Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 318: The Strange Winter Apple Tree and the Occupied Silver Mine
"I heard from Hou Hu that one of the two winter apple trees was first discovered by his father Hou Luan, but was later stolen by you Longshan. Is this true or false?"

Xia Hong was in a good mood as they were about to see two apple trees. Thinking of Hou Hu's words before, he asked the two of them with interest.

"Shameless!"

Li Tiancheng, who was leading the way in front, frowned but said nothing, but Li Xuanling could not help but curse out loud.

"My father was the first to discover the winter apple tree. Hou Luan didn't want me to take Longshan alone, so he united more than 20 camps at the time to start a war with us, causing great suffering to the people of Longyou. The number of camps was reduced to 12. My father couldn't bear it, so he gave them 70% of the share in the end!"

Judging from Li Xuanling's angry expression with raised eyebrows, he probably knew that what he said was true. Although Xia Hong knew that Hou Hu had probably deceived him in the first place, he did not expect that this man could confuse right and wrong to this extent.

"Then what he said, that the Hanping tree has produced only 40 drops of Jade Dew every year since it was planted in Longyou forty years ago, is that true or false? And how many drops does the other tree produce every year?"

Hou Hu only knew about one Hanping tree, and Longshan apparently had another one secretly hidden, which no one in Longyou knew about.

What Xia Hong is most interested in now is the yield of jade dew from the two apple trees.

Li Tiancheng answered, "To be honest with you, Chief Xia, we didn't lie about the winter apple tree that Hou Hu mentioned. Since the 40th year in Longyou, the yield has been gradually decreasing. As of this year, it only produces one drop every ten days. In the whole year, it doesn't even produce drops."

Seeing that the two of them were taking a winding route, Xia Hong estimated that the location of the Hanping tree was still far away. He simply continued to inquire while walking and asked, "What about the yield of the other tree?"

"The other Hanping tree was discovered in Longyou in the 240st year. It is not very old and produced more than drops last year."

Wow, this directly concealed six times the output. No wonder over the years, the gap in strength between the other eleven camps and Longshan has become increasingly larger.

"You said that only one drop is produced every ten days. Does that mean that the Hanping Yulu doesn't mature all at once, but grows drop by drop?"

Xia Hong's face was full of confusion. Since it was called the Hanping Tree, it should not deviate from the category of vegetation. Sprouting, blooming, bearing fruit and maturing were the growth patterns of all vegetation, just like the Bingshuo Tree, Blue Jade Tree and other tree species currently discovered in Daxia.

But from what Li Tiancheng said, this is obviously not the case.

"Bumpkin!"

Li Xuanling was still holding his breath at the moment, and seeing that Xia Hong knew nothing about the Hanping tree, he immediately seized the opportunity to mock him.

It’s a pity that Xia Hong completely ignored her and just waited for Li Tiancheng to explain.

Seeing Li Xuanling taking the initiative to compete with Xia Hong, Li Tiancheng showed a strange look on his face. He was about to explain to Xia Hong, but Li Xuanling spoke first.

"The cold apple tree grows upside down towards the ground. The jade dew is the liquid condensed after it absorbs the cold light of the day, and it naturally drips down along the roots and stems."

There are many plants that grow underground, but only a few can produce precious medicinal herbs like Jade Dew.

"Then hurry up and take me to see it!"

As Xia Hong became more and more curious about the Hanping tree, he urged the two of them.

The place where Xia Hong had just seen off Li Xuandu and the other person was already 20 kilometers deep in Longshan Mountain. In just half an hour, he estimated that he and the other two would go about 15 kilometers deeper.

"This should be considered the main vein of Longshan Mountain, right?"

On the eastern outskirts of Longshan, there is an area extending from the main vein, which is about 50 kilometers from north to south and about 30 kilometers from east to west.

Xia Hong followed the two men and went 35 kilometers deep to the east, which was considered to be the main vein of Longshan Mountain, which was already very deep.

"The winter apple tree that Hou Hu mentioned is right in front."

Li Tiancheng raised his hand and pointed to a mound on the west side. He and Li Xuanling walked over first. Xia Hong followed closely behind and soon reached the top of the mound.

Behind the mound, there was a deep valley that sunken down for hundreds of meters.

Xia Hong stood at the edge of the mound and looked down, and an extremely dazzling green light suddenly came into his sight.

"Let's go!"

After he finished speaking, he went straight down the slope of the ravine. Li Tiancheng and Li Xuanling followed closely behind him.

The leaves and branches of the cold apple tree are jade green, the same color as the jade bones. The overall appearance is a bit like a stemless mushroom, just an umbrella-shaped greenhouse cover.

"The diameter of this shed is about fifteen meters. How long is the rhizome?"

Li Xuanling just said that the Hanping tree grows underground. After observing the above-ground part, Xia Hong asked while walking under the tree. He pushed aside the surrounding soil and was stunned when he saw the roots clearly.

The crown of the surface part of this winter apple tree is a large canopy with a diameter of 15 meters. Xia Hong originally thought that if the rhizome was not half of it, three or four meters would not be excessive.

But in fact, its rhizome is only as thick as your little finger.

"Chief, please follow me!"

Li Tiancheng walked to the stone wall on the east side of the ravine and groped for a while, then quickly pushed the stone wall hard, and a cave appeared.

He led Xia Hong into the cave entrance and talked as they walked.

"The roots of this winter apple tree are too thin, and there is no regular pattern to the direction in which they extend underground. So not only do we have to dig a tunnel to find its end, but we also have to send someone to confirm its location every year."

In fact, there was no need for Li Tiancheng to explain this point. Xia Hong understood it just by following the two of them in the tunnel for a while.

Sometimes it goes east, sometimes west, sometimes it suddenly goes down, and sometimes it goes up the slope.

This tunnel was obviously dug in the direction of the extension of the rhizome. It was so complicated and messy that it proved what Li Tiancheng said.

The three of them walked underground for more than ten minutes before they finally reached a circular stone chamber with a diameter of more than five meters.

In the middle of the stone chamber, a jade-green rhizome as thick as a thumb was standing quietly. There were more than a dozen iron plates placed around the rhizome. Xia Hong counted them carefully and found that there were nine drops of jade dew in total that had not been taken away.

"It took us about ten minutes. Based on our walking speed, we have walked about seven or eight kilometers. In other words, the length of this stem is more than seven kilometers."

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he immediately shook his head.

No wonder Longshan didn't transplant this winter apple tree to the base. It would have been fine if the rhizome had reached an abnormal length of more than 7,000 meters, but it was only as thick as a thumb. It would have been too difficult to transplant it without destroying the rhizome.

The key is whether the Jade Dew can continue to be produced after the rhizome is destroyed. No one knows. There are only two such trees in Longshan. Obviously, the safest way is to leave them alone and slowly produce the Jade Dew.

"It can be said that misfortune and fortune go hand in hand. The roots of this winter apple tree grow randomly underground. Although it makes it extremely difficult for us to pick it, it is precisely because it grows so randomly and is colorless and odorless that even if ordinary winter beasts find the tree crown on the ground, they will give up in the end because they can't find the roots."

Not only is it colorless and odorless, the rhizomes buried underground are only as thick as a little finger. The size of the cold beast is often several meters. Even if it lives underground, it would probably be difficult to find here by following the rhizomes with eyes.

"Okay, take me to see the second tree!"

Xia Hong took out the wooden box without changing his expression, collected all nine drops of Jade Dew, and then motioned Li Tiancheng and the others to continue leading the way. The second Hanping tree was at the top of the mountain, more than 20 kilometers away from the first one.

"The diameter of this tree crown must be over 100 meters, no wonder the yield is so high!"

Before he even looked at the rhizomes, Xia Hong knew why the tree had such a high yield just by looking at the large crown.

According to Li Xuanling, the cold apple tree relies on its crown to absorb the cold light during the day, and then condenses it into jade dew along the roots and stems. In this case, the larger the crown, the stronger its ability to absorb light sources, and the higher the output will naturally be.

Not only the crown of the tree, the rhizome of the second apple tree is about three times thicker than the former, with a diameter of about three centimeters.

The length of its rhizome extending underground is even more exaggerated, reaching more than 13,000 meters, almost twice that of the first tree.

I followed Li Tiancheng underground again and found the end of the rhizome. This time there was much more jade dew on the ground, more than seventy drops.

"We usually come to collect the Jade Dew every three months. Once we collect it, we immediately distribute it to the cold-resistant classes below, so the camp is basically out of stock."

Hearing Li Tiancheng's words, Xia Hong raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Li Xuanling.

The Longshan warehouse had been counted long ago, and there was indeed not a drop of Hanping Jade Dew left. This actually shows that Li Xuanling was a pretty good leader. Things like Jade Dew would be useless if they were not distributed to the Cold-Resistant Class for cultivation, and it would be useless if there was more of it in their hands. The fact that Longshan's Cold-Resistant Class was relatively stronger was probably related to her.

but…………

Xia Hong smiled slightly and teased Li Xuanling, "It seems that you still have twenty-one drops hidden in your boudoir. Why, you are reluctant to hand it over?"

"How dare you barge into my room, you bastard..."

Li Xuanling didn't feel anything when her secret collection of twenty-one drops of jade dew was exposed. But when she realized that Xia Hong had secretly searched her boudoir, a look of shame and anger suddenly appeared on her face, and she cursed subconsciously.

But she hadn't finished scolding him yet. Thinking about how Xia Hong had taken possession of her, it seemed a little ridiculous for her to get angry because her bedroom was broken into.

"You usually wear white clothes, but there are a lot of red things in your room. You are a bit hypocritical, woman!"

"shut up!"

Second uncle was right next to him. Li Xuanling's face turned red when he was teased like that. He couldn't help stamping his feet and scolding Xia Hong. He even had the urge to draw his sword.

Xia Hong shook his head and chuckled twice. He first collected the jade dew on the ground, then took out a porcelain bottle from his arms, poured out two fiery red elixirs with a layer of black cracks on the surface, and threw one directly to Li Tiancheng and Li Xuanling.

"There must be something wrong with the Shengyang Pill that Li Xuantian took out. If you still have it, I advise you to give it to me immediately.
This Yang Yuan Pill was developed by my Great Xia, a special elixir for cold-resistant level practitioners. The medicinal power of a single pill is three to four times that of a pound of Jade Bone Medicine.
Three catties of materials for making jade bone medicine can be used to make one furnace, and one furnace contains nine pills. So if you have any Hanping Yulu, it’s best to give it to me. It’s such a waste to use it to make jade bone medicine…”

When Xia Hong mentioned Shengyang Pill, Li Tiancheng and Li Xuanling's expressions changed slightly, but their attention was immediately drawn to the Yangyuan Pill in their hands.

The effect of a single pill is three to four times that of a pound of Jade Bone Medicine?
Three pounds of jade bone material can be used to refine nine pills. This means that the same material, when used to refine Yang Yuan Dan, can produce a medicinal effect that is at least thirty times that of the jade bone pill?
this…………

The two men looked at the Yang Yuan Dan in their hands, and their expressions froze instantly.

"Thank you for the gift, Chief. Li Xuantian took out more than thirty Holy Sun Pills, and we have run out of them long ago."

Li Tiancheng was the first to react and thanked Xia Hong.

Li Xuanling was not so polite. He simply put away the elixir, pretended nothing had happened, and walked forward.

"Come on, I'll take you to the location of the two silver mines!"

Li Xuanling actually took the initiative to lead the way, Xia Hong looked a little surprised.

Li Tiancheng quickly explained with a smile: "I have never been to those two silver mines. I just heard about them from my elder brother. Xuan Ling is the only one in Longshan who has been there with my elder brother, so she is the only one who knows the location."

That's it!

Xia Hong followed Li Xuanling and continued walking towards the depths of Longshan Mountain.

The first winter apple tree was thirty-five kilometers deep in Longshan Mountain;

Although the second tree is 20 kilometers away from it, it is actually to the north of it, so the depths of the two are not much different.

The location of this silver mine is obviously much more special.

Li Xuanling led the two men about ten kilometers deeper into the interior. The three of them noticed that there were prying eyes around them from time to time, and their expressions gradually became alert.

"Our exploration of Longshan is only about 40 kilometers. There are already quite a few high-level cold beasts at this depth, and even beast kings appear from time to time. Therefore, except for the cold-resistant team to come hunting, no one else dares to come."

Hearing Li Tiancheng's words, Xia Hong nodded slightly. Although it was the first time he heard the title of Beast King, he understood it almost immediately.

There must be more powerful cold beasts after the high-level cold beasts. This is almost beyond doubt. Otherwise, where did so many cold beasts in Hongmu Ridge, Arrow Bamboo Forest, and Longshan come from?

Just to say one thing, Xia Hong still hasn't figured out how the cold beasts reproduced. Judging from the density of the cold beasts in the three places of Hongmu Ridge, they seem to be endless. No matter how they are hunted, there will always be new ones appearing.

This is very scary.

However, these are obviously not what Xia Hong should think about now. One day, when he really figures out this problem, his strength will be extraordinary.

Huh… Huh… Huh…

Li Xuanling had already signaled to the two of them not to talk. After walking another five or six hundred meters forward, she suddenly waved her hand, signaling the two people behind her to stop, and then turned around and looked at them.

A solemn look appeared on the faces of the three people.

"Is this, the sound of breathing?"

"Isn't this too loud? I feel like it can be heard within a radius of three or four kilometers."

"What kind of cold beast is emitting this?"

These three questions were asked softly by Li Xuanling and Li Tiancheng.

Xia Hong never spoke a word, but just looked up three kilometers to the east, his eyes full of solemnity.

"This aura is exactly the same as the red carp monster we encountered on the north bank of the Xing River. Could it be that this is the Beast King?"

Li Xuanling led the two to climb up a nearby tree. When they reached a height of more than 30 meters, he pointed to a mountain on the east side and whispered, "There is a silver mine hidden in that mountain. However, there is a large group of frost wolves entrenched in the mountain. My father said that there are at least tens of thousands of them, and there are at least hundreds of high-level frost wolves. When I came here before, there was no breathing sound. It seems that this group is likely to have a beast king."

Tens of thousands of frost wolves, hundreds of advanced ones, and the beast king...

Xia Hong looked at the mountain in the distance, shook his head and sighed softly: "Take me to the location of the second silver mine. There is no need to think about this place for a short time."

(End of this chapter)