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

After Chu Wushang left, Duan Rong sat quietly on the futon for a while before slowly standing up.

He walked to the base of the stone wall and saw a shallow stream flowing gently through the stone path pit near the wall.

Duan Rong squatted down, scooped up water and washed his face. He looked around and saw that there was no drinking vessel, so he scooped up some water and drank some.

He wiped the water from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and then saw the wooden box on the stone table not far away.

The secret manual of the Six Wonders Mind Gate was given to him by Chu Wushang from that wooden box.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he walked around the bamboo strips on the ground to the stone table. He was quite curious about what secret manuals were in the wooden box.

Just as Duan Rong was about to reach out and touch the wooden box, a faint light suddenly appeared near the box, enveloping it.

"A spatial barrier?!"

Duan Rong frowned. This was clearly a setup by Chu Wushang to prevent him from touching the secret manual in the wooden box.

Duan Rong couldn't help but curl his lip. "It's like you're guarding against a thief?!"

Since he couldn't access the secret manual in the wooden box, he had no choice but to give up and returned to the futon there, where he sat cross-legged to rest.

By the next day, Duan Rong felt he had rested well and his mind was full of vitality. He was idly flipping through the animal hide manual when Chu Wushang suddenly appeared at the entrance of the secret chamber.

Duan Rong looked up and saw that Chu Wushang's face was somewhat gloomy, and he was carrying a tightly tied sack on his shoulder.

As soon as Chu Wushang entered the secret chamber, he put the sack on his shoulder on the ground, looked at Duan Rong, and said coldly, "Come with me this way."

Duan Rong got up from the futon, glanced at the sack, and followed Chu Wushang toward a corner of the secret room.

Chu Wushang stood in front of the stone wall in a corner of the secret chamber, and suddenly stomped his right foot hard on a spot near the base of the wall.

There was a stone brick there that had been dented by Chu Wushang's footsteps.

As the stone bricks caved in, the stone wall in front of us shook, and small stones fell down in a flurry.

A small stone door rose upwards.

After the stone gate rose, all that could be seen behind it was a pitch-black space. Although it was impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face, a damp, gloomy wind blew out and brushed against Duan Rong's face. The air was damp and putrid.

"Come in with me."

Chu Wushang said coldly, then slowly walked into the dark space.

Duan Rong then went inside as well.

After entering the pitch-black space, Chu Wushang took out a tinderbox, blew on it, and lit an oil lamp there.

The oil lamp emitted a dim, yellowish flame and was suspended in mid-air by iron chains.

Chu Wushang strode forward and skillfully lit another oil lamp.

Here, there were actually four oil lamps hanging.

The originally damp and dark space was then illuminated by the light of the oil lamp.

Duan Rong's eyes widened; this dark space was clearly a damp stone cave.

The floor and walls of the cave were covered with lush green moss.

After lighting four oil lamps, Chu Wushang extinguished the tinderbox in his hand, looked at Duan Rong with deep eyes, and said, "The White Bone Temple will be built here."

After he finished speaking, he walked out.

After Chu Wushang left, Duan Rong looked at the stone cave in front of him again. The stone cave was a long and narrow cave like a tunnel, with four bronze bowl oil lamps hanging in the middle by dark iron chains.

Apart from moss and some ferns, there was nothing else in the cave.

At this moment, Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly.

How could moss and ferns grow in such a damp, sunless cave? Strange!

Just as this question arose in his mind, Chu Wushang returned carrying the sack on his back.

He walked to the middle of the cave, put down the sack, and untied the rope that tied it.

Chu Wushang removed the sack like shedding snake skin, revealing the fresh and beautiful body inside.

Under the light, the skin of the body shone with a soft, lustrous sheen, like mutton fat, and the waist exuded an alluring youthful charm. Duan Rong's pupils involuntarily contracted slightly.

Chu Wushang, carrying an empty sack, pointed to the corpse at his feet, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "Stay here and watch her turn into bones. The whole process, through visualization, must be imprinted in your mind."

After Chu Wushang finished speaking, he turned and left, and the stone door of the cave closed by itself.

Duan Rong stood there, staring blankly at the beautiful body on the ground. Her profile, collarbone, and navel were all so alluring and captivating.

But he knew she was dead.

Inside the sealed stone cave, all was quiet. Duan Rong was certain that she was not breathing; her chest was not rising or falling, and her nose and lips were not moving.

Although she is dead and has become a corpse, her beauty lives on.

No?
In fact, she was even more beautiful now than when she was alive.

Death elevates and refines beauty.

She cannot speak, nor will she wake up; only then does her beauty become all the more breathtaking.

Duan Rong walked over slowly, stood there, and looked her over.

A strand of hair was stuck to her belly. Duan Rong reached out and picked it up. Under the light, he saw that the hair was covered in grease.

Duan Rong felt a wave of nausea, because this hair was clearly Chu Wushang's.

He plucked the hair from his eye and looked at the woman in front of him again. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her lips were fresh and tender, like lychees.

Duan Rong found no injuries on the woman's body, and he couldn't help but wonder about the cause of her death.

He quickly guessed it, because he plucked a grain of river sand from the corner of the woman's delicate lips.

"So you drowned."

Duan Rong murmured, "I wonder if you accidentally fell into the water or drowned yourself? You were so young and beautiful..."

As he spoke, his eyes gazed tenderly at the woman's face, as if he were talking to a dead person.

After thoroughly examining every inch of the woman's skin, Duan Rong sat cross-legged not far away.

After sitting cross-legged, his gaze hardened considerably, and all traces of his previous tenderness vanished.

Because he knew very well that practicing the White Bone Contemplation was to break the lustful demon in his heart.

Without breaking this inner demon, he cannot solidify the Cave of Clarity.

Just a moment ago, he was releasing his inner demons, letting them emerge in this dark cave so that he could use the surroundings to meditate.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged not far away, his gaze solemn.

Four hanging bronze lamps illuminated the lifelike body lying horizontally. The solemn and eerie atmosphere resembled some ancient sacrificial ritual.

Gazing at the body, Duan Rong's solemn gaze slowly softened, but each time this happened, his visualization would rise, and his gaze would become serious again. After repeating this several times, the visualization could no longer suppress the surfacing of his inner demons, and gradually, a layer of cold sweat appeared on Duan Rong's forehead…

Just then, a black and red centipede crawled onto the woman's face.

Duan Rong's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he almost stood up to flick the centipede away, but with a thought, he pressed down and sat there steadily, watching the centipede crawl on the woman's face, past her jade-like nose, past her tender lips, past her neck and collarbone...

Duan Rong let out a long sigh of relief, his expression becoming much calmer.

The centipede finally crawled away from between her fair toes...

Duan Rong carefully examined the vibrant, youthful body under the lamplight. The centipede's crawling had not left any trace on the body.

After the centipede crawled away, the body remained exactly as it had been at the beginning.

As Duan Rong watched, after repeated contemplation and struggle, his inner demons began to stir again.

At this point, after repeated contemplation, he realized that he and his body had actually been alone in this damp stone cave for nearly two hours.

Just as Duan Rong's eyes were filled with fervor, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

Under the light, he suddenly noticed a purple spot the size of a fingernail on the side of the body's neck, just above the collarbone.

"It's livor mortis!?"

Duan Rong's breath hitched slightly, as if something had touched his heart.

Centipedes crawling over a body won't leave any marks, but the lividity indicates the body's decay.

Duan Rong then began to observe.

In this dark and damp cave, he used this body to let his lustful demons surface, intending to subdue them through visualization, and even to penetrate them.

In that very instant, the livid spot the size of a fingernail was already piercing through the restless inner demon.

This is Duan Rong's delicate and genuine feeling, and also clear evidence that the White Bone View has begun to take effect.

He needs to capture, solidify, expand, and ultimately completely penetrate the demon of lust through this subtle effect.

Duan Rong repeatedly visualized the body lying horizontally under the lamplight before him.

He initially ignored the emerging lividity and only looked at the alluring parts of the body. But when his inner demons began to stir, he suddenly began to stare at the purple lividity.

The livid spot, which was only the size of a fingernail a moment ago, has now grown to about the size of a nose.

Duan Rong repeatedly contemplated and soon discovered that only in the instant he suddenly discovered the corpse spots, in that instant, the corpse spots that suddenly appeared suppressed the restless lustful demon in his heart.

But after he learned of the presence of the corpse spots, he deliberately ignored them and stared at them again. With each repetition, the suppressive effect of the corpse spots on his restless lustful demons became weaker and weaker.

Although the lividity was growing larger, its suppressive effect did not increase; on the contrary, it was weakening.

The demon of lust is accepting that corpse spot.

Just then, Duan Rong suddenly noticed that a livid spot had appeared on the navel of the body, and its color was slightly darker than that on the neck.

The body lay there in the cave, and within just two hours, it had begun to show signs of lividity, clearly related to the damp environment inside the cave.

When the second lividity appeared, Duan Rong clearly felt that the lividity's suppressive effect on the lustful demons had been enhanced, although not by much, it was indeed enhanced.

These subtle, minute changes can only be perceived through visualization.

Duan Rong continued to meditate, and each livid spot was getting bigger.

At this moment, as he looked at the woman's beautiful face, he felt a slight pang in his heart, because of the presence of lividity, he clearly realized that the woman was dead.

What lay before me was a corpse, a corpse destined to rot.

Just as the third lividity appeared on the side of the woman's calf, a bright ray of sunlight suddenly shone down from the top of the cave, illuminating the woman's body.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered. He looked up and saw a fist-sized hole in the top of the arched stone cave, through which the sunlight shone.

The soft morning light shone on the woman, like moonlight, but unfortunately, the three livid patches were slowly expanding.

The light gradually brightened, and it seemed to be dispelling something.

Duan Rong knew very well that the sunlight shining in must be part of the cultivation practice at the White Bone Temple.

In the instant from darkness to the light of day, something in his heart was clearly touched.

Just then, Duan Rong noticed that half of the corpse spot was exposed near the ground at the waist of the body, but the color of that half of the corpse spot was darker than the previous three spots.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly. He knew that there must be more and larger lividity marks on the back of this body, which was pressed against the damp ground.

At that very moment, Duan Rong's lustful demons were suppressed on the surface.

Although the fundamental desire is still there, it no longer stirs up a strong urge in one's mind.

Although it is suppressed on the surface, it is still a long way from being penetrated.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged, preparing to enter into further meditation.

"Duan Rong!" Just then, Chu Wushang's icy voice suddenly rang out in the cave, filled with chilling killing intent.

Upon hearing the sound, Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Chu Wushang already in mid-air, not far away, like a ghost, holding a long spear, and in a flash, he had already passed over the lying female corpse.

With a flash of cold light, the spear in his hand pierced straight towards Duan Rong's brow.

"Die!" Chu Wushang uttered a single word coldly.

Faint spatial ripples rippled around Duan Rong's body, as if he had been frozen in place, completely unable to move. Moreover, the moment he opened his eyes, the spear tip, gleaming with a cold light, was already only inches away from his brow, about to pierce him.

Duan Rong practically watched as the spear tip pierced his brow! In that instant, all he could see in his eyes was the cold spearhead, magnified infinitely.

He felt a distinct pain between his brows, and a drop of blood dripped from the tip of his nose...

At that moment, he clearly felt the real aura of death. He was certain that the cold light flashing from the tip of the spear was not the glint of a sharp weapon, but the light of the laws of nature.

The spear tip had already pierced the skin, blasting a bloody hole between his eyebrows.

Chu Wushang turned over and stood not far away, looking at Duan Rong with a cold expression.

Duan Rong felt a great pain between his eyebrows, but he did not die.

Although a bloody hole was blown out between his eyebrows, the hole was not deep; only a layer of skin was blown off, and the bone was not damaged at all.

Chu Wushang's control was exquisite.

Chu Wushang asked, "Duan Rong, how did you feel about taking this first step in a life-or-death confrontation?"

Duan Rong touched his bloodied and mangled brow and said, "It tastes bland. It's far inferior to the White Bone Temple."

Chu Wushang said, "I think you're just being stubborn."

Duan Rong laughed and said, "Because deep down I know that you, Mr. Chu, will not kill me. With this knowledge, wouldn't this life-or-death confrontation be nothing but an empty shell?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Wushang stood there, staring coldly at Duan Rong for a moment, before suddenly vanishing like a ghost. (End of Chapter)