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

Since he couldn't figure out why for the time being, Duan Rong decided to try again.

Fortunately, deep within the Miao village's jungle, there are quite a few statues of deities that have been worshipped for thousands of years. Even if they were to dissipate again, it wouldn't be a major problem.

Duan Rong's figure suddenly vanished like a ghost. Ayi, holding the half-skinned venomous snake, looked around anxiously, but the jungle was vast, and there was no way to find Duan Rong.

Deep in the jungle, wisps of smoke rose from the dense trees in front of a cliff. Not far from the cliff and the smoke was a Miao village.

Rows of wooden houses are built on the lush branches of trees, and these houses are connected to form a village.

At this moment, there were dozens of strangely dressed figures, each with a tuft of oddly dried grass in their mouths, sparks flickering at the tips of the grass, wisps of blue smoke rising from them.

These people, with that kind of dry grass in their mouths, were performing a strange dance in front of the cliff...

On the cliff face was a statue of a god, almost naked, with a free and unrestrained posture and a joyful expression on his face.

This is a deity in the Miao village called Nuopo. At this moment, these Miao people are clearly worshipping their deity in their unique way.

Just then, suddenly, many tiny points of light, like fireflies, flashed out from among the Miao people. Each point of light disappeared into the brows of the Miao people beside them as soon as it appeared.

The Miao people who were performing their unrestrained and bizarre dance were instantly petrified, frozen in place in various poses. For a moment, the scene was indescribably eerie.

At the same time, a figure, like a ghost, suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of the statue on the cliff.

Duan Rong glanced at the statue, then gently placed his palm on it, thinking to himself, "Read the spirit."

Artifact: Stone statue of Nuopo deity
Spirit Rank: Rank 20
Absorption requirements: Host's mental strength is at level 20 (met)

Absorption effect: A thousand years of incense offerings (initial understanding of the complex laws of time).
Duan Rong stared at the data panel before him, a cold glint in his eyes, and thought to himself, "Devour!"

Immediately, the data panel that had been flashing with a faint light vanished as if carried away by the wind, disintegrating into specks of faint light and disappearing without a trace.

The moment the data panel vanished, Duan Rong's figure also disappeared. The next moment, the Miao people, who had been frozen in place, suddenly awoke.

They looked at each other, paused for a moment, then one of them jumped up again, and the others followed suit...

At this moment, Duan Rong's figure reappeared on the branches that had previously disappeared.

Ayi's anxious expression calmed slightly; she knew Duan Rong had come and gone without a trace. Holding a half-peeled, bloody snake meat, Ayi mumbled something to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong ignored her and simply sat down cross-legged on the spot.

Ayi sighed in disappointment, but since Duan Rong was back, she was less worried and started skinning the snake again.

After skinning and processing the snake, Ayi started a fire to roast the snake meat, which sizzled and dripped oil.

After roasting the snake meat, she took it down from the fire and wrapped it in clean leaves. Then, carrying the snake meat, she slowly walked to a spot not far from where Duan Rong was sitting cross-legged.

Ayi suddenly knelt down, raising the wrapped snake meat high above her head as if offering it as a sacrifice to Duan Rong.

She held up the offerings, muttering incantations. After a while, she placed the snake meat there, kowtowed three times to Duan Rong, and then slowly got up and sat down at the other end of the branch.

Ayi had just performed a ritual to sacrifice to the gods, which her mother had taught her. She was worshipping Duan Rong as a deity.

She would leave the food with Duan Rong for a while before eating it herself. Several times, Duan Rong happened to open his eyes at that time and had eaten the food. At that moment, Ayi would be very happy.

But not this time, because Duan Rong had only just sat down cross-legged.

Seeing that it was almost time, Ayi took the snake meat back, sat on the thick branch, and ate while looking at Duan Rong with her blinking eyes...

When Duan Rong opened his eyes again, the jungle was already pitch black.

Not far away, Ayi lay on a branch, tying her waist to the branch with a vine so she wouldn't fall if she turned over.

Duan Rong sighed. Several hours had passed, and the spirit of the divine statue that had absorbed the incense of a thousand years had completely dissipated, without a trace of its power entering his cave.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he thought to himself: It seems that the spirit of the statue, nurtured by a thousand years of incense offerings, is no longer useful. Then I'll have to try the two-thousand-year-old one.

In the pitch-black night, his figure disappeared once again.

However, not long after, he returned to the branch and sat down cross-legged in his original spot.

Duan Rong sat down for more than ten days before opening his eyes again. In the morning light, his gaze was cold and profound.

Previously, it would take him a month and a half to digest and absorb the spirit of the deity that had been worshipped for two thousand years, but he only needed a little over ten days to digest and absorb the spirit of this two-thousand-year-old artifact. Moreover, some strange things happened during this process. Half of the power of law in the spirit of the two-thousand-year-old artifact dissipated during the digestion and absorption, while the other half entered Duan Rong's cave of consciousness.

It was in this subtle change of half dissipating and half being absorbed that Duan Rong finally understood the reason.

Because at the very beginning, he had just condensed his Cave of Enlightenment, and he had not even found a medium for comprehension. Although there were seventy-nine laws of power within his Cave of Enlightenment, each law of power was in its original state.

At this time, when he comes to devour and absorb the power of the laws, as long as it is appropriate, it will not dissipate.

However, with the absorption and cultivation over the past six months, the power of laws within his psychic realm has been gradually deepening. Just over ten days ago, the complex power of laws comprehended by the statue of the deity, which had been worshipped for a thousand years, had already fallen below the level of the power of laws within his psychic realm.

It's like water flowing downhill; without external force, water cannot flow backward.

In other words, under normal circumstances, the power of the laws of the thousand-year-old incense offerings could no longer enter his psychic cave, and even two years ago, only a portion of the power of the laws of the incense offerings could enter.

This is because the power of the laws within his own inner vision is growing.

To give an even more extreme example, if he is about to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, and the power of the laws within his Cave of Clarity has grown to a certain limit, can he still continue to absorb the power of the laws?
That's definitely impossible.

It's like a depression that was originally dry. The spirits of those statues and artifacts are like lakes near the depression, and the devouring is like digging a channel to divert water.

Initially, the depression was dry. But once the water was absorbed, that is, by digging a channel, the water from those lakes could flow into the depression.

However, as the water level in the depression rises, some lakes with insufficient water levels can no longer flow through it. Only by finding lakes with higher water levels can the depression continue to be nourished.

After understanding the principle, Duan Rong's doubts disappeared.

This was actually bound to happen. The information in the data panel already hinted that the spirit of the artifact, which had been burning incense for a thousand years, had only just begun to comprehend the complex and varied laws of time.

The fact that he had only a preliminary understanding already indicated that the depth of the power of laws contained within the artifact spirit was very limited. In the days that followed, Duan Rong began to devour the artifact spirits that had been burning incense for two thousand years. As time went on, the time it took him to consume these artifact spirits became shorter and shorter.

From the initial ten days or so, to about ten days, and then to eight or nine days...

Four months later, Duan Rong was shocked to discover that the power of the laws of the spirit of the incense offerings from two years ago could no longer enter his cavern.

Although this indicates that the power of the laws within his mind-body is constantly deepening, at the same time, the level of the divine statues he needs to devour is also constantly rising.

With his current level of spiritual power, he can at most devour the spirit of a three-thousand-year-old incense burner; he cannot devour spirits of four thousand years.

Duan Rong never expected that even after he completed the entire Womb Treasury Sutra, his spiritual power would still be blocked at the Devouring God Statue.

At the current rate, he absolutely cannot reach the Nascent Soul realm by simply absorbing the spirit of a weapon that has been burning incense for three thousand years.

Therefore, he only has two paths before him. One is to continue searching for a medium for enlightenment. The other is to find a way to further improve his mental strength level.

No matter which path you choose, it won't be easy!
The first path, let alone the immense difficulty of finding the medium—Chu Qiushan has searched for over a hundred years and still hasn't found it! And even if he did find it, how could he break through the barrier? Chu Wushang has cultivated and comprehended for two hundred years, yet he's still trapped in a state of deep sorrow!

This road is far from easy!
The second path is even more elusive! He has already completed the cultivation of the Womb Treasury Sutra, so how could he possibly create his own cultivation method?

"Forget it, let's first devour the spirit of the three-thousand-year-old divine statue and see how far we can advance."

Duan Rong immediately put aside his distracting thoughts and disappeared from the branches once again.

And so, another six months passed.

That day, on that very branch, Ayi suddenly stared anxiously at Duan Rong, for Duan Rong was frowning, and cold sweat was seeping from his forehead. This was completely different from Duan Rong's usual calm and gentle demeanor.

"Something must have gone wrong!" Ayi bit her lip, but she didn't dare to go over and disturb Duan Rong. Over the past year, Duan Rong had spent most of his time sitting cross-legged, motionless. Although Ayi didn't understand, she gradually realized that Duan Rong was cultivating.

At this moment, she did not know what problem Duan Rong had encountered. Although she was anxious, she did not dare to go over and disturb him. She could only kneel there, put her hands together, and keep kowtowing to pray to the Nuopo Goddess, asking the deity to protect Duan Rong.

At this moment, the inner dantian of Duan Rong was churning violently. The deep inner dantian, like a heart, rhythmically expanded and contracted, constantly circulating...

Between this expansion and contraction, the surging black light on the periphery of the cave gradually receded into the cave's interior.

As the surging black light completely receded into the cave, it disappeared.

Duan Rong finally let out a long sigh of relief, and his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed. At this moment, the Dongming Cave in his dantian, which had been almost completely filled, shrank to about the size of a fist.

Moreover, the originally surging black light was also drawn back into the cave.

At this moment, the turbulent Cave of Clarity finally entered a stable state once again. This new stable state is the mid-stage of the Cave of Clarity realm.

After more than a year of arduous cultivation in the Miao village jungle, devouring divine statues, Duan Rong finally achieved the mid-stage of the Cave of Clarity Realm.

After achieving the mid-stage of the Cave of Clarity Realm, Duan Rong did not get up, because he had not yet fully digested the spirit of the divine statue that he had absorbed from the incense of three thousand years. After his Cave of Clarity Realm stabilized, he continued to sit there cross-legged and began to digest and absorb the spirit of the divine statue.

However, the power of the laws contained within the artifact spirit began to dissipate, and within about an hour, it had completely vanished.

After he reached the mid-stage of the Cave of Clarity Realm, even the power of laws contained within the spirit of the divine statue that had been worshipped for three thousand years could not enter his Cave of Clarity.

Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes. He raised his head and looked at the sky through the gaps in the lush foliage. His gaze fell into emptiness, and he couldn't help but sigh, "The Great Dao is hard to find, how can it be so vast and boundless?!"

He sighed deeply, then glanced out of the corner of his eye at another branch not far away, where he saw Ayi kneeling and praying, bowing and pressing her palms together.

Ayi's fair forehead was already stained with blood, but she continued to pray.

Duan Rong's heart stirred, and the next moment he appeared in front of Ayi. Ayi was about to kowtow, but Duan Rong suddenly supported her.

She raised her head and looked at Duan Rong, who was leaning over her. For a moment, Ayi's eyes sparkled like stars.

Duan Rong helped her up, and Ayi suddenly smiled and reached out to pinch off a withered leaf from Duan Rong's head.

Duan Rong looked at Ayi's youthful smiling face and the blood slowly trickling down her forehead, and his heart stirred.

In fact, the moment he sighed, he had already decided to leave the Miao village jungle.

At this point, the spirit of the statue, which had been blessed with incense for three thousand years, could no longer deepen its power of law, and it could not devour the spirit of the statue, which had been blessed with incense for four thousand years.

There was no point in him staying any longer in this Miao village jungle.

But what about Ayi?

She had grown up in this Miao village forest since she was a child, and Duan Rong originally did not intend to take her away. But looking at the wound on Ayi's forehead and her innocent smile, Duan Rong couldn't bear it.

In this vast jungle, Ayi has lost her parents, and she can no longer return to the Miao village where she grew up. Is she truly willing to wander alone in this desolate jungle?

As Duan Rong thought of this, a power of law suddenly enveloped Ayi, transforming into a black ray that shot into the sky.

The Miao villages are surrounded by dense forests, stretching for hundreds of miles.

But given Duan Rong's speed, he quickly landed on a high mountain on the outskirts of the jungle.

Once past this high mountain, we are already in the territory of Hongdu Prefecture.

This mountain peak acts as a dividing line. The north side of the mountain is different from the Miao village jungle in terms of both tree height and vegetation density. This is not only due to changes in climate but also in geology.

Although Duan Rong decided to take Ayi with him, he ultimately decided to consult Ayi's opinion.

He wrapped Ayi up and landed on a large rock on the mountaintop. He pointed to himself, then to the northern sky, then to Ayi, and then to the endless Miao village forest.

Ayi pursed her lips; she understood. Duan Rong meant he was going to leave.

Her eyes darted around, gazing at the lush green Miao village forest for a while before she suddenly reached out and grabbed Duan Rong's sleeve.

Duan Rong glanced at Ayi, who was clutching the hem of his clothes with her head down, then once again used the power of the law to wrap Ayi up, transforming her into a black ray of light that shot towards the distant northern sky... (End of this chapter)