6 Sky Cloud Forest

[Word Count 2250]

People train and gain experience through repeated trials and failures and Zhao Wei wasn't an exception to that law.

Of course, without failure one can never develop and grow into a true, mature man.

Just remembering how he used to fail some Random Assessment Tests in his high school days, really brought a reminiscent smile on his face.

He was that type of person who would normally laugh at his own failures instead of being overly frustrated.

Anyways, 10 days had passed just like when he had been too busy and focused on sharpening his necessary skills. That is to say that he had already been a resident of the Fan Universe for roughly about 17 days.

First, he didn't learn any other fist techniques, he still preferred using the grandly perfected [Tyrant Fists].

What he did was just adding a little bit of modification to the technique.

With his eye abilities that seemed to be derived from a basic Byakugan, it was simple for him to see through the energy circulation system inside a cultivator's body. The meridians and numerous acupoints inside his opponent's body were all like an open book in front of his insightful eyes. If a Hyuga clan descendant can see through the chakra pathways and chakra points of other ninjas, it was only right for him to be able to do so but not on ninjas but his fellow cultivators instead.

During the experimentation phase, he had been as inconspicuous as possible while trying to use this ability on other disciples. He was not a pervert, in fact, he disdained looking through the bodies of other people despite being a revered medical practitioner in his previous life. That was all for his own benefits and a greater purpose.

Even a beautiful woman in front of his see-through eyes was like any other human being that he had observed. Beyond the veil of that superficial beauty, there were only a couple of interconnected bones and fresh blood.

Now back to the previous topic about modification of [Tyrant Fists], it was a pretty interesting concept that Zhao Wei had decided to incorporate.

He used the laws of vibration where his fist would instantly generate the violent energy of vibrations that would gradually wreak havoc inside his enemies.

That was something he had come up with after remembering one of the techniques used by the protagonist of Martial Word, Lin Ming, which he had obtained from the Magic Cube.

Zhao Wei really felt that the Cultivation Universe had limitless possibilities and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Many things can be accomplished in those horrifying universes and he, a free-spirited curious guy, just had to be in one of them.

As for movement techniques, he had already trained the [Illusory Mist Steps] to Grand Perfection and paired with the [Instantaneous Lightning Movement], a middle ranked technique that focused on pure speed like the impulse of lightning, he was pretty much unrivaled when it came to matters of speed among all disciples.

Those two movement techniques would be very helpful and efficient especially when facing a siege or when fighting multiple opponents.

As for archery, yeah archery it is. He had super vision and there was no way in Florida, he wasn't going to abuse the shit out of that ability.

He really didn't need any techniques as far as matters of bows and arrows were concerned. He just trained casually in the basics in the Zhao Clan's forest.

Even the goddess of archery would have to be impressed in the face of his basic sniping skills.

The intense training that Zhao Wei had carried out during those ten days wasn't without their own benefits to his speed of cultivation.

He could already feel that his bottleneck at the peak of 2nd rank had already started loosening and in no time, he would really enter the 3rd rank. He just needed a little push and that could easily be accomplished if he had a lot of money like a young master.

Anyways, there is this notion that the sword is the king of all weapons but Zhao Wei had different views.

All weapons were just basically the same and served the same purpose of attacking. He didn't believe in the so-called superiority of a certain weapon.

Zhao Wei didn't know why but he felt that all things in the universe shared a common origin and all weapons were part of the Great Dao.

He couldn't directly see through those nomological truths of the universe at this juncture of his cultivation but that didn't deter him from comprehending some basic truth.

Though it felt like bullshit even to himself, Zhao Wei had a theory that almost all transmigrators were closer to the Great Dao than everyone else due to their otherworldly status.

The theory was flawed but those were just his own thoughts.

"It's time for the hunt. It's time for me to officially appear in this world. If I don't take the first step to actualizing what it means to be absolute and unfettered then I will never know which direction the road leads."

He had been hiding and grinding by himself in the shadows but the time had arrived for him to see the daylight. The time had arrived for the world to acknowledge his existence.

Looking up at the cloudless vast sky, Zhao Wei solemnly nodded to himself.

It was already noon and the gigantic sun was burning hot as ever but unsurprisingly, Zhao Wei wasn't showing any signs of sweating. In fact, he felt as if his body was being constantly massaged by warm gentle touches. The solar radiations were the perfect tonic for his [Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art].

***

Sun Feather City was a prosperous city under the jurisdiction of three clans namely: the Zhao Clan, Qiu Clan and Xin Clan.

Those three major clans restricted each perfectly, each with their own ambitions of claiming the title of true ruler of Sun Feather City.

'There can never be two tigers in one den but in this situation, there are exactly three huge fat tigers. The balance is currently pretty much well maintained but the troupe of a clan disappearing overnight isn't an impossibility in this kind of setting,' Zhao Wei smiled inwardly while taking unhurried steps around the city.

It was surely lively and noisy as expected of any commercial center. All kinds of businesses were being carried out left and right by street vendors. Well-fed merchants could be seen flashing bashful smiles while trying to haggle prices with their customers. A profiteer would always be a profiteer and profits would always put a smile on the face of any trading merchant.

'Those guys have already achieved the Dao through profits.' Zhao Wei laughed in his mind while making his way toward an inconspicuous stall that sold books that recorded about all the wild beasts and deadly beasts inside the Sky Cloud Forest. It was more like an encyclopedia of monsters.

It had a poster with a rather lackluster penmanship.

An old man wearing ragged clothes was in charge of the stall.

It inadvertently reminded Zhao Wei of those members of the Beggar Sect mostly found in Murim Manhwa.

"How much?" Zhao Wei didn't beat around the bush and jumped straight to business.

A twinkle flashed past the old man's brown eyes but he quickly composed himself.

This simple action didn't escape Zhao Wei's superior senses.

"Young man, the supreme knowledge recorded in this book is indispensable. With it, it could even save your life in extreme circumstances." The air around the old man completely changed. He now had the atmosphere of a businessman.

"Just three pieces of silver is enough. What do you say?" The wizened eyes of the old man looked at Zhao Wei's expression.

The old man already knew Zhao Wei's identity as a disciple of Zhao Clan through the identification plaque hanging on the waistline of his robes.

The old man wanted to earn a profit since he assumed the youth in front of him was a green horn. The old man's eyes were sharp as he had already picked on Zhao Wei's figure the moment he had set foot on that side of the market. While observing his curious eyes, he had come to the conclusion that he was a new face, completely having their first time in the market.

And to make his product introduction more impactful, he had to make his words pleasing to the ears.

Zhao Wei remained silent and didn't speak as if deliberating over his thoughts.

"Old man, did you happen to be a robber in your past life?" Zhao Wei's words were sharp with no changes to his facial expression. His face remained calm and dignified.

The old man wanted to fume after hearing Zhao Wei's words but considering his identity and affiliation to the Zhao Clan, he curbed down his anger.

"Customer, what are you trying to say?"

Zhao Wei removed a piece of silver from his money bag and placed it on the table.

"A silver. That's my bottomline."

He looked into the eyes of the old man who was only a mortal with no cultivation.

The old man felt as if his mind was being submerged into swampy waters.

Just looking at Zhao Wei's eyes he felt compelled to do anything that he said.

His wits as a businessman were all thrown out of the window.

"O-Okay. One silver it is." He said with a stammer while quickly taking away the piece of silver.

"It was good doing business with you, old man," Zhao Wei said emotionlessly while taking the book from the stand and without looking back, he veered off to the weapons shop.

'Think you can rob me of my money in broad daylight, hehe. It's too early for you, old man.' A one-sided grin made its way on his face as he walked away.

Even though he knew the old man was to some degree mesmerized by the powerful compulsion from his eyes, Zhao Wei really didn't fucking care.

He had no qualms against using unhandy methods that would make some situations go in his favor.

After his physical reformation due to the [Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art], it was now that he realized how his eyes can be somewhat… intimidating and he wasn't even using any mind-related techniques.

Was it also going to work on cultivators as it had done on a mortal? He naturally wondered.

On the way, he took the time to go over the knowledge recorded in the encyclopedia of demonic beasts.

He was inherently not a born resident of this world, so it was understandable for him to lack some general knowledge. From the novel, naturally not all the deadly beasts would be mentioned, only the beasts necessarily convenient to the plot would be shown to the readers. Knowledge is power and Zhao Wei wasn't conceited enough to say that he knew every little thing about this universe. The Fan Universe was vast and limitless. Can you even begin to imagine the number of unexplored regions? Even Earth which was infinitely smaller compared to just one island in the Fan Universe hasn't been fully explored.

His current reality was no longer fictitious but a true living one where death would accompany him at any given moment when he wasn't extra cautious.

"Interesting. It is quite unbelievable that such wonderful creatures can exist under the heavens and walk on this very earth." Zhao Wei couldn't help but gloss over the eye-opening information from the book.

Well, it only took him a few minutes to reach the end of the book. Millions of species and some of their evolved variations were now imprinted in his mind.

Zhao Wei was now in front of the Weapons shop under the control of Zhao Clan and naturally, he entered the building.

A few moments later, he exited the building. He had a cold steel dagger carefully sheathed on his waist and a long iron bow strapped on his wide shoulders. As for the bag of arrows, they were fixed on his back.

'Hmm, these will do. Bow and arrows for killing and dagger for skinning my prey.'

'I shouldn't forget some condiments.' He then smiled while looking at the Food Spices store.

***

The Sky Cloud Forest was relatively huge with seemingly no end to it when someone gazed at it from afar.

It was a forest of opportunity and also death. This was a literal jungle and weakness would leave you as food for both the wild beasts and the deadly beasts staying in the deeper regions of the forest.

Looking at the dark entrance leading into the forest, Zhao Wei couldn't help but let out a nervous breath of air.

Of course, he was nervous. Anyone would be especially when he was about to tango with 'death'.

"Risks and pure guts must be taken to become stronger. This is where I should start forging my will and hardening my battle experience." Zhao Wei calmed himself by taking in a forceful deep breath into his lungs and then slowly exhaled his pent-up tension.

"Sky Cloud Forest, huh. You are going to be my temporary home for a while."

With a now relaxed smile on his face, Zhao Wei activated [Instantaneous Lightning Movement] and sped into forest at very high speeds while leaving behind a blue lightning streak.

***

Enjoy my magnanimity, younglings.

Don't forget to review and powerstone me.