The root cause of this phenomenon was the region's poverty.
Snowflake Homeland was merely a microcosm of the many Bang Cities nearby.
The harsh environment, sparse population, and the region's inherent sensitivity had doomed it to be abandoned by the Vigia Kingdom.
Among the seven human kingdoms, the Vigia Kingdom possessed the largest territory.
Vast lands and abundant resources was the best description of this kingdom.
And that did not even include the vast expanse of permafrost north of the Wall of Despair.
While the bitter cold had certainly affected agriculture and animal husbandry here, the vast land had blessed the Vigia Kingdom with abundant mineral resources.
This was what allowed Vigia to possess relatively advanced forging workshops and Mechanical Workshops.
Mineral resources were simply a gift from heaven.
The Endless Continent had plenty of land and few people, so most regions were not lacking in mineral resources.
But none of them possessed mineral resources as abundant as those of the Vigia Kingdom.
Lords who had descended upon the Northern Frontier mainly conducted business through the [Market] in two major categories.
The first consisted of all kinds of Northern Frontier specialties, including precious ingredients produced exclusively in the Northern Frontier.
The second consisted of ingots and semi-finished products made from various metal ores.
The prices were not cheap, but the variety was abundant.
Therefore, it had not affected Zong Shen's business of selling raw ore.
Azshara Mine was indeed enough to sustain the territory in its early stages.
However, as the Lords developed in tandem, the total amount of resources they acquired would also soar.
Once the [Market]'s resource pool expanded to a certain extent, Azshara Mine's output would no longer amount to much.
By then, price competition would inevitably arise.
That was why, not long after the Defense Challenge