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

Chapter 340 Obsession and Desire

Duan Rong withdrew from the spiritual sea of consciousness.

He opened his eyes in the dark cave.

Duan Rong stood up. Although it was dark, he was clear about the locations of the four statues around him.

He suddenly poured his true energy into his palms and smashed the four stone statues. Then he patiently rubbed the broken stones into stone powder piece by piece.

At the moment when the four statues were all crushed into stone chips, he smiled tiredly in the darkness.

All traces have been wiped out.

Even if someone traces back from Pan Yong's line or from Shang Xiangyu's end, they will not find any traces pointing to him.

What's more, he was just a registered disciple who had just entered the mountain gate for more than a month. Who would doubt him?
Duan Rong walked out of the cave, his steps were a little unsteady, and he was exhausted both physically and mentally.

In the past few days, his heartstrings have been tense, and he has completed a layer of the Taizang Sutra every day. The more time passes, the more exhausted his mind and spirit feel.

Especially on the eleventh floor tonight, the last half hour, he almost gritted his teeth and held on.

Duan Rong struggled to walk back to his cave. He walked deep into the cave, fell on the stone bed, and fell into a deep sleep the moment he fell.

Duan Rong slept for a whole day and night.

When he walked out of the cave, it was already the si hour of the next day.

He took a wooden basin and a black pottery jar, went to the spring on the cliff, washed his face, and brought back a pottery jar of clean water.

Duan Rong returned to the cave, poured himself a bamboo tube of clean water, and then sat at the entrance of his cave holding the bamboo tube.

While drinking the water, he looked at the white fog in the valley in front of him.

Duan Rong's face did not show any ease or happiness at this moment. Instead, it was cold and chilling. There was a cold light flashing in his clear eyes.

He slept for a long time, had many dreams, and remembered many things.

He remembered the first time he killed someone, it was in a narrow alley on the Antique Street in Xiangu County. That time, the look in those people's eyes before they died almost frightened him.

Then, the second time, he was no longer afraid, just sick.

Then the third time, the fourth time...

Until he killed Chen Hu and Pan Yong, he could no longer remember how many times he had killed someone.

But his heart had already become as cold as a rock, without any ripples!
Life is worthless, everyone's life is just a stepping stone!

However, is this really the case?
He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, when he was on Blue Star, although he was a social animal and was exhausted from being exploited, occasionally when he saw injured stray cats and dogs on the street, he would stop the car and take the little guys to the pet hospital for treatment.

But now, he is a man with blood on his hands!

His heart was as cold and sharp as the Minghong Sword at his waist.

This is a world of killing, and he has become a killer.

Just like in the previous life, after leaving school and struggling in the society, I became materialistic, hypocritical, full of lies, and even deceived myself in the end.

People will eventually become the people they hate. It's the same no matter where they are.

At this moment, Duan Rong completely accepted his cruelty and murderousness, just like in his previous life, at some point, he completely accepted his materialism and hypocrisy.

Duan Rong suddenly raised his cold eyes and looked at the endless mountains looming in the rolling white fog in the distance. He remembered the poem he had read in his previous life by a man named Mu Dan:
“Although life is exhausting, I must pursue it. The jungle of concepts entangles me, and the light of good and evil flickers in my heart.”

So, what is he pursuing in this world? Like in his previous life, a life of abundance?
No, this world is no longer the previous life. He is no longer the Duan Rong of the previous life.

Just then, a crane cry was heard from the valley ahead.

At this moment, Duan Rong's eyes were filled with coldness and passion. His true intention became clear at this moment. He wanted to see what the scenery at the highest point of this world was like.

He didn't have the chance in his previous life, but in this life, he might be able to!
If the road leading to the highest point is made of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, then he will kill his way through!

He hated killing, but in order to see the scenery at the highest point, he could endure this disgust!
This is his obsession! It is also his desire!
Duan Rong understood his true intention, so he placed the empty bamboo tube in his hand at the entrance of the cave. He stood up and walked into the dense forest.

He was preparing to go to the dense forest to practice.

In the past, he practiced in the depths of the cave on this mountain. It was because of the crisis and oppression brought to him by Shang Xiangyu and Pan Yong that he felt that the darkness deep in the cave could give him a sense of security.

Now, his crisis has been completely resolved.

He can practice in the dense forest where the sunlight is bright.

Although Duan Rong was speeding along the way, he completed the fifth to eleventh levels of the Taizang Sutra in just a few days.

However, he had never practiced the spiritual art that enabled him to achieve the Taizang Sutra.

At this moment, he was ready to study the newly emerged spiritual magic.

First of all, it is the Soul Thorn. From only being able to condense one, he can now condense three and store them in the soul space.

Duan Rong had seen the power of the Soul Thorn with his own eyes.

The three soul-piercing spikes are probably better than any hidden weapon in the world.

Soul attacks are invisible, mysterious and unpredictable. They can never be compared with tangible hidden weapons.

Therefore, Duan Rong prepared to condense three soul thorns first.

In addition to the Soul Thorn, there is another new Soul Technique.

This technique is called Yinghuo, and it is a kind of magic technique of the soul.

The practice of this technique is quite complicated. The practitioner needs to condense an illusion and use it to attack his consciousness. The person being attacked will fall into the illusion and get lost in it.

This technique is also divided into different levels. Duan Rong has achieved the eleventh level of the Taizang Sutra, but can only practice the first and second levels of the Yinghuo Sutra.

After Duan Rong was ready to condense the Soul Thorn, he began to study the initial stage of Mars.

Duan Rong practiced in the dense forest until late at night, then returned to the cave to sleep. The next morning, he went to Xia Honghua's medicine pavilion.

Duan Rong hadn't shown up for two days, and Xia Honghua was worried that he would repeat his old tricks and delay for another ten days. However, she didn't expect that Duan Rong would come over early this morning, and Xia Honghua greeted him enthusiastically.

Duan Rong only spent two hours with Xia Honghua to settle accounts, and then returned to the hill where Shang Xiangyu was.

He first studied for a while in the dense forest, and then got to the initial stage of Mars.

The complexity of practicing this technique was far beyond Duan Rong's imagination.

Just condensing the illusion gave Duan Rong a headache.

As for how to use illusions to attack spiritual consciousness, Duan Rong was thinking about those vague words in the scriptures, his brows furrowed, unable to understand the mystery.

Since this technique is so difficult to practice, Duan Rong is not in a hurry and can just take it slowly. He thinks that the reason why he can't understand how to use illusion to attack the spiritual consciousness is because he has not yet condensed the illusion and does not understand the characteristics of the condensed illusion.

As long as he solves the problem of condensing the illusion first, perhaps the subsequent problems will be easily solved.

Duan Rong only spends two hours every day studying the initial stage of Mars, and the rest of the time is used to refine the Zhengyang Pills and cultivate true Qi.

He estimated that six bottles of Zhengyang Pills would be enough for him to achieve the first level of the True Qi Realm. He wanted to achieve the first level of the True Qi Realm as quickly as possible.

Because, for a warrior, the level of martial arts is the foundation, and everything else is just auxiliary means.

Don't pursue fancy tricks too much and lose sight of the main goal!

From then on, Duan Rong practiced hard in the mountains every day, except for going to Xia Honghua for two hours every day to check the accounts.

Early that morning, he got out of bed, carried a wooden basin and walked out of the cave to the spring to wash.

Halfway through the journey, I saw a figure from afar walking towards me from the cable car.

Duan Rong guessed who it was and stood there waiting for a while.

Not long after, the figure came closer, and it was indeed Old Man Qin with a worried look on his face.

Duan Rong calculated the time. If counted from the time Pan Yong came out of the mountain on May 19th, fifteen or sixteen days have passed now. Pan Yong has not yet gone to old man Qin to cancel his leave. No wonder the old man is so anxious!

Old Man Qin coughed for a while before looking at Duan Rong and asked, "Is Pan Yong not back yet?"

Duan Rong yawned, as if nothing had happened, and said, "I don't know. I haven't seen anyone since."

Old Man Qin sighed and said, "What's wrong with this kid? We agreed on ten days."

Shang Xiangyu was not around, so he gave Pan Yong the note, which was against the rules. If this kid got into trouble, he would also be held jointly responsible.

Old Man Qin thought for a moment and asked, "Did Pan Yong tell you anything before he left?"

Duan Rong said lazily, "He just gave me the key to the cabinet of Shang Shi. Then he told me to be careful of the door. He didn't say anything else."

"He didn't say where he was going or when he would be back?" asked Old Man Qin.

Duan Rong said: "He said he was going to Shenyun Mansion. He didn't say when he would be back."

"Oh..." Old Man Qin nodded thoughtfully. "If he comes back, ask him to come to me to cancel his leave immediately."

Duan Rong nodded in response.

After Old Man Qin finished his instructions, he turned and walked away, coughing. Duan Rong looked at Old Man Qin, who walked away hunched over. His lazy eyes suddenly became sharp.

If what he guessed was correct, if Pan Yong did not show up in a few days, Old Man Qin would definitely report the matter to the sect, and then the people who were investigating the matter would begin to investigate.

Duan Rong was almost certain that the people who pursued the case would not find any clues.

Pan Yong has disappeared from this world, and no one knows how he disappeared.

All traces and clues were dealt with by Duan Rong.

Duan Rong went to the mountain spring to wash up as usual, and then went to Xia Honghua to settle the accounts.

On this day, Duan Rong sat cross-legged on a large bluestone in the dense forest, refining the Zhengyang Pills and practicing true Qi.

His mind was focused on his Dantian meridians when he suddenly heard a whoosh sound in the air.

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat, thinking someone was plotting against him, so he immediately used his physical skills to jump off the big bluestone.

The moment he jumped away, he saw a green wild fruit hit the place where he was sitting cross-legged.

Then, a strange creaking sound came from the treetops not far away.

Duan Rong frowned and looked towards the tree canopy, only to see the baboon he met in the lower courtyard standing on a thick branch of the tree canopy, glaring at him.

That day, when they entered the mountains, he snatched Xiao Yu's bag from the baboon. It was obvious that the baboon was holding a grudge.

Somehow, it suddenly wandered here today and saw Duan Rong meditating on the bluestone. It immediately recognized the guy who had teased it in the lower yard, and then picked a green and hard wild fruit and threw it at Duan Rong.

When the baboon saw Duan Rong dodge the wild fruit it threw at him, it got so angry that it yelled and threw another unripe wild fruit at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong raised his hand and his true energy surged, turning the nearby green wild fruit into a ball of green mist.

The baboon was stunned, a hint of fear flashed across his face, his dark eyes rolled around, and then he grabbed the branch and swung away.

Duan Rong watched the baboon disappear into the dense forest and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. "This beast!?"

On this day, Duan Rong had just returned from Xia Honghua and was preparing to go into the cave to drink some water to moisten his throat. As he walked not far from the cave, he saw a figure sitting cross-legged with eyes closed at the entrance of his cave, as if practicing.

Duan Rong's eyes jumped, he recognized the man, it was Yang Yi from the Judgment Bureau.

The person who came to question Shang Xiangyu twice during the last investigation was this person.

Since Yang Yi is here, it seems that Old Man Qin has already reported Pan Yong's matter to the sect.

Duan Rong walked to a place not far from the cave, clasped his fists and said, "Manager Yang!"

Hearing this, Yang Yi let out a long breath and said with a smile: "My dear Duan, it is a bit rude for Yang to block your door to practice."

Duan Rong said, "Where? Manager Yang, you don't come to me for no reason. Come, let's talk inside."

Yang Yi's eyes moved, and he followed Duan Rong into the cave.

Duan Rong lit the candle, poured a glass of water for Yang Yi, and then handed a plate of wild fruits to Yang Yi, saying, "I picked them from the mountains. Manager Yang, have a try."

Yang Yi smiled and took the fruit on top.

Before Yang Yi could say anything, Duan Rong asked, "Is there any news about Senior Brother Pan Yong?"

Yang Yi was stunned for a moment and said, "Not yet. Did he say anything to you when he left?"

Yang Yi looked towards Duan Rong with eyes as sharp as a knife.

Duan Rong looked normal and repeated what he had said to Old Man Qin.

In fact, Yang Yi had already done a preliminary investigation before coming. He originally thought that Pan Yong must have been stuck with something outside.

But when he investigated the exchange records in the medicine cabinet, he found that Pan Yong had actually used Shang Xiangyu's star map to exchange for six rare medicines, and he also used his own star map to exchange for six bottles of Zhengyang Pills.

This is strange!

Shang Xiangyu was not in the mountains at all, but Pan Yong dared to use Shang Xiangyu's star map to exchange six rare medicines in the medicine cabinet.

And those six kinds of medicines are all related to the Taizang Sutra!
What on earth was he going to do with these drugs?
Yang Yi has already sent a letter to the government offices of Shenyun Mansion and Pan Yong's hometown, asking them to assist in investigating the news about Pan Yong.

He came here this time to talk to Duan Rong and see if there were any other clues.

Yang Yi asked Duan Rong some more questions, and Duan Rong answered them all with ease.

Whether it was Duan Rong's expression or what he said, Yang Yi didn't see any slight flaws.

The two were chatting when suddenly two tall and thin young men came in. They glanced at Duan Rong, then clasped their fists and said to Yang Yi, "Boss Yang, we have searched Pan Yong's cave and Shang Xiangyu's place. We didn't find anything wrong."

Duan Rong's eyes jumped. It seemed that Yang Yi had already brought people to investigate this place.

Yang Yi placed the fruit in his hand on the stone table, stood up, smiled, and said, "Friend Duan, I'm going to take people to the place where Shang Xiangyu refines the elixir to see if there are any missing clues. Friend Duan, do you want to come with us?"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "You guys go ahead. I won't go. I don't understand investigating a case."

"My dear friend Duan, Yang will take his leave!"

"Manager Yang, take care!"

Duan Rong stood up and clasped his fists. Yang Yi led the two thin young men out of the cave.

After they left the cave, Duan Rong's eyes suddenly became cold. He pulled the fruit that Yang Yi had placed on the edge of the stone table to the ground, and then kicked it to the entrance of the cave.

Yang Yi led seven or eight people into a cave on a stone wall covered with vines in the dense forest.

The last time Yang Yi investigated the explosion, he had been here.

He knew that the caves here were as dense as a spider web, crisscrossing and difficult to explore.

But Yang Yi still asked his men to hold torches and search the criss-crossing caves.

Yang Yi and his team searched for a whole night and finally found the black blood vine in the deepest part of the cave.

At the entrance of the black blood vine cave, there is a thick black iron door with a copper lock on it.

Yang Yi didn't even ask Duan Rong for the key. He just drew his sword and cut the copper lock. Then the group walked in holding torches.

They naturally saw the black blood vine, which had been hungry for a long time. If Yang Yi had not suddenly reacted and called out to his men, two of them would have almost stepped into the black rock area.

Once they step in, the long-thirsty black blood vines will definitely attack them.

Yang Yi stood at the edge of the black rock formation, looking at the two black blood vines with fear.

"Shang Xiangyu actually raised two black blood vines here? Could it be that deep in this cave, we are approaching the underground world where space is distorted?"

Yang Yi suddenly noticed that there was a fist-sized spring-like object underground not far from the two black blood vines.

"That is?"

Yang Yi suddenly realized that the spring must be connected to the underground world with distorted space, and it led the air there into this cave.

That's why these two black blood vines can grow!

The group searched the cave all night, but apart from finding two black blood vines, they did not find any other clues.

And those two black blood vines were obviously raised by Shang Xiangyu, and probably had nothing to do with Pan Yong's disappearance.

The group came out of the cave, but did not leave. Instead, they searched the dense forest.

It was not until dusk that they stood in front of the tombs of Chen Hu and Yin Cong.

Yang Yi looked at the two graves with simple tombstones and suddenly said coldly: "Dig up the graves for me!"

Yang Yi's men immediately dug up the two graves and pulled out the bodies of Chen Hu and Yin Cong.

The air in Changliu Mountain was cold and damp, and the bodies of Chen Hu and Yin Cong had already rotted beyond recognition. Yang Yi covered his nose with a handkerchief, took a closer look, and said fiercely: "Dig their graves further down."

"Yes!"

Yang Yi's men dug the two graves more than a foot deeper.

Yang Yi saw that the soil he had turned up was already very solid, so he said, "Don't dig anymore. Bury the two stinking bodies."

Those people buried the bodies of Chen Hu and Yin Cong in the grave.

Yang Yi stood there, the air was filled with the strong stench of corpses. He had never taken off the handkerchief covering his nose. He looked at the dense forest as the dusk deepened, and the doubts in his heart were even deeper and heavier than the dusk at this moment.

First, there were two strange furnace explosions, and then Shang Xiangyu suddenly resigned from the sect, saying that he had obstacles in his practice and wanted to travel outside to find a way to break through.

Then, Pan Yong suddenly used Shang Xiangyu's star map to exchange for rare medicines in the medicine cabinet. He asked for ten days' leave from Old Man Qin on the pretext of going to Shenyun Mansion for something, and then disappeared!

These things, these things, that things, don’t they reveal evil nature?

"Shang Xiangyu, Pan Yong, what do you want to do? Are you colluding with each other, or are you acting on your own?"

"I've felt there's something wrong here. I, Yang Yi, haven't worked in the Judgment Bureau for five years in vain! I can smell the smell of a fox from a long distance away."

"I don't believe that you can't dig out this little bit of dirty stuff of yours?"

(End of this chapter)