Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 449 Arrangements, Growth of Strength and Departure, The Grand Scene of Hongmen

The Hu brothers were merely a side pawn!
Both of them are of medium combat strength. The eldest, Hu Tiejiang, is 38 years old this year, and the second, Hu Tiechuan, is 36 years old. Their strength is only around 5.

Based on this qualification, it's pretty much certain that the investment and return will not be equal, so normally there's no need for support.

If we had to find a reason for making an exception for Xia Hong, it would probably be fate.

They traveled together last month. Although it was fate that brought the Hu brothers together, at least Xia Hong remembered them, so it counts.

Besides fate, the other possible reason is the two brothers' dedication to upward social mobility.

To put it simply, it's ambition!
The reason these two brothers suffered such a great calamity was ultimately to shed their lowly status and their wives' slave status. Normally, after enduring so much inhuman torture and suffering so many blows, the two brothers should have felt some regret.

However, according to Xia Hong's observation, the two brothers did not complain once during the twenty days they stayed at the Hong residence. Not only them, but also their respective wives, Fang Jing and Wang Qing, did the same.

This proves that even after suffering so much, the two brothers still wholeheartedly approve of and uphold their previous decision to renounce their citizenship.

This unwavering determination to rise above ordinary circumstances and change one's fate, even at the cost of one's life, is rare and precious, not just in Cai Qiu, but even in the Great Xia Dynasty.

Of course, the absence of complaints does not mean the absence of hatred.

The two brothers' hatred for the Zhang family of Chihu Ridge and the Qinghua City law enforcement team was almost ingrained in their bones.

This is the core reason why Xia Hong supported the two of them.

Last August, after leaving the Bone-Eating Path, he lived in the depths of Changqing Valley for more than four months with Su Jing and her three siblings in order to heal his injuries. During that time, he hunted countless high-level cold beasts, partly for the sake of the four siblings' cultivation resources and partly to learn about the situation of the cold beasts in Changqing Valley.

Before setting off last month, he only brought five sets of Beast King-level skeletons with him, and stored the rest in that cave. That batch of supplies was nothing to him, but to the Hu brothers, it was a huge sum of money.

Of course, whether the two brothers can make good use of this opportunity is another matter entirely.

Xia Hong gave a final instruction and then dismissed the two men.

"If they can really rise to prominence with these supplies, then these two are both promising talents. It's unlikely that they will cause a stir in the entire Caiqiu, but they should be able to make some difference in Changqing Valley."
If neither of them has the ability, then this batch of supplies will only bring them trouble. Risk and opportunity coexist; whether they seize the opportunity or not depends entirely on themselves!

After the two left, Xia Hong returned to the main building's quiet room, sat cross-legged on the Enlightenment Lotus Platform, and checked the remaining pills.

"I used about a third of the 6 Cleansing Pills and 13 high-grade Bone-Removing Pills in a month, which is similar to my previous Jade Bone situation. It will take another two months to use them all up. Cai Yunzhou was also present just now, so I gave him a warning as well. They should not dare to provoke me again in the future. I can be somewhat assured that I will be able to set off for Linchu County City in two months!"

Fabricating a false background to intimidate others and ensure one's own safety is a somewhat helpless but desperate measure.

Before figuring out the exact strength of the Tribulation Realm expert, he definitely wouldn't dare go to Caiqiu Town, but he could go to Linchu County, which is one level lower.

"Furthermore, I need to figure out another fake identity. Although the identity of the Crown Prince of Qin is impressive, it also indirectly restricts my behavior, such as preventing me from buying things casually..."

His behavior had to match his identity. Since the Qin vassal state he fabricated was so powerful, it must have more good things than Cai Qiu. Last month, he wanted to buy quite a few things at the Treasure Pavilion, but in order not to arouse suspicion, he pretended to be disdainful the whole time and hardly made any purchases.

When he bought the three items—the Cleansing Pill, the Bone Burning Pill, and the Superior Bone Removal Pill—he used the excuse of needing to study and research them.

The Bone Burning Pill was alright, but the Meridian Cleansing Pill and the Bone Removal Pill were both very useful to him. If he could, he certainly wouldn't have bought only this much.

"There's no use thinking about it now. We'll figure something out once we get to Linchu County!"

After pondering for a moment without coming up with a solution, Xia Hong simply stopped thinking about it. In any case, he had enough pills for two months, so he decided to focus on cultivation first.

He closed his eyes and quickly entered a meditative state.

While Xia Hong was in seclusion cultivating, the Hu brothers also began making final preparations before leaving the mansion.

Hu Tiejiang first found the steward Zhou Qing and asked him to take the whole family to the local government office to get rid of their slave and lowly status, and then register them as civilians.

The money they paid for leaving and entering citizenship had originally been seized by the enforcement team. After Su Jing and his siblings rescued them from the jurisdiction last month, the enforcement team immediately returned it to them. This time, with the steward Zhou Qing stepping in, and relying on the great reputation of the Hong family, the people in the jurisdiction naturally dared not obstruct them in any way.

After being released from his citizenship, Hu Tiejiang did not rush to leave. Instead, he first sent his family back to the Hong residence. After leaving his family behind, he took his younger brother Hu Tiechuan to Changqing Valley.

No one knew what the two brothers were doing in Changqing Valley, but only seven days later, the two brothers returned to Qinghua City with a large cart. They didn't even go to the local government office, but went straight to the Treasure Pavilion.

On February 23rd, during the day, the two brothers finally returned to the Hong residence.

Upon returning to the side courtyard of the Hong residence, the two did not even see their respective wives and families, but went directly to the quiet room. Hu Tiejiang then opened a bundle on his body, which was filled with more than thirty pill bottles of various sizes.

Upon seeing the elixir bottle, both brothers were immediately filled with excitement.

"I never imagined that the supplies left by the master in that cave were so numerous. There were 72 sets of jade bones, 1.7 catties of high-grade beast meat, and nearly 8 catties of high-grade beast blood, with a total value of 1500 million taels of silver."

Hu Tiejiang couldn't help but sigh first, then opened the pill bottle, smelled the fragrance emanating from the elixirs inside, and a look of intoxication appeared in his eyes. Then, his expression brightened slightly and he said, "25 bottles of Jade Yang Pills for Cold Resistance cultivation, totaling 300 pills; 8 bottles of Breaking Yang Pills for peak Cold Resistance cultivation, totaling 80 pills. This batch of pills is enough for the two of us to cultivate for three years."

Most importantly, since they were using the Hong family's name, they didn't need to explain the origin of these pills at all, and in the short term, no one would dare to covet them.

"When I went to the Treasure Pavilion, I told them that these were all bought for the four young masters of the manor. No normal person would believe that we could produce so many things. So as long as we hide them well and don't show them off casually, basically no one will suspect anything."

Hu Tiejiang clenched his fist. This batch of pills was the capital that he and his brother had to defy fate.

"Tiechuan, let's stay at the Hong residence for another month. Once things calm down, we'll take Jing'er and Qing'er and quietly leave the city to return to Changqing Valley. Now that we have civilian status and Lord Hong's protection, Zhang Yiqing and his gang won't dare to attack us easily. However, just in case, we still can't return to Chihu Ridge. Let's find a small village deep in Changqing Valley to settle down and first use up these cultivation resources in peace. Once our strength has increased, we can then do what the Lord instructed us to do seven days ago..."

Thinking of Hong Yu's instructions seven days ago, Hu Tiejiang was filled with fear, but his pupils also showed a hint of intense excitement.

The second brother, Hu Tiechuan, was even more enthusiastic. He nodded emphatically in response, then touched the scars on his face, his pupils filled with excitement, showing no trace of fear.

At the end of March, on a dark night, the Hu brothers went to the main building of the Hong residence to say goodbye. Although they did not receive a response from Hong Yu, they still respectfully kowtowed before quietly taking their families and leaving the Hong residence under the cover of night.

………………

April 20th, 297th year of Caiqiu calendar

In the quiet room of the main building of the Hong Mansion, Xia Hong, with his eyes closed, showed a slight look of pain on his face.

He was enveloped in a thin, oval-shaped layer of blood-red medicinal power, like a blood cocoon. The medicinal power continuously seeped into his skin, cleansing the meridians deep within his flesh and blood.

The six-zhang-tall dark red bone structure floating behind him showed almost no change in height compared to two months ago; however, the color of the meridians surrounding the bone structure had gradually changed from its original transparency to a light red. Although it was not the normal blood color, it had already begun to resemble the rudiments of a true human meridian system.

"call…………"

After an unknown amount of time, the diluted medicinal power was completely absorbed by him. Once his flesh and meridians returned to normal, he let out a long sigh of relief, and the six-zhang-tall skeletal structure behind him slowly dissipated.

"Just like before, without breaking through to the later stages, my bones and bone structure won't change at all, and my strength will increase very little. But the surprises brought to me by the Cleansing Pill and the Twelve Blood Scripture Technique seem to be quite significant..."

Xia Hong clenched his fist to sense the power, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"45 jin, an increase of 4 jin. Before breaking through to the later stage, we now have a way to improve our strength!"

When he passed through the Bone-Eroding Path, his basic strength was 40 jun; during the four months he recuperated and healed in Evergreen Valley, it only increased by 1 jun; this time, after three consecutive months of seclusion, it actually increased by 4 jun at once.

At the Manifestation Yang level, every 1 jun of strength increase is enough to create a huge gap between oneself and others, let alone this most basic strength increase. With Xia Hong's various methods, he can at least convert these 4 jun into 8 jun of combat power. "I don't know exactly what the strength of a Tribulation Body Realm expert is, but I can roughly infer it from Cai Yunzhou's ranking at the Manifestation Yang level in the Four Domains..."

Having been in Qinghua City for four months, Xia Hong has learned quite a bit of information, even through subtle inquiries, including the two most important ones: the Heaven and Earth Rankings of the Four Domains.

The so-called Heavenly Ranking is a ranking created by busybodies based on the past battle achievements of the four vassal states' Manifest Yang level experts, while the Earthly Ranking is based on the Cold Resistance level.

The exact number of Xianyang-level officials in the four domains is certainly known only to a very few people, but this list includes 100 people.

“Cai Yunzhou’s basic strength is 18 jun, and he can unleash a maximum strength of 25 jun, which would rank him 46th. So the Heavenly Ranking is probably not very prestigious. Even if I’m not number one, I should still be among the top ones.”

"What a pity, it would be great if it were a ranking of experts at the Body Tribulation Realm..."

Thinking of this, Xia Hong immediately smiled and shook his head.

When he came out of the Bone-Eating Path last year, he could roughly deduce from He Qing's reaction that there should be no Venerable-level experts in the Four Domains.

This means that experts at the Tribulation Realm are already at the top in the Four Domains. Who would dare to rank such people?
"Being at the top of the Manifestation Yang level is about enough. As long as no one in the Tribulation Body Realm attacks me, I can basically rest easy. I've run out of pills, so I'll have to buy more. I also need to check on Chencang's situation. It's time to head to Linchu County City... Oh, and see how those four are doing!"

Xia Hong's mind stirred slightly, and he released his aura to sense the situation of the four siblings in the annex.

A moment later, a smile appeared on his face.

"Not bad, all done. The youngest got 9.5 points, even exceeding the target!"

The situation of Su Jing and his four siblings was not actually beyond his expectations.

For the first three months, apart from the time they went to rescue the Hu brothers, the four siblings hardly ever left the annex building, no matter what the matter was or who invited them. This performance naturally pleased Xia Hong.

Moreover, when the goal was initially set for the four of them, it was three months. Xia Hong started his seclusion on the night of January 17th, and today is April 20th. So, they have been given an extra three days.

Now that all four of them have met the requirements, Xia Hong will naturally keep his promise from three months ago and take them with him to Linchu County.

“Cai Yunzhou hasn’t come to see me for two months. I guess he was intimidated by what happened at Xueluan Mountain. That’s good. We can set off directly without any trouble!”

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, then stood up and put away the Enlightenment Lotus Platform before speaking to the door, "Go and inform Su Jing and the other three to come and see me."

"Slave, you obey!"

Hearing the deliberately coquettish response from the maid outside the door, Xia Hong's expression was slightly amused. He had noticed the eagerness of these servants to please their master from the very first day he entered the manor.

For these people who had been enslaved, finding a good master was indeed the most important thing in their lives.

"This system has its merits: it satisfies the superiority of those in power while providing a way for the lower classes to survive. The only problem is that it does not guarantee the lower classes the right to be freed from their status. In addition, since the status is passed down through generations, those in power have long formed a solid interest group. Except for a very few kind-hearted people, the vast majority of them are unwilling to let slaves be freed and rise above their status. This is tantamount to blocking the upward mobility channel in disguise, and the hope of slaves rising above their status is extremely slim."

In some ways, these people who have been slaves for so long are even more pitiful than the lowest-class undesirables. At least the undesirables know to fight their way out and change their status, but these people have probably long been so used to being slaves that they've forgotten how to be normal people..."

Thinking back to the time he spent in seclusion, when the maids brought him meals, each of them would deliberately strike seductive poses in front of him. Xia Hong shook his head repeatedly, sighing and feeling a pang of sympathy for these women.

Of course, it's just sympathy!

Changing the circumstances of a few people, or even some people, is naturally an extremely simple matter for him now.

But none of these measures are very effective.

On a smaller scale, what he wanted to change was Caiqiu, and the entire Four Feudatories;
On a larger scale, it refers to the millions upon millions of Ice Abyss humans.

How can we let a small matter cause us to lose a big one!

After pondering for a moment, Xia Hong noticed that Su Jing and the other three had entered the main building. He then stood up, a smile appearing on his face, and walked out of the quiet room toward the main hall.

........................

The tenth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, the tenth day of the fifth month

Hongmen City is bustling with activity again.

The reason is simple: the annual Great Xia Martial Arts Tournament has entered its pre-event phase.

If the first edition was unable to attract some young people and teenagers from Jiuzhen due to various reasons, then the second edition completely ignited the entire Jiuzhen community.

After a year of fermentation, the rewards for the top 100 lists in the two groups of the Great Xia Ninth Year have long been widely known and spread.

As long as you make it onto the list, even if you're in the bottom 100, the total value of all the resources that the Great Xia rewards you with is over 5 taels of silver.

The top ten reward items are worth at least 20 taels of silver.

The first place prize could even reach 60 taels of silver...

For the participants, the value of the rewards is of course the most important factor;

But this doesn't mean they only care about ranking rewards.

For young people, the opportunity to be in the public eye is extremely tempting.

Moreover, this was done in front of all the younger generation of the Nine Towns.

Making a name for oneself is one thing, but on the other hand, if one can catch the eye of some big shot in the town, whether it's taking on an apprentice, recruiting a son-in-law, or forming a marriage alliance, one can rise to the top in one step.

With all these factors combined, the number of participants in this year's martial arts competition is naturally much higher than last year, and by a significant margin.

A large number of participants began arriving at Hongmen City in April. Considering that there were too many people this year, Lin Kai simply stopped using the banner of the Three Towns Martial Arts Tournament as he did last year and instead changed it to the Nine Towns Martial Arts Tournament.

This change in name reignited the frenzy in the Nine Towns, and by May, the number of people entering Hongmen City was increasing day by day.

Lin Kai was both the guardian of Hongmen and the chief person in charge of the martial arts competition. Faced with such a magnificent scene in the city, he couldn't stop smiling every day.

But only ten days into May, he couldn't quite manage a smile anymore.

The city's population has officially exceeded 90.

"My lord, this is too much. Expanding the city is too late. The temporary residential areas we built outside the city are now full, and the city's defense and security are under great pressure. We must restrict the influx of people..."

In the main hall on the top floor of the Hongmen Office, after Ying Yi, the Chief of the Civil Affairs Department, finished speaking, he and Lin Kai, who was sitting at the head of the table, exchanged a smile. Both of them showed some surprise and helplessness in their eyes.

I still remember last year, they were worried about the slow population growth rate in Hongmen City.

No one expected that the situation would completely reverse in just one year.

They're now even starting to consider restricting the inflow of people.

(End of this chapter)