First Transformation

Thirty meters...

Twenty meters...

Ten meters...

"Bang..."

At a distance of roughly seven or eight meters, a thick rope suddenly swept up and tightened. One end was looped around the stone millstone before a house, while the other passed through a window, using it as an anchor point.

"A horse-tripping rope?!"

Jian Shang had not noticed the rope in the street before. The instant it sprang up, he immediately realized what these young people intended, and could not help feeling both astonished and delighted.

"Neighhh..."

The Northern Di truly deserved their reputation as a people born on horseback. They reacted swiftly, yanking their reins taut with all their strength, making the warhorses shriek in pain.

Unfortunately, they were simply too close. The tremendous momentum made it impossible for the warhorses to stop at once.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

"&@#..."

Amid a stream of incomprehensible cries and curses, three warhorses were directly tripped, flinging their riders through the air. The last two riders, however, pulled their reins tight in time, making their horses rear up and narrowly clearing the horse-tripping rope by three or four meters.

"Attack!"

With a thunderous shout, Jiang Yao, at the very front, was the first to strike. He sprang out like a hawk pouncing on a rabbit, his saber slashing straight at the rearmost barbarian rider. He moved with astonishing agility, carrying an indomitable momentum.

Axes, sharp swords, bamboo poles, stones...

These six men and two women seemed to have discussed it beforehand. Jiang Yao and another man, both at the front and armed with a saber and an axe, dealt with the barbarian riders who had not been tripped. One person held back, prepared to fill in at any moment; the remaining three men and two women dealt with the three barbarian riders flung from their horses.

"Pfft, pfft..."

Jiang Yao was clearly quite skilled. With one slash, he beheaded his opponent. A large head flew into the air as blood sprayed everywhere.

The other man threw his axe, which buried itself directly in another barbarian rider's chest. The tremendous force sent him flying through the air, and he died before even hitting the ground.

The other three men and two women immediately rushed forward, their firewood choppers, stones, bamboo poles, and other weapons raining down.

"*&@..."

With an angry shout in the barbarian tongue he understood, the three barbarian riders flung from their horses rose up. Though they had been thrown so badly that the world spun around them, only one had been directly hacked to death by a firewood chopper. The other two, struck by stones and bamboo poles, were injured but not dead. Roaring furiously, they leaped up while brandishing their curved sabers.

"Hah!"

Jian Shang sprang out at just the right moment. The Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear in his hand shot forth like lightning, piercing directly through one rider's chest. He pulled it out as he retreated, then hurled it, piercing straight through the other rider's abdomen and killing him instantly. His movements were clean and decisive, his strikes ruthless.

"Ding! Congratulations to player Jian Shang for killing an alien invader of the Divine Land. Strength increased by one point. Obtained one volume of Northern Di Saber Technique and one volume of Northern Di Horsemanship cultivated by the slain target. Special reward: one merit point!"

"Ding! Congratulations to player Jian Shang for killing an alien invader of the Divine Land. Strength increased by one point. Obtained one volume of Wind-Sweeping Staff Technique and one volume of Northern Di Horsemanship cultivated by the slain target. Special reward: one merit point!"

At the same time, two loud and pleasant system notifications rang out in Jian Shang's mind.

"What are you standing around for? Two people to a horse, move!"

Seeing how fierce and sharp Jian Shang's attacks were, Jiang Yao, Jiang Qing, and the others all froze. Jiang Yao was the first to react. With a shout, he darted forward, picked up the curved saber of the barbarian rider he had killed, and immediately swung himself onto a horse. His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, drawing admiration.

The others also snapped out of it, picking up the four barbarian riders' weapons and running toward the various warhorses.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?! The other barbarian riders will arrive soon! With your contribution, it's only right that you get a horse."

Jiang Yao, the first to mount up, rode over beside Jiang Qing and looked sternly at the stunned Jian Shang.

"I... don't know how to ride a horse!"

Jian Shang gave a bitter smile, answering with helpless embarrassment.

"Qing!"

The young man with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and a fair, beardless face had already mounted a warhorse. He rode closer and eagerly stretched out a hand toward Qing.

"Pfft..."

Jiang Qing merely gave a sweet laugh. She quickly picked up a curved saber, went to the fifth warhorse, grabbed the reins, and leaped onto its back. Her body fluttered like a dancing butterfly, swift and nimble.

Jian Shang had not expected this girl, who looked innocent, shy, and frail, to move so cleanly and decisively. He could not help staring blankly as she reached out and called to him.

"Get on. I'll take you!"

"Qing!"

The fair-faced, beardless young man's expression darkened. He shouted in irritation, then glared at Jian Shang. "I'll take you! Get on!"

Jian Shang ignored him. He quickly retrieved the Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear, came to Jiang Qing's warhorse, pressed against the saddle, and clambered up in a fluster. He swiftly wrapped his arms around Jiang Qing's slender waist, making her body stiffen as her fair neck turned crimson.

"Go!"

As long as no one was left behind, it was fine. Jiang Yao pulled another young man onto his horse, flicked the reins, and shouted.

"Neighhh..."

"Clop, clop, clop..."

The warhorses neighed, iron hooves flying as they galloped rapidly down the street.

Other than the shy Jiang Qing and the black-faced young man, all seven of them, Jian Shang included, were beaming with excitement.

Name: Jian Shang

Merit: 107;

Fruition Rank: Commoner, unranked;

Prestige: 100, Rising to Prominence;

Command: 10, Strength: 18, Intelligence: 0, Politics: 8.

Internal Energy: 7 (proficiency of cultivated internal art * grade = ?)

Cultivation Arts:

Basic Spear Arts, realm: Entering the Hall, 187/999;

Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations, realm: First Glimpse of the Way, first level of the cultivation art, 1/9 (one full circulation grants 1 proficiency; each circulation requires the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, or ten minutes);

Weapon: Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear, mid-grade weapon, forged from wrought iron. The spear shaft is hollow and bears pear blossom patterns.

Mount: Northern Plains Biao, a warhorse of the alien Northern Di. Its body is sturdy, its limbs strong and powerful, its constitution rugged and robust, its head large and forehead broad, its chest deep and long, and its coat thick and yellow. It possesses immense endurance and fears no cold, with exceptionally strong vitality that allows it to survive under harsh and difficult conditions. It can travel five hundred li a day, remains unshaken on the battlefield, and is incomparably brave. It has always been an excellent military horse.

Wealth: 5 Diamond Coins, 187 gold coins.

As Jiang Qing carried him in a mad dash for escape, Jian Shang, exhausted in both body and mind after the successive battles, finally relaxed somewhat and found time to inspect the changes in his attributes.

The gains were indeed substantial!

First, his Strength had surged to 18 points. That meant Jian Shang theoretically possessed around 180 jin of arm strength. He could already wield the Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear one-handed, comparable to a regular soldier and nearing the level of an elite warrior.

Second, his merit had reached 107 points. In other words, as long as he reached a base with barracks or encountered native NPCs, Jian Shang could potentially recruit 107 NPC followers. If he pledged allegiance to the Great Qin Empire, he could directly receive the appointment of "Centurion."

Third was prestige. It seemed useless, but it represented one's reputation, fame, charm, and more. The higher one's prestige, the more likely one was to draw NPC attention, recruit NPCs, gain NPC favor, and gain advantages in trade and negotiation. Jian Shang had merely killed village chief Shi Rong, yet he had crossed the first rank of "Unknown Nobody" and advanced to "Rising to Prominence." This was one of the main reasons Jiang Yao, Jiang Qing, and the other native NPCs had accepted Jian Shang so easily. The other reason was that Jian Shang had helped kill two barbarian riders, sparing them a deadly fight and casualties!

Fourth, Internal Energy had been added to his main attributes because Jian Shang had cultivated an internal cultivation method. The vast majority of General's Skills required a certain amount of Internal Energy to activate. From the formula for calculating Internal Energy, one could see just how important the grade of one's cultivation art was. Once an internal art reached the fifth realm, Thorough Integration, the difference could nearly be measured in hundreds of thousands. It was truly the difference between heaven and earth. As for the effect of internal cultivation methods on Strength, it was directly reflected in the cultivation art itself and had nothing to do with the amount of Internal Energy. (See Chapter Thirteen for details.)

Fifth, weapon proficiency and the strength of an internal cultivation method used the same realm divisions. However, weapon proficiency was measured by the number of attacks made while wielding that weapon, whereas the realm of an internal cultivation method was calculated by the number of full circulations completed.

Sixth, the warhorse Jian Shang was currently riding did not personally belong to him. Yet when a player and an NPC jointly possessed an item or thing, the system judged that item or thing to belong to the player. From this, one could see many possibilities and make many plans.

Lastly, five Diamond Coins and 187 gold coins were already a vast fortune. Jian Shang had never looted corpses before, so this was clearly the wealth contained in Shi Rong's money pouch.

Jian Shang guessed that it might have been the occupation application fee returned by the system. Now, it had fallen into Jian Shang's lap.

"Awoo, awoo, awoo..."

"*@#&..."

Riding at full speed, Jian Shang, Jiang Yao, and the others had barely charged out of the village when they all caught their breath, rage surging within them. Then they heard the wolf-like howls and crazed, wanton roars of the Northern Di Barbarian Cavalry.

What a gruesome, bloody scene lay before them!

Over a thousand men, women, elderly people, and children fled wildly across the vast plains like a chaotic swarm of ants, only to be frantically hunted and slaughtered by several hundred Northern Di Barbarian Cavalry. Corpses carpeted the ground, while all manner of belongings lay scattered in every direction.

Vivid red blood stained the lush green grass. Vicious pools of blood soaked the grassland into a swamp, with severed limbs, broken bodies, bundles, and miscellaneous objects scattered everywhere.

Desperate sobs, helpless cries, and piercing screams wove together into a symphony of the Hell Realm.

******

Many readers have reacted to and protested about this part. The protagonist clearly obtained Northern Di Horsemanship, so why did he not learn it? Why did he pretend not to know how to ride, letting a woman carry him just to create romantic ambiguity? Too fake.

A brief explanation here!

Ahem... From when the protagonist first obtained Basic Spear Technique and still had to train hard, it should be clear that one did not instantly master cultivation arts after learning them. One merely understood some theory. Otherwise, what would Otherworlders need to practice for? What would proficiency be for? Besides, while fleeing, would the Barbarian Army wait for the protagonist to learn and master horsemanship before pursuing them? Wouldn't that be even more fake?