Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 927: Chapter 348: Zhu Ling in Dire Straits, Eight Camps Martial Contest, Betting Five Years—East Ridge Has Fallen!

Even more fatal, the Inspector He Wuyang has since been colluding with East Ridge Camp, working hand in glove. With him as a backer, East Ridge is no longer rootless. Armed with its formidable strength, Lu Yang opposes Zhu Ling at every turn, and in just three short years, it seems poised to replace Zhu Ling as the leader of Beining Mountain.

Smack…

“These three years, the East Ridge Hunting Team has been continuously encroaching on our Hunting Area from the outskirts. The new iron mine discovered at the beginning of the year is clearly within our Zhu Ling’s sphere of influence, yet Lu Yang seized it without a word!”

“He Wuyang, as the Inspector, turns a blind eye and allows Lu Yang to act recklessly. Not only that, he even covers for East Ridge in Beishuo City, claiming that our Zhu Ling lacks strength and that it would be better to cede a portion of the region to East Ridge to contribute more resources to Beishuo.”

“This He Wuyang, who knows what kind of bewitching potion Lu Yang gave him, actually leans so much towards East Ridge, his muddle-headedness is indeed rare!”

“After all our efforts, the Inspectorate refuses to replace He Wuyang and turns a blind eye to his crimes. What else can we do?”

…

In the council hall of Zhu Ling Village, Zhu Da, Zhu Mai, and over a dozen Cold Resistance Level leaders of Zhu Ling Village gathered together, angrily denouncing East Ridge’s crimes over the past three years. However, after speaking for a long time, they did not see any reaction from the leader, Zhu Tong, so the voices gradually subsided.

At this moment, Zhu Tong’s expression was extremely gloomy. As for opinions on East Ridge, none below him can compare to him. But as a leader, his greatest responsibility is to consider strategies, not to vent emotions at will.

“These three years, Lu Yang has gone too far. Relying on East Ridge’s strength, he has not only encroached on our territory but has also allied with Hong Yuan and Zi Qiang to openly defy us. Now, even Yanggu and Wanxing are somewhat wavering. If this continues, we will truly have to hand over our village leadership position to East Ridge!”

After speaking, Zhu Tong paused slightly, turned to look outside the hall, and saw that it was about to get dark. He continued with a cold smile, “The year before last and last year, East Ridge dragged Hong Yuan and Zi Qiang along to not participate in the martial tournament. This year, upon hearing that a big figure in Beishuo City is recruiting disciples, they immediately sent people. Just as well, I plan to take this opportunity to teach them a lesson!”

The Eight Camps Martial Tournament held every year on September 15th was personally organized by Zhu Tong. Of course, before East Ridge’s participation, it was the Seven Camps Martial Tournament.

There are three purposes for holding this tournament.

First, to showcase Zhu Ling’s strength; after all, in previous years, Zhu Ling always won the championship;

Second, to alleviate Zhu Ling’s tribute burden to Beishuo City. The amount of resources that village-level camps contribute to Beishuo Town is fixed, conducted semi-annually: 60 pounds of Jade Bone, 1,000 pounds of Beast Blood, 10 million pounds of iron ore, and 15 million pounds of coal stone each time.

When Zhu Tong organized the tournament in the early years, he set a rule that the tribute resources would be reduced by 70% according to the camp rankings: the first place would share out 70%, the second place would pay 5%, and the third and fourth would each pay 10%, the fifth would bear 15%, and the last would bear the most at 30%;

As for the third purpose, it can basically be seen from the second item; it is for Zhu Ling to conduct obedience tests on the other six families.

Calculating for the year, the 60% tribute target equals 72 pounds of Jade Bone, 1,200 pounds of Beast Blood, 12 million pounds of iron ore, and 18 million pounds of iron ore. If one shares out 30%, it can still sting a bit, but the second and third places’ 5% or even 10% is more painless—though spending it is definitely uncomfortable, it is within the bearable range.

In the early years, there were certainly those who were dissatisfied and complained to Beishuo Town, saying that Zhu Ling Camp was bullying them. However, after Zhu Tong’s maneuvering, Beishuo Town did not pursue it and even expressed approval, believing this measure promotes mutual competition among village-level camps.

In fact, thinking about it, it makes sense. These village-level camps might be considered strong nearby, but they are nothing to Beishuo Town. The tribute resources they provide might be mere trifles to Beishuo as long as they submit them obediently every year. Beishuo simply does not care about other matters.

In short, Beishuo recognizes Zhu Ling’s position as village chief.

Hence, the following matters become simpler.

Since it is a martial tournament, there are rules. And Zhu Ling, who hosts the tournament, is naturally the rule maker. Most of the time, they can manipulate the final rankings with their superior strength far exceeding the other six families.

Through the annual martial tournament, not only can Zhu Ling save significant resources to enhance its own strength and widen the gap with the other six families, but it can also suppress other camps, making them obedient.

The disobedient Hong Yuan and Zi Qiang, being consistently at the bottom two, serve as a bloody example.

Ironically, the two families neither have the strength nor the courage to refuse. After all, a refusal would lead to even more severe suppression from Zhu Ling and the other four families.

Until three years ago, with the establishment of East Ridge, the situation changed.

In the first year, East Ridge first refused the invitation to the martial tournament. The second year, it even rallied Hong Yuan and Zi Qiang to refuse together.

Zhu Tong was so furious he could gnash his teeth and, together with the other four families, began to covertly and overtly suppress East Ridge’s trio, but to no avail in every case.

There was no choice; East Ridge’s strength was just too formidable. At the establishment of the village, it already had 24 Cold Resistance Level individuals, and over these three years, the number has been increasing. At the beginning of the year, during the conflict over the iron mine, Lu Yang brought as many as 29 Cold Resistance Levels.