Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1098: Chapter 381: Hongmen, Seizing the Opportunity to Demonstrate, Allies and the New Nine Towns, Overbearing Great Xia, Shamelessness

Twelve at Xianyang level, half of them glared at Xia Hong with anger, naturally from the Three Towns of Jinshan, Wuchuan, and Chui Mountain who had just received bad news from Bashang City;

The remaining half also looked mostly apprehensive;

Only Yang Fa, the Chief of Beishuo Town, upon seeing Xia Hong for the first time, immediately remembered something, turned to his brother Yang Zun beside him, and whispered something, upon hearing which, Yang Zun’s expression slightly darkened.

Jinshan Lord Shangguan Yang and Chui Mountain Lord Duan Hong both took a slight step forward, it seemed they originally intended to directly rebuke the ones below, but the words stuck in their throats as they seemed to remember something and forcibly held back.

"Great Xia Lord is exceedingly generous, how can Cao refuse, hahaha!"

Cao Qianyang from Yangqu was the first to speak, he seemed to have figured something out, his previous apprehensions had vanished, he laughed heartily in response to Xia Hong and immediately accompanied Army Chief Yan Chenzhou to fly down.

"Last night in Bashang City, I heard that during the day there was a man in black fighting one against five, slaying the three great masters, I was deeply impressed at the time, only regretted being a step too late, not seeing him in person, finally seeing now, truly the reputation is well deserved, Dragon Valley Lord Long Mingyuan, pays his respects to Lord Xia Hong."

Long Mingyuan also descended with Army Chief Li Yangtian.

"Unexpectedly, Lord Xia Hong visited Beishuo City last September, I was out at the time, a pity!"

Following were the brothers Yang Zun and Yang Fa from Beishuo.

Hearing Yang Zun’s words, Xia Hong smiled lightly and said, "I traveled through the Nine Towns last year; incidentally, Beishuo was my last stop. Due to my ignorance of the Nine Towns’ rules, had a slight misunderstanding with Brother Yang Fa, hope Lord Yang Zun will forgive."

"Since it’s a misunderstanding, no need to discuss forgiveness, Brother Xia you are too polite!"

Xia Hong nodded with a smile, then turned his gaze to the six remaining above, though he did not speak, his expression had visibly cooled.

Shangguan Yang, Qin Feng, and Duan Hong could clearly sense the change in Xia Hong’s mood, they looked down at the already seated Three Towns with an initial flash of anger but after a brief thought, they too came down to sit.

Like Xiahou Zhang, upon seating the Six Town Lords’ attention quickly shifted to the dishes and wine pots on the table, their pupils slightly contracted, with countless thoughts flashing through their minds.

"The last honored guest has arrived!"

As everyone sat down, Xia Hong raised his head and looked north.

From the northern sky, a red figure was swiftly approaching Hongguan Camp.

Upon nearing Hongguan Camp, like the Six Town Lords, first surveyed the camp’s situation then immediately noticed the round platform here.

He landed on the platform, glanced around at the gathered Seven Town Lords, nodded slightly in greeting, and finally set his eyes on Xia Hong at the main seat, after a moment of contemplation he clasped his hands and bowed, "Muyin Town Lord Murong Chui, greets Great Xia Lord!"

Upon hearing Murong Chui addressed as Lord, Jinshan Town Lord Shangguan Yang’s expression instantly turned unpleasant.

Wuchuan Qin Feng and Beishuo Yang Zun both had fluctuating expressions as well.

"Lord Murong, please have a seat!"

Xia Hong was not surprised at all, directly pointed to the nearest table to his right, gesturing for Murong Chui to take a seat.

Murong Chui nodded in agreement, directly sat down.

"There are forty-eight types of Cold Beasts distributed across the southern slope of Moao Mountain, among them Snow Shadow Wolf, Rock Armor Bear, Frost-haired Ape, Ice Claw Lizard, Golden Tiger, Six Horn Demon Sheep, Red Simurgh, Vermilion Bird, Black Demon Eagle are the nine most common, am I correct?"

Once all Eight Town Lords were seated, Xia Hong spoke directly.

He showed no regard for how his words changed the expressions of the Eight Town Lords, he picked up chopsticks and grabbed a piece of meat from the table, chewed it a few times, then pointed to the dishes on the table and said: "Chen Xiang Fried Nibbler Tips, Snow Bamboo Stir-fried Bristled Meat, Green Saliva Braised White Bear Paw, Cheng Guo Roasted Lamb Ribs, Crystal Branch Stewed Kui Ribs, Fragrant Cold Fruit Tiger Soup... These nine dishes on the table are specially selected, whether it’s ingredients or auxiliary materials, they are fairly uncommon in the Nine Towns, feel free to try, there’s a surprise!"

"I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the aroma of these dishes, Cao has always loved gourmet food, forgive me, I’ll taste it first."

Following a similar order to seating, Cao Qianyang was the first to move his chopsticks, followed by Long Mingyuan, then Yang Zun, and finally the remaining Three Towns.

Upon tasting the first dish, the Eight Town Lords’ expressions changed uniformly.

Seemingly disbelieving, they switched to another dish to continue tasting.

After sampling all nine dishes, all eight were greatly shocked.

Observing their expressions, Xia Hong’s face showed no surprise.

For the Nine Towns lack salt!

Two years ago when Lu Yang reported this back to Xia City, Xia Hong immediately realized that the productivity of the Nine Towns likely falls behind Great Xia.

Subsequent years of investigation confirmed Xia Hong’s suspicion.

It’s not just salt, everything from Martial Arts Skills, Alchemy, and utilization efficiency of various Cultivation Resources; down to Weapon and Armor Manufacturing, Artifact Forging; even living standards, condiments, and cooking methods, there’s significant disparity between the Nine Towns and Great Xia.

It’s quite sensible actually, Great Xia not only has a powerful camp system but also me, a lord from a civilized world, offering basic insights even if I don’t know how things are precisely made, it’s no issue providing foundational concepts to Mu Dong and others.