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

Since the several manuals in the wooden box were all about how to deal with inner demons, Duan Rong casually flipped through them and then raised his hand again, pointing his fingertip at the light screen.

The light screen rippled outwards, revealing a hole the size of a human face at the fingertip that had been pointed at it. Duan Rong's right hand, which was holding the manuals, suddenly swayed, and the manuals were placed into the wooden box on the stone table, with the lid already closed.

The hole the size of a human face on the light screen immediately closed, and a few breaths later, the light screen that had been shimmering with faint ripples also disappeared.

At this moment, Duan Rong bent down and touched the beast head under the stone table, gently turning it.

Outside the thatched hut, Chu Wushang was sitting on a small stool, intently weaving a bamboo basket.

The afternoon sun shone on his hands, which deftly manipulated the pale blue bamboo strips. His calloused hands, at that moment, possessed a certain rhythm, as if dancing among the bluish bamboo strips...

Just then, a dull thud came from the roof beam inside the house. It was the sound of a thick, rusty iron sheet hitting the roof beam.

When the tapping sound rang out, Chu Wushang frowned slightly. He had just entered a state of concentration, but the sudden tapping sound clearly disturbed him.

He tried to ignore the disruptive noise and continue weaving the bamboo basket, but the rhythm between his hands had become disordered. He tried a few times, but could no longer find the feeling he had before.

Chu Wushang sighed, placed the bamboo basket on the ground, stood up abruptly, and turned to walk into the house.

The moment he stepped inside, the dull thumping stopped. He looked up and saw dust falling from a corner of the roof beam, forming a mess in the sunlight.

He naturally knew that it was Duan Rong in the secret chamber of the talisman array who had activated the mechanism.

Two days later would be the end of the fifth month, and he was originally going to go down and check on Duan Rong again.

But now that Duan Rong has activated the mechanism ahead of time, Chu Wushang guesses that Duan Rong's second checkpoint has already been completed.

He slowly turned into the inner room, walked along the narrow passageway piled with bamboo baskets, and arrived at the large iron box next to the bed.

In fact, with Chu Wushang's cultivation at the mid-stage of the Cave of Clarity Realm, he didn't need to walk around like this. He could simply use the power of the laws to instantly enter the space below and reach the entrance to the secret chamber of the rune array.

But he did not do that, because he loved walking, and with each step he took, his awareness filled his body and the surrounding environment.

For him, walking and weaving bamboo baskets were both forms of spiritual practice.

Chu Wushang stepped down from the large iron box by the bedside and arrived at the entrance of the talisman array chamber where Duan Rong was in seclusion. He took out the array ruler and tapped it on the wall in front of him.

The array ruler suddenly stopped a few inches from the wall, and a light screen rippled before its eyes. Then, in the center of the light screen, a hole large enough for a person to pass through appeared.

Chu Wushang stepped inside and appeared at the wall of the secret room the next moment. He looked up at Duan Rong sitting at the stone table, his eyes narrowed, and asked, "What do you want to call me for?"

Chu Wushang was still somewhat angry because Duan Rong, though unintentional, had ruined his rare state of mind.

He weaves a large number of bamboo baskets every year, but the number of times he manages to enter that indescribable state can be counted on one hand. Although he knows that even if Duan Rong doesn't disturb him, he won't be able to stay in that state for long.

That state was always like a dragonfly skimming the water. If one day this state could be sustained, and he could remain immersed in that state while weaving the entire bamboo basket, perhaps he wouldn't be far from achieving the late stage of the Cave of Clarity Realm.

Duan Rong keenly sensed the slight displeasure in Chu Wushang's tone and said, "Mr. Chu, I have completed the condensation of the Cave of Clarity and it is time for me to emerge from seclusion."

"Out of quarantine?!"

"Completed the condensation of the Cavern of Darkness?!"

Chu Wushang was slightly taken aback, and a look of great astonishment appeared on his face.

Twenty-eight days ago, he had just entered and checked; at that time, Duan Rong was still comprehending the power of laws within his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness. How could this be? Only twenty-eight days have passed, and the Cave of Clarity has already been condensed!?
How is this possible? !

The process of condensing the void is such a complex and precise undertaking that no one could possibly complete it in twenty-eight days!
Chu Wushang raised an eyebrow and his divine sense swept towards Duan Rong's dantian.

The Great Perfection Qi vortex had long since disappeared; what now resided within Duan Rong's dantian was the deep, surging black light of the Cave of Darkness.

Inside the cave, divine sense could not penetrate. Chu Wushang could only perceive a faint black light emerging from the outer edge, and the bottomless abyss within that black light...

"It actually condensed a Cave of Darkness!?"

The usually taciturn Chu Wushang almost shouted out. He paused, stared at Duan Rong, and asked, "Boy, how did you do that? A month ago, you were still comprehending the power of laws within your spiritual sea of ​​consciousness. How did you condense the Cave of Nether in just one month?"

Duan Rong touched his nose. It seemed that Chu Wushang often came in to check on him. However, a month ago, he was in his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness, and his mind was even in the space of the Eye of Law. Naturally, he was completely unaware of Chu Wushang's arrival.

This is also why the Condensation of the Cavern of Enlightenment must be done in this secret chamber of the rune array. Because cultivators are very vulnerable at the three checkpoints of the Condensation of the Cavern of Enlightenment, and in some states, they are completely unaware of the external situation.

Duan Rong didn't mince words, looking at Chu Wushang and saying, "The method for condensing the Cave of Enlightenment recorded in the sect's cultivation technique takes about half a year. That's a bit too long, so I improved the technique. Based on the sect's cultivation technique, I used a new method to condense the Cave of Enlightenment, and it only takes a month."

"It's been improved?!"

Chu Wushang was horrified, especially since Duan Rong spoke so casually.

This sect's cultivation method has been repeatedly refined by generations of masters. How dare you, a mere greenhorn, presumptuously claim to be able to improve it?

Chu Wushang's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. It was a fact that Duan Rong had condensed a Cave-Ming realm in twenty-eight days; at this moment, his dantian truly contained a Cave-Ming realm.

"This kid really can't be judged by ordinary standards," Chu Wushang thought to himself, glancing at Duan Rong with a strange look in his eyes.

He had previously seen Duan Rong still comprehending the power of laws within his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness after four months, and had said that he was no longer an ordinary person. He never expected that this would be such a big surprise. Duan Rong condensed the Cave of Clarity in just twenty-eight days, and even claimed to have improved the sect's cultivation techniques.

Seeing that Chu Wushang hadn't reacted for a while, Duan Rong said, "Mr. Chu, may I leave seclusion now?"

Chu Wushang then came to his senses. He reached into his waist and took out the array ruler of the talisman array, saying, "Now that the Cave of Darkness has been formed, we can leave the seclusion at any time."

With a thought, Duan Rong transformed into a streak of black light and suddenly stood beside Chu Wushang. He then clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Chu."

Chu Wushang's eyes flickered slightly, and he pointed the array ruler in his hand at the stone wall in front of him.

A beam of light rippled across the stone wall like waves, and after a short while, a vertical oval-shaped hole appeared.

The two then stepped into the void and exited the secret chamber containing the talisman array. Duan Rong stepped into the void, and his figure vanished on its own. He reappeared standing in a cramped stone chamber. There was a narrow door on the stone wall next to him, behind which were stone steps leading up.

Duan Rong stood in front of a wall, his eyes flickering slightly.

When he first entered this place, he didn't notice anything, but now he has condensed the Cave of Mind and comprehended the power of the laws. His perception of the surrounding environment is no longer on the same level as before.

At this moment, he could clearly perceive that there were actually secret chambers with rune arrays behind three walls in this inconspicuous and cramped stone room. At first, he thought there was only one behind the wall behind him.

Seeing Duan Rong's gaze fixed on the wall to the side, Chu Wushang knew that he had already noticed the secret chamber with the talisman array behind it, and said, "To condense the Cave of Clarity, once you go in for seclusion, it could be twenty or thirty years. Someone like you who comes out in half a year is an anomaly. A single talisman array chamber is definitely not enough."

Duan Rong nodded and looked at Chu Wushang, asking, "Mr. Chu, have I been in seclusion for half a year?"

Duan Rong had a concept of time regarding the two hurdles of overcoming inner demons and condensing the Cave of Clarity.

However, the second hurdle is comprehending the power of the laws, and he often cannot perceive the passage of time. Especially in the space of the Eye of the Laws, his mind floats in a void, and he has no sense of time at all.

Chu Wushang said, "Overcoming inner demons takes one and a half months. Comprehending the power of laws takes four months. Condensing the Cave of Clarity takes one month. In total, it takes six and a half months."

Duan Rong said, "It's been six and a half months. Zhu Xiaoqi should have given birth by now! Mr. Chu, I'll head back to my residence first."

Chu Wushang said, "Go. But don't linger too long at the back. Remember to see the Ancestor."

"Yes, Mr. Chu."

Duan Rong clasped his hands in a salute to Chu Wushang, then stood up and turned to leave. However, instead of heading towards the stone gate in the distance, he took two steps, then his figure flickered, and like a ghost, he disappeared into the stone wall at the corner.

This cramped stone chamber had three walls behind which were secret chambers with rune arrays; only the wall he had crawled into led to stone steps. Having comprehended the power of the laws, Duan Rong could now ignore spatial barriers and no longer needed to climb the steps.

Duan Rong emerged from the ground at the entrance of the thatched hut like a clay spirit, the afternoon sun shining brightly, making him dizzy for a moment.

Beside the stool at the entrance of the thatched hut was a half-finished bamboo basket. Duan Rong glanced at it, not understanding why Chu Wushang was always weaving baskets.

Is it just a personal hobby?

However, Chu Wushang's whole demeanor was strange, and it was quite normal for him to have some peculiar hobbies.

Duan Rong immediately felt relieved, transformed into a black ray of light, and shot into the misty valley.

Inside the cramped stone chamber, Chu Wushang watched Duan Rong suddenly disappear before his eyes, his face expressionless. Compared to condensing a Cave of Netherworld within a month and unleashing the power of laws, this was, in Chu Wushang's view, nothing out of the ordinary.

He took out the array ruler, tapped it on the wall behind him, and then entered the secret chamber of the talisman array.

Upon entering the secret chamber of the talisman array, he first went into the cave where Duan Rongxiu practiced the White Bone Temple. In the center of the damp cave, he saw a headless, gleaming white skeleton.

Chu Wushang's eyes flickered, and the skeleton turned to ashes under the influence of the power of the laws.

Afterwards, Chu Wushang left the cave and walked to the futon where Duan Rong was meditating cross-legged. He took the three yellowed animal skin manuals next to the futon into his hands.

Holding the animal hide manual, he looked around to make sure there were no other items to pack, then slowly walked towards the stone table at the other end.

Who knows when we'll be able to use this secret chamber with its talisman array again?
He has been in charge of this place for hundreds of years. There have been times when the three talisman array chambers were activated at the same time, but most of the time, they have been gathering dust.

After all, within a sect, those qualified to go into seclusion and condense the Cave of Clarity are extremely rare!

Chu Wushang took the three sect cultivation manuals to the stone table, and was about to put them back into the wooden box when his hand holding the manuals suddenly froze in mid-air.

"what?!"

A deep sense of doubt appeared in Chu Wushang's eyes. He felt that the power of the laws contained in the light barrier of laws that he had left behind, which enveloped the wooden box, seemed to have weakened somewhat.

"How is this going?"

Only he and Duan Rong had ever entered this secret chamber containing talismans.

"Could it be that kid's doing?" Chu Wushang thought with some doubt.

But he immediately dismissed the idea. Duan Rong had only just condensed the Cave of Understanding; how could he possibly move the law-based light barrier he had set up? Although he hadn't used his full strength, the depth of the laws contained within this light barrier was far beyond what Duan Rong, a cultivator who had only recently comprehended the power of laws, could shake.

Chu Wushang couldn't figure out the key to it for a moment.

"Could it be that I'm remembering it wrong? When I set it up, the power of the laws was like this?"

After all, it had been five months since he last took out the secret manual from this wooden box and gave it to Duan Rong.

Chu Wushang then stopped dwelling on the issue. He felt it was irrelevant, since the manual was complete.

He carefully put the manual back into the wooden box and left, as he still had to report to his ancestor, Lü Yinlin.

The Lü family residence.

The sun was shining brightly that afternoon.

Xiao Yu then picked up Duan Siqian and went to visit Lü Zhongtang's courtyard next door.

During the six months that Duan Rong had been in seclusion, the relationship between the two families had become increasingly harmonious. Lü Zhongtang and Li Baoyue showed great care for both Xiao Yu and Si Qian. Any lingering resentment in Xiao Yu's heart had also been resolved.

Xiao Yu held Siqian in her arms and sat under the eaves chatting with Li Baoyue. Li Baoyue, holding a rattle drum, teased Sishen one moment and Siqian the next, her eyes filled with loving smiles...

Just then, a dark figure suddenly appeared. The figure appeared abruptly like a ghost, startling both Si Shen and Si Qian, who immediately burst into tears.

Seeing the figure appear like a ghost, Li Baoyue thought it was that guy Lü Zhongtang, who was disrespectful to his elders and deliberately scared the child. She was about to scold him when she looked up and saw Duan Rong standing there. She was stunned, and the scolding voice froze on her lips.

Xiao Yu, who had been holding the child with a displeased expression, brightened up when she saw Duan Rong standing there and exclaimed, "Husband!? You've come out of seclusion?" (End of Chapter)