Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 436 The Martial Arts Tournament Ends, the Cat Demon and the Demeanor, the Defeat of the Eastern Ridge Clan
Top floor, council hall

Led by champions Lu Dong and Tie Xinchuan, the two groups, totaling 20 people, stood in two rows and walked in one by one from outside the palace gate.

Inside the palace are massive golden and silver dragon-entwined pillars; above them is a magnificent circular golden dome; on either side are jade sculptures of various shapes and exquisite craftsmanship; on the inner high platform, there is a golden chair symbolizing the pinnacle of power in the Great Xia Dynasty…

Everything inside the main hall was familiar to the members of the noble families, including Lu Dong, Luo An, Liu Peng, and Zhao Yuanwu. From the moment they entered, their eyes were fixed on the high-ranking officials of the Great Xia Dynasty standing on both sides of the hall.

However, Tie Xinchuan, Yuan Bai, and Zhou Yalong, three ordinary disciples of the Great Xia Dynasty, and Jiang Yichen, Murong Yan, Fu Tiandu, and Xiahou Qingqing, four disciples from other towns, were different.

When they participated in the preliminary and semi-final rounds in Hongmen City, they had already had a preliminary understanding of the wealth of the Great Xia Dynasty. Today, when they entered the inner city, they were already shocked. They thought they were mentally prepared.

But once they entered the main hall, they truly realized that all their previous mental preparations were a complete joke.

The eight load-bearing pillars, each over three meters in diameter, clearly extend upwards from the base of the main hall. Including the depth of the foundation piles, the height is at least 40 meters. Although they are painted pure gold, it is immediately apparent that they are made of cast iron.

With a diameter of 3 meters and a height of 40 meters, it was entirely made of refined iron. Even a rough calculation shows that this single load-bearing column consumed at least tens of thousands of tons of iron ore, and there were a total of eight such columns in the entire hall.

That's almost the size of a miniature iron ore mine!

Crucially, each of these eight load-bearing pillars is carved with a silver dragon. The bodies of the eight silver dragons are twisted and wrapped around the pillars, and the eight dragon heads all converge on the dome above, staring down with wide, crimson eyes, as if they are scrutinizing the 20 people. They are incredibly lifelike.

“A dragon cast in silver is at least 30 meters long. Each dragon requires at least tens of millions of kilograms of silver. Not to mention the labor and material resources involved in casting and carving, the level of craftsmanship alone is far superior to that of the other eight towns. Therefore, Hongmen is really just a window for the Great Xia Dynasty. Only by going to Xia City, or rather, entering this great hall, can one glimpse their true peak level!”

"Jade bones are such an important cultivation resource that they can be used to make sculptures and ornaments. This in itself is a symbol of their strong financial resources. No wonder they can send so many hunting teams to Jiangxia Town to hunt. High-level hunting teams are probably nothing in the Great Xia."

Jiang Yichen from the junior group and Xiahou Qingqing from the youth group both held their breath. After looking around the palace, the two, who were only five meters apart, couldn't help but look at each other and saw amazement and shock in each other's eyes.

What's particularly interesting is Murong Yan!
When Murong Yan first entered the main hall, she was also attracted by the things inside for a moment, but soon her gaze shifted to Yuwen Tao, who was standing second in line on the left side of the hall.

Her gaze was so blatant that Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the others immediately sensed something was amiss and couldn't help but look at Yuwen Tao with strange expressions.

Yuwen Tao remained calm. Despite feeling Murong Yan's gaze, he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead without any change in expression.

"Hahaha... These are the outstanding talents of the three towns this year, not bad!"

Seeing Yuwen Tao's serious expression, Xia Hong couldn't help but laugh, but he quickly made up for it with praise.

"Greetings, Lord! Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

The 20 people below also realized what was happening and, led by Lu Dong, Luo An, and Tie Xinchuan, immediately bowed to Xia Hong and the others.

“Lu Dong, Luo An, Zou Ping, Zhao Yuanwu, Luo Cheng… these are all familiar faces. I remember clearly, before the first year, you were all still at the age of wetting your pants. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and now you have not only grown up, but also achieved the Cold Resistance level of cultivation…”

Looking at Lu Dong, Luo An, Zou Ping and others in the front row, Xia Hong's face showed a genuine sigh. Among these children, he had the deepest impression of Luo An and Zou Ping.

He remembered clearly that when he hadn't broken through to the Cold Resistance level, the two little guys were not even six years old and loved to peek at him practicing his boxing. Now, more than ten years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the two are almost twenty years old and have grown up.

Upon hearing Xia Hong's description of wetting his pants, Lu Dong, Luo An, and the others naturally showed some embarrassment in front of their elders, but they quickly recovered; however, Luo Cheng, the sixth-ranked member of the junior group, looked up at Xia Hong at the head of the table and appeared unusually agitated.

Xia Hong quickly noticed Luo Cheng's gaze. After meeting his eyes, recalling their brief master-disciple relationship in the beehive, a slight encouraging look appeared on his face. He first nodded gently to Luo Cheng, then glanced at the sixteen disciples of the Great Xia below, and continued with a smile:
"The outcome of a single competition doesn't prove anything. The key to cultivation is perseverance. The Cold Resistance level is just the starting point. Whether you can go further, become stronger, surpass your fathers, or even me, depends on your future performance. With 16 top-grade battle bodies, in terms of aptitude, you are already second to none. In terms of resources, no one in the Nine Towns can compare with you today!"

"This lord hopes that you will not waste your talents. May your cultivation path be steady and far-reaching, and may you rise step by step to become the backbone of the camp, laying a more solid foundation for our Great Xia to stand firm in the Ice Abyss, and adding more momentum to our human race's conquest of the cold winter!"

Having been a lord for over a decade, Xia Hong was adept at using such emotionally charged phrases. After a few words, Lu Dong, Luo An, and the others below were immediately filled with excitement.

Luo An couldn't help but bow and say, "I will forever remember your teachings, Lord. Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia Dynasty!"

The others immediately followed suit, bowing and saying, "We will forever remember your teachings, Lord. Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia!"

"Rise! Today, in addition to the 16 disciples of the Great Xia Dynasty, there are also 4 people from other towns. Come forward and introduce yourselves so that I, the lord, can get to know you."

Xia Hong waved his hand, signaling Lu Dong and the others to stand up, and then looked at the four unfamiliar faces in the two lines.

Upon hearing Xia Hong's words, Murong Yan and the other three immediately stepped forward.

"Mu Rongyan of Muyin Town, my father Murong Yuan, pays respects to Lord Xia Hong!"

"I have long heard of the name of the Pearl of Muyin. The young lady's swordsmanship is quite good. The number one swordsman in our Great Xia is Yuwen Tao, the Minister of the Ministry of War. The young lady can go and ask him for advice."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Xia Hong's teasing remark immediately made everyone present laugh.

Murong Yan blushed instantly, but she was very bold. Her face turned red but she didn't feel embarrassed at all. After only three or four breaths, she turned her head and stared straight at Yuwen Tao. She mustered up her courage and said, "I would be more than happy to do so. I just don't know if Master Yuwen would be willing to give me some guidance."

"Hahaha, he'll definitely give you pointers after this is over."

Even Xia Hong couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, he waved his hand slightly, signaling Murong Yan to step back first, before turning his gaze to the three people behind him.

“Jiang Yichen of Jiangxia, a fifth-generation descendant of the Jiang family, whose ancestor was Jiang Xinfan.”

“Jiangxia Xiahou Qingqing, a fifth-generation descendant of the Xiahou family, whose ancestor was Xiahou Zhang.”

No wonder they are such talented direct descendants of the Jiang and Xiahou families!
Jiang Yichen in the junior group has the aptitude of a top-grade battle physique and is currently at the level of 5 manes; Xiahou Qingqing in the youth group has a slightly lower aptitude, only a high-grade battle physique, but her strength is already over 9 manes, which is obviously due to her age.

"A descendant of a prestigious family, indeed impressive!"

Xia Hong only gave this eight-word evaluation before focusing his attention on the last person.

Interestingly, as soon as he spoke, Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, and others below all turned their attention to the last person.

"Oh no, they've figured it out!"

With so many eyes on him, how could Fu Tian not notice?

He had clearly seen that when the three people before him were introducing themselves, Xia Chuan and the others in the hall barely turned their heads. But when it was his turn, all of them turned their heads to look at him.

"It must have been that my shocked reaction when I entered the palace was a beat slower than everyone else's. These people are just too perceptive..."

Fu Tiandu was extremely nervous at this moment, but he could only grit his teeth and bow, saying, "Fu Tiandu, a native of Xiahe Village in the outer region, pays his respects to the Lord of Great Xia!"

[Fu Tiandu, 19 years old, Cold Resistance level cultivation, 10-mane strength; native of Yinhe Valley, Jinshan Town, Xiaohe Village, Far Eastern Outer Region; entered Hongmen City on November 26th of the eighth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, currently residing at No. 182, West District, South City of Hongmen; lives a secluded life, prefers to be alone, rarely interacts with outsiders, and is quite wealthy.]

In fact, there was a file about Fu Tiandu on Xia Hong's desk.

Upon seeing the document, Xia Hong looked down at Fu Tiandu, first raising an eyebrow, then recalling the shocked expression the boy had deliberately put on when he entered the palace. His mind stirred slightly, and a glint of light flashed in his left eye.

"What's with that cat demon on your chest?"

Fu Tiandu was already in a state of high alert, and when he heard Xia Hong's question, he was completely stunned. Then his body trembled violently, and he fell forward and knelt on the ground.

"Lord, save me! Lord, save me! Fu Tian didn't mean to deceive me, it's just that this cat demon is too powerful, ah..."

Halfway through his sentence, Fu Tiandu seemed to be interrupted by something, and suddenly let out a miserable howl, which startled Xiahou Qingqing, Murong Yan, and the other young people beside him, who all scattered.

"What the hell!"

"This kid is hiding something strange!"

"You wretched creature, how dare you even trespass here."

………………

Xia Chuan and the others reacted more strongly. They quickly drew their weapons and rushed forward to surround Fu Tiandu.

"Don't be nervous, step back!"

Xia Hong didn't react much. He first waved for everyone to disperse, then looked down at Fu Tiandu, who was undergoing beast transformation, and a strong sense of curiosity rose in his eyes.

This is the main hall of the Great Xia Dynasty. Leaving aside the Yangxu Cauldron for now, almost everyone present, including Xia Chuan and other high-ranking officials, is wearing a demon-suppressing jade. Not to mention the silver filling the hall.

This monster is astonishing enough that it managed to sneak in with Fu Tiandu, but it can even use its abilities to turn Fu Tiandu into a beast right in front of them.
"Ho...ho..."

Seeing that Fu Tiandu's beast transformation was becoming more and more severe, with silver-white fur growing all over his body, Xia Hong finally couldn't sit still any longer. He disappeared from the main seat and then stood next to Fu Tiandu the next second, holding his arm.

Xia Hong's gaze sharpened slightly, and his blood and qi surged, instantly enveloping the entire hall with a powerful pressure.

With that one blow, not only Lu Dongluo and his group, but also Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao and other high-ranking officials were instantly overwhelmed and looked up at Xia Hong, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

If others are already facing such pressure, one can only imagine the immense pressure that Fu Tiandu, who is bearing the brunt of it, is under right now.

His body trembled uncontrollably, and his beast transformation had long since ceased. After three or four breaths, he suddenly looked up at Xia Hong, his eerie silver-white pupils filled with rage.

call out…………

Realizing the anomaly was emanating from Fu Tiandu's chest tattoo, Xia Hong didn't hesitate. He suddenly shot a beam of intense light from his left eye, striking Fu Tiandu's chest directly.

"what…………"

The bright light shone on his chest, and Fu Tiandu immediately opened his mouth and let out a sharp and shrill scream. The scream was clearly made by a woman and had nothing to do with his previous voice.

After the scream, the silvery-white hair on Fu Tiandu's body quickly disappeared.

Whoosh... Just as the hair completely disappeared, a silver light suddenly flew out from his chest and ran straight towards the palace gate.

"You think you can just run away after you've come in?"

A cold smile flashed across Xia Hong's face. His body disappeared again, and the next second he appeared directly in front of the silver light. He didn't even use a weapon, but simply reached out and slapped the silver light hard.

boom!
"Meow…………"

A shrill meow rang out, and the silver light suddenly fell to the ground, crashing directly into the floor of the main hall. Fortunately, Xia Hong used some skillful force; otherwise, the impact would have smashed through the entire main hall.

"A cat demon! It's the cat demon that stole the silver from the Hongmen Treasury."

Lin Kai, who was on the left side of the main hall, changed his expression as soon as he heard the sound. When he saw that the cat that Xia Hong had slapped to the ground was a small silver-white cat, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Lord, our Hongmen City experienced [the following events] last December and this February..."

Seeing Xia Hong's confused expression, Lin Kai immediately began to explain, quickly recounting the two cases of silver vault robberies that had occurred in Hongmen City.

The cat demon who stole silver!

Xia Hong extracted the keywords from Lin Kai's description of the case, and his curiosity intensified. He was especially surprised to see the cat demon's corpse on the ground turn into an ordinary silver cat-shaped sculpture in a very short time.

He picked up the silver sculpture from the ground, and with a gentle force, the sculpture shattered into two pieces.

"A silver substitute, interesting!"

Xia Hong closed his eyes and used the Zongling Mother-Child Stele to quickly sense the entire Xia City, both inside and out. He found no unusual activity and after a moment of contemplation, he turned to look at Fu Tiandu on the ground.

Not only was it able to sneak into the main hall, but Xia Hong also clearly sensed that the cat demon was a monster with a physical form. After being killed, it actually turned into an ordinary silver sculpture, which was obviously not an ordinary monster.

Fu Tiandu had also woken up by this time. Noticing that Xia Hong was looking at him, he knelt down without thinking and said with a bitter expression, "Please spare my life, Lord. I did not mean to deceive you. It is this cat demon who controls my life and death. It forced me to infiltrate Hongmen and participate in the martial arts competition. It was also this cat demon that stole the silver treasury from Hongmen twice before."

It stole a total of six million taels of silver from the Hongmen Treasury on two separate occasions. The villain, blinded by greed, also used one million taels…

"Tell me first, what's going on with this cat demon?"

Xia Hong interrupted Fu Tiandu directly and asked him about the cat demon's situation.

Fu Tiandu seemed to have resigned himself to his fate and cupped his hands, saying, "This cat demon is named Nine Lives. It seems to be able to use silver to enhance its strength and can inoculate others with cat plague. The cat plague is usually hidden in the body and is difficult to detect. Once it erupts, it will quickly transform into a beast that only knows how to eat people. I was entangled by it on my way to Hongmen City."

Nine lives, meaning having nine lives, means that after being killed, one is directly transformed into a silver substitute, which is a way to pay for one's life.
Nine lives, enough to infiltrate Xia City, proves that they aren't even afraid of Condensing Fire Oil, let alone Silver, and can even use Silver to enhance their strength...

Xia Hong frowned slightly after hearing this; this was a bit troublesome.

"Do you know how many people he infected with feline panleukopenia?"

Fu Tiandu hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "There are about sixty people in Hongmen City. He used my body to release the feline distemper, so I know that I can take you to Hongmen now and identify those sixty-odd people..."

Xia Hong frowned and gave Lin Kai a look.

Lin Kai's face was already ashen. Upon receiving Xia Hong's glance, he immediately strode towards Fu Tiandu, clearly intending to take him back to Hongmen for identification.

Fu Tiandu seemed to sense something and hurriedly bowed his head, saying, "I had no intention of harming anyone. I was forced into this by this cat demon. Please, Lord, spare my life! Please, Lord, spare me..."

"When did I say I was going to kill you?"

Xia Hong interrupted Fu Tiandu directly, stared at him for a while, and then shook his head slightly, saying, "The cat demon stole a total of six million taels of silver. Since you have voluntarily admitted that you spent one million taels, then you shall bear the loss of one million taels! Stay in Da Xia, and when you have made up for the loss of one million taels of silver, you will be free."

Fu Tiandu was taken aback upon hearing this, then a look of emotion appeared on his face, and he said with great gratitude, "Thank you for your mercy, Lord. I am deeply grateful!"

"Yinhe Valley in Jinshan Town, Xiahe Village in the far eastern outer region, are you really from this place?"

Upon hearing Xia Hong's question, Fu Tiandu's body stiffened instantly. Recalling his oversight when he entered the hall, a bitter expression slowly appeared on his face.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words back down, his face full of hesitation and confusion.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Lin Kai, take him to Hongmen and find those people infected with feline distemper. Also, use yellow candles to screen them again. Don't let anything go wrong in the city."

"I obey my orders!"

Lin Kai immediately bowed and picked up Fu Tiandu, preparing to leave.

But as he reached the palace gate, he remembered something and turned to Xia Hong to ask, "Lord, since Fu Tian has a problem, shouldn't his ninth place in the youth group martial arts competition also be invalidated?"

Fu Tiandu, who was being carried by him, had a bitter look on his face when he heard this, but he still breathed a slight sigh of relief when he thought that he had finally gotten rid of the cat demon.

To gain it is my fortune, to lose it is...

"No need. His talent and ability are indeed quite good. He earned his ninth place through his own hard work, so there's no reason to invalidate it..."

Upon hearing this, Fu Tiandu's expression froze instantly. He thought he had misheard and abruptly looked up at Xia Hong.

"Isn't he in debt of 100 million taels of silver? Let's calculate the reward as a way for him to pay off part of the debt first, and then pay off the rest slowly later."

Xia Hong really didn't invalidate his ranking; he was even willing to convert the reward into silver as a way of paying off his debt...

Fu Tiandu looked at Xia Hong, his face immediately filled with emotion.

"My subordinate understands!"

He wanted to say something, but Lin Kai didn't give him the chance. After bowing to Xia Hong, he led him out of the main hall.

"Alright, you can all go now!"

Xia Hong returned to the main seat and waved to dismiss Lu Dong, Luo An, and the others.

After the group of young people left, he spoke to Xia Chuan: "He showed no surprise when he entered the main hall, and he's been with the monster for so long without any problems. This Fu Tiandu must be someone special. Keep an eye on him and see when he'll tell the truth."

"I obey my orders!"

Xia Chuan immediately nodded in agreement. He had also noticed Fu Tiandu's unusual behavior, and even if Xia Hong hadn't said anything, he would have continued to observe.

"Alright, the martial arts competition is over. I'm going on a long trip now, you guys..."

Hearing Xia Hong begin giving his pre-departure instructions, Xia Chuan and the others showed no surprise, clearly having been mentally prepared.

………………

Inner city, side hall of Lu's residence

Seven young people were gathered together, their faces full of frustration and resentment.

"None of the five of us can make it into the top 100?"

“It’s not surprising. There’s a difference in cultivation level. I watched the top 100 competition in the junior group. Even those ranked outside the top 90, without the Cold Resistance level cultivation, all had a basic strength of at least 1 jin. That means they had at least a superior battle physique. Among the five of us, the strongest Senior Brother Zhu only has a basic strength of 98,000 jin. How could he possibly make it into the top 100?”

"The junior group members are all too strong! They're all about the same age, so how can there be such a big difference in strength? Not to mention the top ten, even those ranked outside the top fifty are basically all at the Cold Resistance level, and their strength is at least 2 to 3..."

"The difference is too great. Luo An, Luo Cheng, Zou Ping, and Xiao Yan. Now that I think about it, we actually fought against these four people back then. Now, I'm afraid even if the five of us joined forces, we still couldn't beat any one of them."

"Among the five people Master brought that year, there was also Zhao Yuanshan. I just checked the list, and Zhao Yuanshan is ranked 38th."

"These young people from Great Xia are simply a game-changer for us. I doubt even Beishuo Town could find so many geniuses."

"No doubt about it, you absolutely cannot find it."

After Zhu Baixu, Bai Wuji, Wan Qingyu, Nie Shen, and Yang He finished speaking, they all turned to look at the two people sitting at the head of the table.

Finally, Bai Wuji couldn't help but speak up: "Senior Brother, with the mid-stage of the Cold Resistance level and the strength of the Five Manes, is only ranked 78th in the youth group. This is too outrageous."

"My second senior brother's strength is about the same as his. We tested it in Dongling. The difference between the two strengths was negligible. But here he actually ranked 99th, almost falling off the list."

"It proves that the competition is too fierce. I looked at the list of youth group members. Apart from the top ten who are freaks, the rest of the people are not much different in strength. They are basically between the 5th and 8th ranks. It is a contest of martial arts and combat talent. Sometimes, you lose by just one move."

Hearing the words of the five junior brothers below, Lu Yun and Han Li at the head of the table exchanged a glance. Recalling their confidence before setting off from Dongling and their promise to their master Lu Yang that they would definitely be in the top three, the two immediately shook their heads repeatedly, their faces full of bitterness and embarrassment.

"No wonder Master always said that we are still far behind."

His younger brother, Lu Dong, is only eighteen years old this year.

"The champion of the junior group is Master's younger brother?"

"You don't know yet, right?"

"No wonder, no wonder."

Upon learning that Lu Dong, the champion of the junior group, was the younger brother of their master Lu Yang, Zhu Baixu and the other four were initially surprised, but then they understood and said, "No wonder."

　The new chapter of Cai Qiu will begin tomorrow with extra updates, and there will be double updates at the end of the month. I would appreciate it if you could save your votes. Also, I would appreciate a surge in subscriptions at the end of the month. I'm not experiencing writer's block, I'm not experiencing writer's block, I'm not experiencing writer's block. I'm saying it three times because it's important. I just want to describe the changes in the camp in detail, to help the second generation of disciples grow, and to lay the groundwork for the hidden storylines of the warlords in advance. If I really get writer's block, I won't update anymore. I can't accept this book ending badly again after all this time.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)