Chapter 78: Everyone can cultivate

"Older brother, how is my proposal?"

Xia Hong, who was speculating on Luo Ming's intentions, was interrupted by Xia Chuan. He simply stopped speculating and calculated roughly in his heart, then said:

"Just follow the rules you proposed, but I want to add two more points. The age limit for reserves can now be relaxed to thirteen to thirty; in addition, those under thirteen will also be issued five jin of cold beast meat every month."

Seeing Xia Chuan's anxious expression after hearing this, Xia Hong raised his hand to press down, signaling Xia Chuan to continue listening to him.

"I have the number of people in the camp. The total number of people in the thirteen to thirty age group should be over one hundred. It's only thirty-plus more than what you just set. Even counting them, it only consumes about one thousand jin more cold beast meat per month.

Those under thirteen are a bit more, about one hundred and fifty, five jin per person per month, adding up to seven hundred-plus jin.

That is to say, the two points I added only require us to hunt two more cold beasts per month, which can be completely achieved."

According to Xia Chuan's calculation, hunting four adult cold beasts successfully in a month could maintain consumption. Adding the two points he supplemented, adding up to hunting six beasts a month was completely enough.

"Hunting six cold beasts a month, are you still afraid you can't do it?"

Hearing Xia Hong's counter-question, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng both revealed a look of hesitation.

In fact, counting back one month, the cold beasts they hunted were more than six. Theoretically, now that they had iron tools, hunting ability had been greatly improved. Judging from the terrifying density of cold beasts in Red Wood Ridge, hunting six a month was definitely achievable.

But the problem was, hunting carried risks.

That Snow Mane just now, the hunting process seemed simple, but that was because the ten of them worked together, plus the blessing of the Shocking Cold blade, and their understanding of cold beasts like the Snow Mane, which was a stack of various factors, that they could achieve it.

Up to now, they had only encountered three types of cold beasts. Encountering others they didn't understand, the risk was still very high.

What's more, taking such risks was just

After thinking for a long time, Xia Chuan finally spoke up.

"Brother, hunting two more cold beasts means we have to take greater risks. For the sake of these ordinary people in the camp, I don't think it's worth it."

"Moreover, our current hunting range, including Great Stone's original territory, is only about one thousand meters north and south on the outskirts. Although the density of cold beasts is high, within this one-thousand-meter range, it is extremely limited. Adding two more might quickly lead to the extinction of cold beasts in this area."

"By then, we would have to venture deeper into the inner side of Red Wood Ridge ahead of time, which would be even less safe."

As Xia Chuan spoke, the three of them arrived at the camp's cave entrance.

"Greetings, Leader!"

"Greetings, Leader."

"The leader is back..."

"Brother Chuan and Brother Cheng are back too."

"Good, good. You all go back to your work."

Xia Hong smiled while responding to the people greeting him at the cave entrance, led the two inside, and walked all the way to the iron-smelting furnace before signaling them to sit down. He then pointed at the ordinary people in the camp and asked Xia Chuan:

"What do you think these people are to the camp right now?"

Xia Chuan was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he only answered with two words.

"A burden."

"That's right, a burden. So, are you willing to abandon them?"

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng immediately fell silent.

The answer was obvious; of course, they were unwilling to abandon them. Not to mention that among these ordinary people in the camp were their relatives and friends, even without such ties, having lived together for many years, there was certainly affection.

"You say it's not worth taking greater risks for these people, and I can understand that. But think about it: before they had the ability to go out, we were already taking risks for them all along."

"Hunting, picking crystal fruits, logging, and the mining operations to come—whenever we go out, who can guarantee one hundred percent safety? Doesn't that count as taking risks?"

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he let out a soft breath, his expression gradually turning solemn.

It is a basic consensus that ordinary people are a burden.

They cannot go out; let alone logging, hunting, or mining, even helping to move timber requires several people working together. Previously, when we dared not open the cave entrance at night, even tasks like collecting snow water had to be done by the logging team.

During the attack of the Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep, except for him leading Xia Chuan and the other six to resist, the other hundred-plus people could only stare helplessly from the sidelines.

If this is the case with cold beasts, it goes without saying for the even more powerful strange creatures.

The destruction of the Great Stone camp and the tragedy of the Luo Ge camp are two bloody lessons right before our eyes.

Xia Hong is not blaming these people. When resources are insufficient, the ordinary people of any camp are considered a burden. Not only can they not help, but to maintain their survival, the camp's vital forces must risk their lives to go out and take risks.

Going out is inevitably accompanied by risks, while the ordinary people remaining in the camp face no risks but cannot help with anything or produce anything.

As one wanes and the other waxes, if this continues for a long time, the camp cannot develop healthily.

We must let everyone in the camp participate in its development.

In the words of my previous life, this is called liberating their productivity.

And the first step is to provide enough cold beast meat.

After all, without the ability to go out, everything else is just empty talk.

Being able to let more people contribute more strength and participate in the camp's development makes taking a few risks in the early stages completely worth it.

And this risk will not last long.

Through his own cultivation progress, Xia Hong has already seen that for humans, there is almost no threshold for the Woodcutting Realm and the Earth-Digging Realm. As long as sufficient cold beast meat is provided, everyone can break through; it is merely a matter of speed depending on age and talent.

With enough people in the Woodcutting Realm, Xia Hong and the others can focus on hunting without having to worry about logging; the same logic applies to subsequent mining.

As more and more people perform their duties and contribute their strength, the camp's output will become richer. Using these outputs to feed back into the camp, this cycle continues—that is the true virtuous cycle, and Great Xia will also be able to achieve the fullest development.

After detailing the thoughts in his heart, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng immediately fell into deep thought. Unlike the situation when the "three-five-two" rule was proposed last time, this time the two of them quickly understood.

In fact, being able to propose the four-tier classification method proved that Xia Chuan's line of thinking was already very close to Xia Hong's, so he quickly understood and accepted what Xia Hong said.

"Have you ever thought that perhaps one day in the future, everyone in our Great Xia will be able to cultivate, and even five or six-year-old children will have the strength of the Woodcutting Realm?"

"Leader, stop joking."

"Brother, you're confused. How is that possible!"

Xia Hong's last sentence made Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng laugh directly.

It was already outrageous enough that everyone could cultivate; to them, the idea of five or six-year-old children having Woodcutting Realm strength sounded like a fantasy.

Unless the cold beasts just lay there without moving, letting them kill them.

Xia Hong did not refute their words, and after thinking for a moment, he laughed along with them:

"Hahaha, just a joke. You two go and count the heads, and also announce the new meat distribution rules to make everyone happy!"

Watching their departing backs, Xia Hong put away the smile on his face and looked around the camp, a trace of ambition flashing in his eyes.

He was not joking. With the camp system, it is only a matter of time before Great Xia reaches that day.

After Xia Chuan announced the new meat distribution rules set by Xia Hong, the camp naturally erupted in a roar of cheers.

Especially the people from Great Stone who had recently joined; hearing that everyone could get cold beast meat and that they were included, they were initially in disbelief, but upon confirming it was true, they were instantly moved to tears.

Seeing the surging crowd walking toward him, Xia Hong immediately realized something and hurriedly stood up, opening his mouth to stop them.

But before he could speak, the crowd had already rushed up, and several people walked directly to his side and lifted him high.

"The leader is mighty!"

"The leader is mighty!"

"The leader is mighty!"

Although the massive cheers were uneven, they were all filled with gratitude and reverence without exception. As the cheers grew louder, this emotion gradually turned into fanaticism.

But just at this moment, a familiar voice came abruptly from outside the cave.

"Brother Xia Hong, you were hard to find!"

Although this voice was not loud, it entered the cave with unusual clarity, interrupting the cheering crowd.

Everyone instantly fell silent, looking toward the cave entrance with some nervousness.

(End of chapter)