Chapter 1: Mining Slaves

In the dim and damp mine tunnel, Lu Ye carried a mining basket on his back and a mining pick in his hand, moving forward step by step.

The boy's expression was a little sad, his eyes focused on the empty space in front of him, as if he was staring at something.

To outsiders, there was nothing in front of Lu Ye, but in fact, in the boy's field of vision, he could see a translucent shadow.

It looked like the shadow of a tree, gray and hazy, making it unclear, with lush branches and leaves, and the branches split to the left and right from one-third of the tree body, supporting a semicircular crown.

It has been more than a year since he came to this world called Kyushu, and Lu Ye still hasn't figured out what this thing is. He only knows that when his attention is focused enough, this shadow tree has a chance to appear in his field of vision, and others will not notice it at all.

"What a miserable life." The boy sighed.

A year ago, he suddenly woke up in this strange world. Before he could get familiar with the environment, the faction he was in was occupied by a group of thieves. Many people were killed. He and some other young men and women became prisoners of the thieves, and then were sent to this mine to become a lowly miner.

Later, he learned from the scattered conversations of others that the faction he was in was affiliated with the Haotian League, a sect called Xuantian Sect.

The name of this sect sounds cool and domineering, but in fact it is just a small sect.

The one who occupied Xuantian Sect was the Xieyue Valley under the command of Wanmo Ridge.

Haotian League and Wanmo Ridge are the two major faction organizations in this world. They are all formed by countless large and small forces. They fight against each other and intend to completely destroy each other. It is said that it has lasted for hundreds of years.

In Lu Ye's view, such a fight is simply the confrontation between the lawful camp and the evil camp. He was just accidentally involved in such a tide of confrontation.

Over the years, the Jiuzhou Continent has been in flames of war. Every year, small forces like Xuantian Sect are uprooted, but soon more forces emerge like mushrooms after rain, occupying various territories, making the situation even more chaotic.

Miner slaves are miner slaves... Lu Ye comforted himself. Compared with those who were killed, he was still alive.

He survived not because he had any special skills, but because Xieyue Valley needed some chores to do. People like Lu Ye who had no cultivation and were still young were undoubtedly the best choice.

In fact, the miners in this mine were not only from Xuantian Sect, but also from other small families and small sects.

Xieyue Valley was not weak in strength. Over the years, it had captured a lot of territories. The original forces on these territories were naturally destroyed, and some of the available manpower was sent to various places by Xieyue Valley for slavery.

These people all had one characteristic without exception: they had not yet awakened and had no cultivation, so they were easy to control.

There is a saying in Jiuzhou Continent that it is difficult for monsters to transform if they are not awakened, and it is difficult for people to practice if they are not awakened.

If you want to practice, you need to open your spiritual orifice. Only when you open your spiritual orifice, you are qualified to practice.

Opening your spiritual orifice is not a simple matter. Among ordinary people, only about one in a hundred can open their spiritual orifices after systematic training. If you come from a practicing family or sect, with the guidance of elders, this proportion may be higher.

Lu Ye failed to open his own spiritual orifice, so he can only make a living by mining in this dim mine.

However, miners are not without a way out. If you can successfully open your orifice and find the person in charge to report to the higher-ups, you will have the opportunity to participate in an assessment. If you pass the assessment, you can become a disciple of Xieyue Valley.

However, there are very few miners who can open their orifices. How can they open their orifices in this dim environment, working all day long without even having enough food?

So basically 99% of the miners have accepted their fate and work hard every day just for a full meal.

Lu Ye has no sense of belonging to Xuantian Sect. After all, Xuantian Sect was destroyed when he just came to this world, and he doesn’t know who those people in the sect are.

He didn't want to become a disciple of the Evil Moon Valley. It was not a serious force. Just hearing the name gave people a sense of evil. It would be dead sooner or later.

But he couldn't stay here as a miner for the rest of his life. That would be disgraceful. After all, he was an elite of the new era. If a person didn't have a dream, what difference would there be between him and a salted fish.

So he had been trying to open his mind for the past year. Originally, he thought that only the shadow tree that he could see could provide him with some wonderful help, but until now, this shadow tree was still just a shadow. Not to mention any help, it sometimes affected his vision.

Lu Ye seriously suspected that there was something wrong with his eyes.

Turning a corner, a faint light appeared in the distance. That was one of the exits of the mine.

Today's harvest was good. If the ore in the mine basket was handed over, it should be able to get three contribution points. Counting the accumulation of the past few days, it was about twelve points. Two points were used to exchange for two steamed buns, and the remaining ten points were just enough to exchange for a blood and qi pill.

Qi and Blood Pill is a very low-level pill, not something that can help people open their minds. However, if you want to open your mind, you must have enough Qi and Blood. Although Qi and Blood Pill is low-level, it is suitable for people like Lu Ye who have not opened their minds.

The reason why Xieyue Valley is willing to take out Qi and Blood Pill is not because of kindness, but because they are well versed in human nature. This cheapest and lowest-level pill can make people with hope work harder to mine.

For example, Lu Ye... is very hardworking every day.

Thirty feet away from the exit of the mine, Lu Ye's eyes inadvertently glanced at a corner in front of the left, where a huge rock lay.

He continued to walk forward without stopping until he was about ten feet away, then he put down the ore basket on his back, tightened the pickaxe in his hand, took out a stone of moderate size from the ore basket, and weighed it slightly.

The next moment, he ran towards the boulder, approached the boulder, slid sideways, stepped on the rock wall of the mine tunnel, and used the rebound force to dive down behind the boulder, like a nimble cheetah.

Two figures were half-crouching behind the boulder, using the boulder to cover their bodies, and they didn't expect that the newcomers would find their traces.

Hearing the noise, and then seeing Lu Ye, it was too late to get up.

Under the horrified gaze of the two people, Lu Ye raised his hand and threw the ore in his hand, hitting one of them in the nose. The man immediately screamed and fell on his back on the ground, with blood flowing on his face.

Lu Ye's other hand's pickaxe shot again, but he didn't hit the second person. The man reacted well and dodged by tilting his head.

However, Lu Ye had already rushed in front of him and kicked him in the abdomen. The man was immediately filled with pain, fell out, knelt on the ground, and vomited a mouthful of sour water.

Lu Ye stepped forward, grabbed the man's hair with one hand, saw the man's face clearly, and sneered: "I wondered who it was, it turned out to be you two brothers!"

He knew these two people, they were disciples of the Liu family. After the Liu family's territory was occupied by the Evil Moon Valley, some young disciples of the Liu family were sent here to serve as miners.

Strictly speaking, Lu Ye and the two Liu brothers were also connected by the same fate.

"Did I say, don't let me see you again, otherwise I will kill you!" While Lu Ye was speaking, he picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it hard.

This hit was not light, and the second brother of the Liu family only snorted and was knocked unconscious.

Lu Ye walked towards the eldest brother Liu who was injured by him before.

Liu Lao Da's forehead was smashed, and blood was smearing his eyes. He vaguely saw Lu Ye coming towards him, and he was so scared that he rolled and crawled: "Spare my life, my two brothers didn't know it was you who came, and thought it was someone else... Spare my life!"

The two Liu brothers were sneaking in front of the exit of the mine tunnel, and naturally they had no good intentions.

Before they were caught, they were all spoiled people. Even if they became miners, they were unwilling to suffer. However, miners were of low status, and the people of Xieyue Valley did not regard miners as human beings. If there was no ore exchange contribution, they could not get food at all.

So the two brothers often squatted in front of a certain exit of the mine tunnel and robbed those miners who were alone. Many people were unlucky because of this. Not only were the ore they worked hard to mine every day robbed, but they were also beaten half to death.

Last time, they wanted to rob Lu Ye, but they were no match for him and were taught a lesson.

Unexpectedly, it was only a few days ago that they met these two brothers again.

There are many kinds of people in the world. There are lazy people like the Liu brothers, and there are people like Lu Ye who have dreams.

In the past year, Lu Ye has exchanged his contributions for ore for Qi and Blood Pills, in addition to ensuring his daily food and clothing.

In total, he has taken no less than 30 Qi and Blood Pills.

This has made Lu Ye stronger than most miners. Although his body is not strong, the power contained in his body is better than that of ordinary people.

It is no problem to deal with two lazy miners.

Liu Lao Da was still begging for mercy, but Lu Ye pretended not to hear him, grabbed his hair, raised the stone in his other hand, and smashed it hard.

In more than a year of miner life, Lu Ye has seen too many tragedies and has long understood that in this world of cannibalism, any pity and sympathy are useless.

The miners are not harmonious. Miners from different forces are destined to be unable to unite. For a piece of good ore, miners often fight with blood.

People die in the mine tunnel every day. Every time you walk a certain distance, you can see a dead bone scattered on the ground.

There are many miners who starve to death because of robbery.

Boss Liu fell down in response.

Lu Ye picked up his pickaxe, put on the ore basket again, and walked towards the exit. He did not kill the Liu brothers, not because he was soft-hearted, but because the injured miners usually cannot survive here for long.

After walking a few steps, a person suddenly rushed in from the exit in a panic.

"Get out!" The man shouted, and slapped Lu Ye.

At this moment, Lu Ye felt cold all over, just because he saw a pale blue light flowing through the other person's palm.

That was the light of spiritual power. In other words, the one who attacked him was a cultivator!

Only those who open their spiritual orifices are qualified to practice and be called cultivators.

The spiritual power of a cultivator is an extremely magical power. Lu Ye had seen a cultivator from the Evil Moon Valley take action. Although he did not have a strong power, he just shattered a piece of ore with a light palm. It was after seeing that magical scene that Lu Ye made up his mind to open his own spiritual orifice and become a cultivator.

He had also secretly evaluated that even the cultivator with the lowest cultivation level in the Evil Moon Valley could easily beat ten of himself.

So when he realized that it was a cultivator who attacked him, Lu Ye knew that he was going to be in great trouble.

At the critical moment of life and death, he stopped his steps abruptly and jumped back suddenly.

His chest was numb, and the sound of broken bones rang out. Lu Ye flew backwards and fell to the ground.

The severe pain made him clear his mind a lot. After realizing that he was still alive, he immediately got up.

"Eh!" The monk who made the move was a little surprised. Although he didn't use all his strength in that palm strike just now, it was just a casual slap, but it shouldn't be something the miner could bear.

He saw the miner's face clearly in the dim light and blurted out: "Lu Ye?"

Lu Ye had already made a gesture to turn around and run away. After hearing the voice, he was also extremely shocked: "Manager Yang?"

This monk surnamed Yang was a small manager in the mine. Lu Ye often dealt with him, because the Qi and Blood Pill was exchanged from him, so they were familiar with each other.

Manager Yang was very optimistic about Lu Ye. After all, it was rare to find a miner like him who could endure hardships and hard work.

However, although he was optimistic, there was no special preferential treatment. As long as he didn't open his mind, there was an insurmountable gap between mortals like Lu Ye and monks.

After recognizing Lu Ye, Manager Yang was relieved that he failed to kill the other party with one palm. Lu Ye had exchanged a lot of Qi and Blood Pills from him in the past year, and his physical fitness was stronger than that of ordinary miners. In addition, he just hit him casually and did not intend to kill him. It was not surprising that the other party survived.

Across from Manager Yang, Lu Ye's heart was beating fast.

The monks of Xieyue Valley generally did not care about the life and death of miners. They also knew that miners would often fight in the mine veins. Unless they were encountered, they would basically ignore it.

Lu Ye had just beaten the Liu brothers to a bloody head and fainted on the ground. Manager Yang turned around and slapped him. In Lu Ye's opinion, this was clearly Manager Yang teaching him a lesson.

But soon he felt something was wrong, because Manager Yang looked flustered when he rushed in, and did not look like he was standing up for the Liu brothers.

Just as he was daydreaming, Manager Yang showed a look of surprise, as if meeting Lu Ye here was a good thing. He stepped forward and grabbed Lu Ye's shoulders: "Follow me!"