New Task

"Really? From now on, the lineage's cultivation resources will be supplied at double the amount?"

A Li Family Body Forging Realm Cultivator asked with disbelief written all over his face.

"It should be true. My brother works under the Third Elder, and the Third Elder was the one who told him to spread the word."

"If the Third Elder said it, then it's true nine times out of ten. That's wonderful! If the lineage can distribute more cultivation resources to me, I'm confident I can break through to Body Tempering Realm Grand Completion this month."

The Li Family Cultivator said excitedly.

"Then I should congratulate you in advance, brother. Please look after me more in the future."

His companion said with an envious look.

Body Tempering Realm Grand Completion was already enough to earn someone a place in the Li Family.

"Dear, have you heard? The Patriarch plans to implement a childbirth incentive policy throughout the lineage. As long as someone bears a child for the family, the lineage will grant a considerable reward."

Inside the home of an ordinary Li Family Member, a woman lowered her head as she sewed clothes and spoke to her husband.

"I know. The family's influence has expanded greatly recently, and there aren't enough hands to go around. Many places are short on people. The Steward is practically trying to split me in two and use both halves. It's time for the Li Family to add more people."

Her husband replied dully.

The woman rolled her eyes at him and said coquettishly, "Then what are you waiting for?"

Her husband's breathing suddenly quickened.

(Ten thousand words omitted here.)

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

That day, Li Xinge was cultivating inside his secluded chamber.

No matter how busy he was, Li Xinge did not dare delay his cultivation in the slightest.

Because he understood deeply that formidable strength was the foundation of everything.

After completing one full circulation, Li Xinge let out a long breath of turbid air.

"Seventh-grade talent truly is extraordinary. At this pace, I may have a chance to break through to the Lesser Qi and Blood Accomplishment Realm within half a year."

Li Xinge muttered to himself.

Do not think this progress was slow. Many Qi and Blood Realm Cultivators spent their entire lives stuck at the entry threshold of the Qi and Blood Realm, unable to advance even an inch.

For example, Li Xinge's Grandfather, and the Su Family Old Ancestor whom he had personally killed.

[Ding, an unstable factor has been detected within the host's family. System mission triggered!]

That long-absent voice rang out in Li Xinge's mind.

A light screen appeared before Li Xinge.

[Current Mission: Suppress the Silver Ridge Mine Riot]

[Mission Progress: 0%]

[Mission Description: In order to increase the ore output of the Silver Ridge Mine, the family subjected the mine slaves to inhuman exploitation, causing massive casualties. Unable to endure any longer, the mine slaves decided to make a desperate last stand and resist the family.]

[Upon mission completion, the following rewards may be obtained:]

[Reward 1: A family member with seventh-grade talent will be born.]

[Reward 2: 3 mu of Spiritual Fields (crops planted in Spiritual Fields will absorb the spiritual qi within them and evolve into spiritual plants; consuming spiritual plant crops can greatly increase cultivation speed)]

[Reward 3: Beginner Spiritual Plant Technique (after thoroughly mastering the Beginner Spiritual Plant Technique, one can advance to a Rank 1 Spiritual Plant Master)]

A new mission had arrived.

Li Xinge rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back, a trace of coldness showing in his eyes.

Since when had a bunch of tools gained the nerve to resist the Li Family?

He knew about the mine slaves' exploitation at the mine, and he had tacitly allowed it.

After all, the family was in a period of growth and needed money in every respect.

And the Silver Ridge Mine was the lifeline of the Li Family, so these mine slaves could only suffer a little more.

Yet they actually dared to rebel. That was something Li Xinge had not expected.

One had to know that, for the stability of the Silver Ridge Mine, the Li Family had spared no expense there.

The dignified Fifth Elder of the Li Family, a Body Realm Great Accomplishment Cultivator, had been stationed there year-round.

There were also thirty Body Forging Realm Cultivators and three hundred heavily armored mine guards patrolling day and night. Their defenses could not have been more stringent.

Mining might lead to death, but it was only a possibility.

Resistance, however, was basically certain death.

As the saying went, a miserable life was better than a good death.

So who had given them the courage to resist?

Li Xinge pondered.

Silver Ridge Mountain.

At a massive open-pit mine, over a thousand miners, bare-chested and wearing only shorts, swung their tools with all their might beneath the blazing sun, extracting ore.

Sweat had already soaked their entire bodies.

A frail mine slave, unable to bear the blazing sun any longer, suddenly had his vision go black and collapsed heavily to the ground, never to rise again.

Two patrolling guards saw this and hurried over.

A whip lashed viciously across the frail miner's body.

"Are you courting death? Stop slacking off and get up to work."

The guard shouted angrily.

The mine slave remained motionless.

The other guard crouched down, checked the mine slave's breath, and shook his head at his companion.

"He's already dead."

"Then he definitely isn't dead enough. My father said people who die like this suffer the most. I'll do a good deed and help him out—chop off his head so he can go in peace."

The guard holding the whip said with a sinister grin.

After saying that, he drew the blade at his waist.

The piercing sound of the weapon leaving its sheath made the mine slave's body jolt. He hurriedly crawled up and knelt on the ground.

Tears and snot streamed down his face as he kowtowed like a pounding garlic pestle. "Mercy, sirs, mercy! This little one will never dare again. I'll work properly right away."

"Trying to play these little tricks in front of us? You have already invited death upon yourself."

The guard was utterly unmoved by the mine slave's pleas.

He swung the Steel Saber in his hand and severed the mine slave's head with a single slash.

Before the head even hit the ground, the guard caught it in his hand.

He raised that grotesque head high, blood still dripping continuously from it.

The guard shouted, "Look carefully, all of you! This is what happens to those who try to play clever tricks before us! Do not even think about slacking off, or do not blame our blades for showing no mercy."

The surrounding mine slaves fell silent as cicadas in winter at the sight. Their bodies trembled, and they mined with even greater effort.

"Why kill him? No matter what, he was still the main family's property."

"Keeping a lazy schemer like him would only waste the main family's grain. Better to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys and let him play out his last bit of value. Didn't you see those lowly slaves working harder?"

The guard who had killed him sneered.

His companion shook his head.

"They're all pitiful people."

"What the hell do you know? This batch of mine slaves are savages from the Eastern Ridge Barbarians. When Eastern Continent Prefecture fell, over ten million Eastern Prefecture civilians were slaughtered by this pack of beasts."

"Then I take back what I said. Letting him die like that was truly too easy on him."

Not far away, several mine slaves witnessed the scene and glanced around.

Seeing no patrolling mine guards nearby, they quietly gathered together.

While they worked...

They whispered among themselves, "I counted them. Just among those I saw, this was already the seventeenth person to die today. These Li Family lackeys and hunting hounds do not treat us as human at all."

"Endure for a few more days. Once the General has fully recovered, we'll tear these bastards into ten thousand pieces."

One mine slave said through gritted teeth.

"Wasn't it supposed to be today? Why did we suddenly change our minds?"

"The General said the situation changed. That Li Family Elder has returned and even brought a squad of elite cultivators. If we act now, he isn't confident."

"Why should we care whether these lowly commoners live or die? Why not just kill our way out? Could that Li Family Elder really stop us?"

One mine slave asked in confusion.

"Isn't that why I say you have no brain? The Li Family does not have only that one Li Family Elder as an expert."

"I heard there are even Qi-Blood Realm Cultivators within this family."

"If such an existence makes a move, how far could we possibly run?"

"But if we can incite these several thousand lowly commoners into rioting and attacking the mine, the Li Family will surely be overwhelmed and in a terrible mess. How would they still have the leisure to notice us?"

"Then we can fish in troubled waters and leave amid the chaos."

The others came to a sudden realization.

Late at night.

The moon was bright, and the stars were sparse.

At the mass grave behind the mine.

Weeds grew thickly, and everything was pitch-black.

Occasional cries of night owls rang out. Together with the corpses and bones scattered everywhere, the atmosphere was exceptionally eerie and terrifying.

A black figure slowly emerged from the darkness. His gaze swept across the surroundings, as though searching for something.

When he spotted the fresh corpse on the ground, an incomparably excited smile appeared on his face.

He walked over to the corpse and sat down cross-legged.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said with an intoxicated expression, "The scent of fresh Qi-Blood."

He slowly extended a hand and placed it over the corpse's chest.

Mysterious patterns suddenly emerged across the back of his hand, radiating an eerie red glow.

Threads of scarlet blood qi rose from the corpse, drifting through the air and giving off an intense stench of blood.

The scarlet blood qi gradually condensed into a smooth blood bead the size of a little fingernail.

The corpse on the ground had also completely withered by then, leaving only skin wrapped around bones. It looked especially horrifying.

Looking at the blood bead, the black figure licked his somewhat dry lips. Unable to restrain the excitement in his heart any longer, he swallowed it in one gulp.

There was almost no pause.

The black figure found another corpse and repeated the process.

Half an hour later, dozens of shriveled skin-and-bone corpses lay on the ground.

"After devouring so much blood qi, I've finally recovered to Body Cultivation Grand Completion."

The black figure sighed.

Then he recalled the humiliation he had suffered during this period.

Dense hatred arose in the black figure's eyes.

"Damn Li Family. When a tiger falls to the plains, even dogs dare bully it. Once I recover all my strength, I will repay the humiliation you brought me a hundredfold."

The black figure said through gritted teeth.

His figure vanished into the darkness once more.