Upgrading the Bonfire

Xia Hong knew how precious ironware was in this world.

Iron ore itself was a rare resource. In this world, even cutting down trees was astonishingly difficult, let alone mining iron ore, which was a tier above wood.

Why was it that only medium-sized camps possessed ironware?

Because without a powerhouse of the Earth Excavation Realm, even if you discovered iron ore, you could not mine it. Besides, coal and iron went hand in hand. With iron but no coal, the heat produced by burning wood was simply insufficient to smelt ironware.

Over all these years, Great Xia Camp had only possessed one half-iron Stone Axe, which Xia Ding had lost along with his life.

Xia Hong also knew that Xia Ding had exchanged a great deal of wood for that axe with an acquaintance in Rogue Camp's Hunting Team.

That alone showed that ironware was not only rare, but also tightly controlled by the medium- and large-sized camps, which forbade it from flowing outside their territory.

Xia Hong had no idea where Great Stone Camp's Great Saber had come from.

But he could be certain that this Great Saber was unimaginably precious to them.

When they had first encountered Great Stone Camp hunting Snow Mane, the man had thrown the Great Saber to the leader with his dying breath. That alone made it clear.

Yet something so precious had actually been left behind in the snow by the people of Great Stone Camp.

At first, Xia Hong had assumed that Wang Ming and the other three had crossed the boundary into Great Xia's territory on their own, encountered something terrifying, and all died.

But he immediately realized that this was not the case.

If that had truly been what happened, the others from Great Stone Camp would definitely have come looking for them.

Even if not for Wang Ming, they would have done so for the saber.

Yet judging from the thickness of the snow that had just covered Wang Ming's corpse,

the others from Great Stone Camp had clearly never come looking for them.

That meant it was highly likely that the entire Lumber Team had been there at the time. The four of them had perhaps been too slow and were killed, while the others fled.

And those people had fled in utter disarray, not even having the presence of mind to take the saber.

Great Stone Camp's Lumber Team had thirteen people, including two archers. Add Wang Ming's Great Saber to the equation—if even such a lineup had ended up in such a sorry state, and considering the strange red dots between the brows of the other three corpses, Xia Hong could almost conclude that they had definitely encountered a ghostly monster.

Those who escaped had either been killed in the end as well, or had been scared witless by that ghostly monster, to the point that they lacked even the courage to return and investigate.

Either way, Xia Hong realized that they could not stay there any longer.

Moreover, these four had died on Great Xia's side of the territory.

Did that mean the ghostly monster had already taken up residence here?

That was why Xia Hong had not only led everyone back to camp, but had also said that they would neither cut wood nor hunt for some time.

If they encountered that ghostly monster again, never mind whether they could keep their lives—the foundation they had painstakingly accumulated during this period might vanish into thin air in the blink of an eye.

The haste with which they returned to camp was mostly out of concern for their safety.

But a small part of it was also because of this Great Saber they had found by accident.

Xia Hong sat beside the campfire, gripping the Great Saber in his hand, his pupils brimming with delight.

Resources: Wood 670 Coal 0 Iron 60 Silver 0 Gold 0

Just now, over at Redwood Ridge, the reason his face had lit up with delight the moment he touched the Great Saber was that he had discovered it was worth a full sixty units of iron when converted into the system's iron resources.

"I was thinking about it the wrong way. The trees in this world are different, so naturally the iron is different too. This saber doesn't look large, yet it weighs six hundred jin. No wonder they call it the Earth Excavation Realm. If an entire iron mine were placed before me now, with my current strength, I wouldn't be able to budge it in the slightest."

Xia Hong did not know much about metals, but judging from its volume and weight, the iron in this world was like its trees—it had nothing whatsoever to do with the iron from his previous life. It was an entirely different substance.

Six hundred jin amounted to sixty units of iron. In other words, ten jin of iron could be converted into one unit of iron resources in the system.

Obtaining iron resources for the first time in such an unexpected and fortunate manner naturally made Xia Hong happy. But what excited him even more was that he could finally make changes to the buildings in the system.

To say that the system had not been useful would have been a lie.

After all, the Small Torch produced by the bonfire alone had given Xia Hong the ability to hunt, indirectly helping the camp nurture seven people of the Lumbering Realm.

But it was also a fact that the system had not changed at all for more than two months.

Xia Hong had been troubled by it, but there was nothing he could do.

He no longer lacked wood. In fact, as more and more people entered the Lumbering Realm, the camp was already overflowing with it. But when it came to iron, he genuinely had no idea where to get any.

Great Stone Camp had it, and Rogue Camp had even more. But it did not take much thought to know they would not sell it to him. Even if they did, what could he possibly offer in exchange?

Most importantly, he did not even know where Rogue Camp was located.

He possessed the system but lacked resources, leaving him unable to upgrade or unlock new buildings. Xia Hong's head had nearly split from worrying about it these past few days.

If he had not seen the camp improving steadily every day, he might truly have tried to obtain iron at the risk of his life.

The thing he had racked his brains over and dreamed of obtaining had come into his hands in such a theatrical fashion. Xia Hong now felt as though he were dreaming.

However, business came first.

Suppressing his excitement, he opened the system interface:

Small Bonfire (Level 1) Upgrade Requirements: 200 Wood 50 Iron

Wooden Stake, Construction Requirements: 100 Wood 20 Iron

He had two choices: unlock the new Wooden Stake building or upgrade the Small Bonfire.

The Wooden Stake?

Xia Hong furrowed his brows slightly. He was not unfamiliar with the thing. It was a piece of equipment used for martial arts training, which meant that this building's function was most likely to assist with martial arts practice.

Of course, something produced by the system would certainly be more than just a martial arts training tool. But extrapolating from the Small Bonfire's functions, it should be more or less as he expected.

Xia Hong shook his head and quickly abandoned the idea of building the Wooden Stake.

The greatest difficulty in reaching the Lumbering Realm still lay in Frost Beast Meat, and it actually had little to do with martial arts training. Besides, his own martial arts attainments were not low. Training himself was no problem, and instructing others was more than within his ability.

The Wooden Stake could wait.

The Small Bonfire, however, was different. Setting aside warmth, its functions showed that it could suppress and damage ghostly monsters, and the thing the camp feared most right now was precisely that ghostly monster.

The torches produced by the Small Bonfire could also help the camp hunt.

More importantly, the bonfire required wood.

And Xia Hong currently had an excess of wood on hand.

Whether from the perspective of function or resources, upgrading the Small Bonfire was clearly the wiser choice.

Having made his decision, Xia Hong no longer hesitated. He looked at the campfire before him and chose to upgrade the Small Bonfire.

Boom...

Suddenly, a thunderous boom rang out.

The bonfire in the middle of the cave seemed to have been doused with oil. Its originally two- or three-meter-high flames instantly surged another meter upward, while the temperature all around rose rapidly at a speed perceptible to the human body.

"Why did the fire suddenly get bigger? We didn't add any firewood!"

"It seems warmer now."

"Really. It's much warmer even over here."

Xia Hong ignored the camp's startled cries and carefully examined the Small Bonfire's upgraded attributes.

Iron Smelting Furnace (Level 2): By burning coal, it can greatly raise the temperature within a hundred meters and greatly increase its deterrent and damaging effects against low-level ghostly monsters. However, it also attracts Frost Beasts more strongly. Coal resources can be consumed to smelt ironware.

Special Function: For every 10 units of wood resources burned, one Small Torch can be generated. Its function is similar to that of the Small Bonfire, and it can be carried.

For every 100 units of wood burned, one portion of Fire Condensing Oil can be generated. This oil is harmless to humans, but ignites upon contact with a ghostly monster and deals extremely powerful damage to them.

Upgrade Requirements: 2,000 Wood 5,000 Iron

After reading it, Xia Hong was instantly overwhelmed with excitement.