Chapter 1, Mining Slave

Sponsored Content

Lu Ye carried a mining basket on his back and a mining pick in his hand as he walked forward, step by step, inside a dark and damp mining tunnel.
The youth had a sorrowful expression on his face, and his eyes were fixed on the empty space in front of him as though he was staring intently at something.

 

To an outsider, there was nothing in front of him.
But in reality, the youth could see a translucent shadow in his vision.
It looked like the shadow of a tree that was grey and indistinct.
He could not get a clear glimpse of it.
Nevertheless, he could see that it had lush foliage.
The tree branches split off from the tree trunk approximately one-third of the way along its length, splitting to the left and the right.
They were supporting a semi-circular canopy.

 

It had been more than a year since he arrived in this world called Jiu Zhou, but he had yet to figure out what that was.
All he knew was that if he concentrated hard enough, there was a chance for that Shadowy Tree to appear in his vision.
However, nobody else seemed to notice it.

 

“What a depressing life,” He sighed.

 

He had suddenly woken up and found himself in this unfamiliar world one year ago.
Unfortunately, the Sect he was staying with had been seized by a gang of thieves before he could familiarize himself with the environment of this world.
Many people had been killed during the attack, and he became a prisoner of that gang of thieves along with some other young men and women.
They were then sent to this mine to become lowly mining slaves.

 

It wasn’t until much later that he learned from the scattered conversations around him that the Sect he had previously been staying with was known as Mystical Sky Sect.
It was a Sect that belonged to the Grand Sky Coalition.
Although that Sect had an awesome and tyrannical name, it was very small in reality.

 

On the other hand, the Sect that attacked Mystical Sky Sect was known as Evil Moon Valley, a Sect under the control of Thousand Demon Ridge.

 

Grand Sky Coalition and Thousand Demon Ridge were the two major factions in this world.
They were both formed by the union of countless large and small forces that constantly fought against each other with the intention to wipe out the other party.
It was said that their battle had been ongoing for several hundred years.
In Lu Ye’s opinion, the struggle between the two forces was simply a confrontation between the lawful faction and the evil faction.
It was also nothing more than an accident that he got dragged into the confrontation.

 

The lands of Jiu Zhou had been ravaged by countless wars over the years.
Every year, small forces like Mystical Sky Sect would be wiped out completely, but more forces would soon spring forth like bamboo shoots after rain.
These forces would occupy various places and make the situation even more chaotic.

 

[Oh well… If I am a mining slave, then so be it…] Lu Ye comforted himself.
[Compared to those who were killed, at least I am still alive.] It wasn’t that he had any special skills or anything that allowed him to survive.
It was just that Evil Moon Valley needed people to carry out their miscellaneous chores, and a young person with no cultivation like him was undoubtedly the best choice for that task.
In fact, the mining slaves at this mine did not just consist of the members of Mystical Sky Sect but also the disciples of various small Clans and Sects.

Sponsored Content

 

Evil Moon Valley was not weak.
It had captured many territories over the years, and the original forces in those territories had been wiped out completely.
Among those who were defeated, those that were deemed useful had been sent to various places as slaves.
None of these people had anything special about them.
None of them had been Enlightened nor started cultivating, so they were very easy to control.

 

There was a saying in Jiu Zhou that went ‘Demons who were not Enlightened had difficulty taking Human form, and Humans who were not Enlightened had difficulty cultivating’.
To begin cultivating, one needed to unlock their Spiritual Points.
In other words, only those who managed to unlock their Spiritual Points had the qualifications to begin cultivating.

 

Enlightenment was not an easy thing to achieve.
Only 1 out of 100 people could unlock their Spiritual Points after undergoing systematic training.
That probability might increase somewhat if they came from a cultivation Clan or Sect and received guidance from their Elders.

 

Since Lu Ye could not unlock his Spiritual Points, he could only earn a living by mining in this dim mining tunnel.
Fortunately, it wasn’t as if mining slaves had no way out of their predicament.
If they could successfully achieve Enlightenment and report their achievement to the person in charge, they would receive the opportunity to take an assessment.
If they passed the assessment, they could become a disciple of Evil Moon Valley.

 

It was just that very few among the mining slaves could achieve Enlightenment.
How could they achieve Enlightenment when they worked all day long in this dim environment and couldn’t even get enough food to eat? That was why almost 99% of the mining slaves were resigned to their fate.
They worked themselves to the bone every single day just to get a full meal to eat.

 

Lu Ye did not have any sense of belonging towards Mystical Sky Sect.
After all, he had only just arrived in this world when Mystical Sky Sect was destroyed.
He didn’t even know any of the people in the Sect.
Be that as it may, he did not want to become a disciple of Evil Moon Valley either.
It was not part of the lawful force.
Just listening to the name gave him an evil vibe.
It was bound to be destroyed, sooner or later.

 

Even so, he could not spend his entire life as a mining slave in this place.
What kind of life would that be? He was one of the elites of the modern era.
If he had no dreams or ambitions, how would he be any different from a piece of salted fish? That was why he had been working hard to achieve Enlightenment over the past year.
At first, he thought that the Shadowy Tree only he could see would give him some kind of magical help.
Unfortunately, the Shadowy Tree remained nothing more than a shadow.
Forget about helping him out, it even affected his vision occasionally.
He strongly suspected that there was something wrong with his eyes.

 

Turning a corner, he saw a faint light in the distance.
It was one of the exits of the mining tunnel.
He had a good harvest today.
If he turned in the ore in his mining basket, he could probably get 3 Contribution Points.
Combined with the Contribution Points he accumulated over the past few days, he had around 12 points in total.
2 points would be used to exchange for 2 steamed buns, and the remaining 10 points would be just enough for him to redeem 1 Qi Blood Pill.

 

The Qi Blood Pill was a very Low-Grade Spirit Pill.
It was not something that could aid in achieving Enlightenment, but an abundance of Qi and blood were required to achieve Enlightenment.
Although the Qi Blood Pill was very Low-Grade, it was extremely suitable for people like him who had yet to achieve Enlightenment.

Sponsored Content

 

The reason why Evil Moon Valley was willing to hand out the Qi Blood Pill was not out of kindness.
It was because they were well-versed in the art of manipulating a person’s heart.
Despite being the cheapest and lower-grade Spirit Pill, it could make hopeful people work even harder at mining.
Lu Ye was a prime example… He worked very hard every single day.

 

Above 100 metres away from the entrance of the mining tunnel, he inadvertently glanced at a certain spot in the front left corner.
There was a huge boulder in that spot.
He kept walking and continued walking until he was about 35 metres away.
Only then did he put down the mining basket on his back, tighten his grip on his mining pick, take out a medium-sized rock from his mining basket, and weighed it in his hands.

 

In the next moment, he suddenly ran toward the boulder, slid sideways as he approached the boulder, and kicked out at the rock wall of the mining tunnel.
Then, he swooped down from above toward the back of the boulder with the help of the rebounding force from his kick.
His movements were as agile as a cheetah.

 

Two figures were half-squatting behind the boulder, concealing themselves with the help of the boulder.
They did not expect anybody to notice their presence.
Hence, it was too late for them to stand up by the time they heard a sound and looked up to see Lu Ye.

 

Under the horrified gazes of those two, Lu Ye raised his hand and threw the ore in his hand at them.
It hit one of them directly on the nose.
That person screamed in pain and fell on his back to the ground.
Bl