Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 405: Chapter 195: Jade Bone, Conclusion, Cultivation Dilemma_3

With such a small price to pay, to understand a part of the power of high-level Cold Beasts is completely worth it. And most importantly, Xia Hong has realized where his limits truly lie.

Since breaking through to the Cold Resistance Level, except for the fight with He Yuanhun, Xia Hong has not had such an exhilarating battle in a long time.

This life-and-death struggle made him rediscover the sensation he had when his power was still weak, hunting Cold Beasts in the wilderness.

This feeling makes Xia Hong obsessed, because he knows that every time he experiences such a feeling, his combat experience rapidly improves.

At the root of it, power is a combination of cultivation realm and combat experience, both indispensable, which is the reason for Xia Hong’s obsession with such combat.

”Of course, there’s also the biggest gain...”

Xia Hong’s gaze was slightly fiery as he picked up the fragmented Snow Mane Broken Arm and began to examine it.

Low-level Cold Beast meat is azure in color, but since its blood is dark green, before being separated, the meat will have a slightly greenish tint.

The meat of Intermediate Cold Beasts is also blue, but since their blood is red, before being separated, the meat will appear slightly purple.

However, the flesh at the joint of the broken arm in front of him is black.

Xia Hong cut open the flesh with a knife and saw a small section of jade-green bone inside, his expression thoughtful.

The meat of high-level Cold Beasts should still be blue, but due to the influence of jade-green bones and rose-red blood, various colors mixed together, turning it black.

Xia Hong tore off a piece of the flesh and put it directly into his mouth, chewing a few times, and a flush of crimson spread across his face, his eyes immediately brightened.

”The difference between Intermediate Beast Meat and Low-level Beast Meat is only in the texture. This high-level Beast Meat, not only in texture, but the energy contained in the meat far surpasses the former two, just one bite equals nearly a hundred pounds!”

Indeed, given that the body of a high-level Cold Beast becomes so small, if the meat were still the same as Intermediate or Low-level, it would obviously be illogical.

”However, ordinary Earth-digging Realm practitioners probably couldn’t even eat this meat, at least one would need to be at the extreme of the Earth-digging Realm to handle such massive energy.”

Xia Hong drew a dagger and cut off all the flesh from the broken arm, leaving only a section of jade-green bone over sixty centimeters long.

”This... can’t be less than half a pound, right?”

After weighing the inexplicably heavy bone, Xia Hong’s eyes showed astonishment along with a strange longing.

”This Jade Bone should be the key to Cold Resistance Level cultivation!”

From the first glance he saw the bones within the Snow Mane during combat, Xia Hong realized this point, but...

”How should it be used?”

Staring at the Jade Bone, Xia Hong’s eyes were full of confusion.

Beast Meat can be eaten directly, Beast Blood can be applied to the body.

But this bone, can’t possibly be chewed directly?

”Leader, the casualties have been tallied up.”

While he was troubled, Yuwen Dao and Yue Feng both came up onto the rooftop.

Holding the Jade Bone, Xia Hong turned to the two and asked, ”How many died?”

With a heavy salute, Yue Feng replied, ”128 people died, 12 of them at the Earth-digging Realm, the rest were members of the gathering unit, and there are still 98 injured, with over a dozen severely injured already settled, and for now, we can’t send them back. We’ll have to wait until the beast tide subsides.”

The beast tide subsides.

Xia Hong immediately turned to Yuwen Dao.

”Usually, each beast tide lasts about seven days. Once those seven days pass, a small number of Cold Beasts will return to Redwood Ridge from Arrow Bamboo Forest during the day, and as long as you’re careful at night, it’s not too difficult to pass through Arrow Bamboo Forest.”

Hearing Yuwen Dao’s answer, Xia Hong nodded at first, then realized something and suddenly stopped, his tone questioning, ”A part of them?”

Xia Hong had just passed through Arrow Bamboo Forest, seizing the opportunity as the beast tide thinned out, and just that moment was enough for him to estimate the scale of the beast tide, at least eight or nine thousand, even up to ten thousand.

This many Cold Beasts migrated from Redwood Ridge to Arrow Bamboo Forest simultaneously, but only a part of them returned. What does this mean?

Yuwen Dao obviously knew what this meant as well, nodding solemnly:

”Indeed, it is only a part. We’ve lived in Jing Valley for many years and experienced many beast tides, so we are very clear that after each beast tide, the maximum that can return to Redwood Ridge is at most a third of the tide, so...”

Xia Hong sharply turned his gaze toward the southern side of Arrow Bamboo Forest, his expression instantly turning grave.

Each beast tide sees tens of thousands of Cold Beasts pass through, with only a third returning.

It’s important to know that this beast tide follows the maturation period of the Ice Tree.

Once every four months, three times a year.

In other words, after three waves of beast tides a year, at least twenty to thirty thousand Cold Beasts enter the Arrow Bamboo Forest. Calculating across the years, how many have there been in total?

Where did these Cold Beasts all go?

There must either be a great secret within the Arrow Bamboo Forest;

Or else, beyond the Arrow Bamboo Forest, there is a vast space, otherwise, it would be impossible for the 140 square kilometers of Arrow Bamboo Forest to accommodate so many Cold Beasts.

Coming to these two conclusions in his mind, Xia Hong’s gaze toward the Arrow Bamboo Forest changed instantly.

”Your strength is still lacking temporarily, stop exploring the Arrow Bamboo Forest for now. Use the current exploration depth as the standard, and in the future, operate within this range without letting anyone go further in.”

”Yes, leader!”

Hearing this, Yue Feng looked somewhat defeated, but knowing that Xia Hong was thinking for their safety, he could only nod and comply.

Their strength was indeed too weak.

The recent events made it clear that during Xia Hong’s battle with the Snow Mane, these people had no eligibility to intervene, not to mention even watch from a distance.

”Yuwen Dao, do you know high-level Cold Beasts?”

Noticing Yuwen Dao staring at the Beast Bone in his hand, recalling that he had just pointed out the characteristics of Snow Mane, Xia Hong’s expression shifted and he immediately inquired.

Yuwen Dao quickly shook his head in response, saying, ”I’ve never seen it. The reason I could recognize that Snow Mane earlier was because I remembered something my father said: the smaller the species in the Ice Abyss World, the more cautious you have to be.”

In the Ice Abyss World, the smaller the species, the more careful you must be!

Xia Hong’s body trembled slightly upon hearing this sentence.

Rightly so, this sentence holds water.

Due to the extreme cold climate in the Ice Abyss, trees, vegetation, Cold Beasts, and even the mountainous terrain are extraordinarily large, even the size of human beings is significantly larger than humans in the normal world of the past life.

This makes sense as well; an extreme cold environment means greater energy intake is required to maintain body size. Thus, humans, plants, and animals naturally evolve larger body sizes.

To maintain a smaller body size and survive in such an environment, it stands to reason, must not be simple.

”Leader, could I take a look at that Jade Bone?”

Hearing Yuwen Dao’s words, Xia Hong directly tossed the Jade Bone over.

Yuwen Dao took the Jade Bone, examined it for a moment, then immediately looked up and said:

”This is it, leader. I saw He Yuanhun using this.”

”Oh, how did he use it?”

Xia Hong’s eyes lit up immediately, gesturing for Yuwen Dao to continue speaking.

Yuwen Dao nodded and said, ”Last year, He Yuanhun brought back several pieces of bone. None of us had seen them before, but now thinking about it, they were jade-green like this, probably high-level Beast Bones.

I remember he ordered us to gather a lot of coal stones, then threw the bones and several other ingredients into a pot, boiled it for five or six days, and finally made a pot of soup. I led people to deliver that soup to him, and the smell was very fragrant, so I remember it very clearly.”

Boil, but with several other ingredients needed...

Staring at the Jade Bone in his hand, Xia Hong’s newly kindled hope instantly extinguished. Shaking his head, he sank into thought.

Honestly, not only is he uncertain about the cultivation method for the Cold Resistance Level.

Even regarding the strength division at the Cold Resistance Level, he only knows the lower limit. He is entirely clueless about the upper limit of the Cold Resistance Level or whether there are specific stages within the same level.

Aside from hearing from Yuwen Dao that the next realm is called the Visible Yang Realm, he has no other information.

Matters concerning his future cultivation process are not trivial!

”Alright, you both go ahead with your tasks. I’ll stay here for these few days until the beast tide ends. Take good care of the wounded and complete the aftermath tasks well.”

”Yes, leader!”

With brows furrowed tightly, Xia Hong dismissed the two and continued to delve into his contemplation.