Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Upgrading the Bonfire Xia Hong knows how precious iron tools are in this world. Iron ore itself is considered a rare resource, and in this world, even cutting down trees is incredibly difficult, let alone mining iron, which is even more advanced than wood. Why do only medium-sized camps have iron tools? Because without a strong person at the Earth-digging Realm, even if you discover iron ore, you can’t extract it; and iron and coal are like a family, having only iron without coal, the heat produced by burning wood is not enough to smelt iron tools. In Great Xia Camp over the years, only Xia Ding had half an iron tool—a stone axe—which was lost when Xia Ding was killed. Moreover, Xia Hong also knows that Xia Ding’s axe was exchanged for lots of wood with a familiar person from Rogel Camp’s hunting team. This shows that iron tools are not only rare but also strictly controlled by those medium and large camps, prohibiting them from going out. How Da Shi Camp got their blades, Xia Hong is unsure. But one thing is certain, this blade is extremely precious to them. When first encountering Da Shi Camp hunting the Snow Mane, that person, before dying, threw the blade to the leader, showing how precious it was. Such a precious thing, yet the people from Da Shi Camp allowed it to be lost in the snow. Initially, Xia Hong thought Wang Ming and his group might have crossed into Great Xia’s territory on their own and ended up encountering something terrifying, resulting in their deaths. But he soon realized that wasn’t the case. If that were the case, other people from Da Shi Camp would certainly come looking for them. Even if not for Wang Ming, they would do so for the sake of this blade. However, judging by the thickness of the snow covering Wang Ming’s corpse just now. It was clear that no one from Da Shi Camp had come looking for them. This suggests that it’s very likely the entire logging team was present, and Wang Ming’s group was perhaps too slow to escape, resulting in their deaths while others managed to flee. And those people fled so hastily that they couldn’t even care about the blade. The logging team from Da Shi Camp consisted of thirteen people, and among them were two archers. With such a configuration, they still ended up in disarray. Linking this to the strange red dots on the foreheads of the other three corpses, Xia Hong could almost conclude that they had encountered a deceitful monster. The group that escaped were either eventually killed or so terrified by the monster that they didn’t even have the courage to come back and check. Regardless, Xia Hong realized he couldn’t stay in the same spot any longer. Moreover, these four died on Great Xia Territory. Does that mean the deceitful monster has now settled in this area? This is why Xia Hong not only led everyone back to the camp but also stated that in the coming time, there would be no logging or hunting. Encountering that deceitful monster again, let alone whether their lives could be saved, the hard-earned possessions they had accumulated would likely be lost in no time. Rushing back to camp was mostly for safety reasons. A small part was also due to this blade that they accidentally picked up. Sitting by the campfire, Xia Hong’s eyes were filled with delight as he held the blade. [Resources: wood 670 coal 0 iron 60 silver 0 gold 0] The moment he picked up the blade at Redwood Ridge, the reason his face lit up with joy was that this blade, when converted into system iron resources, amounted to a staggering 60 units. "I was wrong, the trees in this world are different, naturally, the iron is different too. This blade doesn’t look large yet weighs six hundred pounds. No wonder it requires the Earth-digging Realm, now even if an iron deposit was placed in front of me, with my current strength, I couldn’t budge it a bit." Xia Hong didn’t have much knowledge of metals, but judging by its volume and weight, the iron in this world, like the trees, bore no resemblance to the previous world—it was an entirely different substance altogether. Six hundred pounds equals sixty units of iron, which means ten pounds of iron converts to one unit of system iron resources. To acquire iron resources in such an unexpected and lucky manner made Xia Hong happy, but what thrilled him more was that he could finally modify the buildings in the system. To say the system hasn’t been useful would be untrue. After all, the small torch provided by the fire pile gave Xia Hong the ability to hunt, indirectly helping the camp cultivate seven Logging Realm personnel. Yet it’s a fact that in over two months, the system had shown no changes. Xia Hong was plagued by this, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn’t lacking in wood—on the contrary, with the increasing number of Logging Realm personnel, the camp was overflowing—but as for iron, he genuinely didn’t know where to get it. Da Shi Camp has it, and Rogel Camp even more so, but it’s evident they wouldn’t sell it to him, and even if they did, what could he exchange for it? The most critical issue was that he didn’t even know the location of Rogel Camp. Having the system but no resources, unable to upgrade or unlock new buildings left Xia Hong feeling overwhelmed. If it wasn’t for the daily steady improvement of the camp, he might have already contemplated taking risks to obtain iron. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 The long-desired resource, acquired in such a dramatic fashion, made Xia Hong feel as though he were dreaming. However, important matters remained at hand. Suppressing his excited heart, he opened the system interface: [Small Fire Pile (Level 1) Upgrade Conditions: 200 Wood 50 Iron] [Wooden Mannequin, Construction Conditions: 100 Wood 20 Iron] Two choices: unlock the new building Wooden Mannequin or upgrade the Small Fire Pile. Wooden Mannequin? Xia Hong frowned slightly, as he was familiar with this—it was a type of martial arts apparatus, meaning this building was likely an aid for training in martial arts. Of course, being a system product, the Wooden Mannequin surely wasn’t just a simple martial apparatus, but from the function of the Small Fire Pile as a comparison, it was likely not far off. Xia Hong shook his head, quickly dismissing the notion of building the Wooden Mannequin. The greatest difficulty with Logging Realm cultivation was the Cold Beast Meat, and it wasn’t significantly related to martial arts training. Furthermore, his own martial arts skills were quite high, so he had no issue practicing individually or even guiding others. The Wooden Mannequin could wait for later. The Small Fire Pile, however, was different. Aside from warmth, in terms of functionality, it had a suppressive and damaging effect on primary monsters, and right now, the camp was most fearful of that deceitful monster. The torches produced by the Small Fire Pile could also assist the camp in hunting. More importantly, the fire pile required wood. And currently, Xia Hong had an excess of wood. From the perspectives of both function and resources, upgrading the Small Fire Pile was evidently a wise choice. Having made up his mind, Xia Hong didn’t hesitate any longer. Looking at the campfire in front of him, he chose to upgrade the Small Fire Pile. Boom..... Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling sound. The fire pile in the middle of the cave, as if doused with oil, suddenly rose another meter from its original height of two to three meters, and the surrounding temperature rapidly increased at a speed perceivable by the human body. "Did someone add fuel? How did the fire suddenly grow?" "It seems warmer too." "Truly, it’s much warmer even outside." ... Xia Hong paid no heed to the exclamations of the camp members, instead focusing on the attributes of the Small Fire Pile after the upgrade. Iron Refining Furnace (Level 2): Can significantly increase the temperature within a hundred-meter radius by using coal, greatly enhancing the suppression and damage effect on primary monsters, but also more strongly attracting Cold Beasts. Can consume coal to smelt iron tools. Special Function: For every 10 units of wood burned, a small torch can be generated, offering similar functionality to the Small Fire Pile and portable; Every 100 units of wood burned can produce a portion of solidified fire oil, harmless to humans but ignites upon contact with deceitful monsters, having a strong lethal effect on them. Upgrade Conditions: 2000 Wood 5000 Iron After reading, Xia Hong was immediately filled with excitement.