The northwestern part of the Cangling Kingdom. Xiliang Province. Dingshui off.

The snow wasn't falling too much, just a feathery light. The walls were covered with only a thin layer of snowflakes, which dispersed when the wind blew. There was a chill in the air from time to time, but it wasn't enough to make the patrolling soldiers on the city walls shiver. Although Dingshuiguan is the westernmost part of Xiliang Province, the temperature is not as low as that of Tianluo Province, which is geographically more western. Although it is located on the edge of the plateau in the northwest, it is surrounded by mountain springs and mountain streams, and is the source of several major rivers on the western route of Xiliang Province. The name Dingshuiguan comes from this.

Beyond the city walls is the Dingshui River, which is almost completely frozen. Because it was winter, the mountain streams, springs and other small rivers that flow into it have basically frozen, and the headwaters of it have been almost completely frozen. Among the main rivers of Cangling Country, the Dingshui River is definitely not a big river, but it is also larger than ordinary small rivers. The ice on the surface of the river is not pure white or colorless, but a mixture of white and ice blue. If the sun shines on it, it emits an attractive ice blue glow. Its ice is thick enough to support a large number of soldiers running or fighting on it at the same time, and even the weight of multiple siege equipment such as catapults.

A group of scout-like soldiers was surrounding the river outside the city gates. The armor and military uniforms they wore were very special, bright crimson and bright orange, respectively, instead of the dark green and black of most of the ordinary troops of the Cangling Country. They faced the river and formed a two-tiered fence. Several soldiers on the outer layer stood, carrying bamboo baskets and bottles in their hands. Several soldiers in the inner layer were squatting, with orange-yellow flames burning on their hands, and they were using fire attribute spiritual power to dig holes in the ice. It's a team of spirit masters.

"Hurry up," said a slightly older spirit master standing on the periphery, "don't keep the general in a hurry. ”

"Alright, Captain!"

The two slightly younger soldiers crouching at the front raised their heads and smiled. Both of them wore alloy gloves, their fists burning with flames condensed by spiritual power, and they slammed into the ice in front of them one by one. This alloy is made of special materials, which are very heat-resistant and will not be burned by their flames. The two of them punched quickly, but the range of movement was not large, and they barely made any sound. After only a minute, the two of them had carved out a hole in the ice that was not too wide.

Two other soldiers walked up to them and unleashed their martial spirits. Two fiery red chains were released from their arms and plunged into the river beneath the ice, stirring up a small circle of waves and two clumps of steam. They closed their eyes at the same time, as if sensing something.

The two chains were quickly retracted. Each chain has several small fish stuck in it. The two quickly removed the fish from the chains, threw them into the bamboo baskets and bottles carried by their comrades behind them, and then put the chains back in. After a few back and forth, the bamboo basket and bottle were filled with a lot of slender fish.

"Alright, that's pretty much it," the captain waved his hand, "it's winter, and I can't catch too much, and I can't catch too much." Let's go. ”

The soldiers automatically stood behind the captain and lined up. At the same time, each soldier released fiery red spiritual power fluctuations, connecting the entire squad into a whole. Under the command of the captain, the entire spirit master team quickly rose into the air, and after a while, they came to the city wall, saluted the patrolling soldiers, and then slowly descended the city.

Inside the Dingshui Pass.

In a vast barracks, hundreds of spiritual masters were dividing into two teams and practicing on the playground in the middle of the barracks. An orange-red spiritual protective film covered the sky above the barracks, shielding the wind and snowflakes from the barracks. The outfit of this Spiritist army was different from the other Spirits legions, and each Spiritist wore a bright orange military uniform with a fiery red full-body armor. They wore neither helmets nor military caps, and wore a variety of different styles of hair. In terms of appearance, each spirit master was a young man in his twenties, only the squad leader and squadron leader were slightly older, about thirty to thirty-five years old.

The playground is divided into two parts. The western part is the fighting ring, which is surrounded by ropes in several different circles. Several teams of spirits lined up in two teams outside the rope ring and entered the circle in a fixed order for free fighting training. There are two spirit masters fighting in each rope circle, and they do not use martial spirits, but only use the most basic spiritual power use techniques, as well as various fighting moves. These teams are all male spirit masters, and there is no female spirit master. The vast majority of the members are tall and strong, with only a small number of members being thin and flexible. The entire west side of the playground was filled with the sound of collisions, hits, and shouts of varying heights. Almost all spirit masters are fire attributes, and only a few are wind or earth attributes.

On the east side is a shooting range. The spirit squad is divided into two teams, one team controls a variety of medium or large firearms, and the other team controls a variety of targets of different shapes, sizes, and hardness. There are many kinds of targets to target, some are wooden blocks, some are boulders, some are metal, and some are simply a large spiritual group. The team of spirits controlling the target were all women. They each unleashed their own spirit rings, using their elemental manipulation to manipulate their targets and dodge attacks from the opposite side. The group of spirits who operate firearms are divided into groups of different numbers according to the type and intensity of the firearms, usually in groups of two or three, one man and one woman, or two men and one woman. Each firearm has a different type of spiritual power sensing and transmission device, which is made of a mixture of metal and precious stones. Each cannonball carries bursts of spiritual power fluctuations, and under the guidance of the target, it hits the target, shattering the target, or hitting the air, blasting out small mushroom clouds. The spirit masters on this side are also based on fire attributes, but several of the female spirit masters who control the target are rare void attributes.

Tang Yingjie stood on a small platform in the middle of the playground and looked around at the soldiers around him. He held the helmet he had just taken off in his left hand and the stopper of the flask hanging from his waist in his right hand. A few men who looked like cooks were busy on the platform, setting up two large barbecue grills and lighting charcoal fires.

"Report!" a loud report sounded from the barracks door.

Tang Yingjie turned his head and saw the spirit master team who went to catch fish standing at the door of the barracks with bamboo baskets and bottles, and waved them in.

Under the leadership of the team leader, the spirit master team jumped up, picked up the bamboo basket and bottle, jumped onto the small platform, and put the bamboo basket and bottle away.

"Report to the general!" the squad leader saluted Tang Yingjie, "The fish has been caught!"

"Hmmm!"

Tang Yingjie returned the salute, walked to a slightly larger long bottle, put his hand in, stirred, fished out a small fish the size of a palm, shook it, and stuffed it back.

"General," said the squad leader, "it's winter, and the Dingshui River is basically frozen in ice, and the water under the ice is very shallow, so you can only catch these small fish." ”

"It's okay," Tang Yingjie waved his hand, "I know." In the winter, it would be nice to find these. Let's start baking. ”

A few cooks immediately took the bamboo basket and bottle from the spirit master team, took out the fish one by one, and began to scrape the scales, skin, shave the bone spurs, and remove the internal organs of the few relatively large fish. One of the cooks began fiddling in front of several large spice jars, making different sauces.

"Alright!" Tang Yingjie raised his voice and shouted, "It's time!"

All the spirit masters on the playground on both sides stopped their movements and turned in the direction of Tang Yingjie in unison.

"Each team counts the results!" Tang Yingjie shouted, "The first place follows the captain to the stage and leads the grilled fish!"

After less than two minutes, the leaders of each team rose into the sky from their respective areas, jumped onto the platform, and handed the notebook in their hands to Tang Yingjie. The winners of the respective teams followed.

"Hmm...... Hmmm......"

Tang Yingjie picked up several different books in his hand and quickly browsed them a few times.

"Good. That's it. ”

He looked up and handed the notebook back to the captain of each squad, facing the winners of each squad's competition.

"Alright. As a bonus, each of you can choose two, one more than the others. You deserve it. ”

"Thank you, General!" More than a dozen spirit masters who had won the victory of each squad raised their hands at the same time and saluted Tang Yingjie. They are all about the same age as Tang Yingjie, between twenty-four or five and thirty years old.

"Report!" was another loud report.

"Come in!" Tang Yingjie didn't turn his head.

A herald in a dark green military uniform and gray armor ran in from the door, trotted all the way to the platform, and saluted Tang Yingjie. He was an ordinary soldier with only a faint fluctuation of spiritual power on his body.

"General Tang, General Qian, please go to the North City Gate Tower. I have something to discuss with you. ”

"Huh?" Tang Yingjie turned his head and shook his flame-shaped fiery red hair, "What's the matter?

"I don't know," said the herald, "General Qian just asked me to invite you." ”

"Okay, I see," Tang Yingjie nodded and put on his helmet, "You can go back the way you came." ”

"Yes, General!" the herald saluted again, ran back to the barracks, mounted his horse, and went back.

"Captain He, Captain Lu, you are responsible for distributing fish to everyone. I'll go first. ”

As soon as the words fell, Tang Yingjie immediately turned into a flash of fire and flew in the direction of the North City Gatehouse.

On the North Gate Tower.

A middle-aged man in silver armor and a dark green burqa stood in the center of the second floor of the city gate tower, staring directly at the Dingshui River in front of him. He wore a silver helmet encrusted with sapphires on his head and a major general's epaulette with a star on his shoulders. Around him, there was a crowd of officers and guards.

"General Qian!" Tang Yingjie walked up to the second floor of the city gate tower and saluted him