Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1311: Chapter 429: Holy Platform and Offerings, 4 Xianyang Level, Astonishing Talent, Ritual Process_2

Bai Shanqiu has three sons and one daughter, all married; the eldest son is Bai Yucheng, who is already forty-one years old this year. Bai Yucheng is not only older than him, but with a strength of 19 Manes, he is far superior.

This is Xiang Liang’s current awkward situation. Whether it’s the ninth-rank title or the position of Vice Chief of Punishment, with his current 13 Manes strength, he is far from qualified.

From his preliminary understanding, there are currently 339 nobles in the Great Xia, with strength generally above 25 Manes; those with 20 Manes are very rare, even Bai Shanqiu, who was knighted at the same time without War Body Talent, has a strength of 16 Manes.

Thus, he is at the bottom of the nobles in terms of strength as a Ninth-Rank Xuanling Marquis.

The awkwardness lies in the fact that those stronger than him must address him as "Lord" and proactively salute him, as per Xia Li’s regulations, if they don’t have a noble title.

No wonder the Assistant Minister gave him a green light to the Martial Arts Pavilion for two months before his appointment last year; if he assumed the position of Hongmen Vice Chief of Punishment with a strength of 6 Manes, even the gatekeeper might be stronger than him, which would be truly embarrassing.

Fortunately, Xiang Liang had already encountered many such awkward situations during the past half-year at Hongmen, and he did not take them to heart at this moment.

Bai Shanqiu also noticed his embarrassment and quickly changed the subject with a smile: "The specifications of this year’s offerings are completely different from previous years, has Lord Xiang noticed?"

Xiang Liang immediately nodded in response, seeing Bai Shanqiu with a hint of mystery on his face, couldn’t help but curiously ask: "Could it be, besides the hairstyle ceremony of the two Young Masters of the Major Sect, is there something else more important happening today?"

Bai Shanqiu nodded with a smile and then leaned in slightly to whisper: "I’ve always been in Xia City, so I’ve heard some rumors. I heard the Lord might exit seclusion today, and these offerings were specially arranged in advance by the Assistant Minister. In my opinion, the Lord will definitely showcase some grand measures again, and these offerings might even have better effects than previous years."

Upon hearing this, excitement appeared on Xiang Liang’s face.

After the Major Clan’s annual sacrifice, half of the consumed offerings will be singularly distributed to all minor clans. Xiang Liang received a portion last year, so he is well aware.

Unlike these minor clans, the offerings consumed during the Major Clan’s sacrifice will have significantly amplified effects.

For example, Beast Meat, from the Beast King’s meat, due to excessive energy, can generally only be used as medicine. To consume directly requires at least Cold Resistance Level cultivation, and the offerings processed through the sacrifice procedures will see the energy surge more than tenfold, where Cold Resistance Level consumption results in a cultivation enhancement effect five or six times stronger than Yangyuan Pill;

Similarly, Beast Blood has the same principle, as the Beast King’s blood can aid those at the Earth-digging Realm Limit to enhance their War Body Talent, and after the sacrifice procedures, the offerings of Beast Blood will also experience five to six times the enhancement effect;

And similarly for Spiritual Elixir and Wine;

Previous years’ offering allocations were based on noble title levels: the higher the title, the more one receives. Given Xiang Liang has the lowest ninth-rank title, last year he got only 10 jin of beast meat, 3 jin of beast blood, 1 jin of spiritual wine, and 5 Yangyuan Pills.

From the first experience of receiving offerings last year, Xiang Liang immediately realized why noble strength improvements in Great Xia are faster than others.

Of those four offerings—beast meat, spiritual wine, Yangyuan Pill—he used them, except for Beast Blood, which he planned to leave for his younger brother Xiang Yan and sister Xiang Rong to use when they attempt to advance their War Body Talent.

This year he’ll receive more offerings again, and likely even more than last year, coupled with Bai Shanqiu saying the effects might be better this year, naturally, Xiang Liang is extremely excited.

"It’s about time, the Assistant Minister is arriving soon, let’s find a spot and stand ready!"

Upon Bai Shanqiu’s reminder, Xiang Liang hurriedly suppressed his excitement, glanced around the Holy Platform, saw everyone was already standing according to their noble title rank, and followed Bai Shanqiu to find a spot at the back.

Besides the Assistant Minister Xia Chuan, who presides over tonight’s clan sacrifice, and the two major sect disciples Xia Yuzong and Xia Yuning, there are the remaining over three hundred minor clan leaders and their respective heirs, all strictly standing in five rows according to noble title rank.

The first row has only one person, which is the Director of the Military Department Yuwen Dao, who was promoted to the fifth-rank Jinque Marquis along with the Assistant Minister at the beginning of the year, as he is unmarried, naturally he has no sect heir, so he stands alone;

The second row with sixth-rank Zidian Marquis has only four father-son pairs, namely from Yuan Cheng Yuan Shao, Xu Ning Xu Cheng, Qiu Peng Qiu Hong, Luo Yuan Luo An, plus the solitary Li Tiancheng;

The third row with seventh-rank Qingming Marquis has slightly more father-son combinations: Yue Feng Yue Yuan, Lin Kai Lin Shou, Lu Yang Lu Yuzhou, Liu Yuan Liu Che, Mu Dong Mu Yan, Cheng Feng Cheng Luan, Bai Dongying Bai Yaodun, Zhao Long Zhao Yuanwu, Hong Guang Hong Yu, Meng Yi Meng Ao... totaling 27 pairs;

The fourth row of eighth-rank Chixiao Marquis is even more: Li Yuankun Li Tiandu father-son, Shi Ping Shi Da father-son, Chen Yingyuan Chen Yuan father-son, Peng Bo Peng Zu grandfather-grandson, Hong Tian Hong Ning father-son, Zhu Yuan Zhu Ying father-son, Zhao Hu Zhao Yuankong father-son, Zhao Bao Zhao Yuankang father-son... totaling 61 pairs;

The remaining fifth row consists entirely of ninth-rank Marquises, totaling 295 people, similar to the four rows in front, almost all are father-son or grandfather-grandson combinations, very few are unmarried.

"There are 393 nobles in total, only 390 are present, probably because the noble titles of Huang Yong, Zhu Ling, and Ying Xuan have yet to be successfully inherited by their offspring; hence, they don’t have the qualification to come up."