The first memory which Yun Fei could remember was listening to scriptures in the monastery peacefully with his eyes closed lost in the ancient truths and those rhythmic bell sounds which had the power to clear the mind of all who heard.
He was brought to this monastery by Yun Moxie, the head monk of the Eastern Hall, 14 years ago from the Nan forest in the south of the 8 Path Monastery.
Yun Moxie had found Yun fei as an infant in the wilds being preyed on by vultures and crows in a critically injured state.
One of Yun Fei's eyes was eaten and his legs were badly broken with his right leg missing a large chunk including his Achilles tendon, making him unable to walk without the aid of a walking stick.
Impressed by the astounding vitality of the babe, Yun Moxie brought him back to the monastery and adopted little Fei as his son.
The 8 Path Monastery was one of the weaker powers in the Holdfast plains situated in a remote corner of the Skyrend continent.
A rude shout interrupted Yun Fei's reminiscing
"Yun Fei you cripple, don't you have any shame? How dare you not complete your chores!"
Although Yun Fei couldn't perform any manual labour he could still read and write thus he was usually assigned work in which he had to transcribe the scriptures or organise records.
"Yang Mu, I have completed all my work. The rest of the work is your responsibility.", replied Yun Fei.
"Free loading pest, you dare to argue with me!" said Yang Mu while picking Yun Fei and throwing him to the ground.
"Do the rest of the work quietly or don't blame me for breaking your hands too.", said Yang Mu before leaving.
Although Yun Fei was adopted as a son by Yun Moxie, he was still not accepted by many disciples of the monastery and was often bullied by them.
Although Yun Moxie tried to protect him, he couldn't do anything intensive as he was one of the older generation. Even in the largely peace loving monastery children could often be senselessly cruel.
Yun Fei had to do the work of other people on top of his own work, had to deal with various injustices and sometimes also violence.
He once was thrown into the river by a senior disciple as a purpose of entertainment so they could watch him flail like a dying chicken in shallow water.
Although his life was filled with difficulties, there were also little things which he could find joy in and people he could trust.
His father Yun Moxie and his senior brother Yun Shan, also an adopted son of Yun Moxie were two people he absolutely trusted and would do anything for.
Sun Ming was another such person, he was a servant who had the responsibility to raise Yun Fei since he was brought into the monastery.
As Sun Ming had no relatives, he treated Yun Fei like a grandson and adored him very much, currently he was placed in charge of the beast raising pavilion of the outer sect.
'This Yang Mu is getting more and more courageous, what if I can't walk. At least I'm not a retard. Looks like I will have to take help from senior brother Shan to solve this.', thought Yun Fei as he once again started meditating.
As the sun set Yun Fei heard a call as he opened his eyes.
"Junior brother Fei, I have brought food for you, let's eat."
It was Yun Shan..
"Senior brother, thank you for doing this every evening for me, senior brother is the only person in the outer courtyard I can depend upon!", replied Yun Fei amiably.
The quarters for monks and disciples were divided into inner and outer court of each particular branch of the monastery named according to the 4 cardinal directions.
This was why Yun Fei and Yun Shan could only meet their father Yun Moxie at most 4 times a year.
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"Junior brother, there is no need to thank me, Father has always told me to take care of you."
Just as the food was finished Yun Fei told Yun Shan about the matter with Yang Mu in the afternoon.
"Junior brother, I can help you deal with Yang Mu but it is really not necessary. The examination to become a monk will be in a month and with Yang Mu's age he should be able to barely pass it and get sent to the inner courtyard with me, so you will not have to deal with him after that. ", said Yun Shan before walking away.
“The examination to become a monk is happening again, this time even senior brother will be sent to the inner courtyard. At this rate I'll spend the rest of my life transcribing scriptures in this dilapidated hut in the outer court.. “, Yun Fei lamented.
This topic was very sensitive to Yun Fei as he did not even have the qualifications to take the examination. To become a monk in the 8 Path Monastery, you had to be able to wield Qi and have the ability to cultivate.
Usually, disabled people had a much lower chance of achieving something in cultivation hence they were not even tested in the examination as even if disabled people started cultivating, it would take a lot of high level herbs to fix their disability, and till then they would just be a waste of efforts and resources.
"Father had promised me that if he becomes the next abbot of the monastery, he will acquire a pill of sufficient level to fix my disabilities so that I can also start cultivation, I can only hope. ”
Yun Moxie was the head of the eastern division. The heads of each division had the chance of becoming the next abbot, however the heads of the western and southern division were still young and their martial abilities were still weak so they wouldn't be able to fight for the position of the abbot after the current abbot retires.
The main opponent of Yun Moxie in acquiring the seat of the next abbot was the head of the northern division Yang Shaoming.
"Are you sure you saw this?", Yang Shaoming asked the servant kneeling before him.
"Yes sir, I saw Yun Moxie use the blood of his cripple son to quench his flying sword.”, replied the servant.
"You have done a great service this time, take this pill here, it can help in increasing your cultivation level.. And I hope you didn't leak this information to anybody else. Now, dismissed. ", said Yang Shaoming, tossing a pill to the servant.
"No sir, I will never betray you, even if I die my ghost will still serve you. This information has only been relayed to you. ", the servant replied while taking the pill and putting it into his mouth.
'Is there something special in that cripple’s blood which Yun Moxie is using to quench his flying sword, one which is already close to the peak treasures of the sect.
If the blood can still have an effect on this level of treasures I can see why he would do something as wasteful as adopting a cripple.'
contemplated Yang Shaoming silently as he saw the body of his servant convulsing violently till it stopped moving all together.
He threw a blue ball of fire created from his Qi to the servant’s corpse and then sat down to think about his next course of action.
"Yun Fei, this will be the last time we meet for some time, I have been selected to undergo training in the inner court to finally become a monk of the monastery and step onto the immortal path." Yun Shan told Yun Fei.
"Senior brother, even though I want to cultivate, I have no aptitude and no knowledge.
Till now I still don't even know what cultivating is. I only know that things which are impossible to do as a mortal can be done as a cultivator, I hope senior brother can clear my doubts.", asked Yun Fei subtly.
"Cultivation is the way of comprehending the heavens and using Qi to achieve things impossible to mortals.
After we were selected, the monk in charge of the examination told us that the first step of cultivation is Qi condensation which is divided into 10 stages wherein a mortal feels the Qi of the heavens and makes it flow through their body by opening their meridians.
After that comes Foundation Establishment which is divided into 4 stages. I believe that our father is at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
After that is the Gold Core stage which even the abbot has not yet managed to reach.", explained Yun Shan patiently.
“Comprehending the heavens, Foundation Establishment, Gold Core..” Yun Fei felt as if a wider world had been opened before his eyes but in the end he could only be a spectator watching others progress forward until he is able to grasp an opportunity which might change his fate.
That night Yun Fei wasn't able to sleep, he kept thinking about how he might be able to cultivate someday and repair his body so he can repay his father's kindness and senior brother's care.
Days passed for Yun Fei as the conflict at the higher strata of the 8 Path Monastery reached its peak as the abbot announced that he would retire in just 3 months.
Although monks don't like to fight, they have to be capable enough to protect themselves and their monastery, After all in this world everything revolves on strength and if the cultivation of the monks of the monastery wasn't good enough and they were weak in the martial way, their land rich in Qi would be taken and their spirit stone resources pillaged.
If a cultivator does not have access to enough resources in the form of herbs or spirit stones which are condensation of Qi in the earth he will eventually be unable to break through to a higher cultivation and would waste away and die.
This was the reason that the abbot was chosen on the basis of strength.
Whoever was the strongest of the candidates would ultimately take the responsibility of being the abbot and lead the monastery for a number of years till he reaches the peak of Foundation Establishment ready to break into the Gold Core stage or he dies of old age.
The current abbot was talented, and he was just at the edge of the Gold Core stage so he was going to abdicate from his position and enter seclusion to attempt breaking through to the Gold Core stage so that their monastery could become a stronger organisation.