As dawn broke, the chirping of various birds and insects could be heard. The sweltering heat of the summer season was omnipresent all across town.
The townspeople were all out and about, commuting to workplaces and interacting with one another.
Martial artists could be spotted everywhere, having exited seclusion to prepare for the martial school examinations in a week.
It was akin to high school students cramming outside the exam hall right before the test was scheduled to start.
Although a week was insufficient to make any monumental leaps in strength, there was always a chance.
Anything was possible, after all. One opportunity was all it took to change fate drastically.
So, they searched.
Yan Guang was also searching for his opportunities. He had already arrived at the gates of the adventurer's guild. Stepping foot into the giant hall, he immediately noted the abnormal size of the crowds.
Normally, there would only be a couple of dozen adventurers at this time of day, but as it stood there were close to a hundred.
Strolling over to the quest board, Yan Guang skimmed through all the available jobs.
The surplus of adventurers had led to a distinct lack of most quests, though. Any novice-level quests had already been grabbed up, leaving only the apprentice-level and above quests remaining.
Luckily, Yan Guang had already advanced to the apprentice level the day before.
Eventually, he found a suitable quest for him. Unlike the quests he had done before, this one was not a monster-hunting quest.
It was a resource-gathering quest. The quest required the adventurer to follow directions to reach a secluded part of a swamp to the west of Guming town.
This swamp was the habitat of a dangerous savage beast, the tri-horned rhinoceros.
Savage beasts were animals with strength equivalent to martial artists. Among the savage beasts, some were equivalent to weak third-grade martial artists while others were even comparable in strength to martial masters.
Of course, the tri-horned rhinoceros was one of the weaker species, being as strong as a second-grade at most and as weak as a third-grade at worst.
The main objective of the quest was to harvest a spiritual flower known as the green-ringed lotus.
The rarity and beneficial effects on cultivation that it had made it alluring to both humans and animals alike, making it far too dangerous for normal humans to collect. Only martial artists who could survive the threats of savage beasts would dare to collect these lotuses.
With great risks came great rewards, however, which naturally meant that the remuneration for finishing the quest was also higher in return.
Instead of the measly 3 silver awarded for hunting monsters, each lotus turned in was worth 10 silver.
For Yan Guang, this was a win-win situation. He would get to fight stronger beasts and make more money at the same time!
Fighting regular beasts had already become as simple as child's play to him, no longer playing any part in increasing his strength. Even the miraculous power of their blood when used for body-refining had begun to wane, making Yan Guang suspect that he might have to hunt more powerful beasts soon.
After picking up an informative pamphlet about the quest location, Yan Guang left immediately. In the last week he had, he would have to push himself as much as possible to stand a chance of making it into one of the martial schools.
Joining a martial school wasn't as easy as one thought it to be. It was like an army of ten thousand all marching across a single plank to cross a wide chasm. A few would make it across, most wouldn't dare try, and the rest would fall.
Every martial artist who joined a martial school was the cream of the crop.
By the time they graduated, they were usually first-grade martial artists at the very least, guaranteeing a life of high status and security. First-grade martial artists held much influence and power not only physically, but socially as well.
One could only imagine, then, how strong the martial schools were that constantly produced first-grade martial artists one after another.
Yan Guang's mindset wasn't this narrow, however. He knew there were many more realms beyond a mere first-grade martial artist. He was aiming to become a true cultivator, so he would naturally not get caught up in the views of this pugilistic martial arts society.
It was truly remarkable how simply knowing the existence of realms further beyond solidified one's drive to cultivate. Yan Guang wondered what he would've spent his life doing without the system. Would he have survived his stay in the wilderness and perhaps become a martial artist? Or was his intended fate simply to die?
Yan Guang snapped out of the daze he was in. He had already unknowingly reached his destination. Time was precious, and he couldn't waste it pondering what-ifs.
Although the journey was quite safe until now, he doubted that traveling in the swamp would be smooth sailing.
The swamp trees all around him were marked by scrapes and cuts. Some of them even had holes in them. Some creature, either animal or human, had been here, and quite recently at that too.
Judging from the marks and holes, Yan Guang could immediately tell it was a tri-horned rhinoceros. The distinctive three-hole pattern that was punctured into the trees was the final piece of evidence needed to close the case.
Yan Guang immediately retrieved the pamphlet from the sack slung across his back. After skipping past all the irrelevant parts, he finally found the section on tri-horned rhinoceros behaviors. According to the pamphlet, there was only one reasonable explanation.
Rhinoceroses didn't usually mark their territory by causing such destruction. Instead, such things would only happen if one was enraged. There were two main causes, other creatures stealing the lotuses that grew in the swamp, or someone harming them.
Either way, Yan Guang needed to remain alert in case he encountered one of these enraged beasts.
He walked as stealthily as possible, using his Flowing River Step to maximize his speed by moving in accordance with the qi motes around him.
With his enhanced eyesight, Yan Guang could see with some level of clarity up to 100 meters away, yet he saw no signs of any beast or human around.
Still, he kept an eye out for any signs of danger and, of course, any green-ringed lotuses.
Half an hour passed with no signs of progress or animal life, until Yan Guang finally stumbled upon what he was looking for, a green-ringed lotus.
He found himself in a small clearing in the swamp with nothing but a stagnant swamp water puddle and one lotus floating within it.
Despite it growing in an environment any human would find disgusting, the lotus itself could only be described as beautiful. Each of its petals was decorated with a pattern of green and white concentric circles, which was the namesake of the lotus. Somehow, they all seemed almost perfectly symmetrical.
Beyond just mortal vision, Yan Guang found out some interesting things about the lotus using his qi sense. Much like a cultivator, it seemed that spiritual lotuses also had a method of funneling qi into themselves to become stronger. Well, in the case of plants, their strength was in their spirituality.
Yan Guang carefully placed the lotus into a jar, following instructions on separating it from its root. If any part of the lotus were damaged, it would instantly lose about 30% of its value, making harvesting it a task that must be done conscientiously.
As soon as he finished, he could sense a malicious gaze had locked onto him.
Looking at the sender of the killing intent, he immediately recognized the culprit.
It was an adult tri-horned rhinoceros!
Most adult tri-horned rhinoceroses were comparable to second-grade martial artists, two stages above Yan Guang currently.
However, Yan Guang wasn't exactly the average mortal either. At a glance, he noticed that the rhinoceros was panting heavily, and blood was flowing from an open wound on its belly.
Although he knew it was a bit reckless, he truly wanted to see how he matched up against this rhinoceros. Until now, he had beaten wolves, boars, and many other animals, but never a rhinoceros!
Perhaps this was the final beast he needed to kill to break through to the next stage of Raging Tiger Fists!
Ever since fights with regular beasts became a cakewalk, his progress in Raging Tiger Fists had stagnated. While it was much stronger than when he first came to Guming town, he always felt something was missing.
Either his comprehension was lacking, or he simply needed a greater quantity and quality of combat experience.
Yan Guang immediately dashed forward utilizing the full strength of his movement technique to deliver a surprise blow to the rhinoceros' belly.
The beast's eyes widened in surprise, yet simply reacting was insufficient. Before it even had time to dodge, Yan Guang's punch had already landed and the tri-horned rhinoceros' bellows of pain could be heard.
Not wanting to lose momentum, Yan Guang followed up with a volley of punches and kicks, using whatever skill he had gained over these past few weeks.
He could feel the rhino's remarkable defense as its tough hide seemed to simply absorb any force he applied to it.
Realizing that simply attacking its hide wasn't going to work, Yan Guang adapted and began targeting its weak spot, gouging at the wound on the rhino's belly.
However, the rhino was not entirely defenseless. As it thrashed around wildly to escape his barrage of attacks, its head managed to slam right into its opponent.
Facing the brute strength of a beast two levels above him, Yan Guang could not resist at all. He was sent flying backward till he slammed into a nearby tree.
Assessing his injuries, he found them to be relatively severe. He found it difficult to even breathe, suggesting that a few ribs might be broken.
Anyhow, he had already started the battle. It wasn't his style to turn tail now, he could still defeat the rhino!
An unyielding will to fight burned inside of Yan Guang's eyes, and the rhino could sense it, hesitating for a moment before deciding not to run as well.
It was said that the stronger beasts became, the higher their intelligence and Yan Guang could feel it even with just a 2nd rate beast.
Now that it knew it was stronger than its opponent, it wouldn't run away easily. Beasts were delicacies to martial artists, but the converse was also true.
Yan Guang kicked off the ground and dashed at the beast once more before sidestepping right as he was about to reach its head.
Somehow, he could feel dozens of strategies run through his head. His mind had never felt this lucid, this transparent.
Being on the brink of death fundamentally changes somebody, and Yan Guang was now a living example of this.
One particular strategy appealed to his overloaded brain more than the rest; if his punches could be used to demonstrate the aura of a raging tiger, why not his legs?
In martial arts, it was simply common sense that a kick was stronger than a punch. Legs were always longer than arms unless one was a genetic anomaly, and they could also exert more force.
The only reason Yan Guang stuck to his fists during combat was his Raging Tiger Fist technique was limited to his punches.
However, in such a situation, Yan Guang realized that perhaps he was being too rigid in his mindset. Was it impossible to replicate the strength of a punch through a kick?
He had to return the martial art to its essence, to look past the moves and take a peek into what made it tick.
Subconsciously, he had already realized the main strengths of the Raging Tiger Fists martial art.
Simply put, to embody the attributes of a tiger, one had to be fierce, unleash all their strength in one moment, bursting explosively. The joints had to be completely inflexible to fully deliver the force to the enemy.
While Yan Guang didn't fully comprehend exactly what 'being fierce' meant or why it added to the strength of the art, he did understand the two physical components of the technique.
So, he just had to do all of this with his legs instead!
Indeed, seeing things from a different viewpoint could be truly liberating! Yan Guang could now only look at the moves and forms outlined in the art as restrictions; following such practices would never take him to the peak of a technique.
Then, the actual kick itself began to unfold. First, he burst with as much strength as possible, trying to excavate as much force as he could out of his body. Second, he tried to lock his joints as much as possible to result in a fully straight leg. Third, he had to be fierce!
Yan Guang found himself visualizing his victory over this beast, and bathing in its blood later. This rhino was nothing more than a stepping stone on his path of strength!
To his surprise, the kick actually landed in exactly the right spot, targeting the wound on its belly where it lacked fur.
The rhino yelped in pain once more as it realized it had underestimated this human. Perhaps it would truly meet its end here...
Now that forms no longer limited Yan Guang's attacks, he became more adventurous with his tactics.
He began throwing out every technique he knew from his time on earth, including jabs, hooks, and uppercuts, all imbued with the essence of the Raging Tiger Fist style: fierce, explosive, and rigid.
Eventually, after a long-fought battle, the tri-horned rhinoceros finally collapsed, letting out a dying roar as it did. It almost felt like it was cursing him before its death.
Although he was injured and exhausted, Yan Guang still took the time to collect its blood. After all, this was a 2nd rate beast's blood. It was sure to be more potent than any he had ever had before.
Now, all he had to do was finish the mission and return to town as soon as possible.
As for his injuries, he was sure he would find some way to deal with them. Nothing was impossible in this extraordinary continent, even healing broken ribs in a week.