Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 341 Rapid Progress, Martial Arts Techniques, Two-pronged Approach Eastward Expansion, Period of Hibernation
"Fifty-four hairs, less than a month, twenty-three days, and I even spent three days in between deducing cultivation techniques and martial arts. So, the actual time spent practicing should only be twenty days. In twenty days, I've increased by nearly two hairs. This cultivation speed..."

On the Star-Picking Platform, Xia Hong, who was sitting cross-legged on a twelve-petaled silver lotus platform for enlightenment, suddenly opened his eyes, his face full of joy and emotion.

He already has a three-fold cultivation boost from the Martial Arts Pavilion, and if you add another five times, the total is eight times.

The amplification effect of the Enlightenment Lotus Platform is simply too strong.

The training at the Cold Resistance level revolves around the flesh and blood within the body. Specifically, it involves using external forces to stimulate and destroy the existing flesh and blood tissue, forcing it to continuously reorganize and grow.

Currently, there are only two external forces at play: one is the cold light from the outside world during the day; the other is medicine, such as Jade Bone Elixir and Yang Yuan Pill.

Of course, the former was incredibly slow. Although Xia Hong ordered the construction of this unfinished Star-Picking Platform, he mainly relied on Yang Yuan Pills.

"The Enlightenment Lotus Platform not only enhances my efficiency in absorbing Yang Yuan Pills, but more importantly, it helps me repair the missing parts of my flesh and blood, optimizes my current cultivation method, and even predicts my future cultivation path. It has completely resolved all my worries at once. Of course, there's also..."

Xia Hong looked down at the ground in front of the lotus platform, his face beaming with even greater joy.

There were forty-five bound martial arts manuals on the ground, all bound in high-grade animal hides, and even the lettering on the covers was written in golden ink.

"Forty-five martial arts techniques, covering twelve types of weapons: knife, spear, sword, halberd, axe, spear, whip, mace, hammer, staff, lance, and fan. I have also incorporated the four power-generating routines of the Long Fist into them. Each one, when practiced to its highest level, can unleash a power amplification of up to 50%. Combined with weapon techniques, the destructive power will be even stronger. The fighting power of the Great Xia people will increase dramatically in the future!"

This is the power of the Enlightenment Lotus Platform.

Born into a martial arts family in his previous life, Xia Hong was able to master almost all kinds of weapons. The reason he chose to specialize in Taizu Changquan and popularize it throughout the Great Xia Dynasty was because the Changquan routine was the most practical and had the greatest effect on increasing power, up to 30%.

But after spending three days using the martial arts deduction function of the Enlightenment Lotus Platform, he realized that 30% was not the limit.

The power generation routine of the Long Fist at the Transcendent level, combined with these martial arts moves, can increase explosive power by up to 50% when practiced to the highest level. And this may not even be the limit. By using the Enlightenment Lotus Platform to deduce, it can be further improved.

Of course, there are two difficulties here.

One is the Changquan routine at the Transcendent level. Xia Hong has the experience from his previous life, but the others do not. It seems that there are only ten people in the Great Xia who have mastered Changquan to the Transcendent level. Regardless of their cultivation level, these ten people are definitely geniuses in martial arts.
Secondly, there are martial arts techniques. You can't become proficient with a weapon just by touching it; it naturally requires accumulated practice over time.

"Xia Chuan's talent in weaponry seems average. His specialty is manipulating puppets. Currently, the Great Xia has a relatively high talent in weaponry. I've seen Xuan Ling's sword, Yuwen Tao's broadsword, Yuan Cheng's double-edged axe, Hou Jing's staff, Lu Yang's sword... Oh, and there's that Luo Cheng's spear from last year!"

Using the Enlightenment Lotus Platform to deduce a martial art consumes 5000 silver resources, equivalent to 25000 jin of silver. Xia Hong naturally wouldn't act recklessly. The twelve weapon martial arts he deduced in advance were all currently used by people in the Great Xia Dynasty.

Xia City's population has now exceeded 600,000, so Xia Hong certainly doesn't have time to check everyone's talents; he can only pick those he knows first.

As things stand, these forty-five cultivation techniques are definitely enough!

"Not only have individual cultivation issues been resolved, but all the buildings have also been upgraded by one level. The growth brought about by the three upgraded buildings—Martial Arts Pavilion, Weapon Refining Pavilion, and Alchemy Workshop—has already begun to show results. Next, with time to ferment, Xia City's strength will inevitably experience rapid growth. The only drawback is the excessively high rate at which the silver mine is being consumed!"

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, then checked the camp system panel:

[Camp: Great Xia (Level 0)]

Lord: Xia Hong

[Cultivation Level: Late Stage of Cold Resistance (Fifty-Four Manes)]

[Territory Population: 627642]

【资源：木521万煤282万铁104万银28万金0】

【已开启建筑8：阳墟鼎（5级）、武道阁（4级）、炼药阁（4级）、炼器阁（4级）、铁壁墙（3级）、灵神碑（4级）、黑土地（3级）、悟道莲台（4级）】

[Unactivated Building 1: Thick Iron Chain]

Seeing that the population of Great Xia was about to reach 63, Xia Hong's expression brightened slightly.

All 110,000 people of Songyang Ridge have moved to Xia City. Thanks to the efforts of bringing in this group of people, Xu Ning was promoted to the third eighth-rank Chixiao Viscount of Great Xia at the beginning of this month.

However, his excitement quickly vanished due to the scarcity of system resources, especially when he saw that he only had 15 silver points left, Xia Hong shook his head repeatedly.

In the first twenty-three days, the three thousand soldiers mined a total of more than 650 million catties of silver, which, converted into system resources, amounted to 130 million points. Including the 24 points brought back in the first batch, the total is 154 million points. Apart from the Enlightenment Lotus Platform, most buildings do not require much silver to upgrade from level 3 to level 4, generally between 3000 and 20000 points. It should not have been consumed so quickly.

But the reality is quite different.

Firstly, after the Level 4 Cold Ruins Cauldron was upgraded to the Level 5 Yang Ruins Cauldron, its radiation range immediately reached twenty kilometers. This serves as the basis for Xia City's current expansion. Crucially, its fuel consumption not only increased but also added a new fuel source:

silver!

That's right, silver can also be used as fuel for the Yangxu Cauldron.

[Yangxu Cauldron (Level 5): Can significantly increase the temperature within a 20-kilometer radius by burning wood, coal, or silver. It can suppress high-level monsters and has a strong attraction to cold beasts. It can also be used to smelt and cast iron and silver artifacts.]

[Special Feature 1: For every 100 units of wood resources burned, a small torch is generated, which can kill high-level monsters. The torch burns for one hour.]

[Special Function 2: For every 200 units of coal burned, one unit of fire-condensing oil is generated. This oil is harmless to humans, but it ignites upon contact with monsters and is extremely lethal to them.]

[Special Function 3: For every 500 units of silver burned, one Ghost-Suppressing Jade will be generated. The wearer of the Ghost-Suppressing Jade will be protected from monsters.]

[Special Function 4: All personnel within the camp can be modified by this cauldron to acquire the latent Great Xia Sacred Rune bloodline, with the host being the progenitor of the bloodline.]

Upgrade Requirements: 100 million coal, 30000 million iron, 1 million silver, 10000 gold

[Daily consumption: 1000 wood, 100 coal, 10 silver. The host can freely adjust the radiation range of the cauldron fire. Burning a single fuel has the same heating effect, but the ability to suppress evil spirits will be greatly reduced. The fuel ratio is 1:100.]

The upgraded Yangxu Cauldron has significantly improved its abilities. Previously, it was described as intimidating high-level monsters, but now it is described as suppressing and killing them. The strength of the small torches has also been increased considerably. In addition, a new item, the Monster-Suppressing Jade, has been added.

Judging from the final consumption description, it is clear that three types of fuel are needed to maximize the function of the Yangxu Cauldron. If that's the case, then silver will become an essential resource for the camp, just like wood, coal, and iron.

"This is just the Yangxu Cauldron. There's also the medicine field of the Alchemy Pavilion, the silver furnace of the Weapon Refining Pavilion, the opening of the Martial Arts Pavilion itself, and the addition of a total of fifty Frost Beast Stakes. To achieve the best results, all of these require silver. This camp system is clearly a massive resource devourer!"

Xia Hong sighed slightly. Although he was complaining, he actually understood.

The functions provided by the system architecture are not without reason. To achieve the best results, the resource requirements will inevitably be higher, which is normal.

He had just spent so much silver, and he hadn't even calculated the Enlightenment Lotus Platform yet.

He spends 50 points a day cultivating; 5000 points for each martial arts derivation; 50000 points for each enlightenment; and then there's the ultimate skill transformation, worth 100000 silver points, which can only be used once a year with a success rate of only 20%. He doesn't even dare to touch it right now.

"In any case, the cultivation problem has been solved. Based on my cultivation speed over the past twenty days, even if the speed slows down later, it will only take less than a year to raise my basic strength to seventy-two manes. In fact, I can further shorten this time by taking advantage of the opportunity to have an epiphany once a month."

Besides the silver mine currently being mined on the north slope of the mountain, there are three silver mines in Longshan and one in Beimangshan. All four silver mines are there and won't disappear. It just depends on whether the Great Xia has the strength to do so!
The number of people allowed in the Martial Arts Pavilion has increased to one thousand. If more silver is mined in the future, it can be upgraded again to allow more people to enter and cultivate at the same time, thus accelerating the improvement of the camp's strength.

The Alchemy Pavilion's pill-making capabilities and the Weapon Forging Pavilion's armor-making capabilities are all rapidly improving. We're just waiting to see when the next surge in strength will arrive, at which point we can finally make our move on those four silver mines!

Xia Hong let out a soft breath, picked up all forty-five cultivation manuals from the ground, then looked up at the door and called out softly, "Han Yue?"

Almost as soon as he opened his mouth, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

He had been in seclusion and wouldn't wake up easily. He only came out of seclusion because he heard someone hurrying towards the Star-Picking Platform.

"Han Shuang greets the lord. Ming Yue just came to report that the Minister of Justice has important matters to discuss with the lord. It seems that it is Lord Lu Yang, the Lord of Han Qiong Shou Zheng, who has brought back some important news."

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong remembered that Han Yue had indeed been sent to the Weapon Refining Pavilion by him today. When he heard that Lu Yang had returned from Han Qiong, he immediately realized something, and a glint of light appeared in his eyes. He stood up immediately.

"There must be news from that secret passage!"

………………

Main building, Council Hall.

"Meet the lord!"

"No need for formalities. Is there something going on with that secret passage?"

Xia Hong, who rushed over, immediately asked Lu Yang about it.

"Your Lordship is truly a master strategist; I am in awe!"

After Lu Yang took charge of Hanqiong, he had clearly become much more tactful. He first flattered Xia Hong with a smile, and then continued speaking with a face full of excitement:
"We spent more than seven months clearing out the collapsed part of the Hanfeng Pass on the night of the sixth day of the eighth lunar month. As the lord expected, the secret passage does indeed lead to the top of Shuanglong Mountain. It is 45 kilometers long, and the final exit is in an area called Beining Mountain."

The tunnel was completed on the sixth day of the eighth lunar month, and today is the fifth day of the ninth lunar month. It took a month for Lu Yang to return to Xiacheng to report the situation. Obviously, Lu Yang has already found out a lot about the situation in Beining Mountain.

"Sit down and talk slowly!"

Xia Hong's eyes lit up, and he immediately sat down in the main seat, gesturing for Xia Chuan and Lu Yang to sit down and talk slowly.

Lu Yang nodded, sat down, and continued speaking:
"Beining Mountain is located in the northern section of the Shuanglong Mountain Range, right above us. It stretches about 200 kilometers from east to west and about 150 kilometers from north to south. The lord's guess was correct. Right above our valley is the deepest part of Beining Mountain. On the cliff tops and walls, there are a large number of troublesome birds and cold beasts. Although I have not seen them with my own eyes, I can clearly feel that the humans in the camps around Beining Mountain are extremely wary of them and even fearful of them."

Shuanglong Mountain Range!

Upon hearing these four words, Xia Hong immediately understood that the entire Shuanglong Mountain was much larger than he had originally expected. After all, according to Lu Yang, Beining Mountain above the valley was only the northern section of the Shuanglong Mountain Range.

As for the difficulty in dealing with birds and cold-weather beasts, it's not hard to understand.

Regardless of the level of the Frost Beast, as long as it has the ability to fly, its advantage over humans is too obvious. After all, the range of arrows is limited. Unless the Frost Beast is recklessly charging down, you can only watch helplessly.

Speaking of this, we must mention the unique geographical location of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Because they live in the valley world on the west side of Shuanglong Mountain, the Great Xia has only suffered from the invasion of birds and cold beasts once so far. If Xia Hong remembers correctly, it was on the 30th of December of the first year. In the end, it was Yuwen Tao, who had just broken through to the Cold Resistance level, who personally took action to resolve the problem.

Leaving aside Xia Hong's thoughts for the moment, Lu Yang continued his story:
"The final exit of the secret passage where Hanqiong is stationed is about 15 kilometers away on the northern outskirts of Beining Mountain. If you continue north for another 10 kilometers, you can pass through the snow forest, and then go east for another 5 kilometers to reach Gaoyang Ridge."

On Gaoyang Ridge, there's a village-level camp called Zhuling, with a population of about 60,000. By the way, the lord probably doesn't know yet how a camp is defined externally, or whether it's even considered a village.

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong immediately became interested and nodded slightly.

The population standard for a village-level camp is 20000. If we only consider this, the twelve camps in Longyou before basically met the standard. However, they always considered themselves as giant camps, including Longshan, whose population later exceeded 100,000.

There was nothing that could be done. Pingxi was isolated from news, and even Longshan, which had the largest population at the time, was unaware of it. How could the other camps know?
Xia Hong actually had some guesses in his mind, but without contact with the outside world, he couldn't make a conclusion directly. Since Lu Yang had found out, he was naturally interested in learning more about it.

"What I've learned is that, in addition to having a population of over 20,000, a village-level camp must also have an object powerful enough to deter monsters!"

"Silver objects?"

After hearing this, Xia Hong immediately made a guess.

Lu Yang nodded and smiled, "The rule of Beining Mountain is that there must be a silver object weighing a thousand catties. Lord, why don't you guess which family came up with this rule?"

Seeing that Lu Yang was keeping him in suspense, Xia Hong smiled, but also lowered his head to think, his brows furrowing slightly. He quickly came up with an answer.

"Beishuo?"

Upon hearing these two words, Xia Chuan, who was sitting in front of Lu Yang, visibly trembled slightly and immediately turned to look at Lu Yang, clearly having not heard this from Lu Yang before.

Xia Hong noticed Xia Chuan's emotional fluctuations, and he knew the reason: Xia Chuan was still resentful about Li Hu's kick four years ago.

It makes sense when you think about it. Four years is not a long time, especially considering that Li Hu's kick almost killed him.

"The lord is amazing, he guessed it right away!"

Having received confirmation from Lu Yang himself, not only Xia Chuan but also Xia Hong felt a slight tremor in his heart.

More than four years later, news finally came from Beishuo Town.

The key is that they've learned about Beishuo. Then the other eight towns, including the Mo'ao Mountain that Yang and Li mentioned back then, should also be...

"Mo'ao Mountain is located on the northeast side of Beining Mountain. I don't know exactly how far away it is, but its height and grandeur far exceed those of Shuanglong Mountain by ten or even dozens of times. When Zhao Hu and I first saw it, we were both dumbfounded!"

Xia Hongteng stood up abruptly from his chair, then realized something and quickly calmed himself down before asking Lu Yang, "How strong are those seven families in Beining Mountain? Have you found out anything about Beishuo Town? And their exact location? Tell me everything you know."

Seeing Xia Hong's strong reaction, Lu Yang dared not keep him in suspense any longer and quickly answered seriously: "Besides Zhu Ling, the other six families in Beining Mountain are Yang Gu, Hong Yuan, Bai Yuan, Wan Xing, Long He, and Zi Qiang, with populations ranging from 30,000 to 50,000. From what I've gathered, although the population of the seven families in Beining Mountain is comparable to the giant camp in Longyou, their strength is clearly much greater. Each family has more than five Cold-resistant level experts, and Zhu Ling even has more than a dozen."

The other six camps, including the dozen or so large and medium-sized camps along the 50-kilometer perimeter of the northern side of Beining Mountain, all revered Zhuling and paid tribute to it monthly with coal, iron, and animal meat. In turn, Zhuling was under the jurisdiction of Beishuo Town and had to pay tribute to Beishuo once every six months. Each time, the leaders of the seven camps would lead the expedition together.

I didn't find out the exact location of Beishuo Town, only that it's over 300 kilometers east of the edge of Beining Mountain.

Lu Yang blurted out everything he knew, and seeing Xia Hong frowning and remaining silent, he thought he hadn't said enough, and immediately said nervously:
"My lord, please forgive us. For the past month, Zhao Hu and I have had no suitable identities while on the front lines, and we were also afraid of giving ourselves away and being discovered. So we could only secretly gather information from a few large camps. This is all the information we have gathered so far!"

"No, you did very well, just be careful!"

Xia Hong immediately spoke, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and continued, "We don't know anything about Beishuo and the other eight towns. Being able to get out of Pingxi Plain first and get a glimpse of their strength is the best thing for us. Until we know their true strength, we must continue to maintain this state." The survival rules of the Ice Abyss World have long been predetermined. There are only two ways for all camps to get along: one is for the big to eat the small, and the other is for them to compete against each other.

Beishuo Town was unaware of the existence of the Great Xia, but the Great Xia had already ascertained their approximate location. This situation, where the enemy was in the open while they were in the dark, was perfectly suited for the Great Xia, which had just unified the Longyou region and lacked sufficient time to grow.

"If I remember correctly, four years ago, Yang and Li said that they were both scouts of the Beishuo Town Imperial Army. They came to Hongmuling to draw a map of the area around Beishuo. They most likely came from the east of Shuanglong Mountain and went west along the north bank of Xinghe River to Hongmuling. So not only Beining Mountain, but also the area on the east side of the north bank of Xinghe River could be within the sphere of influence of Beishuo Town!"

Xia Chuan couldn't help but speak up at this point.

Xia Hong nodded slightly upon hearing this. The identities of Yang and Li as scouts of the Zhenyu Army had been personally confirmed to him by Luo Ming, Shi Qing, Hong Gang, Huang Yong, and Lu He, the leaders of the Hongmu Ridge families.

"wrong!"

But after a moment's thought, Xia Hong quickly dismissed Xia Chuan's guess.

"If the area on the east bank of the Xinghe River is within Beishuo's sphere of influence, then Yang and Li would have already figured it out four years ago. Why haven't any people from Beishuo Town come over even after more than four years? The Hongmuling area alone is a large resource-rich area and it's attractive enough!"

Xia Chuan also realized the flaw in his words and immediately fell into thought.

Lu Yang then interjected, "Could it be that Yang and Li were unlucky and encountered trouble on their way back, and haven't had time to send the news back to Beishuo Town?"

Xia Hong and Xia Chuan both looked up at the same time, a strange look on their faces.

Believe it or not, it's actually possible!
"We can't rule out that possibility, but we should make preparations in advance and continue to explore eastward along the north bank of the Xinghe River. There is a very high probability that we will run into people from Beishuo Town or the other eight towns. They may even be exploring from east to west along the north bank, but something is blocking their way, which is why they haven't been able to penetrate to the west side for so long."

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong immediately turned around and looked at the complete map of the Great Xia territory hanging behind the high platform. His gaze was fixed on Songyang Ridge, the latest location that the Great Xia had explored, on the north bank of the Xinghe River.

“Since the east-west depth of Beining Mountain is more than 200 kilometers, then the east-west span of the north bank of Xinghe River should be at least that long. Let’s tentatively set this distance at 200 kilometers, from the southern mountain wall to the northernmost section of Songyang Ridge, which is the area that Daxia has already explored. Has Xu Ning mentioned how far it is exactly?”

Xu Ning returned from Wuyuan last month, but Xia Hong did not meet him in person.

However, Xia Chuan had met him, so he immediately replied, "It is 15 kilometers from the southern mountain wall to the easternmost part of Wuyuan Mountain. Xu Ning explored 25 kilometers to the north before finding Songyang Ridge. Songyang Ridge is about 25 kilometers wide. In total, the area of ​​the northern bank that we have explored should be nearly 70 kilometers. According to the lord's estimate of more than 200 kilometers, we have explored one-third of it."

"Lord, Minister, what are we waiting for? Inform Xu Ning to accelerate the eastward expansion and take control of the entire north bank of the Xinghe River as soon as possible. If it falls into the hands of Beishuo or the other eight towns, it will be much more difficult for our Great Xia to expand eastward in the future!"

Lu Yang's words revealed exactly what Xia Hong and Xia Chuan were thinking.

The name Xinghe was chosen by Xia Hong on the seventh day of the third month of the first year. At that time, another name was also chosen, called Xinggu Pass.

Why is it called a pass?

The reason is that the north and south banks of this river valley are the biggest passes between the entire Pingxi Plain and the outside world of Shuanglong Mountain. Daxia currently does not have the ability to cross waterways, so it cannot control the south bank, but the north bank is not a problem at all. If Daxia wants to leave Pingxi Plain, the north bank is the only way.

Head east!

These two words were clearly very powerful. At this moment, not only Xia Hong, but also Xia Chuan and Lu Yang were staring intently at the area on the north bank of the Xinghe River, their eyes filled with strange light.

“No, we don’t know the exact strength of the Nine Towns of Mo’ao. If we rashly send Xu Ning to speed up the exploration, we’ll run into them too early, which will definitely be more trouble than good. Even if the Nine Towns are as strong as the Great Xia, or even slightly weaker, once they realize the Great Xia’s intention to move east, they will definitely join forces to block the entire Xinggu Pass and prevent us from leaving. They might even launch an attack!”

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's words, Lu Yang was slightly taken aback. After pondering for a moment, he immediately realized what was happening and looked up at Xia Chuan with admiration in his eyes: "As expected of the Chief Minister, you have great foresight. I admire you!"

Xia Hong, seated at the head of the table, looked at Xia Chuan with eyes full of admiration.

In his four years in office, Xia Chuan's vision and overall perspective have improved significantly since his time in Tupo. He was already quite surprised that Xia Chuan was able to propose the reform of the Six Ministries last time. The fact that he could say these words now proves that the reform was not a sudden inspiration, but rather the culmination of years of accumulated experience in governance.

Looking back now, appointing Xia Chuan as the camp's administrator was definitely the best decision Xia Hong ever made.

"Lu Yang, do you know how far it is from Han Qiong to the north bank of the Xinghe River?"

"It is 27 kilometers from Hanqiong south to Beehive; 29 kilometers from Beehive to Mirror Valley; 31 kilometers from Mirror Valley to Xiacheng; and 17 kilometers from Xiacheng to the north bank of Xinghe River, for a total length of 104 kilometers."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately gave an answer. Then, looking up at the map of the Great Xia territory behind Xia Hong, he suddenly realized something and his expression froze.

"Do you understand now? There's more than just Xinggu Pass for the Great Xia to go east. The secret passage you just cleared out in Hanqiong isn't as convenient as Xinggu Pass, and it's very easy for someone to destroy it. But if you can protect and utilize it well, it's an excellent secret passage to go east. It can even allow the Great Xia to extend its tentacles directly into Mo'ao Nine Towns without them noticing."

"Understood, my lord!"

Xia Chuan clearly understood Xia Hong's meaning earlier than Lu Yang. He did not answer, but said in a deep voice: "Then Han Qiong's outpost is very important, as is the exit of that secret passage, and even the people in the seven giant camps on the northern outskirts of Beining Mountain. We must keep a close eye on them and not let them notice any problems."

Upon hearing this and realizing the importance of Han Qiong's post, Lu Yang's expression turned a mix of joy and trepidation, his heart filled with conflicting emotions.

With Han Qiong stationed there, he was in charge of the administration. His position had become so important that he would definitely receive more attention from the lord and the chief minister, which was naturally a good thing.

The problem is, this is too important. It immediately connects to the great Xia's future eastward expansion. He is not very strong now, so he is naturally worried that if he messes it up, it will affect the lord's grand plan.

Xia Hong ignored Lu Yang's inner thoughts, frowned and pondered for a moment before asking Xia Chuan, "Xia Chuan, what do you think we should do about Wuyuan on the north bank of the Xinghe River?"

His elder brother was clearly testing him, and Xia Chuan could easily see that. He didn't rush to answer, but thought about it carefully before bowing and saying:
"I think we can let Xu Ning continue exploring, but we should slow down the pace of mergers and expansions and try to avoid contact with the Nine Towns too late. Once we do make contact with the Nine Towns, we must stop the expansion immediately. We cannot let the Nine Towns see the intention of the Great Xia to expand eastward. At the very least, we must do this before we understand the specific strength of the Nine Towns."

"well said!"

Xia Hong immediately expressed his approval, and then continued in a deep voice: "Do it as you said. The Great Xia will launch two routes to the east. I will put you in charge of the Xinggu Pass route. You will personally oversee what happens in Wuyuan. If any problems arise, I will hold you accountable."

"Rest assured, my lord, I will certainly handle it well!"

“Lu Yang, your Hanqiong outpost is not good in terms of resources, so starting today, Hanqiong will be downgraded to an ordinary outpost, with only a garrison required.”

"what?"

Lu Yang was stunned when he heard the decision.

Why was it revoked? Am I going to be demoted to a garrison commander?
"Haha, don't rush, I haven't finished speaking yet!"

Seeing his bewildered expression, Xia Hong laughed a few times, then a glint flashed in his eyes as he continued in a deep voice, "Take Zhao Hu, Zhu Shun, He Xing, He Ning, Lin Fan, and Wang Tao, and select 500 elite troops from Xia City to set up a new outpost at the exit of Beining Mountain. Of course, this is the internal explanation; externally, your outpost will be a new camp with a leader, a hunting team, a logging team, and ordinary people."

Lu Yang immediately realized what was going on, and his eyes lit up.

Clearly, Xia Hong wanted him to establish a foothold in Beining Mountain, make formal contact with the seven camps on the north side, and then find an opportunity to inquire about the news of Mo'ao Nine Towns.

Of course, the most important thing is to keep an eye on that secret passage and prevent others from discovering it.

But after carefully lowering his head and thinking about it, he immediately looked troubled.

"My lord, suddenly bringing out a new camp, full of elite troops, will likely arouse suspicion from the seven families and Beishuo Town. But if we bring ordinary people, I'm afraid no one in Xia City is willing to go now..."

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong immediately shook his head, about to speak, when Xia Chuan, standing beside him, preemptively offered some advice to Lu Yang, saying with a smile:
"Who told you to bring ordinary people? You only need to pick the elites. Didn't you contact several large camps over there in the past month or so? With you and Zhao Hu and the other six Cold Resistance level warriors, plus five hundred elites, it's easy to find a way to swallow them up. If it really doesn't work, Xia City can send people over to help. What are you afraid of?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately realized what was happening, inwardly cursing himself for being foolish. He then quickly cupped his hands to Xia Chuan and Xia Hong, saying, "Your subordinate understands!"

If you only bring six Cold-Resistant level experts and five hundred Digging Realm elites, and go there disguised as a new camp, you definitely won't be able to fool others. But if you make up a pretext to annex several large camps, then you'll have ordinary people, lumberjacks, and digging realm experts, and it will naturally look like a normal giant camp.

At that time, all we need to do is keep the secret of the secret passage, and then take advantage of the opportunity to communicate normally with the seven families to find out about the nine towns of Mo'ao Mountain, and it will be a natural thing to do.

"Lu Yang, I remember you practice swordsmanship, right?"

Weapons are not allowed to be carried into the Council Hall. Seeing that Lu Yang was not carrying a sword, Xia Hong was afraid that he had remembered wrong, so he asked him.

Lu Yang clearly didn't understand why Xia Hong asked this, and nodded with a puzzled expression.

Xia Hong suddenly turned to the back and ordered, "Mingyue, go to the Star-Picking Platform and fetch the sword on the far left of the weapon rack for me."

"Yes, Lord!"

Mingyue's voice came from behind the platform. Neither Xia Chuan nor Lu Yang showed any unusual expression, clearly knowing all along that she had been standing behind them.

Hearing the sound of Mingyue leaving, Xia Hong shook his head slightly.

Whether driven by lust for power or genuinely for the sake of her two children, Li Xuanling has been making more and more subtle moves since her successful delivery, and her five maids, including Mingyue, have become her spies.

Lu Yang, standing below the main hall, was already showing signs of excitement.

He had just asked himself if he was using a sword, and then immediately told Mingyue to fetch it.

It goes without saying what Xia Hong is up to.

"You not only discovered the seven families of Beining Mountain this time by clearing the secret passage, but also found the Mo'ao Mountain and found out about the nine towns of Mo'ao. Although it is not as good as Xu Ning bringing back 110,000 people, it is still a great achievement."

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Xia Chuan and said, "Give Lu Yang three hundred military merits first."

"Yes, Lord!"

300 military merits!

Lu Yang's expression froze for a moment, then he bowed deeply to Xia Hong with great excitement and said, "Your subordinate thanks you, Lord. Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia!"

300 military merits would require killing three Cold Resistance level soldiers or three hundred Earth Digging Realm limit soldiers on the battlefield, which is practically impossible to obtain under the current circumstances of no war.

In addition to the accumulated merits, key military achievements can also be converted into cash.

Currently, the Logistics Department's conversion rate for military merits is 1 to 100. 300 military merits are equivalent to 30000 contribution points, which is not a small amount even for Lu Dong.

"According to what you said, the seven village-level camps in Beining Mountain, plus more than a dozen large and giant camps, must have a total population of over 400,000. It is impossible to annex them all in a short period of time, but if you manage them properly, you can definitely earn enough military merits to be promoted to a noble rank. I'm waiting to see if you will become the fourth eighth-rank Chixiao Viscount of the Great Xia Dynasty."

"Your subordinate will do everything in his power to not disappoint you, lord!"

Xia Hong smiled and waved his hand. Just then, Mingyue arrived from the Zhaixing Palace.

She held a long sword in both hands, her expression showing great difficulty, but she still persevered and walked up to the high platform, where she handed it to Xia Hong.

call out……

Unlike Mingyue's performance, the longsword felt weightless in Xia Hong's hands. He drew the sword, and a flash of silver light immediately entered the pupils of the three people in the hall.

"This Frostwing Sword was forged by Mu Dong last month. The inside is made of ten-thousand-level iron, and the outside is wrapped with two thousand catties of silver. It is considered to be the best product that the weapon forging pavilion has made so far. There are not many people in the Great Xia who can use it."

Lu Yang's eyes were already focused on the sword, and he seemed not to have heard what Xia Hong said at all. It was as if the word "want" was written on his forehead.

"Haha, here you go!"

Xia Hong sheathed his longsword and tossed the Cold Wing Sword to him.

"Thank you..."

"Wait, there's also this Feather Light Sword Technique. You can study it in the hall, memorize it, and then hand it over to Xia Chuan."

Lu Yang was stunned for a moment, then took the martial arts manual that Xia Hong threw to him, quickly opened it and started reading. After a while, his expression immediately became excited.

"Fifty percent, even stronger than the boost from the Long Fist routine, Lord, this technique..."

"My newly created sword technique, along with these forty-four other techniques, Xia Chuan, you will place them all on the top floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion later. Have the Logistics Department set corresponding borrowing prices. From now on, everyone in the camp can use contribution points to exchange for the right to borrow them. Of course, it must be stipulated that they can only practice them themselves and cannot teach them to others. Once discovered, they will be permanently disqualified from entering the Martial Arts Pavilion."

Xia Chuan took the cultivation manual, and after only flipping through it a few times, his expression became excited. He quickly cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your subordinate obeys."

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he stood up and looked at Lu Yang with a slightly serious expression, saying:
"When you returned to the city just now, you should have already seen the changes in Xia City. The development benefits brought by the three pavilions of martial arts, weapon crafting, and medicine refining have not yet been reflected. What our Great Xia needs now is time."

So when you go to the new post, you must be wary of outsiders spying on you. If you fail to gather information and instead have your secrets exposed, you and Zhao Hu and the other six will be disgraced. Even if I don't punish you, the seven of you will probably never be able to hold your heads up in Xia City. Do you understand what I mean?

Hearing Xia Hong's earnest instructions, Lu Yang's expression immediately became solemn, and he nodded heavily, saying, "Lord, rest assured, I will begin to carefully select elites tonight. After arriving at Beining Mountain, I will act with extreme caution and will not allow anyone to approach the secret passage, nor will I allow anyone to discover even the slightest bit of information about the Great Xia."

"That's good. I'll have Yuwen Tao keep an eye on the new post. If you have any difficulties, you can ask him for help anytime."

"Thank you for your concern, lord. I understand."

"Alright, you can all go and get back to work!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan and Lu Yang bowed and accepted the order, then left the council hall together.

Xia Hong stood alone on the high platform, slowly turning around to look at the map of the Great Xia territory behind him, his gaze settling on the upper east side of Han Qiong's outpost.

"This Mount Mo'ao is far more magnificent than Shuanglong Mountain, perhaps even dozens of times larger. I must find some time to go and see it for myself!"

(End of this chapter)