Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Second Year of Great Xia, June 2, Late Night

Xia City is still bustling with activity, but unlike yesterday, today it seems as if everyone from the Camp has flooded into the Inner City. Everyone is gathered on either side of the main road, cheering for those competing on the arena.

At the same time, exciting news spreads through word of mouth, causing constant waves of surprise on the faces of the crowd.

"Someone else has had a breakthrough!"

"I heard about it already, isn't it Chen Ying at Arena 5?"

"No, it's Lu He at Arena 8."

"And it's just past midnight; during the second round of the Earth-digging Realm finals, two more have broken through. Does that mean not even Cold Resistance Level is guaranteed to make the top ten?"

"Certainly, last night eight broke through, and now with Chen Ying and Lu He, there are already ten Cold Resistance Levels in the Earth-digging Realm group. More will come; without Cold Resistance Level cultivation, you can't even dream of entering the top ten of the Earth-digging Realm group."

"Frightening! They call it the Earth-digging Realm group, but to reach the top ten, Cold Resistance Level cultivation is the minimum."

"It's the same for the Logging Realm group. Tonight is the second round of preliminaries; anyone who lasts beyond five matches on stage has Earth-digging Realm cultivation."

"That's for sure. During last night's preliminary assessment, you could rely on luck to advance, but tonight luck won't do. Once you're on the arena for one-on-one, it's all about strength."

"I heard that during last night's preliminaries alone, Guangxia City had over seven hundred breakthroughs, even more when you count the other five strongholds. Without Earth-digging Realm cultivation, there's not a chance to advance to the top 128!"

...........

In the crowd, Luo Ming had just stepped down from the arena. Upon hearing the surrounding discussions, he clenched the fist under his sleeve, a trace of unwillingness flashing in his eyes.

"Old Chen and Old Lu have both broken through before us!"

"Chen Ying and Lu He used to buy coal from us, right? And now they've broken through to Cold Resistance Level, truly..."

......

Li Baihe and Shang Ping lightly sighed, then looked at the central Luo Ming, both falling silent.

Chen Ying and Lu He are leaders of the Chen Ye and Lu Shang families, respectively, and could be considered old acquaintances. They had many dealings with them back when Rogel Camp was in charge of Redwood Ridge.

Three years ago, when Luo Ming led them away from Redwood Ridge, these two were still at Logging Realm cultivation, yet now they've broken through to Cold Resistance Level, surpassing everyone's cultivation.

If you talk about sentiments of change, none of them could compare to Luo Ming.

After all, Luo Ming once stood on equal footing with Xia Hong.

Now, forget about old acquaintances like Lu He and Chen Ying; consider Luo Yuan, Zhao Long, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao… this batch of old Rogel Camp members. Not only have they all broken through to Cold Resistance Level, but each holds important positions in Great Xia now, their status incomparable.

In fact, since returning from Longyou over a month ago, Luo Yuan and the others haven't visited them even once.

Including Li Baihe and the others, Luo Ming naturally dared not voice any complaints.

They even consciously avoid interacting with old Rogel members, fearing dealings with them.

After all, they abandoned these people and fled from Redwood Ridge. Now they've returned ashamed; how could they face these people?

Seeing Luo Ming's emotions grow increasingly low, Li Baihe sighed slightly and advised:

"Big brother, don't be discouraged. You've started using Beast Blood. With Great Xia's current resource supply, breaking through to Cold Resistance Level is only a matter of time. Making it to the top 128 is already quite good."

Shang Ping followed up on Li Baihe's words and nodded:

"Indeed, the three of us, Baihe, Shang Ping, and myself, should break through the three-thousand-jin limit this year. Once we all reach Cold Resistance Level, providing more contributions to the Camp, Luo Yuan, Zhao Long, and they will naturally welcome us back!"

Hearing his two brothers' comfort, Luo Ming raised his head with a smile.

But the smile was evidently forced!

He clearly understands the principle of being one step behind leads to every step behind.

The gap with Luo Yuan and others has already formed and will be challenging to bridge.

Just then, Xu Kang ran over from the outer edges, full of joy.

"Big brother, Xiao Cheng has already won ten matches consecutively. He's currently ranked 79th in the Logging Realm group; as long as he can maintain it until dawn, he'll surely enter the top 128 and likely make it into the top 100 tomorrow!"

Upon hearing Xu Kang's news, the trio of Luo Ming suddenly showed expressions of great joy and hurried to follow him towards the front of the main building.

"Isn't Xiao Cheng still in the Earth-digging Realm? He advanced because of luck yesterday, yet he won ten matches consecutively and ranks 79th? How is that possible?"

After his exhilaration, Luo Ming began to feel anxious again.

Even though his son arrived at Great Xia a bit earlier, until the martial arts contest started, his Basic Strength was only a little over 8600 jin. Yesterday's preliminaries were advanced merely by luck, with the same group.

For today's Logging Realm group top 128, not breaking through to Earth-digging Realm meant having no hope, and Luo Ming hadn't placed any confidence in his son.

He actually advanced; not likely that overnight, his Basic Strength surged over ten thousand and broke through Earth-digging Realm, right?

"Hahaha, none of you three went; I watched all of Xiao Cheng's ten matches. His spear techniques are too strong; the Logging Realm cannot withstand ten moves against him. Against those who break through to Earth-digging Realm, he can still win with his spear techniques. It was just the latter three matches where opponents were tougher; otherwise, his rank could improve even more."

Xu Kang appeared very excited, speaking as he led Luo Ming and the others to the bottom of the main building, quickly finding Luo Cheng under the announcement board.