Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Although everyone was highly motivated, bow-making was, after all, a craft, with complex processes and cumbersome procedures.

Casting the bow body, forging the bow arc, opening the holes and grooves, stringing the bow, and testing the draw weight—every step required extreme care and meticulousness.

The more you rushed, the easier it was to make mistakes, resulting in material waste that outweighed the benefits.

Those practicing archery outside could be enthusiastic, but the bow-making team couldn't afford to be. Enthusiasm was good, but they still needed to be meticulous and ensure a high success rate to avoid unnecessary waste.

Stringing the bow and testing the draw weight weren't actually difficult. Mu Dong had already successfully strung thirty-six iron-core bows and had extremely rich experience. Basically, as soon as the bow body was ready, he could string it in less than half an hour.

The most difficult process in bow-making was casting the bow body.

Firstly, blacksmithing itself was a difficult, cumbersome, and time-consuming task.

Secondly, the entire camp only had seven people with forging ability. With three being assigned to mining and only four forging, the efficiency was naturally extremely limited.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long had only recently started forging. Although they had improved a lot in the previous ten days, they could only forge one bow at most per night.

Xia Hong had more experience than the three and also had higher base strength, so his forging efficiency was naturally faster. He could forge three bows a night.

The four of them could make six bows a day, while the three in the mine, Yuan Cheng and the others, could only mine 1200 jin a day with their toothed chisels, which was only enough to cast four bows.

Whenever the iron ore supply was about to fall behind, Xia Hong would take Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan to the mine to replace Yuan Cheng and the others.

His mining output could now reach eight hundred jin a day. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan were also slightly stronger than Yuan Cheng and the others, so their mining efficiency was naturally a bit faster.

Yuan Cheng and the others could mine at most 1200 to 1300 jin a day with their toothed chisels, while the three of them could mine up to about 1800 jin a day.

When they went down to replace the miners, Yuan Cheng and the others would go upstairs to replace the forgers. This way, the bow-making progress almost never stalled, and everything went smoothly for several days.

The seven of them only rested for one or two hours each day. Under such an overloaded state, the bow-making efficiency naturally increased steadily.

Especially the forging skills of Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long improved rapidly in this process. From one bow a day at the beginning, they could later forge one or two more bows a day with their combined effort.

Day 1: Six finished bows.

Day 2: Six finished bows.

Day 3: Seven finished bows.

… … … …

Day 7: Eight finished bows.

… … … … … …

Day 9: The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Inside the valley, everyone who had practiced archery all night looked tired and were returning to the wooden house in succession, preparing to sleep.

Shi Ping came down from the second floor with a happy expression. After leaving the wooden house, he hurried towards the mine.

Clang… clang… clang… … … …

After walking more than ten meters into the mine, the crisp sound of chiseling could be heard ahead.

Shi Ping quickened his pace and saw Xia Hong and the others who were mining. He immediately bowed and said excitedly, "Leader, there were six finished products yesterday!"

Clang…

Six bows?

Xia Hong thought he had misheard. He quickly stopped and looked at Shi Ping.

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan on the other side also stopped and looked at him.

Being stared at by the three, Shi Ping was a little nervous, but he nodded and said:

"Yes, six bows. Lord Zhao Long was the first to forge one, and then he took turns helping the three Lords of Yuan Cheng forge. As of just now, six bows have been completed."

"Zhao Long's forging level has improved a bit too quickly!"

Xia Chuan, who had already stopped, couldn't help but praise him upon hearing this.

Xia Hong nodded, but after thinking for a moment, he immediately understood.

During this period, if you were to ask who made the most bows, it would definitely be him, but if you were to ask who had the longest forging time, it would be Zhao Long.

Because there were only three toothed chisels, once the iron ore supply couldn't keep up, he would only take Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan down, leaving Zhao Long upstairs to continue blacksmithing, so in the past eight days, the six of them had taken turns mining, but only Zhao Long had been staying upstairs to forge, so his skills naturally improved quickly.

"How many iron-core bows are there in the camp now?"

Xia Hong asked Shi Ping about the number of iron-core bows while signaling Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan to bring the iron ore over.

"In the past eight days, a total of forty-nine bows have been forged, plus the previous thirty-six, and the eleven that the camp originally had. Currently, there are already ninety-six iron-core bows."

"How many meters of Soaring Serpent sinew are left?"

"Twenty-seven meters."

【Resources: Wood 42102 Coal 560 Iron 188 Silver 0 Gold 0】

The iron resources were already exhausted when entering the mine.

Overnight, the three mined a total of 1880 jin of iron ore.

There are already 96 iron-core bows.

After calculating in his mind, Xia Hong opened his mouth and asked Shi Ping:

"How many iron arrows do we have now?"

All weapon-related materials were originally managed by the camp's supply department. During this period, Xia Chuan was busy, so Shi Ping was responsible for these matters. Hearing Xia Hong's question, he immediately gave the answer.

"There were 550 arrows before, plus the 500 arrows that the leader made five days ago, so there are now a total of 1050 arrows."

Arrows are different from bows. Forging arrowheads is not difficult, and the sharpening process can be completely done by those in the Lumbering Realm, so the forging efficiency is very fast. Five days ago, after learning that there were not enough iron arrows, Xia Hong immediately started a furnace.

He was responsible for forging the arrowheads and then called on twenty or thirty people to sharpen them together.

In two or three hours, 500 iron arrows were made.

"One bow needs to be equipped with 50 arrows, which means that there are not enough arrows!"

Xia Hong's expression was slightly gloomy. Thinking of the iron ore in his hand, which was only enough to make six hundred arrows at most, he felt a little helpless in his heart.

A quick calculation showed that during this period, whether it was their bodies or the iron ore, the seven of them had almost been pushed to their limits.

Fortunately, the mining luck was good, otherwise, it definitely wouldn't have kept up.

In the past eight days, their two groups, his group mined for four days, Yuan Cheng's group mined for three days, and there was one day when all seven of them went down to mine.

With the system in place, he knew the total mining volume clearly.

His group's mining volume over four days was 7920 jin.

Yuan Cheng's group was a little less, with a mining volume of 3850 jin.

The day when the seven of them mined at the same time, there were 2300 jin.

In other words, the total mining volume in eight days was 14070 jin, plus the previous remaining 3300 jin, for a total of 17370 jin.

The forty-nine bows used 14700 jin, and the 500 arrows in the middle used 2500 jin, for a total of exactly 17300 jin.

The mining volume and consumption volume just matched up. During these ten days, almost as soon as the iron ore was mined, someone immediately took it to the furnace for them to forge, so Xia Hong said that their bodies and iron ore had almost been pushed to their limits.

"The number of iron-core bows is already sufficient, so there is no need to continue making them. The number of arrows can be reduced appropriately, but it can't be too few. It will be dawn soon. Today, everyone should go back and rest well first. After nightfall, the seven of us will continue to mine. All the iron ore we mine next will be used to make arrows."

"Yes, Leader!"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan both breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the physique of those in the Earth Burrowing Realm is extraordinary, they are not made of iron. In the past eight days, they had only slept for one or two hours each day, and the rest of the time, they were either mining in the cave or forging iron upstairs. They had long reached their limit.

It was not easy to have four hours of rest, so the two naturally cherished it, immediately dropped their toothed chisels, and returned to the wooden house to rest.

Xia Hong was no exception. He went upstairs, took a look at the blacksmithing room, knew that Yuan Cheng and the others had gone to rest, and quickly returned to his room to sleep.

Although the four hours of daylight flashed by, Xia Hong and the seven of them had a good night's sleep and recovered most of their energy.

Xia Hong did not delay and took the six directly down to the mine.

However, he only mined for half a day, mining about a dozen pieces, about four hundred jin of iron ore. In the middle of the night, he handed the toothed chisel in his hand to Zhao Long and left.

Less than an hour after going out, Xia Hong returned with a solemn expression.

"I'll go and rush to make iron arrows first. You continue to mine. After mining the iron ore, immediately send it up. How much you can make in a day is how much you can make. The Gnawing Rat swarm is still moving south, so we can't delay any longer!"

Hearing this, the six knew that Xia Hong had just gone to the north slope of the mountain wall again, and their expressions suddenly became solemn. They turned around and accelerated the speed of mining.

Xia Hong no longer delayed, collected all the iron ore that everyone had already mined, and walked out of the mine with a heavy face.

In the past nine days, he certainly wouldn't just stay in the camp to make bows. He would go to the north slope of the mountain wall every other day to see the Gnawing Rat swarm's movements.

After the migration nine days ago, the Gnawing Rat swarm had migrated south twice, and the distance was even greater than before, exceeding four hundred meters.

The valley is less than two kilometers away from there, which means that the Gnawing Rat swarm's activity range is only a little over one kilometer away from the camp.

The time left for them is running out.

At the entrance of the wooden house, the camp's one hundred plus Lumbering Realm cultivators were still frantically practicing archery as always. Compared with twenty days ago, the camp now was obviously much more prosperous. Ninety-six iron-core bows, even if everyone couldn't have one, it was more than enough for practice.

"Greetings, Leader!"

"The Leader is here."

"Greetings, Leader!"

… … … …

"You guys continue to practice, don't mind me."

Xia Hong raised his hand to tell everyone not to mind him, stopped and watched for a while, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

Almost no one could be seen shooting off the hundred-meter target, all of them were hitting the bullseye.

The hit rate on the 200-meter target is also 100%, but the number of bullseyes isn't that high yet.

Compared to nineteen days ago, the archery skills of these people have obviously improved by a large margin, indicating that almost none of them have been slacking off during this time.

That's normal, considering it's a life-or-death matter.

These people all know that the rodent swarm is nearby, and they also know why Xia Hong wants them to improve their archery skills. If they were still slacking off, they would be too carefree.

Without disturbing the others' archery practice, Xia Hong went straight to the second floor.

Before going to sleep yesterday, they had already accumulated 1880 catties of iron ore. Adding the half-day after waking up, the seven people mined more than 1100 catties, totaling more than 3000 catties.

"These three thousand catties can be used to make more than six hundred iron arrows. Adding the existing ones, there will be a total of 1650 arrows. It's definitely not enough to equip each bow with fifty arrows. Even if we reduce it by 40%, equipping each bow with thirty arrows will still require at least 2880 arrows, which is still 1230 arrows short. Each arrow weighs five catties, so we still need more than 6000 catties!"

In the past nineteen days, the thing Xia Hong did the most was accounting.

There was no other way, who let Great Xia be weak, lack resources, and even worse, the mining speed was so slow.

"More than 6000 catties, fortunately, I can finally see hope. Xia Chuan and the other six can mine about 1500 catties a day, and with me, it can reach 2200. The arrow-making speed is very fast. If there is no iron ore, I will go down and mine with them. It shouldn't take three days!"

Compared to bows, the arrow-making process is much easier.

Xia Hong only needs to make the arrow blanks, and the arrowheads can be handed over to the others for polishing. He had already made them once before, and it only took more than two hours to make five hundred.

Knowing that Xia Hong wanted to make arrows, Mu Dong immediately called the people from the workshop to prepare on the side. As soon as he forged one, someone immediately took it over to start polishing, which instantly maximized efficiency.

Six hundred arrows were all completed in less than three hours.

Seeing that the mine hadn't sent any iron ore for a long time, Xia Hong went down again;

He accompanied Xia Chuan and the other six to mine for two days, accumulating nearly 4,500 catties of iron ore. After coming up, he practiced nine hundred arrows in one go, and after finishing, he went down again.

Xia Hong was like a tireless machine, and of course, not only him, but also Xia Chuan and the other six, and even Mu Dong and the others who were only responsible for polishing, were the same.

Seeing them so crazy, the more than one hundred Lumbering Realm cultivators in the camp dared not slack off in their archery practice; ordinary people were also doing what they could.

The entire camp, from top to bottom, everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

On the third day, at nightfall, the last batch of three hundred arrows was completed. Xia Hong still didn't leave the iron-smelting room, but called Shi Ping and asked him to go to the mine and notify Xia Chuan and the other six to stop mining and bring the last batch of iron ore.

Shi Ping left the blacksmith's room with more than three hundred arrows. After a while, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, the six people who were soaked in sweat and looked tired, walked in.

"Huff... Brother, are there enough iron arrows?"

Xia Chuan put a bag of iron ore next to the stove, took a deep breath, and sat directly on the ground.

The five people behind him, Luo Yuan, were also the same.

"That's enough. You must be exhausted these three days, right?"

The exhaustion on Xia Chuan's face was the answer, without him needing to open his mouth.

For three consecutive days, they even ate in the mine. They rested for an hour each day, and they also slept directly inside. The degree of fatigue can be imagined.

"You don't need to mine anymore. You five, go and rest first!"

A trace of fatigue also flashed in Xia Hong's eyes, but looking at the more than twenty pieces of iron ore that Xia Chuan had just put down on the ground, he still braced himself and asked Luo Yuan and the other five to rest first.

The five people were already physically and mentally exhausted. Upon receiving Xia Hong's order, they immediately got up and went back to their rooms to rest, leaving only Xia Chuan in the blacksmith's room.

"Brother, is there something?"

Obviously, Xia Chuan also wanted to rest, but knowing that Xia Hong must have something to say since he kept him behind, he first asked.

Xia Hong nodded and asked, "How many Lumbering Realm cultivators are there in the camp now?"

During this period of time, although Xia Chuan had been mining, Shi Ping and other people from the camp's various departments would report the situation of the camp to him in a timely manner, so he must be clear.

"There are already 212."

Hearing this number, Xia Hong's tense nerves immediately relaxed a little, and a long-lost look of excitement gradually appeared on his face.

When the new house started construction, there were 140 Lumbering Realm cultivators in the camp. Subsequently, 18 were lost due to accidents during outings. It had been less than two months since then, and it had suddenly soared to 212 people.

"It seems that the pressure brought by the rodent swarm is not only felt by us. Those people in the reserve army have also been practicing very hard during this time."

Xia Chuan nodded and smiled, "Another reason is that they all want to touch the bows. Now there are enough iron-wrought bows in the camp, but only Lumbering Realm cultivators can practice with them. In addition, there is an archery competition every ten days, so they naturally want to participate more urgently."

Hearing this, Xia Hong's eyes lit up slightly.

That's right, people are social animals. The atmosphere of practicing archery in the entire camp is so strong, coupled with the contribution point rewards for the archery competition, those people in the reserve army can't participate, of course they will want to find a way to break through quickly.

Following this line of thought, in the future, can the camp set up more weapon competitions? This should be of great help to improving overall strength.

No, now is not the time to think about these things.

Xia Hong suppressed the thoughts in his heart, looked at Xia Chuan, and started talking about serious matters.

"You should also go and rest first. After you rest, start selecting people, select the ninety-six people with the best archery skills, and then when night falls tomorrow night, we will start our operation."

Hearing this, Xia Chuan nodded, and his expression suddenly became solemn.

The reason for the camp's overload operation for the past twenty days or so is, in the final analysis, for that group of rodents on the north slope of the mountain wall. Now that all the preparations have been completed, next, we will start facing them directly.

"Brother, only select ninety-six people? Why not let the other Lumbering Realm cultivators..."

"Useless!"

Xia Hong directly shook his head and interrupted Xia Chuan, and said in a deep voice: "Even if the rodents are hit by the Teng Jiao Poison Mist, their speed and strength are still above the Lumbering Realm. Without bows and arrows, they can't exert any effect at all, not to mention sending them to their deaths for nothing, and it is very likely to affect others."

Xia Hong had considered this issue before.

Apart from bows and arrows, there is no other way to remotely harm the rodents, even the poisoned rodents are the same.

Moreover, apart from the ninety-six bows and arrows in the current camp, the remaining iron weapons are only one giant axe and five broadswords, which are not enough to equip the remaining people.

Can't they let these people engage in close combat with the rodents?

Regardless of whether or not they carry weapons, Lumbering Realm cultivators are courting death by engaging in close combat with any cold beast, unless they use human lives to pile up.

What's more, the main offensive method this time is archery. It wouldn't make sense for these ninety-six people to shoot arrows from behind, and those one hundred people to engage in close combat with the rodents in front. This would be even more unreasonable.

"If time permits, I would also like to make more bows, but the situation no longer allows it. Hundreds of bows, nearly three thousand arrows, plus the seven of us, as long as we operate properly, it should not be difficult to deal with that group of rodents."

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he signaled Xia Chuan to go and rest first, and he stayed alone in the blacksmith's room, looking down at the last batch of iron ore that Xia Chuan and the other six had just brought up.

"Someone, call Mu Dong over."

"Yes, leader!"

Someone had been guarding the door all the time. Hearing Xia Hong's order, someone immediately went.

...\n...\n...

Xia Hong was tinkering in the room all night, and Mu Dong was there all the time.

It wasn't until dawn that the movement in the blacksmith's room stopped.

"Hand these three bows to the Zhao Long brothers, I'm going to sleep for a while."

"Yes, leader."

Mu Dong nodded in obedience, looking at the three sets of bows and arrows placed on the ground, his face was full of strong sense of accomplishment.

Just looking at the three bows and arrows on the ground, they were a full circle larger than the previous ordinary iron-wrought bows, and the bowstrings had several more layers than before. Obviously, they were much stronger than the bows he had made before.

"Mu Dong, did the leader call us?"

Soon, the Zhao Long brothers, who were watching the archery selection on the first floor, immediately came up after hearing the news.

As soon as the three entered the blacksmith's room, they didn't see Xia Hong and asked in confusion.

But immediately afterwards, the three people's eyes were hooked by the bows and arrows on the ground.

"This..."

Zhao Long picked up one directly, and then stretched the string, feeling the strong pulling force of the bow, his eyes were full of bright colors, and he looked back at Mu Dong, with a look of expectation on his face.

Mu Dong smiled and nodded, and said: "These three bows should be specially made by the leader for you three, each with fifty arrows. The leader said to let you take them to adapt first."

The three nodded excitedly, Zhao Hu took the bow, and did not forget to ask: "Where is the leader?"

"The leader hasn't closed his eyes for almost thirty hours, and has gone to rest."

The three nodded when they heard the words, and a trace of respect rose in their hearts.

"The leader is more tired than all of us, and he should take a good rest."

During these twenty days or so, they and Xia Chuan and the other six mined and forged in shifts, and it was no exaggeration to say that they were exhausted.

But the most tired person is the leader, Xia Hong.

Mining, forging bows, making arrows, not only does he have to do everything, but even more because his efficiency is much higher than theirs, he does even more.

It was precisely because of being infected by Xia Hong's momentum that they, the six of them, and everyone else in the camp, were able to persevere in completing such a high-load task.

"Ninety-six bows, plus these three, should give those gnawing rats a good taste of their own medicine. Xia Chuan is already selecting archers, and I reckon they'll be heading to the north slope of the mountain wall tonight to deal with those gnawing rats. Let's go find a place to practice first, so we don't disappoint the chief later."

Mu Dong nodded and hurried downstairs.

He was also at the Lumbering Realm and hoped to be selected as an archer to go with Xia Hong to the north slope of the mountain wall to deal with the gnawing rat horde.

… … … … … …

When Xia Hong woke up, it was completely dark.

Realizing he had overslept, Xia Hong quickly got up and went downstairs.

When he reached the main hall on the second floor, the place where the camp held its meetings, he found it already full of people.

The group at the very front was all holding longbows and carrying quivers. After a quick glance, Xia Hong immediately understood that these were the ninety-six people Xia Chuan had selected.

Besides these ninety-six people, the hundred or so people standing on the periphery all had looks of frustration on their faces, clearly not yet recovered from the disappointment of being rejected.

"Chief, the ninety-six are all ready!"

Xia Hong walked to the front of the crowd, heard Xia Chuan's words, turned to look at the crowd below, and his expression became stern.

"Logically speaking, you're only at the Lumbering Realm and don't have the qualifications to hunt cold beasts outside, but the current situation is special. You all know that the gnawing rat horde is right beside us. To ensure the safety of the camp, we must take the initiative!"

After saying this, Xia Hong scanned the ninety-six people in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"First of all, congratulations to you for standing out from the two hundred plus people.

You are lucky to have the opportunity to go out with me tonight;

But at the same time, you are also unlucky,

Because that group of gnawing rats, whether in terms of quantity or strength, far exceeds your imagination. Tonight's initiative attack, although I have a certain degree of certainty, I dare not ensure absolute safety.

Any accident, injury is considered lucky, death is not impossible, so I say, you are also unlucky."

Xia Hong's eyes flickered slightly, and he found that none of the ninety-six people in front of him showed any fear on their faces. He asked in a deep voice, "Are you not afraid?"

"Not afraid!"

"I'm not afraid. For the camp, even if it means death, I'm not afraid."

"That's right, we people have been eating the cold beast meat that Chief hunts all the time, and we don't usually contribute much. It's not easy to be able to do something for Chief, so would we still be timid and hesitant?"

"For Great Xia, I'm not afraid of anything."

"If it weren't for the Chief, I would have died long ago, how could I live the life I have now."

"That's right, thanks to the Chief, I've had such a good life for so long. If the Chief asks me to die now, I'm willing."

"If any of you are afraid, let me go. My archery skills are not good, otherwise, how could it be your turn to have such a good thing as dying for the Chief!"

"That's right, my basic strength is not low, it's just that I'm not good at archery. If any of you are not willing to go, let me take your place. I'm willing to exchange with you."

… … … …

For a time, not only the selected ninety-six people, but also many Lumbering Realm cultivators who were not selected, and even some of the reserves, spoke up, expressing their willingness to replace those who did not want to go.

"Good! With these words from you, I can rest assured."

Xia Hong probably had a rough idea of how high his prestige was in the hearts of the people in the Great Xia camp, but he couldn't help but feel a little shaken when he heard these words with his own ears.

The entire Great Xia camp, these hundreds and thousands of people, had unwavering trust in him, even to the point of disregarding their own lives. Wasn't this the result of his hard work over the past six months!

Xia Hong had always been a person who treated others as he would like to be treated. He knew very well how much he had given to these people in the camp. It would be false to say that he didn't want anything in return.

What he wanted in return was the unwavering trust of everyone at this moment.

"I won't say much. You just need to remember one thing: all actions tonight must be under my command. Remember what you said just now. Tonight, no matter who it is, even if I tell you to die, you have to grit your teeth and bear it. I don't want anyone to have problems, understand?"

"Understood!"

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, the Zhao brothers, Yuan Cheng, and the ninety-six selected Lumbering Realm cultivators all raised their heads and answered in unison. In an instant, the sound shook the heavens and the eaves trembled non-stop.

A surge of pride also rose in Xia Hong's heart, and he said in a loud voice: "Good, the momentum is not bad. I haven't told you before, the contribution value of a gnawing rat is 200 points. You ninety-six people should not have the opportunity to earn so many contribution points on weekdays. Tonight is an opportunity, let's see who can seize it!"

The ninety-six people below heard this and their expressions suddenly became excited.

Even Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, the six Earth Burrowing Realm cultivators, had their eyes light up.