The Creator

Xu Yuan stared at his hands in astonishment. At that moment, several new lines of small text surfaced.

[Creator: Xu Yuan]

[Status: mortal flesh, not yet entered the Great Dao, true soul not yet forged, body and soul exhausted, overworked.]

[Current traits: none]

[Traits that can be added: 0/1]

Xu Yuan's gaze paused, and he hurriedly looked at the several traits below.

[Hardworking (White): You were born with the fate of a laboring beast. Your physical endurance is noticeably increased, you are less prone to fatigue, and overwork causes less harm to your body. Cost: ten taels of gold.]

[Great Strength (White): You were born with a strong frame and sturdy bones. Your strength far surpasses that of ordinary people, and overwork causes less wear and tear to your body. Cost: ten taels of gold.]

"Why do these all seem like talents for beasts of burden?" Xu Yuan silently grumbled, then looked at the final trait. In an instant, the corners of his mouth rose several more degrees beyond his control.

[Innate Martial Bones (Green): You were born to practice martial arts. You grasp any mortal martial art at a touch, and can likewise comprehend certain immortal cultivation techniques more quickly. Your body is different from ordinary people's; you possess greater endurance and strength, stronger defense, and faster reactions. At the same time, this trait will increase your luck to a certain extent. Cost: one Ironbone Stone, one Crimsonblood Stone, thirty spirit crystals, and three hundred drops of Qi Refinement demon beast blood essence.]

The upturned corners of his mouth slowly lowered. Looking at the requirements below, Xu Yuan gradually calmed down.

Every single item listed was a major problem for him right now. Spirit crystals and demon beast blood essence were manageable—he had enough contribution points to exchange for them—but Ironbone Stone and Crimsonblood Stone were both high-grade minerals. This mining area did have them, but he would have to venture much deeper inside.

Setting aside the dangers within, even the environment in the depths—the terrifyingly cold winds—was not something someone with mere mortal flesh like him could casually brave.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan pushed open his door and knocked on his neighbor's.

After waiting for a while, a chubby man with a lecherous-looking face came out. He glanced at Xu Yuan, who seemed positively radiant, and said with a grin, "Brother Xu, did you go have some fun too? I told you, you can't go on living such a bitter, miserable life. A man needs to know when to work and when to rest—"

"What are you talking about?" Xu Yuan cut him off, holding out his hand. "Do you still have your gold? Lend me some."

"What do you want that junk for?" The fat man gave Xu Yuan a curious look, but said nothing else. He turned around and rummaged through his room, finally pulling a soft leather pouch from a wooden chest.

"It's all here."

Opening the pouch, Xu Yuan estimated that there was at least a hundred taels inside. He gave the other man a grateful look and said, "I will repay this kindness someday."

"Tch. I don't know what you're planning, but forget repayment. If we ever really claw our way out of this place, just treat me to ten days of fun over at the Stone House."

Listening to his friend, Xu Yuan thought, Aren't you afraid of dying on a woman's belly? Then he took the gold and returned to his own room.

Looking at the three traits again, Xu Yuan hesitated again and again before finally gritting his teeth and deciding to gamble.

Both [Hardworking] and [Great Strength] would be quite useful. Combined with his enhanced pickaxe, it should not take him more than a few years to dig out a path to immortality.

But their ceiling was too low. Those two traits were merely white, while [Innate Martial Bones] was a green trait that could connect him to the immortal path and even that elusive, intangible thing called luck.

Before he knew whether traits could be replaced or whether he could gain more in the future, choosing either of the first two white traits would be too great a loss.

Having silently made up his mind, Xu Yuan stopped looking at himself and turned instead to the few cold black-flour flatbreads on the stove. This was why he had gone out to borrow gold.

[Item: black-flour flatbread]

[Status: cold and hardened]

[Current traits: none]

[Traits that can be added: 0/1]

[Selectable trait: Warm Body, Invigorate Blood (White): The flatbread has been carefully cooked and special medicinal ingredients have been added, granting it the effect of warming the body and invigorating the blood. Cost: one tael of gold.]

"Add it."

Holding the flatbread in one hand and the gold in the other, Xu Yuan silently spoke in his heart. The next instant, the gold vanished, while the flatbread emitted the same glow as the mining pickaxe earlier.

Looking at the cold flatbread, which showed no change whatsoever, Xu Yuan was somewhat puzzled, but he still took a bite.

It was still hard enough to grind his teeth, still full of grit and wood splinters. But the moment he swallowed, it felt as though a warm current spread from his abdomen and flowed into his limbs and bones.

In an instant, a peculiar sense of comfort nearly made Xu Yuan moan softly.

Smiling, he finished the entire flatbread, then moved his body a little. His stiff, exhausted body seemed to have been infused with fresh vitality, and he could not help performing a set of body-strengthening punches taught by the mining area's overseer.

This fist art was actually quite good. If placed in the martial world of mortals, it would likely stir up another storm of blood and slaughter. Yet here, it was handed out casually, and few people practiced it.

After all, they had come to an immortal sect. Who among them was not dreaming of seeking immortality and attaining the Dao?

After one full set of punches, Xu Yuan was covered in hot sweat, and he could not help saying, "That felt good."

Afterward, he carefully searched through his room again.

Unfortunately, aside from the cold flatbreads, himself, and the mining pickaxe, he truly could not find any other targets to enhance.

Feeling somewhat regretful, he ultimately spent only one tael of silver to reinforce his bed, then fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, deep within the mine.

Finding a spot with no one around, Xu Yuan took out his refined iron mining pickaxe and tried tapping the wall.

Feeling his intent spread through the wall, Xu Yuan determined in only a few moments that there were several pieces of black iron ore in the shallow layer here.

This was the most common and cheapest ore in this mining area, and also the type most often mined by the immortal slaves here.

After a few swings of his pickaxe, the cold flatbread he had eaten before coming made breaking the wall unusually easy. Half an hour later, he had dug out those few pieces of ore.

Just these three little things, when luck was bad, amounted to roughly an immortal slave's income for an entire day.

Tossing the ore into the basket on his back, Xu Yuan was in high spirits. Gripping the refined iron pickaxe again, he began another round of searching.

About half a quarter-hour later, he started working on another wall.

Five hours later, when Xu Yuan emerged from the mine, the basket on his back was already nearly full.

The facts proved that he had still greatly underestimated this detection pickaxe. If he had not restrained himself a little at the end, filling the entire basket would not have been a problem at all.

And one whole basket was practically the daily income of ten immortal slaves!

As he carried such a basketful of ore out, the immortal slaves still lingering outside immediately turned to look at him.

There was curiosity, jealousy, and surprise among their gazes, while a few pairs of eyes flashed with a fleeting chill.

Fortunately, the mining area had an ironclad rule: immortal slaves were forbidden from killing one another. Once discovered, the offender would immediately be flayed, dismembered, and have their soul extracted.

It was not that the Hidden Moon Sect was especially benevolent. Would you let your own money fight each other?

"Not a bad haul, huh?" The mining area supervisor glanced up at Xu Yuan, his eyes full of approval, then casually painted several more castles in the air.

Naturally, Xu Yuan listened without taking any of it to heart. Once he saw the man record today's contribution points, he hurried toward home.

As he passed a cluster of stone houses, he glanced over. Beneath every stone house stood women posing seductively.

Some were aloof and elegant, some wore an air of nobility, while others were delicate and charming. When Xu Yuan looked their way, they all gazed back at him ingratiatingly.

But Xu Yuan only looked once before resolutely withdrawing his gaze.

These women were, in truth, immortal slaves of the Hidden Moon Sect just like them. It was only that the way they earned contribution points differed from his.

Among them were daughters of wealthy families, female martial heroes of the jianghu, and even married women.

Yet now, beneath the Hidden Moon Sect, they were no more than a flock of fireflies selling their bodies.

Mortals saw only the carefree immortals, saw them living for a thousand years, saw them roaming unhindered beneath heaven—but they could not see the myriad bleached bones and heaps of wronged souls upon the road that had brought them there.