Upgrading the Bonfire

Chapter 31: Upgrading the Bonfire

Xia Hong knew how precious ironware was in this world.

Iron ore itself was a rare resource. In this world, even the difficulty of cutting down trees was astonishingly high, let alone rarer resources like iron ore, which was more advanced than wood.

Why did only medium-sized camps have ironware?

Because without a strong cultivator in the Earth Excavation Realm, you couldn't mine iron ore even if you found it. Moreover, coal and iron were found together. With only iron but no coal, the heat generated by burning wood was insufficient to smelt ironware.

In the Great Xia Camp over the years, only Xia Ding possessed a semi-iron Stone Axe, which was lost when Xia Ding was killed.

Furthermore, Xia Hong knew that Xia Ding's axe was exchanged for a lot of wood with an acquaintance from the Rogue Camp's hunting team.

This showed that ironware was not only rare but also strictly controlled by those medium and large camps, with strict regulations against it flowing out.

Xia Hong wasn't sure how the Big Stone Camp got their Great Sabers.

But he was certain that this Great Saber was extremely precious to them.

The first time he encountered the Big Stone Camp hunting Snow Mane, the dying person even threw the Great Saber to the Leader, which also indicated its importance.

Such a precious item, and the people of the Big Stone Camp let it be lost in the snow.

At first, Xia Hong thought that Wang Ming and the other three had privately crossed the border into Great Xia's territory and encountered something terrifying, leading to their deaths.

But he quickly realized that wasn't the case.

If that were true, others from the Big Stone Camp would definitely come looking for him.

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

However, judging by the thickness of the snow covering Wang Ming's corpse just now.

It was clear that others from the Big Stone Camp had never come looking for them.

This led to the strong possibility that the entire Lumber Team was present at the time, and Wang Ming and the other three were perhaps killed because they were slower, while the others escaped.

Moreover, those people were in a terrible state when they fled, not even bothering with the saber.

The Big Stone Camp's Lumber Team had thirteen people, including two archers. Coupled with Wang Ming's Great Saber, even with such a configuration, they were so disheveled. Recalling the strange red dots on the foreheads of the other three corpses, Xia Hong was almost certain they had encountered a Grotesque.

The group that fled either were eventually killed too, or were so terrified by that Grotesque that they didn't even have the courage to return and investigate.

Either way, Xia Hong realized he couldn't stay in the same spot any longer.

Furthermore, these four people died on Great Xia's territory.

Did this mean that the Grotesque had already taken up residence here?

This was why Xia Hong not only led everyone back to the camp but also stated that for the next period, they would neither log nor hunt.

If they encountered that Grotesque again, let alone whether they could survive, the foundation they had painstakingly accumulated during this time would likely be wiped out in minutes.

The urgency to return to the camp was mostly for safety reasons.

A smaller part was due to the Great Saber they unexpectedly found.

Xia Hong sat by the camp's bonfire, holding the Great Saber in his hand, his pupils filled with surprise.

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

The moment he touched the Great Saber in Redwood Ridge, the surprised expression on his face was because he discovered that this Great Saber, converted into iron resources in the system, was worth a staggering 60 units.

"I was thinking wrong. The trees in this world are different, so the iron is naturally different. This saber doesn't look big, but it weighs six hundred jin. No wonder they call it the Earth Excavation Realm. Even if an iron mine were placed in front of me now, I wouldn't be able to budge it with my current strength."

Xia Hong didn't have much knowledge of metal, but judging by its volume and weight, the iron in this world, like the trees, was nothing like in his previous life. It was an entirely different substance.

Six hundred jin was sixty units of iron, meaning ten jin of iron could be converted into one unit of iron resource in the system.

While obtaining iron resources in such an unexpected and fortunate way made Xia Hong happy, what excited him even more was that he could finally start using the buildings in the system.

To say the system hadn't functioned at all would be false.

After all, the small torch provided by the bonfire gave Xia Hong the ability to hunt, indirectly helping the camp train seven Lumbering Realm personnel.

But it was also true that the system hadn't changed at all for over two months.

Xia Hong was troubled, but there was nothing he could do.

He didn't lack wood; in fact, as more people entered the Lumbering Realm, the camp had an overflow. But iron, he truly didn't know where to get it.

The Big Stone Camp had it, and the Rogue Camp had even more, but he knew they wouldn't sell it to him. Even if they did, what could he trade for it?

The most crucial problem was that he didn't even know the location of the Rogue Camp.

With a system but no resources to upgrade or unlock new buildings, Xia Hong had been extremely stressed during this period.

If he hadn't seen the camp steadily improving every day, he might have really tried to find a way to obtain iron through risky means.

After much deliberation, the thing he had longed for was obtained in such a dramatic fashion. Xia Hong felt like he was dreaming.

However, business was still the priority.

Suppressing his excitement, he opened the system interface:

[Small Bonfire (Level 1) Upgrade Conditions: 200 Wood 50 Iron]

[Wooden Stake, Construction Conditions: 100 Wood 20 Iron]

There were two options: either activate the new building, Wooden Stake, or upgrade the Small Bonfire.

Wooden Stake?

Xia Hong frowned slightly. He was no stranger to this item; it was a training apparatus. This meant the building's function was most likely to aid in martial arts practice.

Of course, being a system-produced item, the Wooden Stake was surely more than just a simple training tool. But by analogy with the Small Bonfire's function, it was probably very similar.

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

The biggest hurdle in the Lumbering Realm cultivation was still Frost Beast Meat. It had little to do with martial arts practice. Moreover, his own martial arts skills were not low; he could practice on his own without any problem, and guiding others would be more than sufficient.

The Wooden Stake could wait for later.

The Small Bonfire, however, was different. Setting aside the warming function, from a functional perspective, the Small Bonfire had a suppressive and damaging effect on Grotesques, and the camp's greatest fear at the moment was that Grotesque.

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

More importantly, the bonfire required wood.

And Xia Hong currently had an excess of wood.

From both a functional and resource perspective, upgrading the Small Bonfire was clearly the wise choice.

Having made his decision, Xia Hong no longer hesitated. He looked at the bonfire in front of him and chose to upgrade the Small Bonfire.

Boom…

Suddenly, there was a loud boom.

The bonfire in the center of the cave, as if doused with oil, saw its flames, which were originally two to three meters high, instantly surge up another meter. The temperature around it also rapidly increased at a speed perceptible to the human body.

"I didn't add any firewood, why did the fire suddenly get bigger?"

"It feels warmer."

"Really, it's much warmer out here too."

Xia Hong ignored the exclamations of the camp members and instead carefully examined the attributes of the upgraded Small Bonfire.

Iron Smelting Furnace (Level 2): Can significantly increase the temperature within a hundred-meter radius by burning coal, greatly enhancing its deterrent and damaging effect on low-level Grotesques. However, it also intensifies the attraction of Frost Beasts. It can consume coal resources to smelt Ironware.

Special Function: For every 10 units of wood resources burned, one Small Torch can be generated. Its function is similar to the Small Bonfire, and it can be carried around. For every 100 units of wood burned, one unit of Fire Condensing Oil can be generated. This oil is harmless to humans, but ignites upon contact with a Grotesque, possessing extremely strong lethality against them.

Upgrade Requirements: 2000 Wood, 5000 Iron.

After reading, Xia Hong was immediately excited.