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

Chapter 498: Suspicion of an Old Case
In Duan Rong's spiritual sea of consciousness, the black earth stretched endlessly, and the thin mist that filled the space was swirling...

In the center of the sky, a gray shadow was sitting cross-legged. His face was a little blurry, but vaguely his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Duan Rong.

Around the gray shadow, twelve stars were shining brightly, like planets, orbiting around the shadow in the sky and slowly rotating.

At this moment, a bright glass spirit slowly floated down from the dome above the gray shadow's head, like a god descending.

It was the form of a baby.

The Nascent Soul had a peaceful expression and a look of disdain, as if it had an aura of indifference towards all living things.

As soon as the Nascent Soul fell, the twelve celestial bodies that were originally slowly rotating around the gray shadow suddenly stopped and hovered there, motionless.

Almost at the same time, the face of the gray shadow became even more blurred.

And in this space, the thin mist that was originally churning suddenly stopped.

At the moment when the Nascent Soul spirit body descended into this space, the originally restless and turbulent world suddenly solidified.

The thin mist that kept churning in this spiritual sea of consciousness was Duan Rong's thoughts that were rolling like the tide. The moment the thin mist solidified, Duan Rong's originally flowing thoughts also stagnated, and his eyes instantly became dull.

The spiritual infant was suspended in the void, looking at the gray shadow and the twelve shining stars surrounding him, a hint of astonishment flashed in his glass-like pupils.

Lu Yinlin did not expect that Duan Rong actually completed the entire twelve levels of the Taizang Sutra.

This kid, it seems like he has been in the inner sect for less than a year! ?
The Nascent Soul spirit glanced at the knife shadow on the forehead of the blurry gray shadow.

He naturally knew that the knife shadow was Duan Rong's condensed artistic conception.

Unlike the blurry face of the gray phantom, the knife shadow on the forehead is very clear. Although there is some distance between them, the Nascent Soul spirit body can also feel the surging knife intent contained in the knife shadow!
"You have comprehended the sword intent to this extent?!"

The Nascent Soul spirit swept across the sky, its figure flashed, and then it disappeared in a flash, appearing in the center of the black earth the next moment.

The Nascent Soul spirit body was like a little adult, walking on the black ground with its hands behind its back, its pair of glass pupils moving around from time to time, looking quite strange...

Soon, he stood in the southeast of the black land and looked at the sky there. The sky there was almost covered with all kinds of dense afterimages of weapons.

The figure of the Nascent Soul spirit suddenly disappeared, and the next moment, it appeared near the afterimages of weapons in the southeast sky. He stretched out his hand and brushed the nearest afterimage of a copper hammer.

The afterimage was actually penetrated directly.

"A hollow afterimage?!"

Even though Lu Yinlin was a powerful being who had achieved the Nascent Soul Realm and had lived for more than a thousand years, he had no idea what these densely packed image of weapons that almost filled the southeast sky were in Duan Rong's sea of consciousness.
Lu Yinlin was horrified as he looked at the weapons in front of him, which seemed to be even more densely packed than the remains of the ancient battlefield of gods and demons.

"No wonder when he forms a vortex, he can stir up the tides of heaven and earth's vitality. Is there really something unfathomable about this kid?!"

The eyes of the Nascent Soul spirit moved, and its figure suddenly disappeared, leaving the sky.

Above the black earth, there was darkness and silence, with only one place emitting a faint green light, which was the sea of tree spirit light.

The spirit of the Nascent Soul strolled in the sea of tree spirit light, occasionally startling those green light threads. Those light threads floated for a while, rose up like dust, slowly fell back to their original positions, and re-condensed into the appearance of tree branches and leaves.

There was a look of extreme curiosity in the eyes of the Nascent Soul spirit.

This sea of tree spirit light was obviously different from the weapon afterimages. Those weapon afterimages were simply afterimages that could not be touched. But the green light in front of him was a thread of light that could nourish the essence of the soul.

The Nascent Soul spirit body didn't know why there was such a large sea of dim light in Duan Rong's spiritual sea of consciousness, and why these green dim lights looked like trees?

But there was one thing he understood clearly: these green threads of light were obviously the same as the threads of light that were extracted from the swirling mist when the divine shadow descended upon his sea of consciousness during his practice of the Taizang Sutra.

This light thread can nourish the essence of the soul and achieve the Taizang Sutra. He assisted Lu Qingzhu in practicing the Taizang Sutra by condensing this light thread from his sea of consciousness and injecting it into Lu Qingzhu's sea of consciousness to help her condense the stars floating in the sky.

When the Nascent Soul Spirit thought of this, it looked up at the twelve stars in the sky.

At this time, he already knew why Duan Rong was able to complete the twelve levels of the Taizang Sutra. It must have a lot to do with the sea of dim light here.

But where did such a vast sea of dim light come from? And why did it look like trees?

Lu Yinlin looked at the sea of light in front of him. All the green lights condensed into the shape of trees, and each branch of the green lights looked lifelike.

"How could it be related to trees?!"

Even though he had lived for more than a thousand years, he still couldn't understand what the connection was between trees and human souls.

The Nascent Soul spirit lingered in the sea of dim light for a long time, but after thinking hard and gaining nothing, it walked out of the sea of light.

Lu Yinlin had seen the spiritual sea of consciousness of many people, but Duan Rong's was the most shocking to him.

Those densely packed afterimages of weapons hanging upside down in the sky, and this sea of dim light, even he didn't know what they were?
The Nascent Soul's eyes were deep, and it wandered for a long time in the sea of spiritual consciousness. After making sure that nothing was left out, it suddenly rose up and disappeared above the endless dome...

A spiritual shadow jumped out from between Duan Rong's eyebrows, and in a flash, it sat cross-legged on top of Lu Yinlin's head.

The moment the Nascent Soul spirit was sitting cross-legged on top of Lu Yinlin's head, it disappeared in a flash. Almost at the same time, Lu Yinlin's eyes suddenly opened, and a bright light burst out.

Duan Rong also woke up suddenly at this moment. In an instant, cold sweat broke out all over his body. His eyes were filled with deep fear, because his soul was connected to the gray phantom. At the moment when his thoughts stopped, he clearly saw a spirit descending into his sea of consciousness...

Lu Yinlin glanced at Duan Rong. He didn't expect that this kid had so many things that even he couldn't understand.

Lu Yinlin's figure suddenly disappeared, and the next moment he sat in front of the stone table. He picked up the bamboo tube he had put down before and took two sips of water.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged on the cushion, the fear of his sea of consciousness being controlled caused his heart to surge.

Lu Yinlin glanced at him and said, "You go out first. Ask your master to come in!"

Duan Rong knelt down on the cushion before Lu Yinlin and said respectfully, "Yes, Ancestor!"

Duan Rong was savoring the look that Lu Yinlin had just given him and the words he had said, and he did not seem to have any hostility towards him. He had never thought that the Nascent Soul Spirit could be directly introduced into his sea of consciousness, and could control his sea of consciousness and solidify his spiritual consciousness.

Fortunately, he had finally found a way to refine the blood light that was the source of the Dirty Blood Divine Art. Otherwise, he would have been killed by the Taiyi Sect's ancestor.

Duan Rong already knew that Fu Yi, the leader of the Dirty Blood Sect, was originally Lu Yinlin's favorite disciple, but Fu Yi rebelled against Taiyi Sect and founded the Dirty Blood Sect, and the master and disciple turned against each other. Therefore, the Dirty Blood Divine Art and the Dirty Blood Sect have always been Lu Yinlin's Achilles' heel.

Duan Rong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, walked out of the stone cave, looked at Zhu He who was watching the endgame under the dead pine, and said: "Master, the ancestor asked you to go in!"

“Let me in?!”

Zhu He's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he immediately stood up, lifted his robe and ran towards the cave.

Duan Rong shook his head. He was already old, could he be more dignified?
Zhu He ran to the entrance of the cave, suppressed his excitement, straightened his clothes, and walked into the cave.

Walking into the depths of the cave, Lu Yinlin was sitting in front of a stone table in deep thought, and Zhu He immediately knelt down.

Lu Yinlin was lost in thought and didn't even look at Zhu He for a long time. He suddenly realized that Zhu He had been kneeling there for a while. Zhu He was worried and wondered if he had made any mistakes. He was wondering if his competition with Lu Zhongtang for the position of the next leader had caused the old ancestor's dissatisfaction. If the old ancestor showed any sign of disapproval, he would immediately give up the competition for the leader.

"Get up, Zhuhe."

Lu Yinlin's voice came, warm and gentle.

Zhu He stood up as if he had been pardoned.

Lu Yinlin pointed to the stone chair opposite the stone table and said, "Sit down!"

Zhu He showed an expression of being flattered, but he did not hesitate. He said thank you, ancestor, then lifted the corner of his robe and sat down carefully.

Lu Yinlin poured him a glass of water with a bamboo tube. Zhu He held the water as if it were an elixir. His eyes actually turned slightly red. He took a sip awkwardly.

Lu Yinlin said, "Duan Rong has already achieved the twelfth level of the Garbha Sutra. Did you know that?"

"What!? The twelfth floor!" Zhu He was shocked. But he knew that what the ancestor said could not be wrong. "This kid..."

Seeing Zhu He's reaction, Lu Yinlin knew that he didn't know about this. "It seems that the boy did a good job of keeping it secret. He even hid it from you, his master."

Zhu He felt uneasy, as the ancestor's words seemed to be a hidden rebuke to him for his negligence.

Lu Yinlin said: "Go check where he got his skills from?"

"Yes, ancestor!"

Zhu He stood up, saluted to Lu Yinlin, and strode out of the cave.

Duan Rong was waiting outside the cave. After Zhu He walked out of the cave, he looked at Duan Rong with a strange look. He wanted to ask Duan Rong what was going on, but the ancestor was in the cave, so he couldn't talk too much. The ancestor asked him to investigate, not to interrogate Duan Rong.

Zhu He turned around without saying a word and walked towards the valley entrance.

Duan Rong saw his master leaving, wondering if he should leave, so he took a few steps, ready to catch up with Zhu He to ask him. Just as he took a few steps, a voice suddenly rang in his ears. "You stay in the valley."

Duan Rong suddenly stopped, because that was Lu Yinlin's voice. He stood there, watching Zhu He's figure disappear into the dead woods at the entrance of the valley.

After Zhu He left, Duan Rong stood alone in the empty valley. He looked at the dead branches of wintersweets on the cliff and the corner of blue sky that was blocked on all sides. At this moment, suddenly a figure walked out from the dead woods at the entrance of the valley.

Duan Rong saw a figure flash by out of the corner of his eye and thought it was Zhu He who had returned. But when he looked closely, he was shocked.

It was Lu Qingzhu!
Lu Qingzhu's beautiful face could not hide a trace of tiredness. There was a lot of grass debris on her body. The cloth bag on her back was bulging, and a scaly light was faintly visible at the opening of the bag.

Duan Rong's eyes moved. Lu Qingzhu had obviously just returned from the dark forest, and there seemed to be some kind of snake-like beast in his pocket.

As soon as Lu Qingzhu walked out of the dead woods, he saw Duan Rong.

She didn't expect to see Duan Rong here.

This deep valley is the ancestor's secluded place, not everyone can come in, right?
Lu Qingzhu put down the cloth bag on her back. Duan Rong looked at her and smiled, saying, "Miss Lu!"

Although Duan Rong was smiling, his eyes were fixed on Lu Qingzhu's right hand. He knew that this girl had done this many times, but she attacked him as soon as she saw him, without any hesitation.

Sure enough, Lu Qingzhu just looked at Duan Rong expressionlessly, then drew his sword, leaped forward, and stabbed towards Duan Rong.

The moment Lu Qingzhu came over, Duan Rong's pupils shrank.

“Cyclone realm! Lu Qingzhu has also achieved the cyclone realm!”

The long sword stabbed towards him, half a foot away, and a sword light suddenly appeared on the tip of the sword!
Lu Qingzhu's cold and stunning face contrasted with the sword's edge and sword light. With tiredness and determination between her brows, she was obviously staring at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong retreated violently, and the Frost Patterned Phosphorus Crystal Knife was instantly in his hand. A blade light suddenly appeared on the blade, as if it was solid.

When Lu Qingzhu saw Duan Rong making a move, he immediately stepped back, sheathed his sword, and walked towards the valley entrance.

Duan Rong was stunned for a moment, looked at Lu Qingzhu's back, and asked, "Why don't you fight again?"

Lu Qingzhu replied without even turning his head: "I can't kill you! Why are you still fighting?"

As soon as Duan Rong made a move, Lu Qingzhu could tell that he had also achieved the cyclone realm, and the blade's light was far more condensed than her sword's.

Duan Rong's understanding of the sword's intent obviously surpassed her sword's intent.

Lu Qingzhu walked to the entrance of the valley, picked up the cloth bag on the ground, and walked straight back to his cave without even looking at Duan Rong.

After Zhu He returned to Yunfu Peak, he immediately went to the document library of the Internal Affairs Department and checked Duan Rong's entire resume.

In fact, he had already carefully understood Duan Rong's situation before.

After all, he wanted to recruit Duan into his sect and put him at the core of the chess game.

If he didn't know Duan Rong well enough, how could he dare to use him?

He always thought that this kid was innocent, but it seems that he didn't investigate carefully enough!

The period for being a registered disciple is three years, for being an outer disciple is three years, and for being an inner disciple is one year. The previous sixteen years are all spent living in Xiangu County.

Zhu He went over the resume he had checked before in his mind. He was wondering where Duan Rong got the twelve-level Taizang Sutra skills from?

What he passed on to Fan Hongjiao was only up to the eighth level.

At this moment, a flash of lightning flashed through Zhu He's mind and he remembered something.

What reminded him of this incident were two key words, Xiangu County and Taizang Sutra.

When these two keywords were put together, a name popped into his mind: Xu Ruhu.

The Xu Ruhu case happened in Xiangu County.

However, when the Xu Ruhu case occurred, Duan Rong seemed to be only sixteen years old. Moreover, his name did not appear in the case files at all.

Zhu He then retrieved the case files of Xu Ruhu and reviewed them repeatedly.

He was the one who insisted on a strict investigation into Xu Ruhu's case. However, the woman involved was a direct disciple of Elder Sun who was in charge of the medicine cabinet. There was no solid evidence at the time to prove that it was related to the Taizang Sutra practice. In the end, the case was left unresolved in the Elders' Council.

"It seems that this kid has taken advantage of this loophole!" Zhu He's eyes flashed, and the corners of his mouth smiled slightly, revealing an expression of some appreciation.

According to Duan Rong's later intelligence and the various methods he used in Shenyun Mansion, it is not impossible that he obtained the martial arts from Xu Ruhu and concealed it from the public even though he was only sixteen years old at that time.

(End of this chapter)