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

In the mountains at midnight, dew falls.

Duan Rong was awakened by the cold dew. With a thought, the power of the laws around him turned, and mist swirled around his body.

The wetness on his clothes and face dried instantly, and even the cold dew on the thatch near where he lay dried completely.

Duan Rong then turned over and lay on his back.

A half-moon hung high in the night sky.

The night sky was as black as velvet, without a single cloud, and the cold moonlight poured down, shining on the valleys, forests, and rooftops.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly. Before falling asleep, he had been pondering the mystery of the moon's movement and stillness.

At this moment, the moonlight, like water, shone on his face, as if it were the cold moon whispering.

Looking at the beautiful moon hanging high in the night sky, he suddenly remembered the last line of the four-line verse in "On the Immutability of Things": "The sun and moon traverse the heavens but do not circle them."

Did the moon actually move?
If the moon doesn't move, how can it rise in the east and set in the west?

If the moon moves, then hasn't the bright moon risen in the sky every night since time immemorial? When has it ever truly left?

The new moon appears at the beginning of the month, the full moon at the fifteenth, and the dark moon at the end; how has it ever changed?

Rivers rush forth but do not flow, the sun and moon traverse the sky but do not revolve, because rivers, the sun, and the moon are all trapped in their own fixed positions, and they have never actually changed.

"Perhaps this is what the founder of the school meant by the theory of the immutability of things?" Duan Rong lay on the thatched roof, his eyes clear, and said, "All things seem to be in flux, but in reality, they have never changed..."

As Duan Rong had this thought, a cool sensation slowly rose to the back of his head and then gradually spread out...

Deep within his dantian, in the space of the Eye of Law, seventy-nine Eyes of Law dotted a void.

Just as the coolness surged up, one of the Eyes of Law suddenly flashed with a dazzling cold light.

Duan Rong suddenly sat up, his eyes wide with astonishment as he looked at the moon overhead.

Because there is a wisp of his divine thought in each of the seventy-nine Eyes of Law, he can sense any unusual movement of the Eyes of Law. Just now, one of the Eyes of Law clearly sensed something.

Unfortunately, that feeling vanished in an instant.

The eye of law had just flashed a brilliant, cold light when it contracted and dissipated, returning to silence.

Although it was only for a brief moment, Duan Rong clearly sensed it; it was definitely not his imagination.

At this moment, he sat on the rooftop, looking up at the moon with clear and devout eyes, murmuring, "What was that just now...? Could the moon be my medium?"

"But is finding a medium so easy?" Duan Rong's eyes immediately showed deep doubt.

Finding a medium means traveling the world and experiencing life's trials, doesn't it?

Moreover, Chu Qiushan spent nearly a hundred years and still couldn't determine his medium, while I found my medium on my very first night with Chu Wushang after just leaving the valley.

It shouldn't be like this, yet the sensation of that law's power just now felt so real.

Duan Rong sat on the rooftop, lost and bewildered. He couldn't fall asleep for the rest of the night. He just stared blankly at the moon until it sank in the west and the mountains and forests returned to darkness.

He lay on the dark rooftop amidst the sound of the pine trees, still thinking about the moon and the fleeting surge of the power of law, until a pale dawn appeared on the eastern horizon.

After another half incense stick's time, the gentle morning light filled the mountains and forests.

Just then, Chu Wushang slowly walked out of the house. He stood there, looked up at Duan Rong on the roof, and said, "Boy, I'm going to the bamboo forest to cut some bamboo strips. Do you want to come?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong immediately leaped down from the roof with the agility of a swallow and said, "Of course I'm going."

Chu Wushang smiled, grabbed a sickle and an axe from the corner of the wall, and tossed them to Duan Rong. "Catch."

Duan Rong accepted the order.

Chu Wushang also picked up a sickle and an axe, turned around and walked towards the back of the thatched hut, and Duan Rong immediately followed.

As soon as the two circled around to the side of the thatched hut, Duan Rong asked, "Mr. Chu, yesterday in the valley, the ancestor said that a medium needs to resonate with the power of laws multiple times to confirm that it is a medium. Is that true?"

Chu Wushang said, "That's how it is."

Duan Rong asked, "What if it's just once?"

“One time doesn’t count,” Chu Wushang said. “An occasional occurrence isn’t necessarily triggered by a medium. It needs to be verified multiple times to confirm. Moreover, it needs to happen at least several times a month to be considered a qualified medium. If it happens only once a year, and only briefly, how can you comprehend it? Such a medium is useless.”

"Oh, I see." Duan Rong responded with his eyes lowered, but his mind was still on the feeling he had last night when he was lost in thought while gazing at the moon.

Just then, Chu Wushang, who had been walking in front, suddenly turned around, looked at Duan Rong with a serious expression, and asked, "You have already sensed the power of the laws once?"

Duan Rong's eyes widened in surprise, and he said, "Yes. It happened once last night."

Chu Wushang looked extremely surprised and asked, "What medium?"

Duan Rong said, "The moon."

"The moon!?" Chu Wushang looked up at the sky. Although it was still the clear light of dawn, he seemed to recall the cool moonlight of last night, and turned his head coldly, saying, "One time doesn't count!"

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked away.

Although Chu Wushang's words were cold, his heart was in turmoil.

He did not believe that Duan Rong had found his medium, and a single sensing could not be counted.

However, Duan Rong had only just condensed his Cave of Clarity and had just listened to the ancestor's explanation of the cultivation method. It was only the first night after he left the valley, yet he already had a sense of it. This was enough to demonstrate the boy's keenness.

I still remember how long it took him more than ten years to go from condensing his inner energy to having his first sensation!
Moreover, the first sensation is extremely important. Once you have that sensation, it's like you've grasped the soul. Your mind will always be on all things, looking for the same feeling, and it will be easy to discern the true medium.

The two walked around the thatched hut and then followed a rugged mountain path.

As Chu Wushang walked along this path, his mind gradually calmed down, and all the distracting thoughts from before were left behind.

For him, walking is also a medium, a way to gain enlightenment and spiritual practice.

What's more, he's walked this road countless times already.

Every time he ran out of bamboo strips for weaving baskets, he would walk along this path into the bamboo forest to cut some new bamboo strips.

In fact, his original medium was weaving bamboo baskets, which involved frequently going to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo strips. As he walked this path often, his state of mind changed, and he eventually sensed the power of the laws. He once asked his ancestor, Lü Yinlin, about this matter.

Because he had identified bamboo basket weaving as the medium and had studied it for many years, another medium suddenly emerged during his study of this medium, which actually made him somewhat panicked.

Lu Yinlin then told him that although people who comprehend two mediums simultaneously are as rare as morning stars, they do exist. However, among those who comprehend two mediums and condense a nascent soul, only one person has been recorded in the tens of thousands of years of history across the Nine Provinces.

This person is Ji Tianku, the founder of the Qingyang Sect.

"But as for whether understanding the two mediums is good or bad, you need to figure it out and make your own choices," Lü Yinlin told him at the time.

Of the eight sects in the Nine Provinces, each sect occupies one province, except for Qingyang Sect, which dominates two provinces, making it arguably the number one sect in the world. And this foundation was laid by Ji Tianku.

This man was undoubtedly a hero of his time.

However, Chu Wushang did not decide to study the two mediums because Ji Tianku had endorsed him. He sought advice from the ancestor Lü Yinlin because he feared that studying the two mediums would cause great harm.

Since Lü Yinlin did not tell him about the harmful effects and let him decide for himself,

Chu Wushang actually had a deep feeling that he needed to delve into both mediums, as he could sense the connection between them.

If he can break one parameter, it's a double breakthrough. He can break parameters through both mediums.

Just as Chu Wushang calmed his mind and focused on walking, Duan Rong, who was walking not far behind him, also stopped his distracting thoughts and observed him intently.

Duan Rong knew very well that walking was also a means for Chu Wushang to achieve his goals.

He observed very carefully, not missing a single detail of Chu Wushang's body—the movement of his legs and feet, the movement of his knees, and the slight swaying of his upper body…

But after watching for a while, he felt more and more that Chu Wushang's walk was just like that of an ordinary old farmer, nothing new or interesting.

Duan Rong knew that this meant he wasn't in the zone. Chu Wushang had said yesterday that even after a month of weaving bamboo baskets, he could only get into the zone about ten times.

I suppose walking is the same.

What Duan Rong wanted to see was the state of entering a meditative state, that is, the state of being in deep meditation, corresponding with the power of the laws...

Although Duan Rong couldn't discern anything special about Chu Wushang's gait, he still observed every detail of his walk. While Chu Wushang's gait appeared no different from that of an ordinary old farmer, he walked with great concentration, as if he were completely absorbed in the task at hand, just like when he was weaving bamboo strips.

As the two walked, Chu Wushang suddenly arrived at the top of a small hill.

The moment he stepped onto the hilltop, a gentle breeze blew by, causing Chu Wushang's sideburns to flutter slightly. In that instant, he clearly felt a subtle shift in his mind.

At that moment of transition, the instant his right foot touched the ground, his eyes suddenly closed.

He walked slowly down the path, but his eyes remained closed the whole time.

Chu Wushang's feet continued to move slowly and steadily, but he was not actually walking the path beneath his feet, but rather the path in his heart.

That was the road he had walked hundreds and thousands of times, and it was the result of all those experiences.

It is another form of existence. It is a path of spirituality and idealism that blend together.

Chu Wushang was absorbed in "this path," and at that moment he felt that he was not walking towards a bamboo forest, but towards a vast expanse of white...

The moment Duan Rong reached the top of the hill, his gaze sharpened, and he stood there motionless.

He could tell that Chu Wushang was clearly in the zone, because his footsteps, breathing, and the slight swaying of his elbows all conformed to a very harmonious rhythm.

Even the path beneath his feet, because of his movements, took on a harmonious rhythm, its originally rugged surface now exhibiting a sense of undulation.

But at that moment, Chu Wushang's body suddenly trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly, and the instant his right foot touched the ground again, he emerged from that state.

Chu Wushang couldn't help but sigh.

At this moment, Duan Rong had already run over and asked, "Mr. Chu, what was that just now...?"

Chu Wushang turned his head, but he wasn't looking at Duan Rong; instead, he was looking at the path Duan Rong had just walked.

"Great! I just entered a state of deep contemplation."

As Chu Wushang spoke, he shifted his gaze from the road to Duan Rong, then suddenly smiled slightly and said, "In the past, when I entered a deep meditation state, I could only take three to five steps at most, but today I took a full seven steps. Kid, it seems you're quite the lucky one!"

Chu Wushang was saying that Duan Rong had brought him good luck.

"Three or five steps?! Seven steps today?!" A deep look of contemplation appeared in Duan Rong's eyes. He turned to look at the hillside behind him, the one from which they had just come down.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked a question. "Mr. Chu, every time you travel this road to enter Shencan, is it always along that section coming down from this hillside?"

Chu Wushang was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and then a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, because Duan Rong had hit the nail on the head as soon as he opened his mouth.

He replied, “The three sections of this road that led me to Shencan are the first. The first section is the place where you step onto the hilltop. The second section is where the rugged path bends in the middle. The third section is near the bamboo forest.”

“I have walked this road thousands of times, and I have had several profound insights every month. Every time I have had a profound insight, it falls on one of these three sections, without exception.”

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong gazed at the rugged mountain path before him, a deep, cold glint in his eyes.

Chu Wushang said, "Let's go, there's no need to think about it anymore. I don't even know why myself. Perhaps I'll only know the answer when I break through to the next level."

Duan Rong said, "Perhaps this path is a manifestation of the power of the law, and the three places you enter to delve deeper each time are the three points where the power of the law can be further deepened."

Upon hearing this, Chu Wushang pondered for a moment, then lowered his head with a furrowed brow.

He seemed to be deep in thought about Duan Rong's words. After a long while, he raised his head and said, "There is some truth to it, but it is nothing more than empty talk."

Duan Rong said, "What you say is true, sir. This is indeed just my guess, and it has no practical use."

"Let's go." Chu Wushang sighed and turned to continue walking forward.

Next, Chu Wushang continued to focus on walking, while Duan Rong observed intently from behind. However, whether it was at the bends of the rugged path or near the bamboo forest, Chu Wushang could no longer get into the zone.

In fact, this is normal.

If he can enter a state of deep understanding in one of the stages, then his skill will be fully developed, which is the breakthrough stage, indicating that he is not far from breaking through the barrier.

Chu Wushang's understanding has clearly not reached that depth yet.

The path wasn't actually very long; before long, a vast expanse of lush green bamboo forest came into view. A gentle breeze stirred, causing the bamboo leaves to rustle softly. (End of Chapter)