Entering Force Overnight, Listening to Wind and Rain

After drying off the medicinal liquid, Zhang Yuan dressed and quietly left his room for the small courtyard outside.

He looked up at the bright moon hanging high in the night sky, his heart unusually calm.

Following the diagrams in the "Boulder Foundation Skill," Zhang Yuan stretched his limbs, bent his knees, and sank into a crouch, taking the stance of a crouching tiger.

The "Boulder Foundation Skill" was a foundational technique for the Entering Force Realm. It consisted of nine forms in total, corresponding to the three stages of Bright Force, Dark Force, and Transforming Force.

The stance he had just assumed was the first form.

During the two days he had spent recuperating at home, Zhang Yuan had not idled away his time.

He had read the Boulder Foundation Skill manual over and over, committing everything within it—the diagrams and annotations alike—firmly to memory without missing so much as a single word.

Zhang Yuan had an excellent memory, and with the experience and insight of two lifetimes, Old Master Chen had often lamented over him when teaching him to read and write.

With Zhang Yuan's ability to learn, had he been born several decades earlier, he could have easily earned scholarly honors through the imperial examinations.

And changed his life.

Unfortunately, this world's imperial examination system had become little more than an empty shell fifty years ago. It was no longer an opportunity for impoverished youths to rise.

Zhang Yuan did not find that regrettable.

What he sought was his own strength, to truly seize control of his own fate.

The martial path was the Kingly Way!

Comparing his posture against the manual's diagrams, Zhang Yuan continuously adjusted his body and practiced over and over in rhythm with his breathing.

He was a complete beginner, with no experience whatsoever and no one at his side to instruct him. He could only search again and again for the sensation of entering force described in the manual.

Utterly focused, with no distractions!

As time passed, the blood and vitality within Zhang Yuan began to surge and swell.

His muscles repeatedly bulged and contracted, his skin membranes tightened and relaxed, thick tendons rose into view before sinking away, and crystalline beads of sweat seeped from his pores.

The process repeated in cycles, and strands of force tempered a thousand times over were "squeezed" out from his violently quivering flesh.

They first gathered into trickling streams, then transformed into roaring tides that surged back and forth through Zhang Yuan's body.

Ferociously battering his flesh and acupoints.

At that moment, a trace of pain appeared on Zhang Yuan's face.

He felt as though the muscles throughout his body were being forcibly torn apart. Sweat soaked his clothes and dripped onto the ground, kicking up specks of dust.

Such agony was beyond what ordinary people could endure!

But Zhang Yuan knew very well.

If he could not even take the first step into entering force, then becoming a martial artist would be nothing but a joke.

With powerful willpower, he suppressed the tempting thought of giving up.

Gritting his teeth, stubborn to the bone, he kept going.

Until all the force merged into a torrent, and an invisible barrier within Zhang Yuan suddenly shattered.

Entering force achieved!

All the pain receded like a tide. His entire body felt as if it were soaking in a hot spring, warm and incomparably comfortable.

Zhang Yuan instinctively clenched his fist, feeling stronger than he had ever been.

As though one punch could blast apart a mountain!

So this was a martial artist?

Only after a long while did Zhang Yuan free himself from that intoxicating, floating sensation and recover his calm and reason.

He opened the Divine Nest Panel.

Host: Zhang Yuan

Realm: First Order (Bright Force)

Divine Nest: Level 1 (30%)

Parasitic Body: Level 2 Black Giant Ant (18%) / Fourfold Strength

Parasitic Body: Level 1 Jade Mantis (2%) / Beginner Blade Technique Mastery

Blood and Vitality: 12/100

Source Essence: 0

Zhang Yuan noticed that a new realm display had appeared on the Divine Nest Panel.

It undoubtedly corresponded to character levels in the games from his previous life.

Upon becoming an Entry-Level Martial Artist, his blood and vitality had directly increased by fifteen points.

The upper limit had reached exactly one hundred.

The higher his blood and vitality, the longer Zhang Yuan could maintain the Parasitic Body Power, and his strength had undergone a true leap forward!

Though he had grown stronger, Zhang Yuan still reminded himself.

Even after rising from an ordinary person to a martial artist, he was still only at the very bottom.

There were countless powerful figures in this world who could slap Zhang Yuan to death with a single hand!

He absolutely could not be flashy.

He suppressed his excitement and exhilaration, then let out a long breath.

Only then did Zhang Yuan realize that a pale strip of dawn had appeared on the eastern horizon—the day was about to break!

Without realizing it, he had cultivated in the small courtyard for an entire night.

Entering force overnight!

With no one to guide or teach him, Zhang Yuan had no idea whether this speed was fast or slow.

It surely was not bad.

This confirmed once again that his body possessed talent!

Zhang Yuan had originally planned to test it.

As an Entry-Level Martial Artist, whether he could withstand the Black Giant Ant's Fourfold Strength enhancement.

But when he saw that his blood and vitality on the panel was about to fall below double digits, he wisely abandoned the idea.

Before his mother woke up, Zhang Yuan quietly returned to his room.

Then he took another cold bath.

There was actually still some medicinal potency left in the liquid inside the wooden tub.

It was simply of little use to Zhang Yuan now.

He washed away the sweat and grime from his body.

And turned a whole tub of medicinal liquid into ink!

Grrr~

Once he had cleaned himself and was getting dressed again, Zhang Yuan's stomach let out a thunderous growl.

He felt as if he could eat an entire cow!

So Zhang Yuan hurriedly carried the bath barrel outside to empty it, then took down the smoked meat hanging beneath the eaves and began wolfing it down.

The Wild Boar meat had already been smoked through, and its texture was naturally tough, making it dry and hard to eat.

Yet Zhang Yuan did not care in the slightest. He tore apart the hard strips of meat with his teeth, chewed them a few times, and hastily swallowed them.

His stomach and intestines wriggled on their own, and his digestive ability had greatly increased compared to before.

When Zhang's Mother heard the commotion outside and got up to come out, Zhang Yuan had already eaten three entire strips of smoked meat.

Each strip weighed more than two jin, and he had devoured six or seven jin in one go!

"You child!"

Zhang's Mother was startled by the sight of her son eating. She hurriedly brought Zhang Yuan some tea. "Don't choke."

Zhang Yuan chuckled, took the tea bowl, and drained it in one gulp.

His heart was beyond delighted.

He really wanted to tell his mother.

That he was now an Entry-Level Martial Artist and no longer needed to fear that piece of shit Chen Yuanwai.

But he was afraid of frightening his mother.

To most people, martial artists were lofty beings. For ordinary people, especially impoverished youths, becoming a martial artist was harder than climbing to the heavens.

Zhang Yuan could not explain it properly yet, so he held back from saying anything.

He would save it as a surprise for the future!

Zhang Yuan did not go out that day.

He brewed another jar of medicinal liquid, soaking in it once more to absorb its medicinal potency and restore his blood and vitality.

By afternoon, the sky had gradually darkened. Great masses of black clouds gathered, obscuring the sun.

Before long, a fine drizzle began to fall.

Zhang Yuan sat in the bath barrel, quietly listening to the sound of raindrops striking the roof tiles.

Through the window, he watched the wind and rain outside slowly intensify.

Heaven truly is helping me!

Zhang Yuan thought to himself.

It was not until nightfall that the wind and rain began to weaken.

And then, after his mother had fallen asleep, Zhang Yuan quietly left his home.

Braving the wind and rain, he made his way through the darkness to Hunter Gao's courtyard.

A stormy night, a night for murder.

He had come to kill.