Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Year 1 of the Great Xia Dynasty, March 16th, midnight.

The south side of the valley, a mine.

Clang… clang… clang…

Forty to fifty people were scattered throughout the mine, wielding toothed chisels. The sound of chisels striking iron ore echoed incessantly, a scene of bustling activity.

Everyone was shirtless, foreheads glistening with sweat, upper bodies streaming with perspiration, and trousers almost completely soaked.

“Good thing no women in our Great Xia have broken through to the Earth-Digging Realm yet. If they were brought here to mine alongside us old men, that would be something else!”

As Tong Xinglong spoke, though their hands didn't stop moving, everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look at the others. This look immediately brought amusement.

“Hahahaha, Old Tong, your own pants are already soaked through.”

“Hahaha, you’re still energetic after a whole day of work.”

“Everyone’s been working hard since last night, whose pants aren’t soaked?”

“Huff… this mining is really tiring. I’ve only mined eleven pieces since last night, totaling just over four hundred catties. I used to think it was easy when I saw Lord Xia Chuan and Lord Luo Yuan mine over a thousand catties a day!”

“Can it be the same? Lord Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long all have a foundation of over twenty thousand strength points. It's normal for their mining efficiency to be twice as high as ours.”

“The leader is the real deal. I saw him when he came to the mine to collect iron ore on the fourth night. He only chiseled twenty-odd times, and a piece of iron ore fell off. I estimate that if the leader mined himself, he could probably mine more than five or six thousand catties a day.”

“Hiss, five or six thousand catties…”

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but gasp.

All forty-plus of them had broken through to the Earth-Digging Realm in the past half month.

Their foundation strength had just exceeded ten thousand, and currently, using the toothed chisel, they could only mine up to four hundred catties of iron ore a day.

Five or six thousand catties a day was indeed unimaginable for them.

“Actually, we’ve already mined enough ore in the previous period. The leader also said last night when he came to collect iron ore that it was already enough. Why did Lord Xia Chuan call us all here to mine last night, and why is it so urgent?”

Bai Wuting's tone was somewhat puzzled, and the others nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Ever since the mining competition started on January 27th, the camp's income of various resources had been astonishing.

Not to mention wood, the five hundred-plus Lumbering Realm cultivators were pulling back at least ten thousand catties every night. If you just calculate it for the past fifty days, they must have collected nearly 300,000 points of wood resources.

Judging from the ranking on the wood榜单, it was indeed about the same.

In the previous period, the large trees within five hundred meters of the Red Maple Ridge were visibly decreasing, which showed how crazy they were at mining.

If the leader didn't have special means to convert resources to other places, so much wood wouldn't even fit in the valley.

The same was true for coal and iron ore as for wood.

Previously, there were only seventeen people in the hunting team, and they also had to go out with Xia Hong to hunt intermediate Frost Beasts. Their mining time was insufficient, so the early mining volume was indeed not large.

But as the one-kilometer ban started, they had more mining time, and in the subsequent half month, new Earth-Digging Realm cultivators appeared every day, so there were more people mining.

As a result, the income of coal and iron ore naturally increased as well.

“Judging from the rankings, the total amount of coal in this period should be more than 30,000 points, and iron ore is even more, more than 60,000 points. If you convert it, it's more than 600,000 catties, which is indeed a lot.”

Since the start of the mining competition, the income of various resources in the station has been clearly visible through the rankings. Everyone roughly speculated in their hearts and quickly confirmed Bai Wuting's statement.

As a result, they couldn't help but be even more puzzled.

The leader had already said that there were enough breakthrough resources, and the camp's current daily needs for coal, iron, and wood must also be sufficient.

In that case, why did Xia Chuan call all of them to the mine last night to mine iron like crazy?

“What other reason could there be? So many of us have broken through to the Earth-Digging Realm. Just forging sabers and bows requires iron ore. It's natural to tell us to seize the time to mine iron.”

Xu An on the side couldn't help but say something at this time.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up immediately.

That's right!

These people who broke through to the Earth-Digging Realm didn't have matching weapons.

“That's not right either. There are forty-six Earth-Digging Realm cultivators here. Today, there should be more people breaking through. One saber and one bow, adding up, would cost at most a thousand catties of iron ore. Even if you calculate it according to fifty people, it's only fifty to sixty thousand catties.”

“Fifty to sixty thousand catties, the iron ore reserves left in the camp supply are more than that. There's no need for us to mine so hard.”

“There must be other uses!”

Bai Wuting nodded, turned to look at his uncle Bai Dongying, and asked, "Uncle Dong, do you know what Lord Xia Chuan wants to use it for?"

That being said, whether it was Bai Wuting or others, their chiseling movements didn't stop while they were discussing.

Thinking that Bai Dongying was the captain of the logging team, the news must be more well-informed than them, everyone curiously turned to look.

Clang… clang… clang…

Bai Dongying frowned slightly, mining while speaking with a hint of speculation:

“I'm not very clear either, but I heard it's related to Frost Beasts, and the purpose of making weapons for us is also one of them.”

Cheng Feng, the captain of the collection team on the other side, couldn't help but speak at this time.

“It seems to be for reinforcing the wooden houses. Mu Dong and a few people from the artisan workshop have also broken through to the Earth-Digging Realm. Didn't you notice they didn't come to mine?”

Everyone subconsciously looked at the crowd and found that Mu Dong and others were indeed not there.

Related to Frost Beasts.

Reinforcing wooden houses.

Putting these two things together, everyone's faces suddenly changed.

“Stop making wild guesses. Instead of wasting time guessing here, it's better to spend your mind mining more iron ore. No matter what Lord Xia Chuan's purpose is, it's all for the safety of the camp!”

Shi Ping, who had been silent, suddenly interrupted everyone.

Upon hearing this, a trace of thought flashed in the eyes of the others, and they immediately showed their approval and continued to devote themselves wholeheartedly to mining.

Indeed, their curiosity couldn't change anything.

Iron ore, for now, has only three uses:

One is to help the leader Xia Hong break through; one is to forge the weapons they will use; and the other is to forge various utensils and equipment for the camp.

No matter what Xia Chuan's purpose is, it is ultimately for the safety of the camp.

Besides, they are not mining for nothing. The iron ore collected will be converted into contribution points and recorded in everyone's account.

“Shi Ping, the iron ore upstairs is exhausted. Quickly collect it and send it up.”

Coincidentally, Lin Kai walked in from outside the mine again at this time.

Upon hearing this, Shi Ping quickly put down the chisel, took the leather bag, took turns recording and collecting the iron ore mined by everyone, and directly handed it over to Lin Kai.

“It's being used so quickly. The last batch of more than ten thousand catties is all used up?”

Hearing Shi Ping's question, Lin Kai shook his head, with visible fatigue on his face, and said: “There are too many things to forge. The leader's reserve of one hundred thousand catties left in the camp supply has been used up. Your little bit is not enough at all. I will send this batch of iron ore up and will come down immediately. The rest of the hunting team will also come down to mine together.”

Hiss…

The camp supply, one hundred thousand catties of iron ore reserves, have all been used up.

The people from the hunting team are also coming down to mine!

What exactly are they forging upstairs?

Hearing Lin Kai's words, the expressions of confusion on the faces of everyone in the mine became even stronger, and their movements slowed down unconsciously.

“Lord Xia Chuan has ordered that from tonight onwards, all outdoor activities in the camp will be stopped. Except for fifteen people left in the blacksmith shop, all the other Earth-Digging Realm cultivators will stay in the mine to mine iron. Without his order, no one is allowed to leave without authorization. In short, do everything you can to mine iron.”

After Lin Kai finished speaking, he didn't care about everyone's reaction, and directly carried a bag of iron ore out of the mine in a hurry.

The others looked at each other for a while, and a trace of tension unconsciously appeared on their faces, and then they quickly devoted themselves to the intense mining again.

They only know a little about the situation of the Frost Beasts on the periphery, but based on the words of Cheng Feng and Bai Dongying, they can roughly guess a little.

There must be a reason why Xia Chuan is so anxious to let them mine iron and leave so many people in the blacksmith shop.

Reinforcing the wooden houses must be to defend against the enemy.

The current enemies, besides Frost Beasts and strange creatures, are the Mirror Immortal camp.

Whether it is either, it is very dangerous for Great Xia.

The last time the entire camp desperately mined iron and forged it was for the rodent群 on the north slope of the mountain wall.

It's only been less than three months, and a new situation has actually occurred again.

The hearts of everyone in the mine couldn't help but tighten a lot, and the mining movements in their hands continued to accelerate.

… … … … … …

The original one-kilometer ban was directly changed to stopping going out by Xia Chuan.

Even the five hundred meters outside the Red Maple Ridge can't be gone to anymore.

Now, not to mention the Earth-Digging Realm cultivators mining iron in the mine, even the rest of the camp felt something was wrong.

Especially as batches of iron ore were sent to the blacksmith shop from the mine, the sound of forging inside continued day and night, almost without stopping.

As a result, everyone was even more certain in their hearts.

There must be a situation they don't know about.

At the very least, Xia Chuan has something that he didn't explain to them.

The atmosphere in the Great Xia Valley suddenly became tense.

The Earth-Digging Realm cultivators are all staying in the mine and not coming out, mining iron day and night;

Once someone on the third floor breaks through to the Earth-Digging Realm, they immediately take the toothed chisel to the south mine;

More and more Lumbering Realm cultivators are being called to the blacksmith shop to help;

The remaining Lumbering Realm cultivators, who hadn't gone, also received Xia Chuan's order to move all the wood on both sides of the valley to the vicinity of the wooden house and pile it up... All indications pointed to a major event about to happen!

Especially Xia Chuan's last order made it easy to deduce that the camp was likely facing a formidable enemy.

Dire beasts, strange monsters, or the Mirror Immortal camp?

Even five or six-year-old children in Da Xia knew that the camp was currently facing these three enemies, and everyone immediately began to speculate.

Naturally, during this process, their mood became even heavier.

… … … …

Year 1 of Da Xia, March 17th

"Dire beasts? That's unlikely, right? Could it be an advanced dire beast?"

On the north side of the valley, Lin Wan leaned a large piece of wood against another, and asked Shi Lu beside her with a worried expression.

Shi Lu shook her head upon hearing this and whispered, "It shouldn't be. I heard my brother say before that the most powerful one they've seen in Redwood Ridge is only intermediate-level. They don't even have the chance to come into contact with advanced dire beasts, so how could they suddenly break into the camp..."

Thinking that Lin Wan's husband and younger brother were both in the hunting team, Shi Lu continued to ask:

"Sister Wan, don't your husband and brother know anything?"

Thinking of her husband Yue Feng and younger brother Lin Kai, Lin Wan's expression became even more worried:

"They haven't been home since the night before yesterday. At first, they stayed in the blacksmith's workshop, and later Lin Kai went mining with a few others. When I asked them, they wouldn't say anything..."

"Mine is the same. He's been staying in the blacksmith's workshop since the day before yesterday, and my brother also went to the mine to mine iron and hasn't come out yet."

Hearing Shi Lu's words, Lin Wan remembered that her husband, Yuan Cheng, and her husband, Yue Feng, were both on the hunting team.

"After nightfall, I saw Mu Dong leading many people carrying a lot of iron lumps and thick chains out of the blacksmith's workshop and placing them in the four corners of the wooden house. They also carried out a large iron gate and replaced the original one.

Using so much iron to reinforce the wooden house and having us move wood to block the surroundings, it must be to defend against dire beasts. I just don't know what kind of dire beasts require such a serious defense."

Although Lin Wan was a woman and only in the Lumbering Realm, her husband and younger brother were both in the hunting team, so she knew more than others.

The camp uses stoves, condensed fire oil, and torches to deal with strange monsters. This time, they are using so much iron to reinforce the wooden house and stacking so much wood around it, which is likely to be used to deal with dire beasts.

But that's why she was even more confused.

According to her husband and brother, they can't come into contact with advanced dire beasts, and intermediate dire beasts certainly can't threaten the camp.

It's even less necessary to do this to deal with the people from the Mirror Immortal camp.

Yue Feng had personally said when he came back a few times before that Xia Hong's strength was enough to deter the Mirror Immortal camp, and they certainly wouldn't dare to take the initiative to come looking for trouble.

The reason for shrinking the camp's activity range during this period was just to accumulate strength. Once the number of Burrowing Realm cultivators increased, the Mirror Immortal camp would no longer be a threat.

"Could it be that the Gnawing Rats have returned again?"

It wasn't just Lin Wan and Shi Lu who had such doubts. The rest of the camp was the same, but limited by their strength and knowledge, most people could only speculate that it was to defend against dire beasts.

Being able to come to the conclusion of the Gnawing Rats was actually already very good.

Only a very small number of people who knew about the recent disappearance of dire beasts on the periphery of Redwood Ridge, combined with Xia Chuan's orders in the past two days, vaguely felt a terrifying guess in their hearts.

Of course, while reaching this terrifying guess, they also immediately understood why Xia Chuan didn't say it publicly.

Realizing this, they also unanimously adhered to the principle of silence.

… … … … … …

Year 1 of Da Xia, March 18th, near dusk

Clang… clang… clang…

The newest novels are available exclusively on 69shu.com!

Inside the blacksmith's workshop on the second floor, the sound of forging was incessant.

Fifteen people were divided into three groups, each surrounding a stove, all wielding iron hammers and working together to strike the iron billet on the stove.

Zhao Long's group of five was forging arrows.

There were also hundreds of Lumbering Realm cultivators helping to melt the arrow blanks and sharpen the arrowheads, so the efficiency was the fastest, and the arrows were produced almost in batches;

Luo Yuan and Mu Dong's group of five were forging Ironwood Bows.

Luo Yuan led three Burrowing Realm cultivators to forge the bow frames, while Mu Dong was beside him, leading more than a dozen Lumbering Realm cultivators to assemble and debug the bowstrings. It could be seen that Mu Dong had already placed forty or fifty Ironwood Bows beside him, one of which was obviously larger than the others, and the color of the bowstring was also different, not completely transparent, but transparent with a hint of white;

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng's group was forging a narrow and long iron billet. Before it was formed, it was impossible to tell what it was.

But beside them, there were also fifty or so Lumbering Realm cultivators squatting on the ground, each holding a large knife and constantly sharpening it, obviously also sharpening the blade.

Whether it was the fifteen people who were forging or the rest of the Lumbering Realm cultivators who were helping out, without exception, they were all covered in sweat.

Although their faces were full of fatigue, everyone's expression was focused to the extreme. Except for occasionally wiping away sweat when it seeped into their eyes, there were no other superfluous movements.

Dong, dong, dong… … … …

A burst of rapid footsteps came from outside the door, and Shi Ping hurriedly walked in, placing a bag of iron ore beside Xia Chuan.

"How many catties are there?"

"Half a day's worth, a total of 12,400 catties."

Hearing Shi Ping's answer, Xia Chuan didn't stop his movements, but after calculating for a while, he immediately said, "Send it to Zhao Long's side and use it all to make arrows."

"Yes, sir!"

Shi Ping sent the iron ore to Zhao Long's side and immediately returned.

"Sir, the wood on both sides of the valley has all been piled around the house. According to your instructions, we used a diagonal and intersecting method to build the wooden wall; the outermost layer and the top are all inserted with special iron thorns, and the top of the wooden house is also installed.

In addition, a layer of Tengjiao skin has been laid on the outside of the wooden wall and the wooden house, and everyone has been informed.

The entire valley now only has a small opening for a single person to enter and exit, which can be sealed at any time."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan immediately turned to look at Luo Yuan's side.

To be precise, he was looking at Mu Dong, who was debugging the bowstring next to him.

Mu Dong noticed Xia Chuan's inquiring gaze and immediately nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir, I have already led people to reinforce the wooden wall structure with iron materials last night!"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan showed a relieved expression and turned to look at Shi Ping:

"There has been a lot of discussion among the rest of the camp these past two days, right?"

Shi Ping nodded and said in a deep voice, "The movements are so big that everyone probably has a good idea, but they are just not sure. A few people have already guessed that it is to defend against a large number of dire beasts, but they should also know that you are not sure, sir, so they didn't go around saying it."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan shook his head slightly, and a hint of worry appeared in his pupils.

Of course, he didn't deliberately hide it from the rest of the people. The key was that he himself wasn't sure whether the disappearance of the dire beasts had anything to do with the strange monster in the Mirror Immortal camp.

Of course, we must adhere to the principle of rather believing it than not believing it when it comes to this kind of thing.

After all, once there is a real connection, it will be a big problem.

Preparations must be made.

But whether to publicize it widely is another matter.

If we say it and it's not true, it will be a false alarm for everyone, which is unnecessary.

If we don't say it, the preparations will still be done as usual, and the difference will not be too big.

"I also hope it's not true. The leader has been in seclusion and hasn't moved yet. It's not appropriate to disturb him for something uncertain.

Let's just do our preparations as usual. If the disappearance of the dire beasts is purely an accident, then let's treat this time as a trial for the camp. These iron ores will have to be mined sooner or later, it's just earlier."

Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Shi Ping turned to look at the many weapons and ironware that had already been made in the wooden house, and nodded with excitement.

"That's not true, isn't it about to exceed the limit?"

"We have already made forty-nine Ironwood Bows. How many Burrowing Realm cultivators have broken through recently, about fifty?"

"There are not enough bows. We made fifty-two large knives last night, which is more than enough, hehe."

"You little brat, you're standing and talking without back pain. Can making knives compare to making bows? If you have the guts, you come and forge bows, and I'll go and make knives, and see who's faster!"

Yuan Cheng and Luo Yuan's bickering made the blacksmith's workshop less dull.

Xia Chuan didn't stop them either. The crowd, who had been tired for two days, really needed to relax their nerves at this moment.

From March 15th to March 18th, these three days, from the initial seventeen people to the later fifteen of them, almost all of them were forging.

Although they were tired, the results were undoubtedly amazing.

In addition to the forty-nine ten-stone Ironwood Bows, fifty-two large knives, and the iron arrows that are being forged, as well as the various iron materials used to reinforce the wooden house and wooden walls, all of them were completed within these three days.

Of course, it is impossible to forge so many things with only fifteen of them.

Fortunately, Da Xia currently has a sufficient number of Burrowing Realm cultivators, and more and more people can participate in forging.

Like the previous time with the Gnawing Rats, for the first three days, as long as the mining speed exceeded the forging speed, that is, the iron ore overflowed, all the Burrowing Realm cultivators in the mine would come up to help; and if the situation was reversed, the Burrowing Realm cultivators would go down to mine.

In this way, they really completed an almost impossible task.

"Thickened wooden walls, reinforced wooden houses, Tengjiao poison sacs, plus the Ironwood Bows and large knives that are constantly being forged now, the preparations that should be made should have been made. This is what Big Brother said, do everything you can, and then listen to fate!"

Xia Chuan took a deep breath and continued to forge the narrow and long iron billet on the stove.

From the beginning, the rest of the people in the room also put away their idle chat and re-invested themselves in forging.

The incessant sound of forging reverberated through the room once more, carrying to every corner of the wooden house.

The activity from the smithy had been ongoing for three days, and everyone had long grown accustomed to it.

It wasn't yet night; there was still over an hour before dark. The sun was shining outside. Apart from the group of Digging Realm cultivators in the mines and the nearly two hundred people busy in the smithy, most of the camp's residents were still deep in slumber.

After half an hour of continuous forging, Xia Chuan and the other four looked at the slender iron blank in their hands, a hint of excitement involuntarily appearing on their faces.

"Sir, something's happened!"

Just as Xia Chuan was preparing to forge the iron blank in one go, a person suddenly rushed in from outside, a look of urgency on their face.

"The marking stone on the third floor… it's reacting!"

"You guys continue forging, don't stop. I'll go take a look."

Xia Chuan's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He immediately dropped the grinding hammer, instructed the others, and rushed up to the third floor with that person.

The main hall on the third floor was a training ground. Many people were currently cultivating inside. Seeing Xia Chuan come up, they all saluted.

Unfortunately, Xia Chuan had no time to pay them any attention. He simply waved his hand and followed Shi Ping to the very center.

In the center of the main hall stood a half-meter-long rhomboid jade stone.

All four corners of the jade stone emitted a fluorescent glow. On the transparent mirror surface in the middle, there was a fan-shaped area. In the middle of the western side of that area, there were already thirty-plus shimmering red dots, and more were constantly appearing.

"Sir, besides cultivating, I've been watching this marking stone the whole time these past few days. Just now, just now a red dot suddenly appeared, and then every few minutes a new one would appear. Now, there are already thirty-plus, and they're still increasing!"

Tong Xingsheng's expression was somewhat puzzled. His elder brother had broken through to the Digging Realm ten days ago, which had made him extremely envious. He had originally planned to break through on the third floor in one go as well, but Xia Chuan had suddenly given him a task: to observe the changes in this rhomboid jade stone.

What changes could a jade stone have?

Although Tong Xingsheng didn't understand, he naturally still had to listen to Xia Chuan's orders. Plus, Xia Chuan's tone had been exceptionally serious when instructing him, so he had paid even more attention.

He could only cultivate while keeping an eye on the jade stone, observing any changes at any time.

Today, changes had actually occurred.

Seeing the look of horror on Xia Chuan's face at this moment, he immediately realized that the changes in this jade stone were probably related to Xia Chuan's recent urgent mining and forging.

After staring at the fan-shaped area on the rhomboid jade stone for several days, Tong Xingsheng had somewhat guessed that it probably represented the area within one kilometer of the camp's periphery.

If the fan-shaped area was the base, wouldn't the red dots represent…

Just as Tong Xingsheng's expression was changing drastically, the rhomboid jade stone actually changed again.

Below the western side, dozens of red dots suddenly appeared.

Above, they were coming too.

No, it wasn't over yet.

The red dots on the edge of the fan-shaped area continued to increase, quickly rising from over a hundred to several hundred, and there was no sign of slowing down.

Even more terrifying was that those red dots had already begun to approach the eastern side.

"Quickly notify the people in the mines, everyone return!"

"Go wake everyone up, go wake everyone up, quickly!"

Xia Chuan's expression changed drastically. He gave Tong Xingsheng an order, then turned to look at the group in the training ground and directly issued a command.

Tong Xingsheng had already faintly guessed what was happening. Upon hearing Xia Chuan's order, he immediately went downstairs.

The group in the training ground was initially somewhat stunned, but they quickly reacted, all stopped cultivating, and quickly ran downwards.

Finally, he turned his head to look at the door of Xia Hongfang's room, hesitated for a moment, took two steps forward, but ultimately gritted his teeth and stopped.

Dong, dong, dong… Dong, dong, dong…

Just at this moment, a sound of earth-shattering tremors came from the ground.

Xia Chuan suddenly looked up towards the west, in the direction of the valley outside. After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he quickly rushed downstairs.

It was daytime now, without a doubt.

The beast tide had truly arrived!

He really hadn't guessed wrong.

The strange creature in the Mirror Immortal Camp was really controlling the cold beasts to attack the base.

Despite having made ample preparations, when he thought of the hundreds upon thousands of red dots on the marking stone and felt the wooden house shaking violently at this moment,

Xia Chuan's heart still trembled uncontrollably.

"What's shaking?"

"What's going on with such a big commotion?"

"Why did they call us back from the mines during the day?"

… … … …

This commotion was truly too great. Plus, with the people from the training ground dispersing to notify everyone, most of those who had been deep in slumber quickly woke up.