Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Inside the main hall on the top floor of Great Xia Valley,

As usual, the head seat remained empty.

However, Xia Chuan, who was at Yangyuan Peak an hour ago, now stood in the very center of the hall, staring intently at the patterns on the Cold Ruin Cauldron.

On both sides of the hall, Zhu Yuan, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, Lin Kai, and Lu Yang stood in two rows, their expressions somewhat excited.

“Greetings, Lord Secretary!”

Huang Yong and Hong Gang, arriving late, noticed the six people already standing in the hall. They immediately quickened their pace, paid their respects to Xia Chuan, and stood at the very back.

“Lord, only Secretary Qiu is missing!”

Zhu Yuan walked to the side of the Cold Ruin Cauldron and softly reminded Xia Chuan.

“Qiu Peng is still notifying every hunting team member from door to door. He can’t come for the time being. I’ll give you a heads-up first…”

The seven people in the hall had just been awakened from their sleep by Qiu Peng. They had also learned some of the situation in Pingxi Plains from Qiu Peng’s words, knowing that what Xia Chuan was about to say was very important. They immediately perked up and listened carefully.

“On the night of April 25th, we successfully captured the Hive. A large number of prisoners have already been sent to Boundary Valley. There are more than two hundred Earth Piercing Realm cultivators and four Cold Resistance Realm cultivators, all imprisoned in Boundary Valley, personally guarded by Yue Feng and his men.

The entire Hive territory spans over 700 square kilometers, with a population of over 29,000. Now, they all belong to Great Xia. Because the number of people is too large, large-scale migration is not very convenient. Therefore, we only screened out some important people and sent them to Boundary Valley first. Subsequently, barring any accidents, we should gradually send people back to the garrison.”

Whoosh…

As Xia Chuan’s voice fell, the seven people’s gazes suddenly sharpened. Their already excited expressions instantly added a few more layers of rich joy.

When Qiu Peng notified them just now, he only said that the Lord Secretary had won a victory, but he didn’t tell them the specifics.

Over 700 square kilometers, a population of over 29,000, and four Cold Resistance Realm cultivators, over two hundred Earth Piercing Realm prisoners…

Most importantly, this was just a rough estimate of the gains. As a giant camp, the iron mines, coal mines, and other various resources under the Hive would definitely be abundant.

“A great harvest, a great harvest!”

“Congratulations, Lord Secretary, on your triumphant victory.”

“The twenty intermediate hunting teams went for nothing, haha!”

“Alright, no need to flatter me. The reason we were able to win this time is firstly because the Leader sent a message in advance, giving us the advantage. Secondly, there were many coincidental factors that night. It’s not that closely related to the strength of our Great Xia!”

Xia Chuan raised his hand to suppress everyone’s cheers, then raised his expression and continued:

“You are probably all aware of the matters of the Longyou Alliance. Pingxi Plains is currently in turmoil. The twelve camps are fighting, attacking, and annexing each other, centered around the Longshan and Zhaoyang families. We were able to successfully capture the Hive by taking advantage of this.

Because we captured the Hive quickly and subsequently tightly controlled the news, the entire remaining eleven camps in Longyou do not yet know of Great Xia’s existence. Therefore, seizing this excellent opportunity to capture more territory is the most urgent task for Great Xia at present!”

The seven people present not only possessed the Cold Resistance cultivation level, but they also each led an intermediate hunting team. Usually, leading the team to hunt, including coordinating the relationship between team members, was an extremely mentally taxing task. Compared to other people in the camp, their communication skills were naturally much stronger.

Therefore, after listening to Xia Chuan’s words, they could quickly extract the key information from them.

Pingxi Plains is in turmoil!

Moreover, the remaining eleven camps in Longyou do not know of Great Xia’s existence.

This was not only an excellent opportunity, but clearly a golden time!

At once, they realized why Xia Chuan was in such a hurry to return from Pingxi Plains, and why Qiu Peng was asked to notify people from door to door before the sky had completely darkened.

“There are no threats near Xia City. The camp’s current inventory of supplies is enough for us to use for a long time, so I only left Zhu Ling here to watch over things; Xu Ning is stationed in Wuyuan, and Yue Feng is in Boundary Valley.

Currently, Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, Hong Guang, Hong Tian, Meng Yi, and Zhao Long are all in Pingxi Plains. The seven of you, plus Qiu Peng, make a total of eight people. Including me, there are a total of sixteen Cold Resistance Realm cultivators. Almost all of the camp’s Cold Resistance Realm cultivators have been dispatched;

The twenty intermediate teams that have already been transferred over, this time we will add twelve more, and another fifty elite low-level teams, totaling 2600 people. This is the strongest force that our Great Xia can currently muster;

The Leader is also in Pingxi Plains, but he will not appear for the time being. He will most likely only help in secret, so everything depends on ourselves.

This time, whether Great Xia can completely gain a foothold in Pingxi Plains and participate in the subsequent battle for the position of overlord of Longyou depends on you!”

The expressions of the seven people present all shook suddenly.

Especially after hearing the expectations contained in Xia Chuan’s last sentence, Lu Yang was even more moved. He cupped his fist and bowed to Xia Chuan, saying excitedly:

“Lord Secretary, rest assured, Lu Yang will not hesitate to open up territory for Great Xia!”

The remaining six people immediately followed Lu Yang’s example, cupping their fists and bowing to Xia Chuan:

“We will not hesitate to open up territory for Great Xia!”

“Good!”

Seeing everyone’s morale was high, Xia Chuan’s eyes were full of praise. Turning his head and finding that it was completely dark outside the hall, he quickly said: “Qiu Peng’s notification should be almost done. This time, a total of 1600 people will be mobilized. Qiu Peng has already ordered people from the Camp Supply Department to retrieve a large number of weapons, armor, and pills.

In addition, I have also notified Mu Dong that from tonight onwards, the Craftsman Department will work day and night to process and rush to manufacture weapons, pills, and various war materials. Now, I will begin to assign tasks…”

Hearing this, the seven people immediately straightened their bodies, and their expressions also became a bit more solemn.

Xia Chuan pondered for a moment and immediately spoke: “Zhu Yuan, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao.”

“Your subordinates are here!”

“The three of you will lead twelve intermediate hunting teams and forty-five low-level hunting teams, totaling 1500 people. Only bring weapons, bows and arrows, and the necessary pills. Set off immediately from the outer city, take the Xia Straight Road to Boundary Valley first. I will go there in advance. Once you arrive, continue to advance towards Pingxi Plains.”

“Your subordinates obey!”

After Zhu Yuan and the other two cupped their fists and replied, they immediately turned and left the hall.

“Lin Kai, Lu Yang.”

“Your subordinates are here!”

“The two of you go to Boundary Valley first. Notify Yue Feng to arrange for the personnel in Boundary Valley to clear a marching route in advance. Be sure to let the army arrive at the Hive as quickly as possible.”

“Your subordinates obey!”

The two cupped their fists in reply and immediately turned and left the hall, heading towards Boundary Valley.

“Hong Gang.”

“Your subordinate is here!”

“I have the specific location of the Hive here. You go directly and notify Meng Yi and Hong Tian to let them rest the army well first. Once I arrive, they will immediately take over the defense and set off with me to attack other camps.”

“Your subordinate obeys!”

Hong Gang cupped his fist and also turned and left the hall.

“Huang Yong.”

“Your subordinate is here!”

“You assist Qiu Peng in organizing the supplies in the Camp Supply Department and lead the remaining five low-level hunting teams to send the supplies to Boundary Valley first. Taking the Xia Straight Road should be very fast. Once you arrive at Boundary Valley, wait for my subsequent orders. At that time, I may need the two of you to send supplies to the Hive, so you should take the time to familiarize yourself with the route from Boundary Valley to the Hive in advance, so as to avoid any mistakes later.”

“Your subordinate obeys!”

Huang Yong cupped his fists and also turned and walked out of the hall to find Qiu Peng.

Inside the empty main hall, Xia Chuan looked towards the Cold Void Cauldron again, and he seemed to see flames rising in his eyes, perhaps reflected from the blazing fire within the cauldron.

"Chen Yingyuan, Chen Yingba, and Wu Tianxing, these three are not capable of making any waves, and most likely, they will only be able to obey the orders of Great Xia in the future;

With high-end combat power controlled, and only a little over a hundred Earth-Digging Realm cultivators left after the deaths, the Hive is already practically defunct. Great Xia only lacks a declaration to establish its authority;

As for Yang Lu's side, as long as Yuwen Tao executes my orders, Li Xuantian will definitely not let it go. Since those two idiots, Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli, like Yang Lu so much, let them stand there and absorb the firepower of Longshan;

Zhaoyang currently has the advantage, so we need to find ways to weaken them. After our army goes over there for a changing of the guard, the first target should be..."

Xia Chuan turned his head, looking towards the back of the golden chair on the high platform of the main hall, at that huge "Great Xia Territory Map", which hadn't been updated for a long time.

The northernmost part of the territory map is currently Jing Valley.

Xia Chuan's gaze gradually shifted towards the northwest side of Jing Valley, and after seeing the location of the Hive camp, he slightly raised his gaze a bit to the north.

......

In the forty-eighth year of Longyou, on April 16th, late at night.

"Reporting, Chief, 79 brothers have died. Peng Bo killed 32, Li Xuantian and He Tu killed 40. Just now, we found seven more bodies in a house next door, presumably killed by them when they infiltrated the camp."

"Reporting, Chief, 28 of us died, all killed by Li Xuantian and the other one."

Outside Yangyuan Peak, Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli stood at the entrance, their expressions turning extremely gloomy upon hearing the number of casualties reported by their subordinates.

At their feet lay a corpse.

The corpse's head had been smashed, making it unrecognizable, and there were two fatal sword wounds on its chest, one wide and one narrow.

"Lin Ye", standing beside the two, upon hearing the people from Wu Shuang's camp say that seven more bodies had been found in a house, his eyes flickered slightly. Seeing that Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli were both lost in thought, he hesitated for a moment before walking up to the two and bowing:

"Lin is limited in strength, and actually allowed Li Xuantian to escape alive. I am truly sorry to the two of you!"

Seeing Lin Ye's apologetic face, Wu Xiong immediately waved his hand, and seeing several wounds on his body where he had been slashed by long spears, he softly comforted him: "What are you saying, Brother Lin? Li Xuantian is in the late stage of the Cold Resistance Realm, with a full ten bristles of strength. Although it's a pity that we couldn't kill him, it's not something to be ashamed of."

Han Jiuli also nodded, kicked the corpse at his feet, and smiled: "Being able to kill He Tu is not bad either. Losing a three-bristle Cold Resistance cultivator will surely make Longshan feel the pain for a while. We can be considered to have made a profit!"

Hearing the two's comfort, Lin Ye's expression improved slightly.

Wu Xiong's words actually made sense.

Although they were both in the Cold Resistance Realm, their strengths varied greatly due to differences in battle body aptitude and cultivation level.

Li Xuantian was of superior battle body, with late-stage Cold Resistance cultivation, possessing ten bristles of strength;

Although there were five people on their side, Wu Xiong, Han Jiuli, and Lin Ye only had seven bristles of strength, while Wu Ying and Wu Lin only had a little over three bristles. In their first joint effort, their coordination was not very tacit, so defeating Li Xuantian was not difficult, but killing him was not so simple.

"Brother Lin, Chen Yingyuan's side should be fine, right?"

Soon, Wu Xiong thought of something and immediately asked Lin Ye.

Upon hearing this, Han Jiuli also immediately turned his head to look at Lin Ye, his face showing concern.

They had already formed a deadly feud with Peng Bo. Not being able to kill Li Xuantian was already a bit upsetting. If they couldn't kill Peng Bo either, then they would truly be losing both the lady and the army. The two families wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly in the future.

"Don't worry, you two. Peng Bo only has eight bristles of strength, and he's injured, not to mention he's also bringing three burdens. If Chen Yingyuan and the others lose track of them, I will definitely report to the chief and severely punish the three of them!"

Hearing this, Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli's expressions relaxed slightly.

"Two Chiefs, if I may be so bold, we first forced Chen Yingyuan to rebel, scared away Peng Bo, and killed He Tu. Li Xuantian escaped by the skin of his teeth. Longshan will surely be furious upon learning the news. Li Xuantian has also basically scouted out the situation at Yang Lu. In my opinion, it's better to prepare early, otherwise, if the Longshan army comes, we'll be caught off guard, and I'm afraid it will be disadvantageous!"

Hearing this, Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli immediately exchanged glances, then nodded.

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"Brother Lin is right. Six days ago, we lost over four hundred people attacking Yang Lu. Right now, the two families have only a little over fourteen hundred people left. Adding the six hundred or so Earth-Digging Realm cultivators controlled by Yang Lu, there are only two thousand people in total. If the Longyou army comes, we might not be able to hold on if we're caught off guard."

Hearing the words Longyou army, Han Jiuli's expression became slightly solemn, and he nodded, saying: "It's been a while since nightfall. I'll go deploy the defenses now. People need to be stationed to keep an eye on the ravines around Yangyuan Peak. Also, I've already sent Wu Lin to watch over the suspension bridge. If there's any unusual activity, report it immediately."

After speaking, Han Jiuli left, and Wu Xiong remained in place, giving a few instructions to the people from Wu Shuang's camp around him. Then, he turned to look at Lin Ye, a hint of hesitation on his face, and said: "Brother Lin, the Longyou army is too strong. We might not be able to hold on by ourselves. How about you..."

"Chief Wu, rest assured. After we took down the Hive, we already sent a batch of people to support you. They should have set off after nightfall and will arrive here soon."

Hearing this, a look of relief finally appeared on Wu Xiong's face, and he said: "Then thank you very much. I've already arranged a residence. Brother Lin, go and rest!"

Immediately, a person came up and made an inviting gesture to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye nodded and followed that person all the way to a well-decorated house on the periphery.

Entering the room, Lin Ye immediately waved his hand to dismiss the person who had led the way, then sat down in the seat, a glint of shrewdness appearing in his eyes.

"The Longyou army should be Longshan's elite. They're afraid of just over two thousand people. Either the Longyou army is too strong, or there are too many of them..."

To be honest, Yuwen Tao was a little surprised that he could pretend for so long.

He didn't know much about the situation in Pingxi Plains, let alone Zhaoyang. Xia Chuan ordered him to pretend to be Lin Ye, which was completely forcing him into the role, simply because there was no other suitable candidate besides him.

If these two asked even a little about the Zhaoyang camp, he would quickly be exposed. But unexpectedly, until now, Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli had not suspected him at all.

"The lord told me to pretend for as long as I can. Han Jiuli and Wu Xiong's strength is average. I only need to be wary of the people from Zhaoyang coming to expose me. Staying in the outer buildings, if there's a situation, I'll run immediately. If there's no situation, I might really have to help these two defend Yangyuan Peak!"

Right now, Longyou is where Zhaoyang and Longshan are fighting. Although Zhaoyang currently has the upper hand, Longshan's strength is not bad either. If they are allowed to successfully take Yangyuan Peak, the pressure on the Hive on the east side will naturally increase. Therefore, before his identity is exposed, Yuwen Tao really has to help Wu and Han defend Yangyuan Peak.

"Also, beware of Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli sending people back to their garrisons to send messages, or even the garrisons of the two families sending messages to them. I must also try to intercept them as much as possible, and strive for as much time as possible for the lord's actions..."

Yuwen Tao's eyes flickered, constantly calculating in his mind how to maximize his role.

......

The Longyou land, three hundred kilometers from north to south, four hundred kilometers from east to west, totaling more than 13,000 square kilometers. If divided by north and south, excluding the Longshan family on the westernmost side, the rest can be roughly divided into three regions.

The Hive, Yang Lu, and Yucheng further west, are all considered the southern part of Longyou;

The Haniqiong camp, directly north of the Hive, is considered the central region. Also in the central region are the five families of Wu Shuang, Changning, Songyuan, Xiling, and Baiyuan;

To the west of Han Qiong was the Wu Shuang Camp. North of both Wu Shuang and Han Qiong was the Zhao Yang Camp, which had the largest territory. This was considered the northern region, and the only other camp in this area was the Dong Kang Camp, located to the east of Zhao Yang, at the northeast corner of Pingxi Plains.

While the Beehive and Yang Lu camps in the south were engaged in fierce battles, the central and northern regions were unusually tranquil. Especially the Zhao Yang Camp, ever since Hou Hu returned from Long Mountain on the fourteenth night, they had held grand banquets for two consecutive days, and the entire camp was immersed in an atmosphere of unusual celebration.

Near the main building of the Zhao Yang Valley garrison, two elaborately dressed maids hurried out of a conspicuously luxurious house, their faces bearing a hint of obvious panic.

"That lord is too difficult to serve. I only touched him slightly, and he scolded me several times. How are we supposed to seduce him?"

"It's the same for me. Just now, I took off my clothes and went in while he was bathing, but before I could get close, he reprimanded me, saying he was cultivating and strictly forbade anyone from approaching."

"This is too difficult. There's no other way, we can only think of other methods. I heard that he is very strong, almost as strong as the leader. People like that must have a very strong will."

"There's nothing we can do. We've changed more than a dozen people in the past two days. Do you think he might like men?"

"Hush, don't talk nonsense. He's strong, be careful he hears you!"

… … … … … …

Inside the house, on the second floor, Xia Hong sat cross-legged on a wooden bed, with an iron cauldron, twenty centimeters in diameter, placed in front of him. There were some remaining dregs of medicine inside the cauldron.

Xia Hong's eyes were tightly closed, and his skin was throbbing all over. Fine pores were constantly emitting wisps of blood energy outwards.

The blood energy became increasingly dense, enveloping his body, resembling the process of forming a cocoon, gradually solidifying into an oval-shaped blood-colored罩子.

Poof… … … …

As the blood cocoon completely formed, Xia Hong's pores no longer emitted blood energy. Instead, the flesh beneath his skin began to slowly bulge and then slowly contract.

Starting from the top of his head, down to his face, neck, chest, back…

All the way to the soles of his feet, after repeating the process of expansion and contraction once, Xia Hong suddenly opened his eyes.

Bang… … … …

The blood cocoon suddenly shattered. Xia Hong clearly hadn't done anything, but his body seemed to have suddenly become several times heavier, directly collapsing the wooden bed.

Xia Hong stood up from the ground, and with a slight inhale, the blood energy that had just shattered actually gathered towards his nose and was sucked back in.

"The flesh all over my body has been regenerated once, and its strength has been increased by a fold. Now, even if my skin is broken, the flesh can still provide me with a certain degree of defense. As long as I'm not hit in any vital parts, ordinary injuries can even be recovered during the battle relying on the self-healing ability of the flesh. This is the mid-stage of Yu Han, and this is only the effect of one regeneration of flesh!"

Xia Hong felt the power of the flesh in his body, his expression extremely excited. At the same time, he clenched his fist and sensed his own strength, a gleam of light immediately appearing in his eyes.

"Fifteen jin of jade bone not only allowed me to break through to the mid-stage of Yu Han, but also increased my strength to twenty-one zong. Looking at the entire Longyou, except for that Li Tianhua, there is no one whose strength is above mine!"

Hou Hu kept his word. As soon as he returned to Zhao Yang, he immediately ordered someone to send the twenty jin of jade bone he had promised earlier, and five drops of Han Ping Jade Dew, and the recipe for boiling the jade bone was also sent along.

He even thoughtfully directly asked Xia Hong if he needed help boiling it for him.

This was completely treating him as one of their own.

What's needed to boil jade bone isn't just Han Ping Jade Dew and jade bone. Zhu Yin Flower, Bai Shuang Grass, and eight other medicinal materials, plus a massive amount of coal stones. Zhao Yang was willing to provide it, and Xia Hong naturally accepted without ceremony.

In two days, under Xia Hong's full supervision, fifteen jin of jade bone were all boiled according to the recipe.

Finally, he could use jade bone to carry out a proper Yu Han level cultivation. Xia Hong took the boiled jade bone soup and couldn't wait to begin his seclusion.

The first time he used it, the effect was surprisingly good.

As he had previously guessed, the flesh in his body reacted the most after eating the jade bone. However, compared to the method of introducing cold light into the body through sun exposure to destroy the flesh tissue and achieve regeneration, the flesh regeneration effect after eating jade bone was simply a hundred times, no, I'm afraid it was more than a thousand times better.

After eating the jade bone soup, the flesh in his body immediately began to collapse, turning into wisps of blood energy seeping out from the skin. Then, the powerful energy in the jade bone reorganized with the collapsing flesh in the body, forming new pieces of flesh that were even stronger than before.

"Mid-stage, late-stage, peak-stage, the flesh can regenerate three times in total. I already have such an effect in the first round. When my strength increases to thirty-six zong, I will usher in the second round. At that time, the strength of my flesh and its self-healing ability will usher in another surge. By the third time, with a strength of seventy-two zong, the strength of my flesh is probably comparable to that of an advanced cold beast… … … …"

Xia Hong had previously fought with that advanced Snow Mane, and he happened to have broken open the opponent's shoulder flesh, so he was very clear about the flesh strength of an advanced cold beast.

"If it weren't for this being a critical moment, I would go and kill a few more advanced cold beasts and get more jade bone to break through directly."

With the great changes in Longyou, Xia Hong had to put his cultivation aside for the time being. Moreover, with his current strength, in a one-on-one situation, he could basically walk sideways in Longyou, and cultivation had become less urgent.

Besides, hunting advanced cold beasts was too uncertain, and he couldn't be too hasty on his own.

"Moreover, having jade bone alone is not enough. Han Ping Jade Dew seems to be even more important than jade bone. Currently, it can be determined that Long Mountain has a fixed output, and Hou Hu probably has it too, but he is obviously somewhat wary of me, and it's not easy to get. It's too slow to go find it myself, I still have to find a way to get it from these two!"

Xia Hong already knew the recipe for boiling jade bone.

Leaving aside the other materials for the moment, the most important four materials, jade bone, Han Ping Jade Dew, Zhu Yin Flower, and Bai Shuang Grass, have ratios of three jin, one drop, three plants, and three plants, respectively.

Three jin of jade bone are needed to exchange for one drop of jade dew. Although the Zhu Yin Flower and Bai Shuang Grass behind are not as precious as Han Ping Jade Dew, they are not easy to find either.

"The cultivation method for the Yu Han level has been found, but where the things come from is another problem. It seems that I still have to find a way from Longyou. He gave me twenty jin of jade bone, but only gave me five drops of Han Ping Jade Dew. Is this deliberately trying to use Han Ping Jade Dew to lure me? This Hou Hu is a bit thoughtful… … … …"

Xia Hong noticed Hou Hu's little thoughts and revealed a faint smile. He thought of the dozen or so waves of maids that Zhao Yang had arranged for him in the past two days, and his expression became even stranger.

"More than five thousand Digging Realm cultivators, but there are only about a thousand left in the camp. Counting the thousand Blood Guard Army stationed outside, that means at least three thousand of them have gone missing. They have most likely attacked other camps. I just don't know which one they targeted. Xia Chuan should have been watching the Beehive after receiving my letter. It's the best time for Da Xia to reach out, but unfortunately I don't have time to notify Xia Chuan. I still have to find an opportunity to send some news back."

Xia Hong pondered for a moment in the room, when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the door.

"Lord Hong, the leader invites you!"

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Although he held a grand banquet for himself for two days, Hou Hu had not shown his face or looked for him. Today, he was finally looking for himself.

Xia Hong put away the blood energy that had just broken through and had not yet stabilized, slightly restrained a portion of his flesh, and after confirming that there were no problems, he opened the door and walked out.