Chapter 420: The Kongming Realm

On a barren Lone Mountain where no grass or trees could be seen, Wu Shidao suddenly walked over from afar along a stone path. He went straight to the entrance of that cave and showed his approval slip and Sect Cloud Token to the person on guard.

Wu Shidao was Zhu He's second disciple, and Zhu He had entrusted him with managing many matters within the Inner History Department. Getting an approval slip from the History Supervisor was, for him, not a matter of any consequence at all.

What's more, he wasn't actually there to claim another weapon!

Wu Shidao walked into the cave and stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, where he already saw the figure of Duan Rong inside.

He saw that Duan Rong was gripping a long-handled melon hammer, his eyes bright and focused. After a while, he placed the melon hammer back into the niche, shook his head as if somewhat disappointed, and walked over to another niche nearby.

Wu Shidao watched for a while and saw that it was indeed as Lu Geng had said; was Duan Rong really observing them one by one?

Wu Shidao felt suspicious in his heart and thought to himself, "Looking at the little Disciple like that, it doesn't seem like he's looking for something either!"

He watched very carefully; when Duan Rong took out a weapon, he only glanced at it simply, without even the action of testing its feel, let alone examining it closely. He just gripped it in his hand for a while and then put it back.

However, these actions, which seemed meaningless to him, were performed by Duan Rong with great focus.

Wu Shidao watched for a while, but couldn't make sense of it, so his gaze shifted and he walked toward Duan Rong in the depths of the stone chamber.

Duan Rong had just devoured the Spirit Tool of a weapon, and as he watched the data panel before his eyes flicker and dissipate, he caught a glimpse of a figure walking toward him out of the corner of his eye.

Duan Rong looked up and saw that Wu Shidao had already walked over with a smile.

Wu Shidao glanced at the deer-horn knife in Duan Rong's hand and smiled, "A handy weapon is an extremely important matter for a Martial Artist. Little Disciple, for you to choose so carefully, you must be a person of delicate mind. Martial arts is a struggle of the finest details; it originally hinges on the differences in those subtle points."

Duan Rong didn't understand for a moment what Wu Shidao's intention was in suddenly coming over to say such an aimless thing. However, he still smiled and said, "Senior Brother's insight is profound; martial arts is indeed a matter of subtle differences."

After saying this, Duan Rong just looked at Wu Shidao, waiting for him to speak.

Wu Shidao looked at the gaze Duan Rong directed at him, paused slightly, and said, "Little Disciple, I heard from your Senior Brother Lu that you intend to observe all the hundreds of weapons in this stone chamber. To tell the truth, Senior Brother is a bit worried, so I came to take a look."

Duan Rong scratched his head and said, "Does Senior Brother think I am a bit strange for doing this?"

Wu Shidao replied, "It is indeed somewhat unusual."

Wu Shidao looked at Duan Rong with expectant eyes, as if waiting for his explanation.

Duan Rong really had a headache; he was just touching the weapons, and he himself didn't feel it was a big deal. How could this second Senior Brother be so insistent on getting to the bottom of it?

Duan Rong pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Senior Brother Wu, it is like this! I have had a strange ability since I was young."

"A strange ability?!" Wu Shidao's eyes went wide the moment he heard Duan Rong say this.

Duan Rong said, "It is that I can resonate with certain things, allowing myself to enter a state that is difficult to describe. In that state, my six senses are far sharper than usual, and in that state, my entire being is completely free from the interference of emotions and subjective consciousness; it is a state of absolute, ethereal peace. My thinking and judgment fuse and condense into a highly acute intuition. In this state, no matter what martial arts moves I use, their power will have a qualitative leap!"

Wu Shidao looked at Duan Rong with astonishment and said, "Little Disciple, you actually possess the Kongming Realm!"

Wu Shidao was well-read and had thoroughly studied the Daoist Canon; the moment he heard what Duan Rong said, he knew what he was talking about.

Duan Rong feigned surprise and said, "So this is called the Kongming Realm?"

"Yes!" Wu Shidao nodded, then a flash of doubt crossed his eyes as he said, "However, although this Kongming Realm has great power, as far as I know, its triggering is random, not controlled by the subject's consciousness, and there is no pattern to it at all. Moreover, as one grows older, it often disappears."

Duan Rong actually knew everything Wu Shidao said; he had seen this in the Daoist Canon at the Scripture Repository. The Kongming Realm he possessed was a talent of the original owner, which he had inherited after transmigrating.

Duan Rong said, "I am not clear on that. After repeated attempts in my early years, I discovered that my Kongming Realm is related to weapons. Weapons that can resonate with me, under conditions of high mental concentration, often have a very high chance of triggering the Kongming Realm."

"Is that so?" Wu Shidao looked surprised. "Resonate?"

He had never heard of such a claim.

However, although this Kongming Realm was miraculous, it was usually of no use, because people who possessed this ability were rare to begin with, and this ability generally disappeared before a Martial Artist reached the age of twenty.

Therefore, there was almost no data that made a deep and detailed study of this Kongming Realm. Wu Shidao only knew of this matter because he had read notes written by a few Martial Artists who possessed the Kongming Realm in their youth.

And he had always been skeptical of some of the records in those notes.

Duan Rong's situation was clearly some kind of special case of the Kongming Realm, because if one could significantly increase the probability of triggering the Kongming Realm through resonance with specific weapons, wouldn't this originally rather lackluster Kongming Realm become a very formidable ability?

Moreover, Duan Rong was already twenty years old, and his ability did not seem to have disappeared.

These were all at odds with the records in the notes.

Duan Rong said, "Yes. Resonate! Just like gripping it like this; if a resonance can be produced, a cool sensation will rise in the back of my head."

Duan Rong started spouting nonsense, saying it as if it were true, and he had Wu Shidao completely fooled.

Because he had just been at the door of the stone chamber watching for quite a while. Duan Rong was just like that, gripping every weapon and then putting it back into the niche.

He had originally not been able to make sense of it and didn't know what Duan Rong was doing. Now, with Duan Rong saying this, he understood.

Duan Rong was gripping every weapon to try to establish a resonance; he put them back after gripping them for a while because the resonance failed. This meant that this weapon could not trigger his Kongming Realm.

Because Duan Rong's lie was quite well-spun, not only could it justify itself, but it even had a sense of self-verification.

Even though Wu Shidao was deep in thought, he couldn't help but believe it at this moment, and he smiled, saying, "So that's how it is! No wonder you, little Disciple, wanted to observe all the weapons in this stone chamber. You were originally looking for weapons that could resonate with you?"

Duan Rong said, "Senior Brother Wu, that is exactly it!"

Wu Shidao praised, "Little Disciple, you are truly a heaven-sent talent! Not only is your natural aptitude high and refined, but you also possess the Kongming Realm! There are hundreds of weapons in this stone chamber; I imagine you will surely be able to find the weapons that resonate with you as you wish."

Duan Rong said, "I hope so, thanks to your kind words, Senior Brother!"

Wu Shidao said, "Then Senior Brother will not disturb you, little Disciple! If there is anything, just come to Yunfu Peak to find me."

After Wu Shidao finished speaking, he turned and left.

Duan Rong watched Wu Shidao's back and immediately let out a long, turbid breath.

This Wu Shidao was much harder to deal with than Lu Geng! After all, he had just joined the Sect and was their little Disciple; this Wu Shidao had come to probe his secrets in the name of concern, and this person was also quite deep in thought—he really wasn't easy to brush off!

Duan Rong looked at the weapon in the niche beside him and sighed inwardly: I just want to touch them quietly; it really isn't easy!

If it hadn't been for that flash of inspiration just now, when he thought of the Kongming Realm, he really wouldn't have known how to block Wu Shidao.

After Wu Shidao left, Duan Rong clearly accelerated the speed of his touching.

A long night brings many dreams!

Two hours later, the old man in the corner, who was puffing on a pipe, suddenly stood up and walked over, looking at Duan Rong as he said, "Kid, the time is up! It's time to close the door! You're dawdling so much just picking a weapon!"

As the old man spoke, he tapped the ash from his pipe bowl against the sole of his shoe, put his hands behind his back, and walked out.

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong turned his head to look at today's progress. He had touched nearly a hundred weapons.

The harvest was still not small; he had devoured three Spirit Tools containing the Artistic Conception of the First Layer of the Qi Cyclone Realm, and he had even devoured dozens of complete sets of cultivation methods of the Qi Refining Realm.

Once these things were digested and absorbed, they would become solid martial arts realms! Who knows how much stronger they were than those dry, dead-letter Secret Manuals in the Scripture Repository?

The harvest devoured here today has already laid a very solid foundation for his subsequent cultivation.

Duan Rong felt quite at ease at this moment; as the saying goes, with grain in hand, there is no panic in the heart. With this wave of devouring, cultivation had become a simple manual labor for him. What else was there to worry about? Just grind away, and that's it!

Duan Rong walked out of the cave and discovered that the old man stationed there was chatting with the thin, middle-aged man on guard.

Duan Rong gave a slight bow before leaving the place. After all, he still had to come back to devour for the next two or three days; as they say, courtesy costs nothing, so he should leave a good impression first to avoid being disliked or having them cause him trouble.

Duan Rong walked on the barren Lone Mountain; in the Endless Great Mountains, the twilight was already rising.

Having devoured nearly a hundred blades, the Spirit Tool was still making his head feel quite dizzy, and he walked back to Yunfu Peak with somewhat staggering steps.

Returning to the peak, Duan Rong walked along the veranda to his room.

This room was quite large, with a six-paneled folding screen separating the bedroom from the front hall.

This room was the one Zhu He had first brought him to when he brought Duan Rong to Yunfu Peak.

His heavy ceremonial robe had originally been placed on the table in this room, but the robe was gone now, clearly taken away by someone.

Duan Rong sat before the table, first pouring himself a bowl of tea and gulping it down his throat. Then, he stood up and pulled a cord behind the door, which was connected to a numbered copper bell in the servants' quarters.

Sure enough, not long after, a servant walked into the room with his head lowered, bowed, and said respectfully, "My lord, what are your orders?"

Duan Rong said, "Get me something to eat."

The servant seemed about to ask something, but Duan Rong said, "Don't go to any trouble! Make it quick, something simple will do."

"Yes, my lord! May I ask, my lord, would you like some wine?"

"Hmm, bring a small pot!"

"Yes, my lord, please wait a moment!" The servant replied and turned to leave.

Although they were inside the Endless Great Mountains, Yunfu Peak was well-stocked with all kinds of supplies.

After all, the allocation of supplies was managed by the Inner History Department. How could they ever shortchange their own people?

Not long after, the servant walked in carrying a wooden tray, placing four dishes, three flatbreads, and a pot of wine on the table.

The four dishes were cold-tossed beef, boiled peanuts, tofu with scallions, and tiger-skin eggs. Duan Rong had been famished, and upon seeing these four dishes, his mouth immediately filled with saliva.

The servant held the wooden tray with both hands and bowed, saying, "My lord, are there any other orders?"

"No. You may go about your business."

Hearing this, the servant turned and exited, gently closing the door.

Duan Rong's appetite was whetted; he first picked up some beef and put it in his mouth, then took a bite of flatbread, picked up the wine pot, poured a cup, and with a 'zi' sound, drank it down, swallowing it along with the food.

A little drink is pleasant. Moreover, he had devoured so many Spirit Tools that his head felt somewhat uncomfortable, and drinking a little wine would make it easier to fall asleep.

Duan Rong swept through the food like a whirlwind, eating everything clean. He rubbed his round, bulging belly, stood up again, pulled the cord behind the door once more, and then, with staggering steps, walked around the screen and pressed his rather heavy body onto the bed.

Before long, the sound of light, pattering footsteps echoed on the veranda outside the door.

Then, the door gave a light creak and was pushed open. A servant stood at the doorway with a hesitant look. He saw the empty dishes and wine pot on the table in the room, but no one was to be seen.

At this moment, a voice drifted leisurely from behind the screen.

"Clear away those leftover dishes."

"Yes, my lord!"

The servant cleared the dishes and the wine pot and turned to leave the room. As he left, he only left the door slightly ajar, while Duan Rong was already fast asleep on the bed.

The next morning.

Lu Geng entered from outside, drenched in sweat.

He had gotten up to practice his arts just as the sky was turning light, and by now he had been practicing for over two hours, preparing to return to take a bath and eat some breakfast.

He walked along the veranda and suddenly noticed a door left ajar, with snoring sounds faintly coming from inside.

Lu Geng frowned and said, "Isn't this room supposed to be unoccupied? How..."

He suddenly remembered something. Seeing the door was left ajar, he pushed it open and walked in.

Through the screen, he could faintly see someone lying on the bed.

He walked to the screen and looked at the bed! He saw Duan Rong lying there, sleeping in his clothes, not even having taken off his shoes.

It really was the little Disciple!

Lu Geng couldn't help but shake his head and say, "It's almost noon, and he's still sleeping in like this! Where is the demeanor of a martial artist?"

Just then, Duan Rong reached into his crotch to scratch, then turned over and continued to sleep.

Lu Geng felt his eyes had been scorched and immediately retreated.

Although Wu Shidao said the little Disciple was a genius, his evaluation of this little Disciple in his heart fell to rock bottom. To be so decadent and strange—even with talent, he feared he might not achieve much!

Duan Rong was completely unaware of Lu Geng's opinion of him and slept for nearly another hour before waking up.

After waking, he rolled his eyes and realized that the Spirit Tools he had devoured yesterday had all been completely digested during his night of deep sleep.

It seems that after reaching the eleventh level of the Womb Treasury Sutra, as his Divine Soul strength grew, his ability to digest Spirit Tools had risen accordingly.

Duan Rong simply washed his face and, without even eating breakfast, left Yunfu Peak and headed toward the barren Lone Mountain.

(End of this chapter)