Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 113 - 106: Expand the Hunting Grounds, Camp Expansion [3-in-1]_4

Chapter 113: Chapter 106: Expand the Hunting Grounds, Camp Expansion [3-in-1]_4

With weapons in the Logging Realm, at most you gain some self-defense abilities; the Earth-digging Realm is different. When equipped with ten-forged weapons, they can truly break through the defenses of lower-level Cold Beasts, significantly enhancing their power.

Taking advantage of the current surplus of iron ore and the fact that there are no other immediate needs, we should first prepare a batch of weapons to be reserved for those who will later break through to the Earth-digging Realm. It’s always wise to be prepared.

The extraordinary nature of the polishing stone is now evident.

From smelting iron, shaping, hammering out the forging patterns to the final sharpening, it requires very little skill, only the strength of the Earth-digging Realm, and the entire process can be completed in just one night.

Now the camp has more than just one person in the Earth-digging Realm. With the polishing stone, Xia Hong naturally wouldn’t craft the weapons himself as he did in the past, but instead entrusted the task to Xia Chuan, Zhao Long, and the others.

Of course, during the forging, he still had to supervise.

The standard broadsword used in the camp requires six to seven hundred pounds of iron ore for each one made. This amount of iron ore is enough for six Earth-digging Realm individuals to dig for a whole day, so waste is definitely not acceptable.

Naturally, Xia Hong did not hand over the forging tasks just to be lazy. The main reason was to see if there are any individuals among the current Earth-digging Realm with a talent for forging.

If someone like him, who knows nothing about forging, can easily create ten-forged weapons using a polishing stone, then if someone with a talent for forging takes over, it should be even easier, and they might even forge more powerful weapons on the existing foundation.

Unfortunately, after observing, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the three Zhao brothers, the five of them were clearly only interested in the weapons themselves and did not have any special talent for forging.

Xia Hong was not discouraged, however, as talent is often built upon a large population base.

Once more people break through to the Earth-digging Realm, it’s only a matter of time before someone with a talent for forging emerges.

Of course, practicing archery individually and forging weapons with Xia Chuan and the others were just things Xia Hong did in his spare time when he stayed at the camp and didn’t go out.

Currently, hunting and mining remain the primary tasks of the Great Xia.

There is no need to mention mining, as both coal and iron are essential and in-demand resources. Since there is such an overflow of Cold Beast meat, it is only logical to allocate more time to mining.

Xia Hong intended to hand over the hunting duties to Xia Chuan and the others, so during subsequent hunting trips, to train the Hunting Team, he would only watch and not take action unless necessary.

Perhaps the previous experiment against the Snow Mane, which nearly ended in failure, had a motivating and mocking effect given by Xia Hong.

In the hunts that followed, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the five of them became much more cautious, their hunting techniques became increasingly proficient, and their harvests grew increasingly abundant, more importantly, there were no more dangerous situations.

Xia Hong observed their rapid improvement and was naturally satisfied, also relaxing the restrictions on the five of them, allowing them to conduct hunting activities as they wished, while he only watched from the side to prevent accidents and gave no advice or orders.

After a few attempts, confirming that they indeed possessed the ability to hunt jointly, Xia Hong truly felt at ease and began to intentionally distance himself in subsequent hunts, letting them hunt independently.

...

Half a month later, on the northern side of the Redwood Ridge’s outskirts.

Bang...

A full-grown Golden-eyed Demon Sheep crashed to the ground.

More than a dozen sharp arrows were embedded in its back; a half-meter-wide animal trap was dragging on its right leg; a white silk thread was tightly wound around its neck; seven or eight deep cuts on its abdomen were gushing dark green blood.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the three Zhao brothers were gathered around the Demon Sheep’s corpse, breathing heavily, yet their expressions were excited, their eyes filled with exhilaration, showing no trace of fatigue.

Among the three Zhao brothers, Zhao Hu had the most impulsive personality. As soon as the battle ended, he rushed to the Demon Sheep’s body, pulled out the sharp arrows from its back, and upon discovering that the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep’s eyes were intact, his expression became even more excited. He turned to Xia Chuan and the others:

"Just now, none of those arrows hit the Demon Sheep’s golden eyes, so did the five of us slaughter the Demon Sheep head-on?"

Upon hearing this, the other four did not respond, but the excitement shown in their expressions was no less than Zhao Hu’s.

The power of the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep was absolutely above that of the Snow Mane.

Especially before its eye on the back was mortally wounded.

Hiding in the trees and using arrows against the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep is indeed a tried and true method, but it doesn’t always work; the Demon Sheep is not stupid and won’t just stand still to be shot at.

Moreover, Cold Beasts can climb trees. Without someone facing the Demon Sheep head-on on the ground, just a few archers have no real chance of hunting it, and remarkable archers are also affected by the environment, weather, wind direction, or even personal factors, which can affect their accuracy.

It just so happened that this Demon Sheep inhabited a Golden Frost Tree in a very open area tonight. There were no other suitable large trees nearby for the other ten to hide in and set up bows, so they had no choice but to choose a farther position.

It’s not that they didn’t want to stand closer. Yuan Cheng and the other ten only had the strength of the Logging Realm; if they were too close and got targeted by Cold Beasts, they wouldn’t even have time to run. Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the five Earth-digging Realm fighters would then not only have to deal with the Cold Beasts but also worry about protecting the ten of them, which would be more trouble than it’s worth.

Being further away, as expected, affected their accuracy.

Out of ten bows, not one arrow hit the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep’s back eye.

In desperation, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the five had no choice but to face it head-on.

Who would have thought that the five of them working together really managed to strangle the Demon Sheep.

Snow Mane, Frost Wolf, and Demon Sheep, although all are lower-level Cold Beasts, in terms of size and strength, the Demon Sheep is by far the strongest.

The fact that the five could slaughter this Demon Sheep head-on not only proves their strength but also means they truly have the capability to take over the hunting team from Xia Hong.

This is why the five are so excited.

"Is the leader not here?"

"He left earlier on, probably went exploring on the inside again."

Such a symbolic moment and Xia Hong didn’t witness it himself, leaving everyone somewhat disappointed. However, after hearing Xia Chuan’s subsequent words, Luo Yuan and the others became even more excited.

In recent days, Xia Hong had not been accompanying the hunting team but instead ventured beyond the 500-meter boundary on his own to explore the interior terrain of Redwood Ridge, in preparation for expanding the hunting range of the camp.

"Let’s pack up and head back. Two pieces of prey tonight are more than enough."

Upon hearing Xia Chuan’s words, everyone nodded. Earlier, they had already hunted a Frost Wolf, and with this Demon Sheep, without Xia Hong leading, managing to hunt two Cold Beasts in one night was already quite impressive.

When Xia Hong returns and learns of their success in slaughtering the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep head-on, he will surely be pleased, and he might even hand over the hunting duties to them earlier.

Everyone collected the animal trap and the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep from the ground and prepared to set off for home with excitement.

Only Luo Yuan turned to look north, thought for a moment, and spoke to Xia Chuan: "It’s still early before dawn, and this place is close to the territory of Chen Ye Camp, I’ll go find Chen Ying to discuss what the leader mentioned earlier, you all go back first!"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan’s eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately.

Luo Yuan then left the team and swiftly headed north.