Artisan, Nightmare, Fierce, Divine, Demon

What would a camp with over a hundred thousand people look like?

In reality, Luo Ming, Shi Qing, and the other seven couldn't even imagine it.

But they were all leaders, each managing a camp of several hundred people.

They knew very well what a camp exceeding one hundred thousand people meant.

Vast amounts of food, extremely high security costs, countless Frost Beast meats and blood...

"Wait, with over a hundred thousand people, could they even find a cave this large?"

Shi Qing couldn't help but ask his biggest question.

Humans can't stand the light, so a hundred thousand people would have to hide somewhere.

Could they find a cave this big?

Summer insects cannot speak of ice, frogs in wells cannot speak of the sea.

Yang Ning and Li Hu both had these phrases pop into their minds, and they shook their heads slightly.

"Not all humans can only live in the shadows. If any of you are fortunate enough to gain entry to North Shuo Town one day, you'll understand."

After Yang Ning finished speaking, he paused, then continued to himself, "Of course, for the few of you, this possibility is basically zero."

Hearing this, Luo Ming and Shi Qing's expressions immediately dimmed considerably.

Compared to Shi Qing, Luo Ming understood Yang Ning's words better.

Rogue Camp was the only medium-sized camp around Redwood Ridge.

The other eight camps had all approached him before, wanting to merge.

But he didn't dare to accept them, or rather, he couldn't.

Although he also understood that the more people a camp had, the better.

But expansion was predicated on strength.

Strength meant being able to acquire more resources, support more people, hunt more Frost Beast meat and blood, and provide more people with cultivation.

Unfortunately, Rogue Camp's strength was nowhere near enough to support its expansion.

Rogue Camp had a total of five Earth Excavation Realm cultivators and forty-seven Lumbering Realm cultivators. The Frost Beast meat and blood they brought in each month was barely enough to sustain their own people. If they allowed other small camps to merge, there simply wouldn't be enough Frost Beast meat.

Moreover, once merged, it would mean more ordinary people, and the demand for Crystal Fruit would rapidly increase. They would have to increase their frequency of expeditions to find more Ice Vast Trees, and this process was also risky.

Most importantly, the strongest individuals in the smaller camps were only at the Lumbering Realm. They possessed no hunting capabilities. This meant that their addition would not only fail to improve hunting capabilities but would also strain the camp's existing Frost Beast meat supply.

Therefore, when other camps proposed merging, it wasn't just Luo Ming himself; almost everyone in Rogue Camp refused.

So, the rule was that one must have sufficient strength to expand, and then utilize the population advantage to cultivate more powerhouses, repeating this cycle to make the camp stronger and larger.

Blind expansion would only lead to the camp becoming unwieldy and eventually, even if not slaughtered by Frost Beasts and Grotesques, it would be highly likely to erupt in internal strife and self-destruction.

Thus, by extension, even though the North朔 Town mentioned by Yang and Li had a population of over a hundred thousand, they absolutely would not haphazardly absorb external personnel. The "qualification" they mentioned was likely extremely stringent.

Shi Qing didn't even need to consider it. Even though Luo Ming had Earth Excavation Realm strength, Yang and Li were so much stronger than him at such a young age. The strength of North Shuo Town was evident, and they likely wouldn't think much of him.

Moreover, they were both leaders of their respective camps.

They couldn't abandon their families and companions to join other camps alone.

"Alright, it's no use telling you all this. Leader Luo, didn't you just ask about that Wood Puppet Grotesque? I'll explain it to you."

Upon hearing Yang Ning about to discuss Grotesques, Luo Ming and Shi Qing immediately perked up their ears.

"A long, long time ago, the Ice Abyss wasn't like it is today.

Back then, not only were there twelve hours of daylight, but the temperature wasn't as low as it is now.

Among the Frost Beasts, the vast majority weren't as cunning and powerful as they are now. Let alone eating people, back then, almost ninety-nine percent of Frost Beasts were just food for us humans.

And those Grotesques, they didn't exist before.

During that period, humans could move around freely, whether it was day or night.

Legends say that the Ice Abyss had alternating seasons, cycles of cold and heat, and a pleasant climate; back then, humans controlled all sorts of powerful tools and were the undisputed overlords of the Ice Abyss; back then, the land was fertile, and crops could be grown everywhere, with more food than could be eaten; back then...

With perfect living conditions, humans lived and worked in peace, and civilization flourished.

During that period, let alone a hundred thousand people, there were many large settlements with millions, even tens of millions, of people."

Hearing Yang Ning's description, Luo Ming, Shi Qing, and the others were stunned.

Millions, tens of millions – they had no concept of such numbers.

Day and night, moving freely – these eight words alone were like a dream to them.

Ninety-nine percent of Frost Beasts were just human food?

Perfect living conditions, living and working in peace, flourishing civilization.

What kind of dreamlike scene would that be?

It's difficult for people to imagine things they've never seen or experienced, but that doesn't diminish their yearning and pursuit of beauty.

To Luo Ming, Shi Qing, and the others, the world Yang Ning described was no different from a celestial palace or paradise.

"Corresponding to today's Ice Abyss World, we generally refer to that period as the Ancient Abyss Era, or Prehistoric Civilization.

No one knows what happened during the Ancient Abyss Era, what the Prehistoric Civilization encountered, or how our world became what it is today.

Some say humanity angered the gods, and the gods brought divine punishment upon the abyss; others say it was because humans themselves did too many things they shouldn't have, leading to the appearance of Frost Beasts and Grotesques, and finally, the climate and time all changed. The specific reasons are unknown.

But what is certain is that after the Ancient Abyss Era passed and civilization fell, Grotesques and Frost Beasts became humanity's nightmare."

Although this long passage was merely setup, Yang Ning spoke with great emotion.

Clearly, even he harbored a strong longing for the Ancient Abyss Era, a time he had never experienced.

"No one is clear on how Grotesques came to be, but it's certain they all originated from the Ancient Abyss Era, because only from them can we find evidence of the Ancient Abyss Era's existence.

Grotesques are divided into five types: Artisan, Nightmare, Fierce, Divine, and Demon.

And the Artisan Grotesque is one of them. They are all transformed from skilled professional craftsmen of the Ancient Abyss Era. Their methods of killing are bizarre and unpredictable.

This Wood Puppet Grotesque that emerged from Redwood Ridge, for example, should be a puppet craftsman from the Ancient Abyss Era. He was skilled at making and controlling various puppets, and preferred carving wooden puppets in human form to imitate humans and gain trust, while he hid in the shadows controlling the puppets to kill people."

At this point, Yang Ning paused and added, "All Grotesques evolve by continuously killing.

Using this Wood Puppet Grotesque as an example, the puppets it creates now can only exert the strength of the Lumbering Realm. But as it kills more and more people, its own strength, and the strength of the puppets it creates, will grow stronger.

North朔 Town once hunted a mid-level Artisan Grotesque, which we named the Tailor Grotesque.

It had a pair of scissors that could instantly cut dozens of people in the Earth Excavation Realm into pieces;

It also had a set of needles and thread, and in front of me, it once sewed up all seven orifices of a Cold Resistance Level expert.

Then, after a short while, that Cold Resistance Level expert suffocated to death."

Cold Resistance Level...

Hearing these three words for the first time, Luo Ming and Shi Qing, despite having some guesses, still showed confusion on their faces.

"Above the Earth Excavation Realm is the Cold Resistance Level. It's called that because once people reach this realm, they can withstand the severe cold of the day and move about outside."