Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 397: Chapter 193: The Army, The Beast Tide, Little Snow Mane

”Population really is the cornerstone!”

In the back of the main hall, after listening to the conversation between Xia Chuan and Qiu Peng, and realizing that they had left, Xia Hong, who was sitting cross-legged on a soft cushion, slowly opened his eyes. After a glimmer of light flashed through his left eye, he couldn’t help but sigh.

A thousand people in the Earth-digging Realm, who would have dared to imagine that in the early Great Xia?

But now, it is about to become a reality.

And it’s happening next month.

If I remember correctly, on the 20th of last month, when the large group of people from Five Ape Mountain were all incorporated, the total number in the Earth-digging Realm was 431.

In just one month, it almost doubled.

Xia Hong observed this increase in the Earth-digging Realm; only a small portion were from the original over one thousand of Great Xia, while the vast majority were people from Mirror Immortal and Five Ape Mountain.

It’s not that the original one thousand people of Great Xia had poor qualifications. Of course, individuals have varying talents, but when it comes to the group, as long as the living environment and resource endowment are equivalent, the corresponding potential is also similar.

It should be noted that over thirty percent of the more than a thousand people in Great Xia are in the Earth-digging Realm, so in terms of proportion, one could say the talent of these thousand people far surpasses the two groups of Mirror Immortal and Five Ape Mountain.

But in reality, that’s clearly not the case.

Great Xia’s supply of beast meat is far more abundant than the other two, which is the key reason why the proportion of those in the Earth-digging Realm is so much higher.

When the two groups from Mirror Immortal and Five Ape Mountain joined in, they enjoyed the same ample supply of beast meat as the people of Great Xia. Many who had previously been stuck without breakthroughs, as well as some with outstanding talent, naturally broke through.

The key to the spike in the Earth-digging Realm over the past month and more lies here.

So Xia Hong says, population is the cornerstone.

Cultivation is a matter of slow and steady progress, and it’s impossible to achieve it overnight.

In the Logging Realm and Earth-digging Realm, there’s only so much beast meat available each day. Even if the camp has a Martial Arts Hall that can enhance their cultivation efficiency, mass manufacturing of people in the Earth-digging Realm is impossible; it still requires the investment of a lot of time and resources to achieve the corresponding improvement and output.

”Population expansion is important, but the corresponding resource supply cannot be neglected. With just more than 23,000 people, the camp’s hunting ability is already lagging behind a bit; it seems we need to settle for a while and cannot increase the population drastically. Otherwise, I, as the leader, will soon have to lead the people out for hunting again.”

Recalling what Qiu Peng just mentioned about the monthly consumption of beast meat, Xia Hong slightly shook his head.

1.5 million jin, it’s fortunate that the Great Xia Territory is ample enough and that there’s a treasure trove like Redwood Ridge. Otherwise, even if I, the leader, personally came out, I might not be able to gather so much beast meat.

”The resource problem is not yet solved, and the population can’t be expanded for the time being. As for the army matter, that’s even more wishful thinking...”

Xia Hong shook his head and pondered. Qiu Peng’s recent proposal to establish a fully dedicated team specifically for patrolling the camp was something he had previously discussed with Xia Chuan.

In fact, this is equivalent to the embryonic form of an army.

Although Great Xia currently has a territorial domain, it does not have a dedicated armed force to protect its own territory.

The people of the Hunting Department certainly count, but they are not fully committed and still have to focus on hunting Cold Beasts, just like before, stepping up when needed.

Given the current terrifying consumption of beast meat at the camp, if the Hunting Department allowed even a slight relaxation, beast meat would likely become insufficiently supplied.

Under such circumstances, Xia Hong naturally didn’t entertain any further thoughts of building an army.

”Earlier, I heard from Luo Ming that Yang and Li were both scouts of the Imperial Army in Beishuo Town, which means that when the population exceeds 100,000, reaching the standard of a town-level camp, it should be eligible to form an army.”

Beishuo Town’s Imperial Army!

Xia Hong raised an eyebrow slightly, recalling the strength of Yang and Li, and couldn’t help but feel a little uninterested in this army.

”To serve as scouts, their strength in the army should generally be considered decent, which means the army is likely composed of members from the Earth-digging Realm, but the exact number is unknown.”

Uninterest does not mean contempt.

Being able to maintain a fully committed army, the strength of Beishuo Town is undoubtedly certain.

A population of over 100,000 is also something beyond the reach of Great Xia at present.

But it must be said that compared to then when they were in the dirt hills, over a year has passed, and now when Xia Hong thinks of Yang, Li, and the Beishuo Town behind them, his heart no longer stirs any waves.

After all, he has confidence that, as long as Great Xia is given enough time, surpassing this so-called Beishuo Town and even the entire nine towns of Moao Mountain will not be an issue.

”Why have so many people returned already? It’s not even midnight yet!”

Xia Hong’s brow furrowed as he suddenly looked up toward the outside of the main hall.

Outside, a large number of people were rushing back to the valley. It was clearly only the first half of the night, and those who went out shouldn’t be returning at this time.

What’s going on?

...

”Why have so many people returned?”

”Beast tide, there’s a beast tide. It’s news from the Jing Valley side.”

”Beast tide? There’s no commotion outside the Redwood Ridge.”

”The western side outskirts are fine. It should be the Arrow Bamboo Forest side. I heard it was Lord Yue Feng who sent people back to report, and many have returned.”

”Direction of Arrow Bamboo Forest, the north?”

”That’s right.”

...

Upon hearing of the beast tide, Great Xia Valley immediately became restless.

”Don’t panic, it’s a beast tide from the Arrow Bamboo Forest, far from us.”

”That place has a beast tide once every four months, don’t worry. Those Cold Beasts are all headed into the Arrow Bamboo Forest and won’t come our way.”

”Just stay away from the north side.”