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

Chapter 439 Alienation
Duan Rong lay in the shadow at the entrance of the cave, staring out for a while.

The strange bird quickly swallowed the bodies of the fire toad and the fire weasel into its stomach.

The strange bird was still not satisfied, staring at the dark cave on the cliff with the eyes on its head and wings. It knew that there were two edible creatures hidden in the cave.

And those two little things taste pretty good, too. The strange bird thought so, a ball of saliva mixed with blood and foam dripping from the corner of its mouth.

Duan Rong hid in the shadows, watching the strange bird's greedy eyes, and knew it wouldn't leave easily. If the cave hadn't been too narrow for it, and the lingering stench of fire weasels, it would have rushed in...

Duan Rong stared at the strange bird. The bird actually folded its wings and lay down next to the black fire pool, obviously looking like it had been squatting there for a long time.

Although it lay there with its head tucked into its folded wings, the two eyes on its back were still staring at the cave on the cliff without blinking.

Duan Rong sighed softly. If he and Lu Qingzhu hadn't had this cave to protect them, they would have been killed by the strange bird.

He turned his head, and the dim light and shadow from the black fire pool that shot into the cave reflected on Lu Qingzhu's face. The powder had just had analgesic and cooling effects, and now Lu Qingzhu's complexion was obviously better.

Duan Rong said, "Miss Lu, you're injured. Rest here first. I'll go deep into the cave to see if there's another way out. That strange bird is guarding the Black Fire Pond. I don't think it'll leave for a while."

Lu Qingzhu didn't say anything, but just lowered his eyes, which was considered a response.

Duan Rong also knew Lu Qingzhu's temper. He took out a tinder, blew it up, and used the tiny flame of the tinder to light his way as he walked deeper into the cave.

The fire weasel's burrow is quite deep and slopes slightly downward.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.

Perhaps there is another way out deep in the fire weasel's cave.

Duan Rong took the fire starter and walked to the deepest part of the cave. The stench there suddenly became strong. Even with the cooling pills under his nose to block it, Duan Rong almost vomited.

Fortunately, I held my breath in time and suppressed the urge to vomit.

Duan Rong held his breath and looked intently in the dim light of the fire starter. He saw that the place was full of dried black lotus shells, and there was also a nest made of a lot of dry grass with a layer of red animal hair fallen in it.

Duan Rong couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. This was obviously the end of the cave. It seemed that this fire weasel's cave had no other exit.

Duan Rong looked at the surrounding rock walls with flickering eyes.

The depth of the cave reaches the belly of the mountain, and Duan Rong had already tried it when he walked over. The rock wall was extremely hard. If he wanted to dig another way out, he might not be able to dig out even if he exhausted all his energy.

Seeing that he had gained nothing, Duan Rong took the tinder and returned the same way.

He walked back. Lu Qingzhu was sitting cross-legged not far from the cave entrance, looking at him inquiringly. Duan Rong met her gaze, shook his head, and sat down cross-legged not far from her.

Lu Qingzhu said in a deep voice, "I have learned a kind of soul illusion technique. If I use it, I should be able to control the acid and the beast for a while. We can use this time to escape from here."

Duan Rong's heart moved. He naturally knew that what Lu Qingzhu was talking about was the illusion of Mars.

Lu Qingzhu continued, "However, I already used it once when I killed the Fire Toad. It will take another six hours before I can use it again."

Duan Rong said, "That's fine. We can take advantage of this time to rest and recover in the cave."

Lu Qingzhu nodded slightly and began to regulate his breathing and qi.

Duan Rong stared at Lu Qingzhu, who was closing his eyes and regulating his breathing, for a while. He didn't expect that Lu Qingzhu would directly reveal the matter of the soul illusion Yinghuo in front of him.

This was partly because her Taizang Sutra had a legitimate origin, having been personally taught by the Taiyi Sect's patriarch. On the other hand, she had probably never considered using soul magic against Duan Rong, so she kept nothing from him.

Even if she wanted to kill him, she would do it openly.

Duan Rong looked at Lu Qingzhu for a while. Lu Qingzhu seemed to realize that Duan Rong was staring at her. Her eyebrows slightly frowned. Duan Rong immediately realized it and then sat cross-legged with his eyes closed to regulate his breathing.

When Lu Qingzhu opened his eyes, Duan Rong was already sitting cross-legged with his five hearts facing the sky not far away.

Lu Qingzhu glanced at Duan Rong and saw that he was concentrating on regulating his breathing, so he also closed his eyes and continued to practice...

A few hours later, Lu Qingzhu was still sitting cross-legged there, but suddenly he heard Duan Rong's voice coming from the cave entrance.

"Miss Lu, that strange bird seems to have left..."

Lu Qingzhu opened his eyes and saw Duan Rong lying sideways in the shadow at the entrance of the cave, looking out.

Lu Qingzhu struggled to get up. After several hours, the effect of the drug had worn off. When she moved, she slightly pulled the wound. She gritted her teeth without making a sound, but her eyebrows were already twisted into a ball.

She walked to Duan Rong's side and looked out of the cave. She saw that there was indeed nothing beside the black fire pool, except for some blood and broken pieces of meat on the ground, which were obviously left by the strange bird when it devoured the corpses of the fire toad and the fire weasel.

Lu Qingzhu's mind moved, and his spiritual sense suddenly released. When his spiritual sense swept past, Duan Rong clearly felt it beside him.

Lu Qingzhu nodded and said, "The strange bird is definitely no longer around."

"Then I'll go explore the way first."

As soon as Duan Rong finished speaking, he jumped out.

"well-"

Before Lu Qingzhu could finish his words, Duan Rong's figure flashed like a ghost and landed beside the black fire pool.

Lu Qingzhu stood at the entrance of the cave, staring blankly at Duan Rong beside the black fire pool.

The bird had excellent eyesight, and perhaps it was looking down at this place from somewhere high in the sky outside the range of its spiritual awareness.

Duan Rong took such a risk. In case the Suanyu bird was looking down from somewhere, he would use himself as bait to lure the Suanyu bird out so that she could use Mars to control it.

Lu Qingzhu looked at Duan Rong walking back and forth beside the black fire pool, and a faint warmth surged in his heart.

Duan Rong walked slowly back and forth beside the black fire pool. The reason he dared to do so was because not only Lu Qingzhu's Mars had recovered, but his Mars had also recovered.

After a long while, the surroundings were still quiet.

It was obvious that the strange bird had become impatient and had left at some point.

Duan Rong stopped and looked at the cave entrance on the cliff. The moment he looked up, Lu Qingzhu had already jumped out and slowly landed not far from him.

The shadow of the black fire pool reflected Lu Qingzhu's cold and beautiful face.

Duan Rong said: "The strange bird is not nearby, it must have left."

Lu Qingzhu hummed lightly, glanced at Duan Rong, and suddenly walked to the edge of the pond and broke off a lotus pod.

Lu Qingzhu took the black lotus pod, turned around and left without saying a word.

Duan Rong didn't expect that Lu Qingzhu would leave so abruptly, so he stopped her.

Lu Qingzhu stood there without turning around, but just slightly tilted his head and glanced at Duan Rong behind him out of the corner of his eye.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered as he stared at Lü Qingzhu's back. He asked, "Miss, I want to ask you something! Since you were going to kill me, why did you risk your life to save me when the strange bird attacked?" Lü Qingzhu stood there, speechless. She stood there for a moment, then turned away and, without looking back, darted into the dense forest...

Duan Rong was distracted for a moment when he saw Lu Qingzhu's figure disappear at the edge of the dense forest.

However, he reacted quickly, picked a plump black lotus pod, and left the place quickly.

After all, although this place is still on the edge of the Dark Forest, it is already a little deeper. In addition, the flickering flames of the Black Fire Pool can easily attract the spies of birds and beasts in the sky. It is better to leave early.

After Duan Rong left, the Black Fire Pond fell silent again. Aside from the bloodstains and minced meat on the ground beside the pond, everything seemed to have returned to normal...

Lu Qingzhu's figure flashed in the dense forest.

She was already some distance away from the Black Fire Pond. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at the flickering light and shadow in the gap between the dense forests behind her.

Lu Qingzhu stared at the light and shadow that was already quite far away for a while, then muttered to himself, "Duan Rong, you ask me, why did I save you if I wanted to kill you?"

"If you are not in my heart, why should I kill you?"

When Lu Qingzhu said this, it seemed as if she had used a lot of strength, and her hands and feet suddenly felt weak.

She took a deep breath, suppressed the ups and downs of her emotions, and her eyes returned to their icy coldness. Then she moved her body and shuttled through the dense forest like a ghost.

Lu Qingzhu came alone to the edge of a dark forest and saw an iron chain hanging from the cliff in front of him. The chain was as thick as a child's arm and hung steadily on the cliff, flashing a dark cold light.

The iron chain on this cliff is quite strange, because there is only one chain hanging alone...

Lu Qingzhu grabbed the iron chain and climbed up like a clever monkey.

I don’t know how long it took, but in an unknown valley deep in the endless mountains.

In the valley, at the bottom of a large bluestone, where the sun cannot reach, there is a deep crack.

The crack was bottomless, and centipedes and centipedes kept crawling in and out of the crack.

At this moment, a figure suddenly jumped out from the crack. The vital energy around the figure was floating, crushing the centipedes and centipedes at the mouth of the crack into pieces.

The figure floated to the ground, and she was seen holding a black lotus pod in her hand.

It was Lu Qingzhu who came out of the dark forest.

However, the crash site in this dark forest was quite strange. The place where Lu Qingzhu was at this moment was like a desolate wilderness. Not even a building could be seen, let alone a human figure.

But Lu Qingzhu seemed to have gotten used to it. He slowly walked out of the valley, followed the mountain road, and entered a deep valley.

She walked along several sections of narrow mountain roads before turning into a valley.

The valley is surrounded by cliffs, making it difficult for monkeys to climb over, and many mountain roads are hidden in dense weeds and forests. However, Lu Qingzhu has been walking on this road since he was a child and is already very familiar with it.

But if it were a stranger, he would probably get lost in the depths of these endless mountains.

However, in this deep valley, there are stone tables and chairs, as well as various utensils. It is obvious that someone lives here for a long time. There is even an endgame of chess on the stone table.

Lu Qingzhu entered the valley and came to a stone wall, where he saw three caves.

Lu Qingzhu's eyes moved, and he walked into the third cave with the black lotus in his hand.

It was pitch black inside the cave. Lu Qingzhu took out the tinder with ease and lit the candle on the stone wall.

The dim light illuminated the cave, revealing four statues, each more than a meter tall, standing alone. The dim light illuminated the statues' terrifying, hideous faces, resembling those of demons from hell.

Lu Qingzhu only took a deep breath, poured a glass of water from the bamboo tube, and drank it slowly. Then, he took the black lotus pod and sat cross-legged in the middle of the four statues...

Half an incense stick later, a tall figure walked in from the skylight outside the cave. The man had pale hair and beard, but there was not a single wrinkle on his face.

It was the ancestor of Taiyi Sect, Lu Yinlin.

Lu Yinlin looked at Lu Qingzhu who was sitting cross-legged in the mandala. When his eyes swept over the wound on Lu Qingzhu's shoulder, his expression changed slightly.

At Lu Qingzhu's feet, there was a black lotus shell with the seeds peeled off.

Lu Yinlin took a look. "Black Fire Lotus?!"

Lu Yinlin looked at Lu Qingzhu, whose face was calm. He knew that Lu Qingzhu's soul had already entered the spiritual sea of consciousness...

Lu Yinlin's body suddenly floated up like a piece of paper, and his Taoist robe fluttered.

He slowly floated above Lu Qingzhu and suddenly pressed his right thumb on the center of Lu Qingzhu's eyebrows.

Lu Qingzhu's body trembled, and then he saw strands of faint green light going from Lu Yinlin's thumb into Lu Qingzhu's brow.

As the dark green light continued to penetrate, a faint spot of light formed between Lu Qingzhu's eyebrows...

About an incense stick later, Lu Yinlin raised his thumb, and the whole person floated away like a piece of paper or a ghost again, slowly landing at the entrance of the cave.

Lü Yinlin stood at the cave entrance, hands behind his back, watching the changing light in the valley outside the cave...

About an hour later, Lu Qingzhu slowly opened his eyes.

At this time, she had already condensed and absorbed all the light threads that Lu Yinlin gave her.

She took a look at Lu Yinlin, who was standing with his hands behind his back at the entrance of the cave. She stood up, walked over, and said to Lu Yinlin's back with a fist, "Aunt!"

Lu Yinlin turned his head and looked at her. His eyes once again swept over the wound on her shoulder and he asked calmly, "How did you get injured?"

Lu Qingzhu said, "I accidentally got a minor injury while picking Black Fire Lotus seeds in the Dark Forest. I've already taken care of it, so it's nothing serious."

Lu Yinlin was silent for a moment before he said, "You can ask your father for the Black Fire Lotus seeds. He'll send someone to get them. Why do you need to go there in person?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Qingzhu just lowered his head and remained silent.

Lu Yinlin looked at Lu Qingzhu's cold and stubborn expression and sighed, "You've been cultivating hard beside me for six years, and your relationship as father and daughter seems to have become much more distant."

Lu Qingzhu just said calmly: "Father has his own things."

The estrangement between father and daughter wasn't entirely due to Lv Qingzhu's arduous training in this deep valley. Lv Zhongtang and Zhu He were competing for the position of the next sect leader, and Lv Qingzhu naturally knew about it, but she had always had a certain aversion to such matters.

The auxiliary medicines for the first eleven levels of the Taizang Sutra can all be exchanged in the medicine cabinet, so Lu Qingzhu can exchange them directly.

However, the auxiliary medicine on the twelfth floor, the lotus seeds of the black fire lotus, are not durable. After being picked, they will soon rot. They are only available for about ten days every year.

Lu Qingzhu didn't want to see her father, so she had to go to the dark forest to pick the fruits by herself.

(End of this chapter)