Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 461 The Nine-Bend Blood Corridor, the Mysterious Ice Path, and the Military Might of the Regional Military Governors

The Blood Miasma Plain is roughly a circular area with a radius of 50 kilometers, covering a total area of ​​approximately 7500 square kilometers.

If someone were to look down from high above through the blood-red miasma, they would discover that it is actually composed of two parts: the snowfield region to the north, which occupies almost four-fifths of the entire area; and a giant lake to the south.

The lake has an average width of about 25 kilometers from north to south and an astonishing length of 60 kilometers from east to west, extending to both sides. This lake is the Yanze Lake that everyone in Chencang Prefecture knows.

The adjacent areas of Chencang and Caiqiu are located directly north of the Blood Miasma Plain. To the northwest is Yanling County of Chencang, and to the northeast is Linchu County of Caiqiu. The boundary line between the two counties extends downwards, dividing the Blood Miasma Plain in two, which was obviously a deliberate design in earlier years.

Because of the blood-red miasma, neither Yanling County nor Linchu County, or to put it bluntly, Chencang and Caiqiu, expanded into the blood-red miasma region.

However, they didn't spare the areas on the east and west sides of the Blood Miasma Plain.

The two factions each controlled the surrounding areas on the east and west sides of the Blood Mist Plain, and their territories extended almost to the southernmost Yanze Lake area as they headed south.

That's where things start to get interesting.

Yanze Lake is cut off on both the east and west sides by Mount Mo'ao.

Moreover, it's not just an ordinary cut-off. If someone were to examine the east and west ends of Yanze Lake separately, they would find that the lakeside is directly bordered by smooth mountain walls tens of thousands of meters high, as if they were man-made. It would be difficult to even climb, let alone walk on them.

Therefore, even if the two vassal states reached the southernmost Yanze Lake area by circling around the Blood Mist Plain, they had no other way to expand further south except by crossing the Mo'ao Mountain.

Crossing the tens of thousands of meters high Mo'ao Mountain to the other side is even more difficult than crossing the Blood Miasma Plain. Even experts at the Tribulation Realm wouldn't dare to make such a boast. Moreover, with the expansion of the vassal states, without a large army, a few experts going there wouldn't be much of a role to play.

Tian Xingjian, the gentleman is self-improvement.

In this respect, Chen Cang was much more proactive than Cai Qiu.

Or you could say it was simply a matter of having no other choice.

The four regions of Mo'aochuan are only so big. Chencang is located at the westernmost end. To its north is Hezang, to its east is Caiqiu, and to its west, the territory that can be controlled has basically been incorporated into the territory. Further west is Mount Mo'ao.

Therefore, if Chencang wanted to expand its territory further, it could only move south.

If you head south, you will inevitably encounter the Blood Miasma Plains and the Misty Lake.

That's why Chen Cang started planning here very early on.

For a majestic mountain like Mount Mo'ao, digging a tunnel is definitely not feasible. With mountains stretching for hundreds of miles, and without a clear view of the entire area, no one can guarantee that a successful tunnel can be made to the other side. The manpower and resources required would be enormous, and there is still no guarantee of success.

Moreover, the taller and older the mountains, the more secrets and dangers they contain. If you recklessly venture in, and accidentally provoke some terrifying being, then it's not expansion, it's suicide.

Legend has it that the two calamity-level monsters, Zhenshan Nightmare and Beekeeper, from years ago were inexplicably provoked by the two major warlords of Hezang and Weibo as they recklessly expanded into unknown areas.

Therefore, realizing that he couldn't avoid Blood Miasma Plains and Smoke Lake no matter what, Chen Cang simply decided to find a solution in these two places.

The blood-red miasma shrouding Yanze Lake was several times denser than that of the northern snowfields, even turning the entire lake blood-red. Moreover, as everyone knows, the Ice Abyss is much more dangerous in water than on land, so crossing these two areas smoothly would be no easy task.

Chen Cang spent decades, dispatching over 100,000 elite soldiers at the Cold-Resistant level to work in shifts. The entire process was accompanied by powerful experts at the Manifestation level, and even those at the Tribulation Realm took turns personally overseeing the work. They managed to carve out a path with a total length of 60 kilometers into the rock wall on the west side of Yanze Lake.

Chen Cang originally thought that as long as he had this path, he could send a large number of soldiers south, thus continuing to expand his territory.

However, in the first year after the path was opened, Chencang sent 10,000 troops south in an attempt. But just as they reached the middle, Yanze Lake experienced a high tide, and not just a small tide, but a massive tide that swept towards the western cliffs with thousands of aquatic beasts...

None of the ten thousand soldiers survived. Even the three commanders at the Xianyang level failed to escape; only one at the Jieshen level managed to return.

At this point, Chen Cang finally realized that without completely resolving the problems of Blood Miasma Plain and Smoke Lake, there was no possibility of a large-scale southward expansion.

Of course, large-scale southward movement is not possible, but small-scale movement of people is.

The path, which took more than a decade to build and involved a huge amount of manpower and resources, has finally come in handy.

The trail is 60 kilometers long. Because it is built along the rock wall on the west side of Yanze Lake, it is winding and twisting. In addition, it is also affected by the blood-red miasma. Therefore, Chencang named it: Nine-Bend Blood Corridor.

After passing through the Blood Corridor, you will first see a towering mountain, but it is only less than two thousand meters high. Only after crossing this mountain can you be considered to have officially escaped the area shrouded in bloody miasma.

A smart person would surely see that the reason the blood-red miasma did not continue to spread south was precisely because of the obstruction of this mountain.

Because the north side of the mountain was covered in miasma and turned blood red, while the south side was covered in snow and appeared completely white, Chencang named it Danxue Peak.

After descending Danxue Peak, you've already entered the southern foothills. To its east, you'll still be part of the Mo'ao Mountain range. If you continue south along the mountain for another fifteen kilometers through the snow-covered forest, you'll find human settlements and villages.

It was the first day of the eleventh month in the 289th year of the Chencang calendar.

At night, on the southern slope of Danxue Peak.

A group of five people were walking briskly south. All five appeared to be middle-aged. Three of them walked lightly ahead, while the other two were about five or six meters behind them, clearly struggling to keep up.

"Eighteen years of hard work, how can my southward expansion in Chencang be hindered by that mere Great Xia? This time, we must teach that Great Xia a lesson, and show them that we can't do anything to them just because our army can't march south!"

Chen Yuanbai, who was in the lead, looked up and saw the southern foothills. His eyes lit up with excitement. Thinking of the purpose of his trip, he couldn't help but shout angrily.

The excitement stemmed from the fact that he could once again manifest his divine power in the Nine Towns region; as for the angry shout, it was because of the humiliation suffered by Princess Chu Yan'er in the Nine Towns region three months ago.

His mission was on the orders of Chu Tianxu, the governor of Yanling County and great-grandfather of Chu Yan'er, to teach that arrogant and ignorant Daxia Town a lesson.

Chen Yuanbai only has 16 jun of strength, which is nothing in Chencang, but it's different in the Nine Towns. Apart from Yang Zun's third brother, he is practically invincible here. How could he not like coming?

Moreover, he was here on the orders of the prefect. As for whether he could successfully get revenge in Daxia, he turned to look at the two people beside him and was not worried at all.

"Three people with the strength of 16 jun (a unit of weight) are no match for Yang Jian as long as there is no large-scale conflict. It would be easy to teach that couple from Da Xia a lesson. A direct threat might bring unexpected surprises. If it could be done for the Prefect, we could simply take over Da Xia Town..."

Chen Yuanbo became more and more excited as he thought about it, and his pace quickened unconsciously.

"Brother Chen, slow down! They're falling behind."

However, after taking only a few steps, someone next to him spoke up to remind him.

Chen Yuanbai turned his head and saw that He Yang and Zhu Dong were already more than a hundred meters away. He immediately shook his head.

"Please forgive us, sir, we are really struggling to keep up."

He Yang and Zhu Dong rushed over and, seeing Chen Yuanbai and the other two waiting for them, immediately bowed deeply in apology.

"Let's rest in Beining Village first! It's less than five kilometers away."

Chen Yuanbai waved his hand, then led the way and continued south.

The reason for bringing He Yang and Zhu Dong, both of whom are at the Cold Resistance level, on this trip is that they had both accompanied Chu Yan'er into Xia City before. Having two people to lead the way is naturally more reliable than the three of them searching haphazardly.

Chen Yuanbai had visited the Jiuzhen area two years ago, so he was familiar with the area along this road. After descending Danxue Peak, it took fifty kilometers to reach the territory of Beishuo Town. Along this fifty-kilometer route, there were three villages and more than a dozen large camps.

Beining Village happened to be on their only route. The journey to Jiuzhen was not short, and every time they came down from Danxue Peak, they would stop in Beining Village to rest for a while.

The five-kilometer distance was covered in no time, and the group quickly arrived at Beining Village.

When they were still several hundred meters away from the village, the five of them were immediately stunned.

It was nighttime, and there wasn't a single wisp of smoke or light in Beining Village. In the surrounding area, there wasn't a single person in sight. From a distance, the village appeared ashen white, devoid of any sign of life.

"Something's up, be careful and go check it out!"

Without Chen Yuanbai even needing to remind them, the two Xianyang-level beings beside him, along with He Yang and Zhu Dong behind them, quickly took off their weapons, pulled out a fiery red anti-mystery stone from their pockets, and followed Chen Yuanbai into the village.

As they approached the village entrance and saw the situation inside, the five men's pupils constricted slightly.

The village wasn't deserted; there were at least a thousand people standing at the village entrance, around the houses, by the campfires, and along the main road inside the village.

The problem is that all these thousands of people are standing still.

All of these people were frozen into ice sculptures!

The human-shaped ice sculptures at the village entrance, carrying powerful bows, holding weapons, and with leather bags tied around their waists, clearly appeared to be heading out hunting.

Strangely, there was no fear on their faces; some even smiled and opened their mouths as if they were greeting the officers on duty at the village entrance.

“It’s not just the people, Brother Chen, look at those bonfires in the village…”

Hearing a suggestion from someone next to him, Chen Yuanbai looked up at the nearest campfire, and was instantly stunned by what he saw.

Even the campfire was frozen!
The idea of ​​a fire being frozen seems impossible, but in Chen Yuanbai's view, the campfire was indeed frozen solid, the shape of the flames clearly visible. The only difference between it and a normal flame was that it had stopped flickering.

"No response, let's go in and check!"

Seeing that the detection stone in his hand had no effect, Chen Yuanbai drew his broadsword and walked into the village.

The two people beside him immediately followed, and even He Yang and Zhu Dong showed no fear on their faces, and immediately followed him inside.

This was clearly the work of a ghost, but the five of them were from Chencang after all. Even though He Yang and Zhu Dong only had the cultivation level of the Cold Resistance level, their strength was still above 40, so they would not be frightened by such a small scene.

The entire Beining Village has only a little over 10,000 people, and there are eleven Cold Resistance level monsters in the village. There are simply too many monsters that can kill them.

Moreover, there are benefits to slaying demons...

The three people in the front row, Chen Yuanbai and his companion, showed no fear on their faces, but rather excitement, and quickly walked into the village.

No wonder the entire village looked deathly white from hundreds of meters away. When the five of them came in, they found that not only the village entrance, but the entire Beining Village, including people and things, was frozen solid.

Even the ground is no exception.

Moreover, those who were frozen showed no fear whatsoever on their faces.

"These are just ordinary people, at most at the Earth Digging Realm. Let's go look around the main building; those at the Cold Resistance Realm should be different."

After Chen Yuanbai finished speaking, he led the way toward the main building, and the four of them hurriedly followed.

Sure enough, they soon saw nine human-shaped ice sculptures facing north, their faces filled with terror, on the roof of the main building in the village.

To the north, where they just came from?
The five people were slightly taken aback at first, then felt a strong burning sensation in their palms. They abruptly turned their heads to look to the north. *Ring ring... Ring ring...*

Two clear bell sounds rang out, and the pupils of the five people suddenly contracted.

A strange figure had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, hovering in the northern sky.

The man was hunchbacked, and very hunchbacked, with his head almost drooping to his abdomen. He wore a black and white robe that was so oversized that, combined with his hunched posture, it made him look as if he were kneeling or crawling in mid-air.

If Xia Hong were here, he would definitely be able to tell at a glance that the black and white robe this person was wearing was clearly the most common Taoist attire in his previous life.

A greyish-white flag was stuck to his back, its fluttering in the cold wind as if it were about to be blown away at any moment, but the flagpole seemed to be attached to his back, remaining firmly still.

It held a bell in its left hand and a snow-white, almost transparent banana leaf fan in its right. After shaking it twice, it stopped and then hovered motionless in mid-air.

"Do it!"

Even though the other party didn't speak and had its head down, making it impossible to see its face, the strange stone's reaction was so intense, how could Chen Yuanbai not have reacted?

The tragic state of Beining Village was caused by this humanoid monster.

At his command, he drew his weapon and, along with two other Xianyang-level beings, soared into the sky, heading straight for the hunchbacked man.

He Yang and Zhu Dong reacted quickly, taking down their longbows, nocking two silver arrows, and firing directly into the air.

Ring ring ring...

"The Dao is covered by mysterious ice, and all phenomena are empty."

However, whether it was Chen Yuanbai's three Xianyang-level soldiers or the silver arrows shot by He Yang and Zhu Dong, their bodies instantly froze the moment they approached the hunchbacked man, accompanied by the ringing of the second bell.

No, they're not completely frozen; they've just slowed down.

If you look closely, you'll see that their skin is being covered with a thin layer of frost at an extremely rapid pace.

Chen Yuanbai and his two companions had already sensed something, their eyes filled with horror. They quickly retreated and fled south.

He Yang and Zhu Dong, who were on the ground, were instantly dumbfounded.

However, Chen Yuanbai and his two companions had clearly oversimplified the situation. Their speed as they turned and fled was only slightly faster than before.

"My heart is stirred, my bones are chilled; my spirit is silent, my soul is frozen."

The hunchback's voice was extremely deep, as if it were sandpaper, giving off a creepy feeling. He slowly spoke his second sentence, then suddenly looked up, revealing a terrifying face covered in white frost, yet still showing deep wrinkles and creases.

It had a goatee hanging down its chin, and its two snow-white eyes, though they had no pupils, gave both Chen Yuanbai and the other two people who had their backs to it, as well as He Yang and Zhu Dong who were facing it, a feeling of being stared at intently.

"Freeze! Freeze them all! Hehehehehehe..."

The hunchbacked man suddenly opened his mouth and let out a maniacal laugh. He then picked up the snow-white banana leaf fan in his right hand and waved it five times in turn at the five people.

call…………

With each wave of its palm leaf fan, a terrifying, almost solidified, cold current would fly out, instantly freezing He Yang and Zhu Dong, who were on the ground, into ice sculptures, just like everyone else in Beining Village.

The three people in the sky, Chen Yuanbai and his companions, frantically mobilized all their means to resist, but the cold current neither left nor disappeared. It just clung tightly to their bodies. The three of them were already slow, and after only ten breaths, they were at their wits' end and turned into ice sculptures like the two below.

boom…………

The three of them were in the sky, but after being frozen into ice sculptures, they fell directly to the ground and turned into a pile of broken ice.

Strangely, even though their bodies were shattered, the three of them showed no signs of blood. Clearly, not only their skin, but also their bones, flesh, and meridians were completely frozen by that cold air.

"To actually run into three big rats, this old Taoist is so lucky, so incredibly lucky, hehehehe..."

The hunchback looked at the broken ice on the ground and let out a few more terrifying laughs.

However, he seemed to realize something, his laughter stopped abruptly, and he turned his head sharply to look at the south side of Beining Village.

"Two little reptiles were missed..."

He murmured something, shifted his body slightly, and prepared to fly forward.

However, before he could move much, a strange black current suddenly swept in from behind.

He froze abruptly, raised his hand and used his fan to blow away the black aura, then asked in a low voice, "What is it?"

The black airflow did not dissipate after being blown away; it simply stagnated in place, forming a vortex, from which a rough voice then emanated.

“Xuanbing, don’t waste time here! The trials of those two families are about to begin. They have indeed fallen for Madam’s trap. They have sent two thousand people this year. These are the future of the two vassal states. Madam has ordered you to go and give them a good welcome.”

Upon hearing this, the hunchbacked man, Xuan Bing, had a bloodshot glint in his snow-white pupils. He let out a few low, cruel laughs and said, "Rest assured, Madam, this old Taoist will certainly treat them well, hehehehe..."

The black aura disappeared immediately after receiving a response from Xuanbing.

Xuanbing turned her head and glanced at the south side again, then shook her head and flew away towards Danxue Peak in the north.

It is located about six or seven kilometers south of Beining Village.

Two figures in a panic were frantically fleeing south.

"Big brother, are they all dead?"

"They're definitely dead. I just got close and saw that everyone at the village entrance was frozen solid, like ice sculptures. There wasn't a sound coming from inside. The three powerful figures in mid-air were also instantly frozen in place..."

Upon hearing his elder brother Duan Mang's reply, Duan Huang's face turned deathly pale.

Thinking of his parents and relatives in the village, his heart trembled, and he stopped abruptly, looking at his elder brother and saying, "Brother, no, we can't run like this. Let's go back to the village and see if anyone is still alive."

"Are you crazy? I saw it with my own eyes, would I lie to you? Those who can fly in the sky are all Xianyang-level experts. Even those three are dead. With our strength of eight or nine hairs, what use would we be if we went back to die?"

Without saying a word, Duan Mang grabbed his younger brother and continued to flee, his expression full of panic. He continued, "Go find the Nine Towns Allied Army in the Beishuo Dongchuan area. Their people said last time that we can ask them for help if we need anything. They definitely have strong people there. Ask them for help. If there are still people alive in the village, there's no rush."

Hearing his brother's words, Duan Huang gritted his teeth and gave up the idea of ​​going back. He then followed his brother and sped south towards the Dongchuan jurisdiction.

………………

"Brother Hong, is my military prowess as great as Cai Qiu's?"

On the first day of the eleventh month of the 297th year of the Caiqiu calendar, at night...

At the entrance of the main hall on the top floor of the Zhenyuan camp, Xia Hong looked down at the hundreds of thousands of troops of Caiqiu below. Hearing Cai Yunlan's question beside him, this time he did not show the same disdain as he had at the entrance of the prefectural government. Instead, he took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "The military might of Caiqiu is earth-shattering!"

Upon hearing these eight words, Cai Yunlan, along with the dozen or so other Xianyang-level officials from Linchu County beside him, immediately broke into broad smiles.

Of course, beneath the smile lay a strong sense of pride.

Surrounding the main building, hundreds of tall barracks stand in a staggered pattern on the snow-covered plain shrouded in mist, covering an area of ​​at least twenty square kilometers.

Buildings are nothing; what matters are people, or more precisely, soldiers.

"kill!"

"kill!"

…………

It was midnight, and all the armored soldiers were drilling outside the tent.

At a glance, it's at least two hundred thousand.

The group of soldiers closest to the main building numbered over 50,000. They were all clad in silver armor with a hundred-fold scale pattern, and their strength was at least 20. They were none other than the Silver Scale Army, the most elite force under Cai Qiu Fangbo.

The remaining soldiers on the outer perimeter were also wearing silver armor, but these armors were only coated with a layer of silver paste. Xia Hong had already seen this when he arrived and knew that these were ten-thousand-fold iron armors made with silver. The strength of this group of soldiers was all above level 10.

An army of 50,000, all with a strength of 20 or higher, clad in silver armor forged with a hundred layers of steel; an army of 150,000, all with a strength of 10 or higher, clad in iron armor forged with mixed silver and ten thousand layers of steel…

At this moment, Xia Hong was trying his best to suppress the shock in his heart.

Cai Qiu's military might was earth-shattering. While he gave this eight-word evaluation, it was certainly because he wanted to give Cai Yunlan some face, but it was also basically his true thoughts after seeing Cai Qiu's army.

"The key point is that this is not the entire force of Caiqiu. Caiqiu has four prefectures and seven cities, and it is sandwiched between three major vassal states. Its border defense needs are considerable. It is impossible to simply draw 20 elite troops. How could Caiqiu's true military strength be only 30?"

Upon seeing the Zhenyuan camp, Xia Hong immediately dismissed the answer he had received from the soldiers at the exit of the Bone-Eating Pass.

With the addition of the Yinlin and Zhenwei armies, there are 20 troops right in front of us. This doesn't even include the county guards, which are one rank lower. Even a rough estimate would suggest that Caiqiu's total military strength is at least over a million.

This is just the number of normal troops; if we include all those equipped with the cold-weather gear, the number would probably be more than two or three million...

"This is the true strength of the regional military governors! Twenty million. It seems I underestimated the overall population of Caiqiu. Of course, apart from the four prefectural governors and other core high-ranking officials, how could anyone else possibly know the specific figures for these regional military governors!"

Xia Hong looked down at the army below, sighed slightly, and then felt a strong sense of urgency rise in his heart.

The difference is truly enormous.

Let alone the alliance of the Nine Towns, even if the Great Xia were to annex the Eight Towns right now, it would still be a far cry from Caiqiu.

In the entire Mo'aochuan region, there are four other families like Caiqiu.

Chencang, Hezang, Weibo, and Lulong, which is the furthest away...

"The development of Great Xia is still too slow. When we return this time, we must find a way to speed it up. Otherwise, once the two major warlords open up the Blood Miasma Plain, Great Xia will only be annexed."

At this moment, Xia Hong finally understood why the high-ranking officials of the two major warlords, despite knowing the boundaries of the Nine Garrisons, didn't care at all and never came to see for themselves.

So, they don't even take the current Nine Towns seriously!
(End of this chapter)