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

As soon as it was light, Chu Wushang sat down in front of the thatched hut again and began weaving bamboo baskets.

Duan Rong landed lightly on the roof. This time, he didn't go to get the stool leaning against the wall, but stood quietly not far away.

After a while, Chu Wushang paused, raised his head and looked at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly.

Chu Wushang said, "What? Ready to leave?"

Duan Rong replied, "Yes."

Chu Wushang sighed softly. After spending the past ten days together, he didn't find Duan Rong annoying at all. On the contrary, he liked the boy even more.

"Thank you for teaching me for ten days. Your earnest teachings have greatly benefited me. Please accept my bow."

Suddenly, Duan Rong knelt down in front of Chu Wushang not far away.

This prostration and kneeling ceremony is the highest form of etiquette in the Nine Provinces. When Duan Rong entered the sect, he performed this ceremony to two people: his master Zhu He and the sect's patriarch Lü Yinlin.

Now, Chu Wushang is the third person.

Over the past ten days, Chu Wushang has indeed taught him a lot.

Chu Wushang was usually cold and aloof. Duan Rong originally thought that he would be lucky to stay here for two days to observe. But he stayed here for a full ten days, and Chu Wushang never chased him away. Moreover, Chu Wushang answered all his questions without reservation.

Over the past ten days, although he has not yet found his medium, he has gained a thorough understanding of the cultivation methods of the Cave of Clarity Realm, especially the search for and comprehension of the medium, which he has gained a direct understanding through firsthand observation.

These are all extremely valuable experiences for practitioners.

Therefore, his bow to Chu Wushang was a sincere gesture of respect as a teacher.

Chu Wushang stared at Duan Rong, who was kneeling prostrate, and his lips trembled slightly.

For a century, he had lived here in solitude, studying the medium, and had long since developed a heart of stone, yet at this moment he was somewhat moved. A certain figure deep within his heart seemed to have surged forth from the long river of time.

Duan Rong knelt down, and after three breaths, he stood up on his own. He clasped his hands in a fist salute to Chu Wushang and said, "Sir, Duan Rong is gone."

After he finished speaking, he turned to leave.

Just then, Chu Wushang suddenly called out to him, "Wait a minute."

Duan Rong suddenly stopped, turned around, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Does the master have any further instruction?"

Chu Wushang sat there, his face still cold and hard, and said, "Did the Ancestor give you the complete Womb Sutra?"

Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "Yes, I have something to give you."

He found it a little strange that Chu Wushang had suddenly stopped him and asked about the Womb Sutra just as he was about to leave.

Chu Wushang said, "The Fetal Treasury Scripture also needs to be cultivated."

Duan Rong's eyes narrowed, and he said, "Does spiritual power have an effect on the medium of comprehension?"

Chu Wushang said, "It has no direct effect. But spiritual power is an aid to the path of enlightenment."

"A talisman?"

Chu Wushang said, "The growth of your spiritual power can make you more sensitive to the surging of the laws behind the medium."

Duan Rong's eyes suddenly lit up.

For the past ten days, he had been pondering the four-step cultivation method for the Cavern Realm. He had never read the complete Womb Treasury Scripture that the Ancestor had given him. Now he realized that the timing of the Ancestor Lü Yinlin imparting the complete Womb Treasury Scripture to him when he had condensed the Cavern Realm and was explaining the four-step cultivation method to him indicated that the cultivation of the Womb Treasury Scripture had an impact on the medium for comprehension in the Cavern Realm.

Duan Rong immediately flipped his hand and grabbed the bamboo tube. With a thought, the power of the law pulled a very thin piece of animal hide from the hole at one end of the bamboo tube out.

He reached out and took it, gently unfolded it, and stared at it intently.

A quick glance revealed the very last section, prompting him to remark, "The Garbhadhatu Sutra has a total of twenty-two levels?"

Chu Wushang sat on a stool, glanced at Duan Rong who was holding an animal skin not far away, and asked with some curiosity, "Boy, what level have you reached in your cultivation?"

Duan Rong raised his head, looked at Chu Wushang, and said, "Sir, before entering the Divine Demon Ruins, I completed the thirteenth level of the Womb Sutra."

"what?!"

Chu Wushang was startled, and the bamboo basket in his hand almost fell to the ground.

"Kid, you're not kidding me, are you? You've mastered the thirteenth level of the Womb Sutra?!" Chu Wushang looked at Duan Rong with a strange expression.

Duan Rong said, "I wouldn't dare to deceive you, sir."

Chu Wushang's strange look slowly faded, but he still looked incredulous. He said, "How difficult is it to achieve the Womb Treasury Sutra?! Moreover, after the tenth level, each level is more difficult to achieve, as slow as pulling silk. I have cultivated for more than two hundred years and have only just achieved the twelfth level."

"How old are you to have reached the thirteenth level?"

Duan Rong said, "Well... I have a strange method for cultivating the Womb Sutra... it's a bit faster..."

Chu Wushang looked at Duan Rong, seemingly trying to determine the truthfulness of his words. Suddenly, Chu Wushang's eyes lit up. He recalled Duan Rong's previous keenness, which was clearly a manifestation of his mental strength far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Chu Wushang asked, "What kind of strange cultivation method is this? Can I use it?"

To be honest, the Womb Sutra has many wondrous aspects, and the growth of spiritual power is a kind of growth in the quality of one's life, bringing about a subtle transformation in all aspects of life experience. But the only drawback is that the progress is too slow.

Chu Wushang sometimes wondered if the reason why the cultivation of this secret technique was so slow was because the method of cultivation was too orthodox. But there must be some evil way to increase the speed of cultivation.

As the saying goes, new talents emerge in every generation. There will always be people with extraordinary talents and abilities who cannot tolerate this snail-paced cultivation speed, yet are greedy for the wonders of the Womb Sutra, and thus develop some evil cultivation methods.

Therefore, Chu Wushang suspected that Duan Rong had obtained this strange cultivation method.

Duan Rong touched his nose and said, "This... you can't use it, sir."

Chu Wushang said, "Is that so?"

Chu Wushang's expression and tone revealed disbelief.

Duan Rong said, "This cultivation method is related to my unique state of clarity and emptiness."

Duan Rong's mind raced, and he pulled out the lie he had prepared for himself when he was devouring the intent. The Realm of Emptiness was quite mysterious and incredibly powerful, but it essentially disappeared after adulthood. "The Realm of Emptiness!?" Chu Wushang's mind raced. He suddenly remembered that when he reported to the Ancestor about Duan Rong's breakthrough of his inner demons, the Ancestor seemed to have mentioned Duan Rong's Realm of Emptiness, but they hadn't discussed it in detail.

Chu Wushang looked at Duan Rong and thought to himself: It seems that this kid really does have something extraordinary about him.

Seeing that Chu Wushang's doubts about him had been dispelled, Duan Rong looked at the animal hide manual in his hand again and suddenly said, "The auxiliary medicines for cultivating the later levels of this Embryo Sutra..."

In fact, cultivating the Womb Treasury Sutra was not difficult for Duan Rong. He relied on the cultivation method of devouring tree spirits, using the entanglement of countless tree spirit threads to replace the original tortoise-like cultivation speed of peeling away layers. However, the auxiliary medicines for this cultivation were indispensable.

Chu Wushang said, "The auxiliary medicines for the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth floors are divine medicines from the ruins of gods and demons. You just came out of the ruins of gods and demons, so you may have them. If not, you can ask your master to get them for you from the sect. Zhu He is now the sect leader."

"Even if you come to me for medicines for the nineteenth floor and beyond, the sect doesn't have them."

"Yes, Mr. Chu," Duan Rong replied.

With these supplementary medications secured, he felt relieved. In that case, cultivating the Womb Sutra would pose no difficulty for him.

However, Chu Wushang only mentioned the auxiliary medicines for the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth layers, as well as the auxiliary medicines for the nineteenth layer and beyond, but he omitted the seventeenth and eighteenth layers.

Duan Rong couldn't help but stare intently at the animal hide manual in his hand. With a quick glance, he found the auxiliary medicines on the seventeenth and eighteenth levels. His eyes flickered, and he murmured, "The brain marrow of the Nine Nether Hound?! The eyes of the Bewitching Azure-Eyed Cat?!"

He looked up at Chu Wushang and asked, "This... seems to be a high-level elemental beast from the Dark Forest, right?"

Chu Wushang said expressionlessly, "That's right, and they're not easy to deal with. Whether it's the brain marrow of the Nine Nether Hound or the eyes of the Bewitching Blue-Eyed Cat, they must be fresh to be effective. They can only be caught and taken immediately. They must be used within a month."

Duan Rong's eyelid twitched.

Chu Wushang said, "Although you have already reached the Cave of Enlightenment Realm, I still advise you that if you want to kill the Nine Nether Hound and the Bewitching Azure-Eyed Cat in the Dark Forest, it would be best to find two helpers."

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong's heart stirred. He thought of Lin Youjian and Liu Su, and how when he led them into the ruins of gods and demons, they had traversed the deepest part of the dark forest, where high-level elemental beasts roamed.

At that time, Lin Youjian and Liu Su were both cultivators at the Cave Nether Realm, but they were as if facing a formidable enemy, which shows that high-level Yuan Beasts are not easy to deal with.

High-level elemental beasts also possess the power of laws, but they are born deep within dark forests and are accustomed to the high-pressure, high-density, pure elemental energy of heaven and earth there, and are unwilling to leave this familiar environment.

Duan Rong clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for the reminder, sir."

Chu Wushang said, "Go ahead. If you have any questions about cultivation, you can come and ask me."

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he said, "Yes, sir. Duan Rong is leaving."

After he finished speaking, he gave Chu Wushang a deep look, turned around and left. After walking for a while, he transformed into a black ray of light and shot into the clouds and mist in the valley.

Chu Wushang sighed softly, and was about to continue weaving the bamboo baskets when suddenly a wisp of green smoke floated not far from him.

As the smoke dissipated, the figure of the ancestor Lü Yinlin appeared.

Chu Wushang glanced at the figure, but remained seated on the stool by the door without getting up. He knew that it was just a shadow of the ancestor's clone.

The figure looked at Chu Wushang, smiled, and said, "You've been staying with me for ten days, haven't you?"

Chu Wushang said, "Yes, for a full ten days."

The figure asked, "What do you think of that kid?"

Chu Wushang said, "Its nature is pure and kind, and it is also keenly responsive to the surge of the power of the laws. It is a natural Dao artifact. It far surpasses me and Chu Qiushan, and is slightly better than Gu Daoling."

The figure nodded with a meaningful expression.

The Dao artifact that Chu Wushang spoke of was specific; the purer and more untainted a person's heart, the easier it is for them to resonate with the Dao. Those who commit evil and slaughter will have malevolent energy corrupting their bodies, obstructing their connection to the Dao.

There's another factor here: strong mental power. Strong mental power brings corresponding sensitivity, which refers to the perception of the Dao. In other words, when you resonate with the Dao and its laws, can you perceive this resonance, solidify it, deepen it, and expand it?

Duan Rong possesses both of these qualities, which is why Chu Wushang called him a Dao artifact.

The reason why Gu Daoling was able to break through to the late stage of the Cave of Enlightenment Realm before Chu Wushang and Chu Qiushan was that he also possessed these two qualities: a pure heart and strong spiritual power.

The figure seemed to remember something. Looking at the churning clouds, he suddenly said, "Little Chu, I remember you seem to have a son?"

Chu Wushang's eyes widened for a moment, then he said, "Yes. He's been dead for many years. He was killed by his enemies. That guy I ground to ashes wiped out my entire Chu family while I was away..."

As Chu Wushang spoke, he had already crushed the bamboo strips in his hand, but his face remained cold and expressionless.

The figure said, "If I remember correctly, your son was about the same age as Duan Rong when he died, wasn't he?"

Chu Wushang's expression froze, and his grip on the bamboo strips loosened involuntarily. At that moment, it seemed as if someone had seen through his thoughts.

After a few moments of silence, Chu Wushang said, "The past is the past, there's no need to mention it again."

After saying that, he turned his head away, and before he knew it, the figure had disappeared. Chu Wushang no longer had the heart to weave bamboo baskets. He sat on a stool, looking at the sky above the dense forest, and the figure of his dead son, Chu Lin, suddenly appeared before his eyes.

But after so many years, that figure has become very blurry.

"Lin'er..." Chu Wushang's throat moved. But gradually, the blurry figure in front of him solidified into the clear image of Duan Rong, who was smiling at him.

Duan Rong transformed into a streak of black light and left Chu Wushang's thatched hut. Instead of returning to the Lü family mansion, he headed towards Yunfu Peak.

Since mastering the Womb Treasury Sutra would greatly help in comprehending the Path to Enlightenment, he decided to first master the entire Womb Treasury Sutra before proceeding with the four-step cultivation method for the Path to Enlightenment, which involves finding his own medium for comprehension through the investigation of things.

The cultivation of the Womb Sutra is as difficult as climbing to heaven or as slow as crawling a tortoise for others, but it is not difficult for him. Moreover, there are inexhaustible tree spirits in these endless deep mountains.

Duan Rong used the power of the rules, and the guards on Yunfu Peak couldn't detect him at all.

Ximen Kankan was hunched over a pile of official documents, extremely busy.

Since Zhu He took over as sect leader, everyone on Yunfu Peak has been wishing they could be split into two.

Just then, Duan Rong suddenly appeared not far in front of him like a ghost.

Ximen Kankan caught a glimpse of a figure standing in front of the desk out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't look up. He simply reached out and said, "Give it to me."

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he placed an inkstone from the table behind him into the hand that Ximen Kankan reached out to him.

Ximen Kankan grabbed the inkstone, took it back, glanced at it, and immediately flew into a rage, looking up and cursing, "Damn it, I told you to take it..."

Ximen Kankan's face froze, the curse stuck in his throat. He saw Duan Rong standing before his desk, smiling at him, and saying, "Lord Ximen, what a display of official power!" (End of Chapter)