Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

When the idea of the new house was first proposed, Mu Dong pointed out four difficulties.

Massive amounts of wood, massive amounts of iron, a certain number of iron tools, and the most difficult of all, the 800-meter ground piles.

The wood problem had long been solved; with the number of Earth Digging Realm cultivators increasing to six in recent times, iron and iron tools were no longer a problem; and the most difficult part, the ground piles, only had a little over a hundred meters left.

With all four difficulties overcome, the Great Xia's new residence officially began construction.

Regarding the new residence, Xia Hong only proposed the concept. The specific construction would definitely still be guided by Mu Dong, the professional.

Beside the iron smelting furnace, Mu Dong set up a giant wooden board, directly facing the crowd.

Engraved on the wooden board was a three-story wooden house, with a pyramidal roof at each of the four corners and twelve internal pillars, creating an incredibly spacious interior.

Although the wooden house was only an outline and lacked many details, a sense of grandeur still emanated from it, causing a hint of longing to involuntarily appear in the eyes of everyone near the furnace.

Seeing the longing expressions on everyone's faces, Mu Dong was also somewhat excited. Pointing to the drawing on the wooden board, he explained the construction ideas for the new residence to everyone.

"According to the leader's concept, each side will be 200 meters long and 15 meters high. The interior will be divided into three layers of space. Leaving aside everything else, building such a large structure stably will not be easy.

Therefore, this is what I'm thinking:

The main body will be entirely made of whole Golden Frostwood logs. Due to the width of the ground piles, the thickness of the Golden Frostwood embedded in the ground can only be three meters, but we can double the thickness of the wall above the ground to six meters;

At the joints of the four wooden walls, in addition to mortise and tenon joints, iron pillars will be used to reinforce both the inside and outside.

Below the ground piles, the iron cables that the leader has forged recently will be used to connect all four wooden walls together before embedding them in the ground to ensure stability;

Finally, inside the wooden house, twelve load-bearing pillars will be erected, with iron pillars of equal length embedded inside them, connecting with the roof beams to ensure that the roof will not collapse.

In addition, the internal space… … … …"

As Mu Dong explained each point, the drawing on the wooden board gradually became clearer and more distinct in everyone's eyes.

As their understanding of the new wooden house deepened, shock gradually appeared on everyone's faces, and the longing in their eyes became even more intense than before.

Even Xia Hong, who had proposed the concept of building the new wooden house, couldn't help but be amazed by Mu Dong's wild imagination as he listened to the explanation.

According to Mu Dong, the outer walls of the new house alone would be six meters thick.

The four walls, each fifteen meters high, totaled eight hundred meters, and all made of single Golden Frostwood logs. Roughly calculated, even if all the trees used were Golden Frostwood trees with a diameter of six meters, it would require at least nearly two hundred trees.

And that was just the main four walls. Counting the top, the bottom, the three layers inside, and the partitions on each layer, the amount of wood used would be countless.

Not to mention that the other key parts would also need to be reinforced with iron.

Of course, if the new residence was so costly just to improve everyone's living conditions, it would be too uneconomical.

When Mu Dong finished explaining the entire structure of the wooden house, Xia Hong's eyes remained fixed on him, clearly waiting for his next words.

Mu Dong naturally knew what Xia Hong, who proposed the concept of the new residence, was most concerned about. He didn't delay and immediately opened his mouth after a moment of contemplation:

"According to the design, once the new residence is built, based on its sturdiness, it will be impossible for any low-level Frost Beasts to break through. Even Frostmanes with extremely strong impact force, unless in very large numbers, such as hundreds charging at the same time, shouldn't be able to break through. So… …"

"So in the future, even during the day, we won't be afraid of light and can light fires openly without worrying about Frost Beasts attacking."

"Moreover, even if they come, as long as there aren't too many, we can use the wooden house's defenses to directly hunt them!"

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan interrupted Mu Dong before he could finish speaking.

Hearing their words, Mu Dong pondered for a moment and nodded in response:

"That's right. Furthermore, since the key connecting parts of the main body are reinforced with iron, there is basically no possibility of them being destroyed. Even if the other parts are damaged by impact, we can repair them with wood at any time."

As Mu Dong's voice fell, joy and excitement appeared on everyone's faces below. Many people even stood up in excitement.

"Then what are we waiting for, leader? Let's start building!"

"That's right. This new house is even better than the five large wooden houses in the original Rogge camp. Let's start construction quickly!"

"Leader, let's start construction quickly."

"Yes, let's break ground and start construction quickly. I can't wait."

… … …

Xia Hong was not surprised at all by the excited scene at this moment.

Comfort is indeed a common pursuit of humanity, but it is not important at all compared to safety. The biggest reason why the new wooden house took half a year to prepare was the consideration of safety needs.

If they were just building the kind of large wooden houses that the Rogge camp had before, let alone half a year, even half a month would probably be enough for the camp to build, given its current strength.

The reason why so much iron was used was because Xia Hong wanted to build a sturdy residence that could withstand the impact of low-level Frost Beasts.

The biggest threat around Redwood Ridge is actually Frost Beasts.

To be precise, it is the low-level Frost Beasts that are constantly expanding outward from Redwood Ridge.

Since the death of the Wood Puppet Ghoul, no Ghouls have appeared in the surrounding area for a long time; the climate is still as cold as ever, which is not a problem with the iron smelting furnace; as for the terrain, Xia Hong can control the camp's activity range, and there is no problem as long as they operate within this small, familiar environment for the time being; and as for humans, within the currently known environment, there are only the two camps of Lu Shang and Chen Ye, which do not pose a threat.

Apart from these few, only Frost Beasts are currently the only and greatest threat.

Especially in the past six months, with the continuous improvement of the Great Xia's hunting ability, under such frequent hunting, Xia Hong has found that there is no obvious sign of a decrease in the number of Frost Beasts on the periphery, and he has become more aware of this.

Although the current hunting range of the Great Xia is controlled by him, only within 500 meters on the periphery, the north-south length has expanded to five or six kilometers.

Although he hasn't carefully calculated it in the past six months, he has hunted at least nearly three hundred low-level Frost Beasts.

According to the size and density of Frost Beasts, it is impossible for such a tiny area of 500 meters on the periphery and five or six kilometers north and south to be occupied by so many Frost Beasts.

There is only one explanation for this situation: that is, the Frost Beasts in the inner periphery are continuously expanding outward, and the speed of expansion is even faster than the speed of the Great Xia's hunting.

The terrifying expansion speed of Frost Beasts made Xia Hong feel uneasy.

Especially the experience of being attacked by a pack of Frost Wolves on the night of the migration from the earthen slope to the valley some time ago often made him unable to sleep at night.

Frost Beasts are powerful and cunning creatures.

Once they form a pack, their level of danger is extremely terrifying.

Although the Great Xia's strength is now very different from what it used to be, if they encounter the Frost Wolf pack that night again, the outcome will definitely not be so tragic.

But what if the next Frost Wolf pack they encounter is even larger?

Or if it's not a Frost Wolf pack, but a Snowmane pack, or even a stronger Frost Beast pack?

Ghouls are also terrifying, but more of it comes from the unknown. Fortunately, with the system's iron smelting furnace, torches, and condensed fire oil, Xia Hong finally has something to rely on; but Frost Beasts are different. Not only are they not afraid of these items, they even like them very much.

Judging from the Frost Beasts' covetousness for torches, once they discover the iron smelting furnace, their madness will definitely be unimaginable.

The most deadly thing is that Frost Beasts usually operate during the day, so the iron smelting furnace is likely to be discovered by Frost Beasts during the day, and the strength of Frost Beasts is even stronger during the day, and the camp cannot put out the fire for a long time due to the low temperature.

Therefore, if the Frost Beast population that is constantly expanding outward in Redwood Ridge discovers the iron smelting furnace in the valley one day.

It would definitely be a huge disaster for the Great Xia camp, which has not built solid defensive fortifications, and the outcome would definitely be even more tragic than the Rogge camp that previously encountered the Wood Puppet Ghoul.

The reason why Xia Hong has been holding back from increasing the camp's weapons for the past six months, but has used almost all of the iron ore and coal, as well as a large amount of wood, to prepare for the construction of the new residence is for this reason.

It is human nature to be prepared for danger in times of peace. It is not just Xia Hong who seeks a safe and stable environment. The others in the camp may not see as far as Xia Hong, but their fear and worry about Frost Beasts and Ghouls are the same.

Therefore, when they heard that the new residence, which was about to be built, could withstand the impact of low-level Frost Beasts, or even a large number of low-level Frost Beasts, they were so excited and even eagerly requested to break ground and start construction.

"Okay, starting tonight, break ground and start construction. In addition to hunting, all other activities in the camp will be suspended. Everyone will participate and build the new residence as quickly as possible!"

At the height of the camp's excitement, Xia Hong gave an order.

All members of the Great Xia camp, except for Xia Hong and the fifteen members of the hunting team, all eight hundred others were put into the grand construction project of building the new residence.

The workload of building the new wooden house was heavy and vast. In addition, the weight of the wood and iron in the Ice Abyss world far exceeded that of ordinary materials. If it were in the previous life, it would be impossible to complete it with manpower alone without machinery.

But it's different here.

Under the command of Mu Dong, with the cooperation of one hundred and thirty Lumbering Realm cultivators, one giant Golden Frostwood log after another rose from the ground and was neatly embedded into the previously prepared ground piles.

Those in the reserve army who were not far from the Lumbering Realm, although lacking in strength, could not be underestimated in their combined efforts. Together, they installed and fixed some small wooden or iron parts that had been built into the main body of the wooden house according to Mu Dong's design.

Of the remaining five hundred people, over a hundred were robust adults over thirty years old. Although they didn't receive much cold beast meat due to their age, their years granted them a base strength of at least one or two thousand pounds. While they couldn't be the main construction force, they could still assist and help from the sidelines.

Even the three hundred or so children under the age of thirteen were helping by passing tools or delivering water and food. Some of the older ones, whose strength had begun to develop, were also helping the adults with their tasks.

With such high enthusiasm for construction, everyone in the camp, except for those unable to work, was diligently contributing.

Even the hunting team members, when not out hunting, would be infected by this enthusiasm and couldn't help but lend a hand.

Under these circumstances, the progress of building new houses was incredibly rapid.

On the first night after Xia Hong's announcement, the western wooden wall was erected. On the second night, the southern wooden wall was also raised. The third night, the northern side…

Within the valley, a significant transformation occurred almost every night.

Since Mu Dong was overseeing such a large project for the first time, Xia Hong worried that his lack of experience might lead to safety issues. He personally kept an eye on things for the first three nights.

After realizing that the current physical condition of the people in the camp meant that safety issues were unlikely, he stopped monitoring and instead focused his energy on hunting and mining.

… … … …

Outside Redwood Ridge, at the five-hundred-meter boundary.

Xia Hong led several people, hiding in a tree, all watching below.

Beneath the tree were five people. Four of them held large sabers, while one held a black dagger. All five were equipped with longbows and were surrounding a snow mane beast over four meters long.

The snow mane beast had a ferocious expression, its pupils were crimson, and it was breathing heavily.

Its right leg was trapped in a beast trap with a half-meter diameter. Dark green blood had already flowed all over the ground from the trap, indicating a significant injury.

Roar… … … …

With an angry roar, the snow mane beast violently charged towards the nearest person.

That person was the only one among the five not wielding a saber, but only a small black dagger. Clearly, in the snow mane beast's assessment, this person was the weakest, so it chose him.

However, the snow mane beast had clearly chosen the wrong person.

Seeing the snow mane beast charging towards him, that person didn't panic at all. He didn't even choose to dodge to the side, but simply stood his ground, raising his dagger in a blocking stance.

A dagger, trying to stop the charge of a snow mane beast?

If outsiders saw this, they would probably think this person had gone mad.

But the four members of Luo Yuan's group present, as well as the ten people in the tree, all watched with unchanged expressions, waiting for Xia Chuan's next move.

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Bang… … … …

When the snow mane beast charged to a position just over a meter away from Xia Chuan, a bang suddenly erupted from the position of its head, and it could no longer advance an inch.

At this critical moment, Xia Chuan's pupils suddenly contracted. In an instant, he switched to a reverse grip on the dagger and suddenly stabbed towards the snow mane beast's pupil.

Puchi… … … …

Although the dagger was only three inches long, it was, after all, stabbing into the most vulnerable part of the body, the eyeball. Under the stimulation of intense pain, the snow mane beast's first reaction was not to scream or roar.

The remaining pupil shone even more fiercely. It abruptly tilted its head, and two sharp fangs rushed towards Xia Chuan's head. At the same time, its tongue quickly shot out of its mouth, extremely swiftly wrapping around Xia Chuan's neck and limbs.

"Careful!"

"Damn it, be careful."

"Chuan, dodge quickly!"

"Don't get entangled!"

… … … …

This snow mane beast was actually able to endure the pain of having its eyeball pierced and launch such a frenzied, desperate counterattack.

For a moment, whether it was the four members of Luo Yuan's group present or the people in the tree, they all cried out in alarm, shouting to remind Xia Chuan.

Only Xia Hong remained silent, simply frowning and continuing to watch.

The closest Luo Yuan and the others reacted, shouting reminders while pulling on the rope on the ground. The other end of the rope was tied to the beast trap on the snow mane beast's right leg.

The four of them worked together to yank the rope, instantly pulling the snow mane beast backward, foiling its attempt to attack Xia Chuan with its fangs.

However, its tongue was too close to Xia Chuan. Even though its body was pulled away, its tongue still quickly wrapped around him.

Seeing this, a fierce glint erupted from the snow mane beast's crimson pupils. It clearly intended to contract its muscles, hardening its tongue to sever Xia Chuan's legs.

Xia Chuan's eyes finally revealed a hint of nervousness at this moment.

Bang!

Crack… … … …

At the critical moment, a broad figure suddenly leaped down from the tree, slamming into the snow mane beast's neck and forcefully grinding its head into the snow.

Along with that figure, a swift and violent blade of light descended.

The saber entered as if there was nothing there, only making a slight cracking sound, cutting off several of the barbs on the snow mane beast's back and vertically slicing into it from its back.

This strike almost divided the snow mane beast's body in two lengthwise.

One should know that this was cutting in from the snow mane beast's toughest back portion.

The ferocious light in the snow mane beast's pupils dissipated. The tongue, which had originally wanted to harden, instantly lost its strength and hung down, unable to even retract.

Bang…

The snow mane beast crashed to the ground. Everyone present, looking at the huge gash on its back, couldn't help but swallow their saliva. When they looked up at Xia Hong again, their eyes were full of respect and admiration.

Xia Hong simply expressionlessly pulled out the saber from the snow mane beast's body, then turned his head and reached out, slapping Xia Chuan directly on the face.

Pa…

This crisp slap made all four members of Luo Yuan's group tense up.

The one who was slapped, Xia Chuan, lowered his head even further, his face full of shame.

"Do you know why I hit you?"

Xia Chuan raised his head, his face showing no dissatisfaction. He replied in a deep voice: "I shouldn't have been careless. Even if the snow mane beast has suffered a fatal wound, it won't just surrender. Instead, it will become even more ferocious, and the strength it explodes with will be even greater. The fight wasn't over yet, and I was careless and negligent. Leader is hitting me to make me remember this in the future."

Xia Hong nodded, then looked at the four members of Luo Yuan's group, sternly rebuking:

"And you four, the snow mane beast hasn't died yet, and you're already spacing out, thinking that Xia Chuan is strong and can block it, so it doesn't matter. I've told you countless times that during hunting, any bit of carelessness can kill yourself and others. Do you not remember, or do you not believe it?"

Luo Yuan and the other four immediately lowered their heads, their faces full of shame.

Pa pa pa…

After more than ten breaths, Luo Yuan finally raised his head first, reaching out and fiercely slapping himself three times on the face.

"Leader, I was wrong. I will definitely remember this in the future!"

"Leader, we were also wrong. We will definitely remember this in the future!"

The Zhao Long brothers were the same, their faces also showing shame.

Seeing the solemn expressions on the five people's faces, Xia Hong heavily exhaled, glanced at the inner side of Redwood Ridge, suppressed the irritability in his heart, and said in a deep voice:

"With your current strength, the five of you, combined with the beast trap, should be more than enough to hunt low-level cold beasts. But now it seems that you didn't learn anything at all when you hunted with me for the first half of the year.

Even hunting an adult snow mane beast requires paying the price of a leg. If I really handed over the hunting team to you now, I'm afraid that in a few days, the entire camp would only have one Ground Digging Realm person with all their limbs intact!"

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others turned red when they heard Xia Hong's words.

Today's hunt was proposed by them to Xia Hong, with the intention of showing Xia Hong their hunting abilities, so that he could confidently hand over the hunting team to the five of them to be in charge.

Now that it had turned out like this, and they were being ridiculed by Xia Hong like this.

The shame in the hearts of the five can be imagined.

"Extend it for another month. If you're still like this after a month, then continue to extend it. I want to see when you giant infants will finally be able to hunt on your own without me."

Even a clay figure has three parts of temper, let alone the most outstanding five people in the Great Xia Camp. Xia Hong's continuous ridicule made Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan's breathing quicken.

Seeing the reaction of the five after being stimulated, Xia Hong's face remained unchanged, but in his heart, he was still relatively satisfied.

The strength of the five was no longer the problem.

The only problem was their mentality.

Probably because they didn't need to use their brains when hunting with him before, and they weren't so nervous, so they were often careless and negligent. And precisely using this kind of mentality to face cunning cold beasts is the most dangerous.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others wanted to take over the hunting matter out of kindness, wanting to make their leader not so tired;

Of course, Xia Hong also couldn't wait to hand over the hunting to them.

First, he really didn't want to be so tired;

Second, he needed more time to study his cultivation.

His base strength had already increased to twenty thousand pounds.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Xia Hong felt that in recent days, eating cold beast meat seemed to have less of an increase in strength than before.

"Let's go back and try. Could it be that I've encountered a bottleneck?"

After calling everyone to clean up the prey, a trace of thought flashed in Xia Hong's eyes.

The limit of the Ground Digging Realm was clearly thirty thousand pounds.

What was this twenty-thousand-pound bottleneck all about?

Could it be that cold beast meat was no longer useful?