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

Chapter 494 Shen Mizhi's Enlightenment
At dawn, the sky was dark.

On Tiefeng Mountain, in a large open space surrounded by dense forests, towers built of blue bricks stood quietly in the dimness like strange bunkers...

As the yellow leaves fell, the whole Tallinn was as quiet as a cemetery.

As the sky gradually brightened, the towers, which were originally only outlines in the dim light, gradually revealed their weathered appearance covered with dry moss, like tough and old men.

However, in the entire Tallinn, there was still no sound or human figure at this time, and the fluttering dead leaves made the city look even more desolate.

Soon, the sound of bronze bells suddenly rang out in the pagoda forest, and it rang three times in a row. The sound was clear and melodious, floating in the empty and desolate pagoda forest, like some kind of ritual.

After the sound of the bronze chime rang out, the originally silent Tallinn began to revive as if a corpse had stretched its body and made a chaotic sound.

The tightly closed tower door opened with a creaking sound, and figures walked out one after another from the closed and dim tower.

These people, both men and women, young and old, have different expressions.

Some people faced the light of the rising sun, their eyes gleaming with joy, while others looked gloomy and numb, and just walked out of the tower stiffly.

Some people were looking at the crowd, seeming to encourage themselves, muttering something.

The group of people who came to Tallinn this year have been here for more than half a year. In two months, a whole year will have passed. The fate of this group of people has also begun to diverge.

There are very few people who have achieved the Great Perfection of the True Qi Realm and walked out of the Tallin. There are also some people who, although still imprisoned, are full of hope and are confident that they will eventually walk out of the Tallin. Of course, there are also some others who spend every day in doubt and distress, trying hard not to collapse.

Among this group of people, three had already hanged themselves in Tallinn, and all three were men.

Xiao Yu walked out of the dim tower. After a night of practicing Qigong, her thin and beautiful face was tired. She sighed and stepped on the dead leaves on the ground. Then there was a sound of dead leaves breaking under her feet. At this time, a voice sounded behind her.

"Sister Xiao!"

When Xiao Yu heard the voice, she turned her head, and the light of the rising sun just happened to shine on her miserable smile.

Xiao Yu smiled as she looked at Shen Mizhi who was running over. Shen Mizhi took Xiao Yu's arm, and the two of them talked and laughed together as they walked towards the open space in front of the tower forest.

Maybe Shen Mizhi's smile and words infected Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu's face was obviously more lively than before.

The two walked to the open space in front of Tallinn, chatted for a few more words, and then parted ways.

From morning to noon, they were allowed to practice against each other in an open space.

As for who will practice with whom, it is only after a period of adjustment and mutual recognition that they will be determined.

When they first entered Tallinn, Xiao Yu naturally practiced with Shen Mizhi, but after only two months, Xiao Yu obviously couldn't keep up with Shen Mizhi's progress, and she would be defeated after a few moves. If this continued for a long time, neither of them would be able to perform their moves.

They managed to continue for a while, and Xiao Yu could clearly feel that Shen Mizhi was helping her, but she still felt exhausted. After another ten days or so, Xiao Yu took the initiative to ask for a different sparring partner.

And so, the two of them trained separately.

Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu each changed partners to get used to each other. They had just been in Tallinn for two months, which was the first stage of differentiation. Many people were changing partners, and the two quickly found new training partners.

After that, Shen Mizhi would change her partner every one or two months, while Xiao Yu was still training with the same person after more than half a year.

The woman's name was Su Bairong, and she was a rich girl from Shenyun Mansion. At this moment, she was standing at the edge of the dense forest with a dull look in her eyes. After Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi separated, she looked towards the place where they usually practiced, and saw Su Bairong at a glance. Xiao Yu walked over and called out, "Bai Rong!"

Su Bairong stood there blankly, as if she didn't hear anything.

Xiao Yu shook her and said, "Bai Rong, are you feeling unwell?"

Su Bairong's eyes seemed to be out of focus. She turned her head and stared at Xiao Yu blankly. It seemed that she recognized her after a while. She murmured, "Xiao Yu... Xiao Yu, have you been to Shenyun Mansion?"

Xiao Yu's eyes moved slightly, and he said, "I've been there."

Su Bairong said, "My home is at No. 6, Dongjia, Shicui Street." After Su Bairong finished speaking, she looked at Xiao Yu and smiled for some unknown reason.

Xiao Yu paused for a moment. She didn't understand why Su Bairong suddenly started talking to her about where she lived, and even told her the house number in such detail.

At this time, the sounds of weapons clashing had already been heard around them. Xiao Yu saw the instructor's stern eyes looking towards them through the flickering crowd.

Xiao Yu said: "Bai Rong, the instructor is coming. Let's start practicing."

As Xiao Yu spoke, he had already drawn his knife.

Su Bairong glanced at Xiao Yu's knife, suddenly smiled nervously, and said, "Xiao Yu, let's practice well."

Xiao Yu nodded. She felt that Su Bairong seemed a little strange today, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.

The two of them then started to exchange moves at the edge of the dense forest.

Su Bairong seemed to be in pretty good shape today. She put Xiao Yu in danger several times, but luckily she managed to take it.

Xiao Yu said: "Bai Rong, you have made progress!"

"Really?" Su Bairong said with a smile: "Xiao Yu, you should do your best too!"

The two of them talked back and forth. Perhaps influenced by Su Bairong, Xiao Yu seemed to be in better shape than before, which gave her a glimmer of hope in her depressed and repressed heart. "Maybe..."

Three hours passed quickly.

This time both of them were sweating profusely during the practice. When the bell rang at the end of the practice, they couldn't help but smile at each other. They hadn't been so devoted to practice for a long time.

After the sparring, it was time for lunch. Several sturdy laborers pushed wheelbarrows and brought two wooden carts full of barrels to the edge of an open space in the dense forest. Then they took the barrels off the carts, opened the lids, and hot steam came out.

The crowd in the open space began to line up to receive food, which was their only meal of the day. Tallin had enough pills for cultivation, but only one meal a day.

Xiao Yu sat down in front of a bluestone with two steamed buns and a bowl of vegetables. There were oil spots in the soup, and pieces of black and thin meat sank to the bottom of the bowl. The cabbage and vermicelli stewed with fat was very oily.

As soon as she sat down, Shen Mizhi came over with a bowl. The two smiled, then sat down and started eating together.

Xiao Yu started chatting with Shen Mizhi while eating. As she was talking, she saw that Shen Mizhi didn't respond much, so she turned her head and glanced at Shen Mizhi.

But Shen Mizhi was sitting there, holding a steamed bun in her hand in a daze, her eyes flashing with deep contemplation.

Xiao Yu was stunned and wanted to call her, but suddenly stopped talking, lowered his head and continued eating.

Shen Mizhi was lost in thought about the morning's sparring. A key point was lingering in her mind, and she believed that as long as she figured it out, her sword skills would be further improved. Shen Mizhi's eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance, she stretched out her hand and pointed, using her finger as a sword, and gestured a few times in the air. At this moment, the steamed bun in her hand fell and rolled to the ground.

Shen Mizhi woke up suddenly, and seemed to realize that she was squatting beside a stone to eat.

Xiao Yu picked up the steamed bun that had rolled to her feet, carefully removed the dead leaves and dry ash on it, handed it to Shen Mizhi and said, "You can't even eat honestly."

Shen Mizhi stuck out her tongue, took the steamed bun, and said with a smile: "Sorry, Sister Xiao, I was distracted just now."

Xiao Yu smiled, but then her eyes dimmed. Shen Mizhi would sometimes do this when she was sparring with her. Often, after this, she would make a breakthrough in swordsmanship the next day. After several times, Xiao Yu could no longer keep up with her.

But seeing that nearly a year had passed, Xiao Yu had hardly made any major breakthrough in her swordsmanship. A month ago, she had asked Shen Mizhi for advice on this issue.

Shen Mizhi said, a breakthrough means that you suddenly figure it out.

You were just copying the sword moves. But no matter how similar and skilled you are, they are still someone else's.

Now you suddenly understand why the person who created this move wielded the sword in this way.

Once you understand why he wields the sword in that way, you can make some subtle adjustments and improvements based on your own situation.

This is where things start to get into detail.

As long as you can have a small enlightenment and enter into a deep level, you will know how to practice.

By accumulating small enlightenments time after time and turning them into big enlightenments, one can reach the perfect state in sword moves, which is the great perfection of the true qi realm.

Shen Mizhi's explanation was very thorough, but more than half a year had passed and Xiao Yu had not even had a small realization. Sometimes, she would seem to have some realization, but it was not profound, and she had never entered a state of instantaneous insight.

Not to mention, being able to stabilize in the realm of subtlety.

And Shen Mizhi had already mastered it several months ago.

Xiao Yu knew clearly that her cultivation had stagnated a few months ago, while Shen Mizhi had been making progress.

When the gap between them started to widen, she was determined to catch up.

Over the past six months, she has gradually understood that understanding is sometimes very important. If you have it, you have it. If you don't have it, you don't have it. Even if you try your best, it will be useless.

When Shen Mizhi saw Xiao Yu eating in silence, her heart trembled slightly.

She also knew that Xiao Yu's practice had stagnated. Sometimes, she would secretly watch Xiao Yu and Su Bairong practicing. Shen Mizhi could see that Xiao Yu and Su Bairong had made almost no progress in swordsmanship after several months, and both of them had obviously encountered some kind of bottleneck.

But Shen Mizhi had already told Xiao Yu everything she had learned from her cultivation. As for whether Xiao Yu could break through the bottleneck that was holding her back, it depended on her.

But seeing that almost a year had passed, Shen Mizhi could feel that Xiao Yu's condition was getting more and more depressed. But regarding this, she really couldn't think of any other way except to accompany Xiao Yu more.

When Ximen Kankan was around, he could often make Xiao Yu laugh, and he would often mention Duan Rong in front of Xiao Yu, saying that Duan Rong was having a good time outside.

Every time Ximen Kankan mentioned Duan Rong, Shen Mizhi could see Xiao Yu's eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. But she hadn't seen that kind of light in Xiao Yu's eyes for a long time.

After they finished their meal, they walked back to Tallinn.

After they returned to the tower, they were not allowed to leave. They had to practice internal energy in the tower forest until the next morning, when they could leave the tower again.

The training in the tower forest was boring and tense. Of course, once you entered the tower, no one cared about you, and some people gave up training and fell asleep as soon as they entered the tower.

Xiao Yu walked to his own tower and suddenly saw Su Bairong also walking to his own tower not far away. There were two towers between their towers.

Su Bairong seemed to see Xiao Yu looking at her, so she also looked at Xiao Yu. Su Bairong's lips moved, as if she said something, and then she smiled nervously.

Xiao Yu saw Su Bairong's lips move silently, and then she smiled nervously. For some reason, Xiao Yu's body suddenly became cold. But when she looked over again, Su Bairong had already entered the tower and disappeared. At this time, the sound of bronze bells rang again in the tower forest. After three bronze bells, there would be no more figures in the tower forest, and everyone had to return to the tower.

Xiao Yu had no choice but to get into the tower. She sat cross-legged in the dark tower, the image of Su Bairong's lips opening and closing silently still in her mind. For some reason, she felt that the image was indescribably strange...

Xiao Yu forced herself to stop thinking about Su Bairong. She took a bottle of pills from the inner wall of the tower, swallowed one, and then sank into refining...

After the third sound of the bronze bell outside, there was dead silence again. After the two instructors patrolled once, they left.

From afternoon to dusk, and then to night, there was no human voice in Tallinn. There was only the sound of wind whistling past with dead leaves, making the entire Tallinn look as desolate as a cemetery.

The next morning, when the first ray of dawn shone into the Tallinn, along with the sound of bronze chimes, the creaking of the tower door also mixed in. Only at this time, Tallinn suddenly surged with vitality, and one by one, figures walked out of the Tallinn stiffly, like corpses crawling out of a cemetery.

Xiao Yu had just walked out of the tower gate when a scream suddenly came from behind her.

Xiao Yu turned her head suddenly. She heard someone calling Su Bairong's name. Her heart skipped a beat and she instantly had a bad premonition.

She staggered to the front of Su Bairong's tower, where several people had already gathered.

The two-meter-high tower was covered with mosses and ferns, and at the top of the tower, there was a person. She was lying on the surface of the tower with her legs hanging in the air, and a belt was wrapped around her neck and hung on the top of the tower.

Xiao Yu looked at that face. It was Su Bairong. Her eyes were blue and her eyes were open, empty and silent, as if she was looking at the distant sky...

Looking at Su Bairong's blue face, Xiao Yu knew that Su Bairong had been dead for at least several hours.

Before entering the tower forest yesterday, Su Bairong suddenly stood at the door of the tower, and his lips silently said something to her. Looking at Su Bairong's body at this time, Xiao Yu suddenly felt a chill.

Because, that strange scene appeared in Xiao Yu's mind again, and she finally knew what Su Bairong was saying when his lips opened and closed. Su Bairong said: I want to go home.

Su Bairong's last neurotic smile seemed to appear in front of Xiao Yu again.

Xiao Yu stood there feeling cold all over and shivered several times.

At this time, someone had called the instructor over. The two instructors took Su Bairong's body down from the tower. The two instructors shook their heads and sighed, but the people around them were silent and just watched coldly.

Xiao Yu suddenly remembered that before the sparring yesterday, Su Bairong told her the house number in a strange way. Xiao Yu still remembered that she said it was No. 6, Dongjia, Shicui Street. At this moment, she finally understood why Su Bairong suddenly talked about her home.

"So, she's going home!"

Xiao Yu stood there, watching the two instructors cover Su Bairong's body with a white cloth, and she couldn't help but cry.

(End of this chapter)