Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 92: The First Batch of Hunting Team Members

Xia Chuan’s strength is definitely not weak compared to all those in the Logging Realm at the camp.

Not only is it not weak, but without considering combat experience, he is very likely the strongest among them.

Yet even so, he could only hold out for thirty-nine breaths against an adult Snow Mane.

Having hunting ability only in the Earth-digging Realm is truly not an empty phrase.

The impact and speed generated when a Snow Mane fully unleashes its power are unmatched by those in the Logging Realm, not to mention the long tongue in its mouth, which is hard to guard against at critical moments.

In a life-and-death battle, those in the Logging Realm are really no match for the Snow Mane; even iron weapons cannot bridge this gap.

Although Xia Chuan didn’t use a big knife or bow, the Black Blade and White Thread in his hands are much more formidable than iron weapons, yet he only lasted thirty-nine breaths.

The onlookers, including Luo Yuan and others, all bore heavy expressions after the wooden mannequin announced Xia Chuan’s results, clearly feeling uncertain in their hearts.

"Alright, the next selection will be handled by Xia Chuan, just let me know the results directly later!"

The result of thirty-nine breaths left Xia Hong with no interest in continuing to watch. He instructed Xia Chuan to take charge of the selection and then, carrying a Sheep Horn Chisel, walked alone toward a small cave in the southern part of the valley.

At the entrance of the cave grew a large expanse of peculiar black plants.

The plants were only finger-sized, entirely jet-black, with a single stem, but there were at least twenty or thirty tiny leaves growing on them, feather-like and evenly distributed on both sides.

Pure black plants are rare, let alone such a large area of them.

"Right, I wonder if this Black Tribulus can be used in medicine. I’ll use the Medicine Decoction Pot to test it later."

Xia Hong had a thought, picked a stalk of Black Tribulus, and then walked into the cave.

The cave wasn’t deep, only over five meters, with the passageway simply supported by sturdy wood. The deepest part of the inner wall of the cave had a color distinctly different from the passageway and the outside, not only with a layer of jet-black sheen but also with an ice-cold texture to the touch.

This cave was naturally the iron mine at Rogel Camp, which was not yet fully exploited.

Being busy with the relocation and hunting matters over the past few days, plus having an excess of iron ore, Xia Hong hadn’t had the chance to come to see it. Today, having finally some free time, he naturally wanted to take a look.

An animal trap uses more iron ore than a big knife. Even not considering the system building upgrades needed, as the number of people in the Earth-digging Realm at the camp increases, the demand for iron ore, just for hunting alone, will presumably be extremely terrifying.

Not to mention other tools and equipment that require it.

Xia Hong explored the cave for a while, found a suitable spot for mining, focused his energy, and forcefully chiseled at the rock wall with the Sheep Horn Chisel.

Clang...

The collision of the Sheep Horn Chisel and the rock wall produced a loud noise, with sparks flying instantly.

Xia Hong stepped forward, looked at the shallow white mark on the rock wall, and didn’t get discouraged, merely took a deep breath and continued chiseling at the original spot, one strike after another.

Clang... clang... clang... clang...

Like the process of forging iron, Xia Hong continuously chiseled, causing sparks to fly within the cave. The shallow white mark on the original rock gradually deepened and widened until, two hours later, it finally broke through completely.

Crash...

With the sound of a fist-sized iron ore rolling to the ground, the already soaked Xia Hong couldn’t help but relieve the soreness in his arms by getting rid of the Sheep Horn Chisel with a forceful throw.

Breathing heavily, Xia Hong stepped forward, picked up the iron ore, and roughly measured its weight, immediately shaking his head repeatedly in disbelief.

"Forty-plus jin, the difficulty of mining is downright nightmarish!"

The difficulty of iron mining is great, despite already having mental preparation, it is only after truly experiencing it did Xia Hong realize exactly how difficult it is.

When he first struck, he realized that, like forging iron weapons, unrefined iron ore has an extremely high rebound force; without a basic strength of over ten thousand jin, the Sheep Horn Chisel wouldn’t even budge it.

Furthermore, just like the Black Tribulus, iron ore grows according to certain rules; it consists of several dozen iron ore pieces of various sizes growing along one main vein. That main vein is also iron ore, but it’s too large, and its hardness far exceeds that of the branches.

Therefore, chiseling down those varying sizes of iron ore along the main vein is the most labor-saving and time-efficient mining method.

"Two hours, forty-plus jin, this mining intensity, I can only manage twice a day at most, which means I can mine about a hundred jin of iron ore a day!"

Xia Hong finally understood why, after so many years, Rogel Camp still hadn’t popularized iron tools, and even Ten-forged Weapons weren’t fully common.

They only had five people in the Earth-digging Realm before, they couldn’t be mining every day, and even after mining iron ore, coal stone is needed to smelt it, which is another daunting physical task.

"Previously, I heard that a person in the Earth-digging Realm could only mine two hundred jin of coal stone a day, and I was a bit skeptical; now it seems, mining two hundred jin of coal a day isn’t so easy either."

Whoosh...

Taking a deep breath, Xia Hong picked up the iron ore on the ground and walked directly out of the cave. Currently, there are still 420 points of iron resources in the system, which is definitely enough for the short term, so he’s not in a hurry to mine further.

In fact, for the current camp, the most cost-effective way to use iron ore is to forge Ten-forged Weapons.

But the problem is that folks like Luo Yuan and Xia Chuan in the Logging Realm, even if equipped with weapons and greatly enhanced their strength, are still not suitable for collaborative hunting; just like that attempt at Da Shi Camp some time ago, the risk remains high.

Thus, five big knives and eleven bows are certainly enough for now.

As for ordinary camp members, with three iron knives and five hammers, they can still produce some wooden tools; there’s no need to acquire more in the short term.

By the time Xia Hong exited the cave, the sky was already bright, and the area outside the wooden hut was deserted, seeing no wooden mannequin, he realized the selection had ended, sensed the increasing external chill, and quickly walked back to the wooden hut.

Upon entering the wooden hut, Xia Hong immediately noticed the fifteen people standing next to the Iron Melting Furnace. As he approached, Xia Chuan also began reporting the names of the fifteen people.

"Leader, the selection has concluded. The fifteen selected individuals are Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, Huang Yong, Zhao Long, Hong Gang, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, Li Yun, Li Pingkai, Ying Xuan, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Zou Yuankai, Qiu Peng, Zhu Shun; I held out the longest at thirty-nine breaths, and Zhu Shun held out the shortest at seventeen breaths."

Following the names reported by Xia Chuan, Xia Hong carefully surveyed the group.

Rogel Camp being well-established, with Luo Yuan and seven others being selected surprised him not.

Huang Yong and Hong Gang were leaders of two previous camps, with rich experience in dealing with adversaries and the wild, so it wasn’t surprising they were selected. The one called Zhu Shun, standing next to Huang Yong, should be a Logging Realm individual from the Huang Zhao Camp.

However, Xia Hong was indeed a bit surprised that Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and Qiu Peng were also selected. The time when these three broke through the Logging Realm was close to Xia Chuan’s, but they didn’t have Xia Chuan’s fortune of gaining the method from the Wood Puppet Monster.

The fact that these three could be chosen for the Hunting Team indicates they put in a lot of hard work in their training during this period.

"Alright, then you fifteen are the first batch of the Hunting Team members of Great Xia. Starting with Xia Chuan, choose a weapon in order of ranking, pick between the big knife and the bow as you wish."

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan nodded and walked to where the big knives were.

The atmosphere among the others tensed instantly at the sight, knowing there were only four big knives, and by Xia Hong’s stated approach, the ones upfront would surely pick the knives first.

Those further back would only be able to choose bows...

However, unexpectedly, Xia Chuan didn’t choose a knife, but rather picked a longbow, then turned and smiled at the others, saying, "My Black Blade is much stronger than this big knife, I’ll leave them for you guys to use!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned, and then all exhibited signs of embarrassment.

Although Xia Chuan’s Black Blade is indeed strong, it is not a reason for him not to choose the knife.

They, being in the Logging Realm, inherently lack hunting ability. Venturing out is merely to assist Xia Hong by providing some additional hands, and wielding a big knife is clearly much safer than a bow.

By not choosing the knife and opting for the bow, Xia Chuan was clearly yielding, something they could not fail to recognize.

Indeed, starting with Luo Yuan, no one continued to fixate solely on the big knives; instead, they chose the weapon that best suited their abilities.

Seeing this scene, Xia Hong nodded slightly, feeling somewhat comforted in his heart.

A team that’s too selfish is destined to not last long, especially in such a harsh environment. If every person only focuses on the few things directly in front of them, dispersal and disintegration would be inevitable.

The fact that Great Xia, which was just recently formed by the merger of four groups, could achieve the current level is already a significant improvement.