25 A mountain of Loot
Liu Ping emerged from the secret room and found himself back at the cliff's edge.
"...I always have this nagging feeling that something's missing..." he muttered to himself, his brow furrowed in thought.
He stood on the 39th underground level, with the bottom of the cliff a few dozen feet beneath. 40th floor is within reach
This cliff is a trap.
so....how many lives has it claimed so far?
And more importantly...
"What about the treasures the ones who fell in?" Liu Ping couldn't help but rub his hands together in anticipation.
and of course, with his master gone, those treasures should be in the hands of someone with 'good intentions'.
With resolve, he reached out his hand and flicked it outward.
Suddenly, countless spirit stones cascaded down the cliff, forming a path along the walls.
Liu Ping stepped onto the stones, slowly descending below.
Arriving at the bottom of the cliff after a while, Liu Ping located the core of the trap behind a concealed rock and skillfully deactivated it with a special sleight of hand.
A long buzzing noise echoed through the air as the densely covered strangle formation stopped its operation entirely.
With the trap disarmed, Liu Ping gathered all the spirit stones, revealing the true appearance of the bottom of the cliff.
Years of neglect had left the area overgrown with weeds, with occasional glimpses of bone sediment buried beneath the thick grass.
Scanning the area, Liu Ping finally spotted a Storage Bag. With eager anticipation, he reached for it with one hand while continuously performing sleight of hand with the other. After dozens of attempts, the Storage Bag finally opened with a crisp "pa" sound.
"Let's see what we have here" Liu Ping muttered to himself as he rummaged through the contents.
"A record jade slip... containing information about this cliff, revealing the path to underground level 40. Useful" he noted.
"Seven Divisions cultivation secret dao art... outdated and useless" he dismissed with a shake of his head.
"A pill furnace... too inferior, easy to explode. Not worth the trouble" he concluded, tossing the items aside.
"Only 5000 spirit stones? Is this some kind of joke? if you're broke just say so." Liu Ping scoffed, his enthusiasm waning as he pocketed the spirit stones.
Putting aside the dao art and pill furnace without care, Liu Ping focused on the spirit stones, and his interest somewhat diminished.
Somewhat disappointed and unwilling to accept his findings, Liu Ping reluctantly scanned the ground.
The abundance of bone remains indicated a significant number of casualties in this area.
However, there was only one Storage Bag?
"What? throughout all these years, only one unlucky soul thought to bring money here? Did nobody else consider bringing items for self-defense to such a dangerous place?" Liu Ping muttered to himself, his frustration growing.
He paced around the bottom of the cliff, surrounded by grotesquely-shaped jagged rocks, until he found an image transmission Formation.
Activating the Formation required six spirit stones.
"5000 minus six, leaving me with 4994," Liu Ping calculated, realizing he would have to spend six spirit stones despite his harvest of only five thousand. This was a setback he couldn't blame on anyone else, it was just that his expectations were way higher.
"Ahh, whatever, this will have to do" Liu Ping grumbled, accepting the loss as he activated the image transmission Formation.
Liu Ping carefully placed the six spirit stones into the formation groove channel, then gently invoked the secret art. The formation gradually illuminated, emitting a faint spiritual light as it condensed an image.
In the projection, a cultivator clad in battle armor stood near the cliff, holding a jade slip in hand.
He glanced at the cliff and nodded to himself. "Finally found the way to the lower levels. Now, I can proceed" he murmured.
The cultivator pocketed the jade slip, gripped his weapon tightly, and cautiously leaped towards the edge of the cliff. Countless spirit lights converged and twisted around his body as he descended.
But then, in an instant, the cultivator transformed into bone remains, plummeting towards the bottom of the cliff along with his Storage Bag.
Liu Ping peered into the Storage Bag he held, realizing it belonged to the fallen cultivator. This was unexpected. But with so many bone remains scattered about, whose remains were these?
With a firm grip on his secret art, Liu Ping accelerated the speed of the images, causing the light and shadows to flicker rapidly. Days seemed to pass in a blur, and soon enough, sounds could be heard echoing from the cliff above.
In the hand of yet another cultivator, a jade slip was held tightly. With a determined gaze towards the cliff, he nodded to himself. "Finally found the path to the lower levels. I can proceed" he affirmed.
Taking hold of a shield this time, the cultivator cautiously leaped towards the edge of the cliff. However, he too met his demise as the trap obliterated him, reducing him to a mere handful of bone remains, crashing down below.
Days passed once more.
In the hand of the next cultivator, the jade slip glinted. "Finally found the path to the lower levels. I can proceed" he echoed, his voice tinged with the same determination.
This time, he clutched a formation plate as he carefully leapt towards the cliff's edge. But like those before him, he met the same fate, turned to bone remains by the unforgiving trap.
This cycle repeated a staggering 67 times, each ending in the same tragic result.
But then, on the sixty-eighth attempt, there was a change.
"This is a trap that cannot be bypassed. It seems I must find another path," the cultivator muttered, his resolve unwavering.
And with that, he set off, determined to find a different route.
The following scene passes by rapidly, yet no one ever reaches this cliff. standing motionless for a while in the same spot, lost in thought.
'Anyone wanting to climb down the cliff, often meet their end—caught in the traps laid out beforehand.'
'What's truly peculiar, however, is that the same person investigates the cliff every time before meeting their end. That cultivator.....'
'Despite countless deaths, even reduced to mere bone fragments, they persist, like a repeating pattern. Only when they finally change their route does the pattern break.'
"... They're being manipulated, playing out their designated roles in the grand scheme" echoes the words of the young girl, sending shivers down Liu Ping's spine.
The jade slip guides cultivators to explore the cliff, while countless others adhere to their own roles, fulfilling their destinies. Is this all part of a larger scheme?
"This doesn't sound good... I must go and see where that cultivator ends up" he muttered.
Suddenly, two lines of small text appeared before him:
[Attention.]
[It's getting dark. You must return to the World of the Living immediately.]
Liu Ping sighed. reactivating all traps, he swung his hand...
In an instant, the entire cliff was filled with countless spirit stones, seemingly infinite.
As he arranged the multitude of spirit stones, more lines text continued to appear before him:
[You are placing spirit stones beneath your feet.]
[You gather spirit stones around your body and above your head.]
[You are ascending.]
...
Dusk descended upon the land.
The sun cast its final rays, painting the distant horizon in a deep crimson hue.
The town echoed with the solemn toll of bells.
Old K halted his steps and said, "It was about time for you to return. That was the first bell, and I must head to the town entrance to regroup with everyone. But before that, I'll lead you to the safe house."
Liu Ping followed him as they walked, asking, "Do I really not need to take a night watch shift?"
"You still have much to learn. Once the boss deems you capable enough, you'll join us on nights watch" Old K explained.
As they arrived at a horse stable, Old K pressed on a wooden block, revealing a narrow entrance beneath the stable.
"The magic-type Sealing Formation is already activated. Inside, you'll find clean water and food. Rest well, and we'll talk at dawn" Old K instructed.
"Yes" acknowledged without having any other choice, He set off towards the opening, about to rest for the night.
"Wait a moment" Old K said, causing Liu Ping to turn his head.
From behind, Old K retrieved a pistol and handed it to Liu Ping, saying "Take this."
Liu Ping accepted the firearm, asking, "But why do I need a weapon if we're in the safe house?"
"It's just in case," Old K replied with a smile. "And you'll need a weapon from now on."
"If I need to leave the safe house, how do I do it?" Liu Ping inquired.
Old K explained, "The Magic Cabin's fire will extinguish automatically tomorrow morning. if you destroy the magic fire, the exit will open."
With a nod to Liu Ping, Old K turned and left. Liu Ping stood still for a moment before descending the stairs.
As he walked down, the stone steps materialized beneath his feet, concealing the ground and closing up behind him, leaving no trace of his passage.
After about ten breaths, a light suddenly appeared below—a room lined with animal skins. It wasn't large, with seven or eight drinking glasses on the table and neatly arranged white rectangular bars in one corner.
Upon picking up a drinking glass, a line of small characters appeared in the air:
[Magic drinking glass, water capacity: 700 cubic meters.]
Having learned about cubic meters from his studies with the Nights Keeper, Liu Ping understood the measurement.
He moved to the corner and grabbed one of the white rectangular bars. More text appeared:
[Individual field rations, Human Race. This grain ration can supplement five days of food consumption for the average person.]
Liu Ping puzzled over the convenience of these rations compared to Fasting Pills. Why were Fasting Pills necessary if these bars were so practical?
Perplexed, he set down the bar and approached the fireplace, taking a seat.
