Hearing the story of the old man, Lin Mu was intrigued. Yet there were questions that were still unanswered.
"Adviser Chu, how can we find the Wandering Sinkhole? And if we do enter it, what is the method to get out of it? We also want to know where a thousand year old Hong Lin tree can be found within it." Lin Mi shot off a series of questions.
"Ahah! A bit impatient, I see. Well… young men like you must have drive…" Adviser Chu chuckled.
"But I fear I won't be able to tell you about it. Not because I don't know, but rather because I don't want other people to succumb to the greed and get trapped there." Adviser Chu spoke, shocking the others.
"Please Adviser Chu, tell us so that we may save our kingdom." King Hong pleaded.
"Save the kingdom? What happened?" Adviser Chu was now worried as well.
"Well… how to begin this. But…" King Hong and adviser Liu then told them how the kingdom was faring and how it had almost become a puppet in the hands of others.
Once King Hong was done, Adviser Chu seemed visibly agitated. His tree bark like skin trembled while the veins underneath it throbbed.
"The northern tribes I see… so they have finally returned." Adviser Chu stated with a sigh.
He took a pause for a few seconds and then spoke again.
"Seems like the situation is far more dangerous than I had thought. This no longer concerns just our kingdom but also the rest of the world…" Adviser Chu said, his voice gaining a bit of volume.
"Will you tell us then, Adviser Chu?" Lin Mu asked again.
"I shall tell you then. Listen carefully….
I'll start with the easiest question, the one about the thousand year old Hong Lin trees. Yes, they can be found in the sinkhole, but if you want to get to them, you will have to pass through the territories of several dangerous beasts, most of which are in the Nascent soul realm and even Dao Shell realm." Adviser Chu answered, reliving Lin Mu and the two disciples a bit.
But even if they had heard the confirmation, the approach was still difficult, as the danger was quite high.
"Now about finding the Wandering sinkhole… the only way is to just search the entire Hong Lin forest. The sinkhole has no rhyme or reason and can be found moving around anywhere; hence the name wandering sinkhole.
As for getting out of it… there are three methods.
The first one is to exit through the same opening that you entered through. But the problem with this is that the opening moves around and there is a great chance you won't find it in the same place that you entered through.
The opening moves around at a rather fast pace as well and even if you spot it, the chances of you reaching it becomes rather less.
The second method is to make your own passage. I don't even know if this can be done by anyone in this world, even if they are from the top sects. The cultivation base needed to do it is simply massive.
Within the sinkhole, I've seen graves that belonged to Dao Treading realm experts as well, and if they were unable to escape it, someone at the Nascent soul realm escaping is far less.
Then there is the third and final method that I used. Using the intended exit of the Sinkhole." Adviser Chu explained.
Hearing all the answers, everyone was intrigued. They did not know which ones were viable for them fully, but knew that they would have to take the risks regardless. Lin Mu on the other hand, felt like the first and second methods might be viable for him even if the others did not seem like that.
Though the greatest doubt he had was about the third method.
"Adviser Chu, if there was an intended exit, then why did you not use it all those years? Was it perhaps hidden somewhere?" Lin Mu questioned the man.
"From all that I learned about the wandering sinkhole, I believe it was supposed to be a sacred ground or trials ground for some power a long time ago. But then it fell into disrepair and no one maintained it.
This caused it to return to the main world and develop to become a minor plane instead. It took in several plants and animals from our world and then isolated itself. But even then, there are several traces of its original structures remaining.
One of these original structures is the intended exit I spoke of. It is hidden, or rather I must say protected by strong spatial phenomena that would kill you before you can even approach it.
The only reason I was able to escape using that was that there are moments in time when the spatial disturbances reduce in intensity, allowing one to push through the phenomena.
Of course, since I escaped it and never returned there, I am not sure how often that reduction in spatial phenomena occurs. But from the comparisons I made earlier there, I reckon it happens at least once a month or so.
While I used the exit only once, I had been observing the area around it for years. I was simply unable to approach it due to the danger it held. But I was lucky as I ran out of all options and decided to take a do or die initiative.
This allowed me to learn about the increased stability of the exit and I didn't hesitate to leave at that point. I even left behind most of the things I had gotten there." Adviser Chu answered.
~phew~
Hearing this, Lin Mu and the rest took breaths of relief. To them as long as they had at least one viable option, they were fine with it. Lin Mu even more so, as he realized all three of those options might be viable for him.
