Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 882: Chapter 337: Major Changes in Xia City, the Wealthiest Person in Great Xia

Great Xia Year 3, September 5th

"Whoa... this must be the handiwork of the Lord?"

Lu Yang, just returned from Hanqiong, brushed the snowflakes off his hat brim and looked up at the grand city gate, over thirty meters high. He then turned to the endlessly stretching black iron walls on either side, couldn’t help but take a deep breath, and immediately realized that such a transformation could only be the work of the Lord.

In early July, he had returned to Xia City once, and it wasn’t like this back then.

He had already tested the wall from the north; even the Basic Strength of someone at Eight鬃 could only leave slight dents on it. In just two months, with the current manpower of Xia City, it was impossible to achieve this—there was only one explanation: Xia Hong had once again demonstrated his miraculous methods.

Lu Yang couldn’t think of any other possibility.

Indeed, as he speculated, Hong Yu, the City Gate Commander on duty tonight, nodded and said, "It must be the handiwork of the Lord. On the tenth of last month, the Minister announced the expansion plan for Xia City, and the next day, we came out at night and saw the changes to the city wall. We veterans were fine, but the newcomers from Longyou and the two batches from Songyang Ridge believed it was divine intervention and immediately knelt down and worshiped!"

Mentioning that night of the eleventh, there was an undeniable excitement deep in Hong Yu’s eyes, clearly revealing his state of mind at that time was not much lighter than those from Longyou and Songyang Ridge.

"The western wall traverses twenty kilometers from north to south. The north and south walls are each fifteen kilometers, reaching ten kilometers into Redwood Ridge. The southern wall is only three kilometers from the Xing River, and the northern wall directly encompasses part of the Arrow Bamboo Forest. The expanded Xia City is extraordinarily magnificent. I predict even the renowned Nine Towns of Moao Mountain cannot compare to it!"

Lu Yang had already conceptualized the scale of the city walls before leaving the Arrow Bamboo Forest, so he wasn’t surprised when hearing Hong Yu’s explanation.

However, upon hearing Hong Yu’s final statement, his eyebrows rose slightly, and he smiled with excitement, saying, "No need to guess. The city scale of the Nine Towns of Moao Mountain is definitely not as large as our Xia City!"

Hearing Lu Yang’s certainty, a trace of puzzlement appeared on Hong Yu’s face.

But Lu Yang was clearly not inclined to elaborate. He glanced up at the newly added tower above the city wall and then at the hundred or so Golden Armored Soldiers below the city gate. With a smile to Hong Yu, he said, "As the City Gate Commander, you are now more prestigious than the leader of an Advanced Hunting Team. I hear that next year, the position of City Gate Commander will be ranked at least at the sixth rank, if not higher!"

"Is what you say true, sir?"

Hong Yu, clearly unaware of this news, was taken aback.

Lu Yang smiled and nodded, "It’s no big secret, just ask your father when you get back. During the June Martial Arts Competition, the Minister mentioned including more positions into the ranks. Xia City now has over 500,000 people, the responsibilities of the City Gate Commander are increasingly important, being ranked is definitely no issue..."

He paused for a moment and continued, "You city guards are technically part of the military ranks, so the position of City Gate Commander should be placed under the newly established Military Department."

The Lord once said that when Great Xia has five armies of a thousand men each, they would officially establish a Military Department. Currently, with Yun Jiao, Long Wu, and Tulong, only two are missing. At Great Xia’s current development speed, establishing a Military Department next year is essentially certain.

So the City Gate Commander being attached to the Military Department and included in the official ranks of Great Xia should not be a major issue.

"Wonderful!"

Receiving direct confirmation from Lu Yang, Hong Yu’s expression immediately became extremely excited.

Seeing Hong Yu so exhilarated, Lu Yang smiled gently, full of understanding.

For everyone in Great Xia nowadays, the three most important things are Cultivation, Rank Entry, and Nobility.

As for Cultivation, it’s fundamental for survival in the Ice Abyss;

Rank Entry signifies becoming part of Great Xia’s true management;

And Nobility means elevating to the elite ranks of Great Xia. Nobles have different clothing, accessories, travel, residences, and even household setups than ordinary people. At the annual Cold Element Festival, they also receive invitations from the Lord to attend banquets at the Political Hall with their entire family. This honor alone is enough to make everyone eager.

Unfortunately, the difficulty of these three things increases progressively.

Speaking of Nobility, without warfare, achieving enough merit for nobility is extremely unlikely. So far, only three new nobles have been added this year, which is proof enough.

Finding a silver mine, locating a Cold Apple Tree, and annexing other camps all sound easy, but doing them reveals just how challenging they are.

At the start of the year, Yu Bin’s Lingyuan Team lost one at Cold Resistance Level and four at the Earth-digging Realm Limit, yet they still couldn’t confirm the silver mine’s location. Ultimately, it was Hou Jing who led the Beizhao Squad on a risky expedition to find it, which proves the point.

Entering the ranks is similarly difficult.

The ranks in Great Xia right now can be counted.

The Minister Xia Chuan, the Seven Departments Director and Deputy Director; the main and deputy directors of the Four Outer City Districts, Long Mountain, Hanqiong, Wuyuan’s seven major camps; the Defense Envoys of Mirror Valley, Beehive, and other ten small camps; and finally, the military positions of the Yun Jiao, Long Wu, Tulong—namely Fourth-rank Captains and Fifth-rank Commanders.