Previously on Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely...
Fifty elite Xianyang Level warriors are briefed and equipped for a dangerous two-month expedition into Blood Miasma Zone 21. Equipped with special emergency supplies and weapons, Xia Hong reflects on the sheer power disparity between himself and the true strength found within the Blood Miasma Plain, anticipating formidable foes and a perilous but exciting challenge.
"Town Guard Army, Wind Control Miasma Disperse, for five days!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh......
At the final moment before departure, Fan Qinghu issued the last command known as "Wind Control Miasma Disperse" to the fifty thousand Town Guard Army.
On the north side of the Golden Bone Melting Furnace, the Town Guard Army had already set up a thirty-meter-high giant bellows. On the side wings of the bellows were twenty ropes, more than two hundred meters long, made from Qingxun Tree Vine, with each rope having five hundred bare-chested Town Guard soldiers bound to them in sequence.
"Hey......"
At Fan Qinghu’s command, the tens of thousands of Town Guard soldiers roared in anger, pulling the ropes in unison, causing the massive bellows to resonate with a deep sound. A terrifying airflow emerged from within the bellows, suddenly sweeping towards the south side of the Golden Bone Melting Furnace.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh......
The silver smoke emitted by the furnace, originally rising vertically, was only slightly twisted by the airflow. But under the impact of the enormous airflow from the northern bellows, it suddenly changed direction, directly flying towards the Blood Miasma Plain in the south.
"Only a Feudal Town could devise such a method... No, just having the idea is useless without the right materials, resources, manpower, and power. Truly impressive, impressive."
As he watched the rolling silver smoke rush towards the Blood Miasma Zone, Xia Hong was both shocked and oddly bemused.
"But this Golden Bone Melting Furnace still can’t compare to my Yangxu Tripod..."
Under the influence of the bellows, the silver smoke diverted southward, infiltrating section 21 of the Blood Miasma Plain for roughly fifteen minutes. After the blood-colored miasma thinned slightly by one or two parts, Fan Qinghu issued the final command:
"Enter the Plain!"
Xia Hong’s gaze sharpened as he followed Fan Qinghu, stepping directly into the miasma zone.
When he entered the main building of the military camp yesterday, he had already demonstrated his strength, so at this moment, he was one of the five positioned at the forefront.
Leading, of course, was Fan Qinghu, followed by four others beside him: the Eldest Prince of Lin Chu County Mansion, Cai Yunlan; the Eldest Prince of Qingcang County Mansion, Cai Yunsheng; the Vice Admiral of the Silver Scale Army, Cai Yunwu; and Zhu Long, the General overseeing all military affairs in Lin Chu County.
Under Cai Qiu, each county had two military branches, the Town Guard Army and the County Guard Army. The so-called General was the one who governed these two military branches. Hearing Zhu Long’s name from Cai Yunlan yesterday, Xia Hong immediately thought of the Adviser Zhu Yan.
"The Zhu Family is also one of the six surnames outside the Landgrave’s lineage in Cai Qiu. Judging by Zhu Long’s appearance, he seems to be of the same generation as Zhu Yan. A General with 42 Jun strength and a 19 Jun Adviser - just these two alone shouldn’t be enough to support a major clan with an illustrious surname, so this Zhu Family likely also has a Tribulation Body Realm expert. Cai Qiu truly is full of hidden talents..."
As Xia Hong reflected, he couldn’t help but glance at Zhu Long more intently.
That extra look immediately caused a problem.
Zhu Long obviously noticed his gaze, turned his head back, and immediately locked eyes with Xia Hong.
He nodded slightly at Xia Hong, and a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.
Xia Hong quickly nodded in return with a smile, and as he averted his gaze, his heart suddenly felt a slight warmth towards Zhu Long.
When being secretly observed by a stranger, the first instinct should be to get irritated.
This Zhu Long evidently had a good temperament.
Buzzz......
In thought, Xia Hong, alongside Cai Yunlan and the four others, stepped into the miasma zone nearly side by side. The moment the blood-colored miasma surged towards his skin membrane, a buzzing sound resonated in his ears.
The invasiveness of this blood-colored miasma was extremely high. As soon as he stepped in, before his back foot even touched the ground, half of his body was already stained blood-red by the wildly approaching miasma, which continued assaulting the skin membrane, trying to infiltrate through pores into the flesh and even the bone.
Not daring to be careless, Xia Hong instantly unleashed his 47 Jun strength, shattering the miasma while stepping forward, fully entering the miasma zone.
The next second, a strange thing happened.
Originally on his right, no more than one or two meters away, Cai Yunlan suddenly vanished from view.
Of course, not truly disappeared.
Cai Yunlan had moved and now appeared in a region more than ten meters away on his right.
"Just as I suspected, its interior dimensions are vastly larger than its exterior suggests, magnified tenfold in every direction. This clarifies why Section 21, appearing to be a mere 20 square kilometers on the map, actually encompasses 2000 square kilometers. The blood-colored miasma's suppression of perception abilities explains everything."
Generally, a Xianyang Level expert's perception range mirrors the effective distance they can exert their power. When Xia Hong achieved his breakthrough to the mid-stage of Xianyang last year, his farthest perception extended up to three kilometers.
However, his perception has now been drastically reduced to a mere 300 meters, a tenfold decrease.
"It's fortunate that a 300-meter perception range still exists. Relying solely on my eyesight would be far worse. My current visible distance barely reaches beyond a hundred meters, and everything beyond that is obscured by a thick red haze, making it nearly impossible to discern anything."
Xia Hong gazed into the miasma zone, his eyes narrowing slightly.
In stark contrast to the frigid world outside, within this miasma zone, the heavens above, the earth below, the trees, even the air currents swirling around, and every item including the attire on his person and those nearby—everything visible was tinged with blood-red, utterly devoid of any other color.
"It's no wonder they declare one will either succumb to madness or perish. Even without any direct influence from the miasma itself, prolonged exposure to this environment would undoubtedly shatter anyone's sanity..."
The density of trees within the miasma zone was not considerable. Casting his gaze outwards with his limited hundred-meter visual range, Xia Hong could discern no more than twenty trees in the vicinity.
