Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

In the Ice Abyss World, the average lifespan of ordinary people is naturally just over forty.

Those in the Lumbering Realm can live a bit longer, but they generally don't exceed fifty.

Judging from Luo Ming's father, Luo Feng, the lifespan of those in the Earth Digging Realm is probably over sixty, but the exact limit is unclear.

If calculated according to the common sense of his previous life, people with such strong basic strength and physical fitness shouldn't have such a short average lifespan.

But this is, after all, the Ice Abyss World.

Xia Hong is only eighteen this year. Although he doesn't have any lifespan anxiety for the time being, everyone wants to live longer. He had carefully considered this issue before.

In his opinion, there are three main reasons why humans in the Ice Abyss World have such short lifespans:

First, the extremely cold climate;

Second, the dark environment;

Third, the humans' own habit of working during the night and resting during the day, an irrational activity pattern, and severely abnormal sleeping habits.

The harm of the extremely cold climate to the human body goes without saying; just the fact of not seeing sunlight for a long time can have a significant impact on lifespan.

As for the third point, it's not that humans themselves want to be like this, but they have no choice.

The sun in the Ice Abyss World emits extremely cold light. Xia Hong personally experienced it once when he was attacked by the demonic sheep near the earthen slope.

After breaking through to the Earth Digging Realm, he tried again, and it was still the same.

Humans cannot be exposed to the light at all without reaching the Cold Resistance level.

Unable to be exposed to the light, they can only choose to be active at night.

And the daytime in the Ice Abyss World is only four hours long. Most of the day is night. According to Xia Hong's observation, most people in the camp only sleep for about four hours during the day.

Originally, they couldn't see the light, and their work and rest were reversed, plus their sleep time was seriously insufficient. It's normal that the average lifespan can't be high.

Xia Hong can't solve the two problems of seeing the light and reversing work and rest. Even extending sleep time is difficult for him to correct, after everyone has generally become accustomed to four hours of sleep.

So far, what Xia Hong can do and has done is to order children in the camp under the age of six to sleep two more hours each day.

Even so, many children still can't accept it.

They wake up naturally as soon as it gets dark, and then can't fall back asleep.

If children are like this, let alone adults.

A group habit that has persisted and been passed down for many years is difficult to correct in a short period of time. Xia Hong is well aware of this.

It's the same as the human habit of working at sunrise and resting at sunset formed in thousands of years of reproduction in his previous life, except that the humans in the Ice Abyss World are just the opposite.

If it can't be changed in a short time, then it can only be done slowly and subtly.

Of course, the most thorough way to solve the problem of short lifespan is still cultivation.

While basic strength is improving, physical fitness is also constantly leaping forward. This is the common understanding of everyone, including Xia Hong. This is also the biggest reason why they are so obsessed with cultivation and pursuing power.

With an increasingly strong body, lifespan will inevitably become longer and longer.

The threat of the gnawing rat swarm is imminent. The progress of bow making must be accelerated. In the previous ten days, including Xia Hong, the seven Earth Digging Realm cultivators basically only slept for two hours a day. This is also why the iron ore mining can't keep up with the bow making progress.

Clang… Clang… Clang… Clang…

Inside the mine, the sound of the seven people's chisels echoed from dawn until the second half of the night.

Xia Hong and the seven others continuously mined for fifteen hours before finally stopping.

Corresponding to this, there was a pile of iron ore that each of the seven had produced at their feet.

Xia Hong weighed his own pile, then turned to look at the others.

"Report the approximate amount you've mined!"

Xia Chuan: "Mine is about 520 catties."

Luo Yuan: "490."

Zhao Long: "130."

Zhao Hu: "I had some before, adding up to 450 catties."

Zhao Bao: "I had some before too, adding up to 430."

Yuan Cheng: "I'm the same as the two of them, adding up to 470."

The efficiency of mining is not only affected by tools but also by strength.

The greater the basic strength, the faster the progress of mining will naturally be.

Previously, when the four of them hadn't come to the mine, Zhao Hu and the three others were using the Gnawing Rat Chisels.

The three of them later used the Ram Horn Chisels for mining, and they probably only mined a little over a hundred catties, but adding up to what they had stockpiled before, they each had more than four hundred catties.

After he brought Xia Chuan and the three others in, in order to increase the mining speed, he took one of the three Gnawing Rat Chisels himself, and Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan used the remaining two, so the amount they mined was relatively large.

Zhao Long had always used the Ram Horn Chisel, so the amount was the least.

"Leader, how many catties did you mine?"

As soon as Luo Yuan asked, the other five all turned to look at Xia Hong's feet. When they saw that large pile of twenty or thirty pieces of iron ore, a look of surprise immediately appeared in their eyes.

"Mine is almost 840."

Each piece of iron ore weighed about forty or fifty catties. Seeing that pile, everyone had a rough idea in their minds, but when they heard Xia Hong report 840 catties, they couldn't help but click their tongues and marvel at Xia Hong's high mining efficiency.

"My basic strength is almost twice yours, so my mining efficiency is naturally faster than yours. When your basic strength catches up with me, you can do it too."

Xia Hong didn't take it seriously. The seven of them had basically reached their limit after fifteen hours of continuous mining. The output of more than 3,300 catties was considered lucky.

"That's enough to make eleven bows. Let's stop for a while. There are still nine hours until dawn. Go back and rest for four hours, and then go to the north slope of the mountain wall to take a look. We still need to hunt flood dragons tonight; we don't have enough spinal tendons!"

The six nodded, put down their chisels, and followed Xia Hong out of the mine.

Mining is not an easy task. Although the seven of them were all in the Earth Digging Realm, they were already exhausted after fifteen hours and naturally needed to rest.

It was midnight outside. At the entrance of the wooden house, more than a hundred Lumbering Realm cultivators were still practicing archery enthusiastically. Xia Hong and the others had no intention of watching. After greeting everyone, they all returned to the third floor to rest.

"Sir, the top ten in the competition have already been selected. Please take a look."

As soon as Xia Chuan walked up to the third floor, Shi Ping chased up from behind and handed him the list of the top ten people in the competition.

Exhausted, Xia Chuan didn't bother to look at it carefully. He just glanced at it roughly and saw that the top three were Xu Ning, Qiu Peng, and Shi Ping, who was standing in front of him. A smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Not bad, kid. Oh, your sister is also on the list?"

Xia Chuan actually saw Shi Lu's name at the end of the list.

A trace of shyness appeared on Shi Ping's face. He nodded and said, "My sister's archery level was already not bad. She has also been practicing very hard during this period, and she was also lucky, so she got seventh place."

"In the future, the amount of contribution points rewarded for archery competitions will remain the same for the time being. It will be held every ten days and will be your responsibility and your father's. Just tell me the results directly."

Hearing that Xia Chuan was going to hand over the task of archery competition to himself and his father, Shi Ping was immediately excited and nodded heavily: "Don't worry, sir, Shi Ping will definitely do his best to do it well."

Shi Ping is not very old, even two years younger than Xia Chuan. With his vision, he can't see the great benefits of being responsible for this matter.

He was excited only because he simply felt that Xia Chuan's ability to entrust such an important matter to himself was an affirmation of his ability; moreover, the matter of archery was originally the interest of their father and son, and his father Shi Qing would definitely be even happier knowing this.

"By the way, has the matter of the gnawing rat swarm been notified?"

Xia Chuan took two steps, remembered something, and turned back to ask.

Shi Ping immediately nodded upon hearing this and replied: "Ten days ago, when the camp announced the start of intensive archery training, it had already been notified. The Lumbering Realm cultivators basically know about it."

"Alright, you go down first. I'm going to rest. I'll be going to the north slope of the mountain wall with the leader later, and we'll be hunting flood dragons tonight."

"Sir, you go and rest first. I'll take my leave!"

Shi Ping watched Xia Chuan leave, his eyes full of respect and envy.

The respect stemmed from his understanding that Xia Chuan and the others were so tired because they had mined in the mine for more than ten hours. The purpose of mining was to make enough bows and arrows for them, the Lumbering Realm cultivators, to deal with the gnawing rat swarm on the north slope of the mountain wall. In the end, it was for the safety of the camp.

The envy stemmed from Xia Chuan's last sentence, being able to go out with the leader.

It can be said that now, anyone in the camp who has broken through to the Lumbering Realm wants to join the hunting team and go out with Xia Hong, including him.

The last time the hunting team brought back the Flood Dragon prey, it had already spread that one prey was worth hundreds of contribution points. Not to mention exchanging it for Cold Beast meat, it could almost be exchanged for two sets of clothes.

Of course, contribution points are only one aspect. With Xia Hong's high status in the hearts of everyone in the camp today, being able to go out with him is in itself a very honorable thing.

"The hunting team is no longer recruiting Lumbering Realm cultivators. To get in, you must break through to the Earth Digging Realm. I still have to seize the time to cultivate!"

Shi Ping secretly cheered himself up, quickly went downstairs, and continued to practice archery with everyone.

… … … …

"We don't need too many people. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan can come with me. The four of you stay here and we'll talk about it if there are any changes."

Four hours later, not far from the north slope of the mountain wall.

Xia Hong signaled Zhao Long and the four others to stay where they were, put down the giant axe on his back, and only took a bow and a quiver of arrows, leading Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, who were similarly dressed, and the three of them cautiously touched the north slope.

The three tiptoed up the slope and simultaneously stuck their heads out, looking towards the top of the north slope.

At this sight, the expressions of the three of them changed slightly.

"It's moved?"

"It has moved. Last time I came to check, I wasn't sure, but this time I can confirm it. It has moved towards the southern mountains, probably about a hundred meters. Look at that grassland to the north. When we came before, it was covered by the gnawing rat swarm, and we couldn't see it."

Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong glanced at the grassland and confirmed that the gnawing rat swarm had indeed moved more than a hundred meters to the south. His expression immediately became somewhat unsightly.

In the previous ten days, he had already brought people here three times.

The purpose of coming here, of course, was not just to get a few more gnawing rat chisels.

More importantly, it was to see if there was any movement in the gnawing rat swarm.

He didn't hope that the gnawing rat swarm would leave on its own, he only hoped that the gnawing rat swarm could remain still before he forged enough bows and arrows.

But now, that hope is gone.

The valley is almost two kilometers away from here, and the gnawing rat swarm has only moved a mere hundred meters or so, which of course is nothing. What really worries Xia Hong is the appearance of this kind of movement, which means there are more unpredictable risks.

Why did they move? Is something wrong?

Will they continue? Next time they move, will they continue towards the southern mountaintop?

Today it's a hundred meters, tomorrow will they move a kilometer, or even two kilometers?

Did they move at night or during the day?

If this group of gnawing rats discovers the valley during the day, even if they prepare a thousand bows and arrows, it will be a dead end.

… … … …

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Several questions popped up in Xia Hong's mind one after another, his expression changing repeatedly. He quickly interrupted his thoughts, and his heart suddenly became much more anxious.

"Big brother, look over there!"

But before he could think clearly, Xia Chuan on the other side, as if he had seen something, his tone suddenly became extremely heavy, signaling Xia Hong to look quickly.

Xia Hong quickly turned his head and looked in the direction he was pointing.

With this one look, his face suddenly turned extremely gloomy.

On the north slope of the mountain wall, which is where Xia Chuan was pointing, there were actually forty or fifty more gnawing rats of varying sizes.

Those gnawing rats were significantly smaller than the others. The largest was half a meter long, with sparse fur on its body and short barbs on its tail; the smallest was only twenty or thirty centimeters long. Because they were too far away, it was not very clear, but you could only see that they were flesh-colored, huddled together, and abnormally disgusting.

"These are gnawing rat pups. It hasn't even been more than a month since we came here, and they have already started breeding, and the number is so large at once…"

There are only three or four hundred gnawing rats in this batch, and forty or fifty have been born in just over a month, and judging by their size, they are growing quite fast. If they continue to breed like this, what will happen?

Luo Yuan's words made Xia Hong frown, and he even felt a little horrified in his heart.

He knew about the reproductive ability of rodents.

"Let's go, there's no chance tonight. Let's hunt Flood Dragons first, we need to speed up the progress!"

Since there were no stray gnawing rats, Xia Hong no longer wasted time. After observing for a while, he took Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan down the north slope, and then found Zhao Long and the other four, and together they quickly rushed towards Redwood Ridge.

The gnawing rat swarm not only moved more than a hundred meters to the south.

Moreover, they have begun to breed!

Only this thought was in Xia Hong's mind.

The sense of urgency in his heart instantly rose to the extreme.

Originally, he felt a sense of accomplishment after forging thirty-six iron-tire bows in ten days, but after seeing the gnawing rat swarm tonight, it was instantly shattered.

Not fast enough, still not fast enough.

The efficiency of bow-making must be improved.

If they don't solve this group of gnawing rats as soon as possible, if anything goes wrong, they will be the ones to solve the Great Xia camp.

Xia Hong was not the only one who knew the seriousness of the situation.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long and the other four who learned about the situation from them, all became nervous in an instant.

"Look for them with all your might tonight. Hunt as many as you can and get all the spinal tendons you need in one go. When we return to the camp, we need to increase the speed of bow-making. The situation is critical. During this period, the seven of us should try to rest as little as possible. We must make the bows as quickly as possible and take action in advance."

"Yes, leader!"

The six people who knew the seriousness of the situation quickly nodded and obeyed, their expressions as solemn and solemn as Xia Hong's.

The most difficult thing to deal with when hunting Flood Dragons is the poisonous mist they spray. Because after covering it with a wet cloth, it can only last for half an hour, so the hunting time must be controlled within half an hour, and even as short as possible in order to leave enough time to escape.

It must be very short, which is the only difficulty.

After Xia Hong discovered that Flood Dragon saliva could relieve the poisonous mist, there was basically no difficulty for the seven of them to hunt Flood Dragons together.

Xia Hong led the six people and searched frantically within a thousand-meter range. They hunted three Flood Dragons in a row. After calculating that they could harvest about a hundred spinal tendons, he was still not satisfied and chose to continue searching with the six people.

"We also need to leave enough time for mining. We probably won't have time to come out to hunt Flood Dragons later. Let's try to get it done once and for all. Let's find another one, kill it and go back."

The six people had no objection and followed Xia Hong to continue searching.

Soon, two hours later, another Flood Dragon crashed to the ground.

Xia Hong and the seven of them successfully completed their mission tonight.

"Four Flood Dragons, according to the length of their bodies, can produce at least 130 meters of spinal tendons. There are enough bowstring materials. The next task is to mine and make bows with all our strength."

Hearing Xia Hong's words, the six people who had fought all night breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, put them away. Go to the location just now and bring back the corpses of the three Flood Dragons. Let's go back."

Xia Hong signaled the six people to collect the prey, while he carefully searched the tree where the Flood Dragon had just perched.

Soon, Xia Hong found a ball of saliva in the middle of the tree.

After putting all the saliva into the leather bag and weighing it, a smile appeared on Xia Hong's face.

"Not bad, good luck, there are more than ten kilograms."

Including the previous three and the four tonight, Xia Hong has hunted seven Flood Dragons in total, and he has also figured out the rules for the production of Flood Dragon saliva.

Although saliva is the secretion of the Flood Dragon, there will not be more than ten kilograms in its body at most. Xia Hong speculated that it should be that after a certain amount, the Flood Dragon will spit it out, and after spitting it out, it may evaporate quickly.

Whether there is Flood Dragon saliva on the tree depends on luck, or rather, it depends on whether the Flood Dragon that was hunted recently secreted it.

Tonight was lucky. Two of the four Flood Dragons hunted found saliva on the trees where they perched, adding up to an estimated thirty kilograms.

Adding the ones in the four Flood Dragons, it should be about sixty kilograms.

"There's something!"

After Xia Hong collected the saliva, he carefully searched the tree again and unexpectedly made a new discovery at the top of the tree.

At the top of the tree, there was actually a fist-sized fruit.

Moreover, the smell of the fruit was extremely similar to that of Flood Dragon saliva.

"That's right, this tree doesn't seem to be an ordinary species either."

Xia Hong took out a small knife and cut open the frost crystal outside the bark. As expected, the bark was actually cyan.

"Scarlet Frost, Golden Chill, Ice Shuo, Blue Jade, plus this tree, we have already discovered five species of trees. Cut a piece back and give it to Chengfeng, and let the people from the collection team pay attention."

Surveying tree species is supposed to be the job of the collection team, but they are currently all Logging Realm cultivators and cannot go deep into the inner circle, so they can only find some rare plants outside. There have been no new discoveries in tree species.

It was not easy to discover a new species of tree, so Xia Hong naturally paid attention.

Of course, the fruit on the tree is the most important thing.

Xia Hong picked the fruit and put it in his leather bag. When he came down, Xia Chuan and the others had already brought over the other three Flood Dragon prey.

"Okay, let's go back!"

The seven of them quickly returned to the camp with four Flood Dragons.

The shock of the people in the camp when they brought back four Flood Dragons in one breath can be imagined.

But soon, after Xia Hong told them all about the gnawing rat swarm's movements on the north slope of the mountain wall, everyone immediately understood the purpose of Xia Hong's crazy Flood Dragon hunting.

It is definitely not enough for just the seven of them to become anxious.

To deal with the gnawing rat swarm, they cannot rely on just the seven of them. Making so many bows is to allow the Logging Realm cultivators in the camp to play a role.

Since this is the case, Xia Hong naturally did not hide it from them.

"During this period, the seven of us will speed up the progress of bow-making.

You can't help with hunting Flood Dragons, mining, or bow-making, so just focus on improving your archery skills with all your heart.

Pay attention to yourselves. There is not much time left. Once there are enough bows and arrows, I will take you to deal with the gnawing rat swarm. I'm reminding you in advance, if you don't practice hard now, if something goes wrong, you will lose your own lives. Do you all understand?"

"Understood, leader!"

Hearing Xia Hong's words, all the more than one hundred Logging Realm cultivators in the camp looked solemn and answered in unison.

"Okay, everyone go busy with your own affairs. Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, and Yuan Cheng continue mining. Xia Chuan and the three of you follow me to the blacksmith's room to make bows. Mu Dong, take the people from the craftsman's workshop and stand by at any time.

In the next few days, all those who participate in bow-making can only take turns to rest. In short, people can rest, but bow-making cannot stop, unless the progress of mining cannot keep up. Do you all understand?"

"Understood, leader!"

Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the other six people, including Mu Dong and others who participated in bow-making, also answered in unison.

Seeing that everyone was full of energy, Xia Hong nodded with satisfaction and stopped talking nonsense. He directly took the lead and went to the blacksmith's room on the second floor first.

When the others saw this, those who should mine went to mine, those who should practice archery went to practice archery, and those who made bows began to stand by…

Everyone quickly entered the state.