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

Chapter 488 Purgatory
Ximen Kankan came to Duan Rong's room. As soon as he came in, he acted very familiar with the place and looked around the room.

"You're good!"

The living conditions of the sect disciples in the Changliu Mountains were mostly simple, usually in stone caves or bamboo houses. Firstly, it allowed them to cultivate their minds, and secondly, the resources in the endless mountains were already scarce.

There weren't many people like Duan Rong who could afford a proper room! Even among the inns in Shenyun Mansion, this room could be considered a top-notch one.

No wonder Ximen Kankan was so amazed.

Duan Rong smiled and rang the bell behind the door. After a while, a servant came over and he ordered some wine and food.

Not long after, a plate of lion's head, a plate of braised pork, steamed fish and roast chicken, as well as two pots of wine, one pot of rice wine and one pot of Laobai Gan, were placed on the table.

Ximen Kankan stared at the dishes on the table with his eyes wide open.

He had not even had any meat in Tallinn for the past six months. In the few days since he left Tallinn, he did hunt some wild game in the mountains, but there was no seasoning, so it was just enough to satisfy his craving.

He couldn't wait to pick up a lion's head, put it in his mouth, and took a bite. The chopped ginger and scallion mixed with the tender meat was fresh, salty and delicious, and his mouth was full of juice.

Ximen Kankan started to show off the lion head with big mouthfuls. Before he could swallow it, he took another piece of braised pork...

As he was eating, he started to cry again. "It's so delicious... Duan Rong... It's so delicious..."

If he had been in Xiangu County, he would not have been interested in eating braised pork and lion's head. However, he had suffered a lot in the past six months, and eating these two dishes again was like being attacked.

In fact, food memories are the most powerful! If you haven't been back to your hometown in years and suddenly taste the most familiar flavors from your childhood, you will know what I mean.

Duan Rong reached out and wiped the tears from Ximen Kankan's face and said, "Don't cry, eat quickly!"

Ximen Kankan nodded, tears welling in his eyes as he began to devour his food. The two of them quickly devoured the entire table of delicious dishes. They also finished a pot of rice wine and a pot of Lao Baigan liquor. The satisfaction of the food gave Ximen Kankan a long-lost sense of happiness.

Ximen Kankan burped, looked at Duan Rong, and said with a smile: "I tried to become a disciple at the Dragon Fish Hall, but no one accepted me. Now I am registered under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From now on, I will follow you."

Duan Rong laughed and said, "You are too cheap. I bought you off with just a lion's head."

Duan Rong was just joking. He knew Ximen Kankan was actually quite talented. The reason no one accepted him as a disciple at the Dragon Fish Hall was because he had been playing tricks during the test in the Valley that year. While everyone else was desperately running forward, he was the only one who went against the flow, sneaking backwards until he reached Xiao Yu and stopped.

Putting aside his talent, no one would want to take him in because of his cunning behavior. He's like a loach and impossible to lead.

Ximen Kankan said, "Duan Rong, how dare you say I'm cheap! Now that you're rich, you look down on poor brothers, right? Ouch~"

As Ximen Kankan was talking, his face suddenly changed and he started to cry out in pain.

Duan Rong's eyes moved, and he asked sideways, "What's wrong with you?"

Ximen Kankan supported Duan Rong's shoulders, stood up, and said, "My butt hurts~!"

"Does your butt hurt?" Duan Rong turned his head to look at Ximen Kankan's butt, only to see that Ximen Kankan's butt suddenly twisted and a loud fart hit Duan Rong's face.

When Ximen Kankan saw he had succeeded, he immediately burst into laughter and jumped to the wall, turning back and shouting, "Duan Rong! Did I eat your lion head in vain? Let me ask you, do you want my fart to explode or not?"

"I'm going to fuck you to death!"

Although as the saying goes, stinky farts don't make loud noises, and loud farts don't stink. But Duan Rong's face still turned blue, and he was so angry that he went berserk!
Duan Rong flashed and rushed towards Ximen Kankan. Ximen Kankan wanted to run, but how could he escape Duan Rong's angry grasp?

Duan Rong grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up.

Before Ximen Kankan could react, he saw Duan Rong picking him up, breaking open the window, and jumping out.

This pavilion was originally built on the cliff of Yunfu Peak. Outside was a thousand-foot cliff and misty clouds.

As soon as the two jumped out of the window, they immediately rushed into the misty clouds.

Ximen Kankan hadn't reacted yet. He only felt a flash before his eyes and a cold wind blowing on his face. The next moment, he was already falling down in the misty clouds.

He was so scared that he hugged Duan Rong and yelled, "What the hell! What are you doing?! Are you stupid because of the fart? Why did you jump off the cliff?!"

Duan Rong ignored Ximen Kankan and urged his mind. The cyclone in his dantian began to rotate on its own. Above his head, the vital energy in the three meridians gushed back and forth, and the three flowers gathered at the top of his head suddenly appeared.

Above his head, at the moment when the three flowers gathered at the top of his head, because of the opening and closing of the three flowers, the surrounding heaven and earth energy was completely controlled and mastered by Duan Rong.

The two figures were falling rapidly, and then they slowed down and suddenly hovered in the mist.

Ximen Kankan was screaming in fear when he suddenly found himself floating there. He instantly realized that it was Duan Rong's doing.

Ximen Kankan's eyes moved, and a thought flashed through his mind. He looked at Duan Rong's blurry face in the mist beside him, and shouted, "You have already broken through the cyclone realm!?"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "I just broke through two hours ago. You are lucky! If you had come a day earlier, I wouldn't have been able to cure you! Come on, I'll take you for a ride!"

As Duan Rong spoke, he grabbed Ximen Kankan's collar with one hand, and the two of them immediately rushed up, stirring up the clouds and mist.

Ximen Kankan yelled, "What the hell!? Damn it! Why am I so unlucky!?"

The two of them quickly jumped out from the misty clouds and soared above the misty mountain peaks like eagles.

This was Duan Rong's first time riding the wind. In the cyclone realm, he still needed to rely on his vital energy to float. This kind of flying was actually more mentally demanding than performing light-weight body movements, but the speed was obviously much faster.

The damp, misty mountain breeze blew past, and Duan Rong looked down at the peaks and swirling clouds below. It was as if he had entered the flying dream of his childhood...

At this moment, Ximen Kankan grabbed Duan Rong's neck and shouted, "Get down quickly! Get down! I'm afraid of heights! I'm afraid of heights!"

Duan Rong said: "You can go down. But you have to let me hit you with my fart!"

Ximen Kankan shouted, "As long as you get down, I'll make you collapse for a whole day!"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Okay! You said so!"

"I said it!" Ximen Kankan screamed anxiously. "Hurry up!"

He urged his mind, and the three flowers on top of his head opened and closed freely. The vital energy of heaven and earth around them floated and tumbled. The two of them suddenly turned around and slid downwards.

"Slow down, you're going to scare me to death!" Seeing them in mid-air, Ximen Kankan suddenly tilted his head downward and started shouting again.

Duan Rong said impatiently, "Shut up! If you're scared, just close your eyes!"

They glided downwards, faster and faster, as if they were about to fall. Ximen Kankan listened to the cold wind whistling faster and faster, blowing his cheeks painfully. He saw a lush mountain emerging from the rolling clouds. His heart trembled so much that it almost jumped out of his mouth.

He had no choice but to do as Duan Rong said, hugged Duan Rong's neck tightly with both hands, closed his eyes, and refused to look at the mountain that was getting closer and closer.

The lush green mountain peaks were already within sight, and I could even see the leaves of the trees swaying in the wind in the dense forest.

Duan Rong turned his head to look at Ximen Kankan, who was holding him tightly with his eyes closed. He suddenly smiled, and the bones all over his body crackled. He shrank his shoulders and pulled himself out of Ximen Kankan's tight grip. Then, in mid-air, he kicked Ximen Kankan into the dense forest.

Ximen Kankan was still unaware until he was kicked on the buttocks, then he opened his eyes.

But the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a green surface of water, which kept getting bigger and bigger in his eyes, and in an instant, occupied his entire field of vision.

The next moment, he splashed a huge amount of water with a splash.

Duan Rong then floated down with a laugh! He stood by the pool of water, and was splashed in the face by the splashes of water thrown by Ximen Kankan, but he still laughed.

He laughed for a while, but saw water splashing down and ripples on the surface of the pool, but Ximen Kankan did not jump out of the pool.

He remembered that Ximen Kankan was a good swimmer. Duan Rong's smile disappeared and he looked into the pool with some worry.

At this time, I saw a figure, face down, slowly floating up from the bottom of the dark green water at my feet.

As he floated up, the figure became clearer and clearer. Judging from his clothes, it was Ximen Kankan, but his clothes were bulging due to the waves, as if he had instantly regained his former round shape.

The figure had already surfaced on the water, but was still floating there face down, motionless.

Duan Rong was a little worried. "Is he frightened and had cramps?"

He squatted down and tried to flip Ximen Kankan over. Just as he was about to turn over, Ximen Kankan suddenly hugged him and shouted, "Get down too."

As he said this, he pulled Duan Rong into the water.

With the sound of a splash, the originally calm water immediately began to boil.

Ximen Kankan was good at swimming, so he pulled Duan Rong into the water and started to take off his pants. Duan Rong held onto his pants tightly with both hands and kicked Ximen Kankan away again and again.

Although Kankan was a good swimmer, his agility was not as good as Duan Rong's. After a while, he couldn't hold on any longer and had to climb out of the pool.

As soon as he climbed out, Duan Rong also climbed out. The two of them lay on the rocks beside the pool, spitting out water.

The two men spit for a while, looked at each other, smiled at each other, and climbed up the large bluestone on the shore.

They built a fire in the dense forest, wrung out their clothes, and began to roast them over the fire.

Both of them were naked. Duan Rong was roasting his clothes, and the steam on his clothes was steaming over the bonfire. He glanced at Ximen Kankan and suddenly asked, "Kankan, how are Xiaoyu and Shen Mizhi? When can they come out?"

More than half a year had passed, and Tallin was now heavily guarded. Four Cyclone Realm experts were stationed guarding the four dimensions, leaving outsiders in no position to understand what was happening inside. Only those within Tallin knew what was happening.

When Ximen Kankan saw Duan Rong mentioned Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi, his eyes flickered and he said, "They've suffered just as much as I have. But luckily, they both get along well, so staying together in Tallinn makes them good companions."

When Duan Rong heard this, his worried expression eased slightly.

Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi do have a good relationship. Since they are both in Tallinn, they can be considered as each other's support.

Duan Rong asked, "How is their training going?"

"Practice!" Ximen Kankan glanced at Duan Rong, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then said, "That crazy woman Shen Mizhi is quite energetic. When I was there, she kept asking me to teach her some moves. I think she can come out too. As for Xiao Yu..."

Ximen Kankan suddenly stopped talking, and Duan Rong urged, "What happened to Xiao Yu?"

Ximen Kankan said: "Xiao Yu was doing well at the beginning. But in the past two or three months, he has started to become a little depressed..."

"Depressed!?"

When Duan Rong heard this, he suddenly stood up, walked back and forth naked in the dense forest covered with fallen leaves.

Xiao Yu's talent was limited, and she barely passed the test of the Valley. She began to feel depressed in Tallinn, because after trying her best, she felt that there was no hope for her to break through.

If they were outside Tallinn, Duan Rong could still guide her, but inside Tallinn, she could only rely on herself to understand.

When they were registered disciples, Duan Rong had taught them for a while. He knew that in terms of comprehension, Xiao Yu was actually not as good as Shen Mizhi's.

Duan Rong walked naked in the dense forest several times. He suddenly stopped, looked at Ximen Kankan and asked, "Kankan, do you think Xiao Yu can finally break through?"

When asked this by Duan Rong, Ximen Kankan said with a sad face, "I don't know."

Duan Rong asked: "But Shen Mizhi can break through, right?"

"She can!" Ximen Kankan answered affirmatively.

After Ximen Kankan answered like this, Duan Rong roughly understood in his heart that Xiao Yu and Ximen Kankan might both think that she would not be able to leave Tallinn in the end.

If you fail to make the final breakthrough, you will be trapped in the tower and turned into bones.

Duan Rong looked at Ximen Kankan and asked, "Kankan, do you know? If you can't break through, you will never be able to leave the tower forest, and you will be trapped in the tower and turn into bones."

Ximen Kankan's eyes dimmed when he heard this, and he said, "I know that in the past six months, people have died every month in Tallinn."

"Someone dies every month?!" Duan Rong said in astonishment.

After all, he was only in Tallinn for one night, so he didn't really understand Tallinn. Although he later checked the information in the Internal History Department, Tallinn was under the charge of Truman and was not under the jurisdiction of the Internal History Department. Many things in the information were also vague.

Ximen Kankan glanced at Duan Rong and said, "It's not our group that died. It's the people who went in before."

"Who went in before?"

"Yes!" Ximen Kankan asked, "Do you know the year when the oldest person in Tallin entered Tallin?"

"The oldest one. What year?"

Ximen Kankan said: "He is Tallin who came twelve years ago. He stayed in that damn place for twelve years!"

As Ximen Kankan spoke, a look of horror appeared on his face.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered. He hadn't experienced the hardships of Tallin, and unlike Ximen Kankan, he handled the news more calmly. The oldest person had entered twelve years ago. This meant he was the only one left from that group. What about the others? Had they all broken through to the tower?
Duan Rong's eyes suddenly moved, and he looked at Ximen Kankan and asked, "Kankan, you just said that people die every month in Tallinn. How did they die?"

Ximen Kankan said with a sad look in his eyes, "They all committed suicide!"

"All of them committed suicide!" Duan Rong's heart sank. Not all of the people who entered the tower forest twelve years ago left the tower. Those who did not leave the tower all committed suicide, leaving only that one guy.

Ximen Kankan said, "Tallin is purgatory! Everyone is struggling desperately to get out! Those who have given up hope of leaving the tower will never be able to endure it."

When Ximen Kankan said this, he looked at Duan Rong deeply.

Duan Rong knew what Ximen Kankan's eyes meant, and his thoughts had already begun to stir. If Xiao Yu couldn't get out of the tower, he must find a way to rescue her.

He would definitely be punished for kidnapping someone from the tower, but fortunately he had done a great service to Zhu He and had shown his talent in the sect. Although it was inevitable to be punished, they would never really make things difficult for him.

And even if he really had to endure some hardship, he would accept it. He would not just watch Xiao Yu die in despair and helplessness in Tallinn.

Duan Rong had already made up his mind, but Ximen Kankan continued, "That guy who stayed in Tallinn for twelve years. Do you know why I described him as the oldest? Although he's only thirty years old, his hair is all gone, and he's skinny and bony, looking like a ghost. He's long since stopped practicing! His life is even more terrifying than death..."

An extremely terrifying expression flashed across Ximen Kankan's face. The firelight illuminated his face. After a moment, he finally spoke out the words deep in his heart. "Duan Rong, we have to find a way to rescue Xiao Yu."

Duan Rong gave a bitter smile and said to Ximen Kankan, "Kankan, you can't leave Pagoda Forest until you've achieved the Great Perfection of the True Qi Realm. This is the iron rule of the sect! Aren't you afraid that if you help me rescue Xiao Yu, you'll be punished as well?"

Ximen Kankan looked down at the fire and said, "I'll take the punishment. I can't just watch Xiao Yu die in there!" He thought for a while, looked up at Duan Rong and asked, "Do you have a solution? Tallin's defense seems very tight!?"

Duan Rong sat naked in front of the fire and gently broke off a dry branch in his hand. His eyes flickered in the firelight as he said calmly, "Isn't it people who come up with solutions?"

(End of this chapter)