The bottom of the vortex couldn’t be seen; there was nothing but blackness, making it seem as if the red rope had no end. Every tug on the rope caused the surrounding valley to quake. The ground rippled, as if the end of the rope were plugged into the very core of the earth.
Shocking booms sounded out as they continued to pull. More toxic miasma billowed out as nine hundred meters of rope appeared. Suddenly, a stench like that of rotten fish poured out from the depths of the vortex.
It seemed this stench had never appeared before; the seven men’s faces changed. However, the area immediately around the rope seemed to naturally be protected from the stench and miasma. Their faces pale, the seven men gritted their teeth and heaved once again on the rope.
Thirteen hundred fifty meters. Thirteen hundred eighty meters. Fourteen hundred meters!
The men panted. They had expended seventy to eighty percent of the power of their Cultivation bases. Without hesitation, they popped medicinal pills into their mouths and tugged once again on the rope. Five of the seven men coughed up blood. Soon, only the toad geezer, and the other man who was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, held out. They gritted their teeth, unable to stop their bodies from trembling.
“I’m at my limit….” said the toad geezer with a roar. He bit the tip of his tongue and spit out some more blood. As he did, a black beam of light shot out from the edge of the valley. It transformed into an enormous toad, which clamped its mouth down onto the red rope. As it bit down, its body began to wither, but it held fast and pulled.
Next, a centipede shot out, along with several human-sized spiders, summoned by the men to pull the rope. Even the huge boulder with the bird skeleton inside flew out. Its glow seemed to aid in pulling the red rope.
Fourteen-hundred thirty meters. Fourteen hundred sixty meters. Fourteen hundred ninety meters!
The rotten stench grew stronger, seemingly carrying the stink of a corpse as it filled the valley. It seemed the rope would soon be pulled out fifteen hundred meters. A shrill shriek came out of the whirlpool, piercing the air with wickedness.
The shriek grew more and more intense, seemingly filled with hope. Except… there were still ten meters to go before the fifteen hundred meter mark was reached. The poison beasts summoned by the seven men exploded one by one, unable to keep going. As they died, the faces of the seven men grew pale. The rope suddenly slipped out of their hands and was sucked back into the whirlpool. Had they not released it, they would have been pulled along with it into the vortex.
The men watched silently as the rope was pulled back inside.
“Forget it. We’ll try again next month.”
“Yes. The day will come when we will pull out fifteen hundred meters of rope. I will be making a breakthrough in my Cultivation base soon. Once I reach the ninth level of Qi Condensation, we will definitely be able to succeed.”
“That outsider is of the ninth level….” said one of the men suddenly.
“We don’t need to make things more complicated. That outsider is probably dead already, killed by the miasma. Even if he was at the Foundation Establishment stage, he couldn’t withstand it unless he was of our bloodline.”