Endless Winter

The biting wind raged, and snow fell like a curtain.

Under the cloak of night, the towering trees, buried in snow, stood like unmoving white iron towers, braving the wind.

East of Redwood Ridge, outside an inconspicuous cave.

Xia Hong struck a traditional Long Fist stance, adjusted his breathing, and his eyes suddenly sharpened before he unleashed a flurry of punches.

With his 1.9-meter frame, though not exactly ripped, he was tall and sturdy. As he moved through his forms, snow swirled around him.

Suddenly, a young boy with a tender face emerged from the cave. Upon seeing Xia Hong, the boy's face clearly showed admiration.

"Brother, you're about to break through to Lumberjack Level, right?"

"Soon, probably just another month."

"Tsk, you're amazing. Father said that geniuses who break through to Lumberjack Level before eighteen have only appeared three times in the nine surrounding camps. You'll be the fourth."

Xia Hong looked up, revealing a delicate face that didn't quite match his physique.

Seeing the admiration on his brother Xia Chuan's face, Xia Hong felt pleased, but as he calmed down, he shook his head slightly.

"Breaking through to Lumberjack Level is nothing. Rogue Camp even has Earth-Piercer Level experts; they are the truly strong ones."

Hearing "Earth-Piercer Level," Xia Chuan's face immediately lit up with longing.

"Rogue Camp has five Earth-Piercer Level experts. I heard they can mine thousands of pounds of coal for the camp every day. Not only do they not need to burn wood for warmth, but they can also use coal stoves to forge sharp weapons and hunt low-level Frost Beasts with ease."

Xia Hong nodded slightly. "After all, they're a medium-sized camp with over five hundred people. Without some strength, the Frost Beasts in Redwood Ridge wouldn't let them live so comfortably."

"It's a shame Father is injured, or he would have been an Earth-Piercer Level expert by now. If our Great Xia had coal, maybe we would have become a medium-sized camp long ago."

Medium-sized camps, by generally accepted standards, had three criteria: first, a population of over five hundred; second, the mandatory presence of Earth-Piercer Level experts; and third, the ability to fend off low-level Frost Beast hordes.

The Great Xia camp currently had a population of only two hundred and thirty-nine, with thirteen Lumberjack Level combatants.

With such strength, let alone a Frost Beast horde, even a single moderately strong mid-level Frost Beast would turn everyone in the camp into food.

"Rogue Camp is too stingy. I wish they'd sell us some coal."

"Coal can not only provide heat and smelt iron, but it can also be used as currency to exchange for high-level supplies from the giant camps. Rogue Camp barely has enough for themselves, so they wouldn't be willing to sell it to us. Besides, as a small camp like ours, we don't have anything good to trade them."

More importantly, if the other camps around Redwood Ridge also had coal, Rogue Camp's safety and weapon advantage would disappear.

The safety advantage could attract population, and the weapon advantage ensured military dominance. With these two advantages, Rogue Camp was the undisputed king of the Redwood Ridge area. Selling coal to other camps would be like disarming themselves.

As a transmigrator, Xia Hong naturally saw further than Xia Chuan.

He had transmigrated here a month ago. From initial panic to his current composure, Xia Hong had experienced quite a shock.

This world was fraught with danger.

The danger didn't just come from the special species known as Frost Beasts.

It also came from the climate and all sorts of unheard-of things.

This world only had winter; there were no seasons.

Moreover, the winter temperatures here were far more terrifying than on Earth.

By Xia Hong's unprofessional estimate, the temperature at night was at least minus seventy degrees Celsius, a temperature no normal human could survive.

Even more absurdly, daytime was colder than night.

Not to mention normal humans, even the ordinary people of this world would freeze to death during the day without protection against the cold.

Fortunately, daytime only lasted for four hours, so humans were almost exclusively active at night. This was why Xia Hong was practicing martial arts outdoors under the cover of darkness.

And because daytime was colder, Frost Beasts were more active and their temperaments were more violent, their strength increasing by several tenths compared to nighttime.

Therefore, humans, whether hunting or searching for supplies, basically chose to venture out at night.

Transmigrating to such a dangerous, perpetually winter world, anyone else would have collapsed long ago.

But Xia Hong not only accepted it quickly but was even excited deep down.

Because before his transmigration, he had been diagnosed with ALS.

Xia Hong came from a martial arts family. Orphaned at a young age, he had practiced martial arts for fitness since childhood and maintained a much more regular lifestyle than ordinary people.

But fate had played its cruelest trick, giving him this incurable disease.

In his final days, Xia Hong stopped practicing martial arts and, while his hands could still move, he spent his time immersed in mobile games until he was bedridden.

Confirming that he would soon be unable to move, he chose a bright, sunny day and ended his own life.

As a result, he arrived in this world and became the current Xia Hong.

Although this world was full of dangers, he had, after all, been given a second life. He was already incredibly grateful, and on top of that, fate had bestowed upon him such a strong and young body.

1.91 meters tall, weighing over ninety kilograms, with a narrow waist, ape-like arms, and only just over sixteen years old.

According to online descriptions from his previous life, this body was a perfect "martial arts saint body."

When he first transmigrated, although this body was young and healthy, its strength was at most around two thousand jin.

But the strength of the legendary Earth boxer Tyson from his previous life was only eight hundred kilograms, which translated to one thousand six hundred jin.

Xia Hong was initially puzzled and thought he was very strong.

It wasn't until he witnessed an adult woman in the camp casually lift a tree weighing five to six hundred kilograms that he finally understood:

In this world, everyone was a peak-tier Tyson.

It made sense, really. Humans were products of their environment.

With such harsh, extreme cold, if people didn't evolve along with it, they simply wouldn't survive.

Realizing his own weakness, Xia Hong certainly didn't dare to slack off.

The martial arts from his previous life were useful here.

For practicality, he chose a set of Ancestral Long Fist. In just one month, combined with the flesh and blood of Frost Beasts, his strength had increased to four thousand jin. According to his father, Xia Ding, he was close to the Lumberjack Level threshold of five thousand jin.

"With Lumberjack Level strength, I can join the lumberjack team. At least then I can get a look at the world outside the camp."

If this were his previous life, a strength of five thousand jin would undoubtedly make him a superhero.

But in this world, it merely meant he could go chop down trees.

That's right, Lumberjack Level, it meant exactly what it said.

At this level, you could go—chop trees!

"Brother, Father's back!"

Suddenly, Xia Chuan pointed towards the Redwood Ridge forest and shouted.

Xia Hong looked up and saw a group of twelve people rapidly emerging from the depths of the forest. They were divided into six pairs, two people per pair, carrying a towering tree about twenty meters long, one pair after another.

Once the six pairs and their six trees fully emerged from the forest, and a sturdy figure appeared at the very back, smiles finally graced the faces of Xia Hong and Xia Chuan.

According to his father, Xia Ding, every outing was a life-or-death struggle.

Not only did they return safely, but not a single person was lost. It was definitely something worth celebrating.

However, as the thirteen members of the lumberjack team drew closer, Xia Hong and Xia Chuan noticed that the faces of the group were not only devoid of joy but were instead filled with solemnity and unease.

The two hurried to meet them, and Xia Hong asked directly.

"Father, what's wrong?"

"How much longer until dawn?"

Xia Ding's voice carried a clear, forced calmness, indicating he was internally terrified.

But Xia Hong quickly looked up at the sky. After observing the position of the bright moon, he gave his answer.

"It should only be about fifteen minutes left."

"Quick, quick, get into the camp! Tell them to put out the bonfires. No fires allowed."

Xia Hong's pupils dilated upon hearing this, his face filled with confusion.

"Father, putting out the bonfires during the day will freeze people to death in the camp."

Daytime was colder than nighttime. Even hiding in a cave without the warmth of a bonfire would surely kill people.

Xia Ding was the leader of the camp; he understood these things better than anyone. Why would he suddenly say something like this?

"That Grotesque from Redwood Ridge has come out!"

PS: A new book begins. Humble author, greedily asking for collections, comments, and everything else!