Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

West of Honeycomb, a slightly flatter patch of snow.

Six iron-wheeled carts formed a long line, moving westward with difficulty and slowness.

At the very front of the line were eight people clearing the snow;

Behind them were two small iron-wheeled carts, each pulled by two people, with a flag stuck on each cart, bearing the words "Honeycomb" and "Yanglu" respectively;

Further back were four large iron-wheeled carts, fully loaded with iron ore, each pulled or pushed by the combined efforts of more than a dozen people, slowly moving forward.

"Hong Yu, go to the front to pull the cart, and someone else will come to the back to push!"

Xia Hong was pushing the cart from behind when he heard Ma Yong's call. Although he looked somewhat reluctant, he still hurried to the front of the large cart, took the chain from one of the people, and exchanged places with him, pretending to pull the cart with effort.

Pushing and pulling the cart required different amounts of effort, so they had to switch positions frequently. For Xia Hong, the weight of the large cart was nothing, whether pushing or pulling, as he was always holding back his strength, so it was naturally not a burden.

The main reason for his reluctance was that the journey was too long!

Today was already April 13th, and counting the days, they had been pulling the carts westward for eleven days since they set off on the second day of the month.

According to Xia Hong's own measurements along the way, in these eleven days, they had moved westward by about forty-two kilometers.

Moving forty-two kilometers in eleven days sounded ridiculous. If he hadn't personally followed the team all the way and witnessed how it happened, he would never have believed it.

Overall, what slowed down the journey the most was the large cart loaded with iron ore.

This large cart was more than ten meters long and five meters wide. It was made of pure iron itself and loaded with five million catties of iron ore. Once they encountered a slightly deep ditch or a slightly large obstacle along the way, the entire team had to stop and figure out a solution.

It was funny to say, but in most cases, Chen Yingyuan had to get out of the car, either using brute force to move the cart directly or helping them push together with force.

Then there was the road condition. Long Mountain was located directly west of Honeycomb. The ideal state was, of course, to go west all the way, but there were many special situations on the road, such as earth slopes, continuous gullies, and small mountains, which they had to bypass.

Especially on April 6th, when they had just entered the territory of the Yanglu Camp and passed a small lake, Chen Yingyuan and Ma Yong were on high alert when they were still one kilometer away. In order not to get close to that lake, they detoured for at least four or five kilometers.

However, it should be said that this was already the fastest and most suitable route chosen by Chen Yingyuan, who was extremely familiar with the environment.

Of course, Xia Hong had not wasted time in the previous eleven days.

Whenever the team rested during the day, he would record in detail the surrounding environment and road conditions along the way, including the small lake that made Chen Yingyuan and Ma Yong feel like they were facing a formidable enemy, as well as other dangerous areas that the team obviously avoided, on the animal skin scroll.

Although the process was tedious, it was not a waste of time!

Xia Hong touched the animal skin scroll in his arms and looked at the Yanglu flag on top of the first small cart, his eyes flashing slightly.

Three days ago, on April 8th.

They finally met up with the team from the Yanglu Camp.

After three days, Xia Hong naturally understood the situation of the Yanglu convoy.

The leader of Yanglu was Peng Bo, a fat middle-aged man with a ghost-headed black knife on his body, with a base strength of eight stallions, slightly stronger than Chen Yingyuan.

Their team had a slightly larger number of people, thirty in total, led by Peng Bo's son, Peng Yuan, and the remaining twenty-nine people all had strength above 30,000 catties, similar to the team configuration on Chen Yingyuan's side.

When they met three days ago, although Chen Yingyuan got out of the car, he only exchanged a few pleasantries with Peng Bo. The conversation between the two did not involve the alliance, so Xia Hong did not hear any useful information.

"That's not right, the configuration of the team can already explain a lot!"

Xia Hong thought to himself, glanced at Chen Yuan in his own team, then looked up at Peng Yuan in front, and finally scanned the iron ore on the four large carts, his expression changing slightly.

The Alliance Leader's order had three requirements: jade bones, iron ore, and a hostage.

Chen Yingyuan brought five million catties of iron ore and his youngest son. If nothing unexpected happened, he should have also brought jade bones in the carriage he was sitting in. This already showed that he was inclined towards Long Mountain in this alliance.

When they had just set off, Xia Hong was not sure of his intentions. Seeing the convoy configuration of Yanglu three days ago, which was similar to Chen Yingyuan's, he was sure in his heart.

Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan were both likely to be leaning towards Long Mountain.

"Such harsh Alliance Leader's orders, it would be fine if they just followed them, but knowing that five other camps have already turned to Zhaoyang, they still choose to stand firmly with Long Mountain. How strong is this Long Mountain Camp after all?"

Long Mountain must be very strong, Xia Hong was prepared for this in his heart, but the actions of Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan undoubtedly made him more apprehensive about Long Mountain.

As of now, Xia Hong already knew ten of the entire Longyou Alliance.

From the current situation, Long Mountain was the strongest;

Closely followed by the Zhaoyang Camp, which was challenging Long Mountain's position;

Then there were Xiling, Baiyuan, Dongkang, Wushuang, Hanqiong, Yanglu, Yucheng, Honeycomb, and two others whose names Xia Hong did not know. The strength of these ten was similar and should belong to the third tier.

Where would the strength of Great Xia rank among them?

Xia Hong's eyes flashed slightly as he calculated in his mind while pulling the cart forward.

Soon, the group walked another three or four kilometers west.

"Look, we're at Long Mountain!"

Suddenly, Ma Yong reached out and pointed to the west, shouting with excitement.

Many people in the team raised their heads and looked in the direction he was pointing, their expressions slightly shaken.

In the dim snowy night, a mountain range stood on the western horizon.

Although it was more than ten kilometers away, everyone could still see that the mountain was not too high, at most a little over a thousand meters;

Although not high, the mountain range was undulating and stretched from north to south, with a longitudinal distance of fifty or sixty kilometers. It was obviously formed by countless small mountains piled together, the overall winding and uneven, like a vast and deep dragon, just lying across the Pingxi Plain.

Not only Ma Yong, but most of the more than fifty people from the two teams should have been to Long Mountain for the first time. Most people showed a relaxed look on their faces when they looked up at Long Mountain.

After driving for so many days, they finally saw their destination.

"It's strange, we've already seen Long Mountain, but we still haven't encountered the convoy from the Yucheng Camp. Today is only the eleventh, did they arrive at Long Mountain so early?"

Ma Yong's soft mutter was not heard by others, but Xia Hong heard it clearly, and a hint of thought rose in his eyes.

The convoy had traveled more than forty kilometers west and had already entered the territory of Yucheng. Now that they could see Long Mountain, but had not encountered the convoy from the Yucheng Camp, they should have arrived at Long Mountain in advance.

Thinking about it, it's not surprising!

Yanglu and Honeycomb were so far away from Long Mountain, yet they obediently prepared their things and sent them over from afar; the Yucheng Camp, which was closest to Long Mountain, would definitely have prepared the supplies early and sent them to Long Mountain.

As Long Mountain became closer and closer, Xia Hong also learned from Ma Yong that they were about to leave the sphere of influence of the Yucheng Camp and enter the Long Mountain territory.

Before entering the Long Mountain territory, the sky was about to dawn, Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan called a halt to the team, ordering everyone to rest in place and continue on their way after nightfall.

Like the previous eleven days, everyone used the prepared wood to directly cover and surround the four large carts, forming four wooden houses, and then made a fire inside to eat and rest.

Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan both stayed on the small trailers and did not come down.

There were only four hours of daylight. In the time it took everyone to sleep, they realized that night had fallen and immediately packed their supplies and luggage and continued to push the carts forward.

After entering the Long Mountain territory, the vegetation coverage increased a lot. Although it was still not comparable to Redwood Ridge, it was much better than Honeycomb and the previously passed Yanglu and Yucheng.

High vegetation coverage meant that the snow on the ground was not so thick, so the speed of travel naturally increased a lot.

"Chen Yingyuan's timing is really accurate. Today is April 14th. At this speed, we'll arrive at the foot of Long Mountain overnight, just in time for the alliance on the 15th. That's right, not only him, but also that Peng Bo."

The accurate timing proved that Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo had been to Long Mountain many times. If the leaders of other camps were also like this, then all the leaders would arrive together at that time.

That's right, many of these leaders have been hostages in Long Mountain…

"Eek!"

Xia Hong, who was thinking with his head lowered, suddenly sensed something.

He gently raised his head, looked forward without making a sound, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Someone, and many!

Xia Hong scanned the dense forest on the left and right in front of him, then gently sniffed his nose, and his eyes immediately became alert.

"The smell of blood?"

"Did you guys smell it too?"

"It's in front."

"What's going on!"

… … … … … …

The smell of blood drifting from the front was too strong. Not only Xia Hong, but others soon smelled it one after another.

On the contrary, Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan, who were staying in the closed space of the small car, only discovered it after hearing everyone's voices.

The two walked out of the car, looking at the front, their eyes instantly becoming solemn.

In front of the team, about a hundred meters away, a lonely, dilapidated small trailer was parked on the snow. The wheel hub and main shaft of the trailer were completely broken, leaving only the upper carriage intact.

Around the trailer, on the snow, were sixteen corpses lying horizontally. Many arrows were stuck in the corpses, and many scattered weapons were also stuck in the nearby snow.

At this moment, it was still snowing heavily in the sky, and the corpses on the ground had not been buried much.

This alone could prove that the battle in front of them had not been over for long.

Xia Hong, at the rear of the team, focused his gaze directly on the flag stuck on the small trailer. Seeing the words "Yu Cheng" on the flag, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"There are people in the carriage, and quite a few in the surrounding dense forest. This is…"

Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo weren't strong enough, and their perception wasn't as good as his. The people in the surrounding dense forest were still a bit far away, so the two of them probably hadn't noticed.

But everyone knew that there was someone in the carriage, not just Xia Hong.

The reason was simple: inside the dilapidated carriage, a fire was burning in the stove, and a seated figure was faintly visible from the window. Everyone could see it clearly with their own eyes.

"Yan Chuan is in trouble?"

"That shouldn't be. Now that we're in Longshan Territory, who could deal with him?"

Hearing the slightly frightened voices of Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo in front, Xia Hong immediately judged that Yan Chuan should be the leader of the Yu Cheng camp.

No wonder they hadn't encountered the Yu Cheng camp's team all this time.

They were actually in trouble!

But as Peng Bo said, now that they were in Longshan Territory, who would want to deal with him?

A Cold Beast? Could it be a Wraith?

The thought popped into Xia Hong's mind. He looked up at the faintly visible figure in the carriage window not far away, his expression extremely solemn.

The next second, the solemnity on his face intensified a bit.

"Chief Chen, Chief Peng, long time no see, are you both well?"

A soft, lively female voice suddenly rang out from the carriage not far away.

Upon hearing the voice, everyone except Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo only frowned slightly. The expressions of the others at the Earth Digging Realm all became as solemn as Xia Hong's, and some of the timid even revealed a trace of fear.

In the snowy night, a lonely, dilapidated carriage, a faintly visible figure, scattered corpses and weapons… Suddenly hearing such a soft, lively female voice, any normal person would think of Wraiths.

But Xia Hong glanced at the dense forest on both sides, then carefully looked at the expressions of Chen and Peng. He immediately realized that this woman should have nothing to do with Wraiths.

Chen and Peng obviously remembered something. Their brows had already relaxed. After looking at each other, they simultaneously cupped their fists and bowed towards the carriage:

"May we ask, is the Little Lord Xuanling present?"

Little Lord Xuanling?

Hearing this title, Xia Hong frowned slightly, but he quickly remembered what he had learned from Cheng Ping: that the eldest son in charge of Longshan was called Li Xuanyan. He immediately had a guess in his heart.

"You two have good memories. It wasn't in vain for Xuanling to wait here specifically today."

The same female voice from before came from inside the carriage again.

Immediately afterward, the carriage door slowly opened.

A beautiful woman in a snow-white gauze dress slowly walked out of the carriage, half-bowed.

The woman's waterfall-like long hair was gently tied up with a blue ribbon. Beneath the snow-white gauze dress, her slender and exquisite figure was incomparably alluring.

She looked to be about twenty years old, with a pair of lively and gentle large eyes, full of charm. Her flawless white face made the snow on the ground pale in comparison.

Her refined eyebrows, beautiful posture, and light and agile temperament—everything about the woman seemed to be a gift from the Creator.

The originally dark and cold snowy night seemed to be lit up by her appearance.

"What a beautiful woman!"

Not to mention the Earth Digging Realm cultivators, even Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo, and even Xia Hong at the rear of the crowd, couldn't help but be momentarily lost in thought when they saw the woman, and let out a heartfelt sigh.

In the Ice Abyss World, women, or rather, humans, before reaching the Cold Resistance level, are difficult to describe as beautiful because their skin is constantly eroded by wind and frost, and clean water resources are relatively scarce.

The survival habits of the wilderness inevitably put women at a disadvantage. It's not hard to imagine that Cold Resistance level women are extremely rare.

If the other natives of the Ice Abyss World were distracted, it could be said that there was a reason, then the reaction that Xia Hong, who had lived two lives, showed at this moment was definitely enough to explain how alluring Li Xuanling's face was.

Xia Hong pinched his fingers to suppress the agitation in his heart. He focused his gaze on the silver long sword hanging at Li Xuanling's waist.

That silver long sword instantly reminded him of Yang Ning two years ago.

At that time, the long sword in Yang Ning's hand was also this color.

If there were no accidents, Longshan should also have a silver mine!

Of course, that wasn't the only reason he was paying attention to the long sword.

Xia Hong scanned the sixteen corpses on the ground, looked at the black arrows stuck in the corpses, glanced at the hundreds of people hiding in the dense forest on both sides, and finally turned his gaze to Li Xuanling.

At this look, his expression immediately became a bit more solemn.

"Twelve Bristles!"

It was hard to imagine that Li Xuanling, who looked to be only in her early twenties, was actually the strongest Cold Resistance level cultivator Xia Hong had ever seen to date.

Soft and lively was obviously just Li Xuanling's voice trait.

This woman was far more complex than she appeared to be!

"You two once cultivated with my father. Logically, Xuanling should call you two Senior Brothers. But now, the ten families of Longyou are all being bewitched by Zhaoyang. It's hard for Xuanling to tell who is friend and who is foe. Why don't you two tell me, are you planning to stand with Zhaoyang or with my Longshan this time at the alliance meeting?"

When Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo heard Li Xuanling's words, they looked down at the corpses lying on the ground and the flag with the words 'Yu Cheng' written on it. As if they had thought of something, cold sweat instantly broke out on their backs.

Xia Hong in the rear quickly understood as well, and his expression instantly became extremely solemn.

"There were no traces of wheels on the road when we came, nor were there any signs of clearing the snow. If there are no accidents, the Yu Cheng camp should not have brought any iron ore. If they didn't bring iron ore, they were killed by this woman?"

Xia Hong deduced the situation pretty accurately. Looking at Li Xuanling again, he didn't feel as relaxed as he had just now.

The surface reason was that they didn't bring iron ore. The real reason was that they didn't plan to fulfill the Lord of the Alliance's order issued by the Longshan Eldest Son. Thinking deeper, it could basically be determined that Yu Cheng was planning to side with Zhaoyang.

Yu Cheng was the closest to Longshan, yet they dared to stand with Zhaoyang. Although Xia Hong found this unbelievable, Li Xuanling's actions truly shocked him.

Disrespect the Lord of the Alliance's order and just kill them directly?

That is to say, that Lord of the Alliance's order was really a tool used by Longshan to test the loyalty of the ten families of Longyou. Does that mean that the other camps that came, as long as they didn't bring iron ore or hostages, have all already…

Chen Bo and Peng Yingyuan thought for a moment, then actually walked directly to Li Xuanling's front, bowed down to her, and opened their mouths with an extremely pious voice:

"Little Lord, please rest assured, Chen Yingyuan swears that my Beehive has absolutely no divided loyalties. Marquis Zhaoyang, relying on his strength, is causing chaos in Longyou. My Beehive camp is irreconcilable with him!"

"My Yangluo is loyal to Longshan and will never collude with the Zhaoyang camp. Little Lord, please rest assured, five million catties of iron ore, ten catties of jade bones, and my son Peng Yuan have all come with me this time. The Eldest Son's Lord of the Alliance's order, even if it means climbing a mountain of knives or plunging into a sea of fire, Peng Bo will absolutely obey!"

The two of them actually took turns expressing their loyalty!

No wonder. Judging from Yu Cheng's fate, if the two families hadn't brought iron ore, their fate would probably be similar to Yan Chuan's.

Xia Hong looked at the two of them, bowing respectfully to Li Xuanling out of fear. While his expression was solemn, his mind began to think quickly.

Li Tianhua's daughter has the strength of Twelve Bristles.

The Eldest Son, the Eight Vajras, and many unknown situations…

Longshan's strength is probably more terrifying than he imagined!

"If that's the case, it will be a bit difficult for Great Xia to extend its hand over here…"

Xia Hong's thoughts will not be mentioned for the time being.

Li Xuanling on the other side, after hearing Chen and Peng's expressions of loyalty, turned to look at the four large carts behind the two of them, and a beautiful smile bloomed on her face.

"That's good, then please, you two Senior Brothers, come with me first. There happens to be a good show, and I'll let you watch it together…"

After saying a word, Li Xuanling seemed to have thought of something. She took out a section of whip from behind her and slammed it fiercely at the carriage she had just walked out of.

Bang…

The carriage shattered in response, and a middle-aged man's corpse with a terrified expression flew directly out from the middle.

When Chen and Peng saw the corpse, their expressions instantly froze, and they quickly lowered their heads, their posture becoming more respectful.

"Yan Chuan's corpse. The Yu Cheng camp should be gone. It's about to be swallowed by Longshan!"

When Xia Hong saw Chen and Peng's expressions, he immediately understood the identity of the corpse.

Longshan has begun to annex other camps!

Coming to this conclusion, a sense of urgency suddenly rose in Xia Hong's heart.