Strength Improved

"Although all these martial arts manuals could be sold for money, since I've decided to travel far away with these loyal and righteous NPCs, and basic manuals wouldn't fetch much anyway, while I'm not short of such pocket change, I might as well give them away. I just wonder whether they can use these manuals..."

Looking at the numerous manuals in the Game Dragon Ring, Jian Shang pondered inwardly. He was quite generous toward those he acknowledged, of course, but that was also for the sake of his own safety. Jian Shang, who knew how cruel reality could be, would never make meaningless gifts.

He first took out the Northern Di Horsemanship manual. The moment he opened it, it turned into a burst of white light and vanished...

At the same time, a wealth of information concerning warhorses and horsemanship appeared in Jian Shang's mind...

After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Jian Shang had absorbed the information in his mind. After marveling in delight, he checked his personal attribute panel again:

...

Northern Di Horsemanship, Realm: First Glimpse of the Way, 0/9. As a people of the saddle, Northern Di was one of the most skilled nations in the world at horsemanship. Their riding techniques possessed unique subtleties that left people astonished and full of praise.

...

Nothing else had changed; there was simply additional information related to Northern Di Horsemanship.

"Skills never weigh a person down; learning more can only help, never harm! After all, the Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear is only a Human Artifact. Who knows when I might lose it? If I obtained a weapon then and didn't know how to use it, that would be truly tragic..."

By now, Jian Shang had already grasped the theoretical knowledge concerning warhorses and horsemanship. All that remained was practice and familiarity. Recalling how he had previously used the Pear Blossom Wrought-Iron Spear as a javelin, he took out three more manuals—Basic Saber Technique, Northern Di Saber Technique, and Wind-Sweeping Staff Technique—and confirmed his cultivation.

Basic Saber Technique, Realm: First Glimpse of the Way, 0/9;

Northern Di Saber Technique, Realm: First Glimpse of the Way, 0/9; though Northern Di was a people of the saddle and unmatched in horsemanship, their curved sabers were also a defining feature—practical yet exquisite, especially suited for saber cavalry.

Wind-Sweeping Staff Technique, Realm: First Glimpse of the Way, 0/9; a special staff technique created over countless years by the Northern Di people living upon grasslands and deserts. Like prairie storms and wild desert sands, it was one of Northern Di's supreme techniques.

About half an hour later, Jian Shang finally finished absorbing the information from the three techniques. Seeing everyone occupied with their own tasks, he gave it no further thought and quickly sat cross-legged, circulating the *Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations*.

Players were ultimately not native NPC inhabitants. Their mastery of every cultivation technique, skill, ability, and spell was determined by proficiency. There were advantages and disadvantages: the advantage was that they could pick things up quickly; the disadvantage was that cultivation progressed slowly. To reach Great Perfection required unimaginable effort!

For internal cultivation methods like the *Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations*, the main process was circulating energy through a cycle. One complete cycle took the fixed time of one incense stick—ten minutes.

According to the settings of Forging the Sacred Court, the proficiency required for each realm was 9, 99, 999... and so on. In other words, if Jian Shang cultivated the *Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations*, he could advance to Slight Accomplishment after ninety minutes, and Entering the Hall after nine hundred and ninety minutes. Though the difficulty would rise sharply afterward, every advancement of the *Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations* permanently granted +3 to the four major attributes, +5 Martial Force, a 10% increase in overall physical quality, and a 30% increase in vitality, reaction speed, recovery speed, and so on.

The advantage was obvious. Especially for players who had just entered Forging the Sacred Court, as long as they dared to kill and fight, they could quickly gain the power to protect themselves. For Jian Shang, this was all the more necessary and essential.

...

There were no years in cultivation. Before he knew it, the once-gentle morning sun had begun to turn hot.

"Ding! Congratulations to player Jian Shang. The cultivated Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations (Incomplete) has advanced. The four major attributes permanently +3. Martial Force permanently +5. Overall physical quality increased by 10%; vitality, reaction speed, recovery speed, and so on increased by 30%. Special reward: 10 Prestige!"

Only when the loud yet pleasant system notification rang out in Jian Shang's mind did he open his eyes.

"Phew..."

As he opened his eyes and exhaled, a clearly visible stream of snow-white breath as thick as a finger escaped his mouth in the warm midday air.

Jiang Yao, Jiang Qing, and the others, who were roasting meat around the bonfire, all turned to look at Jian Shang as he opened his eyes and exhaled. Yet Jian Shang had no time to pay attention to them. He first checked the changes brought by the advancement of the *Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations*.

Name: Jian Shang

Merits: 108;

Social Rank: Commoner, no rank;

Prestige: 110, Beginning to Make a Name;

Command: 13, Martial Force: 26, Intelligence: 3, Politics: 11.

Total Internal Energy: 70 (cultivated internal art proficiency * grade = ?)

Cultivation Techniques:

Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations, Realm: First Glimpse of the Way, First Layer of the Cultivation Technique, 1/99

...

His Prestige had increased by another ten points, while his three attributes of Command, Intelligence, and Politics had finally risen as well. For now, however, their practical effects were still unclear.

What excited Jian Shang was that his Martial Force had surged forward again, breaking through twenty points to reach twenty-six. In other words, the strength in his hands was now roughly two hundred and sixty jin. That was already a rather fierce level; even among elite soldiers, he would not be considered weak.

What surprised Jian Shang was that he had originally thought the Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations would increase Martial Force by five points, but it had actually raised it by eight. Clearly, it placed immense emphasis on Martial Force.

Perhaps some people would wonder why he had not waited until his Martial Force was higher before cultivating and advancing his internal cultivation method. Wouldn't that have made his future Martial Force even greater?

In these chaotic times, where danger lurked everywhere and opportunities abounded everywhere, would you?

"Brother Jian Shang, you're awake? We got lucky and caught a wild boar. There's enough for all of us. I was even worried that if you woke too late, the meat would get cold and stop tasting good. What a pity that would've been!"

While Jian Shang was still immersed in the changes to himself, Jiang Yao and the others had already noticed that he was awake. Before anyone else could speak, Jiang Yao was the first to call out loudly.

"Sorry! Once I started cultivating, I forgot... I'm truly sorry. I didn't help with anything!"

Startled awake by Jiang Yao's call, Jian Shang swiftly caught the intoxicating aroma of roasted meat. Looking toward the group some ten meters away, he saw Jian Shang and the other eight gathered together. Remembering that he had neither helped hunt nor gathered firewood, not even lending a hand, he hurriedly rose and apologized.

Speaking of forgetting the time, Jian Shang had seemingly known before he began cultivating that it would take ninety minutes, and that he could stop midway. Yet in order to seize every moment to improve his ability to protect himself, he had pressed ahead in one breath. If he claimed he had no awareness of the outside world at all, clearly no one would believe him.

As for the others, based on Jian Shang's observations, they probably did not care. However, sharp-tongued Sun Ji likely would not let him off so easily. After all, the "cunning" Sun Ji certainly would not miss such a rare chance to belittle a rival before the woman he loved.

Yet before Jian Shang's words had even faded, and before anyone else could speak, Sun Ji smiled at Jian Shang and said first:

"Among brothers, aside from certain matters that must be clearly distinguished, there's no need to stand on ceremony over everything else. Being too polite only makes us seem distant! Besides, we only made it here because you killed the most enemies. Shouldn't we be thanking you instead!?"

Jian Shang could tell that Sun Ji bore no ill intent and truly did not care. Yet he could also clearly hear the implication in Sun Ji's words. Evidently, Sun Ji was "protecting" Jiang Qing at every moment, as though afraid she would be taken away, never missing any opportunity.

As he rose and walked toward the group, Jian Shang looked at Sun Ji, shook his head with a bitter smile, and teased:

"I believe that if you put more thought into serious matters, you could definitely become a strategist. Being granted a marquisate and appointed a minister might truly be possible!"

********

The third update is here! We're now first among new books in this category and seventeenth among new books overall. Brothers and sisters, can we squeeze a little farther forward?

I humbly beg for favorites and recommendations!!!!