Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 444 Three Surprises, The Class Structure of the Four Feudatories, Lesson One

Xia Hong took out three small porcelain bottles from his bundle.

The first porcelain bottle contained a kind of elixir with a deep red, blood-like appearance.

"The Cleansing Meridian Pill is a high-grade version of the Blood Ginseng Pill. It doesn't need to be used with any cultivation techniques; it can be taken alone to cleanse the meridians of impurities and improve the circulation of Qi and blood!"

Blood Ginseng Pill is a product of Muyin Town. It is not an ordinary cultivation pill, but an essential auxiliary pill for cultivating the Murong Clan's secret Twelve Blood Scripture Technique.

As soon as the Hongmen Banquet of the Eighth Year of Daxia ended, Xia Hong went to Muyin Town and got his hands on this cultivation technique. At that time, he was still a little puzzled. Even if Muyin had something to ask of Daxia, Murong Chui would not have agreed so readily and handed over his family's secret technique so easily.

Later, he learned that the cultivation technique required the use of Blood Ginseng Pills, and then Mu Yin sold them to him for 18 taels of silver each. Only then did he realize that he had fallen for Murong Chui's scam.

Of course, Muyin Town only earned this money for a little over a year.

With Cheng Feng and his pharmacists successfully developing the formula for Xue Shen Dan last year, Da Xia stopped being a sucker.

It flushes away impurities from the meridians and improves the efficiency of blood and qi circulation.

The former can purify and unblock the meridians, releasing the body's potential and thus slightly improving strength; while the latter can directly increase cultivation speed.

The most telling indicator of the importance of the Twelve Blood Scripture Technique and Blood Ginseng Pill is Li Xuanling's cultivation speed. Without these two things, Li Xuanling would never have been able to break through to the Manifest Yang level so quickly.

At this moment, the Cleansing Pill in his hand could directly replace both of them.

"It's not just a replacement. I just tested it in the quiet room of the Treasure Pavilion. This Cleansing Meridian Pill is not only mild in nature and can automatically flow through the meridians of the whole body, but its medicinal power is more than ten times that of the Blood Ginseng Pill. In other words, I can use it to cooperate with the cultivation of the Twelve Blood Meridians Technique, and the effect may be several times stronger than taking it alone..."

Xia Hong was very excited. Improving his strength and cultivation speed were the most important and urgent things for him at the moment. This Cleansing Pill was the first big surprise that Treasure Pavilion had brought him.

"And then there's the Bone-Burning Pill!"

Immediately afterwards, Xia Hong opened the second porcelain bottle, which contained only one pill. The pill was milky white inside and covered with a ring of magma-like patterns on the outside, radiating intense heat.

"It can increase the strength of a person with a Yang-level bone structure by another 50% even under extreme conditions, and maintain this effect for about three days. If we don't consider the two side effects... no... even if we take the two side effects into account, it's definitely a divine pill!"

In extreme conditions, increasing strength by 50% significantly increases the chances of not only defeating powerful enemies but also escaping. Calling such a pill, which can be used to save one's life at the Xianyang level, a divine pill is absolutely not an exaggeration.

The side effects of the Bone Burning Pill are that it contains a strong poison that affects the bones and is incurable. It can only be metabolized through normal cultivation, a process that is extremely long, usually more than ten years.
Secondly, after taking it, it will consume a large amount of bone marrow, which is the core substance for improving cultivation at the Manifest Yang level. This means that once taken, it will seriously affect the subsequent cultivation speed, and the effect will last twice as long as the metabolism of elixir poison, approximately for about twenty years.

"It affects cultivation speed, so it definitely can't be used casually. It can only be used to save lives in some extreme situations. The Bone-Burning Pill... Burning bones, that's a bit of a coincidence..."

Thinking of the two side effects of the Bone Burning Pill, Xia Hong pondered for a moment, then put the pill back and opened the third porcelain bottle, pouring out a golden pill.

The pill emitted a golden spiritual light, with nine black rock patterns swirling on its surface. As soon as it was taken out, the temperature in the entire main hall immediately rose rapidly.

"Just as I guessed, there really is a nine-patterned one, only the name is different. Cai Qiu calls it the Bone-Turning Pill. Low-grade pills have three patterns, mid-grade pills have six patterns, and only high-grade pills have nine patterns. It's a cultivation pill of the Manifestation Yang level!"

Xia Hong looked at the top-grade Bone-Transforming Pill in his hand with burning desire.

In the Great Xia Dynasty, there are currently only two types of pills used for cultivating at the Manifestation Yang level: the Bone Condensation Pill and the Bone Gathering Pill. The former is mainly made from jade bones, which are the bones of high-level cold beasts; while the latter is mainly made from silver bones, which are the bones of beast king-level cold beasts.

When the Bone Gathering Pill was first refined, he guessed that there might be nine patterns on it. This superior-grade Bone Transformation Pill can be considered to have confirmed his guess.

"The main ingredient for refining is golden bone, which is also the bone of a beast king-level cold beast. Based on this, it can be inferred that those beast kings can evolve through cultivation, changing their bones from silver to gold..."

Beast King-level skeletons are not only silver, but also come in an even more advanced gold.

Previously in the Nine Towns region, Xia Hong was unaware of this because all the beast kings he hunted were of silver bones. It was only during the four months he spent in Evergreen Valley, when he hunted five beast kings and discovered that the two strongest of them were of gold bones, that he truly confirmed it.

After putting the Bone-Reforming Pill into his bag, Xia Hong frowned slightly and sighed softly:
"Using the identity of the Crown Prince of Qin as a shield has many advantages, but also quite a few disadvantages. I can't buy things casually, and I have to keep a facade everywhere I go, afraid of being exposed. As for finding out about the situation of experts in the Body Tribulation Realm and the Venerable Phase Realm, that's out of the question..."

Xia Hong shook his head slightly, not out of regret, but because there are gains and losses. When he decided to fabricate a powerful background for himself in Changqing Valley, he had already thought of these things. After all, no matter how important it is to gather intelligence, it is not as important as his personal safety.

Although we can't ask directly, we can still get a general idea of ​​Cai Qiu's situation by looking at some things, such as the price of the pills.

"I bought 10 Cleansing Pills in total, at a price of 25 taels each; I only bought 1 Bone Burning Pill, at a price of 49 taels each; and I bought 20 High-Grade Bone Removal Pills, at a price of 20 taels each. Judging from the prices of these three types of pills alone, the prices in Caiqiu are probably at the same level as those in Daxia, not too far apart. This is quite interesting..."

The Great Xia Dynasty currently has a total territory of over 23000 square kilometers and a population of 280 million.
According to what Xia Hong has learned so far, Caiqiu's total territory is 15 square kilometers, which is about 6.5 times the size of the Great Xia; its population is over 1800 million, which is not far from 6.5 times.

If we calculate it this way, the price levels of the two companies are roughly the same, which seems reasonable.

But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this is not the case at all.

Xia Hong lived in Changqing Valley for more than four months. During that time, he not only hunted but also took the time to observe the conditions of many village camps. It is no exaggeration to say that, given the conditions of Changqing Valley, it would definitely rank in the upper-middle range in Jiuzhen.

If we disregard the quality of the population, Xia Hong even felt that, apart from Great Xia, the conditions of the other eight towns were not as good as those of Evergreen Valley.

Changqing Valley is just one of the least popular areas in Caiqiu.

Therefore, it can be inferred that Caiqiu's resource endowment must be far superior to that of Daxia, by at least 6.5 times.

Secondly, resource endowment is only one aspect; more important is the ability to acquire resources, and this ability is directly proportional to the population size.

The larger the population, the more resources can be obtained. At the same time, due to the large population base, more powerful individuals will emerge, and they will inevitably be able to obtain more high-level or even top-level resources. This is easy to understand.

This raises a crucial question: how is it that the Caiqiu vassal state, with its better resources, larger population, and higher average cultivation level, has prices at the same level as the Great Xia?

"This six-class registration system must have a major problem. It's highly likely that the population ratio of the six classes is extremely imbalanced, leading to unfair resource allocation, completely blocking the promotion channels for those at the bottom, and wasting a lot of human and material resources..."

Recalling what he had seen and heard in Changqing Valley over the past four months, and adding what he had roughly observed after entering the city, Xia Hong immediately saw the flaws in Caiqiu.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that someone with the cold-resistant level could be a rickshaw puller is simply unimaginable in the Nine Towns region.

The carriage that Miss Mengya rode in actually had a full 30 cold-resistant level laborers. Even if all 30 of them were just ordinary cold-resistant level laborers, it was still an extremely terrifying waste of manpower.

Of the more than one million people in Changqing Valley, less than six thousand were of normal age and above who could be registered as citizens. Judging from what the Hu brothers said, the remaining people in the Yuhan class were either of low social status, slave status, or unregistered persons, and were not included in Cai Qiu's statistics at all.

"Only those who have been registered are officially included in Caiqiu's jurisdiction. The problem is that the last two of these six categories can barely be considered as people."

Civilians can freely hunt and gather in various places, and they only need to hand over 30% of all their spoils, while the rest belongs to them and they can sell or trade it as they please; those with military status have it even better, as they only need to hand over 20%.

Those who were enslaved were not allowed to hunt and gather alone; they had to go with their master. All the spoils belonged to the master, but according to the usual unspoken rules, the master would usually take 30%.

Those of low social status suffered even worse. They could only hunt and gather when they were hired by someone. If they hunted and gathered on their own, they would be fine as long as they were not discovered. But if they were discovered, it would be a serious crime. Not only would all their supplies be confiscated, but they would also be imprisoned.

Even so, some people still chose to be registered as undesirable persons or slaves, which proves that if they did not register, the oppression they would suffer would only be more severe.

As for the core methods of governing Caiqiu, there are two:

First, silver was highly monetized. The silver trade in Caiqiu was extremely developed. Everything from cultivation resources to human labor and even the smallest things like food, clothing, and shelter was priced in silver. It could be said that one could not move an inch without silver. The vassal states controlled all the silver mines within their territory, and any private theft of silver was a serious crime punishable by the extermination of the entire clan.

Secondly, there is absolute control over cultivation resources. All cultivation-related resources, such as pills and spirit wines, that can be used by those above the Cold Resistance level can only be purchased from the Treasure Pavilion in each city. Furthermore, the spiritual plants used to refine these pills are not even allowed to circulate in the market. If someone is caught refining them privately, it is a serious crime punishable by the extermination of their entire clan, let alone selling them outside the village..." The Ice Abyss's fundamental nature of respecting the strong has long been established, and the phenomenon of the strong exploiting the weak is inevitable in any camp, and the Great Xia is no exception.

The six-tier household registration system adopted by Caiqiu is not too outrageous. Take the slave registration system, for example. In fact, Xia Hong had already considered it when the Great Xia first adopted the household registration system, and almost implemented it.

The most crucial aspect of this six-class system is controlling the population ratio of each class. The ideal state is an elliptical structure, with a relatively small and equal number of people at the top and bottom, while maintaining a large number of military and civilian residents in the middle, since these two constitute the basic population.

But right now, what he sees in Qinghua City is clearly pyramid-shaped.

That makes sense, as can be seen from the situation in Evergreen Valley.

The slave class, the lowly class, and the so-called "livestock class" jokingly referred to by Su Jing and his siblings, are the three classes with the largest population. Because they cannot obtain cultivation resources, they can only obey the system and obediently suffer the exploitation and oppression of the four classes above them.

No one can willingly accept oppression. Take the Hu brothers, for example; aren't they trying every means to get rid of their lowly status and slave status?

Of course, those without power could only try to find ways within the rules, such as stealing registration certificates, accumulating silver, and sneaking into Qinghua City to renounce their registration when their master wasn't paying attention, intending to make the deed into a fait accompli.

The Hu brothers are a microcosm of these three types of people.

Not only them, but also Su Jing and his four siblings. If they hadn't met him, they would have died at the entrance of the Bone-Eroding Path long ago. This shows that the plight of those without status in Changqing Valley is even worse than that of slaves and lowly people.

The three lowest classes, due to the ingrained mindset formed by the long-term influence of the regional military governor system and their own weakness, would certainly not dare to have any thoughts of rebellion, but they would definitely have a strong desire to change their social class.

The four vassal states of Mo'aochuan all used the six-rank household registration system. If Caiqiu was like this, then the situation in the other three vassal states was probably not much better.

That means that the four kingdoms of Mo'aochuan, which appear prosperous, are actually a giant steamer being roasted and heated over a raging fire, with the four people on top holding the lid down to prevent it from bursting open.

If someone adds more firewood underneath, or puts something into the steamer that can produce a strong reaction, the steamer will explode immediately!

Xia Hong's eyes brightened even more. He turned to look at the four Su siblings in front of him and found that they were staring at the pill bottle in his hand. He smiled and asked softly, "Cai Yunzhou just said at the banquet that he sent someone to personally deliver the registration certificates to the four of you. Is that true?"

The four of them snapped out of their daze, their expressions immediately brightening. They then took out their respective silver registration tokens and golden booklets and carefully placed them in front of Xia Hong.

"Oh, your background is quite impressive!"

Xia Hong was fully aware of the four people's obsession with obtaining citizenship, including the fact that their parents had died because of it. So when he saw their actions, he first made a teasing remark, then looked at them and asked with a smile, "You've all had your dreams come true. I asked Cai Yunzhou at the City Lord's Mansion, and he said that there are no more than 10 people with second-class noble status in the entire Caiqiu. Now you've risen to the top in one step. How does it feel?"

Upon hearing Xia Hong's question, the four Su siblings quickly exchanged glances, then all showed a complicated expression on their faces, and none of them dared to answer.

After about ten breaths, Su Jing, the oldest among them, finally stepped forward and bowed, saying, "If it weren't for you, sir, the four of us wouldn't have received such treatment. Rest assured, sir, Su Jing..."

Hearing that Su Jing was about to thank him and express his loyalty again, Xia Hong immediately waved his hand to interrupt him and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I'm tired of hearing you say these things. Stop saying them all the time. I asked you to talk about your feelings, so just talk about your feelings."

After being interrupted, Su Jing looked uneasy and was speechless.

Su Xing'er, who was standing at the back, recalled Xia Hong's look when the four of them carefully took out their registration certificates. She lowered her head and pondered for a moment before mustering her courage and bowing, saying, "The reason why Qinghua City granted the four of us noble status is because of the strength that you just displayed at the city gate."

When the adults asked us how we felt about receiving the noble status, Xing'er felt that this so-called status certificate was ultimately just a piece of waste paper. As long as we had the power, even without it, people would still treat us with respect.

The fact that Xing'er and her three older brothers were able to enter the noble family was ultimately due to the influence of their superiors, and had nothing to do with their own abilities.

From now on, Xing'er will diligently cultivate and never slack off. One day, like an adult, she will also rely on her own strength to make people obediently give her their school registration book!

After Su Xing'er mustered up her courage to finish speaking, she looked up and saw the praise and satisfaction in Xia Hong's eyes. She was immediately encouraged and her expression became extremely excited.

"That's right! In my opinion, this book is indeed just a piece of waste paper. Strength is the foundation. I've been with you for over four months, and apart from providing you with resources for cultivation and teaching you martial arts, I haven't taught you much else. Today is the first lesson, and it boils down to these six words: Strength is the foundation..."

At this point, Xia Hong paused, then said solemnly, "Systems and rules are meant to bind the weak. The stronger you are, the freer you are. If you are strong enough, you don't have to do anything, and people will make exceptions for you."

You may benefit from my influence for a while, but not forever. You all saw it in the Bone-Eating Path: I come from beyond the realm and will not take you with me forever. Sooner or later, I will leave, and then you will have to rely on yourselves.

Your registration documents are all tied to me, which means that without me, no one will take you seriously, and it offers no protection whatsoever.

Upon hearing Xia Hong mention that he would definitely leave in the future, Su Jing and the other three immediately became tense. When they heard the last sentence, they looked down at the two characters "Hong Yu" at the beginning of the book and immediately nodded.

“Cai Qiu controls all cultivation resources. There are more than a million people in Changqing Valley, and many of them are in worse situations than the four of you. There are also many people with better talent than you, but they don’t have the same luck as the four of you to meet me.”

"Next, I will stay in Qinghua City for three months. I will do my best to provide you with cultivation resources. After three months, whether you can come with me depends on how much progress you have made..."

Xia Hong paused, glanced at the four people, and then pointed at Su Jing and the other two, saying, "The minimum requirement for you three is 7 manes."

Then he pointed at Su Xing'er and said, "As for you, you are Jiu Zong."

Upon hearing Xia Hong's target, the three Su brothers' expressions froze instantly.

Three months, a 5-point increase? How is that possible?!

As for Su Xing'er, needless to say, raising her hair by 6 points in three months is an impossible goal. She even felt that Xia Hong deliberately abandoned the four siblings, and her eyes immediately reddened.

"Alright, you can all leave now! Don't come looking for me unless it's absolutely necessary."

Seeing the expressions on the four people's faces, Xia Hong shook his head and said nothing more, simply waving his hand to dismiss them.

The four of them were about to say something, but seeing that Xia Hong had already gotten up and walked towards the quiet room at the back, they could only nod, bow, and retreat.

This is a matter of perspective. After all, Su Jing and the other three came from Changqing Valley. In their eyes, it was naturally impossible for them to improve their strength by 5 points in three months.

However, Xia Hong thought it was different. The cultivation speed in the early stage of the Cold Resistance Realm could be very fast as long as the flesh and blood were squeezed hard enough, and the four of them did not have to worry about resources.

Of course, it's not that simple!
If the four of them want to achieve the goal set by Xia Hong, they can only do so if they dedicate all three months, without any discount, to cultivation.

"If they really have potential and perseverance, then continue to increase investment; they'll definitely come in handy in the future. But if they get blinded by the allure of the city, then forget it; consider it a charitable act..."

Xia Hong entered the quiet room, pondered for a moment, and then waved slightly at the soft couch.

A five-meter-tall silver twelve-petaled lotus pedestal quietly appeared.

He wanted to leave the Yangxu Cauldron in Xia City to ensure the safety of the base, so he didn't bring it with him. However, he had to bring the Enlightenment Lotus Platform with him, since it was a powerful artifact that could boost cultivation by five times, and no one else could use it if it was left in Xia City.

"After four months in Changqing Valley, with healing and cultivation, the improvement has been minimal, only increasing by about 1 jun of strength. Next, we should be able to make a big leap forward."

"Ten Cleansing Pills and twenty high-grade Bone-Reforming Pills should last me about three months at my current cultivation pace. I hope to increase my strength a bit more, so I'll have more confidence going to Linchu County!"

Before leaving this time, Xia Hong had already calculated that he might stay in the vassal state for a long time. In addition, Mu Dong had just produced the Yellow Mustard Bag, so he brought quite a lot of things with him.

In terms of cultivation resources alone, there were 500 Bone Condensation Pills, 300 Bone Gathering Pills, and even 200 Blood Ginseng Pills. The strength of about 1 jun in the first four months was achieved through normal cultivation, the combined effects of the Twelve Blood Scripture Technique and the Blood Ginseng Pills.

Now, two of these three items have become enhanced versions, so the improvement will definitely be greater than before!
Xia Hongfei sat cross-legged on the silver lotus platform, swallowed the pill, and immediately closed his eyes to enter a state of cultivation.

(End of this chapter)