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 is not sure whether the breath of heaven he feels from the "Long Stairway to Heaven" is real or just an illusion.

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

Because he must climb this long staircase to heaven.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the long stairs leading to heaven.

And just as he stepped onto the long staircase leading to heaven, the people around him saw Lu Chen's figure disappear into the clouds.

The others looked at each other, and finally stepped onto the long stairs leading to heaven.

It was only after they set foot on it that they understood why the elders in their own sect had said that there was no shortcut to ascending this long staircase.

The first is cultivation. After stepping onto the long staircase to heaven, everyone will feel that the cultivation in their bodies has disappeared and they have returned to the realm of mortals.

Even physical cultivators are no exception to this.

The second thing is the number of people. There seems to be some special formation on the long stairs to heaven.

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

In this way, you will not be able to get help from others and can only rely on your own strength.

Finally... it's loneliness.

As you step onto the long steps leading to heaven, what comes into view is a lush mountain forest.

But apart from these, there were no other living creatures around.

It is a scene with birds singing and flowers blooming, but everyone has an inexplicable feeling of loneliness in their hearts.

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

And just after everyone stepped onto the long staircase leading to heaven, the Nascent Soul stage elders from the ten major sects in Zhongzhou also gathered together.

Dong Wanjun, the Yuanying stage elder of Yuxu Mountain, looked at the long staircase and said, "How many days do you think it will take for the first person to give up to appear?"

Upon hearing this, the Yuanying-stage elder of Wushen Mountain said calmly, "Half a day."

“As the saying goes, one day in heaven is one year on earth. Although the situation inside the Immortal Stairway is not that exaggerated, the world inside is completely different from the outside world.”

"A month inside is only a day outside."

"Besides, everyone here has climbed these long stairs to heaven before. You must all know what happens inside."

"It's not easy to cross this long staircase of ten thousand steps."

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

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

"If they can't cross this threshold, then they will never be able to cross this long stairway to heaven in their entire lives."

In response to this, the Nascent Soul stage elders around him all nodded silently.

Because everything was just as the Yuanying stage elder of Wushen Mountain said.

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

The threshold in everyone’s heart is different.

Therefore, there is no standard answer as to how to get through it.

It all depends on the disciples themselves.

On the long steps to immortality, as soon as Lu Chen entered here, he felt the familiar power of heaven again.

"So the method used by this long stairway to heaven to suppress the cultivators is to return their bodies to the time before they began to cultivate..."

"But there should be some other heavenly power in it, otherwise I first practiced when I was fifteen years old, but my body has not changed at all now, it's just that my cultivation has been regressed to before I practiced."

"The methods of the immortals are truly unfathomable. Even if it is just a cave that has been left for who knows how many years, it still has such terrifying power."

After expressing his emotion, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the endless long staircase to heaven above his head.

If he still had some cultivation left, Lu Chen would be able to complete the long staircase to heaven in just a few hours.

But without the cultivation, this road becomes difficult to travel.

No matter how difficult it is, Lu Chen will continue on this path.

With this thought in mind, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the top of the mountain.

After about an hour, Lu Chen already felt the strain.

He paused for a moment and stood there to adjust himself a little.

During this hour, Lu Chen felt the tiredness he hadn't felt for a long time.

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

Every time I lift it up, it is extremely difficult.

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

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

The only changes he could feel were the stairs behind him, which had also become longer, and the trees around him.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen finally felt another difficulty in climbing the Long Stairs to Heaven.

That is, it is a bit too much of a test on one's character.

After a brief rest, Lu Chen immediately walked towards the long stairs to heaven again.

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

Is it a trap, or a place left by Immortal Gu Yue for the trial participants to rest?

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

Ultimately, he chose to follow his heart.

He decided to visit the tea stall.

Lu Chen arrived at the tea stall and saw an old man with gray hair who was brewing tea.

Seeing Lu Chen appear, the old man smiled and said, "You must be planning to go up the mountain to look for immortals."

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

As the old man brewed tea, he said, "My tea stall has been here since the long staircase to heaven was built. Do you think I have seen anyone else?"

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

But Lu Chen knew very well that since this old man could appear here on the long staircase to heaven, he must not be an ordinary person.

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

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

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

Lu Chen looked at the storage bag that had disappeared from his waist, and the painting of mountains and seas that seemed to be sealed in his soul.

He knew that what the other party said was right. At the moment, he really couldn't produce 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 only thought about it 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 person."

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

Lu Chen frowned, thought for a long time and said, "It depends on how close they are to me."

"Understood."

The old man nodded, without showing whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied with Lu Chen's answer.

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

All he wanted was different answers from different people when faced with these questions.

The old man asked the last question while scooping some boiled tea from the boiling iron pot and pouring it into the teapot next to him.

"What would you do if you can't achieve immortality?"

This time, Lu Chen did not hesitate at all and replied, "Then ask another immortal for help."

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

"Drink it, this is a gift from me to you."

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

Soon, Lu Chen felt sleepy.

When he woke up again, he found himself back outside the long steps to immortality.

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

"Friend Lu, why are you coming out too?"

Shangguan Yunmeng looked at Lu Chen who appeared at the foot of the long steps to heaven and asked curiously.

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

Only Lu Chen is impossible.

Because if even Lu Chen couldn't cross the long staircase to heaven, it would be even more impossible for others.

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

Shangguan Yunmeng tilted her head and said, "I don't know. I just felt tired from walking, and when I saw a tea stand nearby, 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: "What did he ask you?"

Shangguan Yunmeng was stunned, 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 surprised to find that he could not remember the conversation at the tea stall just now.

He only remembered going to the tea stall and the old man at the tea stall asking him three questions.

But now he couldn't remember what these three questions were and how he answered them.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

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

Seeing this, Shangguan Yunmeng beside him said strangely: "Friend Lu, weren't you eliminated just like me? Why are you still walking towards the long steps to heaven?"

In response, Lu Chen said calmly: "Did anyone say that this long stairway to heaven can only be challenged once?"

"ah?!"

Shangguan Yunmeng was stunned, and then realized that no one seemed to have said that this long staircase to heaven could only be climbed once.

She had a preconceived notion that being sent out meant being eliminated.

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

After these words were spoken, Shangguan Yunmeng felt that her brain was a little confused.

What do you mean we are really out?

Isn’t the surrounding area the same as it was before they went up the mountain?

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No, it seems a little different.

Before they came, they left the immortal boat and came to the Gathering Immortals Bell.

Surrounding the Juxian Bell and the Long Stairs to Heaven was a vast sea of ​​white clouds with a lack of reference points.

Therefore, this place can be used as a place for a short rest on the long staircase to heaven.

The reason why Shangguan Yunmeng felt that she was eliminated was simply because she discovered that her cultivation had recovered.

After all, it is a consensus among everyone that cultivation cannot be used within the Long Stairs to Heaven.

At this moment, Lu Chen looked at the long staircase above his head, and thought of something. He said, "Actually, I was just thinking that the process of climbing the mountain is similar to the process of a cultivator seeking the way to immortality."

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

“No one says that you can’t rest after seeking the truth, and no one says that there is only one way to seek the truth.”

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

“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.”

"That old man seemed to be asking us, but in fact we were asking ourselves, what is the path we want to take?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the long stairway to heaven at the beginning should be the path of the Immortal Gu Yue."

"It is true that one can ascend to heaven by following his path, but how many people in this world can really complete his path?"

"Besides, what we want is to become immortal, not to become the next Gu Yue Zhenxian."

"The next long stairway to heaven is our own path."

"Fellow Daoist Shangguan, I hope we can meet again on the top of the mountain."

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

After saying this, Lu Chen stepped onto the long stairs to heaven again without looking back.

And this time, the scene of ascending to heaven before his eyes... was completely changed.

At the same time, Shangguan Yunmeng, who was at the foot of the mountain, looked at Lu Chen blankly as he disappeared again on the long staircase.

That expression is just like that of a student who doesn't understand what is being taught in class.

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

What is meant by the long stairway to heaven at the beginning should be the way of the Immortal Gu Yue.

What we mean by "we are seeking to become immortal, not to become the next Gu Yue Zhenxian" is...

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

But there is one good thing about Shangguan Yunmeng, and that is that she mainly listens to advice.

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

Even someone as capable as Lu Chen has entered the Long Stairway to Heaven again, so I just need to follow suit!

Thinking of this, Shangguan Yunmeng once again stepped onto the long steps in front of him.

Similar to Lu Chen, the long staircase in front of her also changed.

Not long after the two left, several more people appeared at the place where Lu Chen and Shangguan Yunmeng appeared.

But some of these people chose to continue climbing the mountain.

Some people chose to go down the mountain.

Those who chose to go down the mountain soon arrived at the real long steps leading to heaven.

Many people who have truly been eliminated have gathered here.

Among these people, a large number of them were actually teleported out directly because they were exhausted and fainted on the original long stairs to heaven.

And it is these people who have the most resentment at the moment.

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

"Yes, I feel that I have worked hard enough. I did not stop even when I passed several tea stalls. Instead, I kept walking. I was afraid that Immortal Gu Yue would think that my determination to seek the truth was not firm enough."

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

"If I had known this would happen, I would have gone to the tea stall to rest."

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

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

"ah?"

After hearing this, the man's expression, which was originally full of resentment, finally eased.

It turns out that no matter whether he goes to the tea stall or not, the final result will be the same, so he feels mentally balanced.

But the person who just answered him suddenly grabbed his shoulder and asked, "Wait, you just said that you were eliminated after you fainted from exhaustion, so where were you when you woke up?"

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

As soon as these words were spoken, the monk who went to the tea stall suddenly looked as pale as death, as if he had thought of something.

Then he grabbed his hair and said in a painful tone: "We were wrong. We took the wrong path from 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, after communicating with each other for a long time, everyone finally understood the relationship between the "long steps" and the "tea stall" in the long steps to heaven.

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

The first place they climbed was actually the Tao of Gu Yue Zhenxian.

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

Therefore, on this "road", tea stalls symbolizing "choice" appeared.

The tea stall is meant to let the monks stop and think about whether to continue walking towards the "path" in front of them.

It also gives them a choice.

A chance to choose their own path.

But when the "choice" arises, not everyone can seize this opportunity.

Some people understood this and chose to continue climbing the mountain and follow their own path.

For example, Lu Chen.

Some people didn't understand, but she was lucky, someone told her the answer and she followed it.

For example, Shangguan Yunmeng.

Some people don't believe in it, and they hope for the best, thinking that maybe they can try it again. For example, many people are still climbing the mountain.

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

They either fail to recognize themselves and stubbornly go further and further down the "wrong" path, until they are exhausted and still haven't reached the top of the mountain, and "die" on the road.

Or they choose to 'rest', then feel deep down that they are not good enough and do not have the courage to break the rules, and choose to really go down the mountain after thinking they are eliminated.

This is the essence of the Long Stairway to Heaven.

It has never tested the 'perseverance' of a monk.

Instead, it tests the cultivator's 'heart', 'understanding', and 'luck'.

Those who dare to question the conventions, regardless of whether they are good or bad, can enter the second advanced stage.

Those who have outstanding comprehension and can guess the essence of the matter can also enter the second advanced stage.

Those who have neither of the two but have great luck can also enter.

The path to immortality is long and difficult.

A short break isn't necessarily a bad thing.

When you don't know what is right or wrong, stubbornly moving forward is often the most fatal.

Because when a road reaches a certain point, you can no longer turn back.

Those monks who did not stop at any time along the way missed the first three tea stalls.

That leaves them with only two outcomes.

One is to reach the height that symbolizes the True Immortal Gu Yue with the body of a mortal.

Another thing is being eliminated, with no room for error.

This is what the Immortal Gu Yue wants to tell everyone with the help of this long stairway to heaven.

All things in the world lead to the same destination.

Some people may have walked to the end of a road, but that doesn’t mean you can too.

What is suitable for others may not be suitable for you.

Sometimes it is a good thing to stop, take a rest and think about your future path.

PS: The 64th day of daily 10,000 votes has ended, and I’m begging for monthly votes as usual!

(End of this chapter)