Attempting Hunt

Why was Big Stone Camp so certain that the snow mane had been picked up as a stray by Great Xia?

The reason was very simple, because the camps around Redwood Ridge were all far too weak.

The only one that could truly hunt steadily and obtain frost beast meat was the Rogue Camp, which boasted five Earth-Piercer Level powerhouses.

As for the other camps, if they wanted frost beast meat, apart from trading a large amount of wood, crystal fruits, or other scarce resources with the Rogue Camp, they could only rely on luck.

So-called luck, to put it bluntly, meant picking up frost beast carcasses in the woods.

Frost beasts loved eating living prey, and generally stopped once they defeated another frost beast and ate it until it died, so there was a high probability of making a harvest as long as one happened to bump into one.

Yet how many such opportunities were there?

Perhaps deep inside Redwood Ridge there were many frost beast carcasses, but the problem was that they dared not venture in; on the outer perimeter, being able to pick one up once or twice a year was considered a stroke of incredible fortune.

Furthermore, having been neighbors for many years and being a small camp themselves, the other camps knew very well what Great Xia was capable of.

Generally speaking, the limited frost beast meat definitely had to be supplied to the members of the Lumber Team first, and only the surplus would be given to the younger generation.

Therefore, without a doubt, that snow mane must have been scavenged by Great Xia.

Xia Hong was naturally unaware of the grudge harbored by Big Stone Camp.

Ever since driving the other party away that night and taking Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng to cut down one tree each, the camp entered a relatively peaceful period of development in the days that followed.

As the three men went out regularly every night, the camp's reserves of wood and crystal fruits rose at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The crystal fruits surged all the way from 7,000 catties to 12,000 catties.

Calculated based on the 154 people in the camp at one catty per person per day, even if they did not go out, these crystal fruits would be enough to last for over two months.

As for the wood, it rose from 87 units to 210 units.

Both food and heating were now guaranteed.

The vitality of the camp naturally recovered slowly as well.

Although they still had to seal the cave entrance at night, at least they no longer had to suffer from hunger and cold.

However, while everyone else was happy, Xia Hong knew very well that the camp had merely recovered to the state it was in before the Lumber Team met with disaster.

When Xia Ding was still around, the camp was never short of crystal fruits and wood.

For a small camp like Great Xia, the scarcest resource was frost beast meat.

Without frost beast meat, it was impossible to practice cultivation and grow stronger.

Maintaining the current status quo would ultimately lead to either being discovered by frost beasts or tracked down by strange entities, causing a repeat of past events.

Besides, crystal fruits were not inexhaustible; the crystal fruits on the three Ice Vast Trees had already been picked by them, and nobody knew when the next ripening would be.

In case the existing crystal fruits were eaten up before those three trees bore fruit again, they would go hungry once more, and might even starve to death without crystal fruits as their sole source of food.

Redwood Ridge certainly had more than just those three Ice Vast Trees.

Xia Hong believed that deeper within the dense forest there were definitely thicker, larger Ice Vast Trees that bore more fruit, but the problem was that he simply dared not go in.

Thus, the crux of the matter still lay in frost beast meat.

The thirty catties of frost beast meat belonging to Yue Feng and the other four had already been used up.

All five of them had made great progress, but they were still a long way from breaking through the Lumbering Realm.

Xia Hong's own hundred catties of frost beast meat had also run out.

Although his strength had increased quite a bit, he was still far from the Earth-Piercer Level.

If I cannot continue to grow stronger, let alone upgrading the Small Bonfire, I won't be able to produce a single one of the many other buildings in the system.

We must find a way to hunt, even if we have to take some risks; it is worth it!

The Camp System still only had a Small Bonfire, and upgrading the Small Bonfire from level one to level two required 200 wood and 50 iron.

Wood was certainly not in short supply now.

As for resources like iron, without strength, even making contact with them was pure fantasy.

"Chuan, Cheng, when we go out tonight, we will attempt a hunt!"

On the eve of nightfall, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, who were preparing to head out, opened their eyes wide with excitement upon hearing Xia Hong's words.

In reality, during their many previous outings, the two men had already seen frost beasts.

Naturally, these were frost beasts sleeping flat on trees.

The two had previously mentioned several times that they wanted to try hunting a frost beast, but Xia Hong had rejected them all on the grounds that frost beasts possessed too much strength.

Now, Xia Hong had actually taken the initiative to propose attempting a hunt.

"Don't get excited so early. I told you before that frost beasts are very strong, so this time it is only an attempt. Just like before, you must listen to me when we are outside. Great Xia currently only has the two of you as Lumbering Realm battle strength, and I don't want either of you to get into trouble. Understand?"

The two could naturally hear the seriousness in Xia Hong's tone, and nodded heavily in a hurry.

After giving his instructions to the two, Xia Hong retrieved two Small Torches from behind him and handed one to each.

The two men took the torches, their eyes instantly lighting up as they vaguely understood something.

"Leader, you mean to use the torches to attract frost beasts like before, making them kill each other so we can reap the fisherman's profit, right?"

Xia Hong had long since told the two men about the function of the Small Torch.

That Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng reacted so quickly was also within Xia Hong's expectations.

"Yes, so I call it an attempt—it depends entirely on luck!"

Xia Hong felt somewhat helpless in his heart; using a Small Torch to attract frost beasts was actually somewhat wasteful of a heavenly treasure.

The function of the Small Torch, just like the Small Bonfire, was to deter and inflict damage upon strange entities.

To put it in layman's terms, the Small Torch should belong to a high-grade item, as could be seen from the frost beasts' obsession with it.

Alas, the strength of Great Xia Camp was currently too weak, making it impossible to even touch—let alone dare to touch—creatures like strange entities, so they could only use it to lure frost beasts.

Moreover, it was useless to lure just one frost beast.

They absolutely had to lure two, and furthermore make them fight to the death.

And even after the fight ended, one of them had to fall or sustain heavy injuries.

Only then would it be possible for them to harvest prey.

A hunting method like this had conditions that were too harsh, dooming its efficiency to be extremely low.

Yet this was the only method Xia Hong could think of at present.

It was a helpless measure born of having no other choice!

As night fell, Xia Hong led the two men and quickly moved toward Redwood Ridge.

After all, this area within the sphere of influence of Great Xia Camp was only five or six hundred meters wide.

Over so many days, the three of them had long since figured it out completely.

Generally speaking, frost beasts were not numerous on the outer perimeter; the total number of frost beasts they had identified and witnessed with their own eyes was only four.

There were two snow manes, one frost wolf, and another that resembled a goat, which Xia Hong did not recognize and did not remember Xia Ding ever mentioning.

"The strength of that goat is unclear, so we won't touch it for now. Based on the situation last time, the frost wolf and the snow mane are comparable in strength, so this time our target will still be focused on these two."

Locating the respective trees where the snow mane and frost wolf were entrenched, Xia Hong found a spot between the two, planted the torch into the ground first, and then had Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan dig snow pits fifty meters away from the torch.

Just like last time, after lighting the torch, the three of them quickly dispersed, hiding in their respective snow pits and quietly observing the torch.

Xia Hong was still somewhat nervous, since the situation was different.

The snow mane last time was a juvenile, and moreover in a blinded, heavily injured state.

This time was different.

They had observed previously that the snow mane and frost wolf in these two trees were both of adult size, and coupled with their prime condition, he had no idea what kind of situation a fight between them would present.

In stark contrast to him, Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan were not nervous at all; instead, their eyes exposed above the snow were filled with excitement.

After all, this was the first time for both of them to see a frost beast.

Though what the three of them thought in their hearts differed, time nonetheless kept flowing.

The efficacy of the torch truly did not fail Xia Hong's expectations.

Barely two minutes after it was lit.

From the western side, a muffled and heavy sound of beast hooves drifted over.

Thud... thud... thud...