Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 103: The 2nd Earth-digging Realm

Ding...

In the valley mine, an iron ore the size of a palm was chiseled from the rock wall, fell to the ground, and made a crisp sound.

Sweating profusely, Xia Hong first put down the sheep horn chisel in his hand, then picked up the iron ore on the ground, his face full of exhaustion.

"Fifty pounds, five units, coal is running out, iron too, hunting must be paused, time must be allocated specifically for mining."

[Resources: Wood 23210 Coal 35 Iron 59 Silver 0 Gold 0]

Xia Hong sighed. This past month, he allocated a third of his time specifically for mining coal and iron, yet it’s still not keeping up with the consumption rate.

Currently, all the camp’s iron and coal are almost exclusively used for preparing materials for a soon-to-be-built wooden house and making essential tools.

Even so, it’s still not sufficient.

No, it’s not insufficient. Without the large quantities of coal and iron left by Luo Ming earlier, the plan to build the new wooden house couldn’t even be initiated.

According to the plan, though the main structure of the new wooden house uses Golden Frost Wood, for stability and to extend its lifespan as much as possible, a considerable amount of iron is still needed for the key parts, connections, and internal structure.

To accommodate more people, Xia Hong set the specifications of the new wooden house to be very large, two hundred meters long and fifteen meters high, divided into three layers. As a result, the building difficulty and materials used are naturally astonishingly high.

"Four months have passed since planning began, with a total of eight hundred meters of ground stakes, yet less than one hundred meters have been driven. This is even after I’ve reduced my hunting trips to allocate more time for driving stakes. As for wood preparation, it’s almost sufficient. According to Mu Dong, the required iron can be prepared in just over two months.

That means the hardest part is still the ground stakes."

Xia Hong furrowed his brow; the iron needed for the new wooden house is a one-time requirement, and since the main structure is wood, the demand for iron ore isn’t high. So he tries hard to allocate time for mining iron ore. Coupled with the significant amount of iron ore left by Luo Ming before, it’s barely enough.

The ground stake problem remains unsolved.

In the entire camp, only he is in the Earth-digging Realm, and the ground stakes can only be dug by him. If others in the Logging Realm want to dig, they must use coal stone to soften the ground, which again ties into the problem of insufficient coal.

It seems that in two months, even if the materials are ready, we’ll have to wait for all the ground stakes to be driven before we can start construction.

Xia Hong took a deep breath and didn’t think any further.

He picked up the sheep horn chisel beside him, preparing to continue mining iron ore.

But just as he was about to dig, Xia Chuan entered the mine excitedly, shouting at him from afar.

"Brother, someone has broken through again!"

Clang...

Xia Hong continued chiseling without even turning his head, casually asking, "How many this time?"

Lately, there have been breakthroughs in the Logging Realm every night, sometimes five or six people at once. The total number of people in the Logging Realm at the camp has already exceeded a hundred, so he’s a bit numb to it, no longer as excited as he was initially.

"Seven people, and... Luo Yuan."

Seven people, adding up to the previous hundred and three, makes a total of one hundred and one in the Logging Realm at the camp now.

Wait...

"Luo Yuan broke through too?"

Xia Hong instinctively calculated the total number of people in the Logging Realm. Realizing Xia Chuan mentioned Luo Yuan also broke through, he suddenly tossed aside the sheep horn chisel he was holding, then turned to look at Xia Chuan to confirm once more.

Seeing Xia Chuan nod, Xia Hong immediately showed a joyful expression and rushed out of the mine without a second thought, with Xia Chuan hurriedly following behind.

Although the Iron Refining Furnace can heat up a radius of a hundred meters, the fire’s range is still limited. Considering the increasing number of people practicing martial arts outdoors at night, and coupled with the valley’s sufficiently hidden terrain, Xia Hong had ordered people to light a bonfire for illumination outside every night.

Of course, this bonfire is extinguished during the day.

When Xia Hong stepped out of the mine, he saw everyone gathered around the bonfire and quickly fast-walked over.

"The leader is here, make way!"

Xia Chuan rushed in front of him, shouted a few times, clearing a path.

Xia Hong followed the opened path into the crowd, seeing Luo Yuan vigorously swinging a sheep horn chisel at the ground stakes under the bonfire’s light. With every chiseling, soil from beneath was continuously dug out.

The new wooden house’s ground stakes have been driven over a hundred meters. The softened ground at the rear of the wooden house is where the Iron Refining Furnace burns coal, softening the ground. The part Luo Yuan was digging into hadn’t been softened by coal stone and was originally the only section only Xia Hong could work on.

And now, Luo Yuan was able to dig too, which was self-explanatory.

Seeing firsthand that Luo Yuan had indeed broken through to the Earth-digging Realm, Xia Hong felt an immense surge of excitement in his heart.

"Mu Dong, bring the clothes!"

With a joyful expression, Xia Hong turned and instructed Mu Dong. Seeing Luo Yuan still working, he quickly ordered him to stop and then called him up.

"Leader, from today, you don’t have to work so hard anymore. I can now help you dig ground stakes too, haha!"

The newly broken-through Luo Yuan was clearly in an excellent mood, wiping sweat first, then waving the chisel at Xia Hong with a tone full of joy.

Xia Hong was initially stunned by his words, then realized why Luo Yuan immediately started digging after his breakthrough;

He looked around at the camp members, whose eyes, though filled with admiration, contained a trace of guilt as well.

After thinking it through, Xia Hong slightly softened his expression, feeling relieved about what had happened.

For this period, it was Xia Hong who led hunting expeditions, mined coal, mined minerals, and dug ground stakes.

Clearly, his efforts of multitasking for a long time to serve the camp people weren’t in vain.

"Don’t get happy too soon. Breaking through means more ability, and with more ability comes more responsibility. Now it’s just mining and driving stakes. When you get stronger, I might even hand over the hunting to you."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yuan nodded vigorously, his face filled with eager anticipation.

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he turned to look at the others, saying with a smile, "You all feel sorry for me, right? If you feel sorry, quickly roll and start training. No matter if it’s the Logging Realm or the Earth-digging Realm, help me with tasks once you’ve made a breakthrough. That’s how you show you care. Just watching me isn’t worth a damn. Roll, roll, roll!"

"Leader, I’ll go train right away. Don’t kick me, don’t kick me."

"Hahaha..."

With a mixture of laughter and reprimand, Xia Hong kicked Yuan Cheng, who was the closest to him, and Yuan Cheng grimaced and yelped, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

However, despite the laughter, everyone quickly dispersed and resumed intense training, clearly having taken Xia Hong’s words to heart.

Their reactions brought a few warm smiles to Xia Hong’s face.

When Mu Dong brought the clothes, Xia Hong personally handed them to Luo Yuan. Looking at this second Earth-digging Realm after him at the Daxia Camp, Xia Hong finally felt some relief from his long-standing tension.

Luo Yuan’s breakthrough not only reduces the individual mining pressure and significantly accelerates the staking speed for the new camp house but also improves hunting efficiency.

More importantly, Xia Chuan and the three Zhao brothers aren’t far behind Luo Yuan. His breakthrough means that the four of them are close too.

This indicates that the number of Earth-digging Realm members in Daxia Camp will soon match Rogel Camp’s past count.

If we compare overall strength, the current Daxia has already far surpassed Rogel Camp at its peak since Daxia now has as many as 110 people in the Logging Realm.

"Luo Yuan, from today, when you’re not out hunting, you will mine with me. Once Zhao Long, Xia Chuan, and the others break through, the construction on the new wooden house should quickly commence!"

"Yes, Leader!"

Probably sensing the excitement in Xia Hong’s tone, Luo Yuan nodded vigorously, his face full of excitement and anticipation.