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

Chapter 416: Clear and Bright Realm
On a bare mountain with no vegetation, Wu Shidao suddenly came along a stone path from a distance. He came straight to the cave entrance and showed the note and the sect's cloud certificate to the guard.

Wu Shidao was Zhu He's second disciple, and Zhu He had entrusted him with many matters in the Internal History Department. Getting a note from the historical supervisor was no big deal for him.

What's more, he didn't really want to get another weapon!
Wu Shidao walked into the cave and stood at the entrance of the stone chamber. He could already see Duan Rong's figure inside.

Duan Rong was seen holding a long-handled melon hammer, his eyes bright and focused. After a while, he put the melon hammer back into the niche, shook his head in disappointment, and walked to another niche next to it.

Wu Shidao watched for a while and saw that just as Lu Geng said, Duan Rong was really observing each sword one by one.
Wu Shidao was puzzled and thought to himself, "Looking at Junior Brother, he doesn't look like he's looking for anything!"

He watched very carefully. When Duan Rong took out the weapon, he just glanced at it briefly. He didn't even try the feel of it, let alone examine it carefully. He just held it in his hand for a while and then put it back.

However, these seemed to be meaningless actions in his eyes, but Duan Rong seemed to be doing them very attentively.

Wu Shidao looked at it for a while but couldn't figure out what was going on. He moved his eyes and walked towards Duan Rong who was deep in the stone chamber.

Duan Rong had just devoured the spirit of a weapon when he saw the data panel in front of him shaking and disintegrating. At this moment, he caught a glimpse of a figure walking towards him out of the corner of his eye.

Duan Rong looked up and saw Wu Shidao walking towards him with a smile.

Wu Shidao glanced at the deer horn knife in Duan Rong's hand and said with a smile: "A handy weapon is extremely important to a warrior. Junior brother, you are so careful in choosing it, you must be a person with a delicate mind. Martial arts is a battle of tiny details, and it is the difference in subtleties that matters."

Duan Rong didn't understand for a moment what Master Wu meant by coming over and saying something so incoherent. But he still smiled and said, "Brother, you have a profound insight. There are indeed subtle differences in martial arts."

After Duan Rong finished speaking, he just looked at Wu Shidao, waiting for him to speak.

Wu Shidao looked at the way Duan Rong was looking at him, paused for a moment and said, "Junior brother, I heard from your Senior Brother Lu that you wanted to observe all the hundreds of weapons in this stone chamber. To be honest, Senior Brother was a little worried, so I came to take a look."

Duan Rong scratched his head and said, "Brother, do you think I am a little weird?"

Master Wu said: "It's still a little unusual."

Wu Shidao looked at Duan Rong expectantly, as if waiting for his explanation.

Duan Rong was really having a headache. He just touched the weapon, and he didn't think it was a big deal. Why did the second brother seem to be so determined to get to the bottom of it?

Duan Rong hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, "Brother Wu, that's right! I have had a strange ability since I was a child."

"Weird ability?!" When Master Wu heard Duan Rong say this, his eyes widened instantly.

Duan Rong said: "It means that I can sense something and put myself in an indescribable state. In that state, my six senses will be much sharper than usual, and in that state, I am completely free of emotions and subjective consciousness. It is an absolutely ethereal and peaceful state. Thinking and judgment will be integrated into a highly acute intuition. In this state, no matter what martial arts moves I use, the power will have a qualitative leap!"

Wu Shidao looked at Duan Rong in astonishment and said, "Junior brother, you actually have attained the state of emptiness and clarity!"

Wu Shidao was knowledgeable and had a good memory, and he had read the Taoist Canon thoroughly. As soon as he heard what Duan Rong said, he knew what he was talking about.

Duan Rong pretended to be surprised and asked, "So this is called the Realm of Emptiness and Enlightenment?"

"Yes!" Wu Shidao nodded, then a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and said: "However, although this state of emptiness and clarity is very powerful, as far as Wu knows, its triggering is random and not controlled by the subject's consciousness. There is no rule to speak of. Moreover, it tends to disappear as people age."

Duan Rong actually knew what Wu Shidao said. He had also seen this in the Daoist Canon in the Sutra Collection Institute. The state of emptiness and clarity he possessed was the original owner's talent, which he inherited after traveling through time.

Duan Rong said: "I don't know about that. After repeated attempts in my early years, I found that my state of emptiness and clarity is related to weapons. Weapons that can resonate with me often have a great chance of triggering the state of emptiness and clarity when the mind is highly concentrated."

"Really?" Wu Shidao looked surprised. "Are you feeling something?"

He had never heard of such a statement.

However, although this state of emptiness and clarity is magical, it is usually of no use, because people who possess this ability are extremely rare, and this ability usually disappears before a warrior reaches the age of 20.

Therefore, there is almost no information that truly conducts in-depth and detailed research on this state of emptiness and clarity. Wu Shidao knew about this, but he only read the notes written by a few warriors who had attained the state of emptiness and clarity when they were young.

Moreover, he had doubts about some of the records in the notes.

Duan Rong's situation is obviously a special case of the Void and Bright State, because if the triggering probability of the Void and Bright State can be greatly increased through the induction with specific weapons, then this originally rather useless Void and Bright State would become a very powerful ability, wouldn't it?

Moreover, Duan Rong is now twenty years old, and his ability does not seem to have disappeared.

These are all biased compared to the records in the notes.

Duan Rong said: "Yes. Produce induction! Just hold it like this. If it can produce induction, a cool feeling will rise from the back of my head."

Duan Rong started to make up stories and spoke them as if they were true, which frightened Wu Shidao.

Because he had just been at the door of the stone chamber, watching for a long time. Duan Rong did just that, grasping each weapon tightly, and then put them back into the niche.

He had never figured it out before, and didn't know what Duan Rong was doing. Now, after Duan Rong said this, he understood.

Duan Rong grasped each weapon, trying to establish a connection. He put it down after grasping it for a while because the connection failed. This meant that this weapon could not trigger his state of emptiness and clarity.

Because Duan Rong's lie was so convincing that it not only made sense to him, it even seemed to be self-evident.

Even though Wu Shidao was a man of profound intelligence, he couldn't help but believe it. He smiled and said, "I see! No wonder you wanted to examine all the weapons in this stone chamber. You were looking for a weapon that could resonate with you."

Duan Rong said: "Brother Wu, that's exactly it!"

Wu Shidao praised: "Junior brother, you are indeed a genius! Not only is your talent extraordinary, but you also have the state of emptiness and clarity! There are hundreds of weapons in this stone chamber. I think you will be able to find a weapon that resonates with you."

Duan Rong said: "I hope so, thanks to my senior brother's good words!"

Master Wu said, "Then Senior Brother, please do not bother me! If you have any questions, just come to Yunfu Peak to find me."

After Wu Shidao finished speaking, he turned and left.

Duan Rong looked at Wu Shidao's back and let out a long sigh.

Wu Shidao is much more difficult to deal with than Lu Geng! After all, he is a new disciple and their junior brother. Wu Shidao is trying to find out his secrets under the pretext of concern. Moreover, he is very thoughtful and it is really hard to deal with him!

Duan Rong looked at the weapon in the niche beside him and sighed in his heart: I just want to touch it quietly, it's really not easy!

If he hadn't just had a flash of inspiration and remembered the matter of the Empty and Clear Realm, he really wouldn't have known how to stop Wu Shidao from fighting back.

After Wu Shidao left, Duan Rong obviously increased the speed of his touching.

There are so many dreams in the long night!
Two hours later, the old man who was smoking a pipe in the corner suddenly stood up and walked over. He looked at Duan Rong and said, "Boy, the time has come! It's time to close the shop! Pick a weapon and wait!"

As the old man spoke, he knocked the ash residue from his pipe on the sole of his shoe, put his hands behind his back, and walked out. Duan Rong turned his head and took a look at the progress of the day. He touched about a hundred weapons.

The harvest was quite considerable. He devoured three weapon spirits that contained the first level of the Cyclone Realm artistic conception, and a complete set of various Qi Realm skills, dozens of them.

Once these things are digested and absorbed, they become a real martial arts realm! I wonder how much stronger they are than those dry secret books with dead words in the Sutra Repository?
The harvest he had gained here today had already laid a very solid foundation for his future practice.

Duan Rong was still quite at ease at this time. As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you won't be worried. With this wave of devouring, cultivation has become a simple physical activity for him. So what is there to worry about? Just work hard!
Duan Rong walked out of the cave and found that the old man sitting in charge was chatting with the thin middle-aged man who was guarding it.

Duan Rong bowed slightly before leaving. After all, he would have to come here to devour in the next two or three days. As the saying goes, "more courtesy means less blame", he should give them a good impression first, so as to avoid being disliked and causing trouble for him.

Duan Rong was walking on the bare solitary mountain. Dusk had already risen in the endless mountains.

After devouring the spirits of nearly a hundred weapons, his head was still quite dizzy, and he walked back to Yunfu Peak with a staggering step.

Back on the peak, Duan Rong walked along the corridor and went to his room.

This room is not small, and is separated from the bedroom and the front hall by a large 40% folding screen.

This room is the room that Zhu He brought Duan Rong to first when he arrived at Yunfu Peak.

His heavy dress was originally placed on the table in this room, but now it was gone, obviously taken away by someone.

Duan Rong sat at the table, poured himself a bowl of tea, and poured it down his throat. Then, he stood up and pulled a rope behind the door, which was connected to a numbered copper bell in the servant's room.

Sure enough, not long after, a servant walked into the room with his head lowered, bowed and said respectfully: "Sir, what can I do for you?"

Duan Rong said: "Get me something to eat."

The servant seemed to be about to ask something, but Duan Rong said, "Don't bother! Just do it quickly and simply."

"Yes, sir! May I ask, sir, would you like some wine?"

"Well, a small pot!"

"Yes, sir, please wait a moment!" the servant replied and turned away.

Although it is in the endless mountains, there are all kinds of supplies on Yunfu Peak.

After all, the allocation of materials was originally under the jurisdiction of the Internal Affairs Department. How could it be unreasonable for one's own family to suffer a loss?

Not long after, the servant came in with a wooden tray and placed four dishes, three cakes and a pot of wine on the table.

The four dishes were cold beef, boiled peanuts, scallion tofu, and tiger skin eggs. Duan Rong was already hungry, and when he saw these four dishes, his mouth immediately filled with saliva.

The servant held the wooden tray in his hands and bowed, "Sir, do you have any other instructions?"

"No more. Go on with your work."

Upon hearing this, the servant turned around and left, gently closing the door.

Duan Rong's appetite was aroused. He first picked up the beef and put it into his mouth, then took a bite of the pancake, picked up the wine pot, poured a cup of wine, and drank it into his mouth with a sizzling sound, swallowing it together with the food.

A little drink can soothe your mood. Moreover, he had swallowed so many spirits, and his head was feeling a little uncomfortable. Drinking some wine would make it easier for him to fall asleep.

Duan Rong devoured the food, wine and cakes like a whirlwind. He touched his bulging belly, stood up again, pulled the rope behind the door, and then took staggering steps, walked around the screen, and pressed his rather heavy body down on the bed.

After a while, the sound of footsteps was heard on the corridor outside the door.

Then, the door of the room opened with a slight sound, and a servant stood at the door with a hesitant look. On the table in the room, there were empty dishes and wine jugs, but no one was there.

At this time, a voice came from behind the screen.

"Pick up those leftover dishes."

"Yes, my lord!"

The servant packed up the plates and wine jug and walked out of the room. He only left the door ajar before leaving. Duan Rong was already on the bed, fast asleep.

The next morning.

Lu Geng came in from outside, sweating profusely.

He got up at daybreak to practice martial arts and had been practicing for more than an hour. He was just about to come back to take a shower and have breakfast.

As he walked across the corridor, he suddenly noticed a door ajar and heard faint snoring sounds from inside.

Lu Geng frowned and said, "Isn't this room unoccupied? How come..."

He suddenly remembered something. Seeing that the door was half open, he pushed it open and walked in.

Through the screen he could vaguely see a person lying on the bed.

He walked to the screen and looked at the bed! He saw Duan Rong lying there, sleeping with his clothes on and even his shoes on.

It’s indeed my junior brother!

Lu Geng couldn't help but shook his head and said, "It's almost noon, and you're still sleeping here! How can you be a martial artist?"

At this moment, Duan Rong reached into his crotch and scratched it, then turned over and continued to sleep.

Lu Geng was stung by the sight and immediately stepped back.

Although Wu Shidao said that the junior brother was a genius, in his heart, his evaluation of this junior brother had fallen to the bottom. He was so wasteful and weird, even if he had talent, I'm afraid he might not be able to achieve anything!
Duan Rong had no idea what Lu Geng thought of him. He slept for nearly an hour before waking up.

After waking up, he realized that the weapon spirit he had swallowed yesterday had been completely digested after a night of dreaming.

It seems that after achieving the eleventh level of the Taizang Sutra, as his soul became stronger, his ability to digest the spirit also increased.

Duan Rong simply washed his face and without even having breakfast, he left Yunfu Peak and headed towards the bare Solitary Mountain.

(End of this chapter)