Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 339 Cultivation, Enlightenment Lotus Platform, Major Building Upgrade

The third year of the Great Xia Dynasty, the twelfth day of the eighth month.

Deep within the inner city, behind the main building, lies the Star-Picking Hall.

The Zhaixing Hall is only about 30 meters long, at most one-third the length of the main building in front. However, because its height is similar to that of the main building, and it is built more than 30 meters above the main building, and because of its small area, the coal stoves are arranged relatively densely, resulting in more light sources. As a result, it appears even more imposing and luxurious than the main building.

Especially since Li Xuanling successfully gave birth seven days ago, Xia Hong took the Sacred Cauldron out of her room and placed it on the open-air platform at the very top of the center, which undoubtedly added a touch of divinity to the entire Star-Picking Palace.

On the Star-Picking Platform, Xia Hong sat cross-legged in front of the Cold Ruins Cauldron, looking down at the Yang Yuan Pill in his hand, his brows furrowed.

"Fifty-two hairs, only four hairs increased in eight months. Sure enough, the cultivation speed gets slower as time goes on. It seems that the breakthrough in the previous three years was too optimistic. At this rate, it will probably take more than four or five years!"

Having only been in this world for less than five years, Xia Hong's face was filled with worry when he thought about how long it would take to break through to the peak of the Cold Resistance Realm.

The Cold Resistance level, with power measured in manes, sounds impressive, but in reality, it only grants the initial qualification to glimpse the Ice Abyss World during the day. It might be decent in Pingxi Plain, but in a larger region, it's definitely nothing, and in the entire Ice Abyss World, it's utterly insignificant.

Putting everything else aside, the so-called nine towns of Mount Mo'ao must have many experts at the Cold Resistance level, or even above it, and there's a high probability that there are some.

"It takes four or five years to break through to the peak of the Cold Resistance level. After breaking through, I will complete the third round of flesh and blood reorganization and then start to try to break through to the Manifest Yang level. According to Li Tiancheng and Hou Jing, it is to use the medicinal power to temper the bones and generate marrow. That process is more than a hundred times slower than the previous one. I can't wait until I'm fifty or sixty years old to break through!"

With Hou Jing and Li Tiancheng, both at the peak of the Cold Resistance level, Xia Hong was fortunate enough to learn some information about the Manifestation Yang level in advance. In fact, it was mainly Li Tiancheng who learned about the ability to use medicinal power to temper bones and marrow from his elder brother, Li Tianhua.

Li Tiancheng's description was clearly somewhat ambiguous.

Thinking about it, that makes sense. When Li Tianhua left Longshan four years ago, he hadn't broken through to the Xianyang level. How much could Li Tiancheng possibly know from him?
"No wonder Li Tianhua hasn't broken through to the Manifest Yang level even in his nineties. My talent is above his, and it's taken me this long to break through to the peak of the Cold Control level. If I can't figure out a way, I probably won't be able to break through until I'm fifty or sixty. Tsk tsk..."

Xia Hong turned to look at the Cold Ruins Cauldron behind him and sighed softly.

It should be noted that he cultivates within the radiation range of the Cold Ruins Cauldron, which comes with a three-fold cultivation boost from the martial arts hall, plus an unlimited supply of Yang Yuan Pills. If his cultivation progress is still this slow under such circumstances, one can only imagine how slow it is for others.

And what he meant by finding a solution was, of course, the camp system.

"It's the seventh day. The first batch of silver ore should be brought back soon. The maximum daily mining output of the Earth Digging Realm is only about 100 catties. In four days, it should be 120 million catties. Converted to the system, that's a full 24 silver resources. All seven buildings can be upgraded, and the small wooden table can finally be unlocked. The cultivation speed should be able to be even faster."

Although he had entrusted the silver mine entirely to Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao, and Yuan Cheng, Xia Hong was still somewhat uneasy and personally went to oversee the situation the next day, thus gaining considerable control over the silver mine's operations.

Silver mining is much more difficult than iron mining. First, the tools are essential; a medium-grade toothed chisel is required. Second, the miners are also crucial; because silver is much tougher and stronger than iron, a minimum strength of 20,000 jin is required to qualify for even the initial mining.

Xia Chuan has already tried it. With a basic strength of 20,000 jin, he can only mine one piece a day at most, which is about 30 jin. Only at the limit of the Digging Realm can he barely mine 100 jin.

At the same time, the silver mine is extremely attractive to the cold beasts, who will come to harass it from time to time. Moreover, these cold beasts do not act alone, so when mining, it is necessary to send people to keep an eye on it and guard against the cold beast hordes that may attack at any time.

"The Frost Ruins Cauldron can be used to intimidate and kill monsters, and so can silver. Both have a strong attraction to frost beasts, so there must be some connection between them!"

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, then walked to the storage compartment behind the Star-Picking Platform and took out the corpse of a special Frost Wolf.

The frost wolf was over a meter long, with soft fur that shone with a silvery-white luster like moonlight in the night. The barbs around its neck also gleamed with a bright silver light. Although its eyes had lost their luster, one could still vaguely see that its pupils were originally black.

"This Frost Wolf's Beast King level cultivation must have been forcibly raised by Bai Lu Gui. Apart from the abnormal protrusion on its brow bone and the layer of silver crystal condensed on the outer layer of its bones, the rest of its body is not much different from that of a high-level Frost Wolf. It's a pity. If we could really get a Beast King level Frost Wolf, we might be able to discover more things!"

Xia Hong shook his head slightly, knowing that his idea was somewhat unrealistic.

If this Frost Wolf King is a genuine Beast King-level cultivator, then the outcome of Yang Lujing's night is hard to predict.

From the end of last year to now, more than eight months have passed, and Xia Hong has basically finished studying this Frost Wolf with the cultivation level of a quasi-Beast King.

"The protrusion on the brow bone is clearly an unformed round bone core. In addition, the silver crystal surrounding the outer layer of the bone suggests that high-level cold beasts will likely need to temper their bones if they want to break through to become beast kings. However, unlike humans, their method of tempering is to eat silver. That is why cold beast groups all like to occupy silver mines!"

This is not a baseless speculation. Xia Chuan and his army have dealt with all the gnawing rats in the silver mine on the north slope of the mountain. Five days ago, Xia Hong personally cut open the abdomen of a high-grade gnawing rat and saw the undigested silver inside.

"If that's the case, it means that all silver mines, as long as they are inhabited by Frost Beast clans, have a very high probability of giving birth to Beast Kings. Those that already exist may give birth to even more. In that case, the two silver mines that Li Tiancheng and Hou Jing discovered this year, plus the two that were originally in Longshan, are like four time bombs. If they are not dealt with in time, they will become too powerful..."

Thinking of this, Xia Hong frowned slightly, feeling a greater sense of urgency.

Just then, the voice of the maid Hanyue came from below.

"My lord, the Minister of Justice has returned and is waiting for you in the council hall."

"Finally home!"

A look of joy immediately appeared in Xia Hong's eyes. He quickly got up, stepped down from the Star-Picking Platform, and hurriedly walked towards the main building.

"Brother, the first batch of silver is all here, totaling 1096247 jin!"

As soon as Xia Hong entered the main building's council hall, he was immediately drawn to the eleven boxes of gleaming silver ore in the center of the hall. He barely responded to Xia Chuan's words, but quickly walked forward, picked up a piece of silver about half the size of an adult's fist, and his expression brightened slightly.

During the Battle of Longyou, the Great Xia used condensed fire oil to exchange for 400 catties of silver from Zhaoyang and Longshan, so Xia Hong was not completely ignorant about silver.

For the same volume, silver weighs about four times as much as iron ore, so this piece, about half the size of a fist, weighs more than 80 kilograms.

"Small in size and heavy in weight, coupled with its superior toughness and hardness, silver is clearly more suitable than iron ore for forging weapons, especially for the Cold-resistant class with strength exceeding that of a mane."

Xia Chuan's expression was also very excited, clearly aware of the value of this batch of silver ore.

"Forging weapons?"

Xia Hong raised an eyebrow slightly, a smile appearing on his face, and said, "It's probably not possible for the time being. By the way, what is Mu Dong's estimated production volume?"

The Great Xia Dynasty has already mined dozens of iron ore mines. Mu Dong had long since figured out a method to calculate the output of the ore veins, and he could guess the output with a high degree of accuracy. Five days ago, as soon as the silver mine was acquired, Xia Hong immediately sent Mu Dong to calculate the total output.

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression immediately darkened, and he said in a deep voice:
"The output is probably between 5 and 7 tons; it's a mini silver mine!"

工匠部会根据预估产量，将矿脉分类，10万吨以下为微型；10万到50万吨为小型；50万到300万为中型；300万到1000万为大型；1000万以上那就是巨型矿脉了。

No giant iron ore veins have been discovered within the territory of Daxia. The three largest iron mines with the highest estimated output are located in Longshan and Hongmuling, respectively.

Hearing that it was a micro-mineral vein, Xia Hong did not show any surprise. He had a premonition when he saw the silver mine seven days ago.

Regardless, this silver mine was an unexpected windfall; having it at all was already a blessing, so there was no reason to be picky. Moreover, 50,000 tons is 100 million jin (500,000 kg), and if it could all be converted into silver resources in the system, that would be 20 million points. How could that be considered a small amount?

Besides, the daily mining output of the Digging Realm Limit is only about 100 catties. The Great Xia currently has more than 4,000 Digging Realm Limit members. Even if they were all used for mining, it would only amount to 400,000 catties a day. It would take eight or nine months to mine more than 50,000 tons.

As the current backbone of the Great Xia Dynasty, it is unrealistic to pull all the members of the Excavation Realm to mining. Therefore, based on the current development trajectory of the camp, Xia Hong estimates that this silver mine will be able to be mined for at least three to five years.

"That's enough. Weapon forging will have to wait. And you three armies can't all stay there mining. How about this, leave one army there. Also, inform Qiu Peng to have the logistics department change the monthly iron ore quota for those who are at the limit of digging and whose basic strength exceeds 20,000 jin to silver ore, and encourage them to mine there."

"I know, brother!"

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he reached into the first wooden box and placed the box containing about 100,000 catties of silver ore, which immediately disappeared.

"Big brother, are you going to perform another miracle?"

Seeing this, Xia Chuan showed no surprise, and even a hint of anticipation. It was no secret in the camp that Xia Hong could absorb various resources to upgrade the special buildings in Xia City.

Not only Xia Chuan, but all the people of Da Xia who had witnessed the building upgrades before called it a miracle, a miracle performed by Lord Xia Hong himself.

A martial arts hall that can increase cultivation speed; an alchemy workshop that can identify medicines and automatically refine pills; a weapon forging workshop that can create weapons with beast-suppressing attributes; a tough black wall that appears out of nowhere; yellow earth that increases the success rate of transplantation; a heroic spirit monument that can monitor the area... Of course, most importantly, that sacred cauldron!

If these don't qualify as miracles, then what does?
These miracles are the origin of the fanatical fervor that everyone in the Great Xia Dynasty, including Xia Chuan, feels for their lord, Xia Hong.

Leaving aside Xia Chuan's thoughts for the moment, Xia Hong, looking at his brand-new resource panel, had incredibly bright eyes and an extremely excited expression.

[Resources: Timber 19724 million tons, Coal 12762 million tons, Iron 1421 million tons, Silver 20 million tons]

Finally, in his fifth year in this world, Xia Hong has achieved basic financial freedom. The only resource he hasn't seen yet is gold.

【已开启建筑7：寒墟鼎（4级）、武道馆（3级）、炼药坊（3级）、炼器坊（3级）、黑土墙（2级）、英灵碑（3级）、黄土地（1级）】

[Unactivated Building 2: Small wooden table, thick iron chain]

Xia Hong didn't rush to upgrade the other seven buildings that had already been unlocked, but instead focused his attention on the last two buildings that hadn't been unlocked yet.

[Small Wooden Table, Requires: 10000 Iron, 3000 Silver]

With a slight thought, his system resources immediately decreased, and then, just like when he first selected the building, a white light appeared in front of him.

After a long while, the white light disappeared, and a black, four-cornered desk appeared out of thin air in front of them.

Small wooden table (Level 1): Cultivation aid

Special function: Doubles the user's cultivation speed.
Cost: 20 Silver per day
Upgrade requirements: 10 Iron, 20000 Silver
Upon seeing the simple description of the small wooden table, Xia Hong was taken aback for a moment. Then, recalling the descriptions of the other eight buildings when they were first selected, he immediately understood and upgraded them one after another without hesitation.

Three white lights flashed across the small wooden table in succession, and what finally appeared in front of him was a five-meter-tall silver twelve-petaled lotus platform.

Enlightenment Lotus Platform (Level 4): Cultivation Auxiliary Device

Special Function 1: Increases the user's cultivation speed by five times.
Cost: 50 Silver per day
Special Function 2: Allows entry into a state of enlightenment, greatly enhancing comprehension. Limited to once per month, requiring 50000 silver resources.

Special Function 3: Allows entry into the Lotus Platform space to deduce martial arts techniques, costing 5000 silver points each time, with no limit on the number of uses.

Special Function 4: Allows for extraordinary skill enhancement, limited to once per year, requiring 100000 silver points. The success rate can reach up to 20% depending on the user's skill level.

Upgrade Cost: 150000 Silver, 8000 Gold
………………

After reading the description of the Enlightenment Lotus Platform, Xia Hong took a slight breath, his eyes filled with ecstasy and emotion.

Although he didn't quite understand the fourth function, and the terrifying cost of 100,000 silver points only resulted in a 20% success rate, this almost immediately dispelled his intention to use the function in the short term.

However, the descriptions of the first three functions still made his heart pound.

Five times the cultivation speed; monthly epiphanies; and the ability to enter the Lotus Platform space to deduce cultivation techniques and martial arts—these three functions perfectly compensated for all his problems in cultivation, and they came at the perfect time.

"I guessed before that the small wooden table would have functions like cultivation and education. Sure enough, based on the convention that the greater the building's consumption, the stronger its functions, the most powerful function of the Enlightenment Lotus Platform should be the fourth one, transcending skills. Could it be what I'm thinking?"

Xia Hong clearly made a connection to something, and a slight glint of interest rose in his eyes. However, seeing the terrifying cost of 100,000 silver points per attempt, and the astonishing 20% ​​success rate, he quickly calmed himself down.

"No, no, we can't afford to be so extravagant right now. We have to wait until the silver mine has been operating for a while. Let's wait and wait..."

[Resources: Timber 19724 million tons, Coal 12762 million tons, Iron 1250 million tons, Silver 27000 million tons]

Upgrading from a level 1 small wooden table to a level 4 Enlightenment Lotus Platform cost a total of 173000 silver points, and the iron resources were even more terrifying, amounting to a whopping 171 million.

Fortunately, of the remaining seven buildings, apart from the black earth wall and the yellow earth, the other five are level 3 to level 4 upgrades, which don't require much silver.

However, Xia Hong was not in a hurry to upgrade. Instead, he turned to Xia Chuan and said in a deep voice, "I need silver, a lot of silver. Take the Yun Jiao Army back to the silver mine and continue to mine at full capacity for a month with the Long Wu and Tu Long armies. After a month, we will resume normal mining."

"I know, brother!"

Seeing Xia Hong's solemn expression, Xia Chuan immediately nodded emphatically.

"By the way, the people from Songyang Ridge have agreed to join us. I heard they have a total population of 110,000. Xia City is probably about to run out of space, right?"

When Xia Hong checked the system, he noticed that the population figure had reached 510,000 and immediately asked a question.

Xia Chuan nodded immediately upon hearing this and replied, "The outer city's fourth district is already full. The only solution is to raise land prices and try to reduce land use so that more people can live together. But even that won't work. With 110,000 people coming in from Songyang Ridge this time, even the temporary large wooden houses might not be enough."

"It's time for another expansion, and the city walls are about due for replacement. I know what I'm doing. You go and take care of your business first!"

"I obey my orders!"

Xia Chuan bowed and left, leaving Xia Hong alone in the council hall, looking at the alchemy workshop, weapon forging workshop, and martial arts academy behind the main building, his eyes gradually burning with desire.

(End of this chapter)