Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Three days ago, which was the 5th day of the 5th month of the first year of the Great Xia Dynasty,

Just over ten miles north of Mirror Valley, three rather disheveled figures finally stopped in the snow.

Puff…

Chen Yingyuan had held on for a long time. As soon as his mind relaxed, the blood he had been suppressing in his throat immediately spurted out. His body staggered, and if Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing hadn't supported him in time, he would have fallen directly to the ground.

"Big brother, how are you?"

"Chief, are you alright?"

Chen Yingyuan waved slightly, indicating he was fine. He turned his head to look south, a trace of horror still lingering in his pupils.

"I thought that with He Yuanhun's accident, we could take the opportunity to extend our reach to the Arrow Bamboo Forest. I didn't expect Xia Hong's strength to be so terrifying. I estimate that even if the three of us joined forces, we wouldn't necessarily be able to take him down!"

Chen Yingba lowered his head upon hearing this, his eyes filled with both hatred and self-blame.

Wu Tianxing, who was beside him, also had a solemn expression on his face when he heard this, and said, "That Xia Hong probably saw through that the two of us were hiding behind. Judging from his reaction at the end, I suspect he had the thought of keeping us here just now. He probably wasn't 100% sure, so he didn't make a move…"

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, looked at Chen Yingyuan, and continued, "I don't think this person is stupid. He should be very clear about the chief's plan. This person seems even more difficult to deal with than He Yuanhun. We've already become enemies this time, so we should be more careful in the future."

Chen Yingyuan's face immediately revealed a hint of regret upon hearing this.

Wu Tianxing's meaning was very clear. The other party wasn't stupid. He brought two Cold Resistance level individuals to their doorstep and took the initiative to attack. The intention of testing them was so obvious that Xia Hong couldn't possibly not see it.

From the moment he chose to test them, the two camps had already become enemies, and there was no way to change that.

He should have just apologized directly. He shouldn't have been so greedy.

"It wasn't easy to get rid of a ruthless one, and I thought things would be easier, but then an even more ruthless one came along. I was confused. How could Xia Hong's strength be so strong? And…"

Chen Yingyuan muttered to himself for a while. Finally, he thought of something, turned his head to look at Chen Yingba, and continued sternly, "What exactly is going on with that Great Xia camp? Didn't you say that they were just a medium-sized camp a year and a half ago? That the leader must have obtained some kind of opportunity to become so strong? And that they don't have many Earth Piercing Realm cultivators in total? Is that what you said?"

Not many Earth Piercing Realm cultivators?

Just now, inside those six wooden houses in Mirror Valley, Chen Yingyuan sensed at least a hundred Earth Piercing Realm auras. Among them, there were even six or seven who had already begun to reshape their skin membranes.

And this was just Mirror Valley, not their main camp.

None of the information Chen Yingba provided earlier was accurate.

How could Chen Yingyuan not be angry in his heart?

Chen Yingba also had some anger on his face at this moment. He said in a deep voice, "Big brother, I didn't lie to you. All this information was told to me by a squad leader named Luo Ming in the hunting group.

That Luo Ming joined the camp last year. He claimed to be from a camp east of Redwood Ridge and had a good relationship with the leader of the Great Xia camp.

I heard him say that Great Xia was so weak, and I thought that something must have happened to the Mirror Immortal Camp, and Great Xia took advantage of the situation, so I came myself."

Chen Yingba naturally didn't need to continue talking about the subsequent situation.

Chen Yingyuan didn't speak upon hearing this, but lowered his head and fell into thought.

He certainly trusted his younger brother, Chen Yingba.

Coincidentally, he had an impression of this Luo Ming.

"Is that the Luo Ming who joined the camp last year with three Earth Piercing Realm cultivators, a total of twelve people? If I remember correctly, he said at the time that their Rogge camp was attacked by strange creatures and was completely wiped out. The twelve of them managed to escape with great difficulty, right?"

Chen Yingba nodded and said, "That's right, big brother, it's him."

Wu Tianxing also interjected at this time, saying, "I also know him. This Luo Ming has good strength. He seems to be leading a hunting team now. Among the eleven people who came with him last year, eight have already reached the Earth Piercing Realm and are all in his squad."

Chen Yingyuan frowned even more tightly now.

No matter how good Luo Ming's strength was, he was just a squad leader under the Honeycomb Hunting Group. The squad leader probably hadn't even reached the limit of the Earth Piercing Realm.

How could such a person have a good relationship with Xia Hong, who almost killed him just now?

Either this Luo Ming lied;

Or, this Xia Hong really had some incredible opportunity to become so strong from an Earth Piercing Realm cultivator in just a year and a half?

Thinking of this possibility, a strong desire arose in Chen Yingyuan's heart, but it only lasted for three or four breaths. As soon as the thrilling scene of fighting with Xia Hong just now appeared in his mind, he quickly extinguished it himself.

He almost lost his life just now. He couldn't let his mind run wild again.

"No matter what, this Great Xia must not be provoked. We must be more careful than we were with the Mirror Immortal Camp before. He Yuanhun was personally intimidated by people from Longshan before, but this Xia Hong wasn't. Who knows if he will go crazy and attack us. At this juncture…"

Seeing that his elder brother didn't finish his words, Chen Yingba looked confused.

But Wu Tianxing, who was beside him, obviously knew something and asked in a low voice, "Chief, is the situation in Longshan not good?"

Chen Yingyuan thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Only ten families came to the Longshan Alliance Meeting last month. The Zhaoyang Camp was even more excessive this time than last year, not even sending a single person. It's obvious that they don't take Longshan seriously."

Wu Tianxing's expression was solemn upon hearing this, and he slowly said, "The alliance leader is old and doesn't have many days left. Marquis Hu of Zhaoyang is at the peak of his power, and the camp's strength is getting stronger day by day. It's normal for him to have such a mentality."

"It's not just his mentality. I heard in Longshan this time that Marquis Hu has begun to secretly win over other camps, either by force or by buying them off, preparing to overthrow our old alliance leader and create a Zhaoyang Alliance!"

"Hiss… Then, didn't the old alliance leader manage him?"

"Manage? How could he manage? Longshan is now under the control of the eldest young master. The old alliance leader doesn't even show his face. If it weren't for the sentries, I would even think that he might not even be there anymore."

Wu Tianxing's expression flickered slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Chief, if that's really the case, then our camp still needs to make plans as soon as possible."

Chen Yingyuan's brows furrowed. He certainly understood the meaning behind Wu Tianxing's words.

The reason why the Longyou Alliance could maintain itself for the past fifteen years was simply because the old alliance leader himself and the Longshan Camp he led were strong enough to hold the line.

When people die, policies are abandoned.

Once the old alliance leader is gone, relying on a mere eldest young master…

If the Longyou Alliance is gone and Chen Yingyuan hasn't found a new backer in advance, the Honeycomb Camp's ending will certainly not be good.

There are strong enemies on the north and west sides, and now a Great Xia Camp has emerged on the south side. The key is that they are not restricted by the alliance agreement…

"Let me think about it first. That Marquis Hu is not a good person either. The old alliance leader lent him grain and manpower to help him go back and inherit the Zhaoyang Camp. That was a great favor to him. It's only been thirteen years, and as soon as his strength increased, he immediately turned against us. Who would dare to cooperate with him? Let's wait and see."

Wu Tianxing's expression froze for a moment upon hearing this, and then he asked, "Then what about the alliance leader's decree issued by the eldest young master? Ten catties of jade bone, five million catties of iron ore, and we have to send another hostage over there. Do we have to do all of it?"

This question instantly darkened Chen Yingyuan's expression.

Chen Yingba also knew about the alliance leader's decree and couldn't help but angrily say, "I think this eldest young master is just crazy. The old alliance leader doesn't have many days left, and the Longyou Alliance is obviously crumbling. He still wants to collect money and plunder. Isn't this forcing our ten families to rebel? Big brother, in my opinion, let's join Marquis Hu!"

Chen Yingyuan's brows furrowed sharply as soon as he finished speaking.

Wu Tianxing, who was beside him, remained silent and looked away.

"If only it were that simple, you idiot!"

Chen Yingyuan cursed inwardly, but he had no intention of explaining to his straightforward younger brother. He could only sigh deeply and say, "This alliance leader's decree still gives us a year. Our Honeycomb is the farthest from Longshan. Let's see what the other camps do first, and then we'll talk about it…"

Speaking of this, he paused, glanced at Chen Yingba, and continued:

"This Xia Hong is not easy to provoke. You take the hunting group and be honest with me recently. Don't get close to Mirror Valley."

"Yes, big brother."

Seeing Chen Yingba nod in agreement, he turned his gaze to Wu Tianxing and said:

"Lao Wu, you go and contact Luo Ming to see if you can find out more information about Great Xia. If it's appropriate, see if we can re-establish trade relations with them. They've occupied Mirror Immortal's territory, so the Arrow Bamboo Forest must also be in their hands. Raw bamboo silk and snow bamboo are still good things in Longyou. Try to exchange for more of them. Also, there are iron ore and coal mines. They should also be very short of cold beast meat."

Wu Tianxing nodded, indicating that he understood.

… … … … … …

The first year of Great Xia, May 18th

The wooden building in the valley was filled with noise again.

"Who's getting married again today?"

"It's the tenth family. Let's go and take a look."

"Today is Zhao Bao, the captain of the Golden Eagle Squad."

"It's the last family, right? We can get a bowl of salted meat soup again tonight."

"Tsk tsk… That meat soup is so fragrant. My mouth is watering just thinking about it."

"That soup has salt added to it."

"No wonder it's so fragrant. I heard that the salt is made by grinding intermediate-level beast bone powder and adding other medicinal materials. At the Camp Needs Department, it costs 500 contribution points per catty to exchange for it. The price is outrageously expensive. Except for the captains of the top-ranked hunting squads, no one else can afford it."

"It's expensive, but the effect is amazing. I heard from several adults in the Camp Needs Department that eating salt for a long time can not only improve cultivation talent but also prolong life!"

"Prolong life?"

"That aged wine is also delicious. I went to the supply department yesterday to inquire. Guess how many contribution points are needed for a pound of aged wine?"

"How much?"

"It requires 100 points."

"Hiss... Isn't that too expensive!"

"It's expensive, but there's no other way. Haven't you noticed these past few days that many Earth Digging Realm cultivators, after receiving the aged wine, have kept it and not drunk it themselves, but given it to their children or Wood Chopping Realm nephews? I heard it's because drinking aged wine can enhance one's strength."

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"Ah?"

.........

Since Xia Hong announced that the ten couples getting married after Xia Chuan would have weddings of the same standard, the wooden building in the valley hasn't been idle for a moment. There's a wedding every day.

As a result, the most troubled person is Qiu Peng, the Director of the Supply Department.

"Ten weddings in ten days, plus your wedding, Lord Director. These eleven consecutive days are a major drain on our Supply Department."

In the main hall on the top floor of the wooden building, Xia Chuan, who had changed back into his black cloak, heard Qiu Peng's complaint and asked, "What's wrong? Did you use a lot of resources?"

Qiu Peng immediately nodded, opened the ledger in his hand, and said with a worried face, "More than 20,000 people, except for children under one year old, can all have a mouthful of meat soup. One wedding requires 30 pounds of salt and 1,500 pounds of beast meat, plus ten bottles of aged wine. If calculated based on contribution points, the resources spent by the Supply Department in these eleven days will be nearly 200,000."

Beast meat is fine, but salt is 500 points per pound, and aged wine is 100 points per pound. The prices of these resources that Qiu Peng mentioned are for a single day. Multiplying by eleven does indeed amount to more than 180,000.

"Our Supply Department only has a total of 400 pounds of salt. We're almost out of it in the past half month. The new salt hasn't been produced yet. Except for what's reserved for the leader, no one else can even exchange for it. The situation with aged wine is similar."

Xia Chuan looked at Qiu Peng's worried expression as the head of the household and couldn't help but chuckle:

"The prices of salt and aged wine are so high. There aren't many people who can exchange for them anyway. Recently, they've all been saving contribution points to build houses. Basically, no one is looking for you to exchange. It's better to take it out and distribute it to everyone so they can have a taste."

Hearing this, Qiu Peng's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "That's right. Besides the leader, no one else can afford to exchange for salt and aged wine. The key is that we've thoroughly promoted these two items in the past half month. I see many people in the Hunting Department coveting the aged wine, inquiring about it every day, but they're reluctant to exchange for it, hahaha."

Aged wine is indeed a good thing!

The mellow wine, once swallowed, makes the whole body warm and can also enhance one's strength.

Who can resist this?

Hearing that the people in the Hunting Department were inquiring about aged wine but were reluctant to exchange for it, Xia Chuan couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, thinking of their predicament.

But then, he said sternly, "Having consumed so many resources recently, the improvement in the camp's strength shouldn't be small, right?"

The consumption of all resources can be converted into strength.

Not to mention aged wine, salt, and beast meat, these three resources are important for enhancing strength. With so much consumed in eleven weddings, the camp's strength must have improved significantly recently.

Hearing this, Qiu Peng's expression also brightened, and he nodded and smiled, "Of course. The three thousand plus people from Jingxian have been here for almost two months, and the people from Five Ape Mountain have joined us for almost a month. In the past eleven days, with these three items, their potential seems to have been stimulated all at once. More and more people are breaking through..."

Speaking of this, Qiu Peng took out a roster from his body, flipped through a few pages, and continued excitedly, "As of yesterday, we have 792 Earth Digging Realm cultivators in our camp and even more Wood Chopping Realm cultivators, with 6,921 people."

"Moreover, according to my observations at the Martial Arts Hall during this period, in the following month, more than two hundred more people should gradually break through to the Earth Digging Realm, not to mention the Wood Chopping Realm. The number will definitely continue to increase!"

In the next month, more than two hundred more people will break through to the Earth Digging Realm.

Qiu Peng is in charge of the Martial Arts Hall. The 200 people who go in for cultivation every day are all vetted by him. His words are naturally highly credible.

In other words, before July, the Earth Digging Realm cultivators in the Great Xia Camp will break through to a thousand; the Wood Chopping Realm cultivators may even reach ten thousand!

Xia Chuan's expression brightened, his face filled with joy and worry.

"No wonder Yuwen Tao recently came to me, saying that he wants to further relax the number limit for hunting teams. It seems that there are more and more Earth Digging Realm cultivators, and the current number of hunting teams is too small."

Qiu Peng also knew about this situation and nodded, "Only 7 new hunting teams have been added recently, making a total of only 30 teams. Currently, there are still nearly 200 people who haven't joined any hunting team. This problem needs to be solved."

The current upper limit for the number of people in a low-level hunting team is 20. Thirty fully staffed teams would have 600 people. Currently, there are only nearly 200 extra people. There will definitely be more in the future.

Xia Chuan frowned. This problem is really not easy to solve.

Increasing the number limit again is definitely not an option.

Hunting is not war. It's not that the more people, the better. In fact, once the number of people is too large, not only does the difficulty of coordination and cooperation increase, but it may also attract a large number of cold beasts or even strange monsters.

He himself leads teams out hunting, so he knows very well that for hunting low-level cold beasts, twenty people is basically the limit. Adding more people is not only a waste of manpower but also doesn't help with hunting. Instead, it will become a burden. In severe cases, it may even reduce hunting efficiency.

"Lord, why not follow what the leader said and set up a team that doesn't need to hunt, specializing in patrolling our Great Xia territory?"

Hearing this, a hint of interest appeared on Xia Chuan's face, but he quickly shook his head and said, "You're in charge of the Supply Department now. You should be clearer about the accounts than I am. Can the camp afford to support such a non-productive team right now?"

Hearing this, Qiu Peng hesitated and shook his head helplessly after thinking for a moment.

"Your subordinate is thinking too much. To be honest, the camp's beast meat supply is already a bit insufficient, especially as there are more and more Earth Digging Realm cultivators. The consumption of beast meat is increasing every day. If it weren't for a few top hunting teams, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to keep up with the supply."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression immediately became serious, and he asked, "What is the average daily consumption of cold beast meat in the camp now? How much does the Supply Department have in reserve?"

"For the Wood Chopping Realm and Earth Digging Realm cultivators alone, we need to exchange 35,000 pounds every day, which is 1.05 million pounds in a month. Adding about 10,000 reservists, the daily consumption is also around 15,000 pounds, which is 450,000 pounds in a month. The rest for those under six years old is a small amount, so we'll ignore it for now. Just these two items alone amount to 1.5 million pounds in a month."

Wood Chopping Realm cultivators need 3 to 5 pounds a day for cultivation, and Earth Digging Realm cultivators need 7 to 10 pounds. According to the numbers Qiu Peng just reported, if we take the average, it is indeed around 35,000; reservists have a quota of 1 to 2 pounds a day based on their basic strength. Taking the average for 10,000 people is also about 15,000.

So Qiu Peng's calculation is basically correct.

1.5 million pounds, based on the average meat yield of 1,300 pounds per low-level cold beast, means that the camp must hunt at least 1,200 cold beasts a month to be sufficient.

There are currently only 30 hunting teams. On average, each team must hunt 40 cold beasts a month to maintain the beast meat supply.

This has already exceeded the minimum guarantee of 15 beasts set for the teams by almost three times.

After calculating in his mind, Xia Chuan frowned.

No wonder he said that the supply could barely be maintained with the help of a few top teams.

This consumption is indeed a bit alarming.

But there's no other way. Beast meat is the key to the camp's continued improvement in strength. Unless the population is restricted, the demand for beast meat will inevitably continue to rise.

"Reducing the beast meat quota is unrealistic, and restricting the population is even more impossible. So we still have to find a way to supply it. If there's not enough beast meat, then continue to increase the number of teams and relax the conditions for creating teams. Lowering the basic strength limit of 20,000 pounds to 15,000 pounds should be enough."

Hearing this, Qiu Peng immediately nodded and said, "That would be more than enough. There aren't many people with a basic strength of over 20,000 pounds, but there are many with over 15,000. Many of the earliest people in Great Xia have met the basic strength requirements. It's just that, in this case, the casualties during hunting may increase."

Xia Chuan said in a deep voice, "It can't be helped if there are casualties. The camp is already facing a shortage of beast meat. It's right to take some risks. They were able to cultivate to this point by relying on the beast meat hunted by their predecessors. Now it's time for them to support the people below."

Qiu Peng nodded, a hint of approval in his eyes.

He himself relied on the cold beast meat brought back by Xia Hong to gradually cultivate and become stronger, and his basic strength has now exceeded 20,000.

"By the way, you kid, do you still want to stay in my team?"

Xia Chuan suddenly thought of something, turned his head, and asked Qiu Peng.

Hearing this, Qiu Peng smiled, "That's exactly what I was planning to mention!"

In fact, Qiu Peng's basic strength met the requirements a few days ago and he was qualified to create a hunting team. The problem was that staying in Xia Chuan's Cloud Serpent Team could earn more contribution points, so he hadn't mentioned creating a team.

Of course, that's not possible now. The Hunting Department is short of teams. He's the Director of the Supply Department, so naturally, he has to think about the camp and can't continue to stay with Xia Chuan to reap the benefits.

Xia Chuan nodded, but thinking of something, he held out his hand and said, "Wait a moment. I happen to have a major operation the day after tomorrow. Wait until we're done with that before you leave the team."

Qiu Peng was stunned, but he immediately realized what Xia Chuan was talking about, and his expression changed dramatically.

"Yes, Lord."