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

In the secret chamber where Duan Rong was meditating on the Fetal Treasury Sutra, not far away in another secret chamber, Lü Qingzhu let out a long sigh and slowly opened her eyes.

Having finally refined a drop of high-level elemental beast's essence blood, her dantian's qi vortex had clearly deepened after this period of arduous cultivation. Unfortunately, she couldn't remain in seclusion for long periods, as she still had to take care of Shen'er.

Lu Qingzhu smiled as she recalled Shen'er's adorable appearance, stood up from the futon, and walked out of the secret room.

As she emerged from the artificial hill, the afternoon sun dazzled Lü Qingzhu's eyes. Suddenly, she moved with incredible speed, soaring like a great eagle towards her own courtyard.

Li Baoyue was helping Shen'er learn to walk in the yard. She would take a couple of steps with her, then let go and let Shen'er walk on her own. She only caught Shen'er when she saw that Shen'er was about to fall.

Li Baoyue watched Shen'er take two steps, three steps, and this time she almost took five steps before she swayed and was about to fall. Her eyes and brows were full of smiles.

Just as Li Baoyue was helping Shen'er, who was about to fall, a figure suddenly landed not far away. It was Lü Qingzhu who had rushed over from the secret room.

Upon seeing Lü Qingzhu, Shen'er immediately began to babble. He pushed away Li Baoyue's hand that was supporting him and walked towards Lü Qingzhu.

One step, two steps... He took the fifth step and his calf swayed noticeably. Lü Qingzhu almost went over to help him, but the next moment Shen'er did not fall down, but stood up again.

Lu Qingzhu looked at Shen'er expectantly and smiled, "Shen'er, come here, come to your mother."

Lu Qingzhu kept her eyes fixed on Shen'er's two little legs. If he swayed even slightly, she would immediately go over and pick him up. With Lu Qingzhu's skills, she was sure she could catch Shen'er before he fell.

Shen'er looked at his mother, drooling, and ran over to her, babbling. He staggered and ran three more steps before throwing himself into Lü Qingzhu's arms.

Lü Qingzhu smiled, picked up her Shen'er, and hugged her tightly, kissing her. This time, Shen'er actually took eight steps.

"My Shen'er has grown up!"

After that, Lü Qingzhu held Shen'er and played with her for a while.

After a while, Li Baoyue suddenly said, "Duan Rong also entered the secret room a couple of days ago."

Lu Qingzhu's eyes flickered, and she asked, "Is my husband also in the secret room?"

Li Baoyue said, "He went to the secret chamber with the talisman array for cultivating the Womb Treasury Scripture, which is behind your secret chamber."

Upon hearing this, Lü Qingzhu realized that Duan Rong would definitely pass through her cultivation chamber when entering the talisman array chamber. At that time, she should have been refining the essence blood of a high-level elemental beast, and Duan Rong did not disturb her.

Lü Qingzhu played with Shen'er all afternoon, and then personally put Shen'er to sleep until late at night before leaving. In the pitch-black night, Lü Qingzhu left the courtyard and went to the artificial hill, where she entered the secret room through a mechanism.

Arriving at her usual meditation chamber, she slowly walked to the meditation cushion, but stood there motionless for a long time.

When Lü Qingzhu saw the stone wall of the secret chamber, she knew that the secret chamber where Duan Rong cultivated the Fetal Treasury Scripture was behind that stone wall. After looking at it for a while, she couldn't help but smile.

Knowing that Duan Rong was nearby, though separated by a stone wall, they felt their hearts were connected. Because now they were both aware of each other's existence.

Lü Qingzhu then sat cross-legged on the futon and continued refining the essence blood of the high-level elemental beast. She knew that Duan Rong was exceptionally talented, so she could not slack off in her cultivation and had to keep up with him.

Seven days later, Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes in the secret room, and the three black jade boxes in front of him were empty.

In seven days, plus the previous two days, a total of nine days, he successively completed the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth levels of the Womb Treasury Sutra.

After reaching the sixteenth level, the Divine Soul Illusion Technique "Yinghuo" finally evolved again, becoming capable of forming a small-scale area-of-effect attack.

However, this is not the ultimate form of Yinghuo. Duan Rong had read the secret manual behind the Fetal Treasury Scripture. If he could master the Fetal Treasury Scripture to the twenty-second level, the Divine Soul Illusion Technique Yinghuo would evolve into its ultimate form. With the strength of his divine soul at that time, he could even control tens of thousands of people to enter the illusion at once.

Duan Rong couldn't help but feel a surge of longing for the later chapters of the Womb Sutra.

However, his immediate priority is to solve the problem of auxiliary drugs for the seventeenth and eighteenth floors.

The supplementary medicine for the seventeenth level is the Azure Eye of the Bewitching Azure-Eyed Cat, and the supplementary medicine for the eighteenth level is the Brain Marrow of the Nine Nether Hound. Both of these are high-level elemental beasts from the Dark Forest!

Chu Wushang had instructed him that capturing high-level Yuan Beasts required helpers, and it would be best to have two experts at the Cave-Ming Realm to cover for him. Only by working together could the Yuan Beasts be prevented from escaping.

However, his master Zhu He was not in the sect, and even if Zhu He were to return, he would be the sect leader of Taiyi Sect, with many affairs to attend to, and would not have time to accompany him to the Dark Forest to catch Yuan Beasts.

Duan Rong decided to first ask his father-in-law, Lü Zhongtang. Lü Zhongtang seemed to have plenty of free time and should be able to help him. But they were still missing someone.
With that thought in mind, he left the talisman array chamber and stopped where Lü Qingzhu was meditating cross-legged.

Duan Rong looked at Lü Qingzhu, whose face was serene. He hadn't seen her for several days, and she was already refining another drop of high-level Yuan Beast essence blood.

Duan Rong looked at Lü Qingzhu, couldn't help but smile, and then suddenly disappeared like a ghost. Lü Qingzhu was refining the essence blood of a high-level Yuan Beast, and he didn't want to disturb her.

As soon as he entered Lü Zhongtang's residence, he saw the steward Han Cheng scolding a servant.

As soon as Han Cheng saw Duan Rong enter, his expression changed immediately. He smiled, bowed, and said, "My lord, you've arrived?"

Duan Rong asked, "Is my father-in-law at home?"

Han Cheng smiled and said, "Yes, sir. The master just got the tea set and is brewing tea in the flower hall. You can enjoy the freshly brewed tea when you come over."

"That's good."

Duan Rong then walked towards the flower hall. He wasn't interested in tea at all; he wanted to talk to Lü Zhongtang about catching high-level elemental beasts in the Dark Forest.

His father-in-law was usually idle and lazy; although he had reached the Cave-Ming Realm, he probably hadn't shown his skills much. Duan Rong was a little apprehensive, but he couldn't find anyone else to help him right now.

Although Chu Wushang was formidable, asking him for help was far too presumptuous. Moreover, Duan Rong felt that Chu Wushang would never agree to his request.

As soon as Duan Rong entered the flower hall, he saw Lü Zhongtang sitting there, leisurely washing the tea set, and said with a smile, "Father-in-law, you are in a good mood!"

"My dear son-in-law, come here..." Lu Zhongtang burst into laughter as soon as he saw Duan Rong enter, but then suddenly sensed something was amiss and asked, "Weren't you in seclusion cultivating the Womb Treasury Scripture? Why are you out here now?"

Duan Rong said, "There's been a problem with my cultivation."

Lu Zhongtang frowned and asked, "What went wrong?"

Duan Rong said, "It's about the auxiliary drugs."

Lü Zhongtang then laughed and said, "I thought it was a problem. If it's about supplementary medicines, that's easy to solve. Sun Fujia is in charge of the medicine pavilion. I'll just give him a word, and he can get any medicine we need. Tell me, what kind of supplementary medicine do you want?"

Duan Rong glanced at Lü Zhongtang and said, "The blue pupils of the Bewitching Blue-Eyed Cat, and the brain marrow of the Nine Nether Hound."

Upon hearing this, Lü Zhongtang's expression froze, and his hand trembled slightly. He was rinsing the teaware with hot water and almost burned his own hand.

Lu Zhongtang gave Duan Rong a strange look and said, "If I remember correctly, the blue pupils of the Bewitching Blue-Eyed Cat should be an auxiliary medicine for the seventeenth level of the Fetal Storage Scripture? And the brain marrow of the Nine Nether Hound is an auxiliary medicine for the eighteenth level, right?" Duan Rong said, "That's right. Father-in-law is not mistaken."

Lu Zhong asked, "You're already cultivating the seventeenth level of the Embryo Sutra?"

Duan Rong nodded and said, "Yes."

A cold glint of suspicion flashed in Lü Zhongtang's eyes. The Womb Treasury Sutra is a secret method of cultivation in stages, meaning that one must achieve the sixteenth level before continuing to cultivate the seventeenth level.

But Duan Rong is not even twenty-five years old yet, and at most, he has only been a personal disciple for a little over two years.

In two years, one can master the Fetal Treasury Sutra to the sixteenth level.

Let alone two years, even if he started practicing from the womb, it would take him twenty-five years to reach the sixteenth level.

Lü Zhongtang sighed and said, "My dear son-in-law, do you have some misunderstanding about the Womb Sutra? Although this secret method is incredibly profound, it is extremely difficult to master."

Duan Rong did not answer Lü Zhongtang's question. Instead, he sat there and suddenly his mind moved. The next moment, a sparse, flickering light, like fireflies, suddenly appeared around Lü Zhongtang in the flower hall.

Although it was daytime, the light spot was somewhat dim, but it still flickered in the sunlight and was visible to the naked eye.

Lu Zhongtang was instantly stunned!
The next moment, the scattered specks of light that had been floating around Lü Zhongtang suddenly coalesced into a fist-sized ball of light in front of him, shimmering with a bluish-green glow.

Lu Zhongtang stared in astonishment at the ball of light before him. "A group attack from Yinghuo?!"

Duan Rong said, "That's right!"

As soon as Duan Rong finished speaking, the sphere of light that was flashing with a bluish-green light suddenly collapsed, and the spots of light immediately disappeared.

Lü Zhongtang looked at Duan Rong across the tea table with an expression as if he were looking at a ghost.

He had no doubt that what he had just witnessed was a group attack by Yinghuo. Although Lü Zhongtang was leisurely and lazy, he was still a powerful expert in the Cave of Enlightenment Realm, and he had that much insight and perception.

The area-of-effect attack of Yinghuo is an evolved form of the Divine Soul Illusion Technique Yinghuo after achieving the sixteenth level of the Womb Realm.

In other words, Duan Rong has truly mastered the sixteen-layered Womb Sutra.

Lu Zhongtang had completely lost his appetite for brewing tea. He stared at Duan Rong, his eyes wide with disbelief, and asked, "How did you do that? You accomplished the sixteenth level of the Womb Sutra before you were even twenty-five?!"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Perhaps it's due to exceptional talent?! Father-in-law, don't forget, I also reached the Cave-Ming Realm before I was even twenty-five years old."

Lu Zhongtang was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself, "As expected, a prodigy cannot be judged by ordinary standards!"

Duan Rong said, "Father-in-law, the blue pupils of the Bewitching Blue-Eyed Cat and the brain marrow of the Nine Nether Hound must be freshly extracted to be effective. High-level Yuan Beasts are not easy to capture, so I would like to ask you to lend me your help."

Lu Zhongtang said, "It is indeed not easy to capture high-level Yuan Beasts. I will take action myself, but the two of us may not be able to succeed. You have only just reached the Cave-Ming Realm, and I do not know much about the Dark Forest."

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong remained expressionless, knowing that Lü Zhongtang had more to say.

Lu Zhongtang continued, "I have always been on good terms with Sun Fujia of the Medicine Pavilion. Moreover, he has been in the Medicine Pavilion for a long time and often goes to the Dark Forest to pick medicinal herbs and capture Yuan Beasts. He is also very familiar with the habits of high-level Yuan Beasts. If he is here, it will definitely be of great help to us in capturing the Bewitching Blue-Eyed Cat and the Nine Nether Hound."

Duan Rong smiled and said, "If Elder Sun is willing to take action, that would be excellent."

Lu Zhongtang said, "I will go to the medicine pavilion and personally ask him to help. He will not refuse."

Duan Rong immediately stood up, bowed to Lü Zhongtang, and said, "Then I will have to trouble you, Father-in-law."

Lü Zhongtang said, "Please sit here for a while, I'll be right back."

As he spoke, Lü Zhongtang stood up and walked out. When he reached the entrance of the flower hall, he suddenly paused, turned his head and said, "Oh, right, help me brew the tea. Everything is ready, make sure to keep the heat right!"

"Yes, Father-in-law," Duan Rong replied from the flower hall.

Lü Zhongtang nodded immediately, transformed into a streak of black light, and shot into a cloud of mist.

The next day, three figures, moving like ghosts, suddenly stopped at the edge of a dark forest.

Duan Rong, Lü Zhongtang, and Sun Fujia arrived just as agreed.

After exchanging pleasantries, Sun Fujia couldn't help but glance at Duan Rong twice.

When Lü Zhongtang first told him that Duan Rong had already condensed the Dongming (洞冥) realm, Sun Fujia was still skeptical. But upon seeing him today, he realized that the boy had indeed condensed the Dongming realm; within his dantian, the Dongming realm surged with black light, brimming with vitality.

Sun Fujia said, "High-level Yuan Beasts generally roam deep within the Dark Forest. This is because they prefer the turbulent currents where the power of the laws of gods and demons intertwine with that of the Nine Provinces. Their power of laws is born in such turbulent currents. Normal beasts in the Nine Provinces world could never master the power of laws."

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he thought to himself: This person truly understands the habits of Yuan Beasts. It seems that Lü Zhongtang did not choose the wrong person.

Sun Fujia was in charge of the Medicine Pavilion, and this dark forest was a natural medicine storehouse, with an inexhaustible supply of all kinds of rare herbs. Sun Fujia was obsessed with the study of medicine and poisons, and naturally studied it tirelessly, spending many years wandering in the dark forest.

Sun Fujia said, "Let's go, you two follow me. I know the most secret and safest path to the depths of the Dark Forest."

"The most secret and safest route? Brother Sun, what route is it?" Seeing that Sun Fujia was being somewhat mysterious, Lü Zhongtang asked directly.

Sun Fujia said, "Brother Lü, there's no need to rush. You'll know when you get there."

After Sun Fujia finished speaking, he suddenly flew into the dense forest.

Duan Rong and Lü Zhongtang immediately followed.

In fact, the place where they entered the dark forest was also chosen by Sun Fujia.

"It seems this man had already planned this all along," Duan Rong thought, looking at Sun Fujia's retreating figure.

The three flew through the dark forest for a short while when Sun Fujia suddenly stopped beside a narrow river in the dense woods. This place wasn't deep inside; it was still on the outskirts of the dark forest.

Duan Rong and Lü Zhongtang also stopped not far from him, both gazing intently at the river flowing in the dark night. The phytoplankton in the river emitted a faint glow, and the entire river was filled with fluorescence, making it exceptionally beautiful.

Lu Zhongtang said, "Brother Sun, is this river the most secluded and safest route you mentioned?"

Sun Fujia said, "There's an underground current at the bottom of this river. That current goes deep underground, leading straight to the depths of a dark forest." (End of Chapter)