It's Not Enough Just to Survive

"Brother..."

Xia Chuan rushed to speak, and accidentally used the honorific "brother" again. After receiving a glare from Xia Hong, he quickly corrected himself.

"Leader, we all agree that it should be like before. Ninety percent of the Frost Beast Meat should be distributed to us who go out hunting, and the remaining ten percent should be divided among the others. This way, we can get stronger quickly, and we'll have more prey."

Yuan Cheng, on the other side, couldn't help but chime in.

"Also, regarding the Crystal Fruit quota, two per person per day is too much. It should be restored to the old system, one per person per day. That's enough to keep them alive.

Those three Ice Vast Trees haven't borne new fruit yet. At the current rate of consumption, it will only last a little over a month. If they run out before the next harvest, it will be a big problem."

In reality, everyone wanted to restore the old system.

Xia Hong had already known this for a long time.

Including himself, there were now eight Lumbering Realm cultivators in the camp.

It wasn't far from when Xia Ding was around.

The Lumber Team had been reassembled, so the old system should logically be restored.

It wasn't just Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and the others; even his younger brother, Xia Chuan, thought so.

Xia Hong didn't answer immediately. He first surveyed everyone in the crowd before slowly speaking:

"I'll ask you a question. What are your goals, the seven of you?"

"To survive."

Xia Chuan was the first to answer.

"To survive and to ensure my mother has enough to eat."

"To survive and to let my younger brother survive as well."

"To protect my sister and survive."

Although the seven people's answers differed, their core message was almost the same: survival and protecting loved ones.

"Since that's the case, why do we need to go to such great lengths and risk our lives hunting every day when we can just go out and find Ice Vast Trees to pick Crystal Fruits?"

Xia Hong's question caught everyone off guard.

"Because you all know that only by becoming stronger can you survive, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then, when I hunted the first Snow Mane, I shouldn't have shared it with you. If I had eaten all the Frost Beast meat and blood myself, I could have gotten stronger faster and still survived, couldn't I?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions faltered. Then, one by one, shame appeared on their faces.

"My goal is to become stronger and survive, and so are yours. And theirs too."

As he said "theirs," Xia Hong extended his hand and pointed to the rest of the camp members gathered around the bonfire. He then continued:

"During this time, you've all followed me out and should have seen that Frost Beasts are far stronger than us. So, whether it's relying on me alone or on the eight of us, we can't guarantee our own survival."

Xia Hong paused and added:

"Even thirteen people aren't enough. Otherwise, my father's generation wouldn't have met with disaster, right?"

"I distributed the Frost Beast Meat to you because I knew that relying on one person's strength is far from enough to survive. So, I had hoped you would break through quickly. This way, with more people in the Lumbering Realm, our expeditions would be safer, and our lumbering and hunting yields would be greater.

The reason I'm now giving the majority of the Frost Beast Meat to the other young people in the camp is the same as my original intention: to hope that the number of Lumbering Realm cultivators in the camp will grow, and the team will become larger."

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he saw everyone lowering their heads in thought and sighed slightly.

In essence, this was a matter of benefit distribution.

From time immemorial, self-interest has moved people, especially when it concerns their very lives.

Were the rules implemented by Xia Ding before flawed?

Not really.

But it depended on the situation. At that time, the Great Xia Camp lacked the ability to hunt, so Frost Beast Meat was sporadic, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.

With more mouths to feed than meat to go around, Xia Ding could only prioritize the Lumber Team members.

Now, things were different. With the Small Torches that could attract Frost Beasts, the camp had gained the preliminary ability to hunt. While Frost Beast Meat wasn't exactly abundant, it was certainly much more plentiful than before.

If they rigidly stuck to the old system, it would not only be unpopular but also significantly slow down the camp's development.

To put it simply.

Xia Hong was now able to free himself from lumbering work. Every time they went out now, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng were responsible for the lumbering tasks, while he focused on surveying the terrain and locating Frost Beasts.

It was foreseeable that once there were enough Lumbering Realm members, the camp could split into two teams: one dedicated to hunting, and the other to lumbering. Even those who picked Crystal Fruits or scouted terrain could have their own teams.

For any organization to increase its output, it must divide labor and establish different departments, with each fulfilling its responsibilities to maximize efficiency.

This principle, which was incredibly simple in his previous life, was something Xia Hong could only patiently explain in terms they could understand.

"Frost Beasts are very powerful, but have you noticed that the more people like Yue Feng and Lin Kai break through, the higher our hunting success rate becomes? Xu Ning also broke through today, and perhaps our success rate will be even higher tomorrow.

Think about it: if we have twenty, thirty, or even forty to fifty people in the Lumbering Realm, then whether it's Snow Manes or Frost Wolves, we could overwhelm them with sheer numbers. Would we still lack Frost Beast Meat?"

This statement made Xia Chuan and the others' eyes light up.

They had all witnessed the steady improvement in hunting success rates during their time following Xia Hong out, and indeed, the more people there were, the higher the success rate.

Especially Xia Hong's later remark, "Forty to fifty people, we can even pile up and crush the Frost Beasts," made them fall into thought.

During this period, they had only encountered two types of Frost Beasts, Snow Mane and Frost Wolf. Although limited, they understood the habits and strengths of these two types of Frost Beasts in the most detail.

Snow Manes had great strength, but it was at most around ten thousand catties; Frost Wolves' advantage was speed, not great strength. According to Xia Hong, if there were truly forty to fifty people with Lumbering Realm combat power, it wouldn't be a problem to hunt these two types of Frost Beasts head-on.

"Furthermore, what I'm about to say, you all need to remember well."

Xia Hong stood up, pointed at the crowd by the bonfire, and said in a deep voice:

"You all just said you want to protect your loved ones, whether it's a younger brother, an older sister, or a mother. That's good, but I also hope you remember.

The outside world is fraught with danger, and none of us can guarantee that we'll survive every time we go out, every time we hunt.

One day, if any one of us accidentally dies, your loved ones will be among those people.

At that time, if someone proposes not to share Frost Beast Meat with them, and only let them eat one Crystal Fruit a day, would you want me to agree?"

Xia Hong deliberately emphasized his voice on the last question.

This question was like a thunderclap, and the bodies of the seven people trembled violently.

They instantly realized how selfish and foolish their thoughts had been.

Especially Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, who had just proposed the reform, lowered their heads, their faces full of shame.

"We are a whole. Since we are a whole, we cannot just think about ourselves. Frost Beast Meat is important because it can make people stronger, but if only a few people become stronger, it would be like when the previous Lumber Team was here, and you all saw the final outcome.

In front of the Grotesques, we were powerless to fight back and could only submit to slaughter.

Therefore, we must improve our overall strength. When one day everyone in the camp is in the Lumbering Realm, will we still fear Frost Beasts?

By then, even if Grotesques come, we will have the strength to fight.

Note, the 'whole' I'm referring to also includes your loved ones."

Xia Hong said these words with emotion.

After listening, the expressions on everyone's faces gradually changed from shame to determination, and their gazes towards Xia Hong became increasingly convinced.

Even, at some point, many people from around the bonfire had gathered, and upon hearing Xia Hong's words, their faces were also full of emotion.

"Our goal is to survive, which is good, but merely surviving is not enough. We want to live with dignity, with confidence.

We are humans, not creatures lurking in the shadows.

Those Frost Beasts and Grotesques are.

Sooner or later, I will make them kneel before me, before the Great Xia Camp, and tremble!"

Brothers, readership during the new book period is very important. I hope whether you're saving the book or currently reading it, please give it a click. I'd be extremely grateful. If you're enjoying it, I also hope more people will see this book. We're about to start PK, so brothers, please help out!