Chapter 496: Chapter 224: Cold Resistance Level Classification, Gains and Persuasion_2 "If Long Mountain only refused other camps to merge, it wouldn’t be much of a problem, after all, we are the weaker side, but the issue is that after refusing other camps to merge, he forcibly occupied all the outer entrances of Long Mountain!" Hearing this, Xia Hong roughly understood. He had previously wondered, among the twelve families of Longyou, aside from the Longshan Camp which is at the foot of the mountain, and the Beehive and Yang Lu clans adjacent to Redwood Ridge, having their hunting grounds, what about the other nine? One must understand, on Pingxi Plain, most of the area is plains with very low vegetation coverage. Although Cold Beasts exist, they are really too few, barely enough to sustain even two or three giant camps, let alone nine. Living off the mountain, in terms of distance, it’s clearly much more convenient to go to Long Mountain. Li Tianhua monopolizing the outer entrances of Long Mountain for the development of his own camp is understandable, but this inevitably compresses the living space of other camps. The subsequent developments are not hard to guess. "Long Mountain acts tyrannically, the remaining camps in order to secure their own survival, began to unite and resist. In the following years, some merged, some resisted, and some were eradicated. Ultimately, through strength, they forced Li Tianhua to open some entrances, but out of more than two hundred camps, only a little over twenty remain." These words, although brief, are enough to prove, just from going from over two hundred camps to now only a little over twenty, how cruel and bloody those years in Longyou were. Hou Hu was one of the hostages of Longyou’s 30th year batch, at that time, he was probably just the son of a leader, meaning he did not experience those years himself, but his tone was equally heavy, most likely due to a deep understanding of his father’s experiences. "Yet even so, the struggle hasn’t stopped!" Hou Hu’s face was grave as he continued, "Honestly, in terms of individual strength, none of us can compare to Long Mountain. Forcing Li Tianhua to open up a few entrances was only possible because our little over twenty camps stuck together. Over time, Long Mountain began to divide us, so the struggle never ceased." That’s inevitable! Opening up an entrance in Long Mountain is tantamount to ceding one’s own interests. If a camp wants to continue developing, it must seize more resource sites. The ultimate goal for all camps is to annex others to strengthen themselves, and Li Tianhua is no exception. "A turning point occurred in the first year of Longyou..." At this point, Hou Hu’s expression turned suddenly grim as he continued, "That year, my father, Hou Hai, discovered a Cold Apple Tree in Long Mountain..." Cold Apple Jade Dew! Hearing this name, Xia Hong immediately recalled the Three Great Medicines he had heard about from the pharmacist surnamed Liu in the Beehive. One of the medicines is called Cold Apple Jade Dew. Moreover, while eavesdropping on Hou Tong and others, Hou Tong had mentioned that once the Beehive switched allegiance to Zhaoyang, after toppling Long Mountain, each family’s share of Cold Apple Jade Dew would double. "Cold Apple Trees are so precious, Brother Hong should also be aware, it is one of the three key Great Medicines in brewing Jade Bone, and also the hardest to find. Such a treasure, my father knew monopolizing it was unrealistic, driven by the cooperative relationship with other camps back then, he revealed the existence of the Cold Apple Tree, hoping everyone could unite to protect it." At this point, Hou Hu’s expression suddenly turned angry. "Unexpectedly, at that time, two families had already secretly pledged allegiance to Long Mountain!" Hearing this, what transpired next was not difficult to guess. The Cold Apple Tree, a treasure related to Cold Resistance Level cultivation, even if Li Tianhua was in the wrong, he would definitely try to seize it; The other camps were even less likely to give it up without a fight. "A great war erupted, and again, more than half of the little over twenty camps were lost. Although Li Tianhua’s strength was formidable, after the big shakeup, the remaining camps were not weak either, leading to an escalating war where both sides fought viciously..." So, the Longyou Alliance was founded on this basis. A flash of realization passed through Xia Hong’s eyes. When he had first heard about the Longyou Alliance from Yuwen Dao, he thought it was the twelve families of Longyou coming together to resist external forces. But from what it sounds like now, it was actually Li Tianhua who, to prevent the expansion of conflict in Longyou, pulled in the remaining eleven families to negotiate the formation of the alliance. "The Cold Apple Tree ultimately went to Long Mountain, but Li Tianhua promised us, the eleven families, that thirty percent of the annual production of Cold Apple Jade Dew would belong to Long Mountain, while the remaining seventy percent would be distributed according to the number of Cold Resistance Level individuals in the Longyou eleven families." "How much Cold Apple Jade Dew can it produce annually?" "Brother Hong is clever to pinpoint the key issue!" Hou Hu marveled at Xia Hong’s sharpness, his tone full of praise. Xia Hong was somewhat confused, but with Hou Hu’s further explanation, he understood why Hou Hu reacted that way. "That Cold Apple Tree was initially supervised by our twelve families together. From the first year to the twentieth year of Longyou, it produced around 200 drops annually. But later, Long Mountain no longer allowed our camps to supervise. From the twenty-first year, production decreased year by year, until the fortieth year it yielded only 40 drops. Brother Hong, if this were you, would you believe it?" ......... Xia Hong remained silent. Regardless of how much truth is in Hou Hu’s words, he understood the message being conveyed. "The treasure discovered by Brother Hou’s father was forcibly taken by Long Mountain. Not only that, but the promise made to your camps early on isn’t being kept, blatantly concealing the production of Cold Apple Jade Dew, deliberately withholding your shares. Such domineering actions, this Long Mountain..."