Although it was nighttime, the silver color was naturally bright, and with the help of the moonlight, Aaron could barely make out their appearance.
This group of silver creatures all had pointed heads and strong bodies, each about a meter long, with a two or three-meter-long flesh-colored tail hanging behind, covered with dense barbs, which were terrifyingly intimidating;
The two sharp incisors glinted with a chilling light under the moonlight, and although the limbs under their bellies were short, they were robust and powerful, with ends that bore claws as sharp as steel knives.
At this moment, most of them were asleep, while a few that weren't had small eyes that emitted a blood-red glow, darting around viciously, occasionally baring their teeth at others nearby, full of ferocity.
Cold Beasts, a new kind of Cold Beast never encountered before.
And there were so many of them, at least three to four hundred.
How could such a large group suddenly appear?
Aaron swallowed, nearly trembling as he pulled his head back, then cautiously descended from the rock wall, not turning back as he sprinted away.
He was infinitely grateful for his earlier caution at this moment.
No, he should be thankful to the leader.
If not for Bruce's strict demands on the Hunting Team, which instilled the habit of staying vigilant when outside, even the slightest mistake would have caused the group to stir, and he would have undoubtedly been doomed.
No wonder they hadn't encountered the Brocolli Camp's logging team in the past half month.
Seeing the formation of those creatures, whether the people from Brocolli Camp were alive or dead was uncertain, let alone them going out.
It was still unknown if that group of creatures also occupied the mountainside during the day, like they did at night.
If they did, the people in Brocolli Camp wouldn't dare light a fire during the day, and even if they didn't starve to death, they might have frozen to death by now.
"I must hurry back to report to the leader. The Brocolli Camp is just over two thousand meters from Harper. If this group stays here long-term, who knows when they'll discover the valley. If they do, we'll be in trouble too!"
Understanding the seriousness of the situation, Aaron looked much graver, and his pace back to the valley unconsciously quickened.
---
Inside Redwood Ridge
Beside a tree about four or five meters in diameter, there grew dozens of pale blue plants, whose leaves emitted a faint glow in the night, adding a touch of beauty to the silent, deathly ice and snow forest.
Rustle…
A faint sound of footsteps came through the snow, and a burly figure approached the blue tree, his face full of joy as he looked at the pale blue vegetation scattered everywhere.
"The second Blue Jade Tree, indeed the deeper in, the more treasures there are. Just a hundred meters in, and there are already two; there must be more further in."
The burly figure, having left the Hunting Team to explore Redwood Ridge alone, was Bruce.
Seeing the Blue Frost Grass all over the ground, Bruce's face lit up with delight, and he immediately crouched down to begin picking them.
After finishing the harvest, he tied them up securely with a rope and slung them on his back.
Bruce stood up and gazed at the blue tree, the joy in his eyes undiminished.
Golden Sore Powder had become an essential item for the Hunting Team.
As the primary ingredient for refining Golden Sore Powder, the importance of Blue Frost Grass was beyond words.
Once Bruce learned that Blue Frost Grass was an accompanying plant of these blue trees, he placed great importance on these trees.
Since its trunk was blue and the leaves were smooth like jade, he named it Blue Jade Tree.
Unfortunately, within a five hundred meter range outside Redwood Ridge, Cheng Feng could not find a second one.
There were forty-seven Blue Frost Grass plants beside the previous Blue Jade Tree, which had all been harvested and refined into Golden Sore Powder.
During this time, the Collection Team searched the five hundred meter range repeatedly, but could never find a second one; the Blue Frost Grass beside the earlier tree had not grown back yet.
Bruce had been worried about running out of Golden Sore Powder, but unexpectedly, he found two in one night.
"Over a hundred Blue Frost Grass plants, tonight's harvest is sufficient, and I even saw a Cloud Mist Teng Jiao. In half a month, we can officially expand the activity range and bring them here to hunt new Cold Beasts!"
With Blue Frost Grass on his back, Bruce glanced toward the southwest.
About a hundred meters away in the southwest, there was a cloud-covered area about fifty or sixty meters wide, where the fog was so dense that the outlines of trees were barely visible, and even the moonlight couldn't penetrate, giving off a mysterious sense of danger.
That was the habitat of a Cloud Mist Teng Jiao.
Bruce had just come from there.
Snow Mane, Frost Wolf, and Demon Sheep meats had become less effective in enhancing his strength, perhaps due to his body developing an immunity to the meat of these three Cold Beasts.
Previously, this was just Bruce's conjecture, but upon witnessing the Cloud Mist Teng Jiao, he instantly realized there was a strong possibility that his conjecture was accurate.
Because at that moment, he clearly felt an intense craving from both his body and heart for the blood and flesh of the Cloud Mist Teng Jiao.
Whether for his personal training needs or for the richer vegetation and other resources on the inner side, or even to seek a larger space for survival, it became necessary to expand the camp's range of activities.
The place where Bruce now stood was about two hundred meters inward from the previous five hundred meters…
In this small area, two Blue Jade Trees and a Cloud Mist Teng Jiao had already been found; if they could restore the previous Rogel Camp's kilometer activity range, more new species and useful items would undoubtedly be discovered.
"But speaking of it, just how big is Redwood Ridge…"
That thought popped into Bruce's mind as he subconsciously glanced deeper into the western side of Redwood Ridge.
All the camps surrounding Redwood Ridge were solely on the eastern side.
By merging the camps of Brocolli and Lu Shang, the eastern outskirts of Redwood Ridge, stretching over more than ten miles from south to north, basically counted as a territory of Harper alone.
This is already a large area on its own, but just by looking at the magnitude of the trees in this world, it's evident that this zone is merely the tip of the iceberg in the entirety of Redwood Ridge.
In the five-hundred-meter perimeter, the smallest trees have a diameter of three meters.
Tonight, Bruce ventured less than two hundred meters deep and saw the largest tree with a diameter exceeding twenty meters.
What kind of concept is this?
Bruce has climbed to the top of many big trees numerous times, trying to peek at the whole picture of Redwood Ridge.
Yet every time he reached the top and looked west, larger and thicker trees would always block his view.
Some of these trees, even at a glance, appeared tens or even hundreds of miles away, leaving Bruce deeply shocked and even filled with a sense of awe.
"Perhaps the east side we consider ourselves to be in is merely a small piece of Redwood Ridge's eastern section. Not to mention the other end of Redwood Ridge, even how far it extends to the north and south, we know nothing about."
With this thought, looking towards the deep west of Redwood Ridge, Bruce felt a mix of curiosity and awe rising in his heart.
One day, should the question of how big Redwood Ridge truly is ever be solved, the strength of Harper would probably not be far behind that of Manhattan Town.
After the sigh, Bruce couldn't help but shake his head, chuckling at how far his thoughts had wandered.
Marking the position of the second Blue Jade Tree, he went to the location of the first Blue Jade Tree and collected the previously tied portion of Blue Frost Grass, then quickly returned to the valley.
"The storm from all directions is no match for the rain of our Redwood Ridge."
"When there's rain on Dragon Gate Mountain, the Snowfield Tiger descends."
At the pile of rocks at the valley's entrance, Bruce shouted the code, which was immediately echoed from within.
Then a log in the rock pile slowly retracted, revealing a passage.
Although Harper is much stronger now than before, under Bruce's insistence, the cautious approach is still maintained, and the code practice continues to be used.
The description of the Iron Refining Furnace was clear, signifying it was only effective against primary monsters.
The world's dangers didn't only stem from deceitful monsters; who knew if other humans they'd encountered were friend or foe.
Before having absolute strength to ensure safety, Bruce firmly believed that being cautious was undeniably correct.
The code practice for returning to camp, although it hadn't been useful thus far, didn't mean it was useless.
The seventy-two lives lost at the early stage at the soil slope; the destruction of Da Chuan Camp; more than a thousand lives at Rogel Camp, all were bloody lessons Bruce didn't want to see repeated.
The code practice isn't troublesome, just matching phrases, but during crucial moments, its role is irreplaceable.
Even if, at the very least, it's used to enhance the vigilance of everyone at Daxia Camp, it would still be beneficial.
"Greetings, Leader!"
The gatekeepers were two young reservists.
Upon seeing Bruce, they immediately bowed respectfully, welcomed him into the valley, and then quickly blocked the passage with the log again.
Then the two stepped forward, took the Blue Frost Grass from his back, with one heading to the southern mine warehouse to store it, and the other remained guarding the tunnel entrance.
From matching the code to entering the valley, witnessing the gatekeepers' proficient actions, Bruce nodded slightly, showing satisfaction on his face.
All camps within the Axeheart Realm were divided into five departments, each with its main tasks, and given that Harper wasn't yet luxurious enough to have Axeheart Realm individuals as gatekeepers, guarding duties rotated among the reserves.
Since Charlie suggested including those over thirty in the reserve half a month ago, the reserve numbers had approached four hundred, so selecting two daily for gate duties was not an issue.
Bruce's approval mainly stemmed from using this method to cultivate the reserves ahead of time, instilling a cautious mindset in them before they even ventured outside.
With the collection and logging teams growing larger, the number of casualties while out increased frequently, with seven deaths and eleven missing thus far.
Most importantly, after Bruce's thorough investigation, he found that these casualties were all unnecessary.
Being inattentive when exploring the surrounding environment while collecting wood, only to provoke Cold Beast and get killed;
Panic escaping aimlessly and getting lost in the dense forest;
Straying too far from the team and losing track, leading to disappearance;
Some even fell from trees injuring themselves or accidentally fell into deep snowy pits in the wilds, either disappearing or requiring significant manpower and resources to rescue them back…
In short, the ways of casualty were diverse and bizarre.
Although this group was small, totaling only eighteen, they were all in the Axeheart Realm, and raised with Cold Beast Meat that was obtained at the risk of lives, so how could Bruce not feel heartache.
While the Axeheart Realm didn't possess hunting ability, as long as the numbers were large enough, they were familiar with the terrain, and coordinated well, escaping from low-level Cold Beast wasn't too hard;
The essence of being unfamiliar with the terrain, getting lost, or falling into deep snowy pits was simply carelessness, and presumption.