The sky is full of wind and snow, and the north wind is howling.

Between the mountains and mountains in the northeast of Liaoning, there is a lonely wooden house. The snow in front of the hut was knee-high, and the eaves were covered with ice edges, but the smoke from the chimney of the roof was slightly warm.

Not far from the wooden house, two people came by stepping on the snow. The man in front of the head was of medium stature, with a thin and gray face, and his fingers were shriveled into claws. The first person in the back was tall and muscular, but his head and face were covered by a haphazardly cut linen garment. Both of them wore hats to cover their faces, unwilling to reveal their faces easily.

Walking to the hut, the leader went up and knocked on the door.

The wooden door opened silently, and when I walked in, I found that there was a lot of space inside. There are more than a dozen greasy and blackened thick wooden square tables in the hall, and there are more than a dozen strange people in different costumes sitting scattered between the tables, either chatting or talking, each holding a wine glass, chopsticks and spoons, and making a noisy voice. When they saw the wooden door open, they all turned their heads to look.

The newcomers glanced at the wooden house a few times, walked straight to the counter in the room and asked, "Shopkeeper, is there a clean single room, I want to stay for a few days." ”

Behind the counter is a burly man, who should be the owner of this wooden house. His hands were greasy, he was cutting meat, and when he heard this, he sneered: "How can there be any private rooms in this ghost season?" The backyard horse pen is still empty, but it's clean, but it's a little windy. But your brother Jia is a ghost cultivator, and he doesn't care if the wind is strong or not. ”

If you want a single room, this is Jia Gang. He was familiar with the shopkeeper, and he didn't care about his ridicule, so he nodded slightly. However, the shopkeeper looked at him a few more times, then looked at the one behind him, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Jia, your cultivation has improved, and the one behind you doesn't look bad." Where is this going fortune? Let's give you a detailed reference. ”

Jia Gang sneered when he heard this, his voice rustled like a whetstone, but he asked rhetorically: "I haven't come out to hang out for a while, what's the lively news recently?" ”

"If you want to say that the biggest excitement in the north today, it is naturally the founding of the state of Nurhachi. This founding ceremony is today, and people are telling the Quartet to be the lord of this Jurchen. It wasn't the owner of the wooden house who spoke, but a visitor sitting in the shop.

As soon as he said this, there was a discussion in the wooden house again.

Someone sneered: "A group of barbarians dare to establish a country, it is simply a monkey crown, which is extremely ridiculous." ”

Someone else retorted: "Barbarian? I wonder how many people are defecting to this barbarian now. Our Ming Dynasty's dignified Dongchang masters have all passed. Not only did they take refuge, but they also set up a 'recruitment hall' and went to the Central Plains to pull a lot of people together. All of you here want to take refuge but can't. ”

"Now the court and the central government are in a state of confusion, and the princes only know about infighting. The desolate vassals here have all established a country, and they are afraid that they will also pretend to be deaf and dumb, and they should not take it seriously. Someone grabbed the wine glass in anger and drank it down, causing a long sigh in the wooden house.

Jia Gang was indifferent to these discussions. He had come to this hut just to rest for a while, to find out some news, and also to make some trades and exchange for some useful cultivation materials.

Liaodong is a bitter cold place, and life is difficult. The barbarians are ferocious, the monsters are rampant, the merchants are extinct, and ordinary people will never come here. But because of this, there are all kinds of rare treasures, strange flowers and trees, spirit beasts and rare birds hidden in this vast mountain field. There are many more treasures across the Central Plains than in the crowded Central Plains - as long as there are enough benefits, the wind and snow can't stop the cultivators who want to get rich.

Everyone in the wooden house talked about Nurhachi, and someone asked Jia Gang, "Brother Jia, who is this person behind you?" ”

"Brother Jia himself is not a person, how can he be a person next to him?" Some people laughed at Jia Gang's old bottom. Even among the monks, ghost cultivators are also known for being unapproachable and unpredictable. This question makes people even more curious about who is this person behind Jia Gang?

The 'person' behind him is Jia Gang's trump card, and he naturally refuses to show his bottom easily. It's just that he doesn't cause trouble, but someone wants to provoke him. Several monks who felt that their strength was not bad saw that Jia Gang's ghost cultivation was not pleasing to their eyes, and they jumped out one after another to ask for clarification.

Now that the snow is covering the mountain, the monks in the hut are bored, and they all start to make a fuss when they see someone fighting. But when he really made a move, everyone found that Jia Gang was carrying this copper skin and iron bone behind him, his body was strong, and he was quite unreasonable in fighting - ghost cultivation has always lacked the ability to face it head-on, but this strange man is obviously different.

"Bronze corpses?" After a few moves, the dispute naturally subsided. During the fight, the weird man's headscarf controlled by Jia Gang fell off, revealing half of his metallic face, which immediately attracted exclamations.

"What nonsense is a bronze corpse, this is not even an iron corpse." The owner of the wooden house is the highest level of cultivation, and he doesn't mind his customers learning a thing or two, but this 'weirdo' who can fight still arouses his surprise, "Isn't this the head of Ekhkulen's department, Ucha?" ”

Zhou Qingfeng obtained the soul of Wucha and refined the statue of the Heroic Spirit. Jia Gang obtained the body of Ucha and buried it in a place with a strong yin qi for seven hundred and forty-nine days, and finally achieved a small success. And it came exactly two months after that day that he came out of hiding. Who knew that the first contact with outsiders today, the trump card in his hand was exposed.

Hearing the name 'Ucha', everyone in the wooden house looked at Jia Gang intently. The surprise on their faces was even worse than when they had just talked about the establishment of the state, after all, the major events of the founding of the country were also paid attention to by the imperial court, and they paid more attention to another major event that happened two months ago - the extermination of the Ekhkulun clan.

There are more than 10,000 people in Ekhkulen, and the head of the department, Ucha, is not weak. But the tribe was wiped out, and the head of the tribe was refined into a corpse, and there must be many secrets behind this matter, maybe there are some treasures to grab.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Jia Gang secretly screamed that it was not good. However, the shopkeeper of the wooden house said in a deep voice: "Brother Jia, don't worry, you fellow Daoists have no malicious intentions, and they don't get your news in vain. After saying that, the shopkeeper shouted to the people in the wooden house, "If you want to hear the news, come up and join in." I bet what Brother Jia said would be worth the money. ”

The flow of information in ancient times was slow, and even news that was delayed for a month or two was precious. And having enough information is equivalent to having enough priority, and the monks in the wooden house are willing to spend money to know more about what they have seen. They all took out silver taels and waited to hear the story.

The shopkeeper of the wooden house even took out a small bottle and said to Jia Gang: "Brother Jia, I have a drop of Barilla here, how about changing the most secret part of your message?" ”

"Barilla?" Jia Gang couldn't help but be moved, this elixir is very good for calming the mind, and it has no price. "I really didn't expect this thing to be in your little shop."

The shopkeeper smiled slightly, "This is also the blessing of the founding of the state of Tuojian, that Ming traitor Gu Yuanwei actually recruited an alchemist for Nurhachi, and now this northern border wilderness can also produce some pills." How about this drop of Barilla for your news? ”

Jia Gang took the porcelain bottle, uncorked it, smelled it, and casually poured the drop of barilla into his mouth. For a moment, the black qi around his body was rising, and he condensed and contracted. He chuckled a few times, but it sounded much better than before.

"I won't hide it from you, behind me is indeed Ucha, the head of Ekhkulen." Confirming that the elixir was effective, Jia Gang no longer resisted. As soon as he opened his mouth, he affirmed the innkeeper's judgment, and made everyone in the wooden house look solemn. "I was recruited by Gu Yuanwei's apprentice Yang Jian two months ago, and I was going to Ehekulun to kill their other apprentice, Zhou Qingfeng, who had defected."

"Ah......, but the kid who once made a big fuss in Fushun Horse City?" Someone interrupted. Uncle Zhou's reputation is even brighter than he imagined.

"Exactly." Jia Gang nodded and continued: "Yang Jian took a dozen people to Ehekulun, but he collided with Zhou Qingfeng on the night of his arrival. After a desperate fight, Yang Jian was defeated and fled. ”

The shopkeeper of the wooden house felt incredible, and hurriedly asked: "I heard that Yang Jian's cultivation is not low, and Zhou Qingfeng is young, but there were other masters to help him at that time?" ”

"Nope." Jia Gang shook his head with a wry smile, "There are only more than a hundred slaves around Zhou Qingfeng, and as soon as the two sides fought, twenty or thirty of his slaves were hacked to death. I also have a grudge against Zhou Qingfeng, and I hate to slaughter him. At that time, his cultivation was only one level, and no one thought that he could turn the tables. ”

And then what?

Everyone saw that Jia Gang's current cultivation was a 'third layer of qi and blood', and Yang Jian was a 'fourth layer of qi and blood', and these two people alone were enough to easily kill Zhou Qingfeng.

The shopkeeper asked, "That Zhou Qingfeng is just a minor doll, what kind of magic is he hiding?" ”

"Exactly." Jia Gang nodded affirmatively again, "Divine Soul Technique, the Way of the Military Formation." The kid put up a formation of ten people, and used a group of panicked slaves to resist Yang Jian's attack, and even almost killed back. ”

Ah......, the way of the military formation?!

These people were even more surprised, and the shopkeeper said puzzledly: "The Divine Soul Technique is already difficult, and the way of the military formation can only be used for fighting. This series of spells has always been difficult to comprehend, how did Zhou Qingfeng learn it? ”

"It was taught by the Great Belle Chu Ying of the Jianzhou Ministry." Jia Gang said with a wry smile.

There is no one who does not know the Jianzhou Department if he begs for a life in the Northland, and there is no way to know the Jianzhou Department without knowing which former Jurchen No. 1 master Chu Ying - ordinary monks are average in strength from the first to the fifth floor, and only the sixth, seventh and eighth floors are considered to be acceptable. The strength of the ninth layer is several times higher than that of the eighth layer, and that is the real powerhouse.

Chu Ying even surpassed the ninth layer, he was not only proficient in the cultivation path of 'muscles and bones', but also had a close understanding of 'qi and blood' and 'divine soul'. For the monks in this wooden house now, it is an unreachable and unimaginable powerful existence.

Hearing that Zhou Qingfeng's military formation technique was actually taught by Chu Ying, everyone in the wooden house had the word 'no wonder' in their hearts, and they all felt that it was understandable that the kid defeated the strong with the weak.

"By the way, how is Chu Ying now?" Jia Gang asked rhetorically. After he separated from Zhou Qingfeng, he was busy refining Wucha's body, and he didn't know anything about the outside world at all.

The shopkeeper immediately sighed: "We only know that Chu Ying betrayed Hetuala, and there was another big battle with the Jianzhou Department in Ekhkulun. But later, there was a lot of news about Chu Ying's whereabouts, and no one knew. However, Chu Ying's defeat is certain, because in the past two months, he has not heard any news from him. Maybe he's dead, maybe he's escaped. Brother Jia, you continue to talk about Zhou Qingfeng. ”

"Alas, Yang Jian's sneak attack failed, and I was injured and captured. In order to survive, I had to hand over my soul and soul and temporarily became Zhou Qingfeng's subordinate. Jia Gang talked about his experience in Ekhkulun, and incidentally talked about Zhou Qingfeng's various efforts to escape from Ekhkulun.

Knowing that Zhou Qingfeng could still mix like a fish in water when there were many strong people, everyone in the wooden house continued to exclaim all kinds of admiration. Especially when they learned that Zhou Qingfeng had actually dug the treasure cave of Wucha, the head of the Ehekulun tribe, everyone laughed and envied, and asked Jia Gang what he had gained.

Jia Gang harvested a lot of things, all of which were blood, poison, soul, etc., which were good for dispensing medicine. He was also happy to trade with others what he didn't need, and the atmosphere in the cabin was even more lively. And at the end, the shopkeeper approached Jia Gang and asked in a low voice, "Is there any special news about the incident with this Ehekulun?" ”

The shopkeeper had just paid for a drop of Barilla that was worth a lot of money, so naturally he wanted to hear something different.

Jia Gang pondered for a few seconds, and then said, "The ice phoenix was born. ”

"What?" The shopkeeper was stunned and shocked.

Now that the phoenix is out, where is the real dragon?