Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 429 The Grand Martial Arts Tournament of the Three Towns, Marriage Alliances and Integration
The matter of Ji Hong and his sister would certainly be considered a major event in Hongmen City;
However, if placed within the entire territory of the Great Xia Dynasty, it certainly wouldn't cause much of a stir.

It's no exaggeration to say that, apart from the Longwu Army, the Xu family, the Zhao family, and a small number of people who have some connection with Ji Hong and his sister or know them, most people wouldn't even take it to heart after hearing about it.

The Great Xia Dynasty is now, after all, too large.

At the beginning of the year, at the Hanyuan Banquet, Yuwen Tao, the Minister of War, officially announced the latest map of the Great Xia. The Great Xia currently has a total territory of 23000 square kilometers and a total population of 266 million. Not counting the 22 jurisdictions of the outer city, there are 65 external outposts alone.

Each of Xiacheng's 22 districts has a population of over 100,000; the 65 external outposts have varying populations, but even the smallest outpost has over 2,000 people. Larger outposts like Longshan, which has already been developed into a city, also have a population of 100,000. In extreme cases, such as Hongmen, a port city, the population exceeds 300,000 and continues to rise.

With such a vast territory and such a large population, something is bound to happen every day.
Although the Great Xia Dynasty is no longer what it used to be, the dangerous nature of the Ice Abyss World has never changed. Even today, in the 22 districts of Xia City, people still go missing or die every now and then. If Xia City, which is protected by the Holy Cauldron and is well-defended, is like this, then the external outposts are even more vulnerable.

In fact, if it weren't for Ji Hong's exceptional combat physique and his status as a soldier in the Dragon Martial Army, his defection wouldn't have even become a hot topic, and the death of his sister Ji Jiang would never have spread.

Since May of last year, when Daxia officially moved eastward to exchange with the Eight Towns and integrated into the southern foothills of Mount Mo'ao, the entire camp has ushered in a period of rapid development. The subsequent opening of the port in July and the integration of the three towns proposed by Xia Hong after the war in September have added two more great flames to this wave of development.

The overall development of the camp is closely related to the individual.

The mere opening of Hongmen Port contained countless opportunities to make a fortune; anyone with a modicum of intelligence could see it without needing to be particularly clever.

Not to mention the later integration of the three towns.

For an individual, as long as they can keep up with the current development trend of the camp, improve their cultivation, enhance their strength, change their social class, completely reverse their fate, and join the ranks of the middle and upper levels of the Great Xia, it is all very possible.

Throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty, from the highest levels to ordinary hunting and gathering teams, everyone is now extremely busy. They have endless tasks every day and wish they could stretch one day into two. Who would have the mind to pay attention to the affairs of Ji Hong and his sister?

Therefore, the siblings' popularity only lasted for a little over a month in Hongmen City before gradually fading from public attention.

Time passed slowly, and in May, with the spread of an even more exciting and sensational piece of news, the matter of Ji Hong and his sister was truly completely forgotten.

…………

The ninth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, the eighth day of the fifth month, at night.
Hongmen, South City Archway

A group of more than twenty young men and women looked at the bustling main street of the south city with shock and emotion on their faces.

"Aren't there a lot of people here?"

"I feel like there are more people than in our town!"

"Didn't my second uncle say that Hongmen only had a population of just over 400,000 when we came here?"

"Just looking at this part, it must be worth over ten thousand, right?"

"I heard people say back in the town that Hongmen City is the liveliest place in the Nine Towns now. I didn't believe it before, but now I really do."

………………

Hearing the surprised exclamations from the crowd around her, Xiahou Qingqing smiled and explained, "It's because of the population density. Hongmen's total area is only 25 square kilometers, less than one-tenth the size of our town, but its population is already more than half of ours. So it naturally looks much more lively than our town."

Everyone understood immediately upon hearing her explanation.

"Wow, look over there, so much delicious food!"

Jiang Yining, the youngest in the group, had already set her sights on the food stalls on both sides of the main road. When everyone saw her eyes light up, they couldn't help but laugh and tease her.

“Ah Ning, I heard that there are at least a thousand kinds of delicious food in Hongmen. We’re going to stay here for more than a month, which is enough for you to try them all.”

"Won't he become a chubby little boy?"

"Haha, it's okay, A-Ning isn't afraid of getting fat."

"When Ah Ning goes back, her fat third uncle might not even recognize her."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Go away, you're the ones who'll become chubby!"

Jiang Yining is only a little over fifteen years old this year, and she is naturally lively. When teased by her older brothers and sisters, she immediately retorted. However, she remembered something, turned to look at Xiahou Qingqing, her eyes darting around, and said with a teasing expression, "Sister Qingqing, your fiancé is a bit unfair! So many of us came, and he didn't even come to say hello."

"Yes, yes, Xiao Heng said when he came to Jiangxia to plead for us last month that he would treat us to a meal when we came to Hongmen this month! Where is he? Where is he?"

"Sister Qingqing, go and call your fiancé quickly."

"Yes! Go and call them quickly."

…………

With everyone teasing her like this, Xiahou Qingqing blushed and stammered, unable to speak for a long time.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you all waiting!"

However, someone quickly came to her rescue.

A handsome young man dressed in black summer clothes strode over from the north of the city. Upon seeing Jiangxia's group, he immediately smiled and bowed to them in apology.

"Wow, Brother-in-law Xiao, you really came!"

Jiang Yining's expression was the most exaggerated, and she was clearly genuinely surprised by Xiao Heng's sudden appearance. After her initial surprise, she immediately realized something and looked at Xiahou Qingqing with a mischievous grin: "Oh! It seems that Sister Qingqing and Brother-in-law Xiao have been corresponding for a while now. Hurry up and confess honestly, when did you two start?"

Jiang Yining's keen sense of gossip clearly far exceeded Xiahou Qingqing's expectations. Upon hearing this question, she immediately showed a somewhat guilty expression.

Seeing Xiahou Qingqing's expression, the people around immediately understood and their faces were full of smiles as they couldn't help but gossip.

"Yes, yes, I was wondering why you two suddenly got engaged last month. So you two had been corresponding for a while, right?"

"Tell me the truth, did you two get in touch after Brother-in-law Xiao rescued you last year?"

"Qingqing, you're being dishonest! Confess! Confess!"

………………

Surrounded by her brothers and sisters, Xiahou Qingqing was naturally unable to defend herself and hurriedly looked at Xiao Heng with pleading eyes. Unexpectedly, Xiao Heng turned his head away with a wicked smile and looked elsewhere.

Xiahou Qingqing immediately glared at him fiercely, clearly saying, "You just wait and see." But threats were useless at this moment, as she was already being pestered by Jiang Yining and the others to answer questions.

As Xiao Heng watched his fiancée, sweating profusely, fending off the crowd's questions, a mischievous grin never left his face.

He and Xiahou Qingqing met last September at the southern foot of Mount Mo'ao.

It's not an exaggeration to say he rescued the damsel in distress. After all, if he hadn't been the first to discover the danger faced by the Jiangxia group and chosen to help, Xiahou Qingqing wouldn't have been rescued later.

In October, Jiang Yuandong, the deputy commander of Jiangxia Army, personally led Jiang Shouping, Xiahou Qingqing, and all those who were rescued that day to Heyin to express their gratitude.

It was during this time that Xiao Heng and Xiahou Qingqing officially came into contact. Moreover, since their basic strengths were not far apart—one was over 90,000 jin and the other was 110,000 jin—they were able to find some common ground. Before long, the two began to correspond.

Unlike within the Great Xia territory, where messengers were stationed at various outposts and correspondence was convenient, communication across towns was more complicated. For example, if Xiao Heng were to send a letter to Jiangxia, he would first send it to Hongmen, and then have a merchant caravan from Hongmen deliver it to Jiangxia town.

Since caravans don't run every day, the two initially corresponded very infrequently.

Ironically, the less frequent the communication, the stronger the desire for communication between the two people.

Soon, the two were no longer satisfied with the frequency of only two or three letters a month. In December, Xiahou Qingqing took the initiative and officially joined Jiang Shouping's hunting team, arriving at Baisong Camp, just to be closer to Heyin Village.

With the distance between them, communication became much easier. Initially, they simply established a fixed contact point on the outskirts of Mount Mo'ao. One of them would leave letters there, and the other would come to collect them daily. Gradually, their respective hunting teams noticed the growing interest, so they stopped pretending and directly arranged for the two teams to hunt together. Eventually, the two were even able to hunt independently...

The process of feelings developing is truly magical!

In April, Xiao Heng mustered up the courage to bring up the matter with his father.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Kangcheng not only knew all along, but also had a complete grasp of Xiahou Qingqing's information.

A marriage between people from different towns was formed naturally.

Xiahou Qingqing was, after all, the direct great-granddaughter of Xiahou Zhang, the lord of Jiangxia. Xiao Kangcheng probably felt that he was not important enough, so he asked his superior, Xu Ning, to help him plead for mercy in Xia City.

Xu Ning readily agreed, while Xiao Heng was initially a little apprehensive, since in terms of status, he was somewhat climbing the social ladder.

But somehow, the news reached the ears of her brother-in-law, Xia Chuan.

When Xiao Heng set off for Jiangxia to propose marriage in April, he saw the proposal procession led by his brother-in-law Xia Chuan, and immediately knew that things were going well.

As he expected, Xiahou Zhang agreed to the marriage.

The couple finally set their wedding date for October of this year.

………………

Xiao Heng snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Jiang Yining and the others were asking increasingly tricky questions. His fiancée was blushing and stammering, almost unable to speak. Finally, he couldn't help but step forward to help her out of the predicament.

"Ah Ning, everyone, you must be tired from your journey. I've already reserved a private room at the South City Restaurant. How about we go sit down, have something to eat, and then we can talk?"

"Now you're starting to feel sorry for them, tsk tsk tsk..."

Everyone could see that Xiao Heng was trying to help Xiahou Qingqing out of a tight spot, but they couldn't help but laugh when they heard Jiang Yining's subconscious teasing.

Xiao Heng couldn't help but laugh. He had visited Jiangxia Town last month and had interacted with Jiang Yining. He was also deeply impressed by Jiang, the youngest and most talented girl in the Jiang family.

"Ah Ning, I'll introduce you to some friends later. The martial arts competition will officially begin in about twenty days. Don't you want to know about your opponents?"

Upon hearing this, the young people of Jiangxia, including the quirky Jiang Yining, immediately became serious and nodded emphatically.

"Come with me!"

Seeing that everyone's attention had finally shifted away from her, Xiahou Qingqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief. When she saw Xiao Heng leading the way forward with a smug look on his face, she angrily walked up to him and stood beside him, then reached out her right hand and secretly pinched the soft flesh on his waist.

"Hiss..." "Hahahaha!"

Xiao Heng's grimacing and strange appearance naturally caused Jiang Yining and the others behind him to burst into laughter again.

"So many beautiful clothes!"

Upon entering the southern part of the city, the shops along the street immediately drew gasps of amazement from the Jiangxia group. Jiang Yining and the five or six girls beside her were immediately drawn to a shop with a sign that read "Zeng's Summer Clothing Shop".

The shop was filled with a dazzling array of summer clothes of all kinds, and the number of customers was extremely high. The shop was almost full of people. A beautiful female shopkeeper in her mid-twenties, along with several female assistants, was enthusiastically serving customers and was very busy.

"That shopkeeper is so pretty! Did she make all these beautiful clothes? I want to buy a couple too!"

Upon hearing Jiang Yining's words, Xiao Heng immediately turned to look at the summer clothing shop. He seemed to recognize the female shopkeeper at a glance. After a slight sigh, he smiled and said, "No rush. You'll be staying in Hongmen for at least another month. There'll be plenty of time to shop around later. Let's go eat first!"

Hearing this, the crowd gave up and followed him south, soon arriving at the entrance of Zhao's Restaurant.

"Young Master Xiao has finally arrived! The gentlemen have been waiting in the private room upstairs for some time. Young Master Xiao has many guests today, please come in!"

The waiter in the restaurant was very good at handling things. He recognized Xiao Heng at a glance, immediately greeted him with a smile, and hurriedly led the group to the third floor.

Jiang Yining, Xiahou Qingqing, and the others immediately followed Xiao Heng with awkward expressions, quickly heading upstairs.

"Are restaurants just places where you pay to buy food?"

"It's similar to the post stations within our Jiangxia territory, right?"

"This is clearly much better than the post station. Look at everyone who can come in to eat, they're almost all at the Cold Resistance level!"

“I saw it on the first floor; everyone was paying with silver.”

………………

Like the shops along the street, this restaurant also had a significant psychological impact on Jiang Yining and the others.

In fact, they had already heard a lot about Hongmen in Jiangxia Town.

Hearing about it is one thing, but actually experiencing it firsthand is quite another.

As soon as everyone stepped onto the stairs, before they even reached the third floor, they heard a lively discussion coming from above:
"Although it is called the Three Towns Martial Arts Tournament, the Great Xia Dynasty has not prohibited people from the other six towns from participating. As long as their bone age has been measured and they are confirmed to be between 15 and 25 years old, and can clearly explain their background, all young people can participate."

"Great Xia has quite the spirit! No wonder so many people have come to Hongmen recently. Today is the eighth day of the month. From what I've observed, at least 30,000 people have come to Hongmen in the past eight days, and most of them are young people. There are still 22 days until the martial arts competition starts. I estimate that by the end of the month, at least another 100,000 people will come."

"There's no way around it, the rewards for the martial arts tournament are just too generous. The Great Xia announced at the end of last month that the cash rewards alone amounted to 1000 million taels, not to mention other things like pills, weapons, and armor. I estimate that the Great Xia will spend at least 3000 million taels of silver to hold this tournament."

"What's the point? Taking out so much silver just for a martial arts tournament?"

"I reckon that Great Xia has confidence in its own young people, believing they can take home a lot of the rankings. In that case, wouldn't the rewards end up being pocketed by their own people?"

"Just kidding. I acknowledge Xia Hong's title as the best in the nine towns, but a contest between young people is a different matter. Just because the lord is strong doesn't mean the young people in the camp are strong too."

"The three northern towns have quite a few geniuses under the age of 25. There are the Eight Steeds of the Yang Family, the Six Young Tigers of Jinshan, and the Seven Heroes of Wuchuan. The three towns of Longgu, Yangqu, and Chuishan also have their share of geniuses. Not to mention the many village-level camps below, which also produce some geniuses from time to time. No matter how strong Great Xia is, it can't possibly take all the rankings, can it?"

Do you know how many rankings we'll be selecting this time?

“I heard that they’re grouping people by age, with those under 20 and those under 25. The top 100 from each group will be selected, and the higher the ranking, the bigger the reward.”

How many people have participated so far?

"Registration started as early as the first day of the Lunar New Year. There was a notice board for registration in front of the Hongmen Siya building. The total number of people is currently over 4."

"Hiss... There were already more than 40,000 people on the eighth day of the month, so won't it be more than 100,000 by the end of the month?"

"Why are there so many people? Did all the young people from the nine towns come?"

"It's probably close. The Great Xia Dynasty didn't impose any restrictions; anyone who meets the age requirement can come. Many people aren't necessarily here for the rankings; they might just be here to watch the fun."

"Are you kidding me? Over 100,000? How long would that take to compete?"

"That's none of your business. Great Xia will definitely have a way to screen them."

"The martial arts competition is divided into preliminary rounds, semi-finals and finals. I heard that the first two rounds are held in Hongmen City and will take two months. After the semi-finals, there will be 1000 people in each of the two groups. Then the finals will be in August. These 2000 people will compete for the top 100 in Xia City."

"Could it be that Great Xia is deliberately absorbing the young geniuses of the Nine Towns? So that those who ultimately win a prize have to switch allegiance to Great Xia to receive the rewards?"

"Are they all as foolish as you? At the end of last month, Xia Chuan, the Grand Minister of the Great Xia, personally issued an official document and made it very clear that there are no restrictions on the rewards. As long as you are from one of the Nine Towns, no matter which one you belong to, you can receive the rewards. Whether you choose to support the Great Xia or not is your personal choice."

"No wonder so many people came to participate. Is it really that free?"

"Of course!"

………………

Amidst the chatter on the third floor, Xiao Heng led his group into a private room by the window.

Fifteen people were already seated in the private room.

Upon seeing Jiang Xia and his group enter, the fifteen people inside immediately stood up with smiles on their faces.

"Welcome, guests from Jiangxia Town!"

Xiahou Qingqing recognized them at a glance; these fifteen people were none other than the members of Xiao Heng's exploration team from last September.

"Luo An of Great Xia, my father is Luo Yuan, the Director of the Hunting Department. Greetings to all of you."

"Luo Cheng of the Great Xia Dynasty, my father Luo Ming, the garrison commander of Jinggu, greets you all."

"Zou Ping of the Great Xia Dynasty, my father is Zou Yuankai, the garrison commander of Wushuang. I greet you all."

………………

Unlike last September, this meeting was much more formal. Before Xiao Heng could speak, Luo An and the others took the initiative to introduce themselves.

Of course, while introducing themselves, they did not forget to carefully examine the twenty-odd people from Jiangxia in front of them, with the main focus being to probe their cultivation levels.

After all, these will be their important opponents in next month's martial arts competition!
Jiang Yining, Xiahou Qingqing, and the other young people from Jiangxia naturally saw through Luo An and the others' intentions, and they returned the look, sizing up the cultivation levels of the young people from Daxia.

However, after they looked each other over, their expressions clearly showed some surprise.

The people of Daxia were bewildered and astonished; while those of Jiangxia were shocked and horrified, and later on, even a hint of inferiority appeared on their faces.

Clearly, they all realized that Luo An and the others were far stronger than themselves.

Xiao Heng and his group were just a microcosm of the current bustling scene at Hongmen.

Right next to the private room, in Muyin Town, a group of more than twenty young men and women were looking out the window at the main street of the southern city below with longing eyes.

"This Hongmen City is really too lively."

"It's not only lively, but there's also a lot of stuff. It must be very comfortable to live here."

“You can buy any kind of elixir at Wanbaolou. The supplies that the Chamber of Commerce brought last September are more than 20% cheaper here.”

"Definitely. Those things were all bought from Da Xia. This place is practically the place of origin, so they're definitely much cheaper here."

"The martial arts tournament doesn't start until next month, so we can stay here for another month. If we make it to the finals, we can even go to Xia City to check it out!"

"Hongmen is just a trading port of the Great Xia Dynasty, and even it is so prosperous. How good do you think Xia City must be?"

"I feel that this place is already more lively than our Muyin Town. Xia City must be even more lively, and there are even more good things here."

"Let's get through the finals first! If we can make it to the finals, we can go to Xia City."

………………

Upon hearing the words "finalist made it to the finals," all the young men and women turned their gazes to a girl in red on the inside.

Seeing the girl lost in thought, a younger girl walked up to her and said in a clear voice, "Aunt Yan'er, you'll definitely make it to the finals, no, you'll definitely make it to the top 100. When you go to Xia City, will you take me with you?"

Murong Yan was interrupted from her thoughts. She turned to look at her little niece Murong Jiao, who was only two years younger than her. She reached out and pinched her little nose, and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, Auntie will definitely take you to Xia City."

"Auntie is the best!"

Upon hearing that her aunt had agreed to take her to Xia City, Murong Jiao's eyes immediately crinkled into crescent moons with joy, and she excitedly hugged her.

Murong Yan held her little niece, but her gaze couldn't help but drift to the window, a hint of melancholy appearing in her eyes.

"Brother Yuwen went to Ba Shang again. We should be able to see him in Xia City during the finals in August, right?"

She came to Hongmen with her father, Murong Yuan, the night before last. She even visited the Chief Envoy, Lin Kai, at the Siya Building. She originally thought she would see Yuwen Tao, but when she asked, she found out that Yuwen Tao had just gone to Ba Shang a few days ago, so the two of them missed each other perfectly.

As a girl, she was naturally too embarrassed to ask around anymore. If she wanted to see Yuwen Tao, she could only wait for the opportunity to go to Xia City in August.

The Three Towns Martial Arts Tournament was such a grand event that Yuwen Tao, as the Director of the Ministry of War, should have been able to attend.

With his own strength, breaking into the top 100 shouldn't be a big problem.

I'm sure I'll see Brother Yuwen then!

Murong Yan gave herself a little pep talk, then turned around and started chatting with her brothers and sisters again.

　I know what you want to see, but everything should proceed step by step. I originally wanted to focus on the Three Towns Martial Arts Tournament, but recently the comments have been saying I'm padding the story. I don't know where I'm padding it out either, so I'll speed things up! Tomorrow I'll refocus on the main characters.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)