Chapter 1167: The Man in the Cave
Of course, Qingyang also understands another truth. He who travels ten thousand miles is half ninety. The closer you get to the end, the more cautious you must be. Nothing counts until you reach the end. If you are not careful, you may lose all your previous efforts. What's more, the last section of the ladder is The hardest walk.
In this penultimate cave, Qingyang rested for a full six hours. Not only did his physical strength and true energy fully recover, Qingyang even adjusted his condition to the best. Then he gritted his teeth and came to the edge of the cave. Grab the chain above and climb up.
The suction force at the bottom of the Fallen Ghost Abyss is getting stronger and stronger. Qingyang feels like he is climbing up with a mountain on his back. Every step is extremely difficult. Every inch of movement requires a lot of strength. It is only a few hundred feet. It took more than two hours to reach the distance, with at least five or six pauses, before finally reaching the edge of the last cave.
By this time, Qingyang was so exhausted that he could hardly do even the simple action of loosening the iron chain and entering the cave. He didn't know how much effort it took before Qingyang entered the cave, and then he He collapsed on the ground and did not recover for a long time.
I don’t know how long it took, but I heard a voice from inside the cave saying faintly: "Fellow Taoist is very good. You can come here with only the fourth level of Jindan."
Qingyang was startled. He never thought there was anyone in the cave.
Qingyang was so tired just now that he couldn't lift his eyelids. He didn't even bother to use his spiritual sense to scan. Because he had never met anyone else before, he didn't observe the situation in the cave carefully, so he didn't notice anything. There were outsiders nearby.
If this person has bad intentions towards Qingyang, if the other party pushes him at a critical moment, or even does something at the entrance of the cave, the consequences will be really unimaginable. Thinking of this, Qingyang couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and he quickly turned his head to look. Toward the cave.
It didn't matter. Qingyang immediately discovered the difference between this cave and the caves below. The caves below were not big, with a diameter of one foot and a depth of two feet. At most, a dozen people could fill the entire cave. But this cave is much larger. Not only is the diameter larger, it is also at least ten feet deep. There is a stone niche in the innermost part of the cave, and there is an old man with a white beard sitting there. However, the breath of this man is very weak. He is sitting quietly in the corner, lifeless, just like a clay sculpture. It is really not easy to see if you don't look carefully. noticed.
Seeing Fang's appearance, he didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards him, Qingyang couldn't help but said: "Forgive me, fellow Taoist, I just came up from below and didn't notice that fellow Taoist is here."
The white-bearded old man said: "It doesn't matter. I have been sitting here for a long time and have met many monks passing by. Their reactions were similar to yours when they saw me for the first time."
After listening to the other party's words, Qingyang couldn't help but be a little confused. This is the key to the ladder to heaven. There is only the last 100 feet left to reach the Fallen Ghost Abyss. What is this person doing sitting here all the time? I heard from him that he has met many monks. It is obvious that he has been here for a long time. Could it be that he wants to practice some skills?
Qingyang's physical strength had not yet fully recovered, and there was nothing wrong anyway, so he asked: "Why do fellow Taoists sit here all the time? I wonder which monks you have seen passing by?"
The white-bearded old man sighed and said: "Like you, I also want to leave the Fallen Ghost Abyss, but I climbed up the ladder to heaven many times without success, and finally stayed here. How many monks are there? I can’t remember the last time I passed by here. I only remember that the last time was about ten years ago. Two body-refining monks climbed down from the top. I don’t know if they were too timid or guilty. Suddenly they saw me and their hands slipped. Both fell into the Fallen Ghost Abyss."
Aren't the two body-refining cultivators from ten years ago the brothers of the Gu family sent by Zhenjun Shifu to hunt down him? I didn't expect them to have such an experience, but they are all body-refining monks. Even if they fall from here, the injuries will not be too serious and they can recover easily.
This person has seen the Gu brothers enter the Fallen Ghost Abyss, which means that he has been in this cave for at least ten years. He did not expect that he could live in this cave for so long alone. Qingyang asked again: "I wonder if anyone has successfully climbed to the Fallen Ghost Abyss in recent years?"
The white-bearded old man said: "How is it possible? Two or three monks come to this ladder almost every year. Some come down from the top to enter the Fallen Ghost Abyss, and some come up from the bottom to leave the Fallen Ghost Abyss. However, it is generally easier to get down. It’s difficult to go up, and almost no one who comes down fails, and among the monks who go up, it’s considered good if two out of ten monks succeed.”
Come to think of it, Jade Faced Bodhisattva specially arranged a formation under the ladder. If there are not so many monks using the ladder, how can she earn spiritual stones? Two or three people every year, each receiving several thousand spirit stones, is enough to maintain the operation of this place. Of course, two or three monks per year is the limit. There are only more than a thousand Golden Core monks in Fallen Ghost Abyss, and they are unwilling to have so many people want to leave.
"Fellow Taoist has been here for so long, why don't you think of a way to go up?" Qingyang said.
The white-bearded old man sighed and said: "It's not that I don't want to, but that I am timid because I have failed too many times. Now my legs will become weak as soon as I walk to the edge of the cave, even if I can follow the iron chain." Even if I climbed twenty or thirty feet, I would retreat due to lack of confidence and feel that I was destined to fail. Gradually, I did not dare to try again. Later, I also thought of other shortcuts and dug the cave upwards diagonally. I wanted to dig an upward passage, but I found that the cave became harder and harder as I dug deeper, and this path became unworkable. In the end, I was trapped here with no way up or down. "
After listening to the old man with white beard, Qingyang finally understood that this person already had a demon in his heart and was frightened by this ladder. Only by defeating the demon in his heart could he continue to go up. If he could not defeat the demon in his heart, he might be trapped in this cave for the rest of his life.
No wonder this person looked so lifeless. It turned out that he had lost his fighting spirit and was no different from a useless person. Others could not help him with the demon in his heart. Even if there were masters to help him successfully bring him to the Fallen Ghost Abyss, it would be unlikely for him to get out of the demon in his heart.
This is actually the case with cultivating immortals. Sometimes, a small thing may become their demon in their heart and become a lifelong fetter for them. At this time, it depends on whether the cultivator's state of mind can withstand the test of the demon in their heart. However, this incident also gave Qingyang a warning, at least it shows the high difficulty of this last section of the ladder, otherwise the old man with white beard would not be so scared.
Seeing this situation, Qingyang could not say anything else, and could only say: "We cultivators can't waste our good time in this cave. I hope you can get out of your demon in your heart as soon as possible."