Ding … A monotonous knocking sound came from the newly built blacksmith's shop. A sturdy Kulun blacksmith was forging a spearhead. A few slave apprentices surrounded the blazing fire. Some were pushing the bellows, while others were watching. Zhou Qingfeng stood outside the blacksmith's shop. He did not want to go in because of the heat inside. He watched for a while and left without making a sound.
The blacksmith was sent by Chief Uța. He was one of the few skilled craftsmen in Ekulun. If it was not for Zhou Qingfeng forging iron here, this blacksmith would still be in the city like a treasure and would not come out easily.
After Zhou Qingfeng made a request, Uța found a way to get some iron ore from other tribes around Ekulun to barely keep the smelting furnace running. Zhou Qingfeng also sent a few slave apprentices to learn how to forge iron.
After a long period of training and adjustment, Zhou Qingfeng got about sixty intelligent slaves who could speak the Han language. A small portion of these slaves became managers, and most became technical apprentices. Most of them were Han, but there were also Jurchens or other races. Because there were too few people he could use, as long as they were loyal to Zhou Qingfeng, he did not care about their background.
After Chu Ying began to teach the way of the army, Zhou Qingfeng officially formed his own armed forces. The spears forged by the blacksmith's shop were used to equip this army. He originally wanted to build a larger army, but he was limited by the lack of basic officers. He could not manage too many people. A hundred people was his current limit.
This was an army made up entirely of illiterate people. Most of them were Jurchens. A small number of core officers could read some simple words and gave rough orders. When they could march a hundred meters without falling apart under Zhou Qingfeng's training, Chu Ying felt that they were elite soldiers. However, Zhou Qingfeng was not satisfied.
To be exact, Zhou Qingfeng was suppressing his anger in his heart. Recently, there were a few things that gave him a headache.
The first problem was the leather armor. Zhou Qingfeng originally wanted to get some fur to make leather armor for his soldiers. He still remembered the first time he fought against Guna. His sharp Saber of Light couldn't even cut through Guna's leather armor. It was only later that he found out that the leather armor was not an ordinary item. It was a treasure that Uța had given to his son. It could be considered a magic item.
Zhou Qingfeng had obtained a lot of fur from Uța, but he found that it was very difficult to make normal fur into leather armor. He could only make leather coats, boots, and hats for his slaves for the winter. He couldn't count on anything else.
The second was the carpenter's problem. Mao Ada was the only carpenter under Zhou Qingfeng, but this fellow always disobeyed Zhou Qingfeng's orders. Criticism had no effect on him. In the end, it was better to use a whip dipped in water and give him a good beating. Zhou Qingfeng wanted to kill him, but he had no one to replace him. He had no choice but to tolerate this fellow's slacking and force him to make some tools.
The third problem was the possibility of assassination. Chu Ying's reminder made Zhou Qingfeng realize that he was actually very weak. He immediately used his' Baylor 'identity to find an excuse to expel Daer' han from Ahbahai's side, telling the latter to leave Ekulen immediately.
However, expelling Daer 'han did not make Zhou Qingfeng feel at ease. He lacked a strong enough guard, and he didn't even dare to continue living at the construction site outside the city, so he could only return to the city. Even so, the slightest movement at night would constantly alert him. The 'Sky-Mending Stone' gave him a keen sense of hearing, but it also gave him countless false alarms.
These incidents reminded Zhou Qingfeng that he was just a lonely transmigrator without any trustworthy friends.
At the edge of the Temporal Island, people from the future floated in the void, such as Xu Li, who was the closest to the island. He really wanted to pull her to the Temporal Island to be her companion, but no matter what he thought of, it seemed to have something to do with his low level of cultivation.
When it came to cultivation, Zhou Qingfeng resolutely chose to walk the path of the Divine Soul. Right now, he was at most at the 'Divine Soul' stage, but he had no idea how to improve his cultivation. Chu Ying said that he was constantly fighting and killing, so his cultivation was naturally high. This made Zhou Qingfeng very much want to find an opponent to fight — but after training under Chu Ying for almost two months, he became more and more timid.
Without the ignorant and fearless attitude of 'newborn calves don't fear tigers', Zhou Qingfeng always felt that he couldn't win against anyone. Especially after coming into contact with the path of military formations, he felt that if he was too reckless, he could even be killed by a group of slaves.
Under such heavy pressure, Zhou Qingfeng spent every day on the training ground. He ate, drank, and trained with the hundred or so soldiers he had chosen, and even picked ten of his personal guards to train in the simplest military formations. But the progress of the training was really slow.
The control method taught by Chu Ying was incompatible with Zhou Qingfeng — he couldn't use his own consciousness to forcefully invade the mind of his subordinates. And if he couldn't do that, he couldn't build a formation.
Zhou Qingfeng repeatedly practiced on the training ground, trying to find a control method that was suitable for him. And just as he was sweating on the training ground, a small team of about ten people was passing through the dense forest outside of Ekulen City, slowly approaching the construction site where Zhou Qingfeng was training.
This was a team made up of hunters, cultivators, archers, and elite soldiers. The leader was an old acquaintance of Zhou Qingfeng, Yang Jian. This guy who had no ideas was forced to lead the team, because if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to change his current predicament.
The sky was getting dark, and the number of blood-sucking mosquitoes in the forest increased.
Yang Jian looked at the rolling mountains in front of him, and impatiently waved his hand to drive them away, but if he wasn't careful, big red and itchy bumps would appear on his body. He was a cultivator, but he couldn't deal with a swarm of mosquitoes, until the hunters in the team got some grass juice for everyone to apply, and the situation became a little better.
"How much longer until we get to Herkulen?" Yang Jian asked the hunter in a bad mood.
In the wilderness, the fog of the battlefield existed at all times. Knowing the enemy's position was a problem, and knowing your own position was not easy either. As a guide, the hunter could only rely on obvious landmarks such as rivers and mountains to make a rough judgment. As for Yang Jian's question, he gave an ambiguous answer — soon.
"You slave, you said soon yesterday, and now you're saying soon again? How many more days do we have to walk? "Yang Jian was very angry.
Before Zhou Qingfeng escaped, he asked Yang Jian to cling onto the wild boar's skin and become his grandson-in-law. Hugging onto the golden thigh, Yang Jian really rose rapidly and directly became a member of Nurhachi's family. Zhou Qingfeng's escape and Daer 'han's snitch, these things only implicated Gu Yuanwei, but not Yang Jian.
But a few days ago, Gu Yuanwei ran to Ekulen, wanting to use the situation in Jianzhou to capture Zhou Qingfeng, but not only did he not get anything, he even escaped with heavy injuries. When Gu Yuanwei returned to Hetuala, he forced Yang Jian to set off immediately. He had to execute Zhou Qingfeng, and he could not let this' variable 'wander out of his control. Yang Jian braced himself and led a team to attack Ekulen.
Hearing Yang Jian's complaints, a cloud of black smoke suddenly came out of the forest. When the black smoke dispersed, it revealed an old acquaintance of Zhou Qingfeng — the ghost cultivator Jia Gang. This guy was not afraid of mosquitoes, and it was very easy for him to pass through the forest. After he appeared, he said in a deep voice, "It's really not far. My ghost scout reported that there is a big city two mountains up ahead. It should be the Ekulen we are looking for."
"Two mountains up ahead?" Yang Jian looked in the direction Jia Gang was pointing, took out a stack of Teleportation Talismans, and distributed them to everyone in the team. "Then let's work harder and get there before nightfall." He even took special care of Jia Gang and said, "Cultivator Jia, we'll need you to find that bastard Zhou Qingfeng when we get to Ekulen. We've hired you with a lot of money this time, so you'll have to put in more effort."
"Hmph, Zhou Qingfeng destroyed the ghost servants that I have accumulated for many years, and even destroyed the ghost boy that I have spent all my savings to refine. If I catch him, I will refine him into a ghost and order him around. "When talking about Zhou Qingfeng, Jia Gang gritted his teeth. He really wanted to skin him and eat his flesh.
"It's good that Cultivator Jia has this ambition, but don't be too careless. There are still many experts in Ekulen City, and Chu Ying alone is not someone we can deal with. All we need to do is find that bastard Zhou Qingfeng's tracks and kill him in secret. "
Speaking of which, Yang Jian was actually a little afraid. Even his master, Gu Yuanwei, had not been able to gain any advantage in Ekulen, so he felt that he must not fight recklessly. However, when he thought of the talisman bag hanging on his waist and the few magic tools hidden in his sleeves, he felt that there was no need to scare himself. After all, Zhou Qingfeng had only left Hetuala for two months. Even if he could cultivate, he would not be too powerful.
The assassination team used the Spirit Traveling Talisman, and under the leadership of Jia Gang, they quickly passed through the forest as if there was wind under their feet. Yang Jian even took out a paper crane, and with the help of the paper crane, he moved along the ground, feeling very carefree.
When they reached the outskirts of Ekulen City, a group of people quietly emerged from a hill. Taking advantage of the last glimmer of light before nightfall, the city surrounded by the intersection of the three rivers reflected in their eyes. According to Yang Jian's plan, naturally, they would find a way to catch a slave who had left the city for questioning, and then send a ghost pathfinder into the city to find the slave. However, when they looked down from the hill, they suddenly found some movement in the grass not far away.
Yang Jian was delighted. He thought that someone would immediately come to his door when he wanted to catch a captive. However, a coarse head emerged from the swaying grass, and a little monster with a wreath around its neck jumped out. This monster was actually not afraid of strangers. When it saw Yang Jian and the others, it stood still and stared blankly at each other.
The hunter in the team exclaimed, "It's a Woodland Servant."
"What's a Woodland Servant? What's the use of this thing? "Yang Jian did not know this little monster.
However, Jia Gang, who had floated over, was more knowledgeable. When he saw this little monster, his eyes immediately lit up. After flipping through a natural history book, he repeatedly confirmed, "It's a Woodland Servant. It's a good thing. This thing is the most vigilant. It's best to catch it to guard the gate. It's also good at sneaking, likes to steal things, can talk, and is very smart. Quick, catch it and make it a pet servant. "
As soon as Jia Gang, the ghost cultivator, appeared, the little monster opposite him showed a frightened expression. Without waiting for Jia Gang to finish speaking, it turned around and ran, hiding in the forest with a whoosh. When Yang Jian heard that this was a good thing, he immediately threw out a talisman and burned it. From the fire of the talisman, a hound-like monster jumped out and chased after the escaping little monster.
"Chase it." Yang Jian only thought that catching this little monster was a piece of cake. He did not think too much about it and hoped to catch it. The effect of the assassination team's Swift Art had not faded yet, so he ordered the entire team to chase after it.
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