Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Xia Chuan's strength, placed among all the Lumbering Realm cultivators in the camp, was definitely not weak.

Not only not weak, but without considering combat experience, he was very likely the strongest one.

Yet even so, against a fully grown Snow Mane, he could only last for thirty-nine breaths.

That only Earth Burrowing Realm cultivators have hunting capabilities is truly not an exaggeration.

The impact and speed generated when the Snow Mane burst forth with all its strength were unmatched by the Lumbering Realm, not to mention the long tongue in its mouth, which would always catch people off guard at crucial moments.

In a life-or-death battle, the Lumbering Realm was simply no match for the Snow Mane; even iron weapons could not bridge this gap.

Although Xia Chuan didn't use a broadsword or bow and arrow, the black blade and white thread in his hands were much more powerful than iron weapons, yet even with them, he only lasted for thirty-nine breaths.

The onlookers, including Luo Yuan and the others, wore solemn expressions after the wooden dummy announced Xia Chuan's score, clearly feeling uncertain in their hearts.

"Alright, Xia Chuan will be responsible for the selection from now on. Just tell me the results later!"

The score of thirty-nine breaths dampened Xia Hong's interest in continuing to watch. He instructed Xia Chuan to be in charge of the selection, while he himself, carrying a ram horn chisel, walked alone towards a small cave on the south side of the valley.

Beside the entrance of the cave grew a large patch of strange black plants.

The plant was only the size of a finger, entirely black, with only a single root stalk, but it had at least twenty or thirty small leaves, feather-shaped and evenly distributed on both sides.

Pure black plants were already rare, let alone such a large patch.

"That's right, this black caltrop, I wonder if it can be used in medicine. I'll use the medicinal herb pot to identify it later."

Xia Hong's mind stirred slightly. He plucked a black caltrop and then walked into the cave.

The cave was not deep, only five meters or so. The passageway was simply supported with thick wood. The color of the rock at the innermost part of the cave was noticeably different from that of the passageway and the outer area. It not only had a layer of dark luster but also a bone-chilling texture when touched.

This cave was naturally the iron mine of Rogue Camp that had not yet been fully mined.

These past few days, Xia Hong had been busy with relocation and hunting, and with the surplus of iron ore, he hadn't come to check it out. Now that he finally had some free time, he naturally had to come and take a look.

A single animal trap consumes more iron ore than a broadsword. Even without considering the system building upgrades, the demand for iron ore for hunting alone would likely be extremely terrifying as the number of Earth Burrowing Realm cultivators in the camp increased in the future.

Not to mention the various other tools and equipment that could be used.

Xia Hong groped and inspected the cave for a while, found a suitable location for mining, concentrated his mind and energy, raised the ram horn chisel, and slammed it against the rock wall.

Clang… … … …

The ram horn chisel collided with the rock wall, making a loud noise, and sparks flew everywhere.

Xia Hong stepped forward, looked at the shallow white mark on the rock wall, and was not discouraged. He just took a breath and continued to chisel at the same spot, strike after strike.

Clang… … Clang… … Clang… … Clang… …

Like a blacksmith hammering, Xia Hong continued to chisel, causing sparks to fly within the cave. The shallow white mark on the rock gradually deepened and widened until it finally broke completely after two hours.

Clang… … … …

As a fist-sized piece of iron ore rolled to the ground with a thud, Xia Hong, whose whole body was already soaked with sweat, could no longer bear the soreness in his arms and suddenly threw away the ram horn chisel.

Xia Hong walked forward panting, picked up the iron ore, roughly weighed it in his hand, and immediately shook his head repeatedly.

"More than forty pounds, this mining difficulty is simply nightmare-level!"

The difficulty of mining iron ore was high. Although he had already been mentally prepared, Xia Hong realized just how difficult it was after experiencing it firsthand.

When he chiseled the first time, he realized that, like when forging iron weapons, unsmelted iron ore also had an extremely strong rebound force. Without a basic strength of more than ten thousand catties, even with a ram horn chisel, it would be impossible to chisel.

Secondly, the growth pattern of iron ore, like black caltrop, is that dozens of iron ores of varying sizes grow along a main stem. The main stem is also iron ore, but because it is too large, its hardness far exceeds the branches.

Therefore, chiseling off the iron ores of varying sizes along the edge of the main stem is the most labor-saving and time-saving mining method.

"Two hours, more than forty pounds. With this mining intensity, I can only come here twice a day at most, which means that I can only mine about one hundred pounds of iron ore a day!"

Xia Hong now understood why Rogue Camp had not been able to popularize iron weapons for so many years, and even ten-tempered weapons had not been fully popularized.

They only had five Earth Burrowing Realm cultivators in total before. It was impossible for them to come to mine every day, and after mining the iron ore, they still needed coal to smelt it. Mining coal was also a terrifying physical task.

"I heard before that an Earth Burrowing Realm cultivator can only mine two hundred catties of coal a day, and I didn't quite believe it. Now it seems that mining two hundred catties of coal a day is probably not that easy either."

Huff… … … …

Xia Hong took a deep breath, picked up the iron ore on the ground, and walked straight out of the cave. Currently, the system still had 420 points of iron resources, which would definitely be enough for a short time, so he was not in a hurry to mine.

In fact, for the current camp, the most cost-effective way to use iron ore is to forge ten-tempered weapons.

But the problem is that even if Luo Yuan and Xia Chuan, these Lumbering Realm cultivators, are equipped with weapons, greatly increasing their strength, it is still not possible for them to hunt together, just like the previous attempt at Big Stone Camp. The risk is still very high.

So five broadswords and eleven bows and arrows are definitely enough for now.

As for the ordinary people in the camp, three iron knives and five hammers are enough for them to make some wooden tools, and there is no need to add new ones in the short term.

When he walked out of the cave, the sky had already begun to brighten, and there was no one outside the wooden house. Not seeing the wooden dummy, he knew that the selection was over. Sensing the increasing coldness of the outside world, Xia Hong quickly walked back to the wooden house.

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Entering the wooden house, Xia Hong saw the fifteen people standing beside the iron smelting furnace at a glance. As he approached, Xia Chuan also announced the names of the fifteen people in order.

"Leader, the selection is over. The fifteen selected are: Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, Huang Yong, Zhao Long, Hong Gang, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, Li Yun, Li Pingkai, Ying Xuan, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Zou Yuankai, Qiu Peng, Zhu Shun; the longest time lasted was me, thirty-nine breaths, the shortest was Zhu Shun, seventeen breaths."

Following the names announced by Xia Chuan, Xia Hong also carefully looked at everyone.

Rogue Camp had a good foundation, so he was not surprised that Luo Yuan and the other eight were selected.

Huang Yong and Hong Gang were the leaders of the previous two camps, with rich experience in fighting enemies and in the wild. It was not surprising that they were selected. The one called Zhu Shun, standing next to Huang Yong, should be a Lumbering Realm cultivator who joined from Huang Zhao Camp.

However, Xia Hong was really a little surprised that Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and Qiu Peng were also selected. The time when these three broke through to the Lumbering Realm was similar to Xia Chuan's, but they did not have Xia Chuan's luck to obtain the means of the wooden puppet strange.

The fact that the three were selected for the hunting team showed that they had also put in a lot of hard work in cultivation during this period.

"Alright, then you fifteen will be considered the members of the first hunting team of Great Xia. Starting with Xia Chuan, in order of ranking, each person chooses a weapon, broadsword or bow and arrow, you can choose whatever you want."

Xia Chuan nodded upon hearing this and walked to the broadsword.

The expressions of everyone suddenly became a little nervous upon seeing this. There were only four broadswords. According to the method Xia Hong said, the first few people would definitely choose swords.

Then the people behind could only choose bows and arrows… … … …

However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Xia Chuan did not choose a sword, but picked a longbow, turned his head, and smiled at everyone: "My black blade is much stronger than this broadsword. Leave the swords for you to use!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and then they all showed a hint of shame.

Xia Chuan's black blade was certainly strong, but that was not the reason why he didn't choose a sword.

They, these Lumbering Realm cultivators, did not have the ability to hunt in the first place. Now, going out was just to assist Xia Hong and do odd jobs. The safety of taking a broadsword was obviously much stronger than a bow.

Xia Chuan's choice of the bow instead of the sword was obviously a gesture of humility. How could they not know?

Sure enough, starting with Luo Yuan, everyone no longer stared at the broadsword but combined their own abilities to choose the weapon that suited them.

Seeing this scene, Xia Hong nodded slightly, feeling a little gratified in his heart.

A team that is too selfish is destined not to go far, especially in this extremely harsh environment. If everyone only focuses on the three melons and two dates in front of them, then disintegration is only a matter of time.

The fact that Great Xia, which had just been merged from four groups of people, could achieve this step was already a great improvement.