Chapter 78: Everyone Can Cultivate

“Brother, what do you think of my proposal?”

Xia Hong, who had been pondering Luo Ming’s intentions, was interrupted by Xia Chuan; he abandoned further speculation, quickly calculated in his mind, then spoke:

“We’ll follow your rules, but I’ll add two points: the reserve age limit can be expanded immediately to thirteen to thirty; and those under thirteen will receive five catties of cold beast meat each month.”

Seeing Xia Chuan’s face darken with urgency upon hearing this, Xia Hong raised a hand to gently press down, signaling him to keep listening.

“I know the population structure of the camp well—those aged thirteen to thirty total just over a hundred, thirty or so more than you set; even counting them, we’d only need an extra thousand catties of cold beast meat per month.”

“Those under thirteen are a bit more—around one hundred and fifty—five catties each per month adds up to just over seven hundred catties.”

“In other words, with these two additions, we only need to hunt two more cold beasts per month to cover everything.”

According to Xia Chuan’s calculations, hunting four adult cold beasts per month was enough to sustain consumption; adding these two adjustments brings the total to six per month—easily achievable.

“Six cold beasts per month—do you really think you can’t manage that?”

At Xia Hong’s counter-question, both Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng showed hesitation.

In fact, last month they had hunted more than six cold beasts; with iron tools now available, their hunting capability had greatly improved, and given the terrifying density of cold beasts in Hongmu Ridge, six per month was certainly possible.

But the problem is, hunting carries risk.

That snowmane beast we just hunted seemed simple, but it took ten of us working together, the Frost-Start Blade’s enhancement, and our knowledge of snowmane behavior—all factors combined—to accomplish it.

So far, we’ve only encountered three types of cold beasts; facing unfamiliar ones still carries high risk.

Moreover, taking such risks is just for the sake of the camp’s ordinary people.

After long thought, Xia Chuan finally spoke.

“Brother, hunting two more cold beasts means greater risk—we don’t think it’s worth it for these ordinary people in the camp;

Also, our current hunting range, including the former Dashi territory, is only about a thousand meters north-south; though cold beasts are dense, this area alone has extremely limited numbers—adding two more hunts could quickly exhaust the local population.

Then we’d have to advance deeper into Hongmu Ridge earlier, making it even more dangerous.”

As Xia Chuan spoke, the three reached the camp entrance.

“Hail the leader!”

“Hail the leader.”

“The leader’s back…”

“Brother Chuan and Brother Cheng are back too.”

“Good, good, get back to your tasks.”

Xia Hong smiled as he acknowledged those greeting him at the entrance, then led the two inside, walking straight to the iron-smelting furnace before gesturing for them to sit and pointing to the ordinary people in the camp:

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

Xia Chuan paused, thought for a moment, then answered with just two words.

“Burden.”

“Exactly—a burden. Would you abandon them?”

Both Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng fell silent.

The answer was obvious—they didn’t want to abandon them. Not to mention the relatives and friends among these ordinary people; even without ties, years of shared life had forged bonds.

“You say risking more for these people isn’t worth it—I understand. But consider this: before they can go out, we’ve always been risking for them.

Hunting, gathering crystal fruit, cutting wood, and future mining—all involve going out. Who can guarantee absolute safety? Isn’t that risk enough?”

After speaking, Xia Hong exhaled softly, his expression growing grave.

Ordinary people are a burden—that’s a general consensus.

They can’t go out; even carrying logs requires several people working together. Before, we dared not open the cave entrance at night, so collecting snowwater had to be done by the woodcutters.

During the Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep attack, while I led seven of you to resist, the other hundred-plus could only watch helplessly.

If cold beasts can do this, imagine what stronger supernatural entities could accomplish.

The fall of Dashi Camp and the tragedy of Luo Ge Camp are two bloody lessons right before our eyes.

Xia Hong wasn’t blaming them—in conditions of scarce resources, ordinary people in any camp are a burden: they contribute nothing, yet the camp’s active forces must risk their lives to sustain them.

Going out always carries risk; those staying behind face no risk but contribute nothing and produce nothing.

This imbalance, if prolonged, will prevent the camp from developing healthily.

Everyone in the camp must participate in its development.

In terms from my past life, this is called liberating their productive power.

The first step is providing enough cold beast meat.

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

The slight risk taken early on is entirely worth it if it allows more people to contribute more to the camp’s growth.

And this risk won’t last long.

Through his own cultivation progress, Xia Hong had already realized: the Woodcutting and Digging realms have virtually no threshold for humans; with sufficient cold beast meat, everyone can break through—only the speed varies by age and talent.

With enough Woodcutting realm cultivators, Xia Hong and the others can focus solely on hunting, no longer needing to worry about cutting trees; the same logic applies to future mining.

As more people take on specialized roles and contribute, the camp’s output will grow richer, and this output can then be reinvested—creating a true virtuous cycle, allowing Great Xia to develop fully.

After elaborating his thoughts in detail, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng immediately fell into thought; unlike when he proposed the Three-Five-Two system, this time they grasped it quickly.

In fact, proposing the Four-Tier system already proved Xia Chuan’s thinking was very close to Xia Hong’s; thus, he understood and accepted Xia Hong’s words immediately.

“Have you ever considered that one day, everyone in Great Xia might cultivate—even five- or six-year-old children might reach Woodcutting realm?”

“Leader, don’t joke.”

“Brother, you’ve lost your mind—how could that be possible!”

Xia Hong’s final remark made Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng burst out laughing.

That everyone could cultivate was already absurd; that five- or six-year-olds could reach Woodcutting realm sounded like pure fantasy to them.

Unless the cold beasts just lay there motionless for them to kill.

Xia Hong didn’t refute them; after a moment’s thought, he laughed along with them:

“Hahaha, just a joke. Go count the numbers first, and announce the new meat distribution rules—let everyone celebrate!”

Watching their retreating backs, Xia Hong wiped the smile from his face, glanced around the camp, and a flicker of ambition flashed in his eyes.

He hadn’t been joking. With the camp system, the day when Great Xia achieves this is inevitable.

After Xia Chuan announced Xia Hong’s new meat distribution rules, the camp erupted in a roaring wave of cheers.

Especially among the newly merged Dashi group—when they heard everyone, including them, would receive cold beast meat, they first couldn’t believe it; once confirmed, they burst into tears.

Seeing the dense crowd surging toward him, Xia Hong instantly realized what was happening and stood up quickly to stop them.

But before he could speak, the crowd rushed forward; several people even stepped aside, lifted him high into the air.

“Leader, mighty!”

“Leader, mighty!”

“Leader, mighty!”

…………

Though the cheers were uneven, every voice brimmed with gratitude and reverence—and as the noise grew louder, this emotion gradually turned to fervor.

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly echoed from outside the cave.

“Brother Xia Hong, I’ve been searching for you!”

Though quiet, the voice cut clearly through the cave, silencing the cheering crowd.

Everyone fell instantly still, tensely turning toward the entrance.

(End of Chapter)