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

Chapter 419 Dark Forest
Lu Geng brought Duan Rong to the inner courtyard of the Sutra Repository again. Last time, before he had the chance to explain the divisions of various areas to Duan Rong, Duan Rong directly took a set of Liuhe Sword Manual.

Lu Geng stood there, looking at Duan Rong, and introduced seriously: "Junior brother, you use a knife. The racks over here are all knife skills, and the two over there are also. You can take your time to choose."

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Lu. I will choose carefully."

Lu Geng nodded. Duan Rong had already walked to the shelf and began to examine it slowly.

Seeing that Duan Rong seemed to be selecting seriously this time, Lu Geng prepared to leave.

But just as he turned around and took a few steps, he caught a glimpse of a figure walking out of the shelf behind him.

He just saw that there was only Duan Rong in that row of shelves.

Lu Geng suddenly stopped and turned around, and sure enough, he saw Duan Rong holding a sword manual, coming out of the shelf and walking towards him.

Duan Rong approached.

Lu Geng stared at him blankly and asked, "What are you doing?"

Duan Rong gently extended the sword manual in his hand forward and said, "Ah, Senior Brother Lu, I have already chosen it! It is this book of Youlong Qingyin Sword."

The muscles on Lu Geng's face twitched, and at this moment, he had an urge to hit someone.

He thought Duan Rong would learn from the last lesson and choose a set of exercises carefully, but he didn't expect him to still be like this. To be honest, this kid picked the exercises as if it was a joke.

"Okay, little junior brother! If you're like this, don't look for me when you have problems in the future!" After Lu Geng finished speaking, he turned away with an angry look on his face.

Duan Rong stood there and sighed slightly, saying: "This Senior Brother Lu has a really bad temper!"

In fact, Lu Geng's temper is considered good.

However, Duan Rong was still very satisfied with the sword manual of the Youlong Qingyin Sword in his hand. After registering and pressing his fingerprint with the guard, he left with the sword manual.

Duan Rong returned to his room on Yunfu Peak. Just as he sat down and took a sip of tea, he saw a beautiful figure standing at the door. She said in a sweet voice, "Hey, Junior Brother, I haven't seen you for a few days. Do you miss me?"

Duan Rong was so startled that he almost spilled tea on himself.

As Fan Hongjiao spoke, she walked over gracefully, with her hand already on Duan Rong's shoulder. The movement was so natural.

Duan Rong immediately stood up alertly, even a little jumping. He forced a smile on his face and looked at Fan Hongjiao and said, "I wonder what Senior Sister wants to see me about? It's troublesome for you to come here in person. Just ask a servant to greet me and I'll be over."

Fan Hongjiao looked at Duan Rong and rolled her eyes at him, saying, "That sounds nice. Okay, I won't joke with you anymore. Come with me to the meeting room. They are still waiting."

Duan Rong's heart moved, and he asked, "Is it the master who is back?"

"No! Master doesn't have the time to discuss things with us every day. Let's go!"

As Fan Hongjiao spoke, she walked out and Duan Rong followed immediately.

The so-called meeting room was the not very big and rather simple room where Zhu He first brought Duan Rong to meet Fan Hongjiao and the others.

When Fan Hongjiao and Duan Rong walked into the room, Wu Shidao and Lu Geng were already sitting there.

Moreover, besides the two of them, there was another person in the room sitting on the chair next to Lu Geng, eating a plate of fresh berries, with juice overflowing from the corners of his mouth.

When the man saw Duan Rong follow Fan Hongjiao in, his eyes lit up immediately. He jumped off the chair, walked over immediately, walked around Duan Rong, looked him up and down, and said, "Are you the new junior apprentice brother?"

Duan Rong saw the person in front of him. He was short and stout, neither fat nor thin, with a pair of black eyes rolling around. After a quick guess, he guessed that the person in front of him must be his fourth senior brother Wang Yue.

Duan Rong clasped his fists and said with a smile: "But Senior Brother Wang Yue?"

“Wang Yue? Senior Brother?” Wang Yue laughed, turned his head and looked at Lu Geng and shouted: “Old Lu! Did you see that? Now someone is calling me Senior Brother too!”

"Okay, good junior brother!" Wang Yue looked at Duan Rong and was very happy. "If you have any problems in the future, just tell me your name and I will help you solve it."

Wang Yue has been in Yunfu Peak for five years and has always been a junior fellow apprentice. Now Duan Rong has finally come to replace him as the youngest. He is indeed very happy.

"Okay! Both of you sit down. Let's talk business!" Lu Geng glanced at Duan Rong with a somewhat unpleasant expression.

Wang Yue and Duan Rong took their seats immediately.

Wu Shidao's eyes flickered. The master had not been in the peak for the past few days. Wang Yue had returned from Shenyun Mansion on business. According to convention, if the master was not around, he would have to report to his fellow brothers first.

In an occasion like this, Duan Rong had just arrived at the peak for a few days, so there was no need to call him, but Fan Hongjiao specially called Duan Rong over. Wu Shidao was sitting there at this time, still guessing Fan Hongjiao's intention.

Seeing that Wang Yue and Duan Rong had already taken their seats, Fan Hongjiao asked, "Wang Yue, tell me, what is the current situation of Shenyun Mansion? Can we discuss the candidate for the Shangshu Ling?"

Duan Rong was sitting there, and his heart skipped a beat when he heard what Fan Hongjiao said. It turned out that Wang Yue went to Shenyun Mansion to discuss the selection of the next Shangshu Ling.

In fact, it was only a little over a month ago that Duan Rong closed the case and left Shenyun Mansion. Now that the case has been closed, the issue of selecting the next Shangshu Ren will naturally be put on the agenda.

Wang Yue sighed and said, "We are not on the same page. They don't agree with the two candidates we put forward. We can't accept the person they put forward. I think we should just let Wang Maochun do the job."

Fan Hongjiao slapped the table beside him, puffed out his chest, and said, "Master shouldn't have given in to them. Why do we need their consent to nominate someone?"

Wu Shidao and Wang Yue looked at each other and were both troubled by Fan Hongjiao's violent temper. She even dared to criticize her master's decision. She was the only one on Yunfu Peak who had such courage.

Wang Yue added, "It was they who killed Zhu Shizhong. Master's point is that there is no point in doing this and we should just choose someone that both sides agree on and stabilize the situation."

Fan Hongjiao glanced at Wang Yue and said, "Did they kill Zhu Shizhong? Are you sure?"

Wang Yue heard this, for some reason, but turned his head to look at Duan Rong and said, "This matter can be confirmed."

Fan Hongjiao asked, "Then why are we still discussing this with them?!"

Wu Shidao looked at Fan Hongjiao and said, "Senior Sister Fan, please be patient. This is Master's decision. In the current situation, as long as we keep it stable, the position of the next sect leader of Yunfu Peak will be basically secured. As long as they don't push us too far, there's no need to fight them."

Fan Hongjiao said, "Killing Zhu Shizhong is just taking advantage of others, isn't it?"

Master Wu said, "Didn't we also kill Grand Protector Xue Wen?" Fan Hongjiao rolled her eyes at Master Wu and said, "Didn't you do this? Master praised you for being watertight. They have no evidence, so they can't blame us."

Master Wu said: "There is no concrete evidence, but we can guess."

Fan Hongjiao finally sat there without saying anything. Wu Shidao then looked at Wang Yue and said, "Junior Brother Wang Yue, please tell me the situation over there in detail."

Wang Yue then recounted in detail what had happened in Shenyun Mansion.

Duan Rong could see that, apart from Wu Shidao who listened very carefully, Fan Hongjiao and Lu Geng became a little absent-minded.

After Wang Yue finished speaking, Wu Shidao nodded slightly.

At this time, Wang Yue turned his head, looked at Duan Rong, and said with a smile: "Junior brother, your name is well-known in Shenyun Mansion! Duan Thunder God! Star Picker!"

Fan Hongjiao's lazy eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked, "What Duan Lei Shen? Star Picker? Junior Brother Wang Yue, what are you talking about?"

Regarding the closing document of Zhu Shizhong's case, Shenyun Mansion only sent a copy to Zhu He. Due to his busy schedule, Zhu He did not inform his fellow disciples about the matter. Moreover, they had been practicing in the mountains for the past month and did not know the details of the matter.

Wang Yue then smiled and recounted how Duan Rong had attracted the thunder from the sky in Shenyun Mansion a month ago to prove that Zhu Shizhong had died of murder.

After listening to Wang Yue's story, Fan Hongjiao, Wu Shidao and Lu Geng all looked at Duan Rong in astonishment.

Lu Geng's expression was a little exaggerated at this time, and he said: "Attracting thunder from the sky? Duan Leishen?! Wang Yue, are you telling us a mythological story?"

Wang Yue said, "On the surface, Zhu Shizhong died from lightning! This is also the insidious part of the other party. They almost fooled us. If it weren't for my junior brother's extraordinary intelligence, he would have found out that it was the craftsmen who tampered with the roof of the pavilion to attract lightning and kill Zhu Shizhong. It's possible that they really got away with it."

When Lu Geng heard Wang Yue say this, he was finally convinced that he was not talking nonsense again.

It seems that the master gave Duan Rong two bottles of bone marrow ash as soon as he entered Yunfu Peak. It was not without reason! Lu Geng felt sour at first, but now it seems that Duan Rong deserved it.

It is very important to be able to confirm that Zhu Shizhong died of murder for the current situation in Shenyun Mansion. Once it is confirmed that Zhu Shizhong died of murder, it will be clear who killed him.

This matter is of the same nature as the killing of Grand Protector Xue Wen.

In terms of the situation, it's just a back and forth, and it's even!

If we cannot be sure that Zhu Shizhong died of murder, then we can only consider it a natural disaster! It has nothing to do with the other party!
Then, the situation of the game will be another one.

If we use the chess game as an analogy, Duan Rong obviously made a crucial move! Once this move was made, the situation immediately changed!
The look Lu Geng gave Duan Rong kept changing.

This junior brother really cannot be judged by common sense!
Fan Hongjiao smiled happily and said, "Junior brother, you still have this ability! Try to dodge tomorrow and let me see it. I have a few enemies too. Why don't you think of a way to dodge and kill them all for me!"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Okay! I'll hit you wherever you point, Senior Sister!"

Fan Hongjiao smiled even more happily, and the more she looked at Duan Rong, the more she liked him.

Wu Shidao saw that the discussion was almost over, so he prepared to leave. Just as he was about to speak, Fan Hongjiao saw what he meant and immediately stopped him, saying, "There is one more thing."

Wu Shidao looked at Fan Hongjiao with an inquiring look.

Fan Hongjiao said: "Since Wang Yue is back, we should go to the dark forest underground."

Master Wu said, "Didn't Wang Yue go there once before he left? Why is he going there again just a few days ago?"

Fan Hongjiao said, "The main thing is that everyone is here, so I'll take Junior Brother with me. If we really wait, we'll have to wait for another month or so!"

Wu Shidao glanced at Duan Rong and said thoughtfully, "Well, then. It would be good to take Junior Brother out for some training early."

As soon as Duan Rong heard Fan Hongjiao mention the dark forest, he knew what place she was talking about.

During the three years that he was a registered disciple, he also read all kinds of sect scriptures in the outer courtyard of the Sutra Repository, and he already knew this very clearly.

The reason why Taiyi Sect chose Changliu Mountain as the location of its sect is because there is a relic of gods and demons under the ground of Changliu Mountain.

The vitality of the heaven and earth in this world had already dissipated long ago. Once a warrior had cultivated to the great perfection of the true qi realm, it was impossible for him to make any further progress.

But tens of thousands of years ago, with the discovery of underground ruins of gods and demons, the vitality of heaven and earth began to emerge again in specific areas. Those classics that had been passed down from ancient times, like waste paper, were rediscovered by some people, sorted out, explored, and passed down from generation to generation, gradually opening up another path for martial artists to practice.

The remains of gods and demons have been silent underground for who knows how many years! Once one is discovered, the heroes of the time will explore everywhere, diligently searching for it, and gradually many mysterious relics are discovered.

The laws of heaven within the ruins of gods and demons are different from the laws of heaven in this world, which is why the vital energy of heaven and earth can emerge within them.

In other words, the laws of nature in this world were severely damaged or changed for some reason, causing them to fall into ruin, and the vital energy of heaven and earth that originally filled this world in ancient times dissipated.

The remains of gods and demons, because of their remaining power of gods and demons, have protected their original laws of heaven, so the vitality of heaven and earth is still surging in the remains of gods and demons.

In other words, the laws of nature within the ruins of gods and demons have not been broken or destroyed because they are protected by the remaining power of gods and demons.

Because the laws of nature within the ruins of gods and demons are very different from the laws of nature in this world, two completely different laws have resulted in the two completely different laws grinding against each other like millstones in the vicinity of the ruins of gods and demons over endless years, thus forming a vast underground world with distorted space around the ruins of gods and demons. This place is called the Dark Forest.

There are many alien species in the dark forest, including Yuan Beasts.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yue suddenly collapsed on his chair and said, "I just came back and I'm going to the Dark Forest right now. Can't you let me rest for two days?"

"Why are you taking a break?" Fan Hongjiao rolled her eyes at him and said, "You're so weak? Did you get tormented by that little demon in Yanyue Tower of Shenyun Mansion?"

Wang Yue's face suddenly turned red, and he said, "How could that be?!"

Wu Shidao asked, "When are you going?"

Fan Hongjiao said, "Bring the geomancy map over here, we'll study it, and once we've chosen a direction, we can go down!"

Wu Shidao nodded. He knew that Fan Hongjiao was an impatient person. Once he made up his mind, he would take action immediately and would never drag his feet or hesitate.

Wu Shidao immediately stood up and prepared to go to his room to get the feng shui map of the Dark Forest that they had been continuously improving over the years.

(End of this chapter)