Chapter 317: Blood Jade Foxes and Pranks, the Boiling Xia City, Migration Begins

The second silver vein was at a similar depth to the first, only about thirteen kilometers further south.

The forms of the two veins were also different; the former was a mountain mass, while the one before them was located in a slightly raised hilly area.

However, the area of the hills was vast, with an overall estimated radius of twenty-five kilometers.

When they were still two kilometers away from the hill, Li Ying Xuan Ling stopped in his tracks, then led the two of them to jump onto a large tree nearby.

After Xia Hong climbed the tree and looked toward the hill from afar, he suddenly felt his scalp tingle.

On the side of the hill facing them, a large group of long-tailed gnawing rats with silver backs and fleshy tails was densely packed at the very bottom. Just those lying on the ground were roughly estimated to be over three thousand, and the key was that many of the rats had their bodies burrowed underground, leaving only a section of their fleshy long tails swaying on the surface.

Although they were far away, Xia Hong still noticed that golden light flashed among them from time to time; clearly, there were high-level gnawing rats present.

This was only at the very bottom. Further up, in the middle area of the hill, hundreds of golden-armored Lei Kui, each over ten meters long, were entrenched. In many places among those Lei Kui, the ground appeared as a golden fluid; clearly, like the rat pack, some of the Lei Kui were also burrowed underground.

Further up, at the top of the hill, it was densely packed with cave entrances about half a meter in diameter. Although they were too far away to see clearly what was inside the caves, they could only see blood-colored rainbow light flickering within.

"Although this silver vein has no beast king, it is occupied by a total of six cold beast populations: gnawing rats, Lei Kui, Bai Rong, spotted tigers, snow manes, and blood jade foxes. When my father discovered this silver mine in his early years, the number of the six cold beast populations was actually not large, with a total estimated at just over ten thousand. But the speed of their population expansion has been getting faster and faster over these years, and now the total is estimated to be nearly forty thousand. Let alone sending people here to mine, even wanting to get close to see the number of cold beasts is difficult."

Unlike his reaction to seeing the first silver mine, Xia Hong did not shake his head or sigh this time; instead, he revealed a clear look of being moved.

Although the number of cold beasts occupying this silver mine was four times that of the previous one, the structure of the six cold beast populations living together, plus the absence of a beast king—just these two points alone offered too much room to maneuver.

There existed mutual restraint relationships between different cold beast populations. Great Xia had discovered three pairs to date: gnawing rats and soaring dragons, fire stone tigers and frost electric apes, and white bears and Lei Kui. The six cold beast populations entrenched on the hill before them surely had natural enemies as well.

Coupled with the fact that Great Xia had the torch, an unparalleled sharp weapon for attracting cold beasts, as long as the preparations were proper and the number of cold-resistant level personnel was sufficient, resolving these six cold beast populations and mining this silver vein was still very hopeful.

Of course, the preparatory work involved here was too much. Currently, Great Xia was far from sufficient in both its understanding of cold beast populations and the number of cold-resistant level personnel. Within a short period of time, it was certainly out of the question.

At least there was hope!

Xia Hong was not discouraged; instead, he took Li Tiancheng and Li Ying Xuan Ling to circle the hill and began to observe the other four cold beast populations.

The two populations entrenched on the north side of the hill were Bai Rong and spotted tigers, respectively. These were considered cold beast varieties unique to Longshan, which Xia Hong had already seen in the station warehouse, so he did not reveal any look of surprise.

As for the snow manes, there was no need to mention them; there was a large pile of them in Red Wood Ridge.

"Those caves at the top of the mound are the habitat of the Blood Jade Foxes, right! Do they rarely come out to move around? Why haven't we seen a single one?"

Only the blood jade foxes remained unseen, and Xia Hong asked curiously.

"Among the six cold beast populations, the strongest is the blood jade fox. Although this cold beast is very small in size, with a medium length of only about half a meter, its speed is more than twice that of a gnawing rat. Moreover, its two golden claws are unusually sharp and can easily tear through the skin-membrane of a cold-resistant level person.

The key is that when they encounter danger, they will also spray a kind of colorless and odorless hallucinogenic toxic mist, which can seep in through the human skin-membrane. Once an Earth-Digging Realm person inhales it, they will immediately fall into an illusion and die suddenly. The toxic mist sprayed by a high-level blood jade fox is difficult even for a cold-resistant level person to resist..."

Li Ying Xuan Ling was clearly very knowledgeable about blood jade foxes. He paused when he said this, a strange look appeared on his face, and he continued: "Moreover, the fur of the blood jade fox has extremely strong concealment. In the absence of a light source, it is pure white, but once illuminated by light, it will turn into a crystal-clear blood jade color, so the difficulty of hunting them is extremely high."

Xia Hong understood as soon as he heard this.

Hunting cold beasts in the Frozen Abyss was all done at night.

It was white in the absence of a light source; at first glance, it seemed to have nothing to do with strong concealment, but considering that this was the Frozen Abyss World, the ground was covered with snow, and all vegetation was also covered with a layer of frost, it was very easy to understand.

The blood jade fox was so small that it blended into the snow at night, making it very difficult to discover in the first place. Not to mention its claws and toxic mist, just these two points alone made it very difficult to deal with.

Of course, Xia Hong also noticed the strange look on Li Ying Xuan Ling's face.

However, he didn't say much more, just nodded and said: "Alright, we've seen all four locations, let's go back first!"

Li Ying Xuan Ling and the other nodded, and both followed behind him and jumped off the tree.

However, as the three of them jumped off the large tree and turned around, their expressions instantly froze.

Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...

An incomparably familiar heavy breathing sound suddenly came from behind them.

The three of them didn't dare to turn around at the first moment; they just gently turned their heads to look at each other, and all saw horror and shock in the other's eyes.

This breathing sound was clearly what they had just heard at the first silver mine.

Was that beast king following them?

Gulp...

At this, even Xia Hong couldn't help but swallow his saliva. He remained frozen in place for a full three or four breaths before he finally turned his head sharply to look behind him.

Li Ying Xuan Ling and Li Tiancheng also followed suit and looked behind them.

Behind them, that is, over a hundred meters away on the west side of the hill, stood a massive giant beast with a body length of over a hundred meters and a shoulder height of over ten zhang.

The giant beast's head alone was over ten meters in diameter, its whole body covered in a layer of silver fur as bright as moonlight. A circle of barbs around its neck was over ten meters long, looking like sharp steel spikes under the snowy night, incomparably chilling. The vertical cyan pupils in its two eyes were like two flapping diamond-shaped gates, staring fixedly at the three of them without moving.

"Wolf King, this is the beast king from the first silver mine just now!"

"It discovered us long ago and followed us all the way from behind."

"Run in separate directions, otherwise none of us will survive!"

After Li Ying Xuan Ling exchanged a sentence with Li Tiancheng, he immediately made the decision to run in separate directions. However, just as the two were about to move, they were stopped by Xia Hong.

"Wait, there's a problem!"

Xia Hong sniffed, a faint light flashed in his left eye, and after staring at the giant wolf for a while, the solemnity on his face immediately disappeared.

"What a good evil beast, to actually know how to use such a sinister trick..."

Li Ying Xuan Ling and Li Tiancheng both looked puzzled, not knowing what Xia Hong meant.

"You stay here and don't move, wait for me!"

However, before the two could ask, Xia Hong left a sentence, directly drew the Cold Blood Blade from his waist, and actually rushed toward that massive Wolf King.

"This person must be crazy!"

"No, it seems there is something wrong. With the Wolf King's size, the cold beasts on the hill behind haven't reacted at all."

Li Ying Xuan Ling's expression froze, and he immediately reacted.

And on the west side, Xia Hong had already rushed to the front of the Wolf King.

"Roar..."

The Wolf King's earth-shattering roar exploded in his ears. Li Ying Xuan Ling suddenly felt that the surrounding area of over ten miles began to tremble violently. He turned his head again to look at the hill behind him and found that there was not the slightest movement on it, and his expression then became ugly.

"We really fell for it. It should be the toxic mist sprayed by the high-level blood jade fox. All three of us inhaled it. How did he see it?"

"You forgot, when that Bai Lu Gui controlled the six Profound Heaven people to assassinate him, it was also seen through at the first moment. He should have some means to see through illusions and disguises."

Not to mention the shock of the two, Xia Hong on the other side had already cleanly and neatly engaged in battle with that Wolf King.

The Wolf King's size was truly too large. Xia Hong, who rushed over from the ground, was truly somewhat insignificant. Although he had already leaped very high, he could still only reach the lower jaw part of the Wolf King.

Swish...

Cold Blood was a horizontal blade, so Xia Hong often used it for slashing. However, he used a chopping motion this time, and the target was not the Wolf King's lower jaw, but the very bottom of the Wolf King's right forelimb.

Hiss...

A sharp tearing sound rang out. The Wolf King's right forelimb suddenly lifted, meeting Xia Hong's Cold Blood Blade, and slashed out three golden claw marks.

Those golden claw marks seemed to have torn the air itself. Almost no movement trajectory could be seen; they only appeared at the moment the Wolf King lifted its claw, and then directly collided with Xia Hong's Cold Blood Blade.

Clang...

A violent sound of metal clashing rang out, instantly shooting out sparks all over the sky.

"Over thirty bristles, this blood jade fox's strength is actually this strong!"

The moment the Cold Blood Blade collided with the golden claw, the massive Wolf King's body directly dissipated and disappeared. Presented before Xia Hong was a snow-white fox-shaped cold beast with a body of no more than twenty centimeters, hanging a section of a half-meter-long fluffy tail.

The sparks all over the sky had not yet dissipated. The cold beast's originally snow-white fur, under the illumination of the firelight, indeed turned into a crystal-clear blood jade color as Li Ying Xuan Ling had said, truly living up to the name of blood jade fox.

"Chirp..."

The blood jade fox's crimson pupils were full of panic at this moment, because its claw had been directly cut off by Xia Hong's Cold Blood Blade.

The strength of over thirty bristles naturally had no qualifications to act fierce in front of Xia Hong.

The blood jade fox reacted very quickly; it didn't even have time to retract its claw and directly turned into a white light, fleeing toward the east side, that is, the direction of the hill nest.

"You took the initiative to come to the door, and you still want to run!"

It was just a pity that Xia Hong didn't give it a chance.

Before the blood jade fox had fled ten meters away, Xia Hong suddenly turned around, kicked the ground, and rushed over. The Cold Blood Blade stabbed down fiercely from above toward the front of the white light.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

The Cold Blood Blade directly pierced through the neck position of the blood jade fox, pinning it firmly to the ground. The blood jade fox was still unwilling to give up resistance, looking at Xia Hong with fierce eyes, and kept making sizzling sounds in its mouth.

But soon, it noticed something. Its eyes were full of horror, and it twisted its head frantically, clearly wanting to break free from the Cold Blood Blade.

But Xia Hong's strength was terrifying. He held the hilt of the blade tightly, and the blood jade fox only struggled for three or four breaths before it stopped moving.

Xia Hong pulled out the blade, weighed the blood jade fox in his hand for a while, then looked down at the Cold Blood Blade in his hand, which had become much heavier, and shook his head slightly.

"Your blood-sucking speed is getting faster and faster. You lost seven or eight jin in just this short while. Next time, the blade-drawing speed must be faster, otherwise, all high-level beast blood will have to be used to feed you in the future."

The blood volume of a high-level cold beast, although only ten to fifteen jin, had an effect ten times that of medium-level beast blood, and it could also be used to refine pills. For Great Xia, it was also considered an extremely precious resource. Xia Hong really felt a bit pained to use it all to feed the blade.

Li Ying Xuan Ling and Li Tiancheng also walked over from behind at this time.

The two looked at Xia Hong, the shock on their faces had not yet dissipated; clearly, they felt it was incredible that he could kill a blood jade fox so cleanly and neatly.

"Blood jade fox, you can kill it by yourself?"

Li Ying Xuan Ling exclaimed directly. After shouting, looking at the blood jade fox in Xia Hong's hand, a clear look of being moved flashed in his eyes.

Li Tiancheng's mouth was also wide open. After a long silence, he slowly opened his mouth and said:

"Leader Xia's strength is superb, this old man admires you!"

Xia Hong naturally wouldn't take the two's praise to heart. He waved his hand, suddenly turned his head to look at Li Ying Xuan Ling, and asked softly: "You wouldn't be wanting this blood jade fox, would you?"

Li Ying Xuan Ling's cheeks turned slightly red upon hearing this. This time, he actually didn't refute it for the first time.

"Then keep thinking about it, let's go back."

Xia Hong turned and walked away carrying the blood jade fox after saying this.

Li Ying Xuan Ling was teased like this, and his already slightly red cheeks suddenly swelled red. He stomped his feet on the spot and directly started to curse angrily.

"Pah, who said I wanted it! Xia Hong, you can't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth!"

Li Tiancheng watched this scene from the side and shook his head repeatedly. Finally, he persuaded Li Ying Xuan Ling a few words, pulled him to follow behind Xia Hong, and walked toward the station direction.

Li Ying Xuan Ling couldn't stand being teased and was so angry that he didn't speak to Xia Hong all the way. By the time they were almost at the station and Li Tiancheng had left, he suddenly remembered something. He took the Yang Yuan Pill from his bosom, pondered for a moment, and directly caught up with Xia Hong in front.

"Xia Hong, how many contribution points does it take to exchange for a Yang Yuan Pill in Great Xia?"

The new policy was discussed on the eighth day of the seventh month. Today was the twelfth, and Xia Chuan had already brought Yu Wen Tao and others to set up the six departments in Longshan.

Of course, Longshan was a subordinate agency, so it was not called a department but changed to six offices. Incidentally, Xia Chuan also determined the job titles of the six offices.

The Jurisdiction Office was Shou Zheng, the Camp Needs Office was Wu Bei, the Craftsman Office was Liang Zao, the Civil Affairs Office was Zheng Ling, the Hunting Office was Shan Yu, and the Logging Office was Yao Bo.

With the six offices all out, among the more than one hundred thousand people in Longshan, personnel above the Woodcutting Realm naturally began to register one after another in the Camp Needs Department, possessing their own unique contribution point records.

With the rollout of these measures, everyone basically understood Great Xia's resource allocation rules and contribution point system.

Li Ying Xuan Ling coming to ask about the price of the Yang Yuan Pill proved that he had also been secretly paying attention to the six offices and the contribution point rules these past few days.

Xia Hong raised his eyebrows slightly and replied:

"3000 points each, only cold-resistant level personnel can exchange according to their needs. Why?"

"That's really dark. I saw what was published by the Camp Needs Office; a high-level snow mane handed over to the Camp Needs Office can only be exchanged for 15000 contribution points. Calculated by the three-jin bone-removal amount, it can refine nine Yang Yuan Pills. Calculated at 3000 points, that's 27000 contribution points. Plus the beast fur, beast blood, and beast meat are all high-level, and the value is not low. The camp earns half for nothing..."

"What exactly do you want to say? Say it directly, don't be long-winded!"

Xia Hong was in no mood to argue with Li Ying Xuan Ling about this. Besides, the account wasn't calculated like that by him. The formula for the Yang Yuan Pill, the 18 precious medicinal materials needed for refining, and the massive amount of coal and manpower consumed in the process...

The camp certainly had earnings, but it was definitely not as exaggerated as Li Ying Xuan Ling said.

Thinking of Great Xia's beast meat rations for reservists and children under six, including the many measures in Longshan over the previous four days, Li Ying Xuan Ling clearly also knew that he was not in the right. He didn't lose his temper after being interrupted, but said softly to Xia Hong: "My second uncle is old. It's too dangerous to let him go out to hunt high-level cold beasts with others. Can these Yang Yuan Pills be distributed to him a few every month?"

Xia Hong raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, turned his head to look at Li Ying Xuan Ling, and said: "You mean he doesn't do anything, and I distribute a few to him directly every month?"

Li Ying Xuan Ling nodded with a look of course.

Clearly, he still thought that Great Xia was the same as the Longshan of the past, where the upper echelons all had privileges. For someone like Li Tiancheng with strong strength and old qualifications, obtaining a few Yang Yuan Pills every month was nothing. ===== CHAPTER 318 =====