Chapter 171: Wisdom Thought as Food

The next day, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Duan Rong climbed out of bed and continued his Standing Stake in the courtyard.

The essence of cultivation lies in daily diligence; one must never slacken!

Duan Rong stood until the sky was fully bright before ending his practice, a mouthful of white Qi, as if solidified, spraying out from his mouth and dissipating in the morning breeze.

The season was no longer the biting cold of early spring, but late May, with the start of summer just around the corner.

In such weather, for Duan Rong to still be able to exhale white Qi from his mouth, one could see just how surging his Qi and blood were within his body; the temperature of that white Qi held between his lungs and tongue was far higher than his body temperature...

His body, with his Internal Breath circulating, was like an internal combustion furnace, and his lungs were like a boiler filled with water vapor, absorbing the heat from the furnace.

Duan Rong wiped away his sweat and went to the large water vat by the kitchen door to wash his face.

He looked up at the clear, bright sky, his heart stirred; in the time since he had returned from the escort mission, he had not yet gone to see Xiao Lao.

Although he had joined the Escort Team and was no longer an Apprentice, according to the system, he was no longer under the jurisdiction of Xiao Zongting, the Chief Instructor.

But Xiao Zongting was his teacher who had imparted his skills, and Xiao Yu was his master in the Escort Team; it was only right to visit often to fulfill the requirements of etiquette.

It was just the time for the canteen to serve meals, but Duan Rong did not go to the Middle Courtyard canteen to eat; he prepared to eat on the street, and after eating, he would go to a shop on West Street to buy some fine tea leaves to give to Xiao Zongting.

Duan Rong sat at a street stall, slurping a mouthful of oily beef soup and washing down the chewed-up flatbread in his mouth.

But halfway through swallowing the soup and bread, his brows suddenly furrowed, and he looked toward the steamed bun shop across the street with flickering eyes.

Just a moment ago, five or six people had crowded the entrance of the bun shop; he saw one person, after receiving the buns wrapped in dried lotus leaves and leaving, reach their hand into someone else's pocket with practiced skill, then quickly walk away in a flash...

Duan Rong couldn't help but look at the person a few more times; the person looked decent enough, but he hadn't expected them to be a pickpocket.

Duan Rong watched the person disappear into the mouth of a small alley, and suddenly his thoughts churned; he thought of something, or rather, a phenomenon.

He often ate at this beef soup stall and had seen the bustling crowds on this street countless times, but he had never noticed any pickpockets before.

Was this time just a coincidence?

Duan Rong immediately realized it was not. It wasn't that there were no pickpockets on the street before; it was just that he couldn't see them.

As for himself, he was wearing the uniform of the Yuanshun Escort Agency and had an Ox-Tail Saber tied at his waist, so naturally, no one who knew the ropes would dare to touch him!

That pickpocket just now had only raised their hand as they were leaving; if it were the Duan Rong of the past, he wouldn't have been able to tell they were a pickpocket at all.

But ever since Duan Rong devoured the Spirit Tool of Fang Jingbao's Jade Thumb Ring, he possessed the strange art of Proficiency-level Pickpocketing, so the moment that pickpocket raised their hand, Duan Rong saw through it at a glance.

It was not that the world had changed, but that the person looking at the world had changed!

The same world, in the eyes of people at different realms, will manifest different appearances.

The world in everyone's eyes is different; the chasm of realms can never be broken by language.

Just like the fly that crashes into the glass again and again—you can never tell the fly that it is glass!

Because in the fly's world, glass does not exist.

It is fundamentally incapable of understanding such an existence.

Just as in the eyes of the former Duan Rong, there were no pickpockets on this street at all, but to the current Duan Rong, he could see who was a pickpocket at a glance.

The fly cannot see the glass, and the former Duan Rong could not see the pickpockets. The world in your eyes is forever just a limited projection of the biases in your brain.

People are slaves to their own perceptions.

As Duan Rong thought of this, unexpectedly, within his Spirit Sea, the two Star Bodies—one crimson and one pearly white—suddenly trembled, and ripples of space invisible to the naked eye echoed within Duan Rong's Spirit Sea...

Duan Rong felt it in his heart, his eyes shocked. "This is..."

From the two Star Bodies, one red and one white, he sensed a touch of pleasure; it was a feeling of pleasure after a meal.

The Star Bodies in his Spirit Sea could actually use Wisdom Thought as food; they could rely on devouring Wisdom Thought to gain growth outside of his cultivation techniques.

Duan Rong realized this, his heart filled with shock. "Can it really be like this? The techniques didn't write about this!"

However, Duan Rong immediately returned his gaze to normal; even so, those things just now were only his accidental realization. If he were to think he could rely on such things obtained by chance to grow his Mental Power long-term, wouldn't that be nothing but wild, delusional thinking?

"Using Wisdom Thought as food, that's a really picky appetite!" Duan Rong muttered in his heart, then drank the last of the beef soup in the bowl, wiped his mouth, and rose to leave the stall.

Duan Rong went to the tea shop on West Street, weighed out some of this year's new pre-rain tea, and then went to the pastry shop to buy some trendy snacks and preserved fruits.

After buying the items, Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu to continue his Standing Stake until, judging by the position of the sun, it was almost the hour of Si, at which point he ended his practice, wiped off his sweat, and carried the purchased items toward Xiao Zongting's courtyard.

As soon as Duan Rong arrived at Xiao Zongting's courtyard, he smelled the fragrance of steamed buns; he smiled and stepped toward the kitchen door, but looking inside, there was no one in the kitchen, only steam rising from the steamer on the stove and a fire burning in the stove hearth, though the thick piece of firewood in the hearth was clearly about to burn out, and the flames were no longer large.

Duan Rong glanced at the steamer; although he was quite greedy for the taste of the buns made by Zhu Xiaoqi, the host was not there, and he could not bring himself to steal a bite.

Xiao Zongting sat alone at the Stone Table in the Back Courtyard, his face gloomy, as if he were thinking about something; when Duan Rong walked in carrying the items, he only moved his eyelids and didn't even look at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Xiao Lao, this is this year's new pre-rain tea from the tea shop, and some fruits for you to have with your tea."

Duan Rong said with a smile, handing the items he was carrying toward Xiao Zongting, but Xiao Zongting kept his face dark and did not look up at him at all.

Duan Rong felt a bit awkward, placed the items on the Stone Table next to Xiao Zongting, and then began to chat about some recent events, also asking after Xiao Zongting a few times, but Xiao Zongting never responded to his conversational openings.

Duan Rong already felt vaguely that something was wrong in his heart; when he first came in, he thought Xiao Zongting might have something on his mind and was in a bad mood, but now it seemed he was just giving him the cold shoulder.

What on earth did I do to offend this stubborn old man?

Duan Rong's thoughts turned, sorting through recent events; he was certain that when the matter with Ruan Jing happened, Xiao Lao's attitude toward him was fine, but it seemed that on the day of the promotion assessment, Xiao Zongting's demeanor was already a bit cold, but Xiao Zongting was usually silent and reticent, so Duan Rong hadn't paid much attention at the time.

But what could it be? Between Ruan Jinghe and the promotion assessment, he didn't seem to have done anything out of line, did he? He just went to Wild Boar Mountain once.

Duan Rong pondered for a while, but couldn't come up with any reason, so he smiled at Xiao Zongting and said, "Miss Yu and Xiao Qi don't seem to be here; did they go out?"

Duan Rong had originally wanted to continue talking to Xiao Zongting to probe for information, to see how he had offended Xiao Lao, and to apologize or make amends as needed. Having lived two lifetimes, he had no psychological barriers in this regard.

But unexpectedly, as soon as Duan Rong said this, Xiao Zongting suddenly stood up, stared at Duan Rong with a dark face, and said angrily, "Whether she went out or not, what business is it of yours?"

After Xiao Zongting finished speaking, he actually flicked his sleeves and left, limping into the main room.

Duan Rong was stunned by Xiao Zongting's inexplicable anger.

He looked at Xiao Zongting's back, his face full of frustration. But he couldn't follow him in; Xiao Zongting was clearly in a fit of rage, and if he followed him now, wouldn't that be adding fuel to the fire?

Duan Rong stood there, raised his hand to rub his nose, and felt very puzzled in his heart. "Everything must have a reason..."

(End of chapter)