Lin Mu was stunned by hearing the time for which the old man was stuck there and the struggles he had gone through. Lin Mu compared himself to him and realized that he at least had some people to talk to during the past few years, but Adviser Chu had no one.
He too was blind to the ways of cultivation and had gone through it due to a fortune. But Lin Mu had managed to figure out his own method of cultivation and Adviser Chu had not.
Lin Mu even wondered if the way he figured out his cultivation method could even be replicated or not. Senior Xukong called it the path of the primordial, but Lin Mu didn't know what that exactly meant.
Though according to senior Xukong, this method of cultivation would allow him to have many paths of progress in the future unlike a lot of cultivators that become restricted to a few avenues of growth.
'With the time that Adviser Chu had he should have been able to learn something about his meridians and cultivation base right? Since he was not able to do it then what was it that made me different?' Lin Mu couldn't help but wonder to himself.
Even though he had these questions, he did not ask them and let the old man speak. They didn't know how long he had and it was better to listen to all his words before asking him more.
~cough~
The old man lightly coughed and took a few breaths before speaking again.
"A lot of us had heard rumors of the Wandering Sinkhole and how it would take away people never to return them. When people encountered it, they had two options. Either to succumb to greed and enter it, or be scared and run away.
Though there was also the fact that a lot of people fell in it involuntarily since it was hard to spot the Wandering sinkhole. There were a lot of cultivators that seeker it out as well and wanted to learn about its secrets with the hope that there was something powerful in it.
Which from what I could see, wasn't actually false. The wandering sinkhole contains a lot of treasures, spirit herbs, and even spirit stones. Thus, a myriad of cultivators came here to test their luck.
Alas, none of them succeeded. Or perhaps… some did, but the world never found out about it. Of the ones that were unsuccessful I learned about cultivation. The dead were my teachers and I their student.
Upon discovering the tombs, I spent time uncovering them and learning about their secrets. Various tombs contained the various inheritances that the cultivators who entered sinkhole left behind.
I do not know for how many centuries or even thousands of years this had been going on, but an unofficial record of some kind had been made by the survivors of the sinkhole. While they were unable to leave the place, they still learned from their predecessors and wrote down the things they say.
They had hope that perhaps someone would come to rescue them or maybe their information would help someone else in the future. And that information certainly came in handy for me.
Not only did I learn about the ecology of the sinkhole I also learned about cultivation. The cultivation technique I gained was left behind by a nameless cultivator and I had to spend ten years in order to learn it.
And after those ten years, it took me another hundred years to perfect it. By that time, I was already over two hundred and fifty years old. I knew my lifespan would end soon, thus I took that time to make my breakthrough to the Nascent soul realm.
Thirty years passed before I was finally able to complete my breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm. But even then, my troubles did not end and there was no path to escape in sight.
I spent the rest of the time learning about the sinkhole and the beings that lived inside it. And from that I learned, there was always a bigger fish behind a big fish. I thought I would be strong enough to handle anything once I was in the Nascent Soul realm, but I was foolish.
There were plenty of beasts and plants that were at the Nascent soul realm and even a few that were at the Dao shell realm. I of course, avoided as many fights as I could and continued my escape plan.
It was only when 450 years had passed since my arrival into the sinkhole did I find a path to leave. Once I learned that I waited for the opportune moment, and escaped the sinkhole." Adviser Chu explained.
~huu~
The old man took a deep breath and rested for a bit.
"What was it that you used to escape the area?" Lin Mu questioned.
"It was a formation array. Making it was a throw in the dark that I tried and it ended up working." Adviser Chu answered.
"I see… but then why didn't you speak of your experiences in the Sinkhole?" Lin Mu questioned.
If it were him, he would probably learn about everything there and give the answer to the juniors in the world.
~Sigh~
Hearing this, the old man sighed to himself.
"I have seen the sinkhole… while there is fortune there, it is a mere trap. I did not want the juniors of this world to be tainted and thus I never revealed it to the world. All I wanted to do after escaping it was to meet my family.
Alas! They had long since perished, after all, there are no mortals that lived as long as the cultivators. I had gained increased longevity and didn't even get to share that with my family.
Then the King noticed me and offered me a position after hearing my situation.
A person like me was very useful for the king and thus I was made an Advisers." Adviser Chu explained.
