[{"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-74":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},2266500,4425,"Chapter 74: The Iron Age","endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-74",74,"\u003Cp>“Leader, what are these?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three objects suddenly appearing beside the furnace immediately drew the attention of everyone in the camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong’s ability to conjure objects out of thin air was no secret in the Great Xia camp; coupled with the miraculous nature of the iron-smelting furnace, everyone was intensely curious about these three items, all staring at Xia Hong with eager expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some of the people from Stone Camp had also gathered nearby—mostly the young, the curious; among them were Shi Ping and Shi Lu, Shi Qing’s children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong made no effort to conceal anything and gave a general introduction to the three objects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Xia people, who trusted Xia Hong completely, were instantly thrilled upon hearing the objects’ powerful functions; but Shi Ping, Shi Lu, and the others from Stone Camp, faced with something utterly unprecedented, wore expressions of doubt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leader, give it a try—activate the wooden dummy, let me spar with it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong had no intention of wasting time explaining; hearing Yuan Cheng ask him to demonstrate, he waved his hands vigorously in refusal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Resources: Wood 1140 Coal 144 Iron 312 Silver 0 Gold 0】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The coal and iron mines were still unlocated; the three buildings just constructed had already consumed so much, leaving little remaining. Until new resources came in, not a single unit could be wasted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong’s brow twitched slightly as he stared at the small remaining pile of coal, picked up a small piece, and tossed it into the iron furnace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant the coal entered, flames surged upward, a wave of heat radiating outward from the furnace, instantly raising the temperature inside the cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So warm—the heat emitted by the coal is this intense!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not cold anymore, and the cave entrance is wide open!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did Luo Ge’s camp send us a lot of coal? Can we use it all from now on?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not yet. Once we all break through to the Excavation Realm and can mine coal ourselves, we’ll be able to use it for heating.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camp members, sensing the rising temperature, began murmuring among themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong felt the heat radiating from the coal and immediately understood why Luo Ge’s camp rarely used wood for heating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heat output of coal and wood were not even in the same league, and the smoke produced by burning coal was negligible compared to wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention its use in forging weapons and tools.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the coal was thrown into the furnace, the system displayed the daily consumption rate: twenty units per day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty units equaled four hundred jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong couldn’t help but whistle inwardly—this consumption rate was terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then he remembered Luo Ge’s camp, where each square wooden house fifty meters on a side burned one hundred and fifty units per day; since this furnace covered a hundred-meter radius, burning four hundred jin daily didn’t seem excessive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, they were poor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They currently had only 144 units of coal total—enough for seven days of heating if used entirely, but they simply couldn’t afford to burn it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong took a deep breath, picked up two more pieces of coal and tossed them into the furnace, then selected a fist-sized piece of iron ore from the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By weight, iron ore was half the volume of coal; a forty-to-fifty-jin piece of coal was fist-sized, but this fist-sized piece of iron ore in Xia Hong’s hand weighed over a hundred jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“According to Luo Ming, iron ore in this world doesn’t need refining—just melt it with coal fire, pour it into a mold to shape it into an ingot, then hammer it repeatedly until forging patterns appear, and it becomes a weapon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The more forging patterns, the stronger the weapon. Generally, once it reaches ten-fold forging, it can pierce the defenses of low-grade cold beasts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recalling what Luo Ming had told him before leaving Luo Ge’s camp regarding weapon forging, Xia Hong’s eyes darkened with thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to his past life, this forging process was obviously illogical—but the iron ore in this world was clearly not the same as that on Blue Star.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weight alone proved it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remembering Wang Ming’s massive six-hundred-jin blade, Xia Hong stopped overthinking, selected fifteen pieces of iron ore—roughly six hundred jin total—and placed them directly atop the furnace, then added several more pieces of coal beneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leader, are you planning to forge a weapon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course—he just said that black stone can be molded into any shape. Once the iron ore melts, pour it into the mold, and the weapon will appear, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Great Xia can forge its own weapons now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We probably don’t have enough iron—maybe only a few weapons can be made now. Once we find an iron mine, everyone will have weapons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Chuan and the others watching nearby, seeing Xia Hong’s actions, immediately guessed his intent and all grew excited, murmuring among themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If only it were as simple as they thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong shook his head silently, said nothing, and walked over to the black polishing stone, placing his hand upon it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After merely feeling it for a moment, he immediately understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The polishing stone deformed under light pressure but became incredibly hard under force—somewhat like a non-Newtonian fluid from his past life, yet clearly far more advanced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong flattened the polishing stone, then gently pressed it into the shape of a blade ingot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, he simply waited for the iron ore to melt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heat from the furnace made the entire cave as warm as spring; since no one had slept anyway, everyone gathered around, chatting idly as they waited with Xia Hong for the ore to melt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After over three hours, nearing the second half of the night, the iron ore atop the furnace finally melted into a glowing, milky-white liquid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong moved the polishing stone to one side of the furnace, stepped forward, and carefully poured the molten liquid into the newly pressed blade-shaped groove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the liquid touched the polishing stone, it solidified instantly, releasing a thick cloud of white smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Long moments passed until all the molten iron was gone; Xia Hong released his grip and looked down at the polishing stone, a smile spreading across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go get some water.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Chuan immediately ran to the wall, scooped up a ladle of water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong took the ladle and poured it onto the polishing stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sudden temperature shift triggered another violent burst of white smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one showed impatience; all leaned forward, necks stretched, waiting for the smoke to clear and see whether the blade ingot had formed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After more than ten breaths, the smoke dissipated, revealing on the polishing stone a long, black blade ingot—half a meter long, narrow at the top, wider at the base, with a distinct curve at the hilt—undoubtedly the shape of a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is just the ingot—it’s not a blade yet, is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s very close. It probably still needs shaping—didn’t the Leader bring back a blade before? We’ve all seen it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It needs forging. The Leader knows—he’s doing it now. Look.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong lifted the blade ingot from the polishing stone and placed it atop the furnace, then began gently kneading the polishing stone again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under his light pressure, the polishing stone quickly took the shape of a hammer; when he left a half-meter handle, he stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He secured the blade ingot on both sides of the furnace with wood, raised the polishing hammer, took a deep breath, and brought it down with full force onto the ingot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A crisp strike rang out through the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang… clang… clang… clang… clang…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A rhythmic series of hammer blows followed; to the listeners, it sounded like celestial music, their faces filled with anticipation, pupils reflecting the sparks from Xia Hong’s strikes, as if something deep within them had been gently stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Hong moved like an endless machine, striking harder and harder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know what the others in the camp were thinking,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but his own emotions had reached a peak of exhilaration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the blade ingot he was forging now, in some sense, marked the official beginning of:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Iron Age for Great Xia Camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1377,"2026-06-19T20:30:15.201Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","761bf989a267466e59cd43294cc3c348436c73b906e96ded17033656c1a5d1e1","endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-75","endless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-chapter-73",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fendless-winter-my-camp-infinitely-upgrades-cover.jpg"]