Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

The upper echelons of each town had already sensed something was wrong by then. It had been over four years since Great Xia’s eastward expansion, particularly since Hongmen opened its port, and each town had come to understand Great Xia’s strength fairly well.

They all knew that without limits on the issuance of Alliance Hunting Orders, the Five Towns would inevitably suffer great losses, prompting them to unite in opposition, demanding restrictions on the number of additional Alliance Hunting Orders issued, and equitable distribution of any further orders.

It was here that the trap appeared!

“It was made clear at the time of signing the treaty that opening the Southern Slope Resource Territories was to strengthen the people and the military, enhancing the overall strength of the Nine Towns. Now, the Hierarch’s issuance of more Hunting Orders is to achieve this goal. The standards for applying for the Orders are uniformly applied to all nine towns, including Great Xia. What’s the issue? Are you saying that because Great Xia is too strong, we must accommodate you?

I, as Minister, state clearly, we can either not increase even a single Hunting Order and maintain the status quo or fully open up. You choose!”

This was Xia Chuan’s original statement, and within three days, these words had spread throughout the Southern Slope Territory.

Instantly, the Five Towns were in an uproar, public sentiment was high, and facing overwhelming public opinion, how could the Lords and leaders of the Five Towns dare to continue opposing?

Thus, the unrestricted issuance of Alliance Hunting Orders began.

Since then, the nightmare for the Five Towns truly began.

By the end of the year before last, the total number of Alliance Hunting Orders had increased to 3,000, with each of the Northern Three Towns plus Yangqu and Dragon Valley having just over 200; Chui Mountain, Jiangxia, and Muyin each had over 300; and the remaining over 1,000 Orders were all in the hands of Great Xia alone.

By this month, the total number of Alliance Hunting Orders had surpassed 6,000, with Great Xia directly holding over half, combined with the latest information obtained by the Five Towns, indicating the Muyin Three Towns had long been secretly annexed by Great Xia, including their Orders. This means Great Xia effectively controls more than two-thirds of the teams holding Orders.

The Orders are merely a means; the key is that those teams holding the Orders can freely enter and exit all resource territories under each town’s authority for gathering and hunting, so a vast amount of Cold Beast Spirit Plants and various precious resources continuously flowed into Great Xia through this method.