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

As soon as Duan Rong stepped out of the large rock, he saw the three bandits about three zhang away. The gleaming broadswords carried on their shoulders flashed with a dazzling, cold light. Duan Rong was only slightly taken aback before turning around and going back behind the large rock.

The three bandits, who were originally robbing travelers, suddenly encountered a person in this desolate wilderness. They were not about to let him go, so they rushed over the big rock to rob Duan Rong.

Duan Rong walked back behind the large rock, then slowly walked to the side of the mountain path. With a shake of his body, a power of law surrounded him, and in an instant, he transformed into a rather ancient and secluded pine tree.

The three bandits, clutching their gleaming broadswords, ran across the large rock. At first glance, they saw only a rugged mountain path leading up the vast wilderness, but there was no sign of anyone else.

All three were startled. One of them leaped onto the large rock beside him and looked around. The other walked to the side of the mountain path and looked into the valley.

After searching around, the two men walked up to a burly man and said, "Brother, we can't find anyone anywhere."

The burly man's pupils contracted slightly, and his expression became somewhat grave. The three of them had only rushed over in the blink of an eye, yet that person had vanished without a trace. Could it be that they had encountered a True Qi Realm expert in this desolate wilderness? Even a True Qi Realm expert couldn't disappear in the blink of an eye in this vast mountain wilderness!

One of them said to the burly man, "Brother, have we run into a mountain demon? Should we leave this place? We might as well leave the temple untouched."

The burly man glared at him and said, "Look at your cowardly little thing. Where the hell is there a mandrill? You've come all this way, you should at least go up and check it out."

The three of them then headed along the mountain path.

After the three of them had walked away, the conspicuous pine tree by the roadside not far from the big rock suddenly shook and blurred, and then Duan Rong's figure appeared.

In fact, this kind of illusion created by the power of laws only works on cultivators below the Cave-Ming Realm. If they are also cultivators at the Cave-Ming Realm, they can see through it at a glance.

Because that illusory form was filled with subtle ripples of the power of laws.

Duan Rong stood beside the large rock, watching the three bandits in the distance along the mountain path. Judging from their conversation, they were going to rob the small temple on the mountaintop.

Having just emerged from that small temple, he naturally knew its condition: it was sparsely populated, and only a deaf and mute old monk lived there. Those three would likely be greatly disappointed if they went up there.

They didn't manage to steal anything, and the old monk living in the temple is likely to suffer, but this has nothing to do with Duan Rong. He came out to travel the world, to experience things and temper his mind, not to meddle in other people's business.

In the vast land of China, such scoundrels are as numerous as hairs on a cow; how could he possibly manage them all?

Duan Rong had originally planned to stroll down the mountain, but now things were getting a bit complicated. After the bandits looted the place, they would probably try to escape through the mountain path. As he thought of this, a red light flashed between his brows, and the next moment, he appeared in the wilderness at the foot of the mountain.

He turned his head and glanced at the majestic and lush mountains behind him, then headed towards the official road not far away. After walking along the official road for more than an hour, he finally entered Linzhang Prefecture City as dusk fell.

Linzhang Prefecture was a prosperous place. Although it was the southern city, its streets and population were far more abundant than those of other places.

At this time, it was just getting dark, and the shops along the street had already lit up their lamps.

Duan Rong had been on a boat for several days, and hadn't slept well. As soon as he entered the city, he planned to find an inn to rest for the night.

He walked along the street for a while and saw an inn with a dark brown flag hanging outside. In the dim light, he couldn't make out the name of the inn, but he thought the facade was pretty good at first glance, so he went inside.

As soon as I walked in, I saw a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion sitting behind the counter, working on an abacus with the accounts.

The man, who was doing the accounts, saw a figure slip in through the doorway and immediately stood up with a smile, politely asking, "Sir, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"

As the man greeted him, his shrewd eyes were already sizing up Duan Rong.

The restaurant owner has a wide business, and having seen so much, he can tell a lot about people at a glance.

By the light of the lamp, the shopkeeper glanced at the man and his heart began to pound. He had always known that there were many extraordinary people in the martial arts world, so he opened his doors to customers and never dared to look down on anyone.

The person before him was dressed in a blue robe, his face covered in dust, with bits of grass and dew on his sleeves. He was clearly a down-on-his-luck man, yet his face was serene, his eyes were rich and reserved, and he even seemed to possess a hint of otherworldly grace.

The shopkeeper couldn't immediately see where the person who entered came from, so he became even more respectful.

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Since we are passing through this place, I would like to rest for a while. I would like to trouble the innkeeper to give us a superior room."

The innkeeper smiled and said, "Of course. Would you like some more food, sir?"

Duan Rong said, "Just make some simple snacks to go with the wine, something light will do."

As Duan Rong spoke, he reached into his pocket and his eyes widened in surprise; he had no money on him at all. He touched his waist, looked up at the shopkeeper behind the counter, and gave an embarrassed smile.

The shopkeeper was a man of wide experience; just by looking at Duan Rong's expression, he knew that Duan Rong was a man without money, but he still maintained a gentle smile on his face.

Duan Rong said, "Please wait a moment, innkeeper." With that, he turned and left the inn.

The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, merely smiling slightly. In his view, Duan Rong wouldn't come back in; perhaps someone had stolen his purse on the way. After all, the martial world was a chaotic place.

Duan Rong walked to the entrance of the inn, and under the dim light, he looked down, bent down and picked up a few pebbles from the ground at the entrance. Then he turned around and went back into the inn.

When the shopkeeper saw Duan Rong come in again, his expression faltered slightly. Duan Rong walked over with a faint smile, gently patted the counter, and said with a smile, "As we just discussed, please make the arrangements."

The shopkeeper looked down and saw a few loose silver coins on the counter. Although they were small, they were of good quality. The shopkeeper immediately smiled broadly, weighed them on a small scale, and called to his assistant to prepare food for Duan Rong.

The shopkeeper weighed out the silver, recorded it in the ledger, and then personally led Duan Rong to a superior room on the second floor.

Duan Rong lingered at that inn for several days, thoroughly exploring Linzhang Prefecture before finally leaving...

A year has passed in the blink of an eye. Duan Rong has been traveling in the nearby prefectures and counties. Although he has not yet found the medium, his state of mind is becoming more and more peaceful. After all, Chu Qiushan has been investigating things for over a hundred years and still hasn't found the medium, so it's clear that this matter cannot be rushed.

First, you need to have a mortal heart, then slowly search for it.

Huangpi County in Linzhang Prefecture is a small county in the southeast of Linzhang. Duan Rong has been staying here for more than a month. In the past six months, he has traveled to various places, always pretending to be a fortune teller.

He took a tattered piece of cloth, embroidered it with the four large characters "Iron Mouth, Straightforward Judgment," casually propped it up with a bamboo pole, and made a bell. He walked around shaking it, and with his disheveled clothes and serene face, he really had a bit of an otherworldly air about him. Occasionally, his business was actually quite good.

Duan Rong sometimes strolled around, and sometimes he set up a stall on the street. Next to him was a poor, pedantic scholar who sold calligraphy and paintings and wrote letters for others. The two would sometimes chat about random, unrelated things. On this particular day, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly, so Duan Rong set up his stall again.

He walked slowly to the poor scholar's stall and pulled his bamboo pole down from the back wall of a house facing the street.

He spread out the tattered cloth embroidered with the inscription "Iron Mouth Cuts Straightforward," hung it on a bamboo pole, leaned the spread-out cloth against the earthen wall, moved a wooden stake next to it to sit down, spread out another tattered cloth embroidered with the Eight Trigrams in front of him, placed four stones at the corners, and a bell in the center. He then sat down and waited for customers to come to him.

Upon seeing his appearance, the poor scholar couldn't help but laugh and say, "Hey, old Jiang."

Duan Rong kept telling the scholar that his name was Jiang Qingyu, that he was from Xian Gu County in Yuanyang Prefecture, and that he had spent half his life wandering and had ended up here in poverty.

"You haven't been setting up your stall for several days? Have you been lying at home starving?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong glanced at him with drooping eyelids and said, "The past few days have been either windy or rainy, how have you managed to set up your stall?"

The poor, pedantic scholar laughed and said, "You stinking fortune teller, how come you act more like an old man than me?! You don't set up your stall when the wind blows, you don't set up your stall when it rains, do you just stay at home like a corpse all year round?"

Duan Rong laughed and said, "You set up your stall every day, but aren't you just a lousy calligrapher?"

The two had been neighbors for many days and were already familiar with each other. The scholar wasn't angry when he heard this, and just laughed and said, "I'm not as dashing as you!"

Duan Rong said, "You've been here these past few days. Has anything new or interesting happened in the market? Tell me about it."

"What's so interesting or new about this? If I knew how to talk about that stuff, I'd be a storyteller in a teahouse, not stuck here in the wind and sun." The scholar licked the tip of his brush, spat, and said, "However, a couple of days ago, a temple dedicated to the Five Gods was just completed in the southern part of the city. The county magistrate himself raised funds from wealthy families in the city to build it."

"Wutong Temple!?" Duan Rong raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Yes," the scholar replied casually.

As the saying goes, what is said without intention may be taken to heart by the listener. The scholar was unaware, but Duan Rong knew that the followers of the Filthy Blood Cult practiced the Filthy Blood Divine Art, and the deity they offered incense to was the Five Gods. Now, there were even temples dedicated to the Five Gods in the common people of Qingzhou.

"Is this temple perhaps related to the Bloodstained Cult?" Duan Rong couldn't help but think.

Thinking of this, he suddenly looked up at the scholar and asked, "I've just arrived here and don't know much. Is the Five Gods very effective in the prefectures and counties near Linzhang Prefecture?"

A hint of doubt flashed across the scholar's face, but he said, "Actually, I had never heard of the name of this Five Gods in the past few years. It was only in the last two or three years that I heard some rumors about it. It is said that if one worships this god, one can suddenly become extremely wealthy."

"Is that so?" A thoughtful look flashed in Duan Rong's eyes. The more he listened to the scholar's words, the stranger the matter seemed. "Could it really be the work of the evil sorcerers of the Filthy Blood Sect?"

Duan Rong originally came out to travel the world and experience things to temper his mind, but if there were really traces of the Filthy Blood Cult, he would not hesitate to send a secret letter to the sect to wipe out the den of these evil people who were causing trouble.

He immediately stood up, rolled up the rag, placed the bamboo pole on the wall of the backyard of the house behind him, and prepared to go to the newly built Wutong Temple to see what was going on.

Seeing that Duan Rong had just set up his stall and was already packing it up again, the scholar couldn't help but exclaim, "Old Jiang, you're packing up again?! You've already come all this way, you could at least sit for a day and chat with me."

Duan Rong said, "Business is always in the air. I'm going to go and see the newly completed Wutong Temple."

The scholar watched Duan Rong's retreating figure, clicking his tongue and shaking his head, thinking to himself, "This guy is so shameless, I think he'll starve to death sooner or later."

Huangpi County is a small county, and the streets of the southern city are not large. Duan Rong took a stroll around and asked around briefly before finding the newly built Wutong Temple.

The temple wasn't very big, and from a distance it looked rather shabby. As you got closer, you could see firecracker debris on the ground near the temple gate, confirming that, as the scholar had said, the temple had only recently been built.

Duan Rong stepped into the temple and saw a five-headed stone demon with no clothes and a ferocious face standing in the center of the main hall. Offerings of fruit were placed on the altar, and incense and candles were burning.

Inside the temple, there was no one else, except for a middle-aged man dressed as a Taoist priest sitting at the entrance. There was a divination stick container on the table in front of him. The man sat there lazily with his eyelids drooping. When Duan Rong walked in, he acted as if he didn't see him.

Duan Rong stood there, and with a thought, he suddenly released his divine sense, carefully examining the inside and outside of the temple. After searching without finding anything, Duan Rong turned and left the temple.

But he didn't leave. He decided to stay and investigate further, at least to see how popular the Wutong Temple was and whether the local folk beliefs were strong. He suspected that the establishment of the Wutong Temple was another covert means of proselytizing by the Filthy Blood Cult.

This would give the demon a basis for belief among the people, making it easier for them to promote the Bloodstained Divine Art.

Duan Rong walked to a spot not far from the street outside the Wutong Temple, set up a stall right in front of a tree, and hung the tattered cloth with the iron-tipped blade on the tree branch.

Duan Rong set up a stall there for two consecutive days, only to find that the Wutong Temple was deserted, with almost no one going in to worship.

It was clear that this demon god had no religious basis among the local people, but Duan Rong remained vigilant. He remembered the scholar's words: there were rumors among the people that this demon god could suddenly make people extremely wealthy.

This was clearly a huge temptation, and the rumor would grow like a seed in people's hearts. Duan Rong felt that this was a rumor deliberately spread by the Filthy Blood Cult.

The completion of this Five Paths Temple, along with the rumor that it could suddenly make people extremely wealthy, may well be a new method of proselytizing that the Blood Cult has just begun to develop.

Duan Rong recalled the scholar's words, saying that the temple was built by the county magistrate who raised funds from the gentry and wealthy families.

"This county magistrate..."

Duan Rong was already suspicious of the county magistrate of Huangpi County; this person might be related to the Filthy Blood Cult.

He decided to investigate the area near the county government office. With his current powerful divine sense, the range he could cover was vastly different from before. More importantly, after mastering the twenty-second level of the Womb Treasury Sutra, if he wanted to secretly monitor someone, even a powerful expert at the Cavern Realm would find it difficult to detect him.

It was afternoon, and the streets were nearly deserted. Duan Rong had decided against setting up his stall there and would instead go to a teahouse near the county government office for tea.

He got up, rolled up the rag, and was about to leave when he turned his head and glanced at the Wutong Temple again. From this position, he could just see the lower half of the stone sculpture.

Duan Rong frowned slightly. Before leaving, he stepped into the Wutong Temple again. It was the afternoon when people were feeling drowsy, and the Taoist priest guarding the door was dozing off on the table.

Duan Rong glanced at him, stepped over the threshold, and walked to the stone sculpture of the Five Gods. He suddenly placed his right hand on the stone sculpture of the demon god and thought to himself, "Read the spirit of the artifact." (End of this chapter)