A single palm strike ended it instantly.

Early the next morning, Jiang Feng climbed down from the tree, raked his fingers through his hair, and glared fiercely at the rabbit beneath it.

Thanks to Bai Ying, he had spent the entire night dreaming of food, only to be interrupted every time just as he was about to eat. It was enough to drive him mad.

He washed up briefly and went to knock persistently on the door of the treehouse.

Soon enough, Chong Fan, looking somewhat disheveled, was forced out by Jiang Feng's knocking. "What is it?" he asked.

Jiang Feng looked him up and down, reached out to pinch his arm, and said, "Look at how thin you are, like a little chick. You eat little, move little, and end up making yourself ill for no reason. Starting this morning, you'll join me for some activity."

Chong Fan was momentarily stunned and replied instinctively, "The doctor said I shouldn't exert myself..."

Jiang Feng smiled slightly. "And what do you think?"

In a flash, Chong Fan recalled their conversation from the night before. He stared at Jiang Feng for a moment, then nodded firmly. "I'll go with you!"

Jiang Feng grinned. "Well said!"

He glanced back and ordered, "Go wash up first, then run five laps around this valley!"

The valley, though small, was three to five hundred meters around. Chong Fan was dumbfounded, suddenly feeling he'd boarded a pirate ship by mistake.

Jiang Feng looked at him and said, "Believe in yourself; you can do it!"

Chong Fan met his gaze, thoughts he'd long anticipated flickering through his mind. He took a deep breath and nodded again. "Alright, I'll run!"

Panting and exhausted, Chong Fan nonetheless completed all five laps. The final lap was sheer willpower, dragging himself step by step until he collapsed at the finish.

Jiang Feng walked over, smiling, patted his shoulder, and hauled him up. "Very good. Keep at it every day, and you’ll at least be able to handle mountain paths."

Chong Fan’s new clothes were soaked through with sweat. He leaned on Jiang Feng's arm, breathless, as Jiang Feng led him a bit further.

Jiang Feng set him down and looked at the sky. "I have to go hunting today. You stay here."

Chong Fan nodded.

Hunting was part of Jiang Feng’s training. He couldn’t bring Chong Fan along to be a hindrance.

Jiang Feng returned to the treehouse to prepare his gear.

These were the items Chong Fan had chosen for him at the Half-Moon Market: a leather breastplate made from the skin of an earth-mole.

The earth-mole was a second-level earth-type beast, renowned for its defense. The breastplate was small and light, just enough to protect Jiang Feng’s vital areas.

Besides the mole breastplate, there were boots made from mountain-lizard skin. These boots were equally light, sturdy, and ideal for traversing mountain paths.

He also had two leather pouches and two horn-knives—Chong Fan had sold Jiang Feng's previous red-bull horns, trading them for two knives of equal grade but superior craftsmanship.

Jiang Feng tested the knives in his hands; they felt much more comfortable.

With all his gear, Jiang Feng moved about, finding everything quite convenient and far safer and more agile than before.

He smiled and nodded to Chong Fan. "Excellent. Thank you!"

...

...

Today, Jiang Feng’s target was a fifth-level beast.

With his current strength, a fifth-level beast was slightly stronger than he, but still manageable.

He had wanted to try last time, but ended up saving Chong Fan by accident and returned empty-handed.

So today, he intended to try again.

He also wanted to experiment in actual combat to see what effect the Guiding Technique paired with Thunderfall Palm would have.

Last night, he had skimmed through "Strange Beasts of Taiwu," which described the distribution of beasts around Taiwu Mountain in great detail.

Combining that knowledge with his own experience, Jiang Feng quickly pinpointed the exact location.

According to the treatise, there were several regions of fifth-level beasts in Taiwu Mountain. The closest was the riverbank he had visited last time, mainly earth and water-type beasts.

Jiang Feng considered this and decided to set his sights farther, on the area beneath Dawn-and-Dusk Peak, about twenty li from the valley.

There was a belt of hot springs and several caves. The caves were home to colonies of fifth-level fire-type beasts—the Inferno Bats.

Jiang Feng didn’t intend to target them—Inferno Bats lived in huge colonies; encountering them meant hundreds or thousands at once. Jiang Feng might handle a single fifth-level beast, but hundreds or thousands... he’d be lucky to escape.

Deeper in the caves lived a creature called the Red-Armored Lizard, also a fire-type beast, with tough, thick skin and the ability to climb cave walls at speed.

Jiang Feng decided to practice on the Red-Armored Lizards first.

With a clear objective, he quickly reached Dawn-and-Dusk Peak.

As he approached, Jiang Feng immediately felt a wave of heat.

It was early spring; the trees that sprouted early were fully green, those slower just budding.

But atop Dawn-and-Dusk Peak, the greenery was lush, as if it were midsummer.

There was geothermal heat beneath the mountain, making the area warmer than elsewhere. Hot springs and fire-type beasts had emerged because of it.

The attributes of beasts were closely tied to their environment.

Water-dwelling beasts were usually water-type; those in the forest were earth or wood-type. Besides beasts, there were also mutated plants—manifest plants—which produced wood-type energy cores.

Manifest plants were very well hidden, often growing in clusters and even harder to deal with than beasts. Fortunately, Jiang Feng hadn’t yet encountered them.

Thinking of these details from the book, Jiang Feng sped like the wind and soon arrived at the foot of the peak.

The air was warmer; Jiang Feng spotted a hot spring.

The spring shot upward, spraying countless colorful droplets in the sunlight, a beautiful sight.

Beside the spring lounged four Water Sky Oxen, their bodies covered in red shells, two long horns blackened red atop their heads, half-submerged in water, basking in the sun.

Jiang Feng carefully avoided them.

Water Sky Oxen were violent, fiercely aggressive, always acting as a group and fighting to the death with enemies. If entangled with them, it would be dangerously troublesome.

Soon, Jiang Feng saw the cave entrance described in the treatise.

The treatise only mentioned its location and the beasts inside, not a detailed map.

Jiang Feng had no idea how deep the cave was, its layout, nor the exact locations of Red-Armored Lizards and Inferno Bats; he would have to explore on his own.

He tightened his gear and cautiously slipped inside.

After unlocking his four energy points, Jiang Feng's vision was greatly improved, especially his night sight. With a bit of light from the entrance, he could see the way ahead.

As a precaution, he carried a torch but did not light it.

After two turns, the daylight vanished; darkness enveloped him.

Still, he did not light the torch and continued forward by touch.

As he anticipated, the cave walls, though warm, were not dry; they felt moist. With geothermal heat and hot springs outside, there must be abundant groundwater below.

After another turn, light appeared ahead.

The corners of the cave walls glowed with luminescent moss, faint but enough to illuminate the path.

After walking a while, he came upon a fork. Without hesitation, Jiang Feng chose the left path.

Not long after, he found himself back at the fork, so he took the right.

Going left again, he soon spotted black pellets on the ground. He recognized them instantly—they were bat droppings!

This meant he was nearing the Inferno Bat colony. He had no wish to confront them head-on, so he quickly changed direction.

He didn’t know how long he walked in the dim light, but suddenly the space brightened and several red shapes appeared in the distance.

He stopped immediately, hiding behind a large rock and squinting to observe—

Sure enough, they were Red-Armored Lizards!

The lizards were about three meters long from head to tail, huge creatures, yet moved leisurely in the narrow cave, as if unconstrained.

Perhaps for ease of movement, they kept a certain distance from each other and did not interfere.

Their skin was rough and thick, with a faint red glow beneath, clearly radiating intense heat.

Jiang Feng did not approach immediately but circled around, carefully studying the terrain.

Once prepared, he crept closer to a Red-Armored Lizard, pulled a bright yellow mushroom from his pouch, and tossed it deftly.

His aim was perfect; the mushroom landed right in front of the lizard. The giant reptile immediately swayed its tail and shuffled forward to eat it.

The treatise noted that the Spotted Yellow Mushroom was a favorite of Red-Armored Lizards, typically found in their habitat.

Jiang Feng had found several before and collected them all to use as bait.

One after another, the lizard crawled away from its original spot, lured into a side tunnel.

Suddenly, a thunderous blast erupted, currents surged, and wild winds roared!

The cave walls shook violently, pebbles showering down. The other Red-Armored Lizards were startled and fled without hesitation.

In the blink of an eye, the cave that had been scattered with lizards was now empty, except for one lying in a nearby tunnel. Its red glow had faded, blue smoke rising from its body, unmistakably dead.

After a while, Jiang Feng emerged beside the corpse, both astonished and delighted.

He had estimated the power of his palm last night, but seeing it in action was something else entirely.

A single strike had killed a fifth-level beast—one with remarkable defenses. Even martial artists at the Dawn Realm would struggle to achieve that.

But Jiang Feng had done it, without using any martial technique, just his bare hands!

However, that strike had drained most of the energy from his blood; he could not repeat it anytime soon.

Moreover...

Jiang Feng examined the corpse, pondering.

That powerful palm was dangerous inside the cave—the shock not only killed the lizard but shook the cave walls, risking collapse.

It also showed that Thunderfall Palm lacked control.

Nearly half the energy was wasted; if it were concentrated on the lizard, the effect would be greater and more efficient.

How could he improve control?

The revised Guiding Technique echoed in his mind, and he fell into deep thought.

Two hours later, his energy restored, Jiang Feng found another group of Red-Armored Lizards and lured one out.

Moments later, thunder crashed in the cave again—this time less intense, the cave walls barely shook.

But Jiang Feng failed to kill his opponent.

The lizard smoked, struggled, and its eyes turned blood-red. It charged at Jiang Feng in a frenzy, far more agile than before.

Jiang Feng fought hard to finally defeat it, ending up with torn clothes and numerous wounds.

Clearly, he had used less energy in that strike.

He rested briefly, then attacked again.

Thunder echoed repeatedly through the cave, sometimes strong, sometimes weak.

Jiang Feng’s energy was continually depleted and restored.

He used the Red-Armored Lizards as targets, clumsily experimenting with control over his energy. As the wounds on his body multiplied, his expression remained steadfast, unwavering as stone.