Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1544: Chapter 484: Recruitment – Who Are the Decayed Bones in the Tomb, Inviting Gods Is Easy, Sending Them Away Is Hard

“Nearly seventy thousand troops, over a hundred and seventy Xianyang Levels, and these are just the people usually stationed in the city. Judging from this small sample, if just one County City is like this, the overall strength of the Chen Cang Feudal Town might far exceed my imagination…”

Above the eastern side of Yanling City, Xia Hong sped eastward for over ten miles outside the city, his expression extremely grave, filled with the images he had just seen in the city.

From tonight’s events, he finally got some intuitive sense of Chen Cang’s overall strength.

A County City like this, apart from Yanling, there are four more in Chen Cang, not to mention the higher-level Longxing City, and the core Town City. How strong must they be?

“I’ve stayed in Qinghua City and Lin Chu City for a period, the strength of these two major cities in Cai Qiu is quite different from Chen Cang. Even though being the same feudal towns, their strengths also vary significantly. After all, having stayed for three years, Ji Hong’s intelligence is not unfounded!”

Last month, Ji Hong said at the Worldly Noble Tavern that Chen Cang’s overall strength is top tier among the Four Vassals of Moao River, probably just slightly weaker than Wei Bo.

Fortunately, having been prepared mentally in advance, although Xia Hong was shaken, he quickly calmed himself down.

“After this, Jiang Xinfan and Ji Hong should be able to firmly establish themselves in Chen Cang. In the future, any signs of upheaval in Chen Cang can be predicted in advance through them. As for Cai Qiu, it will depend on Su Xing’er and her three siblings’ performance!”

Xia Hong’s eyes twinkled; from the moment on the 18th of last month, when he realized there was a possibility his identity might be exposed, he had already started planning in advance.

The four siblings of Su Xing’er had left Yanling City ten days ago, following his instructions, to return to their hometown, which is the Evergreen Valley in Cai Qiu Bai Shui County.

The Frost Ash Association in Cai Qiu clearly doesn’t have the same magnitude as in Chen Cang. Even though Xia Hong stayed there for a year, he had almost never heard of it.

It would be a real pity not to use the Frost Ash Association’s excellent reputation!

The overall situation in Evergreen Valley is very suitable for the development of the Frost Ash Association. The Su Xing’er siblings’ strengths are not particularly strong, so it’s just right for them to go to such a relatively weaker region that is not too heavily valued by the feudal towns.

“Let Jiang Xinfan allocate them ten million silver taels. It should suffice for a short period. Once back in Great Xia, I’ll reconnect with them via Bone-Eroding Path, then provide people, money, and supplies to allow the Frost Ash Association to quickly develop in the Evergreen Valley area, ready to play a role when the time is right!”

Having grasped the strength of the feudal towns, laid two secret devices, and made significant progress in his strength, Xia Hong’s trip to the feudal towns is coming to an end.

Next, I’ll stay in Blood Miasma Plain for a couple of days, gather resources, then head to Yang City to check the situation, and finally return to Great Xia!

Xia Hong took a slight breath, intending to turn south to Blood Miasma Plain, but he suddenly sensed something and halted, looking down at the ground, a peculiar light rising in his eyes.

“After our hasty parting at the tavern, I, Xue, have been wondering when such a terrifying figure emerged from Moao River, not expecting it to be the recently renowned leader of the Heavenly List, Daqin Prince…”

A middle-aged man with a genteel face, wearing a blue jade silk robe and a black hat, accompanied by three other middle-aged men in black, quickly flew from the ground into midair. His face was full of smiles, and after speaking, he paused, then clasped his right fist with his left hand, crossing the tiger’s mouth, with two thumbs raised under his chin, slightly bowing towards Xia Hong:

“Grand Master Xue Zijing of Chen Cang, pays his respects to Hong Prince!”

This Xue Zijing truly comes from a foreign fief, and his background might not be small either.

“It’s said that this Grand Master Xue was a sinner from Lulong Prefecture, his entire family was exterminated by the Lulong Landgrave, forcing him to flee to Chen Cang to seek refuge.”

Remembering the remarks Ji Hong made at the tavern last month, Xia Hong’s eyes flashed with a peculiar color upon seeing Xue Zijing’s gesture, after which he cupped his right hand into a fist, covering it with his left palm and bringing them together in front of his chest, returning the courtesy with a smile, saying, “Daqin Prince Hong Yu, pays his respects to Grand Master Xue!”

Generally speaking, as long as an Ice Abyss Camp reaches the Town Level, some customary behavior norms would emerge, with gesture etiquette being the most common and representative form.

The largest feature of the Ice Abyss Camp is that in most regions, the environment sets limitations, which makes communication among people from different zones difficult. Consequently, the behavior norms of people from different regions naturally differ as well.

In the Xia Li compiled during the first year, Xia Hong had already regulated Great Xia’s greeting gesture, which was the most common fist-palm salute in the martial arts world from his previous life—precisely the gesture he performed at that moment.

Great Xia’s fist-palm salute involves opening the left palm to cover the right fist, then placing it at different positions based on the recipient: at the chest for equals, at the brow for superiors, and over the head, used only for elders and Lord Xia Hong, for utmost humility.

Upon closer examination, although the gesture in the other eight towns of Southern Slope is also called the fist-palm salute, it truly just involves clasping the fists, with no specific placement consideration, thus differing from Great Xia, yet matching what is seen here with the Four Vassals.

This serves as substantial evidence that various towns in the Southern Slope Territory have long been influenced by Moao River’s feudal town!

Currently, the greeting gesture Xue Zijing is using is not in the style of Moao River.

Having never met before, Xia Hong sees no reason for the other party to deceive him, so what Ji Hong said carries a certain degree of credibility.