Chapter 22: The Nameless Mountain Cave 2

  Section 1

  Those days of isolation from the world are not something ordinary people can endure, let alone someone in their twenties who loves to be active and lively. Li Wei had a strange feeling, as if one day in the mountains was equivalent to a thousand years in the world outside. He found it odd that he didn't feel hungry despite eating so little. If only life in the North Korean concentration camp could be like this, he wouldn't be so hungry all the time. He wondered how Xue Zhu's sister was doing. Just as Li Wei was lost in thought, the old monk flew up from the cave below. Li Wei quickly stood up to greet him, and the old monk nodded his head with a smile, saying:

  "Young man, I never thought that in just one month you could master the skills that I've spent half my life studying. Your abilities are incredibly profound, ordinary people might need to practice for half their lives to achieve this level of skill. But time waits for no one, and as an old monk who is about to pass on, how can I continue to practice? Now your skills surpass mine, and there's nothing more that I can teach you."

  "Thank you, Master, are you telling me to go down the mountain?"

  "The time has not yet come, above this cave there is another cave, that cave has even more extraordinary divine skills, I'm afraid I have no chance to cultivate it in this life, if I can see you succeed in your cultivation, my last wish will be fulfilled."

  Li Wei walked up to the edge of the cliff and looked up, but didn't see any more caves.

  "Master, are you sure there's still a cave above?"

  "In fact, from the outside wall, these three stone caves don't exist. Master and I only reached two layers, but what people have been passing down by word of mouth can't be wrong."

  "Hasn't your senior brother gone up there before?"

  "Lacking in strength, forcing oneself to go up not only brings no benefit but also harm. One must think of going up and practice the martial arts below, exerting all one's energy to leap up with a single bound, only then can one reach."

  "Master, it's getting dark now. Why don't I try again tomorrow?" Li Wei thought to himself, wanting to discuss with the monk at night.

  "Alright, have a good rest tonight, and tomorrow carp will leap over the dragon gate."

  "Master praised me, I jumped over and became a toad too. Hahahaahaha!!!!!!"

  The old man was speechless, turned around and sat down to practice his skills. Li Wei also felt a bit incoherent, these days the language has been inconsistent, life is also very disorganized, the old monk's demeanor is elegant and refined, but can't see him washing clothes or taking a bath, yet still so ethereal and agile. Li Wei was relatively sloppy, his clothes were dark and shiny, as for himself, Li Wei felt that he stank unbearably.

  It was already very dark when he contacted the monk, and Li Wei couldn't wait to ask first:

  "You know there's another cave above the one we live in!"

  "My master once mentioned that I haven't mastered the lower-level martial arts, so I didn't think of moving on to the higher levels."

  "I'm going up tomorrow, but I'm worried that I won't be able to jump up and then fall back down, wouldn't that be certain death?"

  "Master said it won't be wrong, if you're still worried, there's a box under the folding bed with mountaineering equipment inside."

  "Why didn't you say so earlier? When Master took me down there for the first time, I was scared out of my wits."

  "You've been through so many battles and you're still afraid? I was just a kid when I first went down."

  "Did you grow up just drinking water and eating fruit?"

  "How could that be? At that time, Master was not as reclusive as he is now, and I still had rice and vegetables to eat."

  "Master, he's so old now, it really shouldn't be allowed for him to live alone here from now on."

  "My master advocates a life of leisurely clouds and wild cranes, meditating and cultivating his mind. Every time I go back to visit him, he chases me away."

  "Master is really a strange monk, let's stop here and say, in order to save some electricity for the emergency light, I still need to sort out my mountaineering equipment."

  "Okay, good luck! Goodbye."

  "Farewell, Big Brother."

  "Goodbye, Bajie."

  Li Wei laughed. He couldn't believe that the wooden and steady monk would also make jokes. His mood improved a lot, and he became confident about tomorrow's event: I'm a genius, who am I afraid of!

  Section 2

  Everything is ready, just waiting for a leap to the sky. The cliff is low and the precipice is thousands of feet high. Li Wei turned around to face the stone room, pulled the rope, breathed in and out, his feet pushed against the ground, and he jumped lightly several times. He looked at the old monk and said:

  "Master, I'm ready. Later when I go up, Master you also climb up the rope to prevent me from entering a state of frenzy while practicing my skills. If I fall down, don't worry about me, I'll climb back up myself."

  The old monk nodded and said:

  "Young man, you don't have to bind yourself like this. With your abilities and efforts, you can naturally succeed. If you are bound by a rope, you will become dependent and distracted."

  "Don't worry, Master, I'm very confident. I brought the rope just in case you wanted to come up with me."

  "Seniors have their own reasons for arranging things this way, so why force it? Young man, you can rest assured and go!"

  The sound of the wind was howling in his ears, Li Wei let out a loud roar and exerted all his strength, slightly crouching down, gathering a mouthful of true energy, and with one foot pushing off the ground, he shot upwards with a whooshing sound. His eyes were fixed on the sheer cliff face, searching for an opening. At this moment, Li Wei had found the feeling of flight, floating up effortlessly on the wind. Just as he was about to exhaust his strength, he spotted a foothold and stepped onto it, using his hands and feet like a monkey to climb up the rocky surface. In just three or two movements, he climbed onto a small stone platform over a meter wide. There was no cave here, only a stone gate with a large iron ring embedded in it. The stone gate was a single massive slab of rock, and judging from the space available, it must be pushed inward because if pulled outward, there would be no room to stand. Li Wei tied the rope around the iron ring, grasped the ring with one hand, and pushed against the stone gate with the other, shouting "Open!" as he began to exert his strength. The stone gate only moved about 10 centimeters before it couldn't be pushed any further. Li Wei took a deep breath, gathered his energy, and with both palms pushing against the stone gate and both feet bracing against the ground, he let out a loud cry and poured all his strength into the stone gate, slowly but surely pushing it open. He pushed for over 10 meters before finally stopping. Li Wei turned on his emergency light and looked around, seeing that the stone wall was covered in intricate carvings of a cultivation method, different from the martial arts practiced below. The technique here was extremely mysterious, and if the practices below were considered mortal martial arts, then this must be immortal magic. Although the meaning was obscure and difficult to understand, Li Wei's internal energy seemed to be automatically cultivating itself, his true energy circulating through his body, and the spot in his lower abdomen growing hotter as it spread throughout his body. In a daze, he felt as if his soul was about to leave his body. Startled, Li Wei focused his mind and realized that someone must be guarding this cultivation method on the stone wall. He should go call Master. As Li Wei walked towards the cave entrance, he suddenly jumped out without thinking, but instead of feeling like he was plummeting downwards, he felt as if he were floating gently down. The old monk also noticed the change and looked at Li Wei with a nod and a smile, seemingly very pleased.

  "Master, the kung fu above is indeed mysterious and wonderful. When I watched it, the internal energy in my body actually ran automatically, and later on, I even had a feeling of my soul leaving my body. Master, if you don't go up to watch me and correct me, I'm afraid something unexpected will happen."

  "Senior's last words, I must master the martial arts on the stone wall below before I can go to the upper stone wall to study the divine art. If I go up now, I'm afraid I'll break the ancestor's rules."

  "Master won't go up, I don't dare go up again, I'm afraid for my life."

  "Alright then, today Old Monk will make an exception, go ahead and go up."

  Li Wei didn't tie himself with a rope this time, and instead held onto the old monk's arm. With one leap, he landed directly on the platform at the entrance of the stone cave. The two people walked slowly into the cave, and the old monk looked around at the walls, which were carved with the methods for refining and controlling Qi, the techniques for cultivating intention and willpower, and the ways to gather and concentrate the spirit. In the old monk's opinion, these were just words and couldn't be used for actual cultivation. On the other hand, Li Wei had already entered a state of enlightenment, surrounded by true Qi, floating as if he were an immortal. Especially at his Dan Tian, there seemed to be a bright pearl that was sometimes visible and sometimes not, radiating light. The old monk secretly admired him in his heart, thinking that he was truly a divine being, and it was also his good fortune to witness the completion of Li Wei's divine techniques!

  Section 3

  Li Wei stood shoulder to shoulder with Laohe Shang on the edge of the cliff, bidding their final farewell as it was time to head down the mountain.

  "Young man, you and I are destined to meet. Let me witness in this life that someone has cultivated the divine art. After going down the mountain, remember not to reveal your divine art in front of people. From now on, you must cultivate your heart and nature, and absolutely must not go astray into evil ways."

  "Don't worry, Master, I will definitely remember your teachings."

  "I dare not accept your teachings, from now on you should make good use of your divine skills, bring blessings to the people and contribute to the country."

  "Yes! Master, can't I really go back by the road I came from?"

  "Your skills have already made some progress, don't you want to test how strong your abilities are?"

  "But what if I..."

  "Go with the flow, follow your heart, believe in yourself!"

  "Yes! Master."

  Li Wei took a deep breath and jumped down!

  Let the wind howl in your ears!

  Let your body soar across the land!

  At this moment he is one with heaven!

  In an instant he was tightly bound to the ground!