Miner Disciples

Hearing Senior Brother Xinghe press for payment, Qin Xiangqian could only smile bitterly.

Although the contract had been signed, Qin Xiangqian wondered whether the sect would really pay once he reported the matter.

He could make neither head nor tail of Senior Brother Xinghe's mysterious moves, but he still had great faith in Senior Brother Xinghe's methods.

Whatever the case, Qin Xiangqian could only follow Senior Brother Xinghe's instructions and ask the sect for payment.

He had already prepared himself to hear a scolding or even an outright refusal from the sect.

But then something Qin Xiangqian could scarcely believe happened.

Once the sect received word, it handed Qin Xiangqian the full payment almost without a second word!

Qin Xiangqian was utterly dumbfounded!

So... was this Senior Brother Xinghe's exalted standing in the Vast Heaven Sect?

For a deal this outrageous, if it had been anyone else, the sect would probably have sent an investigation team by now to find out whether that person had betrayed the sect.

But after Senior Brother Xinghe's series of mysterious moves, the sect sent the money without a second word. Who could fail to admire that?

When Qin Xiangqian instructed his subordinates to deliver the payment to the Shi Clan, the entire Vast Heaven Chamber of Commerce erupted.

Many had previously guessed that the sect probably wouldn't send the money at all, and might not even acknowledge the deal.

But to everyone's astonishment, not only did the sect acknowledge it, it didn't even ask a single extra question.

For a time, all those shouting that Chu Xinghe's actions should be reported to the sect fell silent.

Only then did they realize what the name Chu Xinghe represented in the Vast Heaven Sect!

The Shi Clan received full payment, and from that moment on, the Tianyi Spirit Mine officially became Vast Heaven Sect property. Every member of the Shi Clan withdrew from the mine, and none was allowed to take so much as a pebble.

The Vast Heaven Sect's people also formally took over the entire Tianyi Spirit Mine.

After Chu Xinghe received the news, he waited quietly for a day, but the Misfortune Compass still showed no reaction at all.

Damn it... what the hell was going on?

I spent an astronomical sum on a worthless mine and caused the sect such a huge loss. Wouldn't I deserve to jump three levels on the spot?

So what did it mean that you weren't reacting at all?

After turning it over in his mind, Chu Xinghe decided that the truth probably hadn't come to light yet, so the Misfortune Compass hadn't begun the settlement.

It was only a matter of days, so Chu Xinghe wasn't in a hurry.

With nothing else to do, Chu Xinghe went to find Qin Xiangqian.

"Chairman Qin, is there anything else you can't resolve? Since I'm here anyway, I can help you take care of it."

Chu Xinghe was immensely pleased with Qin Xiangqian, his bringer of good fortune!

Whenever Qin Xiangqian was around, everything was rock-solid!

"Something I can't resolve? Now that you mention it, there really is one thing. I've already reported it to the sect: miner disciples are very hard to recruit now, and their numbers keep dwindling. The amount of raw ore we extract is falling too."

The miner disciples Qin Xiangqian spoke of were the people who extracted raw ore from spirit mines.

Not just anyone could work a spirit mine. Extracting raw spirit ore required spiritual power.

The so-called miner disciples were, from a certain perspective, also Vast Heaven Sect disciples, one rank lower than even outer sect disciples.

However, these disciples couldn't be considered true disciples. After all, only one kind of person became a miner disciple: someone with talent, but extremely little of it, who refused to accept their fate and insisted on cultivating.

Such people generally didn't even qualify as outer sect disciples and could only become miner disciples.

Although miner disciples received some cultivation techniques, they were all of the lowest grade. Even if the disciples cultivated them for a lifetime, they would never have any chance. To put it bluntly, the sect only gave them those techniques so they could cultivate spiritual power and use it to mine ore.

Chu Xinghe didn't know much about these miner disciples. Now that Qin Xiangqian had brought them up, he decided to see what their situation was really like.

Accompanied by Qin Xiangqian, Chu Xinghe brought a group of junior brothers and sisters from the Vast Heaven Sect to one of its spirit mines.

But as soon as he arrived, Chu Xinghe was stunned by everything he saw.

The miner disciples stood in rows, waiting for Chu Xinghe's inspection, but every one of them was dressed in rags and looked sallow and gaunt.

You call these people disciples?

They don't even fucking qualify as miners, do they?

They're a bunch of refugees!

Before long, the state of the entire spirit mine had left Chu Xinghe completely dumbfounded.

Ten people shared each tiny, dilapidated room. There weren't even beds inside, so all the miner disciples had to sleep on the floor.

Their food was like pig swill.

From the day they became miner disciples, it was as if they had sold themselves to the Vast Heaven Sect. Forget leaving—they didn't even get days off. They could only toil like walking corpses in the Vast Heaven Sect's mines until the day they died!

"Qin Xiangqian? You call these Vast Heaven Sect miner disciples? This fucking violates the Geneva Convention, doesn't it?!"

"Huh? The what convention?"

"Never mind what convention! These are our Vast Heaven Sect's fucking miner disciples?"

It wasn't just Chu Xinghe. Even the junior brothers and sisters who had come with him were stunned.

Everyone knew Vast Heaven Sect disciples were divided into three ranks. Inner sect disciples naturally received the best treatment, followed by outer sect disciples, and then there were the miner disciples.

But if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who the hell would have known the miner disciples were treated like this?

"Senior brothers and sisters, there's something you don't know..." Qin Xiangqian began explaining the reason with a woebegone expression.

Many years ago, although miner disciples of the various sects had never been well treated, their treatment couldn't be considered too poor either.

And the miner disciples of a major sect like the Vast Heaven Sect were even on par with the outer sect disciples of some smaller sects.

Besides having to work every day, they were given a share of various resources and could even obtain some passable cultivation techniques.

But it was the Shi Clan that had truly made things what they were now.

The Shi Clan was the first lineage to cut miner disciples' benefits, on the grounds that they shouldn't receive such good treatment and that it would affect output.

Inhumane as it was, the Shi Clan's approach was undeniably effective. It cut the miner disciples' benefits and increased their working hours, and output really did shoot straight up.

When the various sects saw that, they thought, Well, would you look at that? Time to compete!

And so the miner disciples' nightmare began.

As soon as one side finished cutting, the next took the stage. For the sake of output, each resorted to every means at its disposal.

By now, what benefits did miner disciples have left? Apart from learning the sect's very lowest-grade techniques and occasionally receiving resources so meager they could practically be ignored, miner disciples were fucking little more than slaves!

It wasn't as though the various sects were unaware of the situation, but in the end they all chose to turn a blind eye, leading to the state of affairs today.

When Qin Xiangqian finished, all the Vast Heaven Sect junior brothers and sisters turned their eyes to Chu Xinghe.

Seeing firsthand how the miner disciples were treated, they couldn't bear it either. But they also knew full well that their rank in the Vast Heaven Sect was low and their words carried little weight. Even if they spoke up, nothing would come of it, so only Senior Brother Xinghe's word would matter!

"I don't know whether others turn a blind eye, but I, Chu Xinghe, absolutely will not allow this! Miner disciples may be even less talented than outer sect disciples, but since they are disciples of my Vast Heaven Sect, how can they be made to live like slaves?!"

Chu Xinghe was truly angry.

Were these disciples? They were fucking laborers exploited by capitalists!

"Senior Brother Xinghe, you mustn't act rashly in this matter. It's not just our Vast Heaven Sect; every sect in the world does the same. If our Vast Heaven Sect acts rashly, I'm afraid it will stir up resentment from all sides. When that happens, they'll inevitably gang up on us!"

Qin Xiangqian hurriedly cautioned Chu Xinghe.

Gang up on us?

Holy shit! There's a bonus like that?

When he had seen how the miner disciples were treated today, he had genuinely been outraged on their behalf and sincerely wanted to change it all.

He hadn't considered anything else, but a bringer of good fortune was a bringer of good fortune, all right, bringing him such an enormous surprise just like that!

Ma Liang, oh, Ma Liang, take a look. You're both bringers of good fortune, so why is there such a huge difference between you?

"Say no more about this!" Chu Xinghe took out the Haotian Token once again.

"Pass on my order: starting today, the treatment of all miner disciples will be revised. I will personally set the new terms. Also, dump out all that fucking pig swill in the pots and bring me a few of the best cooks in the city. From today on, all miner disciples will be fed according to the standards of outer sect disciples!"

"This..." Qin Xiangqian was stunned.

Had Senior Brother Xinghe not heard what he'd just said?

The miner disciples' present situation was the result of competition among the various sects. They had all frantically cut the miner disciples' benefits for the sake of output. If anyone dared to do the opposite now, they would be making enemies of every sect, and the consequences could be terrifying.

But with the Haotian Token right there, Qin Xiangqian naturally didn't dare say any more. He immediately ordered people to carry out Chu Xinghe's instructions.

Before long, the city's master cooks were brought in, and all kinds of ingredients were purchased.

Great pots were soon set up all around the mine.

The aroma of meat wafted from the pots and quickly spread throughout the mine. Although the smell brought a trace of a smile to the miner disciples' faces, most remained numb.

"A big shot from the sect has come. Looks like our food will be better today," a young miner disciple with deeply tanned skin said cheerfully.

"Tieniu, how could you not know, even if others don't? This better food is just for show... Once the big shot leaves, everything will go back to normal."

"So what? I like eating meat, and I'm happy whenever I get some."

The other miner disciples merely smiled and said no more.

"Your name is Tieniu?"

A voice came from nearby. Accompanied by Qin Xiangqian, Chu Xinghe walked over.

"Greetings, sir..." Seeing Chu Xinghe's robes, which marked him as a direct disciple, the group of Vast Heaven Sect miner disciples all fell to their knees.

But the sight left Chu Xinghe feeling indescribably upset.

"Get up, all of you. I'm not a sect elder. Just call me Senior Brother Xinghe. There's no need for this!"

Chu Xinghe hurried forward and helped the blank-eyed miner disciples to their feet one by one.

"Sir, I, Tieniu, want to ask, how many days are you staying here?"

"Call me Senior Brother Xinghe! Why do you ask?"

"Oh, Si... Senior Brother Xinghe, the more days you stay here, the more days we get to eat meat." Tieniu didn't look particularly bright, but his words made Chu Xinghe ashamed.

Looking at the other miners, he thought they probably felt the same way as Tieniu.

Chu Xinghe swept his gaze over everyone and slowly said, "It doesn't matter how many days I stay here, but I can tell you this: from today on, you can eat meat every day, whether I'm here or not. If anyone dares to withhold so much as a scrap of what you're owed, I guarantee that even the Heavenly King himself won't be able to protect him!"