Mining Drudge

The two senior brothers holding Wu Baoru noticed he had truly fainted. They nodded towards the Sect Master. All the Elders were seasoned veterans, capable of understanding each other with a single glance, so they naturally grasped the meaning. They had already suspected Yue Qianchou. If Wu Baoru's cultivation was truly sufficient to kill him and silence him, he wouldn't have been able to escape to this place. Now, a junior brother with Nascent Soul cultivation had been angered to the point of fainting; the injustice he suffered was imaginable.

"Where are the Enforcement disciples!" Liu Changqing shouted. "Here!" Several people emerged from both sides of the great hall. The plaza immediately fell silent, everyone looking towards the front of the hall, knowing the Sect Master was about to make a decision.

"Until the truth is clear, no disciple shall speak ill. This matter will be set aside for now. Once Elder Wu has recovered, the truth will naturally be revealed," Liu Changqing stated first. He then fixed his gaze on the two who were crying injustice, saying, "Elder Wu publicly pursued and struck a disciple, as witnessed by all. He is punished with confinement for recovery and awaiting further judgment. Yue Qianchou publicly insulted his superiors, as heard by all. He is punished with labor at the Spirit Stone mine, awaiting further judgment. Do any of the Elders have any objections?" Not a single Elder voiced any dissent.

Naturally, the disciples dared not object to the Sect Master's decision. However, they all understood that this punishment clearly put Yue Qianchou at a disadvantage. One had to know that the Spirit Stone mine was no place for people to live; it was clearly where the Qingguang Sect exiled disciples. Those who worked there were either disciples with extremely poor innate talent or those who had committed offenses. There was a daily quota for mining Spirit Stones, and failure to meet the quota would result in severe punishment. To this day, there were few who had reportedly returned alive from there.

In everyone's eyes, Yue Qianchou was clearly the wronged party, yet he received the heaviest punishment. This inevitably made people recall his previous offense against the Sect Master and his grandson, seeing it as clear retaliation. No one dared to say anything, merely sighing inwardly. Liu Zhengguang, seeing Yue Qianchou being punished to the Spirit Stone mine, felt a surge of satisfaction, but he also thought his grandfather's actions were a bit too obvious.

"Junior Nephew Yue, do you have any objections to this decision?" Liu Changqing asked coldly.

"This disciple is willing to accept the punishment and dares not harbor any grievances," Yue Qianchou replied with a desolate expression, which moved the disciples to pity. Little did they know, upon hearing he was being sent to the Spirit Stone mine, his heart began to race.

The Sect Master waved his hand. Elder Wu was carried away, and Yue Qianchou was also escorted to the Spirit Stone mine by the Enforcement disciples. Qu Ping'er's eyes were fixed on that stumbling, lonely figure, her lips bitten tightly. She truly couldn't imagine such a talented individual toiling as a laborer in the Spirit Stone mine.

The sun shone brightly. Outside the Spirit Stone mine cave, there was a row of stone caves on each side, all serving as residences for the mining disciples. In a clearing in front, nearly a hundred disciples, clad in tattered, filthy clothes, were gathered together. On a stone pillar in front of them, a disciple, stripped to the waist, was bound by several iron chains to his hands and feet.

"Whip! Whip…" A whip covered in barbs flew through the air, each strike tearing flesh and blood. Each lash was met with a scream. The surrounding disciples all wore expressions of shock.

A bare-chested cultivator with a face full of coarse flesh walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. This person was a cultivator at the early Core Formation stage, named Gao Shiping, and he was the overseer of this Spirit Stone mine. He glared at the group of disciples, who were like startled birds. He menacingly said, "See this! This is the consequence of secretly using Spirit Stones. I warn you all, listen carefully, don't harbor any hope of luck. No one can get away with anything under my nose…"

As he was speaking, he suddenly saw a streak of light approaching from a distance. Two Enforcement disciples escorted a dejected disciple down. Gao Shiping's face, full of coarse flesh, broke into a smile as he scurried over, fawningly saying, "Two Enforcement Senior Brothers, long time no see. You've brought me more people." As he spoke, he glanced at the dejected disciple. This person was Yue Qianchou, who had been punished to work as a laborer in the Spirit Stone mine.

The two Enforcement disciples nodded. Hearing the whipping sounds and screams, they glanced towards the execution area. One of them frowned and asked, "Junior Brother Gao, what offense did that person commit?"

"Reporting to Senior Brother, this person is detestable. He actually dared to secretly absorb the mined Spirit Stones within the Spirit Stone mine. When he came out, he was detected by a sect artifact. According to the rules, he is to receive five hundred lashes," Gao Shiping replied.

Another Enforcement disciple shook his head and sighed, "I haven't heard of anyone surviving Junior Brother Gao's 'Wolf Fang Whip'."

Yue Qianchou glanced over and saw the Wolf Fang Whip, covered in barbs, tearing flesh and blood with each strike. He inwardly trembled. What artifact? I was thinking of stealing Spirit Stones. I wonder if it's dangerous.

"If severe punishment is not administered, and if everyone starts secretly absorbing Spirit Stones in the future, then I truly won't be able to account for myself to the sect," Gao Shiping chuckled, then looked at Yue Qianchou and asked the two, "And why did this disciple come here?"

One Enforcement disciple shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Uncle-Master Hao's disciple, what else could it be?"

"Ah! You mean Yue Qianchou, who offended the Sect Master?" Gao Shiping exclaimed. Seeing the Enforcement Senior Brother nod in confirmation, his face full of coarse flesh, he laughed, "Heh! So it's Junior Brother Yue. You've got guts, daring to offend even the Sect Master. Old Gao will definitely give you a good welcome." After speaking, he turned and shouted, "Someone!"

Yue Qianchou knew he was quite famous in the Qingguang Sect, but he didn't expect that even this distant Spirit Stone mine would know of him. Afterward, an overseer ran over. Under Gao Shiping's arrangement, he took Yue Qianchou away. He vaguely heard one Enforcement disciple say, "Junior Brother Gao, you mustn't kill this person. Several Elders specifically instructed that he is still useful…"

The overseer led him among the mining disciples. First, he was shown what it meant for the stomach to be ripped open and intestines spilled by a whip. Yue Qianchou showed no reaction after watching, nor did he feel the disciple being executed deserved any pity. In his words, if you dare to steal, you must be prepared to be caught; self-inflicted death is not worthy of others' sympathy.

He observed the mining disciples around him. They were all skin and bones, and on their dirty faces, apart from the terror displayed during the executions, the rest were expressions of meek submission and numb indifference. He sighed inwardly, realizing these people had lived under oppression for a long time.

These overseers were truly ruthless. Even though the disciple being whipped on the stone pillar had died, they still didn't spare the corpse. They only stopped when the Wolf Fang Whip had torn the corpse to shreds. Yue Qianchou's eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint flashing. Do they have a grudge to whip a corpse like this out of hatred?

Afterward, the miners were driven back to their respective caves. Yue Qianchou was led to a place by an overseer. The space was not large, with only a floor mat inside. Three people were already lying there, indicating they would have to squeeze four people in. The overseer said coldly, "You'll live here. Shi Xiaotian, you tell him what to do next." The last sentence was directed at a young man lying on the ground. The young man named Shi Xiaotian, upon hearing the overseer's words, hastily got up and responded. The overseer said nothing further and turned to leave.

Shi Xiaotian's face was very dirty, but one could vaguely discern he was a handsome young man. Of course, Yue Qianchou had been in the cultivation world for a long time and knew not to judge age by appearance. The former's large eyes, empty and lifeless, looked at the newcomer.

Yue Qianchou gave Shi Xiaotian a friendly smile, but the latter didn't seem to appreciate it. He simply said, "Follow me," and said nothing more. He led Yue Qianchou to collect mining tools. The items were simple: a specially made pickaxe and a basket to be carried on the back. After completing this, Shi Xiaotian slowly explained some of the rules to him, and then they returned to the cave. In fact, Yue Qianchou really wanted to ask him what the so-called artifact that could detect things was, but the other party completely ignored his questions.

The mining rules didn't sound difficult, but he didn't know how they would be in practice. Each person had to submit an amount equivalent to one high-grade Spirit Stone per day. This meant one could submit a hundred mid-grade ones, or ten thousand low-grade ones. If you didn't complete the task, you wouldn't get to rest or eat. For cultivators, these weren't the most important things; even if one hadn't reached the Core Formation stage and could abstain from eating, going a day or two without rest or food was fine. What was deadly was that the shortfall from today would be doubled and carried over to the next day. If the task wasn't completed within three days, the severity of the punishment would be determined by the size of the shortfall.

As for those who exceeded the quota, the excess could be accumulated to offset future shortfalls, thus avoiding punishment. Alternatively, they could enjoy one percent of the excess Spirit Stones; miners could choose either option. If someone chose the latter, they would have to guarantee one hundred percent that they could complete the task every time afterward, otherwise, they would still face punishment because their previous excess had already been used up.

The strictest rule was that if anyone dared to steal Spirit Stones or secretly absorb Spirit Stones within the mine, discovery meant certain death.

Yue Qianchou memorized these rules. He wasn't worried about completing the task and facing punishment, but rather about how he could steal Spirit Stones without being discovered while still ensuring the task was completed. This way, he could stay in the Spirit Stone cave indefinitely and continue stealing.

In his current situation, he desperately needed Spirit Stones to improve his cultivation. Now that the opportunity was right before him, it was impossible for him not to steal. This was because his way of thinking was no different from his previous life; the principle that a horse cannot get fat without night fodder and a person cannot get rich without ill-gotten gains was deeply ingrained in his consciousness. What worried him most was the artifact Gao Shiping mentioned. He wondered if hiding Spirit Stones inside the golden bead would be detected.

Snoring sounds emanated from the cave, which greatly surprised Yue Qianchou. How could cultivators sleep so soundly? What was the difference from mortals? He couldn't quite figure it out. He wanted to hide in the golden bead world but was afraid of being discovered suddenly disappearing. Thus, he had to endure the rhythmic snoring of the three people.

The next day, Yue Qianchou discovered that everyone here minded their own business and paid no attention to anyone else. He imitated the three people, putting on his back basket and carrying his pickaxe, following behind them to the entrance of the Spirit Stone mine cave. He stood in the crowd, looking around, appearing very out of place, especially his clothes, which were countless times cleaner than everyone else's, making him quite conspicuous.

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