In front of Yun Fei, a towering cliff stretched out into the far distance with no end in sight, even with the eyes that Sun Ming had gifted him, he could see no end to its length or height which extended beyond the clouds.

As he turned around, he marvelled again at the vibrant, green foliage and towering trees which were forming an endless canopy. The closely set trees that were more than 10 metres tall formed a majestic forest that promised a bounty and no lesser amount of danger.

Yun Fei began scouting a base for himself, where he could keep himself away from wind and rain.

After walking along the cliff towards the direction of the moon for a few kilometers, he was finally able to find a cave-like opening in the hard rock face which he could fit to his needs.

This cave was around 5 meters wide and 6 meters deep with a height of 4 meters, the size was just right for one person to live in. The next step in Yun Fei's plan was to modify the cave into a liveable place and to secure food and water. After that he could begin securing a radius around his new dwelling in order to prepare for any adverse eventuality.

Yun Fei collected some tall branches to block off the mouth of the cave, tying them together like a makeshift gate that was curved inwards to leave a little space for lighting a fire.

A kilometre north of the cave, Yun Fei found a pond which was fed through a brook coming from somewhere beyond the cliff that he had made his cave in. The pond also birthed another smaller brook which meandered into some distance and could only be explored with some preparation.

There were some fruit trees in the surrounding areas of his cave, there were mangoes, bananas and some orange trees.

Yun Fei went back to his cave with some water which was filled in gourds that he had plucked and hollowed out from a gourd vine, and some fruits to eat for some time.

After setting up a small fire at a very short distance away from the mouth of his cave, Yun Fei sat on a stone and stared into the flames thinking of thoughts that he had brushed off when he was getting a better control of the situation.

'Strength, I need strength in order to survive in this world, the weak are meat and the strong do eat.

Sun Ming was right, I was far too naive back in the monastery, but now I won't fall prey anymore, the season must turn, the prey must become the predator.'

Thinking of Sun Ming, a teardrop fell from Yun Fei's eye but he steeled himself, turning his thoughts to the future.

‘I should start cultivating the technique that Sun Ming entrusted me with.’

After a little reminiscing, Yun Fei closed his eyes and tried to recall the magical technique. Just as he thought of it, a tide of information swept into his mind. First, it explained what the eyes Sun Ming had gifted to him were capable of and then it elaborated on the path to cultivate the elementary form of the technique.

The eyes that Yun Fei had now could see clearly till almost a kilometre if there were no obstructions, he could even read a word or sentence written at that distance if there wasn't any obstacle blocking it.

These eyes were condensed and raised by Sun Ming's avatar that was at Foundation Establishment stage and could be used to mentally shock any mortal or animal that hadn't started cultivating Qi.

Yun Fei just had to look them in the eyes and swirl the Qi that was already contained in his eyes in a way described by the technique which would mentally shock the receiver, and make them lose consciousness if they were to look him in the eyes.

The elementary form of the technique was a particular method of nourishing the eyes with the help of Qi drawn in from the surroundings and circulating it in such a manner so as to form a cycle with the atmosphere.

‘This technique assumes that I already know how to draw in Qi, did Sun Ming forget about that? No, I just thought with the mentality of a choosing beggar. Sun Ming has already done a lot for me, this minor inconvenience doesn't even matter.

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So what if I don't know how to draw in Qi, I'll just keep trying until I figure it out.’

Yun Fei thought to himself as he watched the flickering flames and heard the crackling of the burning wood

‘Since cultivators can extend their lives, control flying swords and wield fire and other elements using Qi, it should be a type of fuel that a cultivator’s body can use to perform various tasks. This fuel is present in the environment which cultivators absorb to advance their cultivation.'

Yun Fei thought about Qi as he meditated through the night, Although his eyes shocked the enemies using Qi, Yun Fei had no exact idea about how it worked and how to draw in Qi into his body to complete the first level of the technique.

At daybreak, Yun Fei made a trip to the pond to perform his ablutions and refresh his mind after tirelessly meditating through the night.

Yun Fei had decided to explore the area around him today, so after breakfast, he started walking along the extending cliff to see where it leads to.

Yun Fei could only shuffle along slowly with the aid of a stick because of his disability.

He walked around 6 kilometres, and it was already afternoon when he took a break to rest.

Just as he picked himself back up again to continue on his trek, he heard a deafening thud from up ahead.

‘Don’t tell me that something has fallen from the top. Even if it was a living thing that fell, it won’t be living anymore.’

He started walking along the cliff once again, after walking 700 or so meters he finally reached the site where the thing had fallen.

Looking at the red coloured crater in front of him, and bits and pieces of scattered meat, and tangled entrails along with a hilt that was in the centre of the crater, Yun Fei could predict most of what had happened.

This unfortunate being probably committed suicide after being chased, choosing to fall to his death rather than falling in the hands of his enemies.

Looking at the blood and gore in front of him, Yun Fei didn't even wince or cringe. If it was before he was crucified in the monastery, he might have had to vomit when looking upon such a gruesome sight but the tragedy he had faced had desensitised him, making him more callous.

Limping towards the centre of the crater with his stick, Yun Fei could feel an itch in his eyes and some kind of movement near them.

He walked closer to the hilt stabbed into the ground before him in the middle of a blood red pile of goo, which was once a living being and looked at the hilt properly.

The hilt was mostly blacked with golden lines along its edges and was close to 18 centimetres long. He could tell from the finishing on the hilt and a strange aura that it seemed to emit that this weapon wasn't ordinary and was likely a high quality item.

Just as Yun Fei touched the hilt, he felt a strength that he had never felt before seep out from the hilt, but he didn't let go. Pulling the hilt out of the ground, he found a jagged blade continuing just around 40 cm. The blade was also pitch black with the edges golden.

Yun Fei felt that this was the most precious item that he had ever laid his eyes upon. Admiring the blade for some time, Yun Fei was satisfied. Since he didn't have anything sharp to use, he didn't hunt and just depended on fruits, but now he could properly cut some meat and maybe dry and cure it to take it on longer outings.

With this finding, Yun Fei started making his way back. Walking was harder than a normal person for Yun Fei, he had to use a stick to support himself, this was also the reason Yun Fei was set on sensing Qi and then to start cultivating in any way possible. If he could sense Qi and then break through the first level of Qi condensation, he should be able to get selected by a sect and then find a way to fix his leg.

When Yun Fei reached his cave, it was already night. He felt very tired because of all the walking he did today. Yun Fei wasn't accustomed to physical hard work, since he hadn't done any straining physical work in the monastery. He sat down and started eating the fruits he had saved for dinner.

'I should start hunting some animals from tomorrow, eating only fruits is probably not good for my body. I have to make my body fitter so that I can survive better.’ As Yun Fei finished eating his food while thinking, he suddenly felt incredulous.

'Huh, I'm not really tired any more. I was very tired just before I started eating. My body isn't even used to physical work.' as Yun Fei was thinking about this he suddenly smiled bitterly and thought to himself.

'I am not a human, I can't judge myself by the standards of the humans that I know of. Right now, I don't even know of my origin, but I am surely not a human.'

Yun Fei started meditating after finishing with his dinner, and started recapitulating his day.

'Although I didn't pay any attention to it there, that weird energy was probably Qi. The creature who fell to his death must have been a formidable cultivator, or someone wouldn't use such a dagger to kill him.'

Looking at the dagger or short sword again, Yun Fei was sure that this dagger wasn't made by mortal hands, it was too sharp, far sharper than any weapon or knife he had seen before and also too durable, the blade wasn't chipped in the least, even when he hit it with a full swing on a rock, in fact, it had slashed a foot deep into the rock.

Remembering that weird feeling he had felt during the day, Yun Fei meditated, attempting to feel the presence of Qi, and then drifted off to sleep.