What a bizarre dream, Yan Guang thought to himself as he woke.
It felt like his eyelids weighed a hundred kilograms.
Still, he knew there was no time to procrastinate. He had wasted time partying yesterday, so he still had to pack everything he had.
Getting out of bed, he quickly went through his morning routine of washing his face with some water from the basin. Anything more than that was asking too much of a medieval society such as this one.
Out of all of the conveniences of modernity, Yan Guang found that he missed the simple comfort of a bathroom the most.
Then, he turned to packing.
All he had to pack was his set of knuckledusters, his adventurer's guild emblem, and a few clothes as well as a few bottles of beast blood he had not yet used.
"Whoops, almost forgot.", commented Yan Guang before he noticed an ancient-looking scroll beneath his bed. It was the Huang Kingdom map. He would never forget how this thing had helped him escape the wilderness. Plus, it was black-rank, making it a very valuable treasure.
Placing all of the items into a sack, Yan Guang picked it up and left the inn, saying his goodbyes to the boss lady who had treated him well all this time.
From now on, he was no longer a member of mortal society. He had moved on to the world of martial arts, known as the Jianghu.
Yan Guang met up with Gao Di at a spot they had decided on the day prior, and together they set off.
Walking through the town, Yan Guang felt a sense of detachment and also loss.
On one hand, he had become a powerful martial artist whose status far surpassed that of a mortal.
On the other hand, he would never be able to lead a simple life like the countrymen and women of Guming town. The joys of a mortal life were, from now on, destined to be alien to Yan Guang.
As they walked through the city gates, Yan Guang felt the desire to look back one last time at what he could've had. Ultimately, he didn't.
There was no time for what-ifs. He had chosen this path, and he was willing to walk it to the ends of the world if it took him there.
Gao Di spoke for the first time in their journey, "Now, follow me carefully, junior brother. I'll start moving faster."
As they began using their internal force, they sped up to several times the speed they used in the city. Martial artists could only show their true power in the unrestrained vast wilderness.
"As you'll notice, the path to our School is filled with beautiful plants and dangerous animals, junior brother. These forests are the foundation of our school, which provide us the resources for our breakthroughs.", Gao Di lectured.
As he followed Gao Di, Yan Guang noticed that his senior brother was very particular about where he stepped foot. He would not trample on even the smallest of flowers or insects, choosing to sidestep them. Before Yan Guang could even ask why, Gao Di continued his speech, saying "Nature is the mother of all living things, including us martial artists. While we consider ourselves above mortals, we are still ultimately dependent on Mother Nature. That is why I and many other martial artists try our best to avoid damaging our environment."
Yan Guang understood what Gao Di was saying. It made quite a lot of sense. The biggest problem with his previous civilization on earth was its disregard for nature. Despite the earth providing nearly every resource imaginable needed to sustain life, humans still found a way to overexploit it, leading to catastrophe.
Martial artists seemed to oppose this, appealing to a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Yan Guang wasn't necessarily against or for this, but he found it quite interesting.
After a few hours of long travel in the forest, maneuvering through bushes and tiny rivers, Yan Guang and Gao Di finally made it to a large clearing.
"Behold, junior brother. This is our White Tiger School!", Gao Di proudly exclaimed.
Yan Guang was astonished at the sight of such a large compound in the middle of the woods.
The gate, in all of its traditional Chinese architectural glory, stood tall, with the words 'White Tiger School' written on it.
It wasn't just the gate that was traditional, the entire sect was, complete with pavilions and pagodas with tiled roofs.
Walking past the gate, Yan Guang could see the disciples running past, each busily rushing to their tasks. Many open courtyards served as practice areas for certain martial arts, and each building served its own purpose.
"Amazing, isn't it, junior brother? Come, let's take you to the registration building.", Gao Di said.
Arriving at the registration building, Gao Di and Yan Guang both stepped up to talk to the attendant present.
After a few minutes of conversation, with the help of Gao Di, Yan Guang managed to get both his school uniform and his allotted allowance.
His allowance consisted of one rejuvenation elixir and one liter of Spiritual Condensed Dew.
Much like the Hundred Petal Tonic that was used in the final round of the martial school examinations, the Spiritual Condensed Dew was a type of elixir that was collected by harvesting the dew of many spiritual herbs. Drinking it boosted one's cultivation speed.
Moreover, the attendant gave Yan Guang a library token. Supposedly, exchanging this token would allow one to go through the library and read the techniques present on the first floor as well as rent one for a month.
Gao Di looked at the sun shining bright in the sky and deduced what time it was.
"I'm sorry, junior brother, but it's time for me to get going. Work hard, and fight harder! Next time we meet, I want you and I to have a little spar, eh?", Gao Di commented before speeding away.
Yan Guang wondered if he could learn to tell the time via the sun. Clocks were no longer an option, unfortunately.
Following the advice of the attendant, Yan Guang first went to the dorms to find out where he was to live.
After some more guidance from the dorm manager, Yan Guang finally found his humble abode, Room 162. It wasn't much, but it was truly his own, and his roommate's.
Entering the dorm, Yan Guang was surprised to find it more spacious than his room at the inn. The School truly did treat its students well.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yan Guang spotted a message addressed to him.
It was written on a package placed on his side of the dorm, and it read:
"Dear Yan Guang,
this is a gift from an admirer of yours, and I truly hope you appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Tiger Fang"
Yan Guang was immediately creeped out. An admirer? Since when did he have one of those
Moreover, the package had been placed directly in his dorm. It wasn't easy for people to get access to other people's dorms, and yet, here the package was, arriving even earlier than him!
Holding the package, Yan Guang felt that what was inside was most likely just a few books.
Albeit with caution, Yan Guang slowly opened the package to reveal two books.
Rather, they were not just books, but martial arts!
One was captioned 'White Tiger Style', and had a diagram of a man and a white tiger superimposed onto each other.
The other was captioned 'Eightfold Claw' and simply had 8 scratches on it to represent what it did.
Yan Guang was delighted to see that someone had actually gifted him right what he desperately needed!
Flipping through the manuals, Yan Guang began to memorize each and every page.
Although he was already a 3rd-rate martial artist, this was still his first time truly understanding a martial art on his own without system interference.
Rather than feeling frustrated by the slower progress in understanding, Yan Guang reveled in it. Challenges brought growth, and this was what constituted a challenge.
From what he had read, the White Tiger Style was simply like an upgraded version of his Raging Tiger Fists. It was one tier higher, being yellow-rank medium-tier, and more comprehensive.
Rather than just focusing on the fists, the White Tiger Style taught the practitioner how to move with their whole body in a way that maximized the efficiency of each attack.
Whether it was kicks or strikes or knees or any other way of attack, the White Tiger Style would find a way to strengthen it.
Yan Guang was immensely satisfied with this technique alone.
The Eightfold Claw was an added bonus to this technique as well.
If the White Tiger Style could be said to be a comprehensive boost in his fighting power, the Eightfold Claw was like a killing move.
In a moment, the practitioner could unleash a maximum of eight swift blows, each stacking with the power of the last.
What surprised him most was that the principle this technique used was actually the same as Han Jing's technique in the martial exams.
While most considered used internal force to be gone for good, such techniques took advantage of the slight mental link that existed between recently exuded internal force and the practitioner to reabsorb it, boosting the power of martial artist's next attack.
In other words, the last blow would be the strongest!