Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1310 - 429: Holy Platform and Offerings, the Fourth Xianyang Level, Astonishing Talent, Ritual Process

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Previously on Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely...
Xiang Liang admired his wife Wang Yuxiu's thorough preparation of sacrificial items and led the family toward the Sect Temple, carrying infant son Xiang Chong despite the cold weather concerns. His younger siblings yearned to join the Holy Platform ceremony but lacked the required noble titles, a rare achievement in Great Xia. Amidst throngs in the Ancestral Hall, they ascended to the Sect Hall, where Xiang Liang earned envious recognition for his Ninth-rank Marquis title, before worshiping at the glowing family shrine and proceeding alone with Xiang Chong.

Nestled along the valley, the sect temple stands in the innermost depths of the inner city.

Spanning 33 meters long, 33 meters wide, and rising 55 meters tall, this temple splits into three levels shaped like a pyramid. Yet, instead of a sharp peak, its uppermost level forms a lofty platform.

Serving as the ancestral hall, the ground floor welcomes any Great Xia citizen on record to set up a stele for ancestral worship; it claims most of the building's volume, boasting a soaring 35-meter ceiling.

Restricted to nobles granted founding merits, the second floor houses the sect hall. Even with Great Xia's mere 339 nobles today, planners foresaw growth by allotting a 15-meter ceiling height. Walls around it feature more than ten thousand empty shrines awaiting future use.

Perched highest in the sect hall sits the Xiang Family shrine. Clutching his son, Xiang Liang climbed the twisting stairs in under fifty breaths to emerge at the summit.

Sparse travelers dotted the stairs, and sensing his tardiness as others had arrived, Xiang Liang quickened his pace, surging through the doorway onto the uppermost level.

As he stepped onto the top level, Xiang Liang's eyes locked instantly on the central silver platform.

Oriented east to west, this square silver platform measured five meters per side. Nine descending steps led up to it, gleaming with brilliant silver sheen that screamed pure silver craftsmanship.

A rectangular table two meters across crowned the platform, bearing ten glowing spiritual tablets arranged in three descending rows:

Centermost and tallest read 'Great Xia,' symbolizing the whole Great Xia Camp; below came five tablets for main sect leader Xia Hong, sect mother Li Xuanling, branch sect leader Xia Chuan, branch sect mother Xiao Ning, and Xiao Yu; the bottom row displayed four more for main sect young master Xia Yuyao, Xia Yusheng, branch sect second-generation disciples Xia Yuzong, and Xia Yuning.

Every lesser sect leader climbs to this holy platform yearly to honor the main sect in rituals, marking Xiang Liang's fourth time here. The platform, table, and ten tablets felt utterly familiar.

But what seized his attention now lay the lavish offerings arrayed before the table.

Xia Li set no rigid rules for sacrifice specs, mandating just three beasts, five fruits, yellow candles, spiritual wine, and spirit pills.

Still, for such sacred rites, richer offerings signal deeper piety; plus, Minister Xia Chuan declared spiritual tablets gain mounting spirituality from bountiful gifts, hinting at future wonders; moreover, Great Xia's plenty ensures post-ritual reuse of these treasures.

Driven by these reasons, all prepare top-shelf offerings when resources permit.

Take Xiang Liang's own spread, crafted by Wang Yuxiu: advanced beast meats for the trio, priciest five fruits from the Camp Supply Department, peak sixth-level elixirs as spirit pills, and three elite wines swapped straight from the department.

Barred from exceeding two yellow candles each, his wife maxed out the finest for the remaining four categories within their means.

As a Ninth-Rank Xuanling Marquis, Xiang Liang wielded such finery—imagine those of loftier rank and deeper coffers.

The lord family's main clan sacrifice offerings neared absolute pinnacle last time.

From memory, last year's haul boasted prime cuts from three distinct Beast King Level Cold Beasts; elite fruits, wines, and pills drawn from exclusive Camp Supply Department rarities; plus ten yellow candles outright.

This year's high platform display outshone even that spectacle.

First tray cradled three Cold Beasts—Blood Jade Fox, Fire Stone Tiger, Green Thunder Roar—all under half a meter long, eyes stark black-and-white, hallmarks of Beast King Level might;

Second tray overflowed with unseen spiritual fruits, spirit pills, and spiritual wine for Xiang Liang. Pills alone spanned over ten varieties, surpassing a thousand in count, the camp's ultimate sixth-level treasures, alongside endless fruits and brews;

Finally, yellow candles blanketed the table in hundreds, bathing the platform in radiant splendor, weaving grandeur and poise into the silver blaze.

"Lord Xiang, long time no see!"

Lost in awe at the platform's bounty, Xiang Liang missed the approach of a seventy-ish elder with a middle-aged companion. The voice snapped him back; he whirled, spotted them, and grinned while saluting:

"Old Bai, long time no see!"

They were Bai Shanqiu, his covert mission comrade from last year, and son Bai Yuming.

"Yuming, greet Lord Xiang!"

"Brother Bai, no need for formalities—rise at once."

Watching Bai Yuming, a decade his senior, bow low stirred Xiang Liang to assist, but with son Xiang Chong cradled tight, he could only lift a hand in kind.

Posing as father and son for two years undercover at Dajue Temple, Xiang Liang and Bai Shanqiu forged an unbreakable bond. Though paths diverged after titles, their friendship endured, families intertwined.