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Green Ridge Stronghold
My Cultivation Increases by One Year Every Day!
Biodata
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Green Ridge Stronghold (青岗寨) |
| Alias(es) | Qinggang Stockade |
| Affiliation | Secretly backed and instigated by the Wang Clan 72 |
| Occupation/Role | Bandit stronghold; robbery, plunder, and armed raids |
| Location | Falling Mist Mountain |
| Status | Annihilated by the Fang Family; the site was ordered burned after the battle 31 32 |
| First Appearance | 11 |
Background / History
Green Ridge Stronghold had operated as a bandit den for years. Half a year before its conflict with the Fang Family, a new First Chief seized control and absorbed every major and minor bandit den within a hundred miles, rapidly expanding the stronghold's forces and influence. 13
Its rise was later revealed to have been orchestrated by Wang Jingtang of the Wang Clan. Wang Jingtang also sheltered Mad Blood Daoist and used the stronghold to repeatedly provoke the Fang Family, including the destruction of its iron-ore mine. 48 72
Organization and Defenses
| Element | Details |
|---|---|
| First Chief | The stronghold's sole Foundation Building Realm cultivator; he rarely left the stronghold. 13 |
| Chiefs | The stronghold fielded numerous numbered chieftains, including the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Chiefs. 14 16 17 27 28 |
| Cultivator force | Initially assessed as having around twenty Xiantian Realm experts, more than one hundred Houtian Realm cultivators, and additional minor bandits. 13 |
| Armed personnel | During the Fang Family assault, Fang Yuan estimated more than two hundred trained bandits equipped with heavy armor, blades, longbows, and organized patrols. 26 |
| Terrain | Located on a mountain with terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. 26 |
| Formation | A defensive formation protected the gates and could create hazards such as falling boulders, hidden spear attacks, and volleys of arrows. 26 |
| Hidden support | The quantity of regulated heavy armor indicated that an outside force was supporting the stronghold. 26 |
Criminal Activities
- Repeatedly harassed the Fang Family's mine and seized pig iron being transported to the city. 13
- Conducted a night raid on the mine with eight chieftains and more than forty Houtian Realm cultivators. 14
- Robbed the Shi Family caravan, demanding its goods and women; the Seventh Chief personally killed an elderly Shi Family representative. 15
- Plundered remote villages after Fang Family counter-ambushes made attacking travelers more dangerous, killing resisters and burning homes. 25
- Captured Fang Man during the later assault on the Fang Family's mineral deposits. 24
Conflict with the Fang Family
Mine Raids
The stronghold's first major clash with the Fang Family came through harassment of the mine west of Falling Mist Mountain. Its night raid failed: most attackers were killed, including a Xiantian Second Layer chieftain who was instantly slain near Fang Yuan's lodging. 13 14
After further losses in roadside encounters, the Second Chief ordered the surviving bandits to lie low and alter their ambush locations. The Fifth Chief ignored this restraint and attacked a Fang Family pig-iron convoy, but was defeated by Fang Yuan. 16 17
Assault on the Stronghold
Green Ridge Stronghold later mobilized against the Fang Family's mineral deposits, inflicting heavy losses and taking Fang Man prisoner. The Fang Family responded by sending an expedition led by the Eleventh Elder, dividing its forces into ten squads to surround the stronghold. 24 25
The direct assault stalled against the terrain and defensive formation. Fang Yuan infiltrated the stronghold disguised as the supposedly dead Fifth Chief, using masks created by the White Face Hand and bone-shrinking techniques to maintain the deception. 23 26
Collapse
Inside the stronghold, Fang Yuan killed the Sixth Chief, the Second Chief, and the Fourth Chief, while also eliminating large numbers of bandits and Xiantian Realm experts. The Fourth Chief briefly surrendered and agreed to disable the formation, but Fang Yuan killed him regardless. 27 28
The First Chief returned and confronted Fang Yuan, while the remaining battle culminated in the stronghold's complete defeat. Fang Yuan later found and rescued Fang Man from its prison; two ninth-level Xiantian death warriors ambushed him there but were subdued by arriving Fang Family stewards. 28 30 31
Relationships
- Fang Family — Primary enemy. The stronghold targeted Fang mines, convoys, and mineral deposits before being annihilated by a Fang Family expedition. 13 24 32
- Fang Yuan — Principal destroyer of the stronghold. He infiltrated it as the Fifth Chief, killed much of its leadership, and ordered the remaining bandits rooted out. 26 28
- Wang Clan — Covert patron. Wang Jingtang later confessed that he had instigated the stronghold's emergence and used it against the Fang Family. 72
- Mad Blood Daoist — Associated with the stronghold through Wang Jingtang, who had taken him in after his crimes. 72
- Shi Family — Victims of a caravan robbery by Green Ridge bandits until Fang Yuan intervened. 15 16
- Nearby villagers — Repeated victims of plunder, murder, and arson after the stronghold shifted its targets away from guarded roads. 25
Aftermath
- Fang Yuan recovered the other half of the Jade Cup from the stronghold's treasure vault. 31
- The vault contained mostly ordinary gold and silver; its total wealth was said to be comparable only to that of a third-rate family. 31
- Fang Yuan ordered the stronghold destroyed to prevent the site from becoming another bandit den. Its timber was to be distributed to nearby villagers, while usable materials were taken to rebuild the Fang mine. 31
- News of the annihilation spread quickly, and Clear Sea City's Prefect personally welcomed the returning Fang Family force. 32