Chapter 131: The Entire Hunting Team Breaks Through |
The panic brought by the Abominations visibly spread throughout the camp.
Even though everyone knew the valley was protected by Concentrated Fire Oil, fear still uncontrollably grew in the hearts of all camp members.
If even those who hadn't broken through to the Lumberjack Realm and only needed to stay in the camp felt this way, the members of the lumberjack team and gathering team who had to go outside were even more affected.
This was unavoidable—the pain left by the Wood Puppet Abomination had cast a shadow over everyone's hearts. Even Xia Hong, the leader, still had doubts in his mind, let alone the others.
Except for some oblivious children, everyone seemed to have a dark cloud hanging over them, and their moods were no longer as light as before.
Under these circumstances, the entire camp naturally had much less laughter and joy, and the atmosphere became tense and oppressive.
Xia Hong wasn't surprised by this atmosphere.
When he had Xia Chuan announce the news about the Abominations, he had already anticipated this.
A tense and oppressive atmosphere could bring many benefits in the short term.
When going out, they strictly followed Xia Hong's rule of grouping in tens and never leaving the team's line of sight, resulting in far fewer problems than before.
Second, the overall vigilance of the camp was rapidly increasing.
The gate guards were incredibly strict to an astonishing degree; now there was even a dedicated team patrolling the valley; and anyone returning from outside had to go through layer after layer of extremely strict inspection procedures.
There was no choice—the fear of Abominations was already carved into their bones.
Caution ensures long-term survival. The experiences of the Great Xia, Boulder, and Luo Yuan camps were still fresh in memory. If an Abomination managed to infiltrate, it wouldn't be something that could be resolved with just a few deaths.
Finally, there was the matter of cultivation.
This tense and oppressive atmosphere made everyone in the camp, from top to bottom—Xia Hong and the eight Digging Realm cultivators, down to the hunting team, lumberjack team, gathering team, and reservists—cultivate noticeably more diligently and intensively than before.
This could be seen from the number of people breaking through to the Digging Realm in the following days.
After learning about the new Abomination on January 17th and ordering Xia Chuan to spread the news, Xia Hong gathered all existing Digging Realm cultivators in the camp and went directly to the Forging Room.
Perhaps because the spread of news put too much pressure on the hunting team members, Hong Gang, who was originally expected to break through to the Digging Realm in about ten days, actually broke through the very next day.
Before Hong Gang's breakthrough was even complete, two days later, Li Pingkai, Ying Xuan, and Yue Feng also broke through simultaneously.
When the news arrived, the group of Digging Realm cultivators in the Forging Room immediately erupted in excited discussion.
"These four were originally estimated to take about ten days each. Who would have thought they'd all break through in just three days!"
"The hunting team has fifteen members total. Now only Qiu Peng, Zhu Shun, and Zou Yuankai haven't broken through yet!"
"Twelve Digging Realm cultivators! Once the leader breaks through to the Warmth Realm, we won't even need to fear that Mirror Immortal Camp."
"Quite a few people have broken through to the Lumberjack Realm during this period too. I estimate the total should be approaching three hundred by now?"
"Not yet—283 people. But looking at the trend, it should happen soon!"
Hearing Xia Chuan report 283 Lumberjack Realm cultivators, Yuan Cheng felt excited and turned to suggest to Xia Hong, who was still hammering bow blanks: "Leader, we can enter the inner area to check out intermediate Frost Beasts."
Everyone else turned to look at them upon hearing this, their faces filled with anticipation.
They all knew that the key to breaking through to the Warmth Realm was intermediate Frost Beast blood.
Everyone clearly understood that given Great Xia's current strength, they definitely couldn't handle either that arrogant and aggressive Mirror Immortal Camp or this newly emerged Abomination with unknown capabilities.
This was precisely why everyone had been cultivating so frantically to improve during this period.
But cultivation aside, they also understood that no matter how many Digging Realm or Lumberjack Realm cultivators Great Xia had—given its total population—it wouldn't compare to having one more Warmth Realm expert.
It could be said that right now, not just them, but everyone in the entire camp was looking forward to Xia Hong breaking through to the Warmth Realm as soon as possible.
Clang... clang... clang...
Hearing Yuan Cheng's words, Xia Hong didn't stop swinging his grinding hammer, but said in a deep voice: "There's no hurry to enter Redwood Ridge. Wait a few more days, let's finish making the bows first. Intermediate Frost Beasts are no joke."
Everyone nodded upon hearing this, remembering the Rat King they had seen before.
Judging by the strength the Rat King had shown after being poisoned that night, the difficulty of hunting intermediate Frost Beasts would likely be extraordinarily high. Without proper preparation, they might not just fail to hunt them—they could even get killed.
Xia Hong suppressed everyone's desire to go out and continued staying in the camp, spending his days either in the Forging Room or the mine.
The twelve Digging Realm cultivators, whether mining or forging, were far more efficient than before. The iron ore reserves in the system increased by almost over 400 units daily, and this was without him participating in mining.
Four days later, on January 24th of Great Xia Year One.
Something even more surprising happened.
"Come in."
Xia Hong, who had been cultivating on the third floor, immediately stopped upon hearing Xia Chuan's voice outside the door, then sat in the main seat.
The door opened, and Xia Chuan entered with a smiling face, bringing three people with him.
Seeing those three people, even before Xia Chuan could speak, Xia Hong had already guessed and stood up directly from his chair.
"Breakthrough?"
"Leader, we have not failed your expectations!"
The three bowed simultaneously, their voices full of excitement.
The three people brought by Xia Chuan were precisely Zou Yuankai, Qiu Peng, and Zhu Shun—the last three members of the hunting team who hadn't broken through yet.
Xia Hong had previously speculated that among the hunting team's fifteen members, aside from the first wave of six people, the others' starting points were actually quite similar, so their breakthrough times shouldn't be too far apart.
Sure enough, these three broke through to the Digging Realm just four days after the previous group.
"Good! Xia Chuan, notify all hunting team members to go to the Camp Supplies Office to collect their bows. Tonight they'll come with me to Redwood Ridge to venture inside and see what intermediate Frost Beasts look like."
"Yes, leader!"
Xia Chuan nodded excitedly—he had been waiting for this for a long time.
Zou Yuankai and the other two looked even more excited since they could follow Xia Hong to the inner area right after breaking through and even get to see intermediate Frost Beasts.
Luo Yuan, Yuan Cheng, the three Zhao brothers, Huang Yong... Soon, under Xia Chuan's notification, the entire hunting team gathered at the second-floor Camp Supplies Office warehouse.
"Collect bows? Don't we just need to apply Concentrated Fire Oil and bring a few torches? We already have five-stone bows, what else are we collecting?"
The hot-tempered Hong Gang shouted this question, while Yue Feng and others who had broken through at the same time showed similar confusion on their faces.
Ever since the ten-thousand-jin Iron-backed Bow was made last time, to differentiate between levels, the Camp Supplies Office had established that one thousand jin equaled one stone. The five-thousand-jin Iron-backed Bow was collectively called a five-stone bow, while the ten-thousand-jin version was called a ten-stone bow. In just a few days, Hong Gang and the others had started using this system.
However, Luo Yuan, Yuan Cheng, and the Zhao brothers, who had been with Xia Hong in the Forging Room for several days, chuckled softly—they clearly knew more than Hong Gang.
"Honored ones, the bows, Concentrated Fire Oil, and torches are all ready."
Shi Ping emerged with several people from the Camp Supplies Office, quickly distributing fifteen black Iron-backed Bows and a quiver of arrows to everyone.
The moment Hong Gang received the Iron-backed Bow, his expression immediately changed.
"Hahaha! Now that we've all broken through to the Digging Realm, how could five-stone bows be enough? The leader had us come to collect ten-stone bows! These arrows are specially made, seven jin each!"
The Digging Realm cultivators who had broken through later, including Hong Gang, finally understood and excitedly touched the Iron-backed Bows in their hands.
"Don't celebrate too early. These ten-stone Iron-backed Bows are only temporarily lent to you for hunting. If you want to keep them, you'll have to exchange them for Contribution Points like everyone else—2000 points, not a single point less!"
Xia Chuan's words immediately calmed everyone down, and they all turned to look at Luo Yuan simultaneously, their eyes filled with envy.
"Heheh!"
Luo Yuan gave a smug laugh and deliberately showed off his bow to everyone.
"Don't get too proud. If we can hunt a few low-level Frost Beasts tonight, my Contribution Points will be enough to exchange for a ten-stone Iron-backed Bow too."
"I'm almost there too."
If anyone coveted the ten-stone Iron-backed Bow the most, it was definitely the three Zhao brothers. Seeing Luo Yuan showing off, they couldn't help but speak up.
"Enough now. Make sure you have all your preparations ready. The monthly rental price for a ten-stone Iron-backed Bow is 50 Contribution Points. Make sure you take good care of them outside—don't lose them."
Hearing this rental price, no one paid it much mind.
The rental price for a five-stone bow was 10 points per month. While the ten-stone bow's rental price seemed five times higher, its effectiveness was much greater.
Based on their experience fighting the Gnawer Rat swarm last time, just two people using ten-stone bows properly could cooperate to hunt low-level Frost Beasts.
A single low-level Frost Beast was worth at least two to three hundred Contribution Points.
Calculated this way, the 50-point monthly rental was incredibly cost-effective.
"Leader!"
Xia Chuan suddenly looked up toward the door, his expression turning solemn.
Everyone else turned upon hearing this and, seeing Xia Hong enter from outside, immediately stopped talking and respectfully saluted him.
Xia Hong, with his Ceremonial Saber hanging at his waist, first nodded to everyone, then stepped forward to also take a bow and arrows that he hung on his back. After applying Concentrated Fire Oil, he turned to ask everyone:
"Everyone ready with their equipment?"
"Ready, leader."
"Tonight we're entering Redwood Ridge, possibly going more than a kilometer deep. Everyone stay alert—I don't want anyone having problems. The only intermediate Frost Beast you've seen is that Long-Tailed Gnawer Rat King. The others might not be weaker than it. Once we enter, be extremely cautious and follow my orders, understood?"
"Understood!"
The fifteen Digging Realm cultivators shouted simultaneously, their voices so powerful that the wooden boards around the room vibrated.
These fifteen hunting team members had been hunting together for over half a year, so Xia Hong certainly trusted them.
Logically, to search for intermediate Frost Beasts in areas more than a kilometer deep in Redwood Ridge, they should reduce the number of people. If Xia Hong didn't trust them, he wouldn't have brought so many at once.
Furthermore, Xia Hong's goal wasn't just to find intermediate Frost Beasts.
If possible, of course they would hunt them.
Otherwise, why would he have made thirteen ten-thousand-jin Iron-backed Bows all at once?
"Alright, let's move out!"
At Xia Hong's command, he led the way downstairs.
The fifteen fully equipped members quickly followed behind him.
Under the envious and respectful gazes of everyone in the camp, the sixteen people walked out of the valley together, merging into the night as they quickly approached Redwood Ridge.