CHAPTER 639: CHAPTER 268: ADVANCEMENT, WARNINGS, AND INSPECTIONS

"Big brother, the conditions at Wushuang aren’t great, but over at Xia City, our own Logging Realm should be better!"

Xia Hong sat in the main seat, shaking his head as he spoke: "Wushuang has a population of over thirty thousand, not much less than ours previously. From the performance of these Logging Realm groups, you can pretty much deduce the situation over at Xia City. At the mere sight of a living Cold Beast, they’ve been scared stiff. It’s not just about lacking hunting experience; the key is that they can’t even think, they’re practically crippled by being raised in the camp..."

He paused at this point, then continued: "Based solely on this, the situation at Xia City might not be any better. Xia City plus five other outposts, looking at the situation of those 32 teams outside just now, I estimate that not even ten teams might qualify."

As Xia Hong spoke, his brows furrowed.

One hundred Logging Realm individuals joining forces to kill a severely injured Low-level Cold Beast.

This, in Xia Hong’s eyes, should be no easier task.

Initially, when Qiu Peng suggested this assessment method, Xia Hong thought it was too simple, just a normal Low-level Cold Beast would suffice.

In retrospect, if Qiu Peng really listened to him, probably not a single team would qualify in the preliminaries, making the Logging Realm grouping simply void.

"I’ve never paid much attention to the Logging Realm crowd in the camp, only heard from you guys that the numbers keep breaking records, Martial Arts Academy having someone break age records every day, thinking how capable these kids are. Turns out they’re all just a bunch of silver spearheads; if I’m right, the damage rate at the Hunting Department has been rising recently, am I correct?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan’s expression froze slightly, as though he thought of something, first showing a sudden realization, then nodding with a face full of guilt:

"After the Cold Element Festival this year, the number of newly formed teams in the Hunting Department became numerous. In January, February, and March consecutively, the mortality rate of teams going out hunting was indeed rising. Initially, I thought it was the increased number of teams, more hunters, and it’s normal for the mortality rate to increase. But now looking at this Logging Realm performance..."

"What are the specific numbers of casualties?"

Xia Hong directly interrupted Xia Chuan’s words and asked.

"In January, 79 died, injured 290; February, 121 died, injured 382; March, 152 died, injured 472. April’s numbers aren’t compiled yet, but..."

Xia Chuan, who remained in the camp for the initial three months, obviously was familiar with the data, stated them directly, although April’s figures aren’t compiled yet, but the trend can be seen.

Xia Hong’s expression immediately grew heavier.

The casualty rate in hunting meant that these numbers reported by Xia Chuan were all Earth-digging Realm population, over three hundred died and more than a thousand were injured due to hunting in just three months.

This is unthinkable!

"This is over three hundred Earth-digging Realm individuals; if they weren’t lost, with the current resource acquisition capability in the camp, as long as they could grow smoothly, they might become over three hundred Longyou Army or Blood Guard Army, and who knows how many Cold Resistance Level individuals might emerge from them.

You didn’t even bother to tell me about such a big matter, nor have taken any measures to improve the situation. You think this isn’t a big deal, don’t you?"

Bam...

For the first time feeling Xia Hong’s anger and reprimand in his words, Xia Chuan directly knelt before him, with an increasingly guilty expression, saying: "Big brother, it’s my mistake. I’ve always just focused on their cultivation condition, neglecting the fostering and improvement of their hunting skills. After the end of this martial contest, I will definitely find ways to improve, quickly reduce the number of casualties in external hunting."

"Don’t think just because the camp has many people, some are redundant, or even it’s okay for some to die. The most precious asset of the camp has never been coal nor iron, nor silver or any other materials, it’s those living people. I’ve explained this principle to you a long time ago, don’t regard the high cultivation as dismissive of those Earth-digging Realm and Logging Realm below..."

Xia Hong paused slightly at this point, then continued:

"I, and you, also started cultivating from ordinary people and advanced to where we are now."

Xia Hong had already noticed that not only Xia Chuan, but also Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Lin Kai, Lu Yang... including those who initially came up from the dirt hill. As their cultivation and position increased, their mindset had started to change.

It wasn’t that they had issues with loyalty to the camp.

It was simply that they had developed a sense of indifference towards life more than before.

They seemed to have less respect for life than before.

Especially after this round of Longyou war, probably from having stained their hands with a lot of blood, coupled with the rapid population growth of Great Xia, the swift rise in strength and status, that has made their mindset somewhat lightheaded.

Before the establishment is complete, this mindset is the most taboo.

Judging from this Logging Realm selection, it’s clear that Xia Chuan, the Minister managing all camp affairs, has started to become somewhat unfit for his role.

Even if Xia Hong hadn’t delved deeply into Qiu Peng, Yuwen Dao, Yuan Cheng, and the others, he could roughly guess their mindset.

If he doesn’t provide a stern reminder, by the time they suffer some real loss, it won’t just be a matter of losing some Earth-digging Realm or Logging Realm.

"After the end of this martial contest, I’ll give you another month, the Hunting Department’s casualty numbers must be reduced to single digits. So many people merging into the camp are not to be fed to Cold Beasts."

"Yes, Big Brother, I will surely achieve it!"

At this moment, Xia Chuan was scolded so much that he dared not raise his head. Hearing Xia Hong’s goal set for him, without a second thought, he responded heavily, clearly mentally setting a rule for himself.

Seeing the guilt on Xia Chuan’s face, remembering he was not even twenty and he had handed such a large mess to him to handle, Xia Hong sighed slightly. After pondering for a moment, his tone softened somewhat:

"With the Longyou situation unclear, wanting to continue battling against Long Mountain and Zhaoyang, establishing an army is imperative. After this Cold Resistance Level martial contest ends, between you and Yuwen Dao, the one who comes first will lead the army building. Make sure to manage yourself properly!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan’s expression paused, followed shortly by a resolute look, nodding firmly.

The first place in the Cold Resistance Level martial contest is inevitably between him and Yuwen Dao, Xia Hong telling this in advance speaks for itself.

"Great Xia’s first army must be created by myself, and no one else!"

Xia Hong, not saying more, waved his hand and said: "Keep hosting the Earth-digging Realm grouping martial contest, I still need to patrol Hanqiong and a few other outposts. I won’t be staying at Wushuang for long."

Xia Chuan nodded, bowed, and left the main building directly.

Xia Hong then sat in the main seat, took out the map of Longyou drawn by Xia Chuan recently, and began to review it carefully.

"This kid hasn’t wasted time either, the straight road between Jing Valley and Beehive has been mostly completed, should be finished by July. With this map, constructing the straight road connecting Hanqiong, Wushuang, and Beehive, by then Xia’s corner in the southeast of Longyou will fall entirely under Great Xia’s control.

Moreover, once this map is thoroughly understood, Long Mountain and Zhaoyang will no longer be able to take these three outposts back from Great Xia!

The key is the importance of this Wushuang outpost..."

Located in the center of Longyou, Xia Hong had long seen the importance of this place, so upon learning Xia Chuan had taken Wushuang, he returned here at once and stationed people specifically.

"This martial contest might bring surprises through the Earth-digging Realm grouping; as for the Logging Realm, it won’t be worth watching. They won’t have relevance until Xia Chuan implements improvement measures, then maybe next year. After this contest, the number of breakthroughs within the Earth-digging Realm grouping will be crucial. The key matter ahead is still building the army!"

Xia Hong sighed slightly. According to the army-building standards of the Longyou Army and Blood Guard Army, Great Xia currently exceeds by only over three thousand pounds in the Earth-digging Realm count, certainly not enough.

He could only hope that enough people would breakthrough after this contest.

"Releasing large quantities of resources is also to expedite their breakthrough. These Logging Realm individuals, even if they break through, may not be useful in the short term. So, the hope rests solely on the existing Earth-digging Realm!"

Xia Hong put away the map and stood up directly.

"No need to look at Hanqiong or Beehive, go check out Wuyuan. I haven’t seen Xu Ning for a long time now; Northern Mountain should have expanded a lot of new areas!"