A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 280 Return to the city
Duan Rong slept until the afternoon.

He turned over and got out of bed, feeling a dry throat. Duan Rong picked his eye mucus and sighed, saying that he had been feeling a little irritated recently.

He walked slowly to the entrance of the cave, squatted down and picked out a large piece of bone-in ribs from several pieces of venison drying there.

Duan Rong grabbed the ribs with one hand and jumped along the cliff to the stream.

He first picked up some dead branches, lit them with a tinderbox, put the ribs on the fire to smoke, then walked to the stream, washed his face, and drank a few handfuls of water.

Duan Rong wiped the water stains from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. He looked up and saw that there was no wind in the valley and it was extremely quiet.

The faint sounds of birds singing and gurgling streams can be heard clearly, further highlighting the tranquility of the mountains and forests.

Duan Rong suddenly drew his sword and stood on a big rock by the stream!
The warm afternoon sun shone on his face, his eyes were tightly closed, and there was a drop of water hanging on his eyelids after he had just washed his face...

Duan Rong held the knife in his right hand, moved straight forward, raised it in front of him, and did not move!
He closed his eyes, recalling the clear and empty feeling he had last night!

Duan Rong could be sure that in that empty and clear space, he had briefly reached the state of great perfection!
Duan Rong stood there like a petrified man for half an incense stick of time before he suddenly moved with his sword flying...

Duan Rong's eyes were still closed, but after hitting it a few times, he stopped. He did not enter the clear state he had last night.

Duan Rong opened his eyes and looked at his oxtail knife, which shone coldly in the spring sunshine.

After pausing for a few breaths, Duan Rong moved his body again, and the sword flashed. This time he did not deliberately try to enter the clear and empty state of mind like last night. Instead, he cleared away the distracting thoughts in his mind and immersed himself in the sword power!
As Duan Rong fought, he found that his feelings had changed!
He did not enter that state of emptiness and clarity, but broke through directly!
Just like jumping out of the water with a pop, everything in front of me became clear in an instant!

original!

Perfection means harmony!

Harmony means no self!

At this moment, Duan Rong finally understood the true meaning of the state of great perfection!
At this moment, the movement of his sword was neither fast nor slow, and it could not be described as flowing like water!
On the contrary, each cut looked extremely ordinary, just like an old farmer cutting rice.

There was also peace in Duan Rong's eyes!
The knife has never killed anyone, it is just a fact, without any killing intention!
It's just your friend!
It just slits your throat and takes your life with mercy!

It had no intention of killing, it just completed the act of killing in peace!

The intention to kill will only hinder your clarity of mind and make you narrow-minded and violent, but a true killer is compassionate and peaceful!

Only in compassion and peace can he rule everything!
This is the true meaning of selflessness!

Duan Rong was immersed in the state of great perfection. He swung out the Five Tigers and Sheep Swords again and again!

At this moment, Duan Rong truly understood the final meaning of Xiao Zongting's original words!
Martial arts, with martial arts as the method of fighting, internal strength as the foundation, and mental strength as the core!

The ultimate realm of martial arts is to control everything with mental power!
Moreover, this kind of control is not a kind of forceful driving, but a harmonious and unified response!
Duan Rong fought for nearly an hour before he suddenly put away his sword and stood up!

The sun had already set a little, and the lazy sunlight passed through the treetops, casting shadows on Duan Rong's face. Duan Rong smiled slightly. After an hour of practice, he had completely comprehended the state of great perfection.

Duan Rong had just put away his knife and stood up when he suddenly smelled a burnt smell.

"not good!"

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat and he suddenly leaped onto a large rock by the stream. He saw that the pile of pine branches had been burned out, leaving only a pool of ashes. The mountain deer rib had already turned as black as charcoal.

Duan Rong touched his rumbling stomach, stretched his waist, and sighed, "What a pity to waste such a good piece of meat!"

Duan Rong had no choice but to go back to the cave, take out another piece of meat, light a fire on the big white rock again, and roast the venison over the fire.

While roasting venison, Duan Rong was thinking about the wonderful feeling after breaking through the state of great perfection!

As Duan Rong was thinking about it, he suddenly felt like trying out some skills, so he flipped the venison in his hand, drew his sword, and started practicing on the big white stone!
This time, Duan Rong did not use the Five Tigers and Sheep Swords, but the Ximen family's Thunder Smoke Swordsmanship.

He had previously achieved the state of great perfection with the Five Tigers and Sheep Swords, and this time he was using the already achieved state of great perfection to achieve the Thunder Smoke Sword Technique!
However, within a few breaths, Duan Rong had completed the breakthrough of Lei Yan Dao!
At this moment, by the stream in this empty valley, he was performing the Thunder Smoke Sword Technique which was at the state of Great Perfection!
If Ximen Yong saw this, he would surely burst into tears, because after several generations in the Ximen family, no one has been able to practice this sword technique to such a pinnacle level!

Duan Rong fought for nearly half an incense stick before stopping. He stood with his sword across his body, his eyes filled with deep thought.

"Oops!"

Duan Rong's nostrils twitched slightly, and he smelled a faint burnt smell again...

Duan Rong leapt up to the fire on the large white stone. With the tip of his knife, he picked out the large piece of venison from the fire.

The black venison fell on the sparkling white stone, splashing sparks.

Duan Rong looked at the piece of venison. One side was burnt, but fortunately the other side was not burnt.

Duan Rong used the knife in his hand to cut off the burnt side, took the remaining venison and started eating.

The fragrant and tender venison has a slight burnt smell, giving you the illusion of eating bacon.

Duan Rong sat on a rock by the stream, eating venison and watching the setting sun. His eyes were deep and lively.

Duan Rong only fully understood the meaning of Xiao Zongting's other words after he advanced his Lei Yan Dao to the state of great perfection.

The power of the Five Tigers and Sheep Swords can only be truly demonstrated after achieving the state of great perfection!

The most prominent feature of the Five Tigers and Sheep Sword is balance. In other words, Xiao Zongting initially started to improve this sword technique with the goal of reaching the state of great perfection.

At the level of great success, the Five Tigers and Sheep Knife and the Thunder Smoke Knife each have their own merits, but once they break through the great perfection realm, the Thunder Smoke Knife will be unable to stop the Five Tigers and Sheep Knife from drinking dust.

The original balance of the Five Tigers and the Sheep Swords formed a perfect fusion in the state of great perfection!

Duan Rong was almost certain that this was a certain extreme level of the Great Perfection Realm, and this was also the reason why Xiao Zongting had worked so hard throughout his life!
The state of great perfection of this sword technique has almost reached the limit of the inner breath realm!
You can’t advance even a little bit further. If you advance even a little bit further, you will reach the realm of true Qi!
Duan Rong originally wanted to use the state of Great Perfection to master a few more sword techniques, but when he finished eating the piece of venison in his hand, he changed his mind. Because he was convinced that at the state of Great Perfection, no sword technique could compare to the Five Tigers and Sheep Sword!

During the days that Duan Rong was away, Ximen Kankan came to look for Duan Rong several times, but he didn't see him. After the Elite Selection Meeting, Ximen Yong completely relaxed his control over Ximen Kankan. Ximen Kankan wanted to take advantage of the ten days of the public announcement to have some fun, so he came to Duan Rong hoping that Duan Rong would take him to the gambling house for a big bet, but Duan Rong was not there every time he came.

For the last time, Ximen Kankan even took advantage of the fact that there was no one around and climbed into the willow cottage. He took a look and confirmed that Duan Rong was not there before he sighed and left sadly!

That afternoon, Xiao Yu also walked slowly to the gate of Liu Lu's courtyard.

Xiao Yu looked at the gate of Liulu Courtyard, which was piled with various gifts and visiting cards, and her eyebrows slightly frowned.

She went forward and knocked on the door. After a long time, no one answered, so she said, "I wonder where this guy has gone to hide away?"

Xiao Yu almost drained her internal energy in the life-and-death battle. After this life-and-death tempering, after she returned, after a few days of recovery and digestion, it seemed as if it was a natural process, and she suddenly broke through to the great success realm that she had been stuck in for a long time!
Xiao Yu had broken through to the great success realm, and her leg injury had almost healed. She was itching to find Duan Rong to teach her some moves so as to hone and consolidate the great success realm she had just broken through, but she didn't expect Duan Rong was not there.

Duan Rong was in the valley of Wild Boar Mountain when he suddenly sneezed twice in succession!
Duan Rong rubbed his nose. "There's no wind. Why am I sneezing out of nowhere?!"

Duan Rong moved his body and leaped between the steep cliffs of the valley!
He still remembered that he had achieved a breakthrough to the minor success stage with the Cloud Snake Step, and it was in this valley that he leaped freely and occasionally gained something!
But at this time, Duan Rong used the state of great perfection he had achieved to master the Cloud Snake Step again!

Duan Rong's figure was as fast as a ghost, like a baboon or a wild ghost.

After reaching the state of great perfection, his understanding of martial arts had become completely different. The Cloud Snake Steps he performed at this time had a sense of misty clouds between the cliffs.

After Duan Rong practiced the Cloud Snake Step again, he began to try to use the state of great perfection to master his hidden weapon techniques!

His hidden weapon techniques were originally a fusion of Plum Blossom Needle Technique, Thousand-Handed Arhat and Thousand Leaves Three Transformations, three completely different techniques. In fact, there were many imperfections in this fusion.

After Duan Rong regained his consciousness at the state of great perfection, he was able to clear many barriers.

At this time, Duan Rong's hidden weapon skills became more rounded and natural. In the forest with mottled shadows of trees, Duan Rong flashed, and the shadow of a plum blossom bloomed beside his hand. A scimitar flew out silently, piercing through the forest and hitting the leaves!
In the next few days, Duan Rong practiced hard in the mountains!

After achieving the state of great perfection, it is equivalent to entering the realm of mastery.

The first thing to do after entering the house is to do a thorough cleaning, sweep away the discarded things and put the usable things in order.

After several days of hard training, Duan Rong's swordsmanship, martial arts skills, and hidden weapon techniques have all improved by several levels. His overall strength has been completely renewed!
That morning, Duan Rong sat on a large rock by the stream, gnawing on the roasted, but actually somewhat stale, venison.

Although there were game everywhere in the mountains and fields, Duan Rong did not want to kill rashly. In order to eat fresh game, he hunted a wild animal every day. In Duan Rong's opinion, this was really against the order of nature!

Duan Rong chewed the venison with a look of deep contemplation in his eyes.

After several days of hard training, his understanding of the subtle relationship between mental power and martial arts has become more profound.

The reason why mental power is the core of martial arts is that it is the highest ruler!
Duan Rong suddenly thought of an anecdote he had learned in his previous life, called Li Guang Shooting the Tiger!

This story comes from the Records of the Grand Historian: "Guang went out hunting and saw a stone in the grass. He thought it was a tiger and shot it. The arrowhead sank into the stone, and he saw that it was a stone. He shot it again, but it could not penetrate the stone again."

The meaning of this allusion is that Li Guang went hunting and saw a stone covered with grass leaves. He thought it was a tiger, so he shot an arrow, but the arrowhead hit the stone!

But when he realized that it was a stone, he tried to shoot the arrow into it, but he could not penetrate the stone.

In this anecdote in the Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian used the writing of the Spring and Autumn Annals to prove the governing role of mental power on martial arts!
When Li Guang thought it was a tiger, he was able to connect inside and outside and focus on one thing, so he was able to shoot an arrow into the stone!
When he knew that it was not a tiger but a stone, even if he wanted to pretend that it was a tiger, there was already a will in his subconscious mind telling him that it was not a tiger but a stone.

When there are flaws in your mental strength, its ability to integrate and control martial arts will weaken.

Therefore, Li Guang shot again, but the ball could not penetrate the stone again.

So, again, the reason why mental power is the core of martial arts is that it is the highest ruler!
After Duan Rong finished eating the last piece of venison, he quickly returned to the cave!

After several days of hard training, his training in the mountains was complete! And the ten-day public notice period was about to end, so it was time for him to go back.

Duan Rong stood at the entrance of the cave, his consciousness projected outward, he explored every inch of the cave, frowned and thought...

This time he goes to Taiyi Sect, he may be away for three years at the shortest, or he may never come back again at the longest!

This cave stronghold that he inherited from the evil doctor Shen Ping is quite secretive. Now Duan Rong has to sort out all the things that are necessary to take away. The rest have to be left in the cave.

If he had any accident outside, or never came back, this cave and the various rare items inside would probably become ownerless ruins...

In Xiangu County, at the entrance of an alley inside the east city gate, in the corner of a tea shop, Xie Daohan was sitting with his felt hat drooping on his head.

The owner of the tea shop was wiping the counter, glancing at Jie Daohan's back from time to time, with a strange look of curiosity in his eyes.

This person has been sitting here for several days in a row! Every time he has a pot of tea and a plate of peanuts.

The boss looked at him carefully, but his hat brim was pulled down so low that the boss couldn't see his face clearly.

The boss' eyes swept towards the knife on Jie Daohan's waist. Although the boss was curious, he did not dare to step forward to ask. There have been many big cases in Xiangu County recently, and this person was behaving so strangely. Why should he make himself uncomfortable?

Ancient wisdom tells him that it is better to do less than more.

He runs a tea shop. It’s fine if others just sit there and drink tea. It doesn’t disturb his business. Why does he care so much about other people’s business?
Xie Daohan pinched a peanut and chewed it slowly. When the peanut had no taste, he slowly took a sip of tea.

The tea soup was ordered in the morning and it was hot in the morning, but now, at dusk, the tea soup has already become cold and it makes your teeth irritated when you take a sip!
Xie Daohan waited here for several days but still did not see Duan Rong. However, Xie Daohan was not anxious at all, because in two days, the ten-day public notice would end. Xie Daohan expected that Duan Rong would definitely return to the city in these two days!
Just as Xie Daohan took a sip of the cold tea, he saw a desolate figure riding a chestnut horse, riding into the city with a tired look on his face!

When Xie Daohan saw that figure, his heart skipped a beat and he immediately lowered his head!

The one riding into the city on horseback was Duan Rong!

(End of this chapter)