Beating the Seek Immortals Society

His right hand still held the pickaxe, so Xu Yuan merely stretched out his left hand and, with an utterly relaxed posture, caught the fist swinging at him.

It did have quite some force behind it. If it had been him from a day ago, he probably would have already been lying on the ground.

But as the saying went, today was not like yesterday!

His heart began to pound violently. In an instant, it was as though someone was beating a drum within this cramped space. His fierce, frenzied blood and qi nearly burst out through his body, staining Xu Yuan's eyes crimson.

The hand gripping the other man's fist suddenly tightened. The vice president's towering body was lifted straight into the air, followed by a powerful kick that slammed into his chest.

The sound of ribs breaking reached his ears. The vice president's body flew out and crashed heavily against the rock wall beside him. The entire mine tunnel shook violently—and it had been less than three breaths since Xu Yuan appeared.

Lou Fan's eyelid twitched uncontrollably. At that moment, he truly wanted to tell the other party that he had only come here to mine.

Staring at the figure blocking the tunnel entrance they had come through, like some demonic god, Lou Fan's Adam's apple bobbed. In the end, he still could not muster the courage to fight.

But Xu Yuan had no intention of letting him go so easily.

Striding forward, he was about to subdue the man first when Lou Fan's startled face suddenly curled into a smile. The vice president, who had been kicked into a corner, nimbly flipped over, and a streak of pink light flew from his sleeve.

"A gift from the president. Brother Xu, please enjoy it."

By the time Lou Fan finished speaking, the pink light was already before his face. Xu Yuan shut down his aura almost instantly, then tilted his head to dodge—but part of the pink light still shone over his face. At the same time, he saw its true form: a bamboo token.

There were words on the bamboo token, perhaps written by a woman, graceful and delicate. But Xu Yuan knew this was not the time to dwell on that, because he recognized that the pink light from the bamboo token seemed to be a talisman.

The Seek Immortals Society actually possessed such power.

As the pink light shone upon his face, Xu Yuan suddenly seemed to see a field of blooming peach blossoms. A breeze drifted through, carrying floral fragrance and birdsong. Where the petals danced, a woman leaned against a tree and played the zither.

As if sensing his gaze, the wondrous melody paused, and her beautiful eyes lifted.

"It worked." Lou Fan, standing before Xu Yuan, waved a hand as though he had already witnessed the birth of a new colleague.

But in the next moment, an arm still carrying the scent of blood hooked around him. Before Lou Fan could figure out what was happening, someone dragged him away at high speed through another passage.

"Move."

The vice president's calm voice sounded beside his ear. Lou Fan had just opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but he immediately shut it again. For in the last instant when his eyes could still see the cavern, the youth's figure suddenly moved.

A talisman personally crafted by the president had actually restrained him for less than a breath?

Roar!

A furious shout echoed through the tunnels. One breath after the two men fled, Xu Yuan completely broke free of the restraint. The crimson in his eyes still swirled, though it had dimmed considerably.

"The Seek Immortals Society... Just how many methods does their president possess? How has someone like that still not entered the immortal gate?"

Muttering to himself, Xu Yuan did not pursue them. Though he felt that if he truly gave chase, he should have a chance to kill them, doing so would very likely draw unnecessary attention—and bring him even more unnecessary trouble.

Besides, it was actually better to let them return. Between a year's worth of contribution points and a powerful enemy, that so-called president was no fool. He should know which to choose.

"Still, if a green trait is already this powerful, what will the later traits be like?"

Xu Yuan raised his hand and looked at his right hand. A new line of information emerged.

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[Creator: Xu Yuan]

[Status: Mortal flesh, not yet entered the Great Dao, true soul not yet formed, vigorous blood and qi, supreme martial artist.]

[Current Trait: [Innate Martial Bones] (Green)]

[Traits That Can Be Added: 1/1 (Current realm limit reached. Please continue raising your level)]

[Available Traits: None]

After adding the Innate Martial Bones trait, his personal information had changed. At the same time, he learned that he was not actually limited to adding only one trait. As his realm rose, he should be able to add more in the future.

But all of that had one prerequisite: he had to raise his level first.

In other words, he had to step through the gates of immortality first.

Swinging his pickaxe, Xu Yuan casually struck the rock wall. After mining quite a bit of darksteel ore, he finally carried his basket out.

By then, it was already late. Most of the immortal slaves had gone home—those who sought pleasure did so, while those who needed to lie around like corpses did that. Only the overseer still sat at the mine entrance.

When he saw Xu Yuan approach, he unexpectedly did not inspect the basket first as usual. Instead, he curiously looked Xu Yuan over first.

"Huh? Did you awaken some kind of mortal bones?"

There was a trace of surprise in the overseer's eyes, which then turned into a cold sneer within his heart. An immortal slave was still an immortal slave. Such a tremendous opportunity, yet he had only awakened mortal bones.

Xu Yuan, however, had no idea what the man was thinking, nor did he know that the man had seen through his change at a glance. He simply poured out all the ore from his basket.

"You went into the deeper mine tunnels?" The overseer glanced at Xu Yuan, not particularly surprised. After all, the things Xu Yuan had bought left a trail to follow.

"Immortal Master sees clearly." Xu Yuan respectfully returned the salute. Though he now possessed martial bones, he could instead more keenly feel just how terrifying the other man was.

This was the difference between immortals and mortals.

A master unmatched in the martial world was nothing but a complete joke before an immortal cultivator.

"One hundred and twenty contribution points. Anything you want to exchange for?"

The overseer quickly finished counting. Xu Yuan, meanwhile, was delighted—this was nearly as much as he had earned in more than a month before.

"Reporting to Immortal Master, Xu Yuan wishes to exchange for the Little Blue Mountain Essence-to-Qi Art."

Having calculated his current contribution points, Xu Yuan spoke resolutely.

"Hm?" A trace of surprise crossed the manager's face as he gave the boy before him another strange look.

Exchange for a cultivation art? Hardly anyone in the mining district made that choice in an entire year, and most of those who did were self-important fools who didn't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth.

One had to know that the rule for entering an immortal sect was actually just to reach the first layer of Qi Refinement. Reaching the first layer of Qi Refinement did not require a cultivation art to guide spiritual qi—so long as one had enough pills and some talent, one could successfully step across that threshold.

That was why, among the many immortal slaves in the mining district, barely any chose cultivation arts. With a mortal body and the aptitude of worthless stone, leaving aside whether they could even learn it, after a day of mining, how much time and energy did they have left to devote to it?

Therefore, aside from occasional pleasures, the immortal slaves of the mining district spent most of their contribution points on purchasing pills, all hoping that one day, a few strands of spiritual qi would remain within their bodies and let them step onto the immortal path.

"Immortal Master, please grant my request."

Xu Yuan merely bowed again. The manager said nothing further and, with a flick of his hand, tossed out a manual—the very Little Blue Mountain Essence-to-Qi Art Xu Yuan needed.

After thanking him once more, Xu Yuan watched his hard-earned contribution points drop completely to zero and could not help gripping the cultivation manual in his hand a little tighter.

The entry stated that an Innate Martial Bone could speedrun all mortal martial arts and could additionally persist through certain immortal cultivation arts. Now, he would see whether his guess was correct.