Chapter 207 The Road to Immortality Is Long and Arduous. What You Are Climbing Is Not a Ladder, but a Threshold in Your Heart.

Lu Chen was not sure whether the heavenly aura he felt from the 'Ascension to Heaven' was real or his own illusion.

But no matter which one it is, it doesn't really matter.

Because of this long staircase to the sky, he must climb it.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the long steps to the sky.

And just after he stepped onto the long steps to the sky, people around him saw Lu Chen's figure disappearing into a cloud of mist.

The others looked at each other in disbelief, and finally they all embarked on the long steps to the sky.

It was only after they set foot on it that they realized why the elders in their sect had said that there was no trick to ascending to the sky.

The first is cultivation. After embarking on this long step to reach the sky, everyone will feel that the cultivation in their bodies has disappeared and they have returned to the realm of mortals.

In this regard, even body cultivation is no exception.

The second thing is the number of people. There seems to be some kind of special formation on the long steps to the sky.

So that everyone who sets foot here will be isolated from everyone else.

In this way, help from others is eliminated, and one can only rely on one's own strength.

Finally... there is loneliness.

After setting foot on the long steps to the sky, what comes into view is a dense mountain forest.

But apart from these, there was no other living thing around.

It's obviously a scene of birds singing and flowers fragrant, but everyone feels an inexplicable feeling of loneliness.

It's okay for a short time, but once it gets long, it's hard for anyone to persist in such an environment.

And just after everyone set foot on the long steps to ascend to heaven, the Yuan Ying stage elders from the ten major sects in Zhongzhou also gathered together.

Dong Wanjun, the Nascent Soul stage elder of Yuxu Mountain, looked at the long steps to the sky and said, "How many days do you think the first person to give up will appear?"

The Nascent Soul stage elder of Wushen Mountain heard this and said calmly: "Half a day."

"Youdao means one day in the sky and one year on the earth. Although the situation in the Immortal Stage is not so exaggerated, the world inside is completely different from the outside world."

"If you stay inside for a month, it will only last for one day outside."

"Besides, none of you here have ever climbed the stairs to the sky. You must all know what will happen inside."

"It is not an easy task to cross these ten thousand steps."

"The road to seeking immortality is long and difficult. Who can know what will happen along the way?"

"What they are climbing is not the ladder, but the threshold in their own hearts."

"If they can't cross this threshold, then they will never be able to cross this long step to the sky."

In response, the surrounding Nascent Soul stage elders nodded silently.

Because everything is just as the Nascent Soul stage elder from Wushen Mountain said.

This long step to ascend to immortality is not a ladder, but a threshold in the hearts of all the disciples.

And everyone's threshold is different.

Therefore, there is no standard answer on how to spend it.

It all depends on the disciples themselves.

As soon as Lu Chen entered the immortal steps, he felt the familiar power of heaven again.

"It turns out that the method used to suppress the monks by ascending to the heavenly level is to regress their bodies back to before they started practicing..."

"But there should be some other powers of heaven in it. Otherwise, the first time I practiced cultivation was when I was fifteen years old, but my current body has not changed at all. It's just that my cultivation has been traced back to before I practiced."

"The Immortal's methods are really unpredictable. Even if it is just a cave that has been left for who knows how many years, it still has such terrifying power."

After sighing with emotion, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the endless steps to the sky above his head.

If he still had some cultivation, then Lu Chen would be able to complete this long step to the sky in just a few hours.

But without cultivation, this road will be difficult to follow.

But no matter how difficult it is, Lu Chen will continue on this road.

As soon as he thought about this, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the top of the mountain.

After about an hour, Lu Chen already felt tired.

He stopped temporarily and stood there to straighten himself up a bit.

At this moment, Lu Chen felt the fatigue that he had not seen for a long time.

At this moment, Lu Chen felt as if his legs were filled with lead.

Every time I lifted it up, it was extremely difficult.

And in just this hour, he felt like he hadn't gone very far.

Because the long steps above the head are still so endless.

The only change he could feel was the length of the stairs behind him and the surrounding trees.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen finally felt another difficulty in ascending to the Heavenly Stage.

That’s because it tempers people’s psyche a little too much.

After a slight repair, Lu Chen immediately walked up the long steps to the sky again.

After climbing for another hour, Lu Chen unexpectedly saw a mountain tea stall next to the long steps to ascend to immortality.

Is it a trap, or is it a place left by True Immortal Gu Yue for the trialists to rest?

Lu Chen stood outside the tea stall and thought for a long time.

In the end, he chose to follow his heart.

He decided to visit this tea stall.

Lu Chen came to the tea stall and saw an old man with gray hair who was still making tea.

Seeing Lu Chen's appearance, the old man smiled and said, "You must be preparing to go up the mountain to find immortals."

Lu Chen nodded and asked, "Have you met many other immortal seekers before?"

While making tea, the old man said: "My tea stall has been open here since the beginning of the long steps to the sky. Have I seen anyone else?"

The tone was so relaxed, as if an old man was chatting with him.

But Lu Chen knew very well that if this old man appeared on this long step to reach the sky, he must not be an ordinary person.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen asked, "Old man, how do you sell tea here?"

Hearing this, the old man smiled and said: "It's very simple. Answer me three questions, and then I will give you a drink."

"After all, you can't come up with money now, can you?"

Lu Chen looked at the storage bag that disappeared from his waist and the mountain and sea scroll that seemed to be sealed in his soul.

He knew that the other party was right. At the moment, he really couldn't come up with anything.

"Excuse me, old man."

"First question, do you think the immortal is an immortal or a human?"

Lu Chen was stunned because he didn't expect the old man to ask such a vague question.

And he just thought for a moment and roughly understood what the other party wanted to ask.

So after careful consideration, Lu Chen gave his answer: "It's a human being."

Seeing Lu Chen's serious expression, the old man asked his second question: "Which one do you think is more important, immortal or mortal?"

Lu Chen frowned, thought for a long time and said, "Look at the relationship between the two and me."

"Understood."

The old man nodded, not showing whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied with Lu Chen's answer.

In other words, the questions he asked never had any standard answers.

What he wants is different answers from different people when faced with these questions.

The old man took out some boiled tea water from the boiling iron pot and poured it into the teapot next to him, while asking the last question.

"What will you do if you can't seek immortality?"

This time, Lu Chen had almost no hesitation and replied, "Then let's ask another immortal."

The old man nodded, and then poured a cup of tea into the teacup in front of Lu Chen.

"Drink, I give this to you."

Lu Chen looked at the teacup in front of him, thought for a moment and then picked it up and drank it.

Soon, Lu Chen felt sleepy coming over him.

When he woke up again, he actually returned to the outside of the long steps to ascend to immortality.

But he was not the first person to be 'eliminated'.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, why are you out too?"

Shangguan Yunmeng looked at Lu Chen who appeared at the foot of the Long Steps to Heaven and asked a little strangely.

After all, in her opinion, anyone could be sent out.

Only Lu Chen couldn't.

Because if even Lu Chen couldn't cross this long step to the sky, then it would be even more impossible for others.

After hearing Shangguan Yunmeng's words, Lu Chen asked, "What about you? Why did you come out?"

Shangguan Yunmeng tilted his head and said, "I don't know. I just felt tired from walking. When I saw a tea stall next to me, I went up to rest for a while."

"After answering the old man's three questions, I drank a cup of tea from him. After drinking it, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was here."

Hearing this, Lu Chen asked curiously: "Then what did he ask you?"

Shangguan Yunmeng was stunned for a moment, and then after thinking for a long time, he said strangely: "Yes, what did he ask me? Why can't I remember it?"

Hearing this, Lu Chen was also surprised to find that he could not remember the conversation at the tea stall just now.

He only remembered that he went to the tea stall and the old man at the tea stall asked him three questions.

But now he can't remember what these three questions were or how he answered them.

But these are not important anymore.

Lu Chen looked at the long staircase above his head and walked towards it again.

Seeing this scene, Shangguan Yunmeng next to him said strangely: "Fellow Daoist Lu, weren't you eliminated like me? Why are you still going to the long step to the sky?"

In response, Lu Chen said calmly: "Did someone say that this long step to the sky can only be challenged once?"

"ah?!"

Shangguan Yunmeng was stunned, and then realized that no one seemed to have said that this long step to the sky could only be done once.

It was her own preconception that being sent out meant being eliminated.

Looking at Shangguan Yunmeng's confused expression, Lu Chen smiled and said, "Also, do you really think we went out?"

As soon as these words came out, Shangguan Yunmeng felt that his head was a little hard to turn around.

What do you mean we really went out?

Isn't the surrounding area the same as the scene before they went up the mountain?

No, it seems a little different.

Before they came, they left the fairy boat and came to the Immortal Gathering Bell.

The surroundings of the Juxian Bell and the Long Stairway to the Sky were a vast sea of ​​white clouds, lacking reference points.

Therefore, this place is not only a place for a short rest on the long steps to the sky, but also a place for a short rest on the long steps to the sky.

The reason why Shangguan Yunmeng felt that she was eliminated was just because she found that her cultivation level had recovered.

After all, it is the consensus in everyone's mind that cultivation base cannot be used within the Climbing Heaven Stage.

At this time, Lu Chen looked at the long steps to the sky above his head. He didn't know what he thought of, and said, "Actually, I was just thinking that our mountain climbing process is not the process of monks asking for immortality."

"If this long step to the sky is compared to the Tao, then what we have just done is to keep moving forward on this 'Tao'."

"No one said that you can't rest after seeking the truth, and no one said that there is only one way to seek the truth."

"After all, who can be sure that the path they are taking is the right one before they reach the end?"

"Although I can't remember the questions the old man asked me to answer, I think those three questions should include the path I want to take in my heart."

"The old man seems to be asking us, but in fact we are asking ourselves, what is the path we want to take?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the first long steps to heaven should be the path of Gu Yue Zhenxian."

"You can ascend to heaven by following his path, but how many people in this world can really complete his path?"

"Besides, we are seeking immortality, not the next Gu Yue Zhenxian."

"The next long steps to heaven are our own path."

"Fellow Daoist Shangguan, I hope we can see each other at the top of the mountain."

In response, Shangguan Yunmeng nodded seriously, indicating that he understood.

After Lu Chen finished speaking, he stepped onto the long steps to heaven again without looking back.

And this time, the scene of ascending to heaven in front of him... has completely changed.

At the same time, Shangguan Yunmeng at the foot of the mountain looked at Lu Chen who disappeared again on the long steps to heaven with a blank face.

That expression was like a student who didn't understand what was said in class.

Although Lu Chen had just said a lot, Shangguan Yunmeng felt that she didn't understand much at all.

What did it mean that the long steps to heaven at the beginning should be the way of Gu Yue Zhenxian.

What did it mean that we are seeking immortality, not seeking to become the next Gu Yue Zhenxian.

She could understand every word Lu Chen said, but she couldn't understand them when they were put together.

However, Shangguan Yunmeng had one good point, that is, she was the main point of listening to advice.

Since Lu Chen said that they were not eliminated, then they were not eliminated.

Lu Chen, who was so powerful, entered the long steps to heaven again, so she just had to follow suit!

Thinking of this, Shangguan Yunmeng also stepped onto the long steps in front of her again.

Like Lu Chen, the scene of the long steps in front of her also changed.

And not long after the two left, several people appeared one after another at the place where Lu Chen and Shangguan Yunmeng appeared.

But among these people, some chose to continue going up the mountain.

Some chose to go down the mountain.

Those who chose to go down the mountain soon came to the outside of the real long steps to heaven.

Here, many people who were truly eliminated have gathered.

And among these people, a large part of them were actually exhausted and fainted on the original long steps to heaven, and were directly teleported out.

And these people are also the most resentful at the moment.

"What is Gu Yue Zhenxian thinking? How can a mortal body cross this long ladder without eating or drinking? Isn't it obvious that he doesn't want people to obtain his inheritance?"

"Yes, I feel that I have worked hard enough. I didn't stop when I passed several tea stalls in the middle, but kept walking, for fear that Gu Yue Zhenxian would think that my heart of seeking the truth was not firm."

"But even so, I still couldn't hold on to the end."

"If I had known this, I might as well go to the tea stall to rest."

Not long after this person finished speaking, a person who went to the tea stall but was still eliminated couldn't help saying: "Don't say go to the tea stall to rest, the result of going to the tea stall is the same."

"I just went to the tea stall, drank the tea there, and then was eliminated."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, the man's expression full of resentment finally eased.

It turns out that whether you go to the tea stall or not, the final result is the same, so he is mentally balanced.

But the person who just answered him didn't know what he was thinking, and suddenly grabbed his shoulder and asked: "Wait, you just said that you were eliminated after you fainted due to exhaustion, so where were you when you woke up?"

The man was stunned, and then subconsciously said: "Where else can it be? It's here."

After this, the monk who went to the tea stall didn't know what he was thinking, and suddenly his face turned pale.

Then he grabbed his hair hard and said in a painful tone: "Wrong, we took the wrong path at the beginning."

"But the immortal gave us a choice, he let us choose, let us choose, but we missed it again, missed it..."

After a while, as more and more people came out, everyone finally understood the relationship between the "long steps" and the "tea stall" in the long steps to heaven after communicating with each other for a long time.

If the long steps are compared to the "Tao".

Then the first time they climbed was actually the "Tao" of Gu Yue Zhenxian.

But although this road has traces to follow, it is still not something that ordinary people, especially mortals, can walk on.

Therefore, on this ‘road’, a tea stall symbolizing ‘choice’ appeared.

The tea stall meant that the monks should stop and think about whether to continue walking on the ‘road’ in front of them.

It also gave them a choice.

An opportunity to choose to walk their own ‘road’.

But when the ‘choice’ appeared, not everyone could grasp this opportunity.

Some people understood this and chose to continue climbing the mountain and walk their own way.

For example, Lu Chen.

Some people did not understand, but she was lucky. Someone told her the answer, and she followed it.

For example, Shangguan Yunmeng.

Some people did not believe in evil, and took a fluke mentality, thinking that if they could try again, they would be lucky.

For example, many people who are still climbing the mountain at this moment.

And in the end, they are the ones who were eliminated.

Either they did not recognize themselves, and stubbornly walked further and further on the ‘wrong’ road, until they were exhausted and still did not reach the top of the mountain, and ‘died’ on the road.

Or after choosing to ‘rest’, they feel that they are not good enough and have no courage to break the rules. They choose to really go down the mountain after thinking that they are eliminated.

This is the essence of the long steps to heaven.

It has never tested the ‘perseverance’ of the cultivators.

It tests the ‘heart’, ‘understanding’, and ‘luck’ of the cultivators.

Those who dare to question the conventions, regardless of good or bad, can enter the second long step.

Those who have outstanding understanding and guess the essence can also enter the second long step.

Those who have neither but have great luck can also enter.

The road to immortality is long and difficult.

A short rest is not necessarily a bad thing.

In the case of not knowing right or wrong, stubbornly moving forward is often the most fatal.

Because when a road reaches a certain point, you can never turn back.

Those cultivators who did not stop along the way, after missing the first three tea stalls.

There are only two results left for them.

One is to reach the height symbolizing Gu Yue Zhenxian with a mortal body.

Another thing is that you will be eliminated without any margin of error.

This is what Gu Yue Zhenxian wants to tell everyone with this long ladder to heaven.

All things in the world have different paths and the same destination.

Some people have reached heaven on one path, but that doesn’t mean you can do the same.

What suits others may not suit you.

Sometimes it’s a good thing to stop and rest and think about your future path.

PS: The 64th day of the 10,000-day lottery is over, and I’m asking for monthly tickets as usual!