Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 158: The Lone Ranger, Xinggu Pass

Year 1 of the Great Xia Dynasty, early March

Six kilometers south of the mid-section of Redwood Ridge, at a depth of about two kilometers.

A lone figure and a snow mane beast were fiercely grappling in the dense forest.

The snow mane beast was more than seven meters long, with a shoulder height of three to four meters. Its sturdy limbs were like four pillars supporting the sky. Its tusks, over two meters long, resembled slender, curved sabers hanging from its mouth, radiating a chilling light. The thorns covering its back were coated with frost, their tips sharp and translucent, like hundreds of steel spears inverted on its back, sending shivers down one's spine.

This snow mane beast, with its sheer size and menacing appearance, was already awe-inspiring, not to mention the powerful muscles, the strength contained within was unimaginable.

However, such a formidable intermediate-level snow mane beast was currently being held down by a person gripping its tusks, unable to move...

A young man wearing a black cloak and a light blue fur hat was holding onto the snow mane beast's tusks, his eyes wide with anger, pressing it to the ground.

The snow mane beast had a shoulder height of over three meters, while the young man was at most 1.9 meters tall. Normally, he definitely wouldn't be able to reach, but the snow mane beast's head was lowered, clearly having just made an attacking stance, only to be controlled and pinned to the ground by the young man.

Ceng... Ceng...

The snow mane beast's head was pinned to the ground, unable to move, its hind limbs struggling and thrashing, but no matter what, it couldn't break free from the young man's grasp.

"Roar..."

When the snow mane beast opened its mouth to roar in anger, only the base of its tongue remained. The tongue, originally used as a weapon, had been completely severed and lay on the snow more than ten meters away, along with a narrow, long blade.

Although the young man had a giant axe on his back, he never used it, only using his hands to hold the snow mane beast tightly, clearly deliberately engaging in a contest of strength.

The snow mane beast's size was more than ten times that of the young man. It was like a tiger being held down by a kitten, unable to break free despite using all its strength.

Moreover, as the struggle continued, the snow mane beast began to show signs of exhaustion, its angry roar gradually fading, and even its movements slowly diminishing.

If an outsider were to witness this scene, they would probably think they were dreaming.

The young man's eyes were wide with anger, veins bulging, holding on for over a hundred breaths. Seeing the snow mane beast's movements diminishing and its physical strength waning, his eyes suddenly focused.

He suddenly released his hands, quickly retrieved the double-bladed giant axe from his back, and taking advantage of the snow mane beast's hasty attempt to rise, he flipped over and swung the axe horizontally from behind towards the snow mane beast's right neck, slashing diagonally.

The giant axe was too fast, the划痕凝成实 almost materialized in mid-air, exceptionally clear in the night. The snow mane beast's head had barely risen half a meter when it was struck.

喀... 砰...

The crisp sound of bones shattering erupted from the neck area first, and the snow mane beast's huge head flew to the left like a kite with a broken string.

That's right, it flew off.

The young man had actually severed the head, which was half the size of a person.

The power of this axe was probably far beyond ordinary people's imagination.

The snow mane beast didn't even have time to shoot out the thorns on its back.

Its body stood in place for over ten breaths before collapsing with a crash.

砰...

"Seventh one."

The young man was naturally Xia Hong, who had ventured out of the camp alone.

嗤...

Seeing a large amount of blood spurt from the snow mane beast's neck, Xia Hong quickly took out the prepared leather bag from his back and collected all the blood.

"Magic sheep, Tengjiao, snow mane beast, Lei Kui, frost wolf, seven prey, already accounting for five species. I basically have the ability to hunt common intermediate-level cold beasts in this outer area alone!"

On the third day of being a lone ranger, Xia Hong had gradually become accustomed to it, from the initial discomfort, and now he was even enjoying it a bit.

Going out with the hunting team had many benefits.

For example, many things were done by others, without having to do everything yourself. With multiple people cooperating, the hunting efficiency was higher than when alone, and so on...

But the opposing disadvantage was that Xia Hong had to be distracted to take care of others.

Currently, the hunting team members with the highest basic strength, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, were only just over 20,000, which was still very dangerous when facing intermediate-level cold beasts.

If Xia Hong didn't distract himself to take care of others, the casualty rate would definitely be very high.

"The efficiency is a bit lower, but at least it ensures safety. Moreover, when I fight these cold beasts alone, my combat experience and strength improve faster. Lone ranger it is, for now, that's all I can do!"

Previously, Xia Hong's skin membrane progress wasn't as high as it is now. When leading the team out, hunting three intermediate-level cold beasts in one night was basically no problem.

Tonight was his fourth night out alone.

Four nights, seven intermediate-level cold beasts. Although there was the reason for hunting other species for the first time, the reduced efficiency was also an undeniable fact.

"Seven cold beasts, a total of about four hundred catties of beast blood, the shortfall is only two thousand catties. Just a little more effort, only the last thirty-plus intermediate-level cold beasts!"

Xia Hong calculated in his mind, a slight excitement flashing in his eyes.

Thinking back to when he first broke through to the Cold Resistance level, calculating that he needed the blood of eighty intermediate-level cold beasts, Xia Hong felt somewhat desperate at the time.

But how long has it been? In less than two months, his progress had already reached fifty-six.

Of course, the most crucial thing was that Xia Hong learned from Gao Yu that the reason he needed so much intermediate-level beast blood to break through to the Cold Resistance level was because his battle body talent was too high, in other words, his potential was too great.

With that, Xia Hong was even less likely to feel despair, and instead became even more motivated.

"Take advantage of this time to gather all the beast blood shortfall in one go!"

The Great Xia ban had already begun to be implemented. From the evening of the third day, everyone in the entire camp, whether gathering, logging, or hunting, could not leave the range of one kilometer from the valley.

The hunting team would not be able to accompany him out for a short period of time.

Not only the hunting team, but even Xia Hong himself, had been going out around the edge of the camp for the past four nights, coming out from different places.

After leaving the valley, not to mention the northern side of Redwood Ridge, he wouldn't even go to the middle section, going directly to the southern side of Redwood Ridge.

Before breaking through to the Cold Resistance level, avoid any contact with the Mirror Immortal Camp.

"Thirty intermediate-level cold beasts, at the current hunting efficiency, it will probably only take more than half a month. Hopefully, nothing else will happen during this time."

Xia Hong put the collected beast blood on his back, then turned to look at the eastern outer area, his expression slightly changing.

His current location was six kilometers south of Redwood Ridge, at a depth of about two kilometers. Going east to the outer area would be the Great Xia's previous outpost, the earthen slope.

In other words, going further south would be unfamiliar territory.

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, then immediately began to drag the snow mane beast on the ground to a tree to hide it, then made a location marker, and walked directly towards the eastern outer edge of Redwood Ridge.

After leaving Redwood Ridge and walking to the previous earthen slope outpost, Xia Hong continued south without any hesitation.

The previous plan was to have the Earth Digging Realm people in the camp reclaim land to the south, but the Mirror Immortal Camp incident occurred temporarily, and it was estimated that only he would have the ability to go out for a short period of time.

Since that was the case, then he would go ahead and scout the situation!

Double Dragon Mountain was formed by the combination of two mountains, north and south. The Great Xia's early earthen slope was actually part of the southern extension of Double Dragon Mountain.

From the information obtained from Gao Yu, it could be inferred that they were all located under the cliff on the west side of Double Dragon Mountain.

Double Dragon Mountain was more than two hundred miles long from east to west, and Gao Yu didn't even know the distance from north to south. It was estimated that the mountain range was far beyond imagination.

In other words, the entire Redwood Ridge, including the Pingxi Plains to the north, the Arrow Bamboo Forest, and even larger areas, should all be located under the cliff on the west side of Double Dragon Mountain.

Xia Hong only walked one kilometer south along the earthen slope, and the mountain began to recess inward, that is, to the east. If he wanted to continue exploring, he could only turn left and go to the inner area to the east.

"The mountain is only recessed, not cut off. The mountain range continues to extend to the south, estimated to be at least a hundred miles, but there is a river in the south, which means that this river flows down from Double Dragon Mountain. I just don't know if we are in the middle or lower reaches..."

Xia Hong estimated the distance of the southern extension of Double Dragon Mountain, then looked at the ice river running east-west one kilometer away to the south, falling into thought.

Across a kilometer, the misty cold air lingering over the river was exceptionally conspicuous. Although he couldn't see the river surface clearly, based on the ice crystals on the outer layer of the trees in Redwood Ridge, the river surface must have formed an exceptionally hard layer of ice.

Such an extremely cold and frozen world with a living river was an extremely unreasonable thing in itself, not to mention that Luo Ming had also mentioned that there were no traces of any cold beast activity around the ice river.

Xia Hong could basically conclude that there must be extremely terrifying creatures underwater.

The cold beasts that could survive on land were already so powerful.

The underwater creatures that could survive underwater, isolated by thick ice, and scare other cold beasts away, the horror of underwater creatures was imaginable.

"Underwater creatures should be of higher value than land creatures; water itself is also an extremely scarce resource; moreover, we can also determine the terrain and direction through the water flow, as well as the current location of Great Xia.

It's a pity that my current strength is not enough. It's definitely impossible to utilize this river for the time being. I can only wait until I have enough strength in the future!"

Xia Hong walked another seven or eight hundred meters south. As he got closer and closer to the ice river, a sense of trepidation inexplicably arose in his heart.

Although he could only see the misty cold air and water vapor on the surface of the water, and the green, crystalline aquatic plants by the river, the palpitation seemed to arise out of thin air.

With only a little over a hundred meters left to the Icy River, Xia Hong's heart began to pound violently.

This feeling of extreme danger was even stronger than when he had first hunted the Snowmane and mistakenly entered four kilometers deep into Redwood Ridge.

Xia Hong stopped, gazing at the icy mist rising from the river, and finally took a deep breath before turning to his left, towards the southern cliff face of Twin Dragon Mountain.

"Living water, aquatic cold-resistant beasts, various rare items at the bottom of the water, including that green, crystalline seaweed, which must also be a treasure. If this river can be utilized in the future, the camp's living environment will definitely improve…"

As Xia Hong walked, he turned his head to look at the Icy River. After pondering for a moment, he took out a map from his chest and marked the river's location:

【Ying River】

Luo Ming must have approached this river before, but he didn't mark its name. Xia Hong simply decided to give it a name himself.

Of course, naming it was secondary.

More importantly, Xia Hong valued the river's potential.

"When can the Ying River be utilized, the strength of Great Xia should be almost enough to dominate the entire Redwood Ridge area!"

Xia Hong continued to explore along the southern cliff face. After walking about four kilometers, the east-west extending cliff face returned to a north-south direction.

At the same time, a dense forest of tall trees sloping upwards from west to east came into view.

Xia Hong raised his eyes to look south, then turned to look north, towards his own valley. He immediately had a sense of the overall outline of Twin Dragon Mountain.

The entire Twin Dragon Mountain runs north-south. It is unclear how long it is, but the east-west length, according to Gao Yu, should be at least two hundred kilometers.

From south to north, except for some occasional inwardly concave and outwardly convex mountain bodies, the rest are generally more than two thousand meters high. The only gap should be where the Ying River flows, which is the slope in front of him at this moment.

In other words, the Great Xia Valley, Redwood Ridge, Arrow Bamboo Forest, and Pingxi Plain are all located in the valley on the west side of Twin Dragon Mountain. In all likelihood, the only opening connecting to the outside world is the slope in front of him.

Xia Hong climbed to the top of a large tree to survey the entire slope.

The slope is only about ten li from north to south, and the Ying River occupies half of it.

Xia Hong only deduced it in his mind, and then looked at the slope with a changed expression.

"As long as this slope is blocked and the Ying River is controlled, the connection between the valley and the outside world can be completely cut off."

Such an important strategic location is actually next to the Great Xia's base!

"Hahaha, that's thinking too far ahead…"

Xia Hong lowered his head and mocked himself. Great Xia's current range of activity is limited to within one kilometer of the valley by the Mirror Immortal Camp. No matter how important this valley is, it has nothing to do with the current Great Xia.

"When can Great Xia integrate all the humans in the valley on the west side of Twin Dragon Mountain, then we can consider going east from this road to the outside world to see the real Mo'ao Mountain, and the North Shuo Town mentioned by Yang and Li, as well as the other eight towns, what are they really like!"

Xia Hong took a deep breath, calmed the ambition in his heart, jumped off the big tree, took out the map, drew the location of the slope, and then marked it:

【Ying Valley Pass】

"There should be quite a few human settlements here, but they must all be distributed far away from the north and south banks of the Ying River, unless there is a very strong camp that can already utilize the resources of the Ying River."

Xia Hong shook his head slightly. This probability is almost non-existent.

Even he, a person with Cold Resistance level strength, dare not approach within a hundred meters of the Ying River.

It is impossible for a camp capable of utilizing the resources of the Ying River to appear here.

The two most important prerequisites for a location suitable for humans to use as a base are resources and a naturally formed hidden environment.

Although Ying Valley Pass is a slope, that is the overall situation. The mountain gradually rises slowly from west to east. Judging from the dense forest of tall trees and the undulating mountain conditions in this area, there must be many human camps hidden inside.

Xia Hong did not hesitate. After pondering for a moment, he plunged directly into the dense forest.

Sure enough, after entering the dense forest for less than half a kilometer, Xia Hong found footprints in the snow, temporarily built firewood piles, scattered iron arrows, and even animal skin products used by humans.

A hint of joy appeared on Xia Hong's face. After carefully observing the iron arrows and animal skin products, he immediately had a preliminary understanding of the development of human camps in this area.

"The iron arrow craftsmanship is not good, and the animal skins are from low-level cold-resistant beasts. It should be a little worse than the situation in the previous Rogge camp. During this period of time, I can come and see more often. If there are no accidents… … … …"

Xia Hong climbed another big tree, looked around, and quickly found five small hills with an average height of no more than two or three hundred meters.

Human habits are common. In any camp, as long as the Earth Digging Realm has not reached a certain level, it is unrealistic to build a city by digging soil themselves.

Therefore, as long as the camp is weak, the first choice for choosing a base is a natural cave. Like the Rogge camp, being able to find a unique valley as a base is an anomaly among anomalies.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is blessed by heaven.

Looking at the five small hills, although Xia Hong looked moved, he eventually sighed and temporarily suppressed the thought in his heart.

"Let's leave a mark first. Now is not the time!"

Great Xia is currently unsafe itself, so where can it have the spare energy to accept other human camps? Even if he finds the human camps in this area, it is impossible for him to take them to the valley alone.

After Xia Hong marked the location on the map, he turned and left.