Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 482 A Brief Encounter, Elixirs Hard to Find, The Eldest Young Master of the Jiang Family in the East of the City

The two major military governorships of Chencang and Caiqiu have been exploring and developing the Blood Miasma Plain for many years, so the Blood Jade Beads and Blood Jade Crystals are no secret in these two governorships.

Low-quality blood jade beads can repair defects in the skin membrane, and a single bead is worth 500 taels; high-quality blood jade beads can repair defects in the flesh and blood, and a single bead is worth 10,000 taels; and the highest quality blood jade crystals can repair defects in the bones, with a single piece costing as much as a million.

The problem is that these three things are all top-tier resources that can be used to improve one's aptitude later in life. Even if they have a price, they are unavailable!

Blood Jade Crystals are a given; they're only found on the Beast King and Iron-Bone Corpse Demon in the Blood Miasma Plains. Would someone capable of acquiring them lack money?
As for high-quality Blood Jade Beads, they only exist on high-level cold beasts inside the miasma zone and on beast kings on the outskirts. Those who can obtain them are basically at the Manifestation Yang level. Even if these people don't use them themselves, they will basically leave them to the younger generation of their clan and would never sell them.

Currently, the only blood jade beads available in Chencang are of low quality.

Ji Hong goes without saying; he has participated in the trials and is currently trying to reach level 60. He urgently needs to make up for the deficiencies in his flesh and blood, and what he lacks most is high-quality blood jade beads. The bag that Xia Hong casually tossed to him contained more than 200 high-quality blood jade beads, not to mention the three blood jade crystals, which will greatly help him break through to the Manifestation Yang level in the future.

Jiang Xinfan and Luo Ming, along with nine others, had been in Chencang for half a year and had already heard that they had not only obtained many low-quality Blood Jade Beads from Ji Hong, but had also gone to the outer areas of the Blood Miasma Plains to hunt Beast Kings and obtain some high-quality Blood Jade Beads.

They went three times and only managed to collect a total of 22 high-quality blood jade beads, while Xia Hong casually tossed out 200 beads, including blood jade crystals they had never even seen before.

"Don't worry, everyone will get some when we get back!"

Xia Hong's words instantly excited the nine people, including Jiang Xinfan, and they hurriedly got up to open the door for him.

Su Xing'er subconsciously wanted to follow him out, but she quickly remembered Xia Hong's instructions before he went into the city, and stopped in her tracks with a look of disappointment.

Yanling City is different from the outside world. If they mix together, they might be targeted by someone with ulterior motives, and problems might be discovered. So they still need to be careful.

The two sisters, Zhang Yuzhu and Zhang Yuhong, had already been arranged by Zhang Yuchuan, so there were currently fifteen people in the room, including Xia Hong.
Zhang Yuchuan, Liu Biao, and Wang Feng were all subordinates and attendants of Ji Hong, and they lived with him in Chen Canjun's residence.

Su Xing'er and her three siblings moved from Caiqiu to Yanling City last year. They only had some interaction with Ji Hong and were not very close. The four siblings had already purchased a house in the west of the city. Su Xing'er and Su Jing were going back to their own home.

Jiang Xinfan, Luo Ming, and the other nine people from the Great Xia Dynasty, although they were guests of Military Advisor Chen's residence, only stayed there for a little over a month before purchasing a house in the east of the city and moving out of the Chen residence.

The three groups deliberately staggered when they entered the city, and only pretended to meet by chance when they arrived at the Shigui Restaurant, taking the opportunity to gather in the private room.

Jiang Xinfan's alias in Yanling City is Jiang Fan, while Xia Hong's current false identity is that of his eldest grandson Jiang Hong, whom he brought back from beyond the realm. Naturally, he will return to the Jiang family mansion with Xia Hong.

Since we are a family, we should naturally respect the order of seniority.

Hong Yu helped open the door, with Jiang Xinfan leading the way, followed by five middle-aged men including Luo Ming and Chen Hua, and then Xia Hong, Meng Ao, Zhu Kang, and Hong Yu, who was at the back.

Coincidentally, Xia Hong and his group of ten had just come out of the private room.

At that moment, the door to a private room not far away also opened.

Three middle-aged men in black led the way, followed by a middle-aged scholar in a blue brocade robe and a black cap, with a refined appearance. Behind him were a young man and woman in blue brocade robes.

The group of six walked out of the private room and happened to run into Xia Hong and his group of ten. The two groups stared at each other for a moment.

Jiang Xinfan first glanced at the three middle-aged men in the lead, his pupils narrowing slightly. Then he shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man in blue, paused for a moment, cupped his hands in greeting, and revealed a kind smile.

The middle-aged scholar was clearly good-natured. Seeing Jiang Xinfan smile, he immediately cupped his hands in greeting. He then glanced at the nine people behind him and saw that they were a family of three generations. He was about to look away.

But he seemed to have noticed something, and suddenly paused, then quickly turned his head, his gaze pinpointing precisely to a person in the back row.

“61 jun, stronger than Fan Qinghu. This is the strongest Xianyang-level expert I have seen in the Mo Aochuan area so far. Moreover, his eyes have been fused with the strange creature. This means... he saw through my disguise.”

Chencang is truly a place where hidden talents abound!
Xia Hong exchanged a glance with the scholar in blue across the distance, pondered for a moment, and then smiled back at him.

Since the vermilion mask is useless, there's no need to hide it.

The scholar in blue was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded in response, and even gestured to Jiang Xinfan to leave first.

"Thank you very much!"

Jiang Xinfan gave a slight thank you and led the nine people downstairs.

"Uncle, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, let's go!"

Xue Zijing watched Jiang Xinfan and his group go downstairs, his gaze fixed on Xia Hong the whole time. Only when his niece Bai Qingqing called out to him did he come back to his senses, wave his hand, and lead the five of them toward the stairs.

"His golden body is eight zhang tall, and his bone structure only shows his meridians. He is only at the mid-stage of Yang cultivation, but his basic strength is already above mine. Judging from his bone structure, he is at most in his early thirties. How could there be such a person in Chencang?"

Xue Zijing's heart was far from calm at this moment.

He comes from a powerful nation, and his vision is far superior to that of the people from the four vassal states.

When Yuhan breaks through to the Manifestation of Yang, there are five grades of bone structure. Gold, silver, and iron are all of the mortal level, jade bone is of the earth level, and the top bone structure that transcends jade bone is collectively called the heaven level, or the king level.

The limit for a Superior-level Golden Bone aptitude and peak Yang cultivation is 60 jun; the limit for an Earth-level Jade Bone is 80 jun; only a Heaven-level Bone aptitude has the possibility of breaking through 80 jun, and at its highest level it can even rival the Second-stage Tribulation Body Realm.

He is currently at the late stage of the Manifestation Realm, with a strength of 61 jun. In the entire Mo'ao River, apart from the four regional governors, the only people he knows who can rival him are the top five on the Heavenly Ranking.

I actually ran into one here today!
“Ah Tian.”

Xue Zijing walked all the way to the door and watched Jiang Xinfan's group's carriage disappear from sight before calling out to the three men in black in front of him.

"Fifth Master, is there anything you need?"

The leader of the men in black immediately turned around, cupped his hands in greeting, and asked.

"Go check the identities of the group that just came from, especially the young man in the back with a sallow complexion and dressed in black."

"Yes, sir!"

Xue Wuhen and Bai Qingqing were taken aback upon hearing this. After Xue Tian left and they got into the carriage, Bai Qingqing couldn't help but ask him the question.

"Uncle, was there something wrong with those people just now?"

Xue Wuhen chimed in from the side, "Isn't he just a Xianyang level cultivator? The strongest of the nine people behind him, that middle-aged man, is only level 52..."

As they were talking, Xue Wuhen suddenly remembered that his uncle's Xuan Shui Divine Eyes were famous for being able to see through all things. He looked up and met Xue Zijing's eyes, and couldn't help but smile awkwardly, too embarrassed to continue.

"You two have been with me for twelve years, how old are you again this year?"

"22."

"21."

Xue Wuhen is Bai Qingqing's cousin, only one year older than her.

After the two answered their ages, they looked at Xue Zijing with puzzled expressions, wondering why he had suddenly asked about their ages.

"The young man in black among those nine people is far more talented than you. If nothing unexpected happens, you probably won't be able to catch up in your lifetime."

"what?"

"How can it be!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Wuhen and Bai Qingqing straightened up abruptly, looking at Xue Zijing with disbelief on their faces. If they weren't in the carriage, they would have stood up immediately.

"Uncle, are you kidding me? I'm only 22 this year, with a strength of 56 hairs. In less than two years, I can break through to 60 hairs, and there's even a possibility of breaking through to 65 hairs and advancing to the Heavenly Bone Phase. That young man in black just now..."

"Uncle, how old is that young man in black, and what is his strength?"

Xue Wuhen was so shocked that he completely forgot about his uncle's abilities for a moment. He was interrupted by his cousin Bai Qingqing, and he quickly came to his senses, looking up at his uncle Xue Zijing, waiting for his answer.

"Too far away to see clearly, he's at most in his early thirties, as for his cultivation level and strength..."

After a pause, Xue Zijing continued, "Your cultivation is at the mid-stage of the Manifestation Realm, and your basic strength is above mine."

boom…………

Upon receiving the answer, the two were struck dumb, their bodies jolted, their expressions froze, and they stood completely still inside the carriage.

"I've told you before, there are always people better than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. Let's not even talk about the four regional governors; just look at the Chu and Chen clans in Chencang. They have quite a few promising talents. You should know that these people don't have your background or resources. If they were born in the Great Xu Dynasty, you might not even be able to compare..." His nephew and niece have always been arrogant and have never calmed down in the ten years they've been in Mo'aochuan. They look down on this and that. Xue Zijing naturally couldn't miss such a good opportunity to admonish them.

………………

Of course, Xia Hong, who had already left, was unaware that he had been unexpectedly used by Xue Zijing to teach a lesson to a junior.

However, upon returning to the Jiang residence, he immediately instructed Jiang Xinfan to investigate the identities of the group of scholars in blue robes.

The Prefectural Governor's Office of Yanling City is located in the east of the city, so naturally, all the city's high-ranking officials, noble families, and powerful clans gather here.

Jiang Xinfan acquired his residence relatively late, so the location of the Jiang residence was already on the eastern edge of the city. Nevertheless, the surrounding area was mostly inhabited by wealthy and influential families.

At the very center of the Jiang residence, atop a five-story building twenty-five meters high, Xia Hong stood at the entrance, looking down and feeling as if he had returned to the Star-Picking Palace, instantly feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Luo Ming and the others went to attend to their own business, leaving only Jiang Xinfan following behind him.

"It is said that Lord Chu loved tall buildings. He led everyone in Chencang to also like building tall buildings. No matter the size of their mansion, the powerful families would build a tall building in the very center that could overlook the whole area. At first, they were imitating Lord Chu, but over time, it became a unique feature of Chencang."

Hearing Jiang Xinfan's words, Xia Hong nodded, roughly estimating that the Jiang residence was over 800 square meters in size, and asked with a curious smile, "This house must be expensive, right? Where did you get so much money?"

Having lived in both Qinghua and Linchu for a considerable period, Xia Hong had a certain understanding of the prices of mansions in the four major cities.

Regardless of the cost of building a house, the land price in Qinghua City, taking residential houses as an example, is about 1500 taels of silver per square meter. The smallest is generally 1 square meters. In other words, if an ordinary person wants to buy land in a large city like Qinghua, the starting price is 15 taels of silver.

Of course, the four feudal lords all implemented a six-rank system of household registration. Just like the system, the residential areas of the six ranks in each major city were also clearly separated. Depending on the location and the household registration rank, the prices would also be different.

Xia Hong once lived in the prefectural governor's mansion in Linchu County. Leaving aside the mansions of aristocratic families, the land price of some ordinary wealthy families was about 5000 taels of silver per square meter.

Although the locations are different, Yanling is still a prefecture-level city, and it certainly won't be much different from Linchu City. With a floor area of ​​over 800 square meters, and a price of 5000 taels of silver, the price of this house would be at least 400 million taels of silver.

Due to Xia Hong's special need for resources, the Great Xia Dynasty strictly controls silver, so theoretically Jiang Xinfan shouldn't be able to come up with that much silver.

Of course, Jiang Xinfan had only recently joined the Great Xia Dynasty, and the Jiang family had previously been a powerful clan in Jiangxia Town, so it was understandable that Jiang Xinfan had private property. However, he came to Chencang to carry out an infiltration mission for the Great Xia Dynasty, so it was impossible for him to use his private property.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xinfan smiled and replied, "The total price of this house is 465 million taels of silver. When the Minister of Works sent his subordinates to infiltrate Chencang, he gave them a total of 1000 million taels of silver ingots for working capital."

1000 million silver ingots are equivalent to 1000 million taels of silver.

Xia Chuan's offer was still a bit stingy!
Xia Hong shook his head and said, "Ten million taels of silver? Silver is needed everywhere in Chencang. I see that you have at least a hundred servants in this house. Add to that the usual cultivation expenses for the nine of you, and it's probably all used up by now, right?"

Jiang Xinfan shook his head and said, "Lord, you've forgotten that I am at least at the Manifest Yang level. Although my strength of 5 Jun is not considered very strong, it is more than enough to earn some silver. Luo Ming and the other eight are also quite strong and have hereditary status. They can easily support themselves by hunting and gathering on weekdays."

Xia Hong waved his hand and said, "Going out to gather and hunt is fine for putting on a show, but if you're really going to do those things, it's better to send you back to Great Xia. You should focus on your infiltration work. Besides cultivation, intelligence gathering is your top priority..."

At this point, Xia Hong paused and opened the yellow mustard bag behind him.

Clang...

As soon as the yellow mustard bag was opened, a dazzling array of precious supplies was revealed, leaving Jiang Xinfan speechless and instantly mesmerized.

He had never even heard of the six miniature, uniquely shaped cold beasts, let alone seen them. But when he saw that all six cold beasts were missing their internal organs, and there were six four-colored beads about three centimeters in diameter next to them, he instantly understood what was going on, and his body trembled violently.
Thousands of high-quality blood jade beads; thirty-six pieces of blood jade crystals; six fist-sized, blood-red lumps with an even stronger aura than the blood jade crystals; dozens of precious spiritual plants emitting various colors of fluorescence; 50 vines glowing with a bluish-jade-colored spiritual light; a not-too-tall bluish-green treasure tree;

The hundreds of silver ingots, forged with ten thousand taels of silver, became the least valuable item in the bag.

Jiang Xinfan suppressed the shock in his heart. Thinking of how Xia Hong, under the name of Xinghe Sword Saint Hong Yu, had topped the Heavenly Ranking in early October, he couldn't help but point at the six miniature cold beasts of different shapes and asked hesitantly:

"Lord, these six heads, could they be... could they be..."

"They were all single-level Five Elements Realm Beast Kings, which I killed in the Blood Miasma Plains!"

Xia Hong answered him directly, then lowered his head and thought for a moment before emptying all the silver ingots from the bag and pushing them in front of Jiang Xinfan.

"My lord, this..."

"It's not for you, don't rush!"

Xia Hong interrupted him directly and continued, "These 125 10,000-fold silver ingots, each worth about 50 taels, amount to 62.5 million taels of silver. First, do me a favor..."

Three years ago, when Xia Hong set off from Xia City, he brought 140 such silver ingots, which was equivalent to 7000 million taels of silver. The only major expense was the purchase of a batch of pills in Qinghua City, which cost about 700 million taels.

He then lived in the county town with Su Xing'er and her three siblings. Although it cost a bit, it was nothing compared to how fast he earned money, so his silver reserves remained relatively stable.

Now that they've reached Chencang and are about to return, he no longer needs to carry so much money. It just so happens that Jiang Xinfan, Ji Hong, and the others will continue to stay here, so leaving the money with them is just right.

He might need money to enter Yang City in December, but he had many treasures on him, any one of which could fetch an astronomical price, so Xia Hong wasn't worried.

As for what Jiang Xinfan was asked to do, it was to buy pills for cultivation.

Xia Hong has run out of cultivation pills, and even the Bone Gathering Pills he brought from Xia City are now down to only fifteen.

However, after hearing Xia Hong's instructions and learning that he was to buy pills, Jiang Xinfan immediately looked embarrassed and quickly tried to explain.

After hearing his explanation, Xia Hong's brows furrowed immediately.

Chencang also has Cleansing Pills and Bone-Removing Pills, but the problem is that, like Caiqiu, it also implements a fixed quota system based on rank and cultivation level.

Jiang Xinfan also needs to cultivate. He certainly wouldn't use the silver Xia Chuan gave him for working capital to fund his own cultivation, but he could buy it with his own private property and the silver he earned in Chencang.

"The Bone Burning Pill is relatively easy to obtain, but the Scripture Cleansing Pill and Bone Removal Pill are more difficult. Chencang has strict rules. Although I have already entered the clan, I am still considered an outsider because I only entered the clan in early March. Outsiders are only entitled to 10 Scripture Cleansing Pills in their first year, while the quotas for the upper, middle, and lower grades of Bone Removal Pills are 20, 50, and 100 respectively..."

Exactly the same as Cai Qiu!

Upon hearing Jiang Xinfan say that he had used up his quota of Cleansing Pills and that he didn't have many Bone-Treating Pills left, Xia Hong frowned even more deeply.

He certainly wouldn't take up Jiang Xinfan's cultivation resources. So, if he wanted to buy pills, he would have to publicly reveal Chen Cang's identity.

These regional military governors are really strict in guarding against outsiders!
Thinking back to his encounter with the scholar in blue at the Shigui Restaurant, Xia Hong's expression shifted slightly as he began to seriously consider whether he should operate in Chencang under the identity of Hong Yu.

It's not worth it for a few cultivation pills!
We're about to go back. At this point, will something unexpected happen?

"Oh, right, my lord, there's another way..."

Just as Xia Hong hesitated, Jiang Xinfan suddenly thought of something and quickly continued, "The Frost Ashes Society also has channels to purchase these pills, but the price will be about 20% higher than normal, and the purchase method is a bit troublesome. Ji Hong and I need to go together to complete it."

"That's settled! Go to the Frost Ashes Association and buy as many of these three types of pills as you can: Cleansing Pill, Bone Burning Pill, and Superior Bone Removal Pill. If you need money or any help, just let me know."

I almost forgot, there's also the Frostfire Clan!
As for the 20% price surplus, it was completely outside Xia Hong's calculations. Silver could be exchanged for power, so it was worth it no matter how expensive it was.

Jiang Xinfan nodded, collected all the silver ingots, and turned to leave.

The central high-rise building in the Jiang residence was previously occupied by him alone, and now Xia Hong will naturally also be living here. Fortunately, given Xia Hong's false identity as the eldest grandson, it is reasonable for him to live here. He had already made arrangements for the servants in the residence.

Xia Hong watched Jiang Xinfan leave, then pulled the invitation letter from Yang City out of the yellow mustard bag. Seeing the date December 25th on it, his expression brightened slightly.

"It would be best if we could buy the pills, but it's okay if we can't. We can just wait until the 25th of next month to enter Yang City. Today is the 5th of November, so there are still fifty days left. We should make the most of our time to cultivate. Once we leave Yang City, we'll head straight home and not waste any more time here..."

After pondering for a moment, Xia Hong waved his hand and summoned the Enlightenment Lotus Platform. He sat cross-legged on it, took out the last fifteen Bone Gathering Pills, and prepared to cultivate.

He had just asked Jiang Xinfan to buy Bone Burning Pills, and he didn't care about the quantity; he could buy as many as he could.

After his final period of cultivation in Qingwu Village, he had become completely certain that the Bone Burning Pill not only had no negative effects on his body, but also did not interfere with his cultivation speed in any way.

"Not only that, the magma patterns on my bones have become deeper after consuming the Bone-Burning Pill, and the overall structure seems to be more stable. Next, I just need to test whether the Bone-Burning Pill's effect on my strength has a time limit. Others, due to the effects of the pill's poison, can only use it once every ten years. My usage period can't be that long. If there's no time limit, then that's too..."

Xia Hong suppressed his excitement and calmed himself down before slowly closing his eyes and officially beginning his cultivation.

The Jiang family had only established their residence in the east of the city in July, so their reputation in the east was not great. However, the neighbors would still visit each other from time to time. In order to better integrate into Chencang, Jiang Xinfan, along with Luo Ming and the other eight, would visit them from time to time. Over time, they naturally got to know each other quite well.

A new young master named Jiang Hong has arrived at the Jiang family. He is exceptionally talented and is deeply loved by Jiang Fan, the head of the Jiang family. He is the only one among the younger generation of the Jiang family who can live with the head of the family in the main residence.

As time went by, the news spread like wildfire and quickly reached the surrounding area.

(End of this chapter)