As the sun's rays began to shine upon the brick buildings and stone pavements of the town, people rushed to their workplaces and children played everywhere. There was one youth that strangely looked out of place, however.
In his eyes was a sense of confusion. He had no clue where to go or what to do. He wandered from plaza to plaza, until he eventually had enough.
Of course, this youth was none other than Yan Guang, a being from another world. Of course, no one else knew, so they walked by him like they would anyone else.
Eventually, growing tired of the crowds, Yan Guang randomly picked a building that looked like a shop to walk into.
To his pleasant surprise, the building was a shop. However, it seemed in disrepair, with most of the items being covered in dust. Even though they were coated with a thick layer of grey, Yan Guang could vaguely make out that they were some kind of antique.
He couldn't be sure, though, as pretty much everything in this civilization seemed antique to him. Perhaps these were state-of-the-art tools here.
"Welcome, customer! It's been a long time since a new face has set foot here. What would you like? We have everything here!", greeted an old voice, clearly of the shopkeeper.
"In that case, I'd like to make a peculiar request. Could I buy some information?", Yan Guang asked, hoping to scope out some information on the town to see the paths he could take.
Seeing that the new customer was willing to buy something, a smile crept up on the shopkeeper's face. This was truly a momentous occasion for him. He couldn't even recall the last time someone had bought something at this place!
"Of course! But everything comes at a price. So, what do you wanna know about this town? It's nothing special, I can tell you that much for free.", replied the shopkeeper as he took out a few items and began to wipe them with a cloth.
Yan Guang thought for a bit before asking his question. He didn't have much money to spend, so he had to be a bit strategic about what he chose to learn.
Finally, he asked, "What are the jobs a martial artist can get around here? Preferably something that pays a lot."
The shopkeeper raised his eyebrow, realizing that this unassuming kid might actually be an expert in disguise. "Well, there's not many things a martial artist can do here. If you're looking for stability, you could be a guard for some aristocratic clan or merchant. You could also go the opposite route and become a bandit, but you're an upright honest young man. There's no way you could stoop so low!"
Yan Guang was slightly impressed by the shopkeeper at this point. He had perfected the art of subtly complimenting his customers.
After a slight pause, the shopkeeper spoke again. "There are two other options that a hot-blooded youth like yourself would prefer. You could either become an adventurer or join a martial arts school."
Now, Yan Guang was interested. He reached into his pockets and took out 4 copper coins, putting them on the shelf between him and the shopkeeper.
Their conversation went on for a few minutes as the shopkeeper told him all the information about the two occupations.
Apparently, there was at least one adventurer's guild in every major human settlement, and anyone could go and sign up to become an adventurer. The job was, at its core, about completing odd jobs. These odd jobs could scale from finding cats to killing demons, with the more dangerous ones being more profitable.
Then, there were the martial arts schools. In Guming town, there were three prominent ones: the White Tiger School, Elegant Crane School, and the Starry Kendo Academy. Out of the three, the Starry Kendo Academy was the strongest and had the best facilities by far. They also exclusively taught swordsmen.
Yan Guang was more interested in the White Tiger School. His current martial art was the Raging Tiger Fists, and his intuition led him to believe that the two were somehow related.
As a token of gratitude, Yan Guang took one final look at the antiques and picked out a talisman.
"That one's 5 copper. It's a Good-Luck talisman to bring you a fortune.", told the shopkeeper.
Hesitantly, Yan Guang pulled out 5 copper and passed it to him before leaving the shop. He finally had a goal now. He wanted to enter a martial arts school. Despite being able to cultivate and grow stronger, he hadn't been able to truly break through and become a martial artist.
Although the system was a reliable source of information, Yan Guang knew that he probably didn't know everything there was to know about cultivation.
His thoughts filled with excitement as he thought about everything he would be able to do in a martial arts school. Being unbothered by the mortal world, focusing solely on achieving new heights of martial arts. He had high expectations for these schools.
By the time he reached the main gate of the White Tiger School, his imagination turned out to be quite different from reality. They were closed.
Heading up to the guards near the gate, he asked them why they were closed and got back a disappointing answer. All of the schools would be closed until the 10th of the next month, where they would host a joint trial for all aspirants looking to enter.
Turns out, it was quite an ordeal to join one of these schools. They only took the cream of the crop, with others being left to become guards and adventurers.
After having learned this valuable information, Yan Guang didn't let it get to him. If he couldn't join a school, so be it. He would go for the next best option, being an adventurer.
Following the directions the old shopkeeper had given him, he eventually reached the adventurer's guild.
From the outside, it was quite majestic. The entire building was adorned by many precious metals, and most importantly, there was a giant monster head above the main entrance. It was of an animal that Yan Guang had never seen before, a mix of a bull's head and a lion's mane.
As he stepped through the front doors that looked like they had been made for giants, he entered the main hall of the building. Directly in front of him was the reception area, with a bunch of other areas for things such as taking quests and submitting materials.
Overall, it almost seemed like an entire market inside a building. Yan Guang could hear the shouts of many adventurers, searching for specific quests or party members. Ignoring the cacophony of voices, he stepped towards the reception to talk to the guild receptionist.
"I'd like to sign up as an adventurer."
The receptionist looked at Yan Guang for a second before handing him a form.
Looking through the form, it all seemed quite mundane. It asked for mostly simple things, as well as his area of expertise.
Writing down martial arts, he finished the form with his signature and handed it back to the receptionist who promptly once again handed him an item. Only this time, it was a small badge.
Inscribed on it were the words 'Fortune favors the bold' as well as a crude engraving of a man standing with his sword stabbed into the ground. Finally, on the back side was his rank, Novice. The adventurers were separated into ranks the same way cultivators were, with the higher rankers being able to take the more dangerous quests.
Finally, the receptionist spoke, "As a beginner, the best move would be to head over there and take a few easy quests. The area for submitting quests once you're finished is over there. Be careful. The highest lethality rate for an adventurer is when they take their first quest."
Yan Guang listened to the receptionist without planning to take all of her advice. He had lived in the jungle for a few weeks, killing monsters left and right. Why would he become scared of them now?
Filled with a newfound sense of motivation, Yan Guang headed over to the quest board.
It was far bigger than he expected. The entire board stretched on for many meters and was almost 3 feet tall, with the easiest quests being at the bottom. Looking at all the quests he could take, he quickly took all the ones related to monster subjugation.
They both paid the most and were the ones he had the most experience in. Quickly reading through the flyers he had torn off the quest board, he found that they contained the name and location where the monster was last seen.
Deciding to stop wasting time, he rushed out of the adventurer's guild and began to head outside the town to find the monsters.
Yan Guang let out a sigh once he was back in the hands of nature. "Not this again... I just left the nomad lifestyle, and now I'm back. Damn those martial arts schools that don't accept transfer students!"