Chapter 333: Nine Manifestations Cloud Dragon

"At the very least, it's a top-grade movement art—perhaps related to the Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon!"

He carefully picked up that martial scripture, and seeing that Long Long Yingchan no longer spoke, only then did Li Yuan solemnly bow once more and take his leave.

The scenery around him shifted, transforming into an antique-styled pagoda.

Only then did he realize that the Dragon Tiger Pagoda seemed to have inner and outer layers: the outer required passing through the pagoda level by level, but the inner layer was an ordinary pagoda where one could move up and down freely.

Going down the stairs, Li Yuan casually flipped through it, and his eyes immediately lit up. His martial arts foundation was already quite deep, and with a casual glance he could see the extraordinary nature of this Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations.

Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations takes the form of a divine dragon in the clouds, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, ever-changing, combining visualization, true Qi, and form-shifting into one. It emphasizes a body like clouds, movement like a dragon, unfathomable traces, covering ten li in an instant.

A top-grade movement art encompassing footwork, instantaneous burst, vaulting, stealth, and more.

"Nine Manifestations Dragon Movement uses the burst of one's entire body's true Qi as the price, allowing nine extreme-speed teleports, each movement like a cloud dragon manifesting—a fine thing for saving one's life."

Carefully tucking the scripture into his bosom, Li Yuan's opinion of this voyeuristic Dragon Dao Lord improved somewhat. He cupped his fists toward the upper floor once more, then departed.

Hum—

When passing around a corner, Li Yuan's heart suddenly stirred, and the surrounding mist surged once, enveloping him within.

When he opened his eyes again, the familiar Heavenly Ladder appeared before him once more.

"This furnace certainly knows how to pick its timing."

Li Yuan was not surprised. His battle with the Dragon Dao Lord had clearly left him far from satisfied; seeing the Heavenly Ladder now, he felt it was just right.

He immediately rolled up his sleeves, stepped onto the Heavenly Ladder, and prepared to test just how far he could go.

Long Long Yingchan pinched his long brows, only releasing them after watching Li Yuan descend the stairs. His silvery-white long brows whipped about like two soft whips, emitting whistling sounds.

"This old man actually lost to him?"

Long Long Yingchan's heart could not settle; it reminded him of many years ago.

He had lost his parents young and was raised by a temple. After joining Dragon Tiger Temple in his teens and becoming a disciple of the Dao Lord, he had been ignorant at the time, far more interested in Buddhist teachings than in martial arts.

But he could be certain that even if he had not wasted time on Buddhist studies and devoted himself entirely to martial training, at the Great Completion of Meridian Opening, he still could not have defeated this lad.

"The threat this man Wan Wan Zhuliu poses is far greater than anticipated…"

Long Long Yingchan muttered to himself. After a long while, he seemed to have reached a decision and rose to walk toward the depths of the inner pagoda.

The Dragon Tiger Pagoda is where the central hub of the Yangsheng Furnace lies, with inner and outer layers. The outer is where disciples undergo trial-by-pagoda, while the inner eighteen layers are the core of the main lineage.

Long Long Yingchan walked upward. Upon reaching the sixteenth layer, as if recalling something, he flicked a finger.

Bang!

On the sixteenth layer, Brother Helian Feng, who had been about to check who Li Yuan had just fought, suddenly saw black before his eyes—the light screen had been blasted into pieces.

Long Long Yingchan's rebuke followed:

"As a sect elder, you should not always be thinking of spying on disciples' secrets!"

"?!"

Brother Helian Feng froze, then realized, finding it somewhat unbelievable.

Those words—are they for others to say, or for you to say?

Wooo!

Ascending to the seventeenth layer, the scent of incense instantly grew thick. Amid the curling smoke were rows of memorial tablets bearing the marks of many years.

This place was the true Ancestral Hall of Dragon Tiger Temple.

Long Long Yingchan entered to wash up, then moved slowly and lit three sticks of sandalwood incense before each tablet.

Hum—

Amid the curling smoke, Long Long Yingchan bowed deeply three times, then walked into the eighteenth layer.

Within the eighteenth layer there were no tablets, but the incense was far thicker than below. In the empty pagoda stood only a furnace burning fiercely.

Looking closely, one could faintly see dragon and tiger patterns on the furnace body, flowing like water.

When Long Long Yingchan stepped inside, the movements of that pair of dragon and tiger immediately stopped, and they looked over as if possessing their own intelligence.

"Ancestors."

Arriving here, Long Long Yingchan bowed at full length.

Hum—

Upon the furnace, that pair of dragon and tiger gave a slight shake, and accompanied by the scent of incense, they stepped down from the furnace wall.

One dragon, one tiger, one above and one below, looked on indifferently at Long Long Yingchan bowing at full length.

The latter slowly straightened his body. Though knowing these were only the spiritual images left by the two ancestors, he remained very respectful:

"This disciple may have found a person who can enter the 'Yangsheng Gate' Dao Child trial, but it may additionally require five Long Hu Longhu Dadan."

After thinking, Long Long Yingchan added:

"That disciple is not yet twenty-three, his true Qi has already formed, he can enter Organ Refining at any time, a once-in-a-millennium talent… five pills, hmm, perhaps ten pills?"

Wooo~

The dragon and tiger looked at him coldly.

Long Long Yingchan immediately pinched his long brows, his expression unchanged:

"One pill, one pill is about enough."

……

……

Bang!

Bang!

Upon the Yangsheng Furnace's Heavenly Ladder, Li Yuan leaped up, a heavy hammer dancing wildly like a dragon. Under the empowerment of blue-black true Qi, the roars of thunder dragons never ceased.

The Hundred Forms-compatible Thunder Dragon welcomed a transformation.

Li Yuan felt only that between movement and stillness he wielded it at will. The thunder dragon, far more condensed than before, swept across the Heavenly Ladder with irresistible force, and he felt nothing less than crushing dominance.

Three hammers!"

On the thirty-second tier of the Heavenly Ladder, Li Yuan's heavy hammer slammed down, and mid-air, his true Qi shattered like fireworks.

"Good thing I don't have to start from zero every time; otherwise, no one in this world could reach the top."

Leaning on his hammer, Li Yuan had now thoroughly familiarized himself with the changes after gathering a hundred forms.

At this moment, he asked himself: even without activating the three Thunder Dragon Heaven-Pondering Hammers, he could at least withstand Wan Wan Zhuliu's blade for a hundred and eighty strikes or more!

"If I add the three Thunder Dragon Heaven-Pondering Hammers and the augmentation of other weapons, is there a chance of fighting to a draw?"

The battle-hardened Daoist Li reflected inwardly. After a hundred consecutive battles, he had a very accurate read on his own position; he felt he had taken great strides toward closing the gap with Wan Wan Zhuliu of the same rank.

But he wasn't entirely sure either. Wan Wan Zhuliu's Demon-Subduing Dragon God Physique was truly unimaginably powerful; the Thunder Dragon, which fused a hundred beasts, might not necessarily be its match.

"If I can activate the Sea-Splitting Mysterious Whale Hammer by surprise, there's still a chance of winning!"

After pondering for quite a while, Li Yuan's stamina and true Qi had also recovered—mainly his true Qi.

But he didn't continue down any further; on a staircase of sixty or seventy thousand tiers, a hundred more or a hundred less made virtually no difference.

Hum—

With a shift of his mind, he once again took control of the Sea-Splitting Mysterious Whale Hammer. With the blessing of a thousand-tribulation-grade talent, he wanted to try communicating with that Nourishing Life Furnace.

"No response…"

Li Yuan waited for quite a while, but detected nothing unusual,

and wasn't particularly disappointed.

After all, the Dragon Tiger Nourishing Life Furnace had been worshipped by Dragon Tiger Temple for over two thousand years; if just anyone could walk off with it, Dragon Tiger Temple would have been wiped out long ago.

"A hundred floors a day—at the very least it'll take two years to fight my way to the top."

Letting out a long breath, Li Yuan felt a profound sense of helplessness, and his interest in this Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, which was tied to extending lifespan, was considerable.

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan turned and ended this attempt at the tower.

When he emerged from the tower gate again, the sky had already reached dusk.

Li Yuan glanced at the sky, greeted a few disciples he was acquainted with, tucked the manual of Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances into his clothes, and headed back to Dragon Gate Main Peak.

He had grown accustomed to living here; after the banquet, he had simply come back to stay.

"Cloud Dragon Nine Appearances."

Li Yuan washed up and changed into a set of Daoist robes. In the courtyard, he opened the manual Long Long Yingchan had given him, intending to study this lightness skill so he'd be more confident when he went to help the old dragon head pull the blade again.

"Keep the bearing of a cloud dragon in mind—mm, that means visualization. Embody the Qi of a cloud dragon—mm, this requires coordination with the Qi meridians…"

The vast majority of Wu Gong manuals contain technical jargon. In Li Yuan's understanding, this was to guard against theft; without someone to explain it, even if one obtained the manual, it would be very hard to get started quickly, and the cultivation process would be extremely dangerous.

These technical terms, Li Yuan was naturally very familiar with. He wasn't staying here just to keep the old dragon head company at meals; the vast majority of the sect's technical jargon, he had already mastered thoroughly.

Soon, he had committed the entire manual to memory, then cross-checked it once, slowly digesting it.

"This footwork requires the coordination of visualization, footwork, and true Qi. To begin, one must at least possess the form of a spirit dragon; to cultivate it to great perfection, one also needs the form of clouds—and that's a bit troublesome."

Before the sky had darkened, Li Yuan had already sorted through this manual clearly.

Nine Appearances had a very high threshold. He could meet it; once he got started, he could quickly push it to major mastery, or even perfection, but after that, he'd need the form of clouds.

The forms of heaven and earth were not like the forms of spirit beasts; a small portion had Wu Gong to reference, but most required enlightenment.

"Tomorrow I'll go to the library to look for similar Wu Gong. If that doesn't work, I'll go up the mountain to watch the clouds. The form of clouds shouldn't be more troublesome than the form of thunder."

Li Yuan had a plan in mind. He got up and ran through several sets of stake-work to warm up. Once the spirit rice was done, he stir-fried a few Angry-Sun eggs, and only then returned to his room.

"Hoo!"

After feeding the little mouse, Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed. Borrowing the medicinal power of the spirit rice, he cultivated Yang Jian Tian Yi, while simultaneously visualizing the Sea-Splitting Mysterious Whale Diagram.

Hum—

In the place of spiritual light, radiance flickered.

Li Yuan calmed his mind.

His Qi meridians had been formed, and his hundred forms were complete; he could now attempt to construct the Sea-Splitting Mysterious Whale.