Chapter 282

Xia Hong originally thought that the greatest significance of annexing the three Longyou camps was the harvest of a massive population.

But after this hunt, he was startled to realize that it was far more than that.

Not just the population, but hunting, gathering, medicine refining, food, production... the survival experience accumulated by the three families over decades is also an extremely precious wealth.

From the perspective of camp development, these experiences are even more important than the population.

Danger often stems from the unknown, and absorbing the experience accumulated by predecessors is the lowest-cost and fastest way for later generations to understand and familiarize themselves with unfamiliar things.

Especially when Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo each spoke about the methods of finding and picking two or three precious spirit medicines, he became even more convinced of his thoughts.

"The Red Sun Fruit tree is very small, but it likes cold light, so it usually grows in high places. It blooms at night and bears fruit during the day. The ripening time is very short, lasting only two hours, so you have to pick it at noon."

"Cold-Beard Grass and Exquisite Fruit are the favorite foods of high-level Blue Moon Spirits. If you want to find these two spirit medicines, you must first find high-level Blue Moon Spirits."

"Ice Soul Liquid is the curd formed by Ice Soul Stones absorbing cold air. Ice Soul Stones refer to those natural stones with smooth, oval surfaces that are exposed and not covered by snow. Such stones are rare and are usually found on mountain tops or in the nests of high-level avian cold beasts."

"Yin-Yang Flowers are considered a specialty of Longshan and can be found in some caves that never see light all year round, or in deep valleys and gullies."

Red Sun Fruit, Cold-Beard Grass, Exquisite Fruit, Ice Soul Liquid, Yin-Yang Flowers...

If he had to rely on himself or the camp's hunting teams to explore, it would not only waste a lot of time, but it is estimated that many lives would have to be paid.

But now, he learned it directly from the mouths of Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo.

Not only that, Chen and Peng were both leaders of their respective camps, and the various survival experiences they controlled certainly went beyond these points.

"This is no small matter. When I go back, I must notify Xia Chuan and have him lead the six departments to summarize all the survival experiences of the three families. It would be best to compile them into a book..."

After Xia Hong finished calculating in his heart, Yuwendao and Chen Yingyuan had already gathered all the wounded together.

Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing were the most seriously injured and had already fallen into a coma; Luo Yuan, Yuan Cheng, and the other four were slightly better and had regained some mobility after taking Blood Sore Pills.

"Prepare to send everyone back to Xia City. Peng Bo, I left a piece of prey on that big tree; go and get it."

There was still prey?

Peng Bo was stunned, but immediately ran in the direction Xia Hong pointed.

Chen Yingyuan and the others were also a bit puzzled, but soon, after seeing the prey Peng Bo brought back from that big tree, their expressions all froze.

What Peng Bo brought back was a blue Frostwolf over a meter long.

The entire pelt of the Frostwolf was as deep blue as if washed, and except for the eyeball on the left side of its face that had been pierced through, no other obvious wounds could be found. The body, not yet completely stiff, was enough to indicate that it had been dead for no more than ten minutes.

In other words, this Frostwolf died the moment its eyeball was pierced!

No, Yuwendao and the other seven even suspected that the Frostwolf hadn't even unleashed its combat form before it was killed by Xia Hong with a single strike.

The leader also killed a high-level Frostwolf just now?

The scene of Xia Hong killing the demonic sheep cleanly and neatly was still fresh in their minds. The seven had not yet recovered from the shock, and now that they learned Xia Hong had also killed a high-level Frostwolf before saving them, the shock in their hearts can be imagined.

"How many zong of basic strength does the leader have now?"

"Is it ten times mine? Could it be even more?"

………………

Xia Hong was naturally unaware of the thoughts in the seven men's hearts. He picked up the carcass of the demonic sheep, weighed it a few times, and immediately had a count in his heart.

"The bone yield of a Frostwolf should only be about three jin; the demonic sheep is more, the bone yield should be over five jin."

Normal, the stronger the cold beast's strength, the greater the output of Jade Bone naturally.

"Leader, not just Jade Bone, the flesh and blood of high-level cold beasts are also precious!"

Peng Bo had already taken out a leather bag to collect the Frostwolf's blood. Seeing that Xia Hong only mentioned the Jade Bone output, he immediately spoke up to remind him.

"The blood content of a high-level cold beast is about ten to fifteen jin. It seems to be only one-fourth of a mid-level cold beast, but the effect is ten times that of the latter."

"The meat is even more extraordinary. High-level beast meat not only contains immense energy, but crucially, this energy can be stored in the human body and automatically volatilize according to the body's consumption!"

After Peng Bo finished speaking, Chen Yingyuan nodded and continued: "And the flesh and blood of high-level cold beasts are themselves considered two types of spirit medicines, which can be used for alchemy. We had an alchemist in the Beehive who had many pill recipes that could use them."

Hearing the two's reminders, a smile appeared on Xia Hong's face.

He had cut off the arm of a high-level Snow Mane in the Mirror Valley before, so he had long been clear about the special nature of high-level cold beast flesh and blood.

The reason he smiled was because of the initiative shown by Chen and Peng.

After all, they were leaders of giant camps, and the means by which Great Xia marched into Longyou and subdued the two families were not very glorious, so Xia Hong knew clearly that these four, including Chen and Peng, as well as Wu Tianxing and Chen Yingba, had no sense of belonging to the camp.

Obviously, the partial strength he just displayed had caused some subtle changes in the mentality of these two.

It's not to say that the four would be loyal to Great Xia from now on.

The change in mentality will not happen overnight; it must be a slow process.

As long as there is a good start, there will always be a day when it bears fruit.

"Alright, let's head back!"

At Xia Hong's command, the group carried the unconscious Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing, packed up the two pieces of prey, as well as the picked Dual-Colored Liquid Spirit Fruit and Panxiang Leaves, and followed behind him, embarking on the return journey.

On the way back, sensing the aura of many high-level cold beasts around, the group couldn't help but quicken their pace, as if they were only safe when following Xia Hong.

Xia Hong noticed the group's actions, shook his head slightly, then glanced toward the deep west side of the Red Wood Ridge, and sighed softly in his heart.

"If we continue at this pace, I don't know how many years it will take to explore the entire Red Wood Ridge. We must think of a way!"

Before the Longyou war, the hunting department's exploration depth of the Red Wood Ridge was only six kilometers. With the start of the Longyou war and large numbers of elites going over, exploration became stagnant.

It is hard to imagine that in the nearly three years since Xia Hong took over the valley, Great Xia's exploration of the Red Wood Ridge was still only the outer six kilometers. Counting the one kilometer penetrated tonight, it was only seven kilometers in total.

Of course, as Xia Hong's strength grows stronger and stronger, he observes more and more things, and he is no longer as ignorant of the Red Wood Ridge as before.

"Now it can basically be determined that the east side of the Red Wood Ridge is the Double Dragon Mountain; the southern end is the Xinghe; the north side is the Pingxi Plain; the west connects to Longshan. In the future, as long as we merge with the exploration range of Yanglu and Beehive, and then control the southern edge along the Xinghe, we only need to explore westward. Once we can see Longshan, it will be considered that the entire territory of the Red Wood Ridge has been taken..."

Xia Hong had already explored it before; the total depth of the Red Wood Ridge to the west is visually estimated to be over two hundred kilometers. According to the current exploration efficiency of the camp, it is impossible to explore the entire territory even in a few decades or a hundred years.

"The hunting team is too small in scale and lacks strength. To accelerate the progress of exploration, we still have to rely on the army. I hope the Cloud Dragon Army won't let me down!"

Xia Hong's eyes flashed slightly, he withdrew his gaze, and continued to rush toward Xia City.

An army composed of thousands of well-equipped, well-trained Earth-Digging Realm limit experts, unless it is a large-scale beast tide like the Arrow Bamboo Forest with tens of thousands, no cold beast can stop it, and even small and medium-sized beast tides can be completely withstood.

Once the Cloud Dragon Army truly forms combat effectiveness and comes to explore the Red Wood Ridge again, it should be much simpler.

………………

Xia Hong led the nine people back to Xia City silently. The group of Cold-Resistant grade members was naturally shocked to see the injuries on the nine people.

They will also have to hunt high-level cold beasts in the future, so they kept asking Yuwendao and the others about the situation. Yuwendao and the others naturally did not hide anything and told them everything.

Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing's injuries were too severe and they had to stay in Xia City to recuperate for more than a month, so the camp temporarily lost two high-end Cold-Resistant grade combat forces.

Fortunately, there is no war in Great Xia recently, so the impact is not significant.

Xia Chuan's actions were fast. Although Xia Hong gave him five days, he only used one day to determine the list of one thousand people for the Cloud Dragon Army in the hunting department.

On the night of the fifth day of the sixth month, this list was placed on Xia Hong's desk.

Perhaps because he had started governing the army, Xia Chuan also put on pale gold hundred-forged armor and bowed to Xia Hong to explain: "There are currently 803 people at the limit of the Earth-Digging Realm. The remaining 197 people have a basic strength of over 27,000. With sufficient supply of Beast Spirit Pills and beast meat, it is expected that they will all break through the limit of the Earth-Digging Realm in just three months."

After Xia Hong scanned the list roughly, he asked:

"Have these people all gathered in Xia City?"

Xia Chuan shook his head and replied: "There are 275 people scattered at the Wu Shuang and Hanqiong outposts, and the remaining 725 are all in Xia City. I gave them one day to handle all personal private matters. After nightfall on the ninth day of the sixth month, I will take them to Wu Shuang to meet up with the people there."

Before the martial arts competition, Wu Shuang and Hanqiong each stationed one thousand Earth-Digging Realm experts, and naturally there were some Earth-Digging Realm limit experts among them.

The army selected this time was meant to be stationed in Longyou. Rather than having those two hundred people come back, it would be more convenient for Xia Chuan to take the seven hundred people from Xia City directly there.

Xia Hong nodded and continued to ask: "How many sets of weapons and armor have been prepared by the craftsman workshop? It shouldn't be enough, right?"

The weapons and armor used by the army must be of hundred-forged grade. If he remembered correctly, when he came back at the end of April, Mu Dong said that the craftsman workshop produced five hundred-forged weapons and two sets of hundred-forged armor every day. Counting the days, it has been less than forty days, so the quantity is definitely not enough.

Sure enough, Xia Chuan nodded, a look of helplessness appearing on his face.

"The craftsman department only managed to scrape together 350 hundred-forged horizontal blades, 870 thirty-stone iron-fetal bows, and 140 sets of hundred-forged Lei Kui iron armor. Weapons are not urgent; the camp's Earth-Digging Realm limit experts basically have a hundred-forged weapon each, so they can use their own first. The iron-fetal bows are also complete with their own. The main trouble is the battle armor. I have ordered Mu Dong to accelerate."

The hundred-forged iron armor forged by the Great Xia craftsman workshop is mixed with Lei Kui skulls, so the appearance has a pale gold luster, and the defensive effect is at least 30% to 50% stronger than normal hundred-forged iron armor.

The forging process is more complicated, so it naturally takes more time.

"How long is it expected to take?"

Xia Chuan pondered for a moment and replied: "All fifty furnaces in the weapon refining workshop are used to forge battle armor. It can produce about four to five sets a day. At the fastest, it will probably take four to five months."

This is a matter of foundation!

Great Xia started too late after all. Things like hundred-forged battle armor have nothing to do with forging ability; it just takes a lot of time to manufacture.

Longshan and Zhaoyang can come up with so many for no other reason than they spent a lot of effort in this area before.

If Great Xia wants to catch up now, it must spend the same amount of time.

"Too slow. Tell Mu Dong to find a way to increase the number of craftsmen. Hundred-forged battle armor and weapons, including iron-fetal bows, are things that are both necessities and consumables, and there will be more and more demand in the future. With the population explosion during this period, let him put more effort into this. Such a slow forging speed will delay things in the future."

"Understood, Big Brother!"

The problem of lacking battle armor certainly cannot be solved in a short time.

Fortunately, there is no need to fight immediately. At worst, we can use ten-forged grade ones to tide over for a while. As long as there is no major war, it is not a big deal.

In the following two days, Xia City moved visibly.

Many Earth-Digging Realm limit experts bid farewell to their original hunting teams, made arrangements with their families, and reported to the barracks that Xia Chuan had built in advance in the outer city.

The so-called barracks were actually simple two-story wooden houses. Whether to maintain the mystery of the Cloud Dragon Army or for some other reason, Xia Chuan made the entire wooden house completely enclosed, leaving only a few windows on the top floor, so outsiders could basically not see the situation inside.

After nightfall on the sixth day of the sixth month, the 725 people in Xia City had basically all entered the barracks, and after entering, they never came out again.

There were many sounds of fighting coming from the barracks, which made the residents of the outer city very curious. Many people wanted to get close to watch, but were driven away by the soldiers stationed on the periphery.

This undoubtedly increased the mystery of the Cloud Dragon Army and aroused more people's curiosity, but unfortunately, no matter who came, the Cloud Dragon Army would not let them in.

"I heard they are disciplining those who don't listen, and the fighting is miserable."

"What nonsense, they are clearly selecting captains and military officers."

"No, no, they are dividing the camps. I heard the Cloud Dragon Army is divided into ten camps. The strongest batch of people are all assigned to the Scout Camp, and the remaining one to nine camps are also divided according to strength. The stronger you are, the earlier the camp number."

"What is the Scout Camp?"

"You don't even know this? The Scout Camp is the most elite batch of people who can stay by the side of the Commander, equivalent to the Commander's eyes and ears and personal guard. I heard that the leader of the Scout Camp must be at the Cold-Resistant grade to serve."

"Cold-Resistant grade as a leader, tsk tsk!"

…………

Some gossip soon leaked out, causing heated discussions inside and outside Xia City, and everyone became more and more curious about the Cloud Dragon Army.

Unfortunately, the confidentiality work of the barracks was done too well.

Since the barracks were closed on the sixth day of the sixth month, no one could get close, not even the Cold-Resistant grade members.

It wasn't until nightfall on the ninth day of the sixth month that people leaving the city were startled to find that the huge barracks had disappeared into thin air in the outer city.

"Disappeared, the barracks disappeared?"

"What disappeared, they left."

"What about the wooden house? Such a large wooden house, it's gone too?"

"It was dismantled and taken away. I happened to see it when night fell. More than seven hundred people dismantled the house directly, and it was finished in a few minutes. The speed was astonishing."

"The army is all gone?"

"Gone, I heard they went to Longyou to change shifts."

(End of chapter)