Landlord in the Arctic

Even when he had deliberately controlled the snowfall in the camp before, it had only ever been a light, sparse dusting.

Never before had the snowflakes been so alarmingly large, nor had the snow fallen so fast and thick.

Moreover, at this very moment, Feng Mountain could clearly feel the surrounding temperature plummeting.

A quick glance revealed that a thin layer of ice crystals had already formed on the leaves of some nearby moss, glittering with a cold light in the dim surroundings.

’The temperature is dropping this fast?’

’Even the camp is being affected.’

Feng Mountain grew more and more anxious. The camp was protected by the tribal Fire Seed, yet the temperature could still drop so quickly.

This meant the cold snap and blizzard were far more severe than the warning message had predicted.

And the blizzard and plunging temperatures were just the beginning. Soon, the Crown Territory, and indeed the entire Far North Tundra Region, would be plunged into an unprecedented cold disaster.

Feng Mountain quickly calmed himself and focused his mind, reaching out to communicate with the tribal Fire Seed.

A moment later, a cluster of leaping flames slowly materialized in his mind’s eye.

However, when Feng Mountain got a clear look at the tribal Fire Seed’s current state, the muscles in his face twitched involuntarily.

The tribal Fire Seed, which had once burned bright, vigorous, and hot, now had flames that were clearly shrinking. Its fire had grown much weaker, no longer possessing its usual vitality and life.

Immediately after, an indescribable feeling of weakness emanated from the Fire Seed.

It was as if an utterly exhausted person were softly recounting their hardships.

At the same time, the tribal Fire Seed transmitted a weak but clear thought into Feng Mountain’s mind.

’Resisting the changes of heaven and earth consumes a large amount of Soul Power.’

Hearing this, Feng Mountain’s heart jolted. He was inexplicably reminded of a memory from an ancestral dream.

In the dream, an ancestor had once said while teaching the tribe members Witchcraft...

A Witch yields to heaven and earth.

The ancestor had earnestly warned the tribespeople at the time that a Witch could use Witchcraft to change the current situation on a small scale and solve some practical problems.

But when faced with the grand, irresistible changes of heaven and earth, they must never attempt to resist.

Because such resistance was not only useless but could very well backfire and invite the punishment of heaven and earth.

And this ferocious cold snap was, without a doubt, a manifestation of such a change.

Only then did Feng Mountain realize he had previously been trying to use the Fire Seed to fight the cold snap.

’How foolish and reckless that was.’

It was precisely because of this action that the cold snap had relentlessly battered the camp, causing the tribal Fire Seed to suffer great losses and become so weak.

At this thought, Feng Mountain’s heart filled with self-reproach.

But he also knew this was no time to wallow in regret. The top priority was to find a countermeasure to protect the camp and everyone’s safety during the cold snap and blizzard.

After weighing the pros and cons, Feng Mountain made a swift decision and immediately issued a command to the tribal Fire Seed.

He told it to protect the camp within its means, and that the protection of the Tundra Grassland could be appropriately reduced.

The primary goal for now was to maintain the camp’s condition as much as possible and slow the temperature drop. If it became too difficult to resist the cold snap’s assault, then he would abandon the Tundra Grassland. He would even give up most of the camp’s area if necessary.

Even if the Tundra Grassland was lost, he could still rebuild it later, as long as he worked a little harder catching sea creatures to gather more Soul Power.

But if the tribal Fire Seed were ever to be extinguished, it would mean he had lost his foundation, his trump card for survival in this extremely cold land.

At that point, everything would be for nothing.

As the command was issued, a miraculous scene quietly unfolded in the depths of his consciousness.

The tribal Fire Seed’s flames, originally half a meter tall, shrank drastically with a WHOOSH, as if they had plummeted from a great height. In an instant, they were only twenty to thirty centimeters tall.

What gratified Feng Mountain, however, was that the fire was no longer flickering and weak as it had been just moments ago.

Instead, it had become more solid.

The color of the flames also shifted from a somewhat dim hue to a deeper orange-red.

Seeing this, Feng Mountain secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

’The road ahead is still difficult, but at least the Fire Seed can stabilize the situation for now, buying precious time to deal with the rest of the cold disaster.’

Without daring to slack off for even a moment, Feng Mountain turned and walked briskly back to the warehouse to continue taking inventory of the food stores.

"Hmph, Sister Natasha is a liar. She called this a little snow, but it’s huge!" Xiaohua stood at the warehouse entrance, her small body enveloped in a world of white. She tilted her head back, eyes wide, gazing up at the heavy snow pouring from the sky as if in a downpour, her face full of grievance.

A cold wind howled past, and her little face instantly turned pale from the frost.

Xiaohua instinctively hunched her shoulders and clutched her beast-hide coat, trying to draw a sliver of warmth from the coarse fur. She kept muttering, "It’s so cold! Why did it get so cold all of a sudden?"

Feng Mountain was in the middle of counting food when he heard Xiaohua’s complaint, and his brow instantly furrowed.

The cold snap’s power was only just beginning to manifest. For Xiaohua, who had grown up in the spring-like Binhai City, it was a completely new experience.

He then turned his head to look at the complaining Xiaohua, his tone carrying a hint of concern.

"It’s cold outside. Come stand inside a bit, don’t catch a cold. Hu Zi, take Hua’er to the tavern to warm up by the fire. You’re not needed here."

Hearing this, Hu Zi put down his pen and paper, quickly walked over to Xiaohua, took off his own beast-hide coat, and draped it over Hua’Er. He then gently put an arm around Hua’Er and led her toward the tavern.

Next, Feng Mountain looked at Black Hide.

"Go to the Daisen Store. See if there are any beast-hide coats left, take them all out, and distribute them to the others."

Black Hide acknowledged the order and took off running toward the Daisen Store, his figure quickly disappearing into the vast, swirling snow.