I Can Devour Spirits

Contrary to choosing weapons, selecting a cultivation technique requires understanding whether it suits oneself, and this takes time. In the myriad of cultivation techniques, finding one that truly fits oneself is no easy task.

Lu Geng had already made up his mind. He would take Duan Rong to the Scripture Repository, show him around, and then leave. After all, he had already taken Duan Rong to the places for picking weapons and selecting cultivation techniques; Duan Rong could manage going there with the procedure on his own time without needing Lu Geng’s involvement.

Lu Geng brought Duan Rong to the Inner Courtyard of the Scripture Repository, and after showing the approval note from the Internal History Department and the Sect Cloud Scroll, the two walked in.

Lu Geng planned to take Duan Rong on a tour briefly, explaining the divisions between saber techniques, sword techniques, and so forth, and then leave.

But before Lu Geng could speak, Duan Rong abruptly took a secret manual from a shelf by his side and solemnly said, ”Senior brother Lu, I’ve chosen. It’s this one!”

Lu Geng’s face went blank; he glanced over and saw the secret manual in Duan Rong’s hand had the words ”Six Harmonies Saber” on the cover.

Lu Geng felt as if struck by a lightning bolt, frozen to the spot, unable to speak for quite a while.

This is selecting a cultivation technique?!

Even at a vegetable market, one doesn’t pick so quickly!

Which cultivation technique to practice is an immensely important decision for any cultivator! How could one choose so randomly, picking a book by chance?

This junior apprentice, what kind of freak is he?!

When selecting weapons, in that vast chamber with hundreds of weapons, he examined each one meticulously.

Yet for selecting a cultivation technique, this painstaking endeavor seemed like child’s play to him; he just reached out for a book without a care.

At this moment, Duan Rong was about to leave with that Six Harmonies Saber secret manual.

Lu Geng immediately grabbed him and tried to persuade him earnestly, ”Junior brother! Don’t be offended by my interference! This Six Harmonies Saber can be practiced, but junior brother, you chose it without even flipping it open. Isn’t that a bit too reckless?”

Duan Rong, holding the sword manual, laughed and said, ”Senior brother, all martial arts in the world are one to me! Although the secret manuals in this Inner Courtyard differ vastly, to me, they are without distinction.”

When Lu Geng heard Duan Rong say this, his face turned sour as if he had swallowed a fly. If not for this junior apprentice being brought back by the master and his deep trust in Zhu He’s judgment, he would have doubted whether this junior apprentice wasn’t mentally unsound?

All martial arts in the world, one to you! Who do you think you are?

Crazy!?

Lu Geng awkwardly laughed and sarcastically remarked, ”No wonder junior apprentice, you insisted on examining all the weapons in the Stone Chamber!? It turns out, to the junior apprentice, all weapons in there are just one blade! Truly a high-level realm!? Much respect! Much respect!”

Duan Rong seriously replied, ”There’s truth in what you say. Hundreds of blades unite into one, thousands of fists unite into one path! At the deepest level of martial studies, there is unity!”

At that moment, in Duan Rong’s heart, he kept thinking about the hundreds of weapons in the Stone Chamber and really didn’t want to waste more time in the Inner Courtyard of the Scripture Repository! He was actually right; the secret manuals in this Inner Courtyard, though vastly different, were of no use to him, as he fundamentally did not use manuals for cultivation.

Training through manuals requires personal comprehension, experimentation, and exploration, seasoned with hard practice, gradually from ignorance to proficiency, from proficiency to skill, finally becoming one’s own.

But he could directly gain the martial arts realm accumulated over time by devouring artifact spirits, bypassing all the exploration and attempts, without any detours, straight away.

He transformed the complex exploration process of cultivation into a simple and brutish physical endeavor, directly rushing through intensively.

Though there might be many secret manuals in the Inner Courtyard, to him, all were one, for they were just wasted paper.

Yet Duan Rong couldn’t tell Lu Geng the truth, and he was eager to return to the Weapon Stone Chamber, so he fabricated some grandiose words to fool Lu Geng and let it slide.

Still, Duan Rong’s final words did somewhat shake Lu Geng.

He mulled over them repeatedly, feeling they conveyed a fundamental clarity, like a glimpse of light emerging in the depths of a fog-shrouded abyss.

”Thousands of fists unite into one path; at the deepest level of martial studies, there is unity!” Lu Geng muttered, repeating Duan Rong’s words, with a flash of amazement in his eyes.

Just moments ago, he thought Duan Rong was mentally unstable, but now he hesitated.

Now he felt Duan Rong was either a madman or a genius! Nonetheless, he was certainly not normal!

Lu Geng ultimately stopped obstructing Duan Rong. Because regardless of whether Duan Rong was a madman or a genius, he could not stop him.

If Duan Rong was a madman, why stop a madman?

If Duan Rong was a genius, what right did he have to stop a genius and dictate how he should choose his cultivation method?

Perhaps as he said, all martial arts in the world, one to him?

Duan Rong went out of the Scripture Repository with Lu Geng, holding that Six Harmonies Saber manual.

At the entrance of the Scripture Repository, Duan Rong turned to Lu Geng and said, ”Senior brother Lu, I have to observe the remaining weapons. There’s no need for you to accompany me if you have other matters!”

Upon finishing his words, Duan Rong slightly cupped his fists and headed towards the Iron Chain.

Lu Geng stood there, gravely watching Duan Rong’s departing figure, unable to speak for a long time.

Duan Rong returned once more to that bare hilltop, handing over the procedure and Sect Cloud Scroll to the middle-aged man at the cave entrance.

That man glanced at Duan Rong, said nothing, nor accepted his procedure and Sect Cloud Scroll, instead bid him inside with a wave of hand.