Chapter 278: Chapter 158 Preparation, Arrival_4
This kind of thing, of course, should be handled with a "better safe than sorry" principle.
After all, if there is a real connection, that would be a big problem.
The preparations must be done.
But whether to publicize it excessively is another question.
If itâs spoken out and turns out not to be true, causing everyone to panic unnecessarily, itâs needless.
Whether itâs spoken out or not, the preparations proceed as usual, the difference is not significant.
"I also hope itâs not true. The leader has been in seclusion without any sign. Itâs not appropriate to disturb him over something uncertain.
We will proceed with the preparations. If the disappearance of the Cold Beast is purely an accident, then letâs treat this as a trial for the camp, as these Iron Ores need to be mined sooner or later, just a bit ahead of schedule."
Upon hearing Xia Chuanâs words, Shi Ping turned around to look at the various iron weaponry already forged inside the wooden house, nodding with excitement.
"Isnât that so? This is almost beyond expectations?"
"Weâve already forged forty-nine Iron Core Bows. Recently, the number of breakthroughs into the Earth-digging Realm is just over fifty, right?"
"The bows are still not enough. We just finished forging fifty-two sabers last night, much more than enough, hehe."
"Youâre talking without doing anything. How can making sabers compare to forging bows? If you have the guts, you can try forging bows while I make the saber, and letâs see who is faster!"
The banter between Yuan Cheng and Luo Yuan brought a bit of cheer to the Blacksmith Room.
Xia Chuan didnât stop them; after two days of hard work, everyone indeed needed to relax a bit.
From March 15 to March 18, over these three days, from the initial seventeen to later these fifteen people, almost everyone was involved in forging.
Though tiring, the results were undoubtedly remarkable.
Aside from the forty-nine Ten-stone Iron Bows, fifty-two sabers in front of them, and the iron arrows being forged, all the iron materials used to reinforce wooden houses and wooden walls were completed in these three days.
It was definitely impossible to forge so many items with only these fifteen people.
Luckily, the Great Xia currently has plenty of Earth-digging Realm members, and the number of people capable of participating in forging is increasing.
Similar to the previous Rodent swarm incident, in the first three days, as long as the mining speed exceeded the forging speed, meaning an overflow of Iron Ores, all the Earth-digging Realm members from the mine would come up to help; if the situation was the opposite, they would go down for mining.
In this way, they managed to complete a nearly impossible task.
"With the thickened wooden walls, reinforced wooden houses, Teng Jiao Poison sacs, and the continuously forged Iron Core Bows and sabers, we should have done all the necessary preparations. This is what big brother said: âDo everything within human power; the rest is up to fate!â"
Xia Chuan took a deep breath and continued forging the long iron ingot on the forge.
When he started, the others also stopped chatting idly and returned to their forging tasks.
The uninterrupted sound of forging once again echoed throughout the room, transmitting to every corner of the wooden house.
The activity in the Blacksmith Room had been ongoing for three days, and the people were already accustomed to it.
Even though it wasnât night yet, over an hour until dark, the outside was still bright. Apart from the Earth-digging Realm members remaining in the mine and the nearly two hundred busy in the Blacksmith Room, most others in the camp were still immersed in their dreams.
After half an hour of continuous forging, as the long iron ingot in their hands was almost formed, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, along with the five others, couldnât help but show a hint of excitement on their faces.
"Sir, somethingâs happened!"
Just as Xia Chuan was about to forge the iron ingot with a single burst of effort, someone suddenly rushed in from outside with an anxious expression.
"The Marking Stone on the third floor, thereâs a reaction!"
"You all continue forging, donât stop, Iâll go have a look."
Upon hearing this, Xia Chuanâs expression drastically changed. He immediately dropped his polishing hammer, instructed the others with a sentence, and swiftly led the man up to the third floor.
The main hall on the third floor was the Martial Arts Training Ground, where many people were practicing. Upon seeing Xia Chuan come up, they all saluted.
Unfortunately, Xia Chuan was too concerned to pay attention to them. He merely waved his hand and followed Shi Ping to the center.
In the middle of the main hall stood a half-meter-long diamond-shaped jade stone.
Each corner of the jade stone exuded a luminescent glow, and there was a fan-shaped area in the transparent mirror at its center. In the middle of the western side of that area, there were already more than thirty flashing red dots, with more continuously appearing.
"Sir, these days, apart from training, Iâve been keeping an eye on this Marking Stone. Just now, a red dot suddenly appeared, and every few minutes a new one pops up. By now, there are already over thirty, and theyâre still increasing!"
Tong Xingshengâs expression was somewhat puzzled. Ten days ago, his elder brother broke through to the Earth-digging Realm, which made him envious. Originally planning to break through on the third floor as well, Xia Chuan suddenly assigned him the task of observing changes in the diamond-shaped jade stone.
What kind of changes could a jade stone have?
Although Tong Xingsheng was puzzled, he naturally obeyed Xia Chuanâs orders. With Xia Chuanâs exceptionally serious tone when explaining, he became even more attentive.
He could only practice while watching the jade stone, monitoring any changes.
Today, changes actually appeared.
Seeing Xia Chuanâs face of shock, he immediately realized that the change in the jade stone might be related to Xia Chuanâs recent rush for mining and forging.
After looking at the fan-shaped area on the diamond-shaped jade stone for several days, Tong Xingsheng had guessed that it represented a one-kilometer radius around the camp.
The fan-shaped area is the base, and those red dots, wouldnât they represent...
Just as Tong Xingshengâs face drastically changed, the diamond-shaped jade stone showed another change.
A large number of red dots suddenly appeared in the lower west side.
Even above, there were more.
No, itâs not over yet.
The red dots by the edge of the fan-shaped area kept increasing, quickly exceeding a hundred, soaring to several hundred, without any sign of slowing down.
More terrifyingly, those red dots began moving towards the east side.
"Quickly notify the ones in the mine, have them all come back!"
"Wake everyone up, wake everyone up, quickly!"
Xia Chuanâs face drastically changed. After instructing Tong Xingsheng, he turned to look at the people in the Martial Arts Training Ground and immediately issued orders.
Having somewhat guessed already, Tong Xingsheng promptly went downstairs when Xia Chuan spoke.
The people in the Martial Arts Training Ground were initially a bit dazed but quickly reacted, stopping their training and swiftly running downwards.
Lastly, he glanced at the doorway of Xia Hongâs room, hesitated for a couple of steps forward, but ultimately gritted his teeth and stopped.
Thud thud thud... thud thud thud...
At that moment, a rumbling sound like the earth shaking was transmitted from the ground.
Xia Chuan abruptly looked towards the west, the direction outside the valley, swallowed hard, and quickly rushed downstairs.
Now it was daytime, undoubtedly.
The beast tide had indeed arrived!
He really hadnât guessed wrong.
The Deceitful Monster at the Mirror Immortal Camp was truly controlling the Cold Beast to attack the base.
Even though they had made full preparations, the myriad of red dots on the Marking Stone and the violent shaking of the wooden house still filled Xia Chuan with incessant trembling.
"Whatâs shaking?"
"Whatâs with such a commotion?"
"Why are we being called back from the mine in broad daylight?"
...
The commotion was indeed huge, and with the people from the Martial Arts Training Ground scattered to notify others, most of the dreamers soon woke up.