Within a certain valley with a waterfall as majestic as the Milky Way.
The flow of water was rapid and violent, repeatedly crashing down on the world below. Below the waterfall stood a young man with his upper body bared who was resisting the weight of the waterfall with his body.
It was worth noting that the impact of this waterfall was something not even a late-stage Transformation Realm cultivator would dare take on for a long period of time. Those failing to resist the impact would injure themselves, with some even having their heads outright crushed under the water.
The young man stood there without as much as an outer energy layer protecting himself. His physical prowess could clearly be seen. He stood firm, as if he had been nailed there. Standing there in a carefree manner, he was completely unaffected as the waterfall crashed down on him repeatedly.
In reality, all his focus was concentrated on resisting the waterfall. His teeth were clenched, and he was struggling to stay alive. In his mind was a pitch-black space, and inside it, a miniature person was seated cross-legged and acting as the guardian protector of his head.
Under the pressure, the pitch-black space seemed to be turning more and more solid, as if it was being forged by the waterfall. As for the miniature person sitting cross-legged, his resonance with the pitch-black space seemed to be slowly growing. It was unknown how long this young man had been standing here, but he was finally reaching his limit.
"AHHHH!"
He raised his head and roared at the sky, unleashing the power previously contained within his body. A purple and gold energy barrier formed around him while the apparitions of a dragon and a tiger appeared around him. He looked like the son of heaven, his imposing might one that few people could compare with.
Who would this young man be if not Xiang Shaoyun?
After parting ways with Dong Ziwan, he did not enter the Backhill Town. Rather, he took a detour and moved through some inhabited mountains, making use of the different geography to temper himself through nature itself.
Currently, Xiang Shaoyun was digging into his hidden potential under a waterfall. At the same time, he was increasing the resonance between his soul and the Nether Soul Domain so as to better his understanding of the Nether Soul Domain. As he erupted his power, part of the waterfall was forced to flow in reverse. From this, it was clear how powerful he was currently.
Finally, Xiang Shaoyun walked out from beneath the waterfall while emanating a steadfast aura, baring his seemingly boundless potential. He proceeded to catch some fish from a pond not far away. After roasting them, he wolfed them down. Done with eating, he lay down on the grassland. Sensing the warmth of the sunshine, his mood improved.
Regular training is not able to increase my cultivation speed. Only by tempering myself endlessly at the edge of death will I be able to grow further. I need to look for a new place of cultivation, a place that is more suitable for me, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.
After thinking about it, he decided to first look for a town so he could ask around for some dangerous locations where he would be able to temper himself. It once crossed his mind to go to the Cloud Margin City. There would be more cultivation resources there, but he was also sure that if he dared reveal himself there, it wouldn't be long before his enemies found him.
This was not a risk Xiang Shaoyun was prepared to take. Thus, he was not going to visit Cloud Margin City for now. After he was done resting, he cleaned himself up before resuming his travel.
A few days later, he finally arrived at a town called the Green Bamboo Town, a town that was even smaller and weaker than Wu Town. Its government was also much more destitute in comparison.
As its name implied, green bamboos could be found everywhere in its vicinity. Because of that, the town had a serene and graceful environment. Walking amid the bamboo forest and listening to the bamboos rustling in the wind, Xiang Shaoyun felt incomparably comfortable.
When he arrived at a teahouse near the town, he sat down, ordered a cup of tea, and asked the waiter, "Waiter, do you know of any dangerous areas around here?"
"You're jesting, customer. How would a commoner like me know of something like that?" answered the waiter.
Xiang Shaoyun also thought that it was foolish of him to ask a waiter this question. He should have asked a cultivator instead, not a waiter of a teahouse.
If I can't find out anything about the dangerous locations around here, I'll have to settle with finding some villains, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.
Making up his mind, Xiang Shaoyun set off toward the town. Soon, he found a stele. A lot of news was posted on the stele, so were a bunch of missions and bounties. A stele like this could be found in all towns. He had not paid much attention to them in the past. But since he had nothing better to do, he decided to look for a job on the stele.
When his gaze landed on the bounty list, he saw the information of numerous wanted criminals, their portraits and bounty rewards clearly listed. Accepting a bounty request was equivalent to accepting a mission, and the mission must be completed within a given amount of time.
If one failed to complete the bounty request within the given time limit, the mission would be automatically canceled. As for the deposit one paid when accepting the mission, there was no refund. Of course, if one was able to complete the mission on time, one would be rewarded for it.
After studying the list for a bit, Xiang Shaoyun's gaze was locked on one of the bounty requests: "Eliminating the Redwolf Bandits. The head of the bandit leader is worth 1,000 low-grade spirit crystals. The heads of the two vice leaders are worth 800 low-grade spirit crystals each..."
This was a tier-3 bounty, signifying that the strongest enemy one might encounter during this mission was a Transformation Realm cultivator. And this was also the bounty with the richest reward among all the bounties present. A list of people who had accepted the mission previously was listed below, and so far, all of them had failed.
The Redwolf Bandits was a group of bandits based near the town. They frequently robbed the traveling merchants, planting fear in the hearts of the citizens here. It reached a point where more and more traveling merchants no longer dared to visit the Green Bamboo Town.
As for the Green Bamboo Academy of the Green Bamboo Town, it was rather weak and was comparable in strength with the Redwolf Bandits. But if they wanted to eliminate the Redwolf Bandits, they would have to pay a huge price for it. Because of that, the town had issued this bounty, hoping that someone could eliminate the Redwolf Bandits for them.
"You it is, then," Xiang Shaoyun ripped the bounty poster down without a second thought.
An old man in charge of standing guard by the stele sighed and said, "Young man, the moment you rip this poster off, you will have to complete it. Otherwise, you will be the laughing stock of the town."
The old man was a kind person. When he saw how young Xiang Shaoyun was, he concluded that it would be unlikely for this young man to be able to complete the mission. That was why he had sighed.
"Thank you, sir. But I am accepting this bounty request. Please register it for me," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"Sigh, young men are always rash," sighed the old man before registering Xiang Shaoyun.
Overlord Xiang accepting the tier-3 bounty "Eliminating Redwolf Bandits".
Time limit: 3 months.
Deposit: 100 low-grade spirit crystals.
One could not accept a mission for free. If one failed the mission after accepting it, the deposit would be confiscated. The old man was astonished to see that Xiang Shaoyun could actually afford 100 low-grade spirit crystals. Even so, he still wasn't confident in the odds of this young man succeeding.
Xiang Shaoyun ignored the old man's doubtful gaze as he rolled up the poster and strode off with steady paces.