Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 483 Cultivation Pills and Frost Ashes Meeting: Loopholes Exposed

November 18th, 291st year of Caiqiu calendar, night

The tallest building in Jiang Mansion, the quiet room on the top floor

Xia Hong sat cross-legged on the lotus platform with his eyes closed. The blood-red medicinal power around him swirled and enveloped him like a blood cocoon. Behind him, a dark red skeletal figure with molten lava patterns on its surface floated quietly. The skeletal figure was about eight zhang tall, and the blood-red meridians on its outer edge were clearly visible. It was almost fully formed.

huh... huh...

As Xia Hong's breathing became longer and longer, the speed at which the blood-colored medicinal power was absorbed also increased. The color of the blood cocoon became thinner and thinner, and its bone structure continued to grow and strengthen. However, the changes were so subtle that they were almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Buzz…………

After a long while, as the last bit of medicinal power was absorbed by the bones, the bone structure behind Xia Hong suddenly emitted a buzzing sound and then completely solidified.

At the same time, Xia Hong opened his tightly closed eyes, clenched his fist and sensed the situation slightly, his pupils filled with frustration.

"The bone structure growth is negligible. At this rate, it will take at least five more years to grow the golden body to nine zhang. The strength remains unchanged at 75 jin. Without the aid of the Cleansing Pill, the strength increase from the Twelve Blood Scripture Technique alone is almost negligible..."

The Great Xia's Bone Gathering Pill is actually the mid-grade Bone Removal Pill from the vassal states. It's better not to know that. Having experienced the super-high efficiency of the high-grade Bone Removal Pill, Xia Hong would naturally not be satisfied with using the Bone Gathering Pill for cultivation.

"The Bone Condensation Pill is a low-grade Bone Removal Pill, while the Bone Gathering Pill is more than thirty times more potent. The best high-grade Bone Removal Pill is more than fifteen times more potent than the Bone Gathering Pill. My absorption efficiency far exceeds that of ordinary people. If I have a sufficient supply of high-grade Bone Removal Pills, I can at least shorten the time it takes to break through to the late stage of the Manifestation Yang Realm by half, maybe even less than three years..."

Xia Hong was aware that he was a bit greedy.

He broke through to the Manifest Yang level in September of the seventh year of the Great Xia Dynasty, and then relied on the incense offerings from the clan sacrifice to enhance his cultivation. In the ninth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, he successfully broke through to the mid-stage of the Manifest Yang level. The whole process only took two years.
It is now the twelfth year of the Great Xia Dynasty. Only three years have passed since he broke through to the middle stage, and his bone structure has already grown from six zhang to eight zhang. He is only one zhang away from breaking through to the late stage of the Manifestation Yang Realm.

This cultivation efficiency is so incredible that it's not even worth comparing with others. Just by looking at the average age of Xianyang-level cultivators in Jiuzhen and Mo'aochuan, one can roughly see how terrifying his cultivation speed is.

"I have to be greedy, the gap is just... too big!"

Xia Hong couldn't help but sigh softly. The gap between Great Xia and the four vassal states of Mo'aochuan was simply too great. Even if Great Xia were to annex the remaining five towns in one go, let alone include Jiangxia, Muyin, and Chuishan, the gap would still be astonishingly large.

The gap was so large that if, at this moment, there were no obstacles from the Blood Miasma Plains and the Bone-Corroding Path, and the two major warlords were to launch a full-scale southward offensive, he would most likely still be unable to stop them, even if he used all his means, including the system.

This situation was unprecedented for Xia Hong in his fifteen years in the Ice Abyss, and he naturally felt a great sense of urgency.

If we can't return to the Great Xia Dynasty, then we can only try to improve our strength first.

"Only two left!"

Looking at the two Bone Gathering Pills in front of him, Xia Hong shook his head, intending to use them up first. But as soon as he reached out, he stopped abruptly, then looked up at the outside of the building, a strange light appearing in his eyes.

"Your subordinate greets Your Lordship!"

Soon, Jiang Xinfan, looking excited, came up from downstairs carrying a bag. After bowing respectfully, he handed the bag directly to Xia Hong.

"My lord, I have fulfilled my mission. Ji Hong and I purchased a total of 6 Burning Bone Pills from the Frost Ashes Guild, each priced at 75 taels; 30 Superior Bone Removal Pills, each priced at 30 taels; and 20 Cleansing Pills, each priced at 37 taels, for a total cost of 2090 million taels of silver."

I actually got it!

Xia Hong took the three silver pill bottles, opened them one after another, and saw the three kinds of pills inside. His expression suddenly brightened, and he asked with curiosity, "Such precious pills, how come you and Ji Hong were able to get your hands on them, yet you don't know who your superior in the Frost Ashes Society is?"

When they reunited in Luhe Valley, Xia Hong had already asked Jiang Xinfan and learned that although he and Ji Hong had joined the Frost Ash Society, they knew almost nothing about the society's higher-ups.

He hadn't thought there was a problem before. Any organization, with one-way communication, as long as the communication method is made more complicated and more cautious, and the upstream and downstream parties don't contact each other at all, it's not too difficult to achieve this.

But now I'm a little puzzled. How can they manage to get their hands on these three precious pills that are strictly controlled by the four vassal states without ever meeting each other?
You can't just leave the former anywhere and have the latter pick it up later, can you?

Letters and cheap things can be used like this, but to use pills worth tens of millions of taels of silver like this, isn't that just plain stupid?
"Shigui Restaurant, we made contact through Shigui Restaurant..."

Jiang Xinfan clearly understood Xia Hong's confusion, and directly explained in detail the process of her and Ji Hong cooperating in buying pills, as well as the general operating rules of the Frost Ash Society.

After Jiang Xinfan's explanation, Xia Hong basically understood the overall operation of the Frost Ashes Society.

Ultimately, it boils down to two points:
The first point is the loose organizational structure. Apart from the lowest-level branches, which are relatively tightly knit, the Frostfire Society is extremely dispersed in terms of both personnel and organization, from the county town headquarters in the middle to the main altar at the top.

The six chief leaders of the main altar, plus Ji Hong, the minor chief, and the chief of Yanling County, have never met each other. Whether it is issuing tasks or communicating daily, they only communicate by sending messages. Moreover, the message sending locations are either outside the city or in various corners and outskirts of the city, in short, completely unexpected places.

Secondly, there is the clever and secretive way of transferring resources. Such a large organization naturally needs to spend a lot of money and resources to maintain itself. In the meantime, there will inevitably be a fixed flow of resources. The flow of resources within the organization is basically through the Shi Gui Restaurant.

It's worth noting that even inside the Shigui Restaurant, the two parties never meet. Essentially, one person reserves the item first, and the other retrieves it later, with an interval of at least five days. Furthermore, the process is encrypted, with each transaction being different and involving disguises; in short, their identities are strictly guarded.

Take the Luhe Valley Uprising a while ago as an example. The Luhe Valley Uprising was a task assigned to Ji Hong, the minor leader, by the Frost Ash Society headquarters. Ji Hong first received a large sum of silver left by the chief leader at the Shi Gui Restaurant, and then secretly purchased weapons and transported them to the Luhe Valley area. With the cooperation of Jiang Xinfan and nine others, as well as those unknown experts from the Yanling County headquarters, he completely controlled the uprising remotely.

"So what's the background of this Shigui Restaurant?"

Clearly, this Shigui Restaurant was the powerful backer of the Shuangjin Society, so after listening, Xia Hong went straight to the point and asked about the background of Shigui Restaurant.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xinfan's face showed a strange expression before he slowly said, "The lord may not believe it, but this Shigui Restaurant has branches all over the entire Mo'aochuan region. In the four vassal states, every major city has a branch. The Mo'aochuan Heavenly Ranking and Earthly Ranking were created by them. As for the restaurant's behind-the-scenes owners, there are many, but the largest number is four."

"Could it be one of the four regional governors?"

Jiang Xinfan smiled and nodded, saying, "It is indeed the four regional governors. This is actually quite confidential information. Ji Hong only managed to find out about it with great difficulty because he is Chen Canjun's close disciple..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, “It is said that the original owners of Shigui Restaurant did not include the Four Regional Governors, but only the Nine Families, which are nine prominent families that have been established in Mo'aochuan for more than three hundred years. Later, they probably felt that this piece of meat was too lucrative, and the Four Regional Governors could not stand by and watch, so they forcibly intervened.”

The nine powerful families naturally refused and united to resist, but ultimately they couldn't fight against the powerful. So the nine bosses became thirteen, and the four regional governors still made up the majority of the four.

Although the four regional governors were powerful, they were latecomers and already in the wrong. Furthermore, these nine powerful families were essentially their own people, so they couldn't afford to offend them too much. Therefore, they made some compromises: they would only collect their share of the profits and wouldn't interfere in any management or operation of the restaurant.

This is really interesting! It means that the four vassal states still have a united force to resist the regional governor. Although it's not very tightly knit, it's still a genuinely powerful force...

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong's expression instantly became quite interesting, and he quickly asked, "Do you know who these nine aristocratic families are?"

"I only know of two families in Chencang: the Chen family of Longxing and the Lu family of Pingyang!"

As expected, then it goes without saying that the Chen and Lu families are Shuangjin's biggest backers in Chencang.

Xia Hong suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard someone say that the Frostfire Society has only been around for a little over twenty years..."

"how is this possible?"

Jiang Xinfan immediately shook his head and continued, "The Frost Ashes Society has a history of at least a hundred years in Mo'aochuan. It originated from the Hezang vassal state and then gradually expanded to the other three vassal states. It has existed in Chencang for a long time, but it did not develop well in the past, so its reputation was not well known."

Twenty-five years ago, in the 267th year of the Chencang calendar, the Great Dragon Leader of the Chencang Frost Ash Society headquarters intercepted and killed Chen Tianjue, the city lord of Longxing City, in Donglin County. Although he failed in the end, he successfully injured him severely. He became famous after this battle, and the Frost Ash Society developed rapidly.

In the years that followed, Chu Longteng's suppression of the Frost Ash Society was extremely ruthless. In 272, he even confiscated and shut down all the prestigious restaurants in Chencang.

This ignited a powder keg. Frostbite was not intimidated by Chu Longteng; instead, it became increasingly aggressive, causing trouble everywhere in Chencang, and the conflict between the two sides deepened.

Sixteen years ago, in the 275th year of the Chencang calendar, the Frost Ash Society caused a major riot in the area south of Fengyang County, near Donglin County, and the situation quickly spiraled out of control.

Ji Hong and I guessed that Chu Longteng had probably compromised at that time, and the Shigui Restaurant, which had been closed for three years, reopened. It was also from that year that the Shuangjin Society became less arrogant in Chencang.

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Indeed, wherever there are people, there is a world of intrigue and conflict.

The more people there are, the deeper the water tends to be.

This can be considered as the nine aristocratic families joining forces to fight against the four regional governors. No, no, it can't be said so simply. The nine aristocratic families are not stupid. They let all four regional governors in at once. Unlike the nine families, the relationship between the four regional governors is very delicate and they are basically unable to form a community of interests.

As long as they don't skimp on the money from the four regional governors and don't go too far, none of the regional governors can target them. And since the four regional governors can't completely unite, the entire Shigui Restaurant is still controlled by the nine aristocratic families.

Amazing!
After Xia Hong figured out the structure of the thirteen restaurants on the top floor of Shigui Restaurant, his eyes lit up instantly, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

The person who came up with this idea is a genius!

"While you are in Chencang, continue to investigate the situation of Shigui Restaurant and find out which seven families are still in charge. This Shigui Restaurant is very interesting. It is basically equivalent to a fifth family outside of the four families."

"I obey my orders!"

After explaining to Jiang Xinfan, Xia Hong put away the pills, his eyes flickering slightly, and continued, "In that case, the Frost Ashes Society has a huge loophole. However, according to what you've said, it's difficult for the lower-level members of the Frost Ashes Society to know the true identity of their upper-level members, but conversely..."

"Your Excellency's words are spot on; I am truly impressed!"

Jiang Xinfan showed a helpless expression and continued, "This is the biggest problem. Not many people may know Ji Hong's true identity, but the Six Dragons Head who has contacted him directly, that is, the head of the Yanling headquarters, will definitely know if he is interested. As for my subordinates, the situation is better. I was originally recruited by Ji Hong and I am ranked last among the Twelve Heavenly Kings of the Yanling headquarters. My current superior is Ji Hong."

However, there seems to be no need to worry too much about Ji Hong's side..."

Upon hearing Jiang Xinfan's last words, Xia Hong instantly realized what was happening, and his expression became incredibly strange.

The true identity of Ji Hong mentioned here refers to his identity in Chencang, namely, the closed-door disciple of Chen Yuanhong, the military advisor of Yanling County.

Chen Yuanhong is a member of the Chen family!

And the Sixth Dragon Leader who could contact him directly is highly likely to be a member of the Chen family, or even...

"Haha, no, no, that's not true!"

Thinking of this, Xia Hong suddenly chuckled. After all, Chen Yuanhong was one of the three great military advisors of Yanling County. If he were to join the Frost Ash Society, then the Chen family would be treating Fangbo (the governor) too disrespectfully.

"This problem isn't too big. There's no need to worry about it now, and we don't need to take precautions. If Ji Hongzhen feels threatened, I, the lord, will simply step in and help him deal with that six-dragon-headed fellow!"

Xia Hong smiled and spoke, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and continued, "Tell him to protect the identity of the Little Dragon Leader. If you need money or people, just say that the Frostfire Society is a good shell for us. It will be of great use to us. In the future, we might even be able to use it for the Four Feudatories..."

"Rest assured, my lord, I understand!"

Jiang Xinfan was also a clever person, and he quickly understood Xia Hong's meaning, and immediately nodded heavily in response.

"By the way, my lord, the middle-aged scholar I met at the Shigui Restaurant on the fifth day of the month, the one you asked me to investigate his identity, I have already found him."

"who is it?"

"Chencang Taiyi, Xue Zijing!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong's eyes lit up instantly. Then, as if realizing something, a strange look appeared on his face as he said, "It's him. No wonder. My identity must have been exposed. The aura that's been spying on me these past few days must have been someone he sent."

Jiang Xinfan was taken aback upon hearing this, his expression instantly turning serious. He quickly cupped his hands and apologized to Xia Hong, saying, "I was spied on, Lord, your subordinate..."

"It's none of your business. That person is much stronger than you!"

Xia Hong waved his hand to interrupt him, then looked at the elixir in his hand, his eyes flashing slightly, and said, "It's alright that you found out. We can just use this to our advantage and make it easier for you and Ji Hong to live in Chencang from now on..."

He paused for a moment, then whispered instructions to Jiang Xinfan.

As Jiang Xinfan listened to his explanation, his expression gradually became strange, then turned extremely interesting towards the end. Finally, after Xia Hong finished speaking, he hurriedly bowed with his hands clasped.
"Your Excellency's plan is brilliant! I admire it! I will carry it out immediately."

(End of this chapter)