Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1551: Chapter 486: The Cage in Xia Yusheng’s Eyes, Like One of His Own

The twelfth year of Great Xia, on December 26, at the time when the cold sun is about to set.

In the deepest part of the Inner City, the exquisitely decorated Star-picking Hall, illuminated by lanterns, exudes an aura of luxury and splendor everywhere.

The entire hall is suspended above the east-side cliff, a hundred meters high. From the ground, it seems like a brightly lit Cloud Immortal Palace, even more mysterious and noble, as silhouettes pass by the eaves and windows of the hall, making imaginations run wild and hearts yearn inexplicably.

As the residence of the Lord, in the hearts of Great Xia people, the Star-picking Hall is undoubtedly sacred and solemn.

According to incomplete statistics, since its completion in September of the second year of Great Xia, in the over ten years since then, besides the Lord’s family and maids, the total number of people in Great Xia who have been inside can be counted as fewer than 20.

Since the third year of Great Xia, meeting the Lord Xia Hong has gradually become a matter of great honor in the hearts of Great Xia people.

Indeed, it’s not hard to understand; Lord Xia Hong has long held a supreme position in the hearts of Great Xia people, with emotions like fanaticism, reverence, and worship almost overwhelmingly present in all Great Xia people’s hearts.

With the battle of Hongmen in the eighth year of Great Xia, Xia Hong defeated Yang Zhun under the watchful eyes of all, claiming the title of the strongest in the Nine Towns, offering sacrifices to the Twelve Beast Kings, dominating the Eight Towns of the Southern Slope, and officially ascending the throne as the South Ridge Dominator;

Plus, with the Chui Mountain fissure event the year before, His wife Li Xuanling slew Duan Hong with her sword, annihilating the Duan Family, not only aiding the Mu Family in seizing power but also strongly promoting the formation of the Nine Towns Alliance, with Lord Xia Hong officially reigning as Alliance Hierarch, ruling over the Southern Ridge.

These consecutive events have once again elevated Xia Hong’s reputation and image to an extremely high level of respect; describing the Great Xia people’s current attitude towards him as ‘worshiping him like a deity’ would not be an exaggeration.

And incidentally, such a highly respected Xia Hong, has seldom shown himself publicly since he first retreated for an extended period starting in September of the third year of Great Xia.

For this reason, seeing him has become a very difficult task.

Scarcity creates value; speaking of the Outer Town, take Xia City for example—out of millions of people, less than a fifth have seen Xia Hong, and most are soldiers of the Xia Army, who only saw him from afar.

Those who actually saw Xia Hong up close, even interacted or conversed with him, are truly few, at most two or three thousand, and most of these were during the early years of Great Xia.

The Nobles of previous Great Xia could still see him with their family at the Cold Yuan Banquet each year in the Political Hall, but since the ninth year of Great Xia, even the Cold Yuan Banquet provides no such opportunity.

Scarcity creates value; so few in Xia City have seen Xia Hong, naturally, seeing him becomes a bragging right one can flaunt.

And compared to catching a glimpse of the Lord, entering the Star-picking Hall is even harder than climbing to the sky.

Some well-meaning person has counted, genuinely entering the Star-picking Hall of Great Xia, aside from the Lord’s brother, namely Minister Xia Chuan’s family, adding Eight Departments Directors, the remaining people barely reach a handful.

Xia Hong’s supreme status and unknown mysteriousness undoubtedly cloak the Star-picking Hall with a sacred veil; coupled with Mu Dong taking last year’s Inner City expansion opportunity to renovate the Star-picking Hall, adding even more grandeur and majesty, further deepening the curiosity and reverence of the Great Xia people towards this building.

It’s a pity; despite the curiosity, now not mentioning entering the Star-picking Hall, it’s exceedingly difficult even to get close to it.

The Inner City’s expansion last year was towards the depths in the east, led by Mu Dong with numerous craftsmen, excavating the cliff on Twin Dragon Mountain into the rock, doubling the size of the Inner City to over 30 square kilometers now.

Lord’s Hall, Eight Departments Hall, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Martial Arts Three Pavilions, and the deepest Great Xia Ancestral Temple, naturally including the Star-picking Hall suspended above the mountain wall, are all now surrounded by towering Black Soil Walls, forming a city within the city of about two kilometers in diameter, that is now the continuously mentioned Daxia Palace City.

As the core center of power of Great Xia, Xia Palace is naturally inaccessible to ordinary people; only officials of Third Rank and above can carry their personal token to enter and exit Xia Palace without prior notification, while others must get permission after presenting themselves regardless of identity before entering.

The perimeter wall of Xia Palace stands nine meters high; standing outside the palace wall makes spotting any building within the palace impossible; one must stand some distance away to barely see the top parts of interior structures.

While the Star-picking Hall, due to its elevation at a hundred meters, is generally visible entirely by its top portion to anyone in the Inner City, cultivating a psychologically exploratory nature towards things visible but unapproachable, which is another reason they remain curious and longing for the Star-picking Hall.

Yet, curiosity aside, in reality, the Star-picking Hall, plainly speaking, is just a residence; it only becomes so attention-grabbing because of the Lord Xia Hong’s aura.

Who could have thought that this heavenly palace, irresistibly sought after by everyone in Great Xia, is an unyielding prison to its young owner, and increasingly suffocating at that?

“Second Prince, good news, as soon as dusk falls, you can head to Milk Tiger Forest.”

West of the Star-picking Hall’s practice field, Xia Yusheng is dressed in a custom-fitted black outfit holding a silver long blade, engaging fiercely with an Intermediate Thunder Kui, over seven meters in length, when he hears Han Yue’s words from the edge of the practice field, his expression freezes abruptly.