Chapter 341: Obsession and Desire

Duan Rong withdrew from his Spirit Sea.

He opened his eyes inside the dark cave.

Duan Rong stood up; even in the darkness, he was clear on the positions of the four divine statues around him.

Suddenly, he channeled True Qi into his palms, shattered the four stone statues, and then patiently ground the broken stone pieces into powder, one by one.

The moment all four divine statues had been ground into stone dust, he smiled wearily in the darkness.

All traces had been eliminated.

Even if someone were to trace back from Pan Yong's line or from Shang Xiangyu's end, they would not find any traces pointing to him.

Furthermore, he was merely a Registered Disciple who had only entered the sect for a little over a month; who would suspect him?

Duan Rong walked out of the cave; his steps were somewhat unsteady, and his entire body and mind were exhausted.

For the past few days, his heartstrings had been taut, and with each layer of the Womb Treasury Sutra he achieved daily, the exhaustion of his Divine Soul grew heavier as he progressed.

Especially tonight with the eleventh layer, he had almost gritted his teeth to endure through the final half-hour.

Duan Rong struggled to walk back to his own cave; the moment he walked into the depths of the cave and collapsed onto the stone bed, he fell into a dead sleep.

Duan Rong slept for a full day and night.

When he walked out of the cave, it was already the Si hour of the next day.

He took a wooden basin and a black pottery jar to the mountain spring by the cliff to wash his face, then brought back a jar of clear water.

Duan Rong returned to the cave, poured himself a Bamboo Tube of clear water, and then sat at the entrance of his cave holding the Bamboo Tube.

While drinking the clear water, he looked at the vast, white mist in the valley before him.

At this moment, there was no ease or joy on Duan Rong's face; instead, it was cold and chilling, and his clear eyes flashed with a ruthless light.

He had slept for a long time, had many dreams, and recalled many things.

He remembered the first time he killed someone, in a narrow alley on Antique Street in Xiangu County. That time, the look in those people's eyes before they died had almost terrified him.

Then came the second time; by then, he was no longer afraid, just disgusted.

Then the third time, the fourth time...

By the time he killed Chen Hu and Pan Yong, he could no longer remember how many times he had killed.

And his heart had long since become as cold as iron and stone, without a single ripple!

Life is as cheap as grass; everyone's life is merely a stepping stone!

But, is that really the case?

He vaguely remembered that in his past life, when he was on Blue Star, although he was a corporate slave exhausted by exploitation, he would occasionally pull his car over when he saw injured stray cats or dogs on the street to take the little creatures to a pet hospital for treatment.

But now, he was a person with hands stained with blood!

His heart was already as cold and sharp as the Minghong Saber at his waist.

This is a world of slaughter. And he had already become a person of slaughter.

Just like in his past life, stepping out of school and struggling in society, becoming worldly, hypocritical, full of lies, and eventually even deceiving himself.

People eventually become the people they despise. No matter where, it is the same.

At this very moment, Duan Rong completely accepted his own coldness and slaughter, just as in his past life, at some moment, he had completely accepted his own worldliness and hypocrisy.

Duan Rong suddenly raised his cold eyes, gazing at the endless mountain peaks appearing and disappearing amidst the rolling white mist in the distance. He remembered a line of poetry from a man named Mu Dan that he had read in his past life:

"Although life is weary, I must pursue. The forest of concepts entangles me, and the light of good and evil flickers in my heart."

Then, in this world, what was his pursuit? To pursue a life of affluence like in his past life?

No, this world is no longer his past life. And he is no longer the Duan Rong of his past life.

Just then, a crane's cry came from the valley ahead.

At this moment, coldness and fervor intertwined in Duan Rong's eyes. His true heart was clear at this instant: he wanted to see what the scenery at the highest point of this world looked like.

He had no chance in his past life, but in this life, perhaps he could!

If the road to the highest point was paved with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, then he would kill his way there!

He despised slaughter, but to see that scenery at the highest point, he could endure this disgust!

This was his obsession! And also his desire!

With his true heart clear, Duan Rong placed the empty Bamboo Tube at the cave entrance, stood up, and walked into the dense forest.

He was preparing to practice in the dense forest.

In the past, on this mountain, he had always practiced in the depths of the cave because the crisis and pressure given to him by Shang Xiangyu and Pan Yong made him feel that the darkness in the depths of the cave could provide him with a sense of security.

Now, his crisis had been completely resolved.

He could practice in the bright, sunlit dense forest.

Although Duan Rong had progressed rapidly, achieving the fifth through eleventh layers of the Womb Treasury Sutra in just a few days.

However, he had not yet practiced the Soul Technique that came with achieving the Womb Treasury Sutra.

At this moment, he prepared to study the newly appeared Soul Technique.

First was the Soul Piercing Needle; from only being able to condense one, he could now condense three and store them in his Divine Sense Space.

Duan Rong had seen the power of the Soul Piercing Needle with his own eyes.

Three Soul Piercing Needles could likely surpass any hidden weapon in the world.

Soul attacks are formless and intangible, mysterious and unpredictable; they are absolutely not comparable to tangible hidden weapons.

Therefore, Duan Rong prepared to first condense the three Soul Piercing Needles.

Besides the Soul Piercing Needle, there was another new Soul Technique.

This technique was named Firefly, which was a type of Divine Soul Illusion.

The practice of this technique was quite complex; the caster needed to condense an illusion and use the illusion to attack the target's Divine Sense. The target of the attack would fall into the illusion and become lost within it.

This technique was also divided into tiers; Duan Rong had achieved the eleventh layer of the Womb Treasury Sutra, so he could only practice the initial and Second Tier of Firefly.

After Duan Rong finished condensing the Soul Piercing Needle, he began to study the elementary-level Illusory Bewilderment.

Duan Rong practiced in the dense forest until late at night before returning to the cave to sleep; the next morning, he went to see Xia Honghua at the Medicine Pavilion.

Duan Rong had not appeared for two days, and Xia Honghua had been worried he would repeat his old tricks and drag it out for another ten days or so; yet, unexpectedly, Duan Rong came over early this morning, and suddenly Xia Honghua greeted him warmly.

Duan Rong only spent two hours auditing the accounts at Xia Honghua's place before returning to the mountain peak belonging to Shang Xiangyu.

He first studied the elementary-level Illusory Bewilderment in the dense forest for a while.

The complexity of practicing this technique far exceeded Duan Rong's imagination.

Just condensing the illusion alone gave Duan Rong a massive headache.

And as for how to use the illusion to attack the Divine Sense, Duan Rong frowned deeply as he pondered the vague text in the scripture, unable to grasp its mysteries.

Since this technique was so difficult to practice, Duan Rong was not in a hurry; he would just take it slow. He felt that the reason he could not understand the part about using the illusion to attack the Divine Sense was because he had not yet condensed an illusion and did not understand the characteristics of the illusion he would condense.

As long as he first solved the problem of condensing the illusion, perhaps the subsequent problems would be easily resolved.

Every day, Duan Rong only used two hours to study the elementary-level Illusory Bewilderment, while all the remaining time was used to refine Zhengyang Pills and cultivate True Qi.

He estimated that six bottles of Zhengyang Pills would be enough for him to achieve the True Qi Realm First Stage, and he wanted to achieve the True Qi Realm First Stage in the fastest time possible.

Because, for a Martial Artist, the martial arts realm is the foundation, and all other things are merely auxiliary means.

One must not overly pursue clever tricks and neglect the fundamentals!

From then on, apart from going to Xia Honghua's place to audit accounts for two hours every day, Duan Rong practiced bitterly in the mountains every day.

This morning, he had just gotten out of bed and was carrying a wooden basin out of the cave to the mountain spring to wash up.

Halfway there, he saw a figure in the distance walking over from the direction of the cableway.

Duan Rong guessed who it was immediately, so he stood there and waited for a while.

Before long, the figure walked closer; it was indeed the worried-looking Qin Laotou.

Duan Rong calculated the time; if one counted from the day Pan Yong left the mountain on the nineteenth of the fifth month, fifteen or sixteen days had already passed. Pan Yong still hadn't gone to Qin Laotou to report back from his leave, so it was no wonder this old man was anxious and agitated!

Qin Laotou coughed for a while before looking at Duan Rong and saying, "Has Pan Yong returned yet?"

Duan Rong yawned, acting as if nothing was the matter, and said, "I don't know. I haven't seen a shadow of him."

Qin Laotou sighed and said, "What is that kid doing? We agreed on ten days."

With Shang Xiangyu away, he had given Pan Yong the approval slip, which was against the rules. If that kid caused any trouble, he would also be held jointly responsible.

Qin Laotou thought for a moment and asked, "When Pan Yong left, did he give you any instructions?"

Duan Rong said with a lazy look in his eyes, "He just gave me the key to Shang's cabinet. Then he told me to keep a close watch on the place. He didn't say anything else."

"Did he say where he was going? Or when he would be back?" Qin Laotou asked.

Duan Rong said, "He said he was going to Shenyun Prefecture. He didn't say when he would be back."

"Oh..." Qin Laotou nodded thoughtfully. "If he comes back, tell him to find me immediately to report back from his leave."

Duan Rong nodded in agreement.

After Qin Laotou finished giving his instructions, he turned and walked away while coughing.

Watching Qin Laotou walk away with a hunched back, Duan Rong's lazy eyes instantly turned sharp.

If his guess was correct, if Pan Yong did not show up in a few days, Qin Laotou would definitely report this matter to the Sect, and at that time, the people in charge of investigating this matter would begin their work.

Duan Rong was almost certain that the investigators would not find any clues.

Pan Yong had already disappeared from this world, and no one knew how he had disappeared.

All traces and clues had been disposed of by Duan Rong.

Duan Rong washed up at the mountain spring as usual, then went to Xia Honghua's place to audit the accounts.

This day, Duan Rong sat cross-legged on a large blue rock in the dense forest, refining Zhengyang Pills and cultivating True Qi.

His mind was immersed in his dantian and meridians when he suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound in the air.

Duan Rong's heart jumped; thinking someone was ambushing him, he immediately moved his body and jumped off the large blue rock.

The moment he jumped away, he saw a green wild fruit smash into the spot where he had been sitting.

Immediately after, a strange "caw-caw" cry came from the tree canopy not far away.

Duan Rong frowned and looked toward the tree canopy, only to see the baboon he had encountered at the Lower Courtyard standing on a thick branch, glaring at him.

That day, when they entered the mountains, he had snatched Xiao Yu's bundle back from this baboon's hands; clearly, this baboon was holding a grudge.

Somehow, it had wandered here today, and seeing Duan Rong meditating on the blue rock, it immediately recognized the guy who had teased it at the Lower Courtyard, so it picked a green, hard wild fruit and threw it at Duan Rong.

Seeing Duan Rong dodge the wild fruit it threw with a flash, the baboon was so angry it shrieked, and threw another green wild fruit at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong raised his hand, and his True Qi surged, shattering the incoming green wild fruit into a cloud of green mist.

The baboon froze, a flash of fear crossing its face, then its pitch-black eyes rolled, and it grabbed a branch and swung away.

Watching the baboon disappear into the dense forest, Duan Rong couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. "This beast!?"

This day, just after returning from Xia Honghua's place, Duan Rong was preparing to go into the cave to drink some water to moisten his throat; just as he reached a spot not far from his cave, he saw a figure sitting cross-legged with eyes closed at the entrance of his cave, appearing to be cultivating.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered; he had already recognized the person as Yang Yi from the Ruling Sect Justice Division.

The last time Shang Xiangyu's furnace exploded twice, it was this person who came to question him.

Since Yang Yi had come, it seemed that Qin Laotou had already reported the matter of Pan Yong to the Sect.

Duan Rong walked to a spot not far from the cave and cupped his hands, saying, "Manager Yang!"

Hearing this, Yang Yi let out a long breath and smiled, "Little Friend Duan, it was a bit impolite of me to block your door to cultivate."

Duan Rong said, "Not at all. Manager Yang, you wouldn't visit the temple without a reason. Come, let's talk inside."

Yang Yi's eyes moved, and he followed Duan Rong into the cave.

Duan Rong lit the Candle Lamp, poured a cup of clear water for Yang Yi, and then handed a plate of wild fruits to Yang Yi, saying, "Picked in the mountains, Manager Yang, have a taste."

Yang Yi smiled and took the fruit from the very top.

Before Yang Yi could speak, Duan Rong asked bluntly, "Is there still no news of Senior Brother Pan Yong?"

Yang Yi was stunned for a moment and said, "Not yet. When he left, did he say anything to you?"

Yang Yi's gaze toward Duan Rong was as sharp as a knife.

Duan Rong's expression remained normal as he repeated the same story he had told Qin Laotou.

In fact, before coming, Yang Yi had already conducted a preliminary investigation; he had originally thought that Pan Yong must have been held up by something outside.

But after he went to investigate the exchange records of the Medicine Pavilion, he realized that Pan Yong had actually used Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk to exchange for six types of rare medicinal ingredients, and he had also used his own Star Disk to exchange for six bottles of Zhengyang Pill.

This was strange!

Shang Xiangyu was not in the Sect at all, yet Pan Yong had dared to use Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk to exchange for six types of rare medicinal ingredients at the Medicine Pavilion.

Moreover, those six types of medicinal ingredients were all related to the Womb Treasury Sutra!

What on earth was he trying to do by exchanging for these medicinal ingredients?

Yang Yi had already sent official dispatches to Shenyun Prefecture and the Ya Men of Pan Yong's hometown, asking them to assist in investigating news of Pan Yong.

He had come over this time to chat with Duan Rong and see if there were any other clues.

Yang Yi asked Duan Rong a few more questions, and Duan Rong answered them all with ease.

Whether it was Duan Rong's demeanor or the things he said, Yang Yi did not see any subtle flaws.

As the two were chatting, two slender young men suddenly walked in. They glanced at Duan Rong, then cupped their fists toward Yang Yi and said, "Chief Yang, Pan Yong's cave and Shang Xiangyu's place have both been searched. No problems were found."

Duan Rong's eyes flickered; it seemed Yang Yi had already brought people to start searching this place.

Yang Yi placed the fruit in his hand onto the Stone Table, stood up, smiled slightly, and said, "Little Friend Duan, I am going to take some men to the place where Shang Xiangyu refines pills to see if there are any missed clues. Little Friend Duan, would you like to come along?"

Duan Rong smiled and said, "You go ahead, I won't go. I don't understand investigative work."

"Then, Little Friend Duan, Yang will take his leave!"

"Go slowly, Steward Yang!"

Duan Rong stood up and cupped his fists, and Yang Yi led the two slender young men out of the cave.

After they left the cave, Duan Rong's expression turned abruptly cold. With a flick of his hand, he swiped the fruit Yang Yi had left on the edge of the Stone Table onto the ground, then kicked it toward the cave entrance.

Yang Yi led seven or eight men into the cave on the stone wall, which was entwined with vines in the dense forest.

Yang Yi had already been here once during the last investigation into the furnace explosion.

He knew that the caves here were as dense as a spider web, crisscrossing and difficult to explore.

But Yang Yi still had his subordinates hold torches and begin searching through the crisscrossing caves.

Yang Yi and his men actually searched for an entire night, finally reaching the Black Blood Vine at the deepest part of the cave.

At the entrance of the Black Blood Vine cave, there was a thick Iron Door with a copper lock hanging on it.

Yang Yi did not ask Duan Rong for the key; he simply drew his blade, severed the copper lock, and the group walked in holding torches.

Naturally, they saw the Black Blood Vine. This Black Blood Vine had been hungry for a long time; if Yang Yi hadn't suddenly reacted and called out to his men, two of them would have nearly stepped into the black rock layer area.

Once they stepped in, the long-starved Black Blood Vine would definitely attack them.

Yang Yi stood at the edge of the black rock layer, looking at the two Black Blood Vines with a fearful expression.

"Shang Xiangyu actually raised two Black Blood Vines here? Could it be that the depths of this cave are already near the Underground World where space is distorted?"

Yang Yi suddenly noticed that on the ground not far from the two Black Blood Vines, there was something like a spring eye the size of a fist.

"What is that?"

Yang Yi suddenly understood that the spring eye must be connected to the space-distorted Underground World, drawing the air from there into this cave.

That was why these two Black Blood Vines were able to grow!

The group searched the cave for a night, but apart from discovering the two Black Blood Vines, they found no other clues.

And those two Black Blood Vines were clearly raised by Shang Xiangyu, which likely had nothing to do with Pan Yong's disappearance.

The group exited the cave but did not leave; instead, they began searching the dense forest.

By dusk, they were standing in front of the graves of Chen Hu and Yin Cong.

Yang Yi looked at the two mounds with their simple tombstones and suddenly said coldly, "Dig up the graves for me!"

Yang Yi's subordinates immediately dug up the two graves and pulled out the corpses of Chen Hu and Yin Cong.

The air inside Changliu Mountain was cold and damp, and the corpses of Chen Hu and Yin Cong had long since rotted beyond recognition. Yang Yi covered his nose with a handkerchief, leaned in for a look, and then said with a ruthless expression, "Dig their graves deeper and see."

"Yes!"

Yang Yi's subordinates dug the two graves down another foot or so.

Seeing that the turned-up soil was already very solid, Yang Yi said, "Stop digging. Bury those two stinking corpses back in."

Those men then buried the corpses of Chen Hu and Yin Cong back into the graves.

Yang Yi stood there, the heavy stench of corpses lingering in the air. He never took the handkerchief away from his nose. He looked at the dense forest as the twilight deepened, but the doubts weighing on his heart were even deeper and heavier than the twilight at that moment.

First, there were the two bizarre furnace explosions, and then Shang Xiangyu suddenly resigned from the Sect, claiming he had obstacles in his cultivation and needed to travel outside to find a way to break through.

Then, there was Pan Yong suddenly using Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk at the Medicine Pavilion to exchange for rare medicinal ingredients, using the excuse of having business in Shenyun Prefecture to ask Qin Laotou for ten days of leave, after which he disappeared!

One thing after another, every single one of them, didn't they all reek of something sinister?

"Shang Xiangyu, Pan Yong, what are you trying to do? Are you colluding with each other, or acting on your own?"

"I felt there was a problem here long ago. I, Yang Yi, haven't spent these five years in the Ruling Sect Justice Division for nothing! I can smell the stench of a fox from far away."

"I don't believe I can't dig up your dirty business."

(End of chapter)