Chapter 8: Breaking Through to Lumberjack Realm |
By the fire, everyone from the Great Xia Camp was present, either lying down or leaning against something.
The few who were too young had already fallen asleep from exhaustion after their earlier journey.
The vast majority remained wide-eyed, their gazes fixed on the left side of the fire where a tall man stood wearing only an animal hide skirt, his upper body bare.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear they weren't staring at the man himself,
but at the piece of meat clutched in his hand.
The meat in the man's grasp was freshly roasted, still sizzling with mouthwatering aroma.
Without exception, every awake person was swallowing saliva repeatedly.
The man was naturally Xia Hong.
While others might need time to adjust to their new environment, he couldn't afford that luxury - he had to enhance his strength rapidly and break through to the Lumberjack Realm.
Frost Beast flesh contained extremely potent energy. Consuming too much at once could literally burst a person's stomach.
Having eaten it before, Xia Hong knew this well. Based on previous experience, five pounds should be manageable.
As the meat entered his stomach, the first sensation was fullness.
As the satiety intensified, his blood began boiling, and an intense burning sensation erupted from his abdomen.
Soon, sweat poured profusely from his forehead, shoulders, back, legs, and even the soles of his feet and palms - every extremity of his body.
Muscles in his arms bulged visibly while veins emerged prominently across his forehead, hands, and legs.
Xia Hong's breathing grew heavy, each exhale carrying palpable heat that was clearly visible to everyone around the fire.
Suddenly, Xia Hong moved.
He retracted his clenched fists, then thrust his waist forward, launching straight punches that struck nothing yet sent visible shockwaves through the air - a terrifying display of what those blows could do to a human body.
"Watch carefully," Xia Hong instructed while demonstrating. "This is Long Fist - explosive as a storm, swift as lightning. The leading hand guides, the following hand pursues, both alternating seamlessly. Once we have enough Frost Beast meat, everyone in camp - men and women alike - will train with me."
As he practiced the Tai Zu Long Fist, Xia Hong explained its principles to the camp members.
Crystal fruits could barely sustain life, but cultivation required Frost Beast flesh.
The logic was simple: food merely maintained basic bodily functions,
while tempering the body and enhancing physical capabilities demanded meat.
This world's cultivation method was brutally straightforward - consume massive amounts of Frost Beast flesh, then continuously absorb its energy through exertion, steadily increasing physical power.
Truthfully, everyone in camp wanted to cultivate.
But when survival itself was uncertain, cultivation became an impossible luxury.
Even now, as Xia Hong taught them Long Fist techniques, they could only lie still and listen.
Not from lack of desire, but to conserve every ounce of energy by minimizing movement.
"Chuan, was this Long Fist passed down to Hong by Uncle Ding?"
Watching Xia Hong's impressive display, Yuan Hong's eyes shone with envy as he turned to ask Xia Chuan beside him.
Xia Chuan's face brimmed with pride as he whispered, "My brother created this a month ago. Let me tell you - practicing this fist technique speeds up Frost Beast flesh energy absorption."
Yuan Hong's pupils contracted sharply at this revelation.
Having consumed Frost Beast flesh himself, he understood the profound implications.
Absorbing the beast's energy meant gaining strength - that was cultivation itself. Faster absorption meant faster cultivation progress.
"Really?"
"Absolutely true. My brother taught me, and I've tested it myself."
"Then once we get Frost Beast meat, I'm learning too."
"Don't worry - didn't you hear? My brother just said he'll teach us all when meat isn't scarce anymore."
......
Over the following days, Xia Hong strictly maintained his five-pound daily limit, pushing his body's boundaries. His strength grew steadily.
Before the camp attack, his base strength had been four thousand pounds. Over these five days, he gained roughly a hundred pounds daily.
The Great Xia Camp measured strength using a set of brown circular logs:
Twelve logs total - five hundred-pounders, two five-hundred-pounders, and five thousand-pounders.
Every day during Xia Hong's strength tests, the entire camp watched intently.
From 4,100 pounds on day one to 4,900 pounds by day seven,
their spirits lifted visibly, and hope gradually kindled in their eyes as they glanced at the perpetually sealed cave entrance.
When Xia Ding and the lumberjack team were present, they'd occasionally open the entrance at night for ventilation. Now, trapped inside year-round, the confinement grew unbearable.
More critically, their crystal fruit reserves were dwindling fast.
Despite strict rationing, their initial seven hundred pounds had dwindled by over five hundred in seven days among 154 people.
The remaining supply wouldn't last three more days.
All hopes now rested solely on Xia Hong.
So when he approached the brown logs before nightfall on the eighth day,
every eye in camp fixed upon him.
Fully aware of their desperate situation, Xia Hong understood their silent expectations.
Without a word, he stacked five thousand-pound logs together.
Squatting slowly, he wrapped his arms around the bottom log.
After a deep breath, he began lifting.
Five thousand pounds - an unimaginable weight for ordinary people.
Yet in this world, it was merely foundational.
Lifting five thousand pounds didn't mean one could only exert that much force.
Xia Ding, for instance, had a base strength over seven thousand pounds,
but Xia Hong had observed his axe swings delivering well over ten thousand pounds of force.
Actual exerted power varied by technique, physique, and circumstance, but base strength didn't lie.
Xia Hong had once asked Xia Ding why five thousand pounds was the minimum requirement for lumberjacks.
Xia Ding hadn't answered, simply handing him a stone axe to try chopping wood -
trees brought back from Redwood Ridge's periphery.
With his then two-thousand-pound base strength, Xia Hong's first swing split his palm and fractured his elbow joint.
These were trees Xia Ding's team had already felled and left to dry for days, their crystalline bark layers melted away.
Yet two thousand pounds couldn't even breach the surface.
That moment taught Xia Hong an important lesson: in this frozen world, neither humans nor trees followed normal rules.
The towering forests of Redwood Ridge proved these trees thrived better than humans in this environment.
"Five thousand pounds is just the beginning!"
Xia Hong roared, eyes blazing as he strained upward, every muscle bulging as if his blood itself boiled.
Slowly, under the camp's collective hopeful gaze, the five thousand-pound stack rose until it cleared his head.
"Brother! You broke through!"
"Chief! Incredible!"
"Five thousand pounds! Hahaha! Our chief is amazing!"
"Hong! You've reached the Lumberjack Realm!"
BANG!
Xia Hong dropped the logs with a thunderous impact, then turned to face the camp, his expression finally relaxing for the first time in ages.
"When night falls," he announced, "I'm going out for crystal fruits!"