Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

The Snowmane could play dead, and it was exceptionally convincing.

This wasn't anything new.

However, Xia Hong truly hadn't anticipated that the hundreds of barbs on its back could be launched.

Thump, thump, thump…

The ground trembled from the Snowmane's frantic escape, with Xia Hong and his twelve men hot on its heels amidst the swirling snowflakes in the background.

“It seems the barbs on its back are its ultimate move. Luckily, we mainly used bows today; it was a fortunate accident!”

While quickly pursuing, Xia Hong glanced at the wound on his shoulder, a hint of relief in his eyes.

If his strength hadn't been lacking, he wouldn't have had the other fifteen men scatter and hide in the surrounding trees, hunting the Snowmane with bows.

Thinking about it differently, if everyone had been stronger and unafraid to confront the Snowmane head-on, adopting a close-quarters encirclement with a dozen people, the Snowmane wouldn't have waited until the end to resort to that.

Even though he was so far away just now, and he had led everyone to jump down from the trees in advance, his shoulder was still grazed by a barb shot by the Snowmane, leaving a palm-sized wound.

“Why are three people missing?”

Xia Hong turned to check on the others' injuries but noticed only eight were following him, so he immediately asked.

Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai were injured, and he left Qiu Peng and Ying Xuan to take care of them. There should still be eleven people following him, not just eight.

Xia Chuan, slightly out of breath, replied, “Zhao Long and the other two were worried we'd run out of arrows, so they stayed behind to collect them. They should catch up soon.”

Xia Hong nodded upon hearing this, a hint of approval in his eyes.

They were currently chasing the Snowmane, indeed only carrying bows on their backs, without any arrows left.

They had used up all their arrows while hunting the Snowmane just now. Although most were still stuck in the Snowmane's body, there were also quite a few on the ground.

Tap, tap, tap, tap…

“Leader, it's slowing down!”

The sound of the Snowmane's footsteps changed, and Luo Yuan immediately reminded him.

Xia Hong looked up and saw the fleeing Snowmane's figure beginning to stagger, no longer in the frantic state it was in before, and a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

“Let's slow down a bit too, just hang behind it. Be cautious, don't get too close, and wait for Zhao Long and the others to bring the arrows.”

Although he was ninety percent sure the Snowmane was at its limit,

the scene from before had still startled Xia Hong a bit. Who knew if this Snowmane had any other life-saving trump cards or ultimate moves?

It was still best to be cautious!

Although Xia Hong thought so in his heart, watching the Snowmane continue to move forward, he looked up ahead, a hint of worry also appearing on his face.

When the Snowmane escaped just now, it went west, which was deeper into Redwood Ridge.

In just a short while, it had already led himself and the others about three kilometers inward. And these three kilometers weren't starting from the outer perimeter.

Adding in the previous kilometer or so, at this moment, he and his nine men had already penetrated roughly four or five kilometers into Redwood Ridge.

“We can't continue going deeper in, or it'll be over if we attract other Frost Beasts!”

At this moment, not only Xia Hong but also the others had noticed that the surrounding environment had become completely unfamiliar. The types of trees had also become more diverse, and they could even faintly see the figures of some behemoths in the area not far away.

The environment here was significantly quieter than the outer perimeter.

Apart from the commotion caused by the Snowmane's escape and the sound of their pursuit, they couldn't hear any other sounds.

As far as the eye could see, it was all shadows and darkness.

They had never ventured into this deep area of Redwood Ridge.

Once something unexpected happened, the outcome would be difficult to predict.

Xia Hong felt somewhat conflicted in his heart. Reason told him he shouldn't continue chasing, but the desire for the blood of an intermediate Frost Beast made him reluctant to give up on this Snowmane that was already severely injured and dying.

“Leader, we're here!”

Fortunately, the Zhao Long trio arrived from behind at this moment.

Not only did the three arrive, but they also each held a bundle of iron arrows in their hands.

“Speed up and get ahead, hold it back, don't let it continue running!”

Xia Hong's face was full of joy. This was the reason he had shown approval when he heard the Zhao Long trio say they were going to get the arrows from Xia Chuan.

When the Snowmane frantically escaped, he hadn't even thought that the arrows were gone.

He only thought that the Snowmane was already near death and that it would be easily captured if they just followed for a while.

If it hadn't been for the Zhao Long trio's thoughtfulness, they would either have to continue following the Snowmane deeper in or risk their lives to forcefully stop it, both of which were fraught with danger.

On the one hand, most of the iron arrows were stuck in the Snowmane's body. On the other hand, due to the limited time, the three probably hadn't had time to search carefully. The iron arrows the Zhao Long trio brought were only about sixty or seventy, which wasn't a large number.

But these sixty or seventy were already enough to issue the final death warrant to the severely injured Snowmane.

Swish… Swish… Swish…

Before shooting the arrows, the twelve had already sped up and spread out to both sides of the Snowmane.

More than sixty iron arrows continuously came swiftly from the trees on both sides.

The target was all aimed directly at the Snowmane's head.

The Snowmane's staggering figure was shot askew by the continuous iron arrows from both sides. Its head, already full of iron arrows and severely damaged, was shot so many times in a row that its walking posture began to deform, and its huge body also began to twitch and pause.

Finally, after staggering forward for more than twenty meters, the Snowmane's vitality began to rapidly drain away, and an aura of decay gradually spread out from its huge body.

Bang…

Finally, its limbs finally limply collapsed.

Its huge body then crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

“It's finally dead!”

Xia Hong on the tree finally truly breathed a sigh of relief this time.

A portion of the Snowmane's head had already been directly shot off by the continuous iron arrows. Not to mention blood, even a lot of the brain matter inside had flowed out.

Even if it was good at playing dead, it was over for it this time.

“Don't approach yet, I'll go up and take a look alone!”

Although he was already ninety-nine percent sure, Xia Hong still adhered to the principle of caution and decided to go over and take a look alone first.

“No need, Leader, I'll go take a look.”

However, as soon as he finished speaking, before he could even go out, Xia Chuan had already taken the lead.

“Why would the Leader need to personally check? I'll go.”

“I'll do it instead.”

…

Even the others scattered on both sides were vying to go.

Everyone vying to step forward and confirm for him immediately relaxed Xia Hong's tense nerves, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

“Just let Xia Chuan go alone, you all wait with me.”

Everyone's actions were certainly heartwarming, but habits still had to be cultivated well. If so many people rushed up together, it would be too late to regret it if something really went wrong in the future.

The eleven did not wait long. After about ten breaths, Xia Chuan's slightly surprised voice came from beside the Snowmane's corpse.

“No problem, everyone come over, it's completely dead!”

Xia Hong jumped down from the tree and was the first to arrive.

Looking at the huge Snowmane corpse on the ground, Xia Hong's eyes were full of joy, and he felt the fatigue on his body instantly swept away.

Even the injury on his shoulder seemed to have been alleviated a lot.

The other ten also arrived one after another.

“Tsk tsk, it's so big!”

“Hahahahaha, an intermediate Frost Beast, so-so!”

“This size is about two or three times that of a low-level Snowmane.”

“Seven or eight meters long, it'll probably yield four or five thousand catties of meat.”

“I'm afraid it's more than that. Not only is it longer, but its legs and body are also several times larger than a low-level one. The amount of meat it yields will definitely be amazing.”

“We'll know when we take it back.”

“This is an intermediate Frost Beast. Has anyone at the camp here in Redwood Ridge ever hunted one before? Leader, are we making history today?”

…

Everyone surrounded the Snowmane's corpse, their words full of shock and joy.

Come to think of it, during the previous hunt, except for Xia Hong, who had brief close-range contact with this Snowmane, the other fourteen had been hiding tens or even hundreds of meters away, attacking with bows and arrows the entire time.

They hadn't felt it just now, but now that they were closer, they could truly and directly feel what a behemoth this Snowmane they had hunted was.

“Alright, stop looking, have five people go with Xia Chuan to pull out the arrows from its head; have the other five go cut down trees and make a few long wooden poles, we'll use the wooden poles to carry it back later!”

The ten's exclamations of admiration only lasted for a moment. With Xia Hong's order, they immediately split into two groups and began to busy themselves with their own tasks.

“You can't withstand its blood right now, be careful when pulling out the arrows, don't get it on your skin.”

Actually, there was no need for Xia Hong to remind them. Xia Chuan, who had come over to confirm the Snowmane's death first, was already pulling out the arrows. Seeing his cautious movements, the others immediately followed suit, not daring to get the blood flowing out of the Snowmane's body on them.

Hiss…

Xia Hong gasped, touching his throbbing cheeks, and looking down at his chest and arms, which were already torn and bloody, he immediately guessed that his face was probably disfigured now as well.

He wasn't reminding everyone for no reason. When he was frantically stabbing the Snowmane's seven orifices with his ceremonial saber at the trap, the spurting blood had almost splashed all over him.

At that time, a strong burning sensation had surged into his mind, but the battle was intense, and his attention was entirely on the Snowmane, so he hadn't paid attention to it at all.

Now that he was relaxed, the pain immediately became intense.

“If it hadn't been for increasing my base strength to the limit of 30,000 catties during that final period, not to mention hunting this Snowmane, just the blood it splashed would have been enough to take half my life!”

When his base strength had only been over 20,000 catties before, the Rat King's blood temperature could directly burn through his skin, and only by using the solar frost light could he eliminate the burns and completely recover.

Now reaching the limit of 30,000 pounds, this blood, although still scalding my skin raw, didn't injure the internal flesh and bones. Moreover, the pain was also lighter than the previous time.

Although my skin was raw and the appearance was miserable, accompanied by intense pain.

Xia Hong clearly felt that he could withstand it, and in the process of enduring, his skin and basic strength were significantly improved.

"It's just that the appearance is a bit unsightly, it should recover quickly…"

Fortunately, it was night, and because the location was too deep, he didn't dare let anyone light a fire. The others could only see that he was covered in blood. If they saw his terrifying appearance with raw skin, they might misunderstand that he was a monster.

Huff…

"Hurry up and pack up, we can't stay here for long."

Taking a deep breath, Xia Hong endured the severe pain on his body and urged everyone to speed up. Then, he climbed a tree to observe the surroundings.

This place was already four or five kilometers deep inside Redwood Ridge. Not only were the trees generally much thicker than those on the periphery, but the variety was also significantly greater.

About three or four kilometers to the north, there was a vast cloud area, with an estimated width of five or six hundred meters; to the south, one could see a towering giant tree with an unusually exaggerated diameter. On that giant tree, there were dozens of huge figures entrenched, each one not much different from the Snowmane that had just died.

The cloud area to the north should be the territory of the Teng Jiao, but the cloud area created by a low-level Teng Jiao is only fifty meters in radius.

Is this five or six hundred meters a mid-level or a high-level?

What is that giant tree in the south, a Snowmane herd? Or a Frost Wolf pack?

Judging from the size, it is very likely to be dozens of mid-level. If dozens of mid-level cold beasts gather together, then there must be a high-level cold beast leader…

Xia Hong retracted his gaze, his heart and mind were shaken, and he couldn't help but feel a little fortunate.

The Snowmane's escape just now should have also been avoiding other cold beast territories.

From this, it can also be seen that there is a strict hierarchy among cold beasts.

Even if the Snowmane was severely injured to that state, its instinct prompted it not to enter the territory of other cold beasts.

"We're packed up, Chief."

Hearing Xia Chuan's call from below, Xia Hong jumped straight down.

The quivers on everyone's backs were replenished; the Snowmane prey was tied to two long wooden poles with ropes, and two people at each end carried it together.

"Alright, let's go back quickly!"

With Xia Hong's order, he took the lead and walked towards the eastern periphery.

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan stood on both sides, Yue Feng and Yuan Cheng followed behind the team, and the Zhao Long brothers walked directly on the trees. The four people carrying the prey were in the middle.

It wasn't just one or two days that they had been out hunting. The arrangement of the formation on the return trip had long become a routine.

Without Xia Hong speaking, everyone could do their own thing.

In the unfamiliar environment, coupled with the occasional breathing and howling of unknown cold beasts from all around, Xia Hong almost ran while leading everyone out.

In just a few minutes, they had walked more than two miles to the east.

If they continued to walk another mile or two, they would reach the familiar outer area, and it wouldn't be far from leaving Redwood Ridge.

Xia Hong turned his head and glanced behind him, breathing a slight sigh of relief.

"Finally, I can catch my breath. Staying inside is really depressing!"

"Me too, it's too dark inside. Even though I can't see a single cold beast, I just feel very depressed in all directions. The cold beasts inside should all have their own territory. Fortunately, we followed that Snowmane in. If we had broken in randomly, we probably would have lost our lives in minutes."

Luo Yuan and Xia Chuan couldn't help but speak directly. In the few minutes since they had come out, they had been in a tense state, always feeling like something was staring at them from the shadows.

Although the others didn't speak, the expressions on their faces showed that they were obviously not relaxed in those few minutes just now.

"Don't talk, keep walking, we'll be out soon!"

Xia Hong interrupted their discussion and led everyone to continue speeding up.

Whoosh…

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Walking less than two hundred meters forward, suddenly, a swift arrow cut through the air, flying horizontally from left to right more than ten meters in front of Xia Hong, and directly inserted into a large tree on the right.

Crack… Bang…

Xia Hong's expression tightened slightly. Before he could react, the sound of trees breaking and collapsing came one after another from the left.

"Someone?"

"Be careful."

"It's from the north."

"It's that tree, it fell."

…

The movement of the group's progress was not loud. The sound of the arrow breaking through the air was exceptionally clear. Before Xia Hong could speak, the others had already become vigilant.

Xia Hong had already turned his head to look at the left side, which was the northern direction of Redwood Ridge, his brows slightly furrowed.

To the north, more than a hundred meters away.

After the large tree that Xia Chuan mentioned collapsed, a huge creature with a body length of eight or nine meters rolled down from the tree, making a loud noise.

Arrows rained down from all around, frantically shooting towards the huge creature;

At the same time, a figure holding a giant broadsword jumped down from the nearest tree and landed directly on the head of that huge creature.

"Outsiders have broken in to hunt!"

"Is it that group of people from last time?"

"It should be those people from the Mirror Immortal Camp."

"Only them, besides them, there are no other camps."

"They didn't even say hello before coming in, hmph!"

…

It was obvious that there was a group of people, just like them, hunting mid-level cold beasts. How could Xia Chuan and the others not understand?

Everyone spoke one after another, their tone filled with some anger.

After falling silent, they all turned their attention to Xia Hong, who had not yet said a word.

"Let's go take a look!"

Xia Hong naturally understood what everyone was thinking. His face was also a bit gloomy. He didn't find anyone from the Mirror Immortal Camp on the periphery, and originally thought that they hadn't crossed the border.

Unexpectedly, the other party not only crossed the border, but even went two kilometers deep and directly started hunting here.

Xia Hong had long regarded Redwood Ridge as the territory of Great Xia, and the resources inside were undoubtedly Great Xia's private property.

The Mirror Immortal Camp's direct act of crossing the border clearly showed that they didn't take the Great Xia camp seriously at all.

"Put down the prey. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, just come out with me. The other nine, find a good position first. I want to see how crazy this Mirror Immortal Camp can be!"

Choosing to hunt at night; and, like them just now, the other party also used bows and arrows to hunt; in addition, when the person holding the broadsword fought with that huge creature, he basically used dodging and maneuvering tactics.

Based on these three points alone, Xia Hong could roughly judge that the other party's personnel configuration and strongest combat power should be similar to his side.

Xia Hong knew that the Mirror Immortal Camp had cold resistance level combat power.

But for such a high-risk hunting event, the cold resistance level would hide in the dark and let these Earth Piercing Realm people fight with the cold beasts. Xia Hong didn't believe it no matter what.

Since the cold resistance level expert was not present, the other party's strength was about the same as his own, and they were still entangled by cold beasts, such a good opportunity, it would be a pity not to manage this group of people from the Mirror Immortal Camp.

After Zhao Long led the remaining eight people to disperse, they directly climbed the trees, set up their longbows in the shadows, and aimed at the several people from the Mirror Immortal Camp who had already exposed their positions. Obviously, they all understood Xia Hong's meaning.

And Xia Hong led Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan directly over.

As they approached, the three also saw the true face of that huge creature.

It was a Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep that the three were very familiar with, but its body length was nearly nine meters, its shoulder height was also five or six meters, and standing up was like a building. The white mane covering its back hung down four or five meters from both sides, like two gray-white large curtains.

The most terrifying thing was its back, which had sixteen pairs of golden eyes as big as lanterns.

Five pairs of them had been hit by iron arrows, and blood was gurgling out;

The other eleven pairs continued to burst out with dazzling golden light, and those strong lights were like sharp arrows, shooting at the person holding the broadsword and the other archers hiding in the surrounding trees.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep's body was too huge, and when it ran wildly, it shook the surrounding ground constantly. Its impact force was even greater than the Snowmane just now, not to mention the surrounding trees.

In just a moment, more than a dozen trees around it had been knocked down, and there wasn't a single intact tree within a hundred meters.

At the same time as seeing the Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep clearly, Xia Hong and the other two naturally saw the person fighting with it clearly.

It was too far away to see his face clearly. They could only see that he was burly, dressed in black, and held a giant broadsword about one and a half meters long and more than twenty centimeters wide in both hands.

That broadsword was extremely exaggerated in terms of shape, not to mention its sharpness.

Ordinary people probably couldn't even lift it.

But in that person's hands, it was as light as nothing.

Swinging, parrying, chopping, smashing, retracting, releasing, it was extremely smooth.

What was even more rare was that he could also use the potential energy of the broadsword to adjust his body, constantly maneuvering with the Demon Sheep in a circle, and from time to time, he could even use the sword to cut deep wounds on the Demon Sheep's body.

Iron arrows from the surrounding trees kept shooting at the Demon Sheep, and the target was its golden eyes on its back. Moreover, one of the iron arrows was extremely accurate, and every time it caught the Golden Sheep trying to burst out strong light to suppress the man in black, it shot accurately, preventing the Golden Sheep from using its strong light.

Bang…

The Demon Sheep seized an opportunity to lower its head and dive. The man in black was caught off guard and could only hold up his broadsword to resist. As expected, he and the sword were knocked into the air together.

Taking this opportunity, the golden eyes on the Demon Sheep's back opened at the same time, ignoring the iron arrows shot from the trees in all directions, and directly burst out eleven golden rays of light at the man in black in mid-air.

Pfft… Pfft…

“Roar…”

Seven or eight iron arrows pierced through the eyeballs in succession, the sounds echoing throughout the arena, followed by the agonizing roars of the demon sheep.

Xia Hong's gaze, however, was fixed on the black-clad figure, noticing a beam of intense light shining through his abdomen, causing his brow to slightly furrow.

“Big brother, did it hit?”

“It hit. The man in black should be injured, and not lightly.”

Xia Hong only raised his brow slightly, but Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan beside him didn't have so many reservations; joy appeared directly on their faces as they spoke to Xia Hong.

“Don’t speak yet, they are quite strong. This demon sheep is doomed!”

Although the demon sheep managed to injure the man in black, all eleven of its golden eyeballs were destroyed by the continuous barrage of iron arrows.

“Roar… Roar… Roar…”

With all sixteen golden eyes on its back shot blind, the demon sheep's final ferocity seemed to be ignited, its body leaping violently as it roared furiously.

The black-clad man landed some distance away and had just torn off a strip of cloth to bind his abdominal wound when the demon sheep charged fiercely towards him.

“Chief!”

“Brothers, we can't let this beast hurt the chief.”

“This monster is already blind, what's there to fear!”

“Charge!”

…

Several angry roars came from the surrounding trees, and a group of twenty-odd people leaped down, rushing towards the demon sheep.

These twenty-odd people carried bows on their backs, clearly the ones who shot the arrows earlier. Each held a large blade, their roaring and charging displaying a fearless and valiant spirit.

Of course, they were fast.

But the demon sheep was faster.

The man in black, whom they called 'Chief', clearly didn't place his hopes on these twenty-odd people. Having bandaged his wound, he raised his broadsword and dodged to the side.

The six sharp horns of this intermediate demon sheep were each two to three meters long, so when it charged, its horizontal attack range was astonishingly wide.

The man in black was fast, but compared to the demon sheep, humans were inherently at a disadvantage in terms of size, let alone being slower.

Pfft…

Just as Xia Hong had expected, the man in black's left shoulder was pierced directly by one of the demon sheep's sharp horns, but what followed was completely beyond Xia Hong's expectations.

Despite his left shoulder being pierced, the man in black didn't hesitate at all. Grasping the broadsword with both hands, he suddenly lowered himself, bypassing the demon sheep's horn and aiming straight for its neck.

Pfft…

“This strength, is above mine…”

Seeing the descending broadsword plunge more than half a meter into the demon sheep's neck, Xia Hong's pupils constricted, his mind slightly shaken.

He had already experienced the bones and hide of an intermediate cold beast, and he conservatively estimated that the instantaneous burst of power required to pierce its neck at such close range was at least 40,000 jin.

Currently, using the Long Fist techniques, he could only unleash a maximum of 36,000 jin of force.

This man in black's base strength was definitely above his own.

The demon sheep staggered from the excruciating pain of the broadsword piercing its neck.

It forcibly tried to steady itself with its limbs, but on the other side, the twenty-odd people who had come down from the trees didn't give it the chance.

The twenty men were clearly divided, ten charging straight for its head, and the remaining ten-plus split into five groups, attacking its limbs and tail.

The demon sheep was too large; after only a few slashes from the twenty-odd people, they were kicked away by its casually flailing limbs.

Bone fractures, vomiting blood, broken hands, broken feet, blades kicked away, people sent flying more than ten meters, some even severely injured and unconscious, their fates unknown.

These were the only outcomes for those twenty-odd people.

But what shocked Xia Hong and the others was that, apart from those who were unconscious, severely injured, or whose fates were unknown, everyone else, without exception, picked up their blades and charged back in.

They didn't seem to fear death at all.

With the twenty-odd people taking turns to hack and slash, coupled with the leader in black constantly inflicting damage to the demon sheep's head with his broadsword, after a hundred or so breaths, the demon sheep's limbs finally began to tremble, its body weakening and swaying.

“Brothers, almost there, just hold on a bit longer, this demon sheep will fall soon.”

“It's not in vain that I slashed it a dozen times, even my blade is chipped.”

“It's fine, we can sharpen it again when we get back, what's iron anyway.”

“Chief, how are you doing?”

Seeing the demon sheep teetering, the crowd who were still wielding their blades shouted excitedly, and finally one person, concerned about the man in black, asked with a hint of worry.

“I'm fine, all of you retreat first, this demon sheep no longer has the strength to escape…”

Xia Hong, Xia Chuan, and Luo Yuan, who had been watching from the sidelines for so long, heard the man in black speak for the first time, and the three of them were stunned, not even noticing the slight pause in his words.

The man in black's voice was surprisingly young.

No, it was excessively young.

Judging by his voice, he seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, almost the same age as Xia Chuan.

“First, join me in welcoming some friends from Great Xia!”

The expressions of the somewhat surprised trio on the tree changed slightly upon hearing the man in black's last words.

They had actually been discovered.

Since they had been discovered, the three of them no longer hid, jumping directly from the tree.

Xia Hong lowered his gaze, leading the two of them forward slowly, stopping only when they were a little over ten meters away from the other party.

“Your Excellency brings so many people, trespassing on Great Xia's territory, and hunting privately. This title of 'friend', Xia Hong dares not accept!”