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

Chapter 411 Taiyi Pavilion

Duan Rong followed Yao Che and walked into the depths of the dense forest.

Yao Che walked with his head down, not saying a word. Although they had just met, Duan Rong could tell that Yao Che was a man of few words, so he also walked silently without saying anything.

As they walked, they passed through a lush grove of large beech trees, and suddenly the view in front of them became bright.

This place is obviously an open space developed deep in the dense forest.

The venue is quite large and is surrounded by a wooden fence. Inside are some wooden houses of varying sizes that are arranged randomly, like mushrooms popping out of a wetland.

Among those wooden houses, there are a few tents scattered among them, like rare white mushrooms mixed in with a pile of black mushrooms.

Yao Che walked into the venue in silence with Duan Rong.

When they passed by a wooden house, they saw a big man at the door with a full beard and bare upper body, wiping his neck with a towel.

He watched the two people walk by, glanced at Duan Rong, and asked, "Yao Che, what does this guy do?"

Yao Che just looked at the road, without even glancing at the big man, and replied: "He left Tallinn."

"Really?" The big man wiped his face with a towel and threw it into the wooden basin. But as he looked at Duan Rong's back, who had already walked away, a hint of doubt suddenly flashed in his eyes. He muttered to himself, "That kid looks... a little unfamiliar?"

Yao Che led Duan Rong to a rather large tent.

The two stood at the door of the tent.

Yao Che looked at him and said, "Rest here for a few days. I will report your information to the Internal History Department today. There is a complicated ceremony for inner disciples to leave the pagoda forest and enter the mountain gate. It is customary to hold this ceremony every two months. You are lucky that you only have to wait a few days. The three people inside have been waiting for over a month."

After Yao Che finished speaking, he suddenly opened the tent, and the two of them walked in, one in front and one behind, with their heads lowered.

As soon as he entered the tent, Duan Rong frowned, and an extremely strong and unpleasant smell rushed straight into his nose.

There were four bamboo beds in the tent, three of which were already occupied. There was only one empty bed, on which a lot of miscellaneous items were piled.

At this time, it was still early morning and the three people inside were still sleeping soundly.

Yao Che's face was cold as he swept all the debris on the bamboo bed to the ground. Then he took out a fur blanket and a pillow from the cabinet at the entrance of the tent and threw them on the empty bed. He said, "That's it. Just make do with it and sleep. If you need anything, come find me at the fifth wooden house at the east end of the tent."

After Yao Che finished speaking, he lifted the curtain and walked out of the tent.

After staying inside for a while, Duan Rong's nose had already adapted to the smell and no longer found it pungent. He had not slept the previous night, so he wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down on the bamboo bed.

The other three seemed to have woken up after being disturbed.

On the bamboo bed on the other side of the door from Duan Rong, a fairly fair-skinned young man creaked on the bedside and propped up his elbows. The blanket slid off his naked upper body. He rubbed the gray stripes on his body and looked at Duan Rong and asked, "Brother, I just heard what Instructor Yao said. It seems that you are also new to Tallin?"

Duan Rong glanced at him and smiled, "Yes! Three senior brothers, you are the same, right?"

"Yes, we all are!" The man diagonally opposite Duan Rong suddenly answered.

"Brother, why do you look so unfamiliar to me?" The young man who was rolling the ash strips threw away a greasy ash ball in his hand and suddenly asked in confusion.

He had been in Tallinn for three years and knew almost everyone there. Since this person in front of him had just left Tallinn, how come he seemed to have never seen him before?
Duan Rong smiled and said, "Of course. Senior Brother, this is the first time we meet!"

"First time meeting?!" The young man was slightly stunned, his eyes moved, and then he asked: "May I ask, Senior Brother, how many years have you been in Tallinn?"

Duan Rong hesitated for a moment, but still answered: "Well... I went into Tallinn last night."

"What!?"

This time, all three of them sat up from the middle of the bamboo bed. One of them got up so fast that the blanket slipped off the bed, revealing a curvaceous body.

"Brother, you said you entered Tallin last night? And you left Tallin early this morning!?"

Duan Rong said, "When we gathered this morning, we beat up that baboon family and came out."

Upon hearing this, the other three looked at each other in surprise.

The young man who was rolling the ash strips, with his lower body wrapped in a blanket, looked at Duan Rong with a somewhat strange expression and said, "Brother, you are not joking, are you?!"

He really couldn't believe what Duan Rong said. It was completely beyond his understanding.

"He's not joking." Another guy, whose ribs were barely visible, suddenly said, "If not, how come we have never seen him in Tallinn after spending several years there?"

Upon hearing this, the young man who was rubbing the ash strips lowered his head to think for a moment, and when he raised his head again, he looked at Duan Rong in astonishment.

That look was as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

Although the three were greatly shocked, they still accepted the fact that Duan Rong had left the tower forest overnight. After all, it was Instructor Yao who personally sent him into the tent. It can only be said that this person is gifted.

Since they were woken up, they soon started chatting.

Duan Rong originally wanted to sleep for a while, but when he saw them chatting, he joined in. He had only stayed in Tallinn for one night, so he didn't know much about the situation yet. He just took the opportunity to chat with them and find out some things.

Duan Rong stayed in the tent for a few days.

Although the conditions here were simple, the three people seemed to be living very comfortably. Duan Rong thought about it and understood that if he was locked up in that cramped tower for two or three years, after coming out and looking at the conditions in the tent, it would probably feel like heaven. He didn't feel deeply because he only stayed in that cramped tower for one night.

Over the past few days, Duan Rongye had basically found out all the information he needed to know.

The inner disciples who leave Talin must first go to Taiyi Pavilion on the worship day every two months to pay homage to the ancestors of the sect.

These so-called ancestors of all generations are actually the elders of the Taiyi Sect’s Council of Elders.

As long as one can enter the Council of Elders, after death, he will be qualified to be enshrined in Taiyi Pavilion and enjoy the worship of future generations of disciples forever.

After paying homage to Taiyi Pavilion, the next step is the apprenticeship ceremony in the Dragon Fish Hall.

Compared with the cumbersome formalities and pageantry of worshipping at Taiyi Pavilion, the ceremony of paying homage to the master in the Dragon Fish Hall is, on the contrary, an extremely important matter to them.

Because not every inner disciple can successfully become a disciple. Or in other words, most inner disciples actually don't have a master.

Since no one was willing to accept these inner disciples, they had no choice but to register under the names of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Clan Justice and other departments, accepting the tasks assigned by each department and having the resources for their cultivation allocated to them by each department.

If you perform well in each department, you still have a certain chance to become a disciple in the department, but the probability is very slim. Basically, if you don't succeed in becoming a disciple on the day of worshiping the ancestors, your chances in the future will be slim.

Within the sect, those who are qualified to accept disciples in the Dragon Fish Hall include not only the great elders in the Council of Elders, but also the old veterans hidden in the sect and the successful managers of each hall.

These are the three echelons. To be accepted as a disciple by an elder of the Elders' Council naturally means a promising future, with all kinds of resources and opportunities.

Although those hidden elders in the sect do not usually show their power, they also have a lot of say in the sect. If you can become their disciple, it will be like a fish jumping into the dragon gate.

Some hidden elders are even more authoritative than some elders in the Council of Elders.

Finally, there are the stewards of each hall who have achieved great accomplishments. If you become a disciple of these people, you can also obtain some resources. While not as good as the first two echelons, it is much better than the inner disciples who are nominally affiliated with various departments. At least, you have a master, someone to guide your cultivation and someone to take care of your resources. It's not a disadvantage, but it's better than the lower ones.

Most of the inner disciples who leave the Pagoda Forest hope to become disciples of the managers of various halls.

As for the elders of the Council of Elders and those hidden elders, they are really not what ordinary people can dream of. These people would rather have nothing than something unworthy, and would not easily accept disciples.

Five days later.

Duan Rong and three other inner disciples of Talin arrived at Cuiwei Peak of the sect one day in advance.

Cuiwei Peak is the location of the sect’s Taiyi Pavilion, the Council of Elders and the Dragon Fish Hall. It can be said to be the core hinterland of the sect.

Cuiwei Peak is not very high, it is a rather low mountain, but it is covered with dense and lush vegetation. Looking from afar, it gives a sense of beautiful scenery.

Duan Rong and his companions arrived at a villa at the foot of Cuiwei Peak in the evening of the previous day.

In that separate courtyard, the historian and attendants in charge of rituals in the Internal Affairs Department tormented them all night long.

They had to bathe and change their clothes early, putting on heavy formal wear that had been worn by countless people. Then the servants began to teach them the various formalities of worshiping Taiyi Pavilion the next day. They were kept busy until almost dawn, when they finally took a nap.

For fear of wrinkling their dresses, they could only take a nap leaning against the pillars. After a short while, they were pulled away by the servants. Early in the morning, when it was just dawn, they stood at the foot of the high and majestic stone steps of Cuiwei Peak with empty stomachs.

They looked up with their drowsy eyes, and saw in the hazy sky, a long line of stone steps, like a ladder to heaven, leading straight to the top of the mountain. At the end, there was a magnificent and majestic palace, like a giant beast squatting.

The ceremony began at the chosen auspicious time when it was bright, and by this time Duan Rong and the others had been standing at the bottom of the stone steps, bored, for nearly an hour.

Duan Rong and his companions, to the sound of a horn, performed the ritual of kneeling three times and bowing nine times before climbing the stairs. Reaching a platform, they knelt again, bowed, and burned incense before continuing up the stone steps, dragging the hem of their heavy gowns...

When the worship ceremony at Taiyi Pavilion was halfway through, the Dragon Fish Hall not far away was already full.

The old servant who was on duty at the Dragon Fish Hall all year round was frightened and turned pale with fear.

What happened today?
All the major elders in the Council of Elders, as well as some senior members of the sect who had been in hiding for many years, were present.

This old man has been on duty in the Dragon Fish Hall for more than 20 years and has never encountered such a scene.

"Could something have happened?" Old Sheren felt worried.

Since so many elders and seniors had come, he naturally did not dare to neglect them. He immediately ordered his servants to add tables and chairs and serve tea.

The old man looked at the two young men taking tea leaves from the cupboard and immediately shouted, "Not there!"

"Don't you even know who's here? And you're taking the tea leaves here! Can you drink last year's old tea? The jar under the cupboard contains this year's new tea. How many times have I told you?"

The young servants were busy and bustling, but finally, under the command of the old servant, they served the tea happily.

Seeing that everything was basically arranged, the old man finally took a breath, walked over slowly, and said respectfully, "May I ask the elders and adults what brings you to the Dragon Fish Hall?"

"You old man, why are you pretending to be confused? We are here to accept disciples!"

"Yup!"

The old man was startled and looked around. "Are you all here to recruit disciples?"

"Why don't you accept the invitations?" an old woman with a wrinkled face and white hair suddenly shouted.

"Yes, yes, yes. It was my fault for being negligent!"

Lao Sheren was unable to react for a moment. These people were actually here to recruit disciples! ?
This was natural, as the Dragon Fish Hall was the place for apprenticeship ceremonies. But he had been here for over twenty years and had never seen anything like this. He thought something had happened in the Dragon Fish Hall, causing so many people to brawl!

It turns out that after all this fuss, these people are all here to recruit disciples!

The old man bowed to each one of them and collected all the cards from the elders and old people. He held a thick stack of cards in his hand, bowed again in the middle of the hall, and then left the front hall and came to the back hall.

Lao Sheren sat down in front of the desk in the back hall, wiped the sweat from his forehead with a cotton towel, washed his hands, and then opened the top letter in the stack of letters in front of him.

What is written in this post is the inner disciples that these elders and seniors have chosen and want to accept.

Lao Sheren first glanced at the seal on the post and saw that it was from Ge Rushong, the elder of the Council of Elders.

Ge Rushong was not only an elder of the Council of Elders, but also the director of the Ministry of Public Security, and was in a position of great power.

If you are chosen by them and accepted into the sect, you will be promoted quickly and have the opportunity to participate in many important affairs within the sect.

Below the seal was Ge Rushong's condition! This part was not necessary, because Ge Rushong's identity was already a condition that was difficult to refuse.

But Ge Rushong's post still contained five densely packed additional conditions, each of which made Lao She's heart tremble.

He swallowed and finally looked at the name at the bottom of the post.

He felt a little unfamiliar with the name, as if he had never heard of it before.

"Duan Rong?!"

Lao Sheren's face was stunned. He was wondering who this Duan Rong was and why he was worthy of being won over by someone like Ge Rushong!

He thought about it, but still had no impression of the name, so he put down Ge Rushong's note and picked up the second one.

This is a post from Yang Sixian, the director of the Zongzheng Judgment Department!
Lao Sheren’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Or Duan Rong?!"

He opened the third and fourth...

With a rustling sound, all the posts were spread out on the table in front of him.

"My dear!"

"They're all that Duan Rong!?"

Who on earth is this person? To the point where the sect elders and even those hidden elders are all vying to recruit him into their sect!
And the conditions are better and better! ?
What a ghost! ?
(End of this chapter)