Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 272: Unexpected surprise, Xu Ning's rapid growth
To go from Wushuang to Wuyuan, you have to pass through Jinggu and Xiacheng.

When arriving at the two places, Xia Hong stayed quietly for a moment, took a general look at the selection situation of the logging groups in the two places, and finally left with a disappointed shake of his head.

The situation was similar to what Wu Shuang had seen. Most of these logging teams had not even decided on a team leader, or had decided but there were still disagreements within the team before going on stage. Xia Hong could tell without even looking that they had no chance of advancing.

Xiacheng is already in the seventh round of assessment, and only two groups have advanced.

This result made Xia Hong lose all desire to continue watching.

"Wuyuan is probably about the same, let's take a look!"

After leaving Xiacheng, Xia Hong rushed for more than ten minutes on a snowy night and soon arrived at Wuyuan Mountain, which is now the Wuyuan base of Daxia.

The Wuyuan station is located on the Zhongyuan Peak. It was rebuilt on the basis of the original Sanhu camp. In addition to clearing the interior, a 30-meter-wide and 100-meter-long enclosed wooden shed was built along the mountain wall outside.

Xia Hong saw from afar that there were already three iron cages outside the wooden shed.

In each of the three iron cages, there was a team of a hundred men hunting cold beasts; surrounding them were more than twenty square formations of a hundred men, obviously all of them were participating in the woodcutters' realm; at the front of the square formation, Xu Ning was holding a strong bow and staring at the three iron cages, probably to prevent the cold beasts from running away and any accidents from happening during the assessment.

"Huh…………"

Xia Hong saw the situation in the three iron cages from afar, and a hint of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes. He then found a position with a relatively wide field of vision, and after watching for a while, his expression became more and more satisfied.

Unlike Xiacheng and the other four bases, in Wuyuan, the three teams participating in the assessment in the iron cages not only have a leader who is giving orders, but the rest of the people, whether gathered or dispersed, clearly have their own formations.

This alone makes it much stronger than Xiacheng and the other four outposts.

"Xu Ning wouldn't be lying, would he? He told me the content of the test in advance?"

Xia Hong frowned. There are three assessment targets for the logging group, namely courage, morale, unity and cooperation.

Selecting a team leader, resolving team morale and internal conflicts, and finally finding ways to unite the team and gather people's hearts, these are the contents of the assessment itself. If Xu Ning told these people in advance, then this martial arts competition would be meaningless.

It's no different than cheating!
"No, Xu Ning is not the kind of person who would cheat. Let me hear it first."

Xia Hong moved forward again, a little closer to the lumberjacks who had not yet taken the assessment, to listen specifically to what they were discussing.

"Hahaha, thanks to the garrison commander, when we don't have to pick fruits or cut wood on weekdays, he organized us to go out with the hunting team. This time, the martial arts test is actually to hunt cold beasts."

"We should still hunt down the severely injured frosty beast. With hundreds of lumberjacks working together, as long as the leader has a clear mind, there will definitely be no problem."

"The key is that those who went out with the hunting team were all at the peak of the logging realm. This time, they were all broken up into different groups. There are 31 teams, and each team has 15 people. As long as the team members don't do anything stupid, there will be no problem in advancing!"

"I didn't understand why the garrison commander did this before. When the lumberjacks went out with the hunting team, they couldn't help much except doing odd jobs. Now I know that he was preparing for a rainy day, hahaha."

"Xiacheng didn't do it like we did in Wuyuan. I guess the woodcutters there are all dumbfounded now. There must be very few who advance this time."

"Hahaha, the garrison commander is so foresighted."

…………

After listening for a while, Xia Hong's frown immediately relaxed. He looked at Xu Ning at the front of the iron cage with approval in his eyes.

If you do the work in advance and happen to come across it, then it can only be considered good luck at best, and it certainly isn't cheating.

"Good luck only favors those who prepare in advance!"

Ever since the camp expanded towards Longyou, Xia Hong has never paid much attention to the situation in Wuyuan. Xu Ning has also been working hard in Wuyuan and rarely shows up in Xiacheng.

The fact that he could think of letting the lumberjacks go out with the hunting team in advance to provide training to enhance their hunting experience proved that Xu Ning's growth rate in the past year or so as the garrison commander of Wuyuan was far beyond his imagination.

Xia Hong's brows flickered slightly. He broke off a thumb-long icicle with his hand and flicked it lightly towards the treetop.

trickle…………

There was a lot of noise going on at the garrison, and the sound of snow balls falling from the treetops was almost inaudible, but Xia Hong still noticed at a glance that Xu Ning, who was at the front of the iron cage, had disappeared.

"Who are you, sneaky?"

Xu Ning's low roar and the slash of his sword were simultaneously heard by Xia Hong.

call…………

The more than three-meter-long barrier sword chopped towards the air. The powerful force brought about a strong wind in the surrounding air, which broke off all the icicles on the trees and chopped fiercely towards Xia Hong's head.

"Leader!"

The moment Xu Ning realized that the person was Xia Hong, he put away his knife.

However, a giant weapon like the barrier sword is difficult to retract once it is used. Moreover, it has not been long since Xu Ning broke through the cold-resistant level, and his ability to control his own strength is obviously not very strong.

So the big knife was still used to chop it down.

Seeing that he couldn't retract the sword, and Xia Hong didn't even pull it out, Xu Ning's face showed not only regret, but even a little fear.

He was worried that he might really hurt Xia Hong.

clang…………

But in the next second, Xu Ning was completely stunned!
He didn't even see how Xia Hong moved. He just felt a huge force coming from his arm. The next second, he found that his sword had been caught by a thin and long sword.

It was not enough to just catch the blow. He felt that all the force he had just used to chop out had bounced back to him. His palms of the hands broke, his chest was shaking uncontrollably, and he almost fell backwards.

laugh…………

Xia Hong pulled the ceremonial sword downwards, reducing most of the force of the barrier sword. Then, at the moment when the barrier sword was about to hit the branch of the big tree, he lifted it up with force again, stopping Xu Ning's sword less than an inch away from the branch.

"Three more, almost as good as Yuancheng Luoyuan, very good!"

"Xu Ning, meet the leader!"

Xu Ning held the sword and calmed down for three or four breaths. He first leaned over and bowed respectfully to Xia Hong, then suppressed his shock and laughed bitterly. "I was stupid. With my strength, how could I possibly hurt the leader?"

When he just broke through the cold-resistant level two months ago, Xu Ning thought that there was definitely still a gap between him and Xia Hong, but the gap should not be too big. If they really fought, he could hold out for a while and it shouldn't be a big problem.

Thinking about it at this moment, Xu Ning felt his face getting hot.

In the confrontation just now, if Xia Hong had not taken advantage of the situation and resolved the rebound force of the barrier sword, he would have been blown away with the sword. In the end, the barrier sword would have broken, and even if he didn't die, he would have been seriously injured.

Obviously, his basic strength was already more than three times that of Xia Hongyi's sword, but at the moment of clashing with Xia Hongyi's sword, he still had an illusion, just like when he was only at the level of lumberjack before, using a sheep horn chisel to plow the land and dig minerals, not only was it ineffective, he couldn't even withstand the rebounding force.

"The leader's basic strength is more than seven or eight times mine!"

If Xia Hong knew what Xu Ning was thinking at the moment, he would definitely shake his head helplessly.

He didn't lie just now. The strength of Xu Ning Sanrong is definitely quite good in Daxia at present.

Apart from him, among the cold-resistant level players in the camp, Peng Bo has the highest basic strength, with eight manes, followed by Chen Yingyuan with seven manes; then there are Wu Tianxing and Chen Yingba, both with six manes;
Next down are Xia Chuan, who has more than six manes; Yuwen Tao, who has more than five manes; Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan and Xu Ning in front of him, all have more than three manes; and Zhao Long and the others behind them basically have between one and three manes.

Pure strength is not enough. With the fourth-class combat physique qualification, after breaking through the cold-resistant level, the most important thing is of course potential.

Peng Bo, Chen Yingyuan and the other four were all at the late stage of the Cold Protection Level.

When breaking through the cold-resistant level, if the basic strength is over two manes, it is a superior combat physique; if it is over 1 manes, it is a medium combat physique; if it is over manes, it is a lower-level combat physique.

That is to say, when they just broke through, their basic strength was basically only more than one or two manes. After Xia Hong's observation, except for Peng Bo who had a superior combat body, among the other three, Chen Yingyuan was average, and the remaining Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing were just inferior combat bodies. These four people, among the current batch of cold-resistant level in Da Xia, their potential is not very high.

On the contrary, Xu Ning had more than three hundred manes as soon as he broke through, and he was a true super combat body. In the future, as long as he could break through the middle and late stages step by step, his basic strength would soon surpass Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan.

"Xia Chuan and Yuwen Tao should be considered the first tier, Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, and Xu Ning are all in the second tier, and the rest can only be considered the third tier. Da Xia currently has a lot of combat aptitude, and that's not even counting the bonus of the holy runes. In the future, Da Xia will definitely be much stronger than other camps in terms of cold resistance!"

Xia Hong's mood, which had been somewhat depressed by the woodcutters' martial arts competition, improved significantly after he saw the Wuyuan selection situation and Xu Ning in front of him.

"Thank goodness you knew to train these woodcutters in advance. Wuyuan should shine in this martial arts competition. How many teams have advanced so far?"

Hearing Xia Hong's praise, Xu Ning smiled and replied:

"There are not many people in Wuyuan's Lumberjack Realm, and they are only divided into 31 groups. Seven rounds of selection have been completed so far, and 11 teams have advanced. I took a rough look and estimated that 15 groups will advance in the end."

If this number were passed back to Xiacheng, it would probably shock Qiu Peng.

Thinking of this, Xu Ning looked very proud.

"The selection situation in Xiacheng and the other four bases is really bad. You should take some time to go back and tell Qiu Peng how you trained the woodcutters. If it is feasible, you can directly promote it in the future."

Xu Ning nodded immediately, and at the same time he was a little curious about the difference between Xiacheng and the other four bases.

"The four companies in Shanbei have been merged for almost half a year. What's the current situation of the large area north of Wuyuan?"

After Xia Hong finished his explanation, he still did not forget the purpose of his inspection and started to ask about the situation in the north of the mountain.

When Xu Ning heard this, his expression immediately cheered up. He then took out a map made of animal skin from his arms, unfolded it, and handed it to Xia Hong, saying:
"We have basically explored the original territories of the four families in Shanbei. We have found two iron mines and four coal mines. In addition, there are many rare varieties of fruit and medicinal plants. The Artisan Department has specifically instructed that all those that can be transplanted have been sent to Xiacheng. For the rest that are difficult to move, we will also send people to inspect them regularly and pick them as soon as they are ripe.

Chief, look here!"

Xu Ning first reported the situation in the northern part of the mountain, then pointed to a location further north on the map and reported: "Going further north from the four territories is a cliff. I have already brought back the people from the three small camps nearby. Going further north, we have to go to Shuanglong Mountain!"

Xia Hong looked at the map, thought for a moment, and nodded.

Wuyuan Mountain is located on the north bank of the Ying River. Like the Ying River, it runs east-west. It is 15 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide from north to south.

The earliest eleven camps of Xiao Kangcheng actually only operated on the southern foot of Wuyuan Mountain. After Daxia took over this area, they began to explore the north side of the mountain.

Xiao Kangcheng's group of people were incorporated into the camp in April last year. Xu Ning led his men to explore northward for eight months before they found four camps in the north of the mountain. Later, before this year's Hanyuan Festival, those four families were incorporated into Daxia.

Now, four months have passed and the exploration of the entire northern area of ​​the mountain has been completed. We have reached the rock wall on the south side of Shuanglong Mountain. Going further north, there is indeed nothing more to explore.

Going up Shuanglong Mountain was obviously a joke made by Xu Ning.

The rock walls of Shuanglong Mountain are two to three thousand meters high, and are either covered with solid ice that never melts, or foggy areas shrouded in cold air. Even Xia Hong himself doesn't dare to climb casually, let alone others.

"Why, you want to continue exploring eastward?"

Xia Hong turned around and found Xu Ning's eyes fixed on the east side of Wuyuan Mountain on the map. He immediately smiled and teased him.

Xu Ning nodded seriously and said, "To be honest, Chief, I've been thinking about this since I found that there's nothing worth exploring in the north of the mountain. Didn't you say before that Xinggu Pass is most likely the only passage connecting us to the outside world? Such an important strategic road should be opened up as soon as possible so that we can hold it in our hands and avoid any changes in the future!"

【Xinggu Pass】

Looking at the name he had chosen on the map, Xia Hong turned his head to look at the dense forest that continued to rise from west to east, with a hint of ambition in his eyes.

But he soon calmed down and said in a deep voice:

"Our strength is not that strong. At least there is still a gap between us and the nine towns of Mount Moao that Yang and Li mentioned. In this case, there is no need to rush to open up the connection between the bottom of the valley and the outside world.

The most important thing at the moment is to take over Longyou and the three most important resource areas at the bottom of the valley. We have already occupied two of them, leaving only Longshan. As long as we can completely seize Longshan, the entire Pingxiyuan Valley World will eventually fall into the hands of Daxia. That will be the best time for us to turn our attention to the outside world!"

Xu Ning's expression was slightly shocked when he heard this. Although he had not been to Longyou during this period, he had always paid close attention to the situation there, so he immediately understood the meaning of Xia Hong's words.

It would be a natural thing to take over Longyou, control Longshan, occupy the three most important resource areas in the world at the bottom of the valley, and finally unify Pingxiyuan.

Unify the Western Plains!

Xu Ning recited these five words silently in his heart, and his expression gradually became more excited.

"Just proceed step by step. You can continue to host the logging preliminaries. It should be over soon. When this is over, you can accompany me to Xinghe. I want to go to Xinghe this time!"

Hearing that Xia Hong was going to visit Xinghe, Xu Ning subconsciously wanted to dissuade him, but remembering the confrontation with Xia Hong just now, he held back, nodded, and turned back to continue hosting the preliminaries.

(End of this chapter)