By the campfire, everyone at the Great Xia Camp was either lying down or leaning against something.
A small number of the youngest ones, exhausted from the previous journey, had already fallen asleep.
The majority of the people were wide awake, their eyes fixated on the left side of the fire, at a tall man wearing only a beast skin skirt, with a bare upper body.
Looking closer, one realized that they were not staring at the man,
but at the piece of meat he was holding.
The meat in the man's hand was clearly freshly roasted, still sizzling with aroma.
Almost without exception, those awake were constantly swallowing their saliva.
The man was naturally Xia Hong.
Having just arrived in a new environment, others might still need time to adapt, but he could not afford that luxury; he had to quickly enhance his strength and break through to the Logging Realm.
"Five pounds at a time should be no problem!"
Cold Beast Flesh contained incredibly strong energy, and eating too much at once could cause someone to explode.
Xia Hong had eaten it before, so he understood; from his past experience, five pounds at a time should pose no issue for him.
As the meat entered his stomach, the first wave he felt was satiety.
As the feeling of fullness continued to swell, his blood began to boil, and a strong burning sensation suddenly erupted in his abdomen.
Next, sweat began to pour crazily from his forehead, shoulders, back, lower limbs, even palms and the soles of his feet.
The muscles in his arms gradually bulged, while veins across his forehead, the back of his hands, and his legs began to protrude.
Xia Hong's breathing became heavy, even carrying a burning sensation. His exhaled breath was unusually visible to all in the camp.
Suddenly, Xia Hong moved.
He clenched his fists, retracted them, then fiercely thrust his waist, a straight punch forward, his fists like cannonballs. Though the punch hit nothing, the air vibrated continuously; if someone were to meet the punch, the outcome could be imagined.
"Watch closely, this is Long Fist, rising like a gale and striking like lightning, with the lead hand followed by the rear, both hands alternating as one relentless force. Once we have enough Cold Beast Flesh, regardless of gender, everyone in the camp will practice with me."
Xia Hong demonstrated the Grand Ancestor Long Fist while explaining to the people in the camp.
Crystal Fruit can only satisfy hunger; to train, one must have Cold Beast Flesh.
It's easy to understand, eating enough just maintains basic bodily functions.
But forging the body and improving physical functions requires eating meat.
The cultivation method in this world is simple and brutal: consume large amounts of Cold Beast Flesh, and through venting, continuously absorb the flesh's energy, which steadily enhances bodily strength.
In truth, no one in the camp doesn't want to train.
But when survival is a problem, cultivation becomes even more of a luxury.
Even now, with Xia Ding teaching them the Long Fist techniques, they could only lie quietly and listen.
It's not that they don't want to get up, it's to move less, to conserve energy.
"Chuan, was this Long Fist taught to Hong by Uncle Ding?"
Watching the still vigorous Xia Hong in the field, Yuan Hong showed a hint of envy and turned to ask Xia Chuan beside him.
Xia Chuan's face was full of pride as he whispered, "This is something my brother created a month ago. I tell you, practicing this Long Fist speeds up the absorption of Cold Beast Flesh energy."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Hong's pupils shrank sharply.
He had also eaten Cold Beast Flesh and knew what that meant.
Absorbing the energy of Cold Beast Flesh would increase strength, and this process is cultivation; increasing the speed of energy absorption means increasing the speed of cultivation.
"Really?"
"Of course it's true, my brother taught me, and I tried it myself."
"Great, then once we have Cold Beast Flesh, I want to practice too."
"Don't worry, didn't you hear? My brother just said, once we have enough flesh and blood, he'll teach us."
......
In the following days, at the maximum body limits, Xia Hong regularly consumed five pounds each day, and indeed, his strength increased steadily.
Before the camp was attacked, his basic strength was already four thousand pounds. Over the next five days, his strength increased by nearly a hundred pounds each day.
Great Xia Camp's tool for measuring strength was a set of brown circular wooden stakes.
There were twelve stakes in total, five of one hundred pounds, two of five hundred pounds, and five of one thousand pounds.
Everyone in the camp watched Xia Hong measure his strength each day.
From the first day's 4100 pounds to the seventh day's 4900 pounds.
The crowd's enthusiasm grew, and as they looked at the sealed entrance, a glimmer of hope gradually rose in their eyes.
In the past, when Xia Ding and the logging team were present, the entrance could be opened in the evenings for ventilation. Now sealed in year-round, they felt even more stifled.
Critically, the Crystal Fruits were running low.
Even with minimal rationing, there were only about seven hundred pounds.