for the number of teams to increase and the number of hunting personnel to increase, so the casualty rate increased. Now looking at the performance of these Woodcutting Realm people……"

"What is the specific number of casualties?"

Xia Hong directly interrupted Xia Chuan's words and asked.

"79 died in January, 290 injured; 121 died in February, 382 injured; 152 died in March, 472 injured. The number in April has not been counted yet, but……"

Xia Chuan was in the camp for the first three months of the year, so he clearly knew the data and said it directly. Although April has not been counted yet, it can be seen from the trend.

Xia Hong's expression suddenly became solemn.

The casualty rate of hunting means that the numbers reported by Xia Chuan are all Earth-Digging Realm people. More than three hundred people died due to hunting in three months, and more than one thousand were injured.

This is terrible!

"These are more than three hundred Earth-Digging Realm people. If they didn't die, according to the camp's existing resource acquisition ability, as long as they can grow up smoothly, they might be more than three hundred Longyou troops or Blood Guard troops in the future, and even how many Frigid-level experts can come out of them, have you calculated it?

Such a big thing, you didn't tell me, and you didn't take any measures to improve and solve it. You think this is not a big deal, right?"

Bang…………

Feeling the anger and blame in Xia Hong's words for the first time, Xia Chuan knelt down directly in front of him, his face full of shame, and said: "Big Brother, it's my fault. I have only focused on their cultivation situation and neglected the cultivation and improvement of their hunting ability. After this tournament, I will definitely find a way to improve and quickly reduce the number of casualties in hunting."

"Don't think that there are many people in the camp, so who is redundant, or even if some die, it doesn't matter. The most precious wealth of the camp has never been coal or iron, nor silver or any other materials, but those living people. I told you this truth a long time ago. Don't take the Earth-Digging Realm and Woodcutting Realm people below seriously just because your cultivation is high……"

Xia Hong paused when he said this, and then continued:

"I, you, are also cultivated from ordinary people step by step to the present."

Xia Hong has discovered that not only Xia Chuan, but Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Lin Kai, Lu Yang…… including those who came all the way from the dirt slope in the early days, as their cultivation became higher and higher, their status became higher and higher, and their mentality began to change.

It's not that there is a problem with their loyalty to the camp.

It's just that compared to before, there is an indifference to life.

They seem to have less respect for life than before.

Especially after this round of the Longyou War, it is likely that their hands were stained with a lot of human blood, coupled with the rapid expansion of the Great Xia population, and the rapid improvement of strength and status, which made their mentality begin to float.

Before the business is successful, the most taboo is this kind of mentality.

From this selection of the Woodcutting Realm, it can be seen that Xia Chuan, who manages everything in the camp, has begun to be somewhat incompetent.

As for the others like Qiu Peng, Yu Wentao, Yuan Cheng, etc., even if Xia Hong didn't go deep into understanding, he could roughly guess their mentality.

If they are not beaten again, when they really suffer a big loss, it will not be solved by just dying some Earth-Digging Realm or Woodcutting Realm people.

"After this tournament, I will give you another month. The casualties of the hunting department must be reduced to single digits in the future. So many people merged into the camp are not for feeding cold beasts."

"Yes, Big Brother, I will definitely do it!"

Xia Chuan was already scolded so much that he didn't dare to raise his head. Hearing the goal set by Xia Hong, he didn't say a word and responded heavily. It was clear that he had also set a military order for himself in his heart.

Seeing the shame on Xia Chuan's face, and thinking that he was not even twenty, and he threw such a big mess to him to handle, Xia Hong sighed slightly in his heart. After thinking for a while, his tone softened a bit:

"The situation in Longyou is unknown. If you want to continue to fight with the Longshan and Zhaoyang families, building an army is imperative. After this Frigid-level tournament, whoever is the first place between you and Yu Wentao will be the first to build an army. You should grasp it yourself!"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression froze, followed by a firm look on his face, and he nodded heavily.

The first place in the Frigid-level tournament must be produced between him and Yu Wentao. Xia Hong told him this in advance, and the idea is self-evident.

"The first army of Great Xia must and can only be created by myself!"

Xia Hong didn't say much, waved his hand directly and said: "You continue to preside over the tournament of the Earth-Digging Realm. I still have to go to Han Qiong and other stations to inspect. I won't stay in Wu Shuang for long."

Xia Chuan nodded and bowed, and left the main building directly.

Xia Hong sat on the main seat, took out the Longyou map drawn by Xia Chuan recently, and looked at it carefully.

"This kid didn't waste time either. The straight road between Jinggu and Beehive has been built almost. It will be completed in July. According to this map, continue to build the Xia straight road connecting Han Qiong, Wu Shuang, and Beehive. By then, the southeast corner of Longyou will all fall into the control of Great Xia.

Moreover, as long as you understand this map, it will be impossible for Longshan and Zhaoyang to take these three stations back from Great Xia!

The key is the importance of this station, Wu Shuang…………"

Wu Shuang is located in the center of Longyou. Xia Hong had already seen the importance of this place early on, so when he learned that Xia Chuan had taken Wu Shuang, he rushed back here for the first time and sent people to be stationed here specifically.

"This tournament, I guess the Earth-Digging Realm group can bring some surprises. The Woodcutting Realm basically doesn't need to be watched. At least wait for Xia Chuan to make improvements, and it will be worth watching next year. The most important thing next is to build an army!"

Xia Hong sighed slightly. According to the standard of the Longyou Army and the Blood Guard Army, the number of Earth-Digging Realm people in Great Xia who have exceeded the limit of thirty thousand jin is definitely not enough.

Can only hope that after this tournament, enough people will break through.

"Releasing a large amount of resources is also to speed up their breakthrough. These Woodcutting Realm people, even if they break through, I guess they won't be of much use in a short time. Can only hope for the existing Earth-Digging Realm people!"

Xia Hong put away the map and stood up directly.

"Han Qiong and Beehive don't need to be watched. Go to Qiyuan to see. It's been a long time since I saw Xu Ning. Shanbei should have expanded a lot of new areas!"

(End of chapter)