Rapid Progress

Ice Abyss, Ancient Abyss Era, Prehistoric Civilization, Mo'ao Mountain Range, Nine Human Towns, Five Types of Grotesques, Frost Resistance Level Expert...

Limited by their strength, Luo Ming, Shi Qing, and the others had lived in Redwood Ridge for decades, never venturing outside and having zero opportunity to communicate with the outside world.

Yang Ning's words undoubtedly opened their eyes to a brand-new world.

Yet at the same time, it stirred up even greater dread.

All five types of Grotesques instinctively underwent self-evolution through killing humans.

An intermediate Artisan Grotesque was something even a Cold Resistance Level expert could not stop.

If that escaped Wood Puppet Grotesque were truly allowed to evolve to the intermediate stage, not a single human life would remain around Redwood Ridge, and all of them would undoubtedly die.

Luo Ming's expression flickered with uncertainty as he stopped in his tracks for a long while before finally gritting his teeth, dropping directly to his knees before the two men from Yang Ning's party, and pleading in a trembling tone:

"My lords, relying solely on the camps around Redwood Ridge to deal with that Grotesque is utterly impossible. We humbly beg your lordships, out of the kindness of your hearts as fellow humans, to show mercy and help us! As long as that Grotesque can be slain, whatever my lords desire, provided we can produce it, is open for discussion!"

Seeing this, Shi Qing beside him realized that Luo Ming was seeking a path of survival for every camp surrounding Redwood Ridge, and immediately dropped to his knees as well, followed by the four men behind him.

Hearing everyone's plea, the two men exchanged a glance, simultaneous smiles appearing on both of their faces.

Yet the smiles vanished almost as quickly as they arose.

Then Yang Ning stepped forward, first hauling Luo Ming to his feet:

"To keep nothing from you, Leader Luo, Li Hu and I are scouts from the Imperial Army of North Shuò Town. We came out this time under orders to map the vicinity of North Shuò, and only ended up in Redwood Ridge by pure coincidence.

As fellow humans, running into this is fate, and we will not stand idly by.

However, you saw that Wood Puppet Grotesque just now yourselves—not only is it powerful, it is also craftily cunning. Unless we devise a foolproof strategy, eliminating it is virtually impossible. So if you want our help, we can, but you must first agree to a condition of mine!"

"As long as that Grotesque is destroyed, I agree to any condition."

"Good, Leader Luo is a straightforward man, so I will speak plainly. During this period, your Rog Camp and all surrounding camps must take commands from the two of us. How about it?"

Luo Ming's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged as he quickly replied:

"I can vouch for Rog Camp, but the other camps..."

Saying this, he turned his head to look at Shi Qing.

Shi Qing, having already weighed the pros and cons upon hearing Yang Ning's demand just moments ago, saw Luo Ming looking at him and hastily nodded. "Big Stone Camp has no problem either. If that Grotesque isn't wiped out, none of us will survive."

Luo Ming gave Shi Qing a grateful look, then turned back to Yang Ning to continue: "Aside from our two factions, there are five other camps. When the time comes, I will visit them one by one. I believe that once I lay out the gravity of the situation, they won't refuse."

"Leader Luo, it should be four!"

Hearing Shi Qing's words, Luo Ming froze in surprise.

There had originally been a total of nine camps around Redwood Ridge. Not long ago, Tie Feng's and Shenju Camp's factions were wiped out by that Wood Puppet Grotesque, leaving seven. Subtracting their own two factions, it should have been five.

Shi Qing stretched out a hand, pointing toward the corpses lying not far away on the ground.

Luo Ming saw those corpses on the ground and understood instantly.

"It is four. Great Xia must have fallen victim to that Grotesque as well!"

Every lumber team member of Great Xia Camp had been turned into a puppet, and even Xia Ding had failed to escape, making it virtually certain that they had been completely annihilated.

Seeing that they had achieved their goal, the two men nodded as well. "Since that is the case, there is no time to waste. Leader Luo, hurry and notify the other four camps over the next few days, telling them to come to Rog Camp to take orders first. Organize everyone in the Lumbering Realm into patrol squads, and ten days from now, we begin searching the forest for the Grotesque's whereabouts."

Luo Ming nodded in compliance, inviting the two men back to rest at Rog Camp first.

Shi Qing needed to return to his own camp to arrange matters and confirm with Rog that they would rendezvous at Redwood Ridge in three days, so he led his men back first.

The conclusion reached by Luo Ming and Shi Qing that Great Xia Camp had already been wiped out was not without basis.

Small camps lacked the capacity for hunting, and to survive, they required two things: Crystal Fruit and timber, neither of which could be spared.

To be precise, timber was actually more important than Crystal Fruit.

Without Crystal Fruit, you could go hungry and endure for a few days.

Yet if the timber ran out, forget the daytime—you wouldn't even survive the night.

Thus, the importance of the lumber team was self-evident. Xia Ding and every single member of his lumber team were dead; therefore, even if the people of Great Xia Camp had not perished at the hands of Grotesques, they were presumably frozen to death long ago.

Naturally, the only variable the two men failed to calculate was Xia Hong.

Great Xia Camp had not only avoided destruction, but was actually thriving even better than before.

Compared to their previous state, describing it as rapid progress was hardly an exaggeration.

"Leader, I've broken through too!"

Returning empty-handed on this night, Xia Hong's mood had originally been less than stellar.

Yet the moment he stepped inside the cave, he heard a piece of great news.

Xu Ning had also broken through.

Aside from Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and himself, among the initial batch of five who had been allocated Frost Beast Meat, Xu Ning was the last to break through.

Watching Xu Ning's excited expression, Xia Hong patted him on the shoulder, smiling as he said, "You finally don't have to wear that bitter face anymore. All right, starting tomorrow, you can come out with me too!"

Yue Feng, Lin Kai, and the others standing behind Xia Hong burst into loud laughter at the words.

Xu Ning felt a bit self-conscious from the teasing, his face flushing crimson.

There was no helping it; among the five of them, Yue Feng had broken through first, followed by Lin Kai, Qiu Peng, and Lu Yang.

Seeing that his peers in the same batch had already ventured out with Xia Hong, managing to chop down a tree every night while occasionally bringing back a piece of prey, yet remaining unable to break through himself, naturally made him anxious inside. Consequently, for several days straight, he had indeed worn a miserable expression, knowing only how to cultivate.

"Leader, I'm just embarrassed. Eating the Frost Beast Meat you all risked your lives to bring back day after day—failing to help was one thing, but failing to break through even the Lumbering Realm meant I was just a freeloader and a burden.

Fortunately, I've broken through now and can finally pitch in."

Hearing this, Xia Hong furrowed his brow slightly.

"Do you mean that apart from the eight of us on the lumber team, anyone else in the camp who hasn't broken through the Lumbering Realm is a freeloader and a burden?"

Hearing the question, Xu Ning froze for a moment.

Without waiting for his answer, Xia Hong turned his gaze to Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and the others standing behind him, pressing further: "Is that what you all think as well?"

Everyone could detect the displeasure in Xia Hong's tone, so after exchanging a few glances, no one spoke, answering the question solely with silence.

It wasn't just that they thought this way.

Rather, everyone in every camp thought this way.

Ordinary people who failed to break through to the Lumbering Realm could not venture outside, nor could they acquire a single shred of resources for the camp, while continually consuming the Crystal Fruit and timber the others brought back. If they weren't burdens, what were they?

Even now, a portion of the Frost Beast Meat they brought back was being divided away as well.

Ever since Xia Hong had successfully hunted using the Small Torch last time and subsequently repeated the trick four more times—accounting for three Snow Manes and one Frost Wolf, totaling nearly five thousand catties of Frost Beast flesh—

Xia Hong still hadn't changed the camp's meat distribution rule, continuing to divide it according to the previous three-five-two ratio. This had already begun to foster some resentment in their hearts.

The silence of the crowd was deafening.

Xia Hong understood what they were thinking.

He had originally intended to resolve this issue over the past couple of days, and since the present moment offered a fine opportunity, he naturally had no intention of letting it slip by.

"Chuan, you told me a few days ago that it was time to change the meat distribution rules. Tell me now, how do you want to divide it?"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and several others realized that Xia Hong might be about to revise the meat distribution rules, and their eyes instantly lit up.