C1

Youzhou, Ningyang City.

The snow had stopped, and it was freezing cold after nightfall. A desolate crescent moon hung high in the sky.

The main street of the city was empty. Many shops had already closed up. Only the lanterns on top of the doors could be seen swaying in the wind.

On the east side of the street, there was an inconspicuous pub with the door still open. Behind the tall counter, the old shopkeeper was juggling his abacus while drawing on the account book with a pen.

The stove in the corner flickered with a dark red light, and the firewood in the stove crackled from time to time.

There was only one drinker in the tavern, and he sat at the table near the window. There was nothing to eat or drink on the table, so the two large wine jars were very conspicuous.

The drinker looked young, around twenty years old. He wore a long grey robe and had a hair bun tied carelessly around his head. Under the dim oil lamp, his face was slightly sallow, and his eyes were hazy with drunkenness. Sighing stubble on his chin, he looked haggard and decadent. He was leaning on one side, one hand on the table, the other on the other elbow, his wrist dangling, rocking back and forth in a huge bowl with half a bowl of wine in it. The shockwaves rippled incessantly, scattering danger after danger.

The old shopkeeper put down his pen, glanced out of the window, and rubbed his hands together as he walked over to the drinker.

"Hung Tau, do you want more wine?"

The drinker seemed to be immersed in some unbearable memory. He seemed to be in a daze and didn't pay attention to the old shopkeeper.

"Head? You... Do you want more wine? "

The old shopkeeper's voice was slightly louder.

This time, the drinker finally looked away, and the hand holding the bowl stopped trembling.

Gulp.

After drinking the wine in the bowl in one breath, the wine guest wiped his chin and suddenly began to cough violently. With a cough, the drinker's entire body was moved. His originally sallow face became pale, and even his facial features were somewhat twisted in pain.

Pow!

The drinker's upper body sprawled on the table, knocking over the wine bowl as well.

"Head …"

The old shopkeeper looked worriedly at the drinkers and reached out his hand to help them.

At this moment, the wine guest's coughing eased up slightly, and he noticed the old shopkeeper's intention and waved his hand.

"Billing, accounting."

The wine guest propped himself up and said through gritted teeth, as if saying these two words would cost him a lot of effort.

The old shopkeeper nodded and didn't say anything. He returned to the counter.

The drinker held onto the table as he slowly stood up. He covered his mouth with one hand and continued to cough heavily from time to time. With one step, he slowly moved to the entrance of the tavern. The moment he lifted the cotton curtain, a biting cold wind immediately blew in. The originally warm tavern instantly became ice-cold.

The drinker staggered out. Under the cold moonlight, his back looked desolate and lonely.

After a few steps, the drinker put down the hand that was covering his mouth and slowly opened it. A black blood clot astonishingly appeared on his palm.

The drinker bent down and grabbed a handful of snow from the side of the street.

This wine guest was called Hong Yang, twenty-three years old. It had already been three years since they reached Ningyang City, and was a constable of Ningyang City. Everyone who knew him called him Hung Tau, but no one knew where he came from.

After leaving the Ningyang City and moving northwest for more than three hundred kilometers, it was near the Saibei Gobi region. There were two great clans whose names shook the north there — — Hong Castle and Ling Stronghold. These two clans were known as the Saibei Duo Xiong.

Hong Yang was one of the people from the Hong Castle. and he was even the son of the Hong Castle Third Master, Hong Zhenbei.

However, when Hong Yang was eight years old, Hong Zhenjie and his wife went out to do business and then went missing. The Hong family searched for a long time but still didn't find anything.

Hong Castle was a huge family, their clan was complicated and intertwined, the three leaders were in a tit for tat, and after the Hong Zhenbei couple went missing, their faction's influence collapsed. As a result, the position of Hong Yang, who had lost his ability to depend on others, declined gradually. He was often abused and later on, he was lacking clothes and food, and was not treated as a member of the Hong family at all.

Fortunately, when Hong Yang was ten years old, during a clan meeting, the Great Elder of the Hong clan found that Hong Yang had good talent in the field of martial arts, so he got someone to spend a lot of money to send it to his Taiyi Sect for cultivation.

The Grand Elder had actually also worked hard. It wasn't because he couldn't cultivate in the Hong Castle, but to protect Hong Yang so that he could avoid the battle at Xiao Wall. He also wanted to see to what extent Hong Yang could cultivate on the road of martial arts. If he were to really achieve something in the future, in this world where strength reigned supreme, he would also be able to righteously return to the Hong Castle and regroup.

Hong Yang had been gone for ten years. He had diligently trained in Taiyi Sect and his talent was outstanding. He actually became a warrior at the seventh level of the Origin Convergence Stage at the age of twenty.

In this world where martial arts ruled, martial artists all cultivated origin energy. Moreover, their level of cultivation was determined by their degree of origin energy.

Returning Origin Stage was the first stage of a warrior's cultivation, which was divided into nine stages.

From the first level of the Nascent Soul Stage, warriors were known as warriors. They would refine the heaven and earth origin energy into their own Qi, and then use it for themselves.

If one could reach the Gui Yuan fifth rank, it would be a qualitative leap. At this time, they would be able to practice various supporting techniques, causing their combat power to increase by leaps and bounds.

Ordinary warriors who were able to reach the Origin Convergence fifth rank were basically all above the age of twenty. On the other hand, it could be said to be a miracle for Hong Yang to have reached the seventh level of the Origin Convergence Stage at the age of twenty.

As a result, Hong Yang was also recognized by the higher ups of the Taiyi Sect, and was promoted from an outer sect disciple to an inner sect disciple.

He announced in public that three years later, when Hong Castle Junior Castle Owner s were going to take part in the selection, Hong Yang would be allowed to return to participate.

In everyone's eyes, Hong Yang's future was limitless, but a sudden encounter had completely changed Hong Yang's life. In a competition within the sect, he had actually accidentally injured the grandson of the Taiyi Sect elder.

It was taboo to be in the same sect as others! As a result, Hong Yang was struck out of the sect by his master, and his meridians suffered heavy injuries. After that, he was unable to recover for many years, resulting in his cultivation being stuck at the seventh level of the Origin Convergence Stage.

Even though he had encountered an unexpected accident, Hong Yang was disheartened. He didn't have the face to return to the Hong Castle, so he just set up a constable there. All these years, he had spent his days in pain and regret, often using alcohol to numb himself when he wasn't on duty.

The master of the Ningyang City knew that Hong Yang was greedy for cups of wine, but he had never messed things up. Furthermore, he was a rare expert of the seventh level of the Origin Convergence Stage. However, this made the other constables very unhappy. However, Hong Yang was the strongest amongst them, so there was nothing wrong with it.

Ningyang City was located in the northwest of Youzhou, which was the closest city to the Siebei Gobi. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the city, and there was an endless stream of merchants coming and going.

These thieves were mostly rogue cultivators who practiced martial arts. They had no sect or family background, and lacked the resources to cultivate. In these past few years, the strongest Thief Hong Yang had met was only a warrior with the sixth rank of Innate Ranker.