Ice Crystal, Crimson Frost, Golden Scale

Great Xia Camp had finally produced another Lumberjack Level fighter.

Everyone's mood brightened considerably.

Xia Hong's mood went without saying. He had originally thought it would take more than ten days, yet he had broken through in eight. It showed just how much potential this body possessed.

Night was about to fall, and Xia Hong did not dawdle. He walked to the bonfire and, amid everyone's astonished gazes, pulled out a charred stick from within.

The stick was black from end to end, about half a meter long, thin at the bottom and thick at the top. The very tip of its thicker end was actually white.

Small Torch: One can be generated for every 10 units of wood burned by a bonfire. It can be carried on one's person and functions similarly to a Small Bonfire.

The Small Bonfire's special function had produced one after they had spent eight days in the cave. Though they had been frugal with the wood, they had still burned a total of thirteen units.

Since he was going out, he naturally had to make thorough preparations.

It functioned similarly to the Small Bonfire, which meant it could likewise deter and harm strange monsters. At the same time, however, it would also attract Frost Beasts.

Night soon fell.

Xia Hong tied the torch to his back with rope, tucked two Hand Axes into his belt, then pulled out a roughly three-meter-long wooden pole from one side of the camp wall.

He peered through a finger-width crack in the entrance and confirmed that the sky had completely darkened. Then Xia Hong turned back and gave Xia Chuan one final set of instructions.

"Remember the signal I told you. I'll definitely be back before dawn. Once I leave, seal the entrance immediately. If anyone comes, and they can't answer the signal, then no matter who they are, don't expose yourselves. Understand?"

The slaughter had happened only eight days ago, and Xia Chuan still remembered it vividly. Naturally, he understood the importance of Xia Hong's instructions and nodded heavily.

Xia Hong said no more. He tore open a gap and slipped straight outside.

Xia Chuan quickly sealed the entrance behind him, but through the final sliver of space, as he watched Xia Hong's departing figure, a trace of worry still surfaced in his eyes.

No one knew exactly how large Redwood Ridge was—not even Xia Ding.

Great Xia was, after all, only a small camp. Though they had continued exploring over the years, their range of activity had only ever covered the slope east of Redwood Ridge.

And even then, they basically only moved around the six caves.

The rough area covered a radius of about five kilometers.

Within those five kilometers, the most important place was the outer edge of Redwood Ridge to the west.

There was no other reason: the trees of Redwood Ridge were simply too numerous.

Not only were there many of them, they were also spreading outward like mad.

Logically speaking, there were nine human camps around Redwood Ridge. After years upon years of logging, Redwood Ridge should have been steadily shrinking.

Yet according to Xia Ding's observations, Redwood Ridge had not shrunk over the years. Instead, it had been continuously expanding outward.

The trees grew larger and larger, and more and more numerous.

Resources growing quickly should have been a good thing for humans.

But the problem was that these trees were not merely resources to them.

They were the same to Frost Beasts.

The habitats of the vast majority of Frost Beasts were in the trees.

And aside from hunting, Frost Beasts also enjoyed eating the fruit growing on those trees.

Thus, the expansion of Redwood Ridge was actually fatal to the surrounding camps.

As the trees continued to spread, the Frost Beasts' range of activity drew closer and closer to the nearby camps, and humans would become increasingly endangered.

Of course, these were not matters that Xia Hong, at his current stage, needed to consider.

Though it was night, the ground was blanketed in snow, so visibility was barely acceptable.

Before he knew it, he had reached the edge of Redwood Ridge.

Everywhere he looked, enormous trees that would have been called ancient sky-piercing giants in his previous life were commonplace here. They could even only be considered small.

From Xia Hong's rough estimate, even the thinnest trees on the outskirts measured three or four meters in diameter, while trees thirty to fifty meters tall were everywhere.

Further inside was even more terrifying. Trees five or six meters in diameter—and even more than ten meters wide—could be seen everywhere. Looking up at those giant trees, one could not even see their tops. Who knew how tall they were?

Thousands upon thousands of sharp icicles hung from the snow-covered trees, forming an exquisite ice-and-snow painting together with the freely drifting snowflakes.

But Xia Hong was in no mood to admire the scenery.

After searching for a long while, he picked a tree three meters thick.

Xia Hong approached it nervously and brushed away the surface snow. Beneath it was first a layer of ice crystals, and beneath those ice crystals, the bark faintly glimmered with a thread of red light.

Upon seeing the red glow, he raised his head and carefully swept his gaze over the canopy. Finding nothing there, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"A Crimson Frost Tree. There should be no Frost Beast nesting here."

According to what Xia Ding had said before, Crimson Frost Trees were the most common trees along the eastern outer edge of Redwood Ridge.

Because the branches of Crimson Frost Trees were rather brittle, while Frost Beasts were quite large, Frost Beasts generally would not choose to dwell in them.

Unlike Crimson Frost Trees, a type of yellowish tree called Golden Scale Tree had extremely sturdy branches and thick trunks. They were Frost Beasts' favorite, and Frost Beasts often rested in them at night.

Some Frost Beasts even built nests in them and settled there permanently.

Moreover, Golden Scale Trees were not particularly numerous, so any Frost Beast that could steadily reside in one was generally not weak.

Xia Hong used his Hand Axe to make a mark on the small Crimson Frost Tree. After memorizing the route, he continued deeper inside.

The camp was nearly out of food and wood.

He would leave this tree for when he returned. Finding Crystal Fruit was the urgent priority.

"Ice Vast Trees like sunlight. They grow faster in places with light, so they usually grow in relatively open areas."

Recalling the characteristics of Ice Vast Trees, Xia Hong scanned the forest. After choosing a tree and confirming that there was nothing on it, he climbed straight up.

The bark of these trees was covered in snow and ice crystals. Not only was it bone-chillingly cold, but it was also slippery as an eel. Xia Hong had to exert tremendous effort before finally climbing to the top.

Once he reached the treetop, his view indeed improved greatly.

Soon, Xia Hong spotted a relatively open area two or three hundred meters away to the west.

"The eastern outskirts of Redwood Ridge, within eight hundred paces, count as Great Xia territory. If you ever join the Lumber Team, remember this rule well. If you rashly trespass into someone else's territory and get killed, you'll have no one to blame but yourself."

Remembering Xia Ding's words, Xia Hong leaped down from the tree and headed toward the open area to the west.

Eight hundred paces was roughly a li.

That open area belonged to Great Xia, so going there should not pose much of a problem.

Logically, a tree like the Ice Vast Tree, capable of bearing such an important staple food, should have had its location recorded by the camp, saving them the trouble of searching for it every time.

In truth, they had remembered it. But the deaths of Xia Ding and the Lumber Team had come too suddenly.

The people in the camp who could go outside had originally numbered thirteen, and all thirteen of them basically knew the locations of the Ice Vast Trees.

Who could have imagined that before they had the chance to tell Xia Hong, all thirteen would die together?

Fortunately, the tree was not far away, and Xia Hong found it without much effort.

Though food was desperately needed, Xia Hong still approached the area as calmly as possible.

Each time he passed a tree along the way, he would raise his head and carefully search its canopy.

At night, Frost Beasts were in their dormant period.

But that did not mean they would not wake up.

Xia Hong had yet to see a Frost Beast. He had only learned about two or three kinds from Xia Ding's and the Lumber Team members' conversations.

Though he had never seen a living one, simply judging from the amount and frequency with which the camp had obtained Frost Beast flesh and blood while Xia Ding was still alive, he could infer that their strength was absolutely terrifying.

Thirteen Lumbering Realm fighters had spent a month and only successfully hunted one juvenile Bone-Chilling Frost Wolf.

That alone said a great deal.

Xia Hong had no choice but to be careful. With his current strength, encountering a Frost Beast would most likely mean death.

Fortunately, the journey was fraught with alarm but no danger. After more than an hour, Xia Hong finally reached that open area.

The moment he looked ahead upon reaching his destination, Xia Hong's face immediately filled with joy.

At the center of the open ground stood a towering Ice Vast Tree more than forty meters tall, clad in silver-white frost and snow. Dense clusters of Crystal Fruit hung from it.

"My luck is actually this good. There must be more than a thousand jin here."

Xia Hong did not let joy rush to his head and climb the tree to pick the fruit immediately.

Instead, he chose another Crimson Frost Tree nearby and climbed to its top.

Then he began carefully observing the canopy of that Ice Vast Tree.

The moment he looked, his expression darkened considerably.