Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations

"Bang..."

"Who goes there?!"

"Who?!"

Captain Dong's warning about the penalty for death jolted Jian Shang awake, and he swiftly rushed into a house by the street.

Amid the thunderous crash, a stern, fierce rebuke rang out.

Jian Shang halted and saw eight young people inside—six men and two women. Three men were holding sabers and swords as they surrounded him warily, while two others had just run out from the inner rooms, and three were packing things on the table.

"The barbarians are here—they've even slaughtered their way into town! Why aren't you running? These are all things outside the body. Lose your life, and you lose everything!"

Jian Shang furrowed his thick brows. He had not expected to stumble upon people who had yet to flee after casually picking a house. Judging by their clothes, bearing, and temperament, they should be NPCs rather than players, so he could not help warning them.

As soon as he finished speaking, he ignored their reactions and rushed into the room on the left.

The eight young men in the hall were left staring at one another, unable to fathom what the man who had kicked in their door was doing. Even if he wanted to profit from the chaos of war, he would not pick such an inconspicuous house, would he?

Besides, they had already packed up the food and valuables and placed them on the table. They had covered them up in time earlier; they did not know whether that man had seen them!

"Brother Jiang?"

A young man with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and a fair, beardless face looked at Jiang Yao—the thick-browed, big-eyed, steady, calm leader of the group—and called out.

"Leave him alone. We're going!"

Jiang Yao cast a puzzled glance at the door of the inner room on the left, then reached out, slung the bundle from the table over his back, and replied.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

The moment Jian Shang entered the inner room, he ignored the eight people outside and immediately pulled out the Golden-Silk Inner Armor from his bosom. He took off his coarse cloth outer garment, put the Golden-Silk Inner Armor on beneath it, then dressed again.

Finally, he took out the Purple Grade cultivation manual, Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations (Incomplete), which he had obtained from killing the village head, Shi Rong!

"Though it's incomplete, it's still a rare internal cultivation manual. Is it Purple Grade even as an incomplete volume, or does only the complete version count as Purple Grade?"

Looking at the purple cultivation manual in his hand, Jian Shang muttered to himself and opened it...

In an instant, countless pieces of information appeared in Jian Shang's mind. A warm current also suddenly arose within his body, circulating along a certain route—it was precisely the circulation path of the incomplete Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations.

Jian Shang ignored the battle outside, and he cared even less about the eight people outside. He immediately immersed his mind in the information in his head and the warm current moving through his meridians...

Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations (Incomplete), the Shi Clan's clan-protecting cultivation technique. It is said to have been passed down from Primordial Antiquity. Its intent is like the journey of metamorphosis and evolution of the primordial Divine Dragon, possessing the ability to ride clouds and drive mist. Its power shakes antiquity and dazzles the present, unfathomably miraculous! The incomplete volume is divided into nine levels. For every level cultivated, the four major attributes permanently +3, martial force permanently +5, overall qualities increase by 10%, and vitality, reaction speed, recovery speed, and so on increase by 30%. Following this pattern, upon reaching the ninth level, the four major attributes permanently +3 (total 3*9), martial force permanently +5 (total 5*9), overall qualities increase by 90%, and vitality, reaction speed, recovery speed, and so on increase by 270%;

(If cultivation is dispersed before Great Perfection, the attributes gained through cultivating this technique will be forcibly deducted.)

The warm current merely completed one Greater Celestial Circuit through his body as if teaching him, then shrank into his dantian, waiting for its master's guidance and cultivation.

"No wonder Shi Rong was so terrifying, like an unkillable cockroach, even after suffering such severe injuries! So it was because of this cultivation technique. This Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations has exceptional effects on vitality, reaction speed, recovery speed, and the like—it possesses the traits of a primordial Divine Dragon!"

After enduring the pain from the flood of information in his mind, Jian Shang did not have time to comprehend or digest it. He swiftly rose to his feet, grabbed the Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear, and rushed outside.

As for Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations, it was naturally not so easy to cultivate, and Jian Shang had no time to train it. He had learned it in such haste only to prevent it from dropping if he was killed by the barbarians!

Putting on the inner armor and learning the cultivation technique took roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

When Jian Shang rushed out of the house, the Northern Di Barbarian Cavalry had yet to reach this stretch of road. The fleeing crowds were still numerous and packed together, crying to heaven and calling to earth, while furious roars and miserable screams continued to linger without end.

"Stay calm! Stay calm!"

The refugees ahead were packed tightly together. Jian Shang pondered calmly for a moment, then swiftly charged into a narrow alley.

The nearest route out of Shizhuang was naturally along the broad streets, but there were too many people. It was better to take the alleys. After all, he was alone; if he moved quickly, he would certainly be much faster than taking the main road.

He rushed into the alley and passed through the lanes. Just as the eastern village entrance came into view, Jian Shang swept his gaze aside and suddenly spotted the six men and two women he had seen earlier. Holding sabers, swords, and axes, they were hiding at the entrance of a gourd-shaped cluster of buildings. Using all sorts of debris and walls for cover, they watched the distant street tensely. Some even held stones, bamboo poles, ropes, and other things.

The Northern Di barbarians were attacking from the north, and the vast majority of players and NPCs were fleeing south. Thus, the only people visible on this street were civilians greedy for their belongings, who had just rushed out of their homes and were fleeing for their lives. Compared to elsewhere, this place was already sparsely populated.

"You're still not leaving? Don't tell me you plan to fight the barbarians head-on? As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood!"

They were strangers, and they were NPCs. Jian Shang had been about to leave on his own when a thought suddenly struck him. He walked over to a delicate young girl dressed in light purple gauze, with a huge ponytail and fine, graceful features, and earnestly advised her.

"My brother said... the Northern Di are all cavalry. Their mobility is very, very strong. Two legs definitely can't outrun four, and even if we run out of town, we'll still be caught and killed. So he told us to ambush the barbarian cavalry and seize their horses!"

The delicate young girl, who looked to be about sixteen, seemed rather shy around strangers. Grateful for Jian Shang's good intentions, she blushed and answered in a timid, soft voice.

"Oh?!"

Jian Shang's eyes lit up as he fell into thought.

That was true. How had he not thought of it? Even Ye Caiyun and the others were not confident they could escape—could he really outrun the Northern Di's iron cavalry?

"My name is Jian Shang. What's yours?"

Having made up his mind, Jian Shang could not help moving closer as he tried to build rapport.

"Jiang Qing. Just call me Qing!"

The girl shrank back, pulling away from Jian Shang as he approached. Her face reddened all the way to her ears as she replied softly.

"Who are you?! Don't think you can deceive... Don't cause trouble. Get lost!"

Jian Shang was about to say something else when a young man with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and a fair, beardless face, standing one street away from Jiang Qing, glared viciously at him and shouted angrily.

Jian Shang was speechless. He seemed not to have done anything, did he?

"Quiet! They're here!"

At the front, Jiang Yao, the thick-browed, big-eyed man standing more than ten meters from Jian Shang, glanced at Jian Shang before glaring at the young man and rebuking him.

"Awoo, awoo, awoo..."

At the distant street corner, five barbarians appeared. Riding tall horses, clad in animal hides, their faces marked with tattoo patterns, they wildly galloped forward while howling, wielding weapons such as curved sabers and wolf-tooth clubs. All of them looked quite burly and rugged.

The young man shot Jian Shang one last vicious, warning glare, tightened his grip around the boulder the size of a head in his hands, and watched the approaching barbarian cavalry nervously...

"Don't be nervous. I'm here!"

Jiang Qing seemed extremely nervous as she tightly gripped the bamboo pole more than a meter long in her hand, her eyes fixed on the approaching barbarian cavalry. Jian Shang smiled and patted her slender shoulder in reassurance.

"Mmm..."

Jiang Qing's body suddenly trembled. Like a startled rabbit, she shrank away and quickly pulled farther from Jian Shang!

This little girl is way too shy and timid, isn't she?

Jian Shang pursed his lips and muttered inwardly. At the same time, he gripped the Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear tightly and fixed his gaze on the foremost barbarian cavalryman.

A street thirty or forty meters long was no more than the distance of a few breaths for barbarian cavalry galloping forward with wolfish howls.

Their lives were on the line. It was not only Jiang Qing, whom Jian Shang considered timid and shy—even everyone else, Jian Shang included, stared tensely at the barbarian cavalry, until even the sound of breathing was barely audible!