Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 380 Shocked by the Deployment, Excitement and Encounter, Taking the Lead

The 28th day of the fourth month in the eighth year of the Great Xia Dynasty
Just after the first hour of the day had passed, Xia Hong, along with Li Xuanling and Xiang Fuhai, hurried back to Hexia Village.

"Meet the lord!"

"My lord, are you injured?"

"Meet the lord!"

At the main building of Hexia Village, Xia Chuan and the others who had rushed back earlier immediately became tense when they saw the wound on his back.

"No problem!"

As Xia Hong waved his hand in acknowledgment, he took his seat in the main seat. Without wasting a moment, he turned to face the crowd and swiftly gave his orders:
"Xia Chuan, go and inform the Yun Jiao Army to set off eastward. Make sure to occupy the Hongguan camp as quickly as possible. No matter who comes, drive them away directly. Also, immediately send someone back to Wuyuan to tell the Seven Armies of Wuyuan to prepare in advance and rush to Hongguan after nightfall to join up with the Yun Jiao Army."

"I obey my orders!"

"Shi Ping, there are probably not many living people left in the three villages of Qinghepu and the two villages of Jinbilonggu. You need to immediately send people from Wuyuan to take over these places, gather the remaining living people together, and be responsible for the subsequent arrangements."

"I obey my orders!"

“Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Luo Yuan, your main army hasn’t arrived yet, so go ahead with the Yun Jiao Army to Hongguan to help.”

"I obey my orders!"

Upon hearing Xia Hong's plan, everyone in the hall instantly became excited.

They had just returned from Ba Shang City. Although Xia Hong was seriously injured, he carried Xiang Fu Hai back, and they immediately recognized the crimson spear Xiang Fu Hai was carrying as Master Yanlong's.

Combined with his three orders, how could the crowd not understand?

Dajue Temple is definitely gone.

This means that the eastward expansion of the Great Xia Dynasty has officially begun!

"Commander, I will lead the troops out immediately!"

Liu Yuan, the deputy commander of the Yunjiao Army, was also standing in the main hall. After hearing Xia Hong's order, he immediately asked Xia Chuan for instructions.

Xia Chuan nodded in agreement. After Yuan Cheng and the others had all left, he turned to Xia Hong and recounted everything he had heard since returning to Hexia Village.

The key point, of course, is the demonic dragon in Crimson Dragon Lake, and the words spoken by the Eight Towns Manifestation-level cultivators when they fought the demonic dragon.

Xia Hong had already guessed that Dajue Temple had left a backup plan at Qinghepu, but when he suddenly heard that there was a thousand-foot-long crimson blood dragon at the bottom of Crimson Dragon Lake, his expression still changed in shock.

"Even a dragon body controlled by Dajue Temple can unleash such power?"

Xia Chuan nodded. When he returned to Hexia Village earlier and heard Wang Yuan recount those scenes, his expression was no less relaxed than Xia Hong's.

"Zhu Xing was too far away to see clearly. Fortunately, the conversation between the demon dragon and Master Wusheng was very loud, so he heard a lot of it. The demon dragon is currently in the molting stage. The person controlling the dragon's body said that the molting stage is at least a hundred years. According to the rumors in Qinghepu, the demon dragon came to Chilong Lake more than forty years ago. So, it will take at least fifty years for it to fully recover."

Dragon Shedding Stage!
Although I don't understand the specific meaning, I can roughly guess from the words that it means something like evolution and transformation. If the dragon body that was controlled during the slumber period could unleash such power, how amazing would its strength be when it is fully revived?

"Zhu Xing said that in the end, the thunder disappeared, the fifteen people from the eight towns escaped, and the demonic dragon once again disappeared into the Crimson Dragon Lake."

When Xia Hong returned from Ba Shang, his initially good mood instantly turned heavy.

The entire Qinghepu will now belong to the Great Xia territory, and Chilong Lake is no exception. Knowing that such a huge time bomb was planted there, he felt like he had a heavy stone stuck in his chest, and he couldn't relax at all.

"We can only hope that the claim about Dajue Temple is true. If it really has taken more than fifty years to awaken, then we won't be so worried..."

Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong frowned, but in the end he could only nod.

"Brother, what about Ba Shang City?"

Xia Chuan finally couldn't help but ask about the specific situation in Ba Shang.

Upon hearing his question, Xia Hong temporarily suppressed the worries brought by the demonic dragon, took out a small cloth bag from his bosom, and slowly unfolded the bag, revealing the three internal organs inside—heart, liver, and lungs—that had returned to their normal blood color.

Seeing the three pieces of internal organs still twitching eerily, Xia Chuan's face immediately showed a look of horror. He looked at Xia Hong and asked in a terrified voice, "This is...!"

"The skills of the three great masters, Yanlong, Wusheng, and Jingang, come from these three internal organs. If I'm not mistaken, the reason why Dajue Temple has taken away those six-year-old children for so many years is to collect their internal organs. Although I don't know exactly how they use them, it must be extremely bloody."

Xia Chuan immediately understood upon hearing this, and his eyes lit up instantly when he saw the three strange pieces of internal organs.

"It's a pity we only killed three. Yang Zun took Black Nether Master's kidney, while Lord Qin Feng of Wuchuan got his hands on Giant Abyss Master's spleen. Those two got a bit of an advantage. There's nothing we can do about it!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan's face immediately showed a hint of shame as he said, "We have dragged our elder brother down. If our Great Xia could produce even one more Xianyang-level expert, these two towns wouldn't have gotten away with it for nothing."

"Not at all, we still reaped the biggest benefits!"

In the past, he was usually the one who took advantage of others' success, so it was quite uncomfortable for Xia Hong to suddenly have someone else take advantage of him.

Of course, this is only from his perspective.

Xia Hong could roughly guess that after Yang Zun and the other two found out from the people in Ba Shang City that he had taken the organs of the three great masters, they would be furious, especially Shangguan Yang, the lord of Jinshan Town who had gained nothing, who was probably already throwing a tantrum.

"Master Wusheng's liver should be able to restore Xu Ning to normal. I'll go back to Xia City first and ask the craftsmen to rescue Xiang Fuhai. I'll try to get back before dark. You take the Yunjiao Army to occupy the Hongguan camp. Once all seven armies of Wuyuan arrive, the north bank of the Xinghe River will be entirely in the hands of our Great Xia."

"I know, brother!"

Xia Chuan's expression brightened upon hearing this. He had long known Xia Hong's plan, so he did not raise any objections to the decision to occupy Hongguan.

"When I launched my sneak attack on the three masters, there were people watching from the sidelines, and they seemed to be planning to make a move as well. If I'm not mistaken, it should be Xiahou Zhang. He knew about the outcome of Ba Shang earlier than the Xianyang level of the other seven towns. So Jiangxia should have already started to recover its lost territory. We won't interfere in the rest of the places. Just occupying Hongguan is not a big problem."

After you capture Hongguan, immediately send someone to Jiangxia to inform Xiahou Zhang that you should hand over this soft sword. He will understand.

As Xia Hong spoke, he took out a black soft sword from his waist and handed it to Xia Chuan. This soft sword was the one he had obtained last year when he rescued Xiahou Zhang above the Fengshan camp; it was originally Xiahou Zhang's sword.

"I obey my orders!"

Xia Chuan bowed respectfully with his hands clasped, holding the soft sword, and then quickly withdrew.

"Do you want to stay on the north bank, or come back with me?"

Li Xuanling was the only one left in the hall, so Xia Hong naturally asked her questions.

Without hesitation, Li Xuanling said directly, "I'll go back with you. I still need to seize the time to cultivate."

"Okay, let's go back together then!"

Xia Hong nodded, and then returned to Xia City with Li Xuanling.

Ba Shang is gone. Of the remaining eight towns, apart from Mu Yin and Jiangxia, the other six towns basically have two Xianyang level cultivators. Da Xia only has Xia Hong, which is clearly not enough. At present, the most likely person in Da Xia to break through first is Li Xuanling. It is only natural that she feels a sense of urgency.

………………

On the eve of nightfall, the second day of the fifth month in the 132nd year of the Moo calendar.

Fifteen kilometers north of Hongguan Pass, in the snow-covered forest, a small, fully armed army of over three hundred men was speeding from north to south, braving the cold sunlight. From the soldiers' slightly heavy breathing, it was clear they had been traveling for quite some time.

"Hehe, we took Hongguan without shedding a drop of blood. This time, Chuishan has really gotten a great deal!"

"Hongguan is nothing. The real prize is the more than 200-kilometer stretch of the north bank of the Hengjiang River to the west of Hongguan, and the vast territory that extends further west from the north bank. That is our greatest gain."

“That’s right. Dajue Temple is gone. This time, we can not only take over the entire Qinghepu, but also the land west of Qinghepu.”

"The key is that we acquired such a large area, and not a single one of us died."

"Hahaha, with Ba Shang destroyed and Jiangxia forced to retreat to its town, we, Chui Shan, have truly reaped a huge advantage this time!"

………………

Duan Chang, who was in charge of commanding the troops at the front of the column, couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement when he heard the discussions around him.

He was the deputy commander of Chuishan Town, in charge of the Jiangyan camp in the south. An hour ago, the town chief Mu Longhe sent someone to the Jiangyan camp to inform him to immediately lead his troops south to occupy the four camps of Hongguan, Fengshan, Longzhou, and Xuyang.

Upon hearing the news, he immediately realized that the battle between Ba Shang Town and Da Jue Temple had come to a conclusion. As expected, the messenger told him that Ba Shang Town had been destroyed, all five great masters had died, and Da Jue Temple was gone.

Upon learning this news, Duan Chang quickly realized that the opportunity was precious and dared not delay in the slightest. Since the entire Zhenyu Army could not be mobilized during the day, he simply selected all the Yuhan-level soldiers from his two thousand Zhenyu Army troops and set off first, allowing the remaining 1,600-plus soldiers to set off after nightfall.

Even if Jiang Xia knew the outcome of Ba Shang City, he wouldn't react that quickly. They started from Zhencheng, first went to Xu Yang's camp, then Longzhou Peak, and finally Hongguan. If I'm fast enough, I can easily get ahead of them and occupy two or three camps!
Moreover, Jiangxia suffered heavy losses recently, with its Zhenyu Army almost completely wiped out. It's estimated they can't muster any decent troops. If we can capture these camps, once the rest of the Zhenyu Army arrives, all these places will belong to Chuishan.

Duan Chang grew increasingly excited and couldn't help but turn back to his soldiers and whisper, "Speed ​​up! We're less than ten kilometers away!"

"Well done, my lord!"

"First take Hongguan, then take Fengshan, Longzhou, and Xuyang."

“What’s this? Jiangxia is only holding on by Xiahou Zhang right now. Once the lord and the town chief return, I think we can take Binjiang as well, and keep Jiangxia stuck in the town forever. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

"Hahaha, you little rascal, you're so cunning!"

………………

The more they talked, the more excited they became, and the faster they went.

As soon as it got dark, they arrived at the north side of the Hongguan camp.

But when they saw the Hongguan camp from a kilometer away, Duan Chang and the others were instantly stunned.

"There's a fire! What's going on?" "Wasn't it said that everyone within the territory of Dajue Temple was dead?"

Inside the Hongguan camp, many barracks were ablaze with fire, and a giant bonfire, several meters high, burned in front of the main tent. Although it was far away, one could still vaguely see several figures walking around inside.

It's obvious that someone else took it first.

The people of Jiangxia reacted so quickly?

Duan Chang's expression instantly turned ugly. The order given to him by the town chief Mu Longhe was to occupy the four major camps of Hongguan, Fengshan, Longzhou, and Xuyang. The first camp, Hongguan, had already run into problems. What about the remaining three?
"The rest of you stay put and wait for orders. Zichuan and Duan Xu, you two come with me to check the situation."

Duan Chang is the deputy commander of Chuishan Town, responsible for the defense of Jiangyan Camp. He has two garrison troops under his command. Mu Zichuan and Duan Xu are the commanders of the two garrison troops. Both of them have a strength of over 20, plus his own strength of 34. He is just going to scout the situation, so there shouldn't be any problems.

The three of them first removed their thousand-forged battle armor, revealing that they were wearing all black underneath. With perfect coordination, they stealthily made their way towards the Hongguan camp.

When they were still more than 300 meters away from the camp, the three of them could basically see the situation inside. However, after seeing it, their expressions instantly froze.

"Golden armor? Jiangxia has armor like that?"

"There are none in Jiangxia and Bashang, only a little over a hundred people!"

"If we can't see through them, let's get closer and check their cultivation levels!"

It was already completely night, and the three of them could only see the golden armor, unable to discern the cultivation level of the hundred or so soldiers. Duan Chang spoke in a low voice, leading the two of them to continue approaching, and soon they reached the three-hundred-meter boundary.

All three were at the peak of the Cold Resistance realm, and three hundred meters was basically the limit of their perception range. So as soon as they entered the boundary, they immediately saw the cultivation levels of the more than one hundred golden-armored soldiers.

Upon seeing clearly, all three of them simultaneously contracted their pupils sharply.

"Cold-resistant level!"

"They are all of the cold-resistant grade."

"Something's wrong, let's get out of here!"

Duan Chang suddenly realized something, and after a low exclamation, he turned around and ran away first. The other two, though confused, quickly followed behind him.

However, the three of them had only retreated a dozen meters.

call…………

A double-edged giant axe suddenly came flying at his face. Duan Chang, who was running at the front, suddenly changed his expression and quickly dodged to the side.

He dodged quickly, but Mu Zichuan and Duan Xu behind him were not so lucky.

Fortunately, the two were already on edge. Realizing they were being attacked, one raised his giant hammer and the other raised his long sword, and they attacked at the same time.

Clang...

The giant silver axe slammed into both men's weapons simultaneously, producing only a loud bang.

"Power is above us!"

The moment the two men caught the giant axe, their expressions changed drastically, and they were thrown back more than ten meters, returning to the position where they had been spying on the military camp.

"who!"

Duan Chang had already drawn his broadsword and retreated to the side of Duan Xu and Mu Zichuan.

The three of them looked ahead, their expressions unusually solemn.

A burly young man, over two meters tall and clad in light gold armor, wielding a double-bladed giant axe, stood where the three had just been, looking at them with a cold smile.

"The three of you are going too far by spying on my Great Xia military camp so furtively!"

Summer?

Upon hearing the name of the Great Xia, Duan Chang and his two companions were filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"Enough with the nonsense, he's from Chuishan, arrest him first!"

Just then, another voice came from behind. Duan Chang and the other two turned around abruptly and found that three more figures had appeared on their left, right, and behind them at the same time.

The man on the left was about the same height as the giant axe youth who had attacked them earlier, also over two meters tall. He was also wearing a set of golden armor, with a calm expression, and was holding a narrow, long sword that was clearly not made according to the regulations of the Nine Towns.

The man on the right was slightly shorter and looked older than the two in front of him, but probably no more than forty. He was holding a long-handled broadsword that was about ten feet long and had a unique design.

"Twenty-four bristles, the two on the left and right also have more than twenty bristles each, and there's this one behind that I can't see through. Great Xia, where did this come from?"

Duan Chang silently sized up Yuan Cheng and the other two. After roughly assessing their strength, his expression became somewhat serious. Finally, when he fixed his gaze on the only white-clad youth behind them who was not wearing armor, his pupils revealed a deep sense of apprehension.

Although he only had a medium-level combat aptitude, he had used external objects over the years to raise his strength to thirty-two, which was not weak even in the Nine Towns. However, he could not see through the white-robed youth behind him at all.

This only proves that the other party is stronger than him.

"They knew we were from Chuishan, and they even threatened to arrest us..."

Duan Chang looked at the white-robed youth's attire, which was clearly not from Jiuzhen, and the golden armor worn by the other three. His mind raced, and in an instant, he came up with many possibilities.

However, he had limited access to information and therefore couldn't analyze anything meaningful.

Swish swish swish…………

Just then, hundreds of silver arrows suddenly shot in from all directions. As the three men swung their weapons to cut down the arrows, their expressions changed drastically.

"They're all at the Cold Protection level, split up and run!"

With just one volley of arrows, Duan Chang immediately realized that all the soldiers who shot at him and his two companions were at the Cold Resistance level. At this point, he completely gave up the idea of ​​resistance and directly ordered Duan Xu and Mu Zichuan to flee in different directions.

He had the highest cultivation level and the fastest speed. As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed north, while Duan Xu and Mu Zichuan broke through to the left and right sides respectively.

"You're already here, why are you running away? Stay here!"

call…………

This was, after all, the first time he had dealt with a Nine Towns Cold-Resistant level enemy. Yuan Cheng had already lost face because his first sneak attack had failed. Now, seeing that Duan Chang still dared to break through to his side, he roared and swung his giant axe horizontally, trying to force him back.

"You think you can stop me? You're asking for death!"

Seeing the giant axe sweeping towards him, Duan Chang's face turned cold. He quickly lunged forward, using his back to forcefully block the long handle of the giant axe. Then, with a sudden jolt, he deflected the giant axe and, in the instant he raised his sword, slashed down fiercely at Yuan Cheng's head.

Yuan Cheng frowned deeply. Under normal circumstances, he would not dare to take this hit head-on, but when he saw two transparent threads shooting towards him from behind, he gritted his teeth, turned his head, and raised the giant axe to his shoulder.

Clang...

The giant axe was struck by the broadsword. Both were silver-forged, ten-thousand-times-refined weapons, so there was no way it could be cut in half. However, Duan Chang's strength of thirty-two bristles still managed to strike Yuan Cheng, causing him to kneel on the ground. The handle of the giant axe also slammed into his right shoulder with a loud crack.

Logically, after succeeding in this operation, Duan Chang should have immediately withdrawn.

However, not only did he fail to retreat, he also couldn't even draw his knife.

"Trying to escape from me? Dream on!"

Yuan Cheng suddenly looked up, a blood-red vertical line appearing between his brows.

Using the momentum from Duan Chang's downward slash, he smoothly moved the axe blade downward, directly blocking Duan Chang's broadsword.

It's true that his base strength is only twenty-four hairs, but with the thirty percent increase from the Great Xia Sacred Runes, he has over thirty hairs.

This doesn't even include the Changquan (Long Fist) routine!

"ha…………"

Yuan Cheng roared, his body suddenly leaping into the air and twisting downwards. The immense force from the giant axe entangled the broadsword, almost knocking Duan Chang off his feet.

"Oops!"

Duan Chang looked at his Cold Moon Blade, a fleeting look of reluctance in his eyes. Yuan Cheng's strength was already comparable to his own. If he were to be knocked down this time, and the white-robed youth, whose strength was already on par with his own, caught up, he would have no chance of escaping.

It may seem like a thousand thoughts are swirling in one's mind, but in reality, it all happens in an instant.

Duan Changneng was no incompetent man to become the deputy commander of the Chuishan Army. Realizing that this was his last chance to escape, he had no more regrets. He threw down his weapon, sprang up from the ground, and fled quickly to the north.

call out…………

At the same time, two transparent threads flew from behind, but missed.

"I have failed in my duty, and I beg the Vice Minister to punish me!"

When Yuan Cheng saw Duan Chang flee, his expression turned ugly. When he saw Xia Chuan walking towards him, he immediately bowed and begged for forgiveness.

"It's alright, he's very strong, and he was difficult to keep anyway. Two are enough!"

Xia Chuan waved his hand slightly, turned his head to look at the other two sides, where Duan Xu and Mu Zichuan, who were surrounded by hundreds of Yun Jiao soldiers, were struggling to hold on from Luo Yuan and Yue Feng. A smile appeared on his face.

"Chushan Town did indeed make the first move. Luckily, we occupied Hongguan in time, otherwise it would have been troublesome if they had gotten there first!"

(End of this chapter)