Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

112: Chapter 106: Expand the Hunting Grounds, Camp Expansion [3-in-1]_3 112: Chapter 106: Expand the Hunting Grounds, Camp Expansion [3-in-1]_3 Xia Hong maintained a calm expression and nodded.

The hunting ability has already far exceeded capacity, and the Cold Beast meat has overflowed to such an extent.

Increasing the population base and expanding the camp size is a natural progression.

In fact, he had been considering it three months ago, but at that time, the excess Cold Beast meat wasn’t too much.

Plus, since Great Xia had only recently absorbed four groups, the cohesion wasn’t very strong, so it was delayed until now.

Currently, Great Xia is resource-rich; the reserves of Cold Beast meat are sufficient; and staple foods like Crystal Fruit are in vast quantities.

The new residences about to be completed, according to Xia Hong’s earlier design, can accommodate over ten thousand people, whereas the camp currently has only 902 people.

Even with the addition of Lu Shang and Chen Ye’s camps, which together total no more than five or six hundred people, Great Xia can sustain them.

It can also provide them with opportunities for cultivation.

As for whether these two camps would agree to merge into Great Xia, it’s not even a concern for Xia Hong.

Plentiful food, comfortable sleep, warm clothing, a safer and more stable environment, plus an ample quota of Cold Beast meat, and the opportunity for everyone to cultivate.

As long as Chen Ying and Lu He, the two leaders, are not fools, they know how to choose.

“Alright, I’ll find time to head north to meet Lu He and Chen Ying later.

Once the leaders find out we’re willing to take in the two camps, they will surely be ecstatic.”

“These two camps combined have over five hundred people.
Once they join, Great Xia’s total population will be about fifteen hundred, not far from the standard of a large camp!”

As soon as Luo Yuan finished speaking, Xia Chuan eagerly added a sentence.

The others, upon hearing the words “large camp,” were immensely excited.

Even Xia Hong couldn’t help but feel the same.

Even the previously strongest Rogel Camp had a population of only about thirteen to fourteen hundred at its peak.

In the surrounding areas of Redwood Ridge for decades, there has never been a large camp.

Once Great Xia achieves this accomplishment, it would mark an unprecedented historical milestone for the surroundings of Redwood Ridge.

More importantly, such a great achievement was accomplished by Xia Hong, the leader, in just over a year.

Realizing this, Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long, along with the other two, all turned to look at Xia Hong, visibly moved, not hiding their fervor and admiration at all.

“In the coming month, during hunts, I will not take action unless absolutely necessary, and the five of you will be the main force.

I hope you won’t let me down and can successfully take over the Hunting Team from me in a month!”

Upon hearing these words, the five nodded solemnly.

After contemplating for a moment, Xia Hong continued, “If you perform well, next month, I’ll take the five of you to expand the hunting area and venture another 500 meters into Redwood Ridge!”

Hearing Xia Hong announce the expansion of the hunting area, the five became instantly excited.

The curiosity for the unknown and the desire to explore are timeless primal urges within humanity, just as present in Xia Hong as in Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan.

For humans in the Ice Abyss, to be sure, they are unfortunate, with dangers everywhere and crises at every turn, where death is a commonplace occurrence;

But in a certain sense, they are also fortunate, because, for them, there are far too many unknown things waiting to be explored.

Take Great Xia Camp, for example, the area beyond 500 meters into Redwood Ridge is completely unknown to them, let alone the regions further in.

Of course, it’s not just Redwood Ridge; on Luo Ming’s map, there’s the frozen river on the southern side of Redwood Ridge; the Arrow Bamboo Forest on the northern side; the Pingxi Plain beyond the small path through the Arrow Bamboo Forest, and so on…

Even the valleys where Great Xia Camp resides, and what lies on the mountains on either side, remain entirely unknown to them.

Of course, curiosity is one thing, and no matter how strong the desire for exploration is, Xia Hong won’t act recklessly, understanding he has but one life.

With the improvement of strength, gradually expanding the exploration range is the most prudent approach.

Currently, the basic strength amplification provided by Cold Beast meat is negligible, so Xia Hong temporarily gave up cultivating and allocated all his time in the camp to practice archery and blade forging.

After realizing the importance of bows and arrows, Xia Hong made a strict rule that everyone at Great Xia Camp, regardless of who they are, must practice archery, and appointed Shi Qing as the Chief Instructor.

Shi Qing, finally having a legitimate task, especially one appointed by Xia Hong personally, was very dedicated.

The camp originally had only eleven bows and arrows, so he innovatively instructed the Craftsmen Workshop to use wood and Cold Beast tendons to create a batch of imitation bows specifically for those who hadn’t yet reached the Logging Realm to practice with.

For those in the Logging Realm, their basic strength was too great for imitation bows, so Shi Qing requested Xia Hong’s approval to permanently keep one of the eleven bows from the Hunting Team in the camp for practice, which was granted by Xia Hong.

With only one bow in the camp, it certainly wasn’t sufficient for over a hundred people in the Logging Realm, but at present, there were no alternatives.

Those wishing to practice archery had to either queue up or wait for when the Hunting Team wasn’t venturing out so they could use the ten bows left idle for practice.

Being the leader, Xia Hong naturally had certain privileges, and whenever he practiced archery, Shi Qing would accompany him for guidance.

With this archery master present, Xia Hong’s archery skills improved rapidly.

The second matter, blade forging, was in preparation for those about to break through to the Earth-digging Realm.

The camp currently had six individuals at the Earth-digging Realm, but considering the Shock Cold Blade in Xia Hong’s possession, there were only five Ten-forged Blades in total.

If not for Xia Chuan having the Wood Puppet Black Blade, leaving him without the need for a Ten-forged Blade, the six would not even have a complete set of weapons.